+- The Purge (https://thepurge.net/forum)
+-- Forum: Public (https://thepurge.net/forum/forum-5.html)
+--- Forum: Off Topic (https://thepurge.net/forum/forum-17.html)
+--- Thread: When and when not to watch (/thread-7344.html)
When and when not to watch - Vllad - 09-30-2009
I stopped watching TV years ago however I am finding that just buying the entire season and watching doesn't always work either.
Some shows need a week between episodes and some you are better watching back to back.
Shows that are good and should only be seen on DVD box sets
Lost- The show is to boring and complicated to wait a week or months between episodes.
Any Star Trek Series- The huge history and lore really shines when seen in bulk. Even Enterprise is better especially season three when watched in bulk.
Both SG Series- It is to dry for television but watching it all in bulk it is very entertaining.
Buffy the Vamp/Angel- I couldn't have been more bored by teenage bull shit while on TV. Watching them both in bulk really showed how good Josh Wedon is.
Shows that are good and should only be watched on TV
24- My god Jack Bower is irratating. I can't even make it through some seasons. If I have to hear Jack say the word "NOW!" 70 times in 6 hours of marathoning I just can't take it. If they create one more US President that wants to the destroy the world I will just vomit.
Supernatural- A show with tons of potential but when your two main male characters cry as much as they do I start to check for breast or make sure I am not watching BSG. Watching the episodes back to back just make you want to punch the main charactes in the face.
Hero's- To many irratating dumb ass characters that repeat the same ole dumb shit via Supernatural. It needs to breath in order to enjoy it.
Shows that are good no matter what
X-Files/Millenium- Millenium may be the best show ever created for TV. Ironically both shows are written by Chris Carter.
The Office- Who doesn't want to laugh for 5 hours straight.
Vllad
Re: When and when not to watch - Snowreap - 09-30-2009
I do not feel like anything was lost watching these shows for the first time on DVD:
Firefly
Battlestar Galactica
-ken
Re: When and when not to watch - Slamz - 09-30-2009
Yeah, I've had a similar discussion with friends before too. Lost, for example, I simply could not watch on TV. It was too annoying waiting weeks (sometimes months) between episodes with a fairly complicated story involved. When you can sit and watch it all in marathon mode, though, it's fantastic.
I hadn't really thought about the other way around, but it probably says something that I got Heroes on DVD and never finished it. I'd have probably liked it more by watching it 1 episode per week.
Re: When and when not to watch - Breand - 09-30-2009
Yeah when you watch 24 in one sitting you realize what a heaping pile of bullshit the show is. Spreading it out lessens the impact.
Lost is definitely a boxset watch but Im too much of a fan to do that. I did watch the 1st two seasons that way tho.
Mad Men is a great episodic show. i did watch the first season on BluRay, and tho I loved it, Im not sure it's fast paced enough to absorb in one sitting.
Re: When and when not to watch - Thudz - 09-30-2009
Shows that I recommend...
Best on DVD...
Fringe - Today's XFiles made by the makers of Lost.
Dexter - Possibly the best series ever. Good guy serial killer cop. On Showtime.
Can be watched weekly...
Dollhouse - SciFi eye candy brought to you by Joss Whedon.
Re: When and when not to watch - Jakensama - 09-30-2009
Dexters great, but best series ever will remain the Wire.
I would have liked Fringe more on TV I think, watching them back to back just made me realize how formulaic each episode is and get bored halfway through the first series.
House is formulaic too, but because he is such a funny asshole the show doesn't get old regardless.
With Vllad on Lost, I got into the game late and watched the first 4 seasons all in marathon sitting and they were great. Waiting week to week definately diminished the quality of the show, but I have to see how it ends so I wont put it off till its finished now.
Re: When and when not to watch - Breand - 09-30-2009
I love Joss Whedon but I could not for the life of me get into Dollhouse. I love me some Eliza Dushku but she's not a good enough actress to pull off playing someone different every week.
I tried Fringe but didnt like the first few episodes. I heard it got a lot better tho.
I never saw the Wire, would love to see it tho, heard it's amazing.
Re: When and when not to watch - Jakensama - 10-01-2009
Dude, rent the box set or netflix it or whatever, I've never recommended it to someone who didn't absolutely love it.
The only caveat is the first couple episodes are a tad slow because they are introducing everyone, so you have to just trust me and sit through, by 4 you'll love it
The theme of the show will go over well with this crowd, it is about organization disfunction - specifically in government organizations (police, politicians, schools) and the liberal media (the baltimore sun). Also to some extent in drug gangs and unions.
Re: When and when not to watch - Fretty - 10-01-2009
I have to disagree about Lost.
I watch that show and I find that watching it on DVD just gets to be "too much".
I prefer to maybe watch a couple episodes, but then I need a break. It has a LOT of soap opera elements, in the sense that characters just don't say things or do things that would make perfect sense and cause a LOT less trouble for themselves or other characters. Watching 3 episodes in a row from last season wondering "why is her damn nose bleeding???" got annoying, especially when she'd flat out ASK why and damn Daniel would just have a soap opera close up, queue music, end scene...ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
After the second episode I was ready to throw my damn DVD's across the room.
I mean, it was obvious the time travel jumps were causing it, but WHY exactly, did it have a larger overall meaning...and so on.
I love the show, but too much at once and I just go batty.
I find pretty much any other show can be watched on DVD, as I try not to watch things I don't like, so as long as I like what I'm watching, I can keep on watching. =)
Re: When and when not to watch - Hoofhurr - 10-01-2009
Hasn't been a show mentioned that I didn't like to some degree. No tv show has really blown me away.
Fringe was starting to annoy me because the one dude always explained the science stuff his dad was saying as if he was a translator. I found that patronizing and predictable. His lines are like footnotes and once you notice it, it's hard to ignore.
Lie to Me is a show based on a really good premise. I watch it online as it comes out every eek. The science of micro-expressions is simply fascinating in its own right and I have hopes that they develop the characters and start to sew the episodes together in a more contiguous storyline.
Mental is annoying to me. It's a house rip-off and the acting and story fall short.
I liked Life on Mars a bit but they discontinued that.
TSCC got cancelled. That sucks. It was just warming up.
Dollhouse is getting better I think.
Sanctuary sucks.
Warehouse 13 is pretty lame too.
Eureka isn't bad.
Crusoe sucks.
The Office is funny.
Chuck is pretty funny too for some reason I still can't figure out.
Grey's Anatomy is good too. Makes me cry. WTF?
I like Cash Cab and Deadliest Catch.
Like most of the history channel shows whenever I can get a second to watch them.
I really like football.
I really like top chef and Hell's Kitchen. Actually I like Kitchen Nightmares the most.
I've been watching Weeds with my girlfriend. It started off good and then somewhere in the 2nd/3rd season transition it started to suck.
I love true blood and Entourage.
I can't stand anything on MTV or VH1 anymore. Although I used to like the Real world on occasion.
Lost is good.
Niptuck I can't really watch anymore.
Eastbound and Down was lame.
I don't watch any of the late shows.
I don't watch SNL or similar shows.
And I think that's it.
Oh The Listener wasn't actually half bad if watched consecutively.
Friday Night Lights was really good too in marathon mode.
I think I like tv better than movies. In the same way that I like books better than comics or something more episodic; or Trilogies better than stand alone novels. The more involved the lore, back story, and characters the more I like it, with the exception of those books like the Wheel of Time where you just wish they'd wrap it up.
Buffy the VSlayer was really good but I'm glad they ended it when they did.
Merlin sucks too btw.
Ghost Hunters used to be good but they almost never catch anything and frankly I wish they'd do a really thorough study of one place than travel to a zillion locations never catching anything.
Lobstermen sucks.
IceRoad Truckers sucks.
Millenium seemed like a really good show but I only caught a couple of episodes.
John Doe seemed like a good show that never got anywhere.
Prison Break seemed like it would have done better in Marathon mode.
I really liked Alias. Jennifer Garner as a spy. Not bad methinks.
Dark Angel was weird but watchable. Jessica Alba!
My god what would I look like if I didn't go to the gym and watch my diet.
Re: When and when not to watch - Jakensama - 10-01-2009
Quote:I've been watching Weeds with my girlfriend. It started off good and then somewhere in the 2nd/3rd season transition it started to suck.
Yeah but Nancy becomes kinda whorish later on and seeing Mary Louise Parker naked is always a plus. That is a hot old lady.
Re: When and when not to watch - Moristans - 10-01-2009
Scrubs is another show I can sit down and watch back to back to back on dvd.
Re: When and when not to watch - Vllad - 10-01-2009
Watch Millenium in marathon mode. The series got canceled before it could go where it was going. It actually wrapped up in some X-files episodes but as long as you know that is going to happen it reduces the frustration of not concluding.
I think it is the best written show I have ever seen made for TV. Frank Black is great.
Vllad
Re: When and when not to watch - Slamz - 10-01-2009
Any sci-fi fans that haven't watched Babylon 5 should check that out. Older sci-fi series. 5 seasons. It's a pretty good one for marathon mode as well. I think most "continuous storyline" shows are best watched back to back so the previous episode is fresh in your mind, whereas "stand alone" shows can kind of go either way.
Re: When and when not to watch - Jakensama - 10-01-2009
I've been meaning to watch B5, I just never liked it in high school when it ran at first because I thought the CGI battles looked shit and I prefered DS9. But I hear watching the whole run is pretty good.
Re: When and when not to watch - Fretty - 10-01-2009
B5 was one of the best written sci-fi shows I have ever seen. The beginning (like most shows) starts a little slower, as it's all about character and universe development.
The B5 writers were later hired to work on DS9, at the exact point that the show started to get really good. So if you liked DS9 when it turned into a continuous story, then you'll love B5.
Re: When and when not to watch - Slamz - 10-01-2009
B5 CGI is a mixed bag.
Star Trek used models for a long time, which basically meant that space battle scenes were really limited. Lots of shots of the crew pretending to be on a shaking, tilting bridge because it was too expensive to do ship battles with a bunch of models in front of a green screen.
B5 CGI doesn't look nearly as good or realistic as Star Trek's model based special effects, but the good news is that they could easily render much longer scenes of much bigger fights.
What I really liked, though, was that B5 was a 4 year story that was given 4 years to tell it. None of this BSG bullshit where half of the story gets dropped on the floor and lost because they apparently had no plan beyond the first year or two. ("We're still funded? Oh shit! We need to write something!") The whole thing wraps up nicely at the end of the 4th season.
There's actually 5 seasons, though. They ended up getting an extra year to do with as they would and the 5th season basically proves that they could have gone on to write a lot more quality material if they'd had another 4 years.
Re: When and when not to watch - Fretty - 10-01-2009
Oh, and Hung on HBO is a great series. It just wrapped up it's first season a couple weeks ago, but anyone who likes original HBO or Showcase dramadies (Entourage, Californication, Weeds, etc.) definitely needs to check it out.
Re: When and when not to watch - Veraphim - 10-01-2009
Blhurr Wrote:Dollhouse is getting better I think.
I'm really liking Dollhouse. It started out slow, but I kept watching because I'm a fan of Whedon. It got a lot better as time went on. I recall Buffy being that way - I didn't really get into that until about season 3.
FYI, the Dollhouse season finale is ONLY available on the DVDs. It was not aired because of the contract deal with FOX - They bought 12 episodes and the pilot counted as one of them, but was then scrapped and rewritten but the original unaired one still counted. So together with the rest of the season, the finale made the total episode count of 13, and FOX wouldn't air it... or something like that. But they stuck it on the DVDs.
It's pretty good. If you don't get the DVDs you can probably find a torrent for it somewhere.
BtVS and X-Files boxed sets are the favorites of my DVD collection.
Re: When and when not to watch - Hoofhurr - 10-01-2009
Hmm. I only watched the series from the fox website and I thought they aired a very finale seeming episode on there. Alpha kidnaps Echo etc? I'll have to look into this.
Re: When and when not to watch - Vllad - 10-01-2009
B5 was originally written for a 5 year run. Before the 4th season they were warned by UPN? that the 5th season had been canceled. They cut some corners on the story and wrapped it up however towards the end of season 4 they received word that UPN wanted to extend it one more season. By that time it was to late to go back. There is a couple of B5 movies that put some material back in that they entended to cover as part of what they thought season 5 would be.
Since my hatred for the south is so strong I am sure you can imagine my thoughts on True Blood.
Dexter was a great show the first season. Each season since is just an exact copy of the first. It got old fast.
Vllad
Re: When and when not to watch - Veraphim - 10-01-2009
Hoofhurr Wrote:Hmm. I only watched the series from the fox website and I thought they aired a very finale seeming episode on there. Alpha kidnaps Echo etc? I'll have to look into this.
Yeah, that is that last of what was aired on TV and Hulu/FOX. The actual season finale is titled "Epitaph I" and was only aired on TV in Singapore via some pay-per-view thingy. It's on the DVDs though. Felicia Day is in it.
Re: When and when not to watch - Diggles - 10-01-2009
No Southpark, Family Guy, Robot Chicken or Aqua Teen Hunger Force?
Re: When and when not to watch - Thudz - 10-01-2009
Diggles Wrote:No Southpark, Family Guy, Robot Chicken or Aqua Teen Hunger Force?
I've met the guys that do ATHF.
Re: When and when not to watch - Hoofhurr - 10-02-2009
Family Guy Rocks. Forgot about that one. The Cleveland Show is interesting. I'm not even sure what to think about it yet.