Okay, there’s the correlation – where’s the causation? Did anything else happen in television during the same time period which may have caused the scripts to start sucking? Reagan’s studied banality had an effect on TV shows – it was certainly commented upon at the time.
It would be cool to look up directors who directed TV during this era and see if they had anything to say about it. I’d wonder what, for instance, John Frankenheimer said, if anything. I know he talked about how working in television influenced how he shot his films (the commentaries on Ronin and Manchurian Candidate are great for this).
Fallout fans might like Dominion if they haven’t seen it already. Not really related but it’s also Las Vegas after the apocalypse. Better writing and acting than one might expect.
My Facebook and Twitter are currently full of people saying HOLY SHIT, GAME OF THRONES!!!
I’ve watched it every season very regularly, but my HBO-owning friends have been sick, so I haven’t seen the last three episodes. Thankfully I’ve seen no spoilers so far, but this is killing me.
Just finally finished watching S4 after a long break, and now I realize why I kept putting it off for other shows;
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing David Tennant’s run as the Doctor come to an end.
Even though I haven’t seen the rest of the series yet, I fully get it why he’s many Whovians favorite Doctor; it surprised me how emotionally attached I became to that particular incarnation.
Now I have until Xmas to get through all the Smith and Capaldi episodes to get caught up to date…
If you liked Twilight Zone and also liked those feel-good 80’s movies, Dimension 404 is a nice blend. Like a short scifi B-movie each episode, but with that 80’s movie feel. Too bad there’s only 6 episodes so far.
I’ve only seen one ep so far. It has very high production values and some actors that I liked from The Wire. Honestly, a lot of what I’m feeling as I watch it is the feel of The Wire, remembered. I think I’ll need to see a few more before I can judge it on its own.
Observation: the opening bars of the theme music are a lot like Northern Exposure (then it takes off in a different direction)
As someone who lived in New Orleans, Treme captures the essence of the place better than anything I have ever seen. That festival atmosphere even in all the pain and suffering, it’s for real. The guest appearances are worth it alone - Kermit Ruffin steals the show every time he is on. They feature a lot of the musicians that make it a place like no other.
just saw The Void - a truly creepy and pretty bloody Lovecraftian film. It sort of brings Lovecraft into the 21st century. If you like Lovecraftian stuff, I highly recommend it.
I’ll definitely second that recommendation. Fans of Lovecraftian horror and gross practical effects will enjoy it; it felt like a big love letter to Rob Bottin.
I watched this on Netflix the other day. It was really excellent - great performances and fascinating story; the 70’s was really captured.Watch it when you can handle some darkness.
I was unfortunately exposed to a couple of episodes of something rather awful. I feel it my duty to warn others. Don’t watch Riverdale. I imagine it came to into being a little something like this:
An angsty pre-teen, firmly believing Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey to be the height of literature and film-making, wrote a truly awful story for a fan-fiction forum. Lacking names for the characters, they happened upon an old Archie comic and decided to rip the character names and place names for their story, thinking that no one else would recognize them.
Meanwhile, an out-of-work film crew, having failed even at low-budget porn, now drunk and increasingly desperate, with rent due the next day, was trolling the fan-fiction forum late at night when they came across the story. Knowing an exec in the business that was going through a mental breakdown, they decided to pitch the show the very next morning. The studio exec, who was a bit distracted and just didn’t give a crap anymore, said “I don’t care, do whatever, just don’t bother me!”
The show does apparently have an audience - people who read the comics and thought “Man, why isn’t Archie having sex with Ms. Grundy?”
I guess this is what happens when a comic ends its run with issue #666.
