We have now watched the first three episodes. The reason this show works right now for me is the acting. I absolutely believe in every character they have brought into the show so far. Every performance so far has been great.

The ending was awesome. :popcorn:

I only have the last episode to go, but Orange is the New Black is undoubtedly the best thing Netflix has done! It is just such an utterly fantastic show with a different POV from just about everything that has come before it. Just fantastic storytelling and a great use of flashbacks to flesh out the characters and show a different side of prison.

Better get nominated for Emmy's next year!

The 9 Emmy nominations make House of Cards the "signature show". Though it is slightly hamstrung by the fact that it's only going 2 seasons.

I think Orange is the New Black is what Netflix is really looking for, an HBO/Showtime quality show that will go for a number of seasons. House of Cards was the forerunner to get people used to quality on Netflix, but they want shows that run for a few years, I think.

Triple dola, btw this is what Dogget (aka Pennsatucky) looks like in real life (well, real-er life)...



Unreal.

Is it confirmed anywhere to only get 2 seasons? I know that was all they signed for originally but I assumed they could make more seasons if things went well.

Well, Netflix funded the first two seasons for $100 million. There is NO WAY they are going to continue making that type of investment per season on the show (that's Game of Thrones territory). Also I'm not sure if Kevin Spacey wants to necessarily commit to a long term TV show as opposed to staring in films.

We're through three episodes as well and feel the same way.

I work in a federal public defender's office. I have not yet seen Orange is the New Black. But several of my colleagues have, and they are commenting on how it is a pretty accurate portrayal of the system and how it is clear that the writers consulted someone who understands the federal criminal/Bureau of Prisons process.

Going to have to watch some Orange is the New Black on vacation methinks.

Well the woman who wrote the story WAS in prison, its based on her memoirs i believe.

I really like Orange and am now at episode 10. Two things though.

First, I hate the intro with a passion. No idea why anyone thought that was a good idea. And second, I hate the main character. Maybe things will change, but she's just so whiny and self-absorbed. We get it, prison sucks and you miss out on things. Why make everyone in your life feel like shit over it?

I feel like I'm rooting against her half the time.

Im dying to find out what Red did to get in prison.

I don't think that's going about it wrongly :). I think on some level we are supposed to identify Piper as narcissistic. One of the fun parts, IMO, is to realize that Piper may be a worse person than people who are doing time for greater crimes.

Yes, this. I didn't know this until after I finished watching season 1. I loved the season and even though I knew a crazy ending was coming thanks to Izulde's Facebook, it wasn't the crazy ending I expected.

If you want the book, Amazon Kindle link (other versions selectable from there): Amazon.com: Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison eBook: Piper Kerman: Kindle Store

/tk

By the end I just realized she uses everyone. And when she is nice to someone, it's almost entirely done because it gets her something in return.

But I'm not sure if that is what the writers were going for. I wonder if what they were going for is that everyone wants Piper to be something that she's not. And that this will be her finding herself despite all these bad people in her life trying to mold her into what they want.

It's not a knock on the show or anything, I just wonder if the writers were trying to make her an unsympathetic character or it just turned out that way by chance.

Just finished first season of OINB. Just a fantastic show with awesome characters.

I'm four episodes in, and it is a little bit more graphic than needed, but I like it quite a bit.

The graphic part gets toned down the more you go in my opinion.

This show is awesome. I binge-watched it during my vacation at night and it's just...great. I think since it's prison Jenji's "absurdity" seems a bit more believable than it did on Weeds (since most of us don't know about the reality of the inside of a prison), and the characters, even the minor ones, are so well fleshed-out by the actresses and the flashbacks that you really come to care for them.

Still have one or two episodes left in the season to watch tonight.

Absolutely loved OITNB. Very well done show.

The only episode I've seen is (not at all a spoiler) the one where everyone's looking for the chicken, so you can imagine my confusion when I hear on here and on Twitter about how intense the show gets. Bad timing, I guess :).

First half of Breaking Bad season 5 will apparently turn up on Netflix tomorrow. I knew being too cheap to pay $21 for the season pass would work out for me.

Netflix to Stream ‘Breaking Bad’ Season 5 Episodes in U.S. Starting Aug. 2 | Variety

Tons of new stuff up today if you are a fan of James Bond or Tom Cruise. Plus Titanic, The Breakfast Club, and Stargate.

http://instantwatcher.com/titles/new/1

I saw those Bond's coming with Amazon's sale on the full Blu Ray set of the Bond films yesterday!

Forget about all that stuff and watch MIAMI CONNECTION.

Love the intro song to OITNB. I've been humming it all day.

Oddly enough it generally makes me cringe. I like the quieter part of it but that's it.

Same here. I always skip it.

I just finished it. I'm curious to where season two goes. Whoever did casting can't get paid enough.

I'm amazed at how many of the people in the show have little to no TV/Movie experience.

Just fired up Continuum for the first time on Netflix. Interesting show...only like 30 minutes in so far, but I like it.

Just finished Orange is the New Black, I'm really impressed. No letdown episodes, numerous rich, interesting characters.

Minor "general direction" spoiler:




Some slightly more detailed thoughts:




Lastly, this is my first experience with the Netflix model. I don't like this "dump a whole season out there at once" idea. A good enough show will earn my time, and if a show is good enough half the fun is finding other people who like it to discuss each episode with. Releasing it like this really limits a lot of that, and I think it limits the amount of buzz and acclaim a show can get.

Casting spoiler...

Season 2 spoiler for OITNB

I really wish they'd get some new seasons of Top Gear on already.

Miami Connection.

I'm almost finished with season 5 of West Wing having never seen it when it was on. Great show and if the bar wasn't set so high by seasons 1-4, season 5 wouldn't even be bad -- but compared to the first four seasons it's dog dung.

How does Netflix get to call House of Cards a Netflix original when it is an American remake of a British classic also available on Netflix?

The remake is quite good, but as usual I prefer the original.

The same way they're calling Ricky Gervais "new" show an original when it already aired in the UK. The words "Netflix Original" appear to just be their brand and I think its incredibly misleading. I do think you could make the argument with house of cards though since they at least produced it and it is different but the term is fairly meaningless in the netflix world now.

Watched 'How to Die in Oregon'. Pretty good show and very thought-provoking stuff. Kind of weird to watch the people in the show fully knowing that they will eventually kill themselves.

Telle and I just finished season 1 of "The Newsroom" and I gotta say I love the show. I was cheering at the end of the season ender. Looking forward to catching up on season 2 now.

What? So The Office (US) can't be called an original show? Its not a re-airing of the previous show, it's based on it but very different. Do you think that CW shouldn't call "Arrow" an original series since its based off a comic book?

New season of The League is up.

Just watched Knuckleball!

Pretty cool, didn't realize Wakefield was a converted 1B or that Dickey was a traditional power pitcher but then doctor's found he didn't have a UCL and so he had to change his game.

Just finished watching a great documentary called 'Serving Life'. Tells the story of hardened felons who volunteer to be hospice workers for dying inmates.

Watched that the other night, pretty interesting

New episodes of Walking Dead (Season 3) and Continuum (Season 2) are now up on Netflix.

John Caparulo's new standup routine was hysterical. In addition, the movie Safety Not Guranteed stars a bunch of people that are well liked and known in a very unique and enjoyable movie.

For those of you who missed it the first go around (like me) you can now watch Sharknado on the instant player.

I found Four Year Plan., a documentary on Queen Park Rangers efforts to secure promotion to the English Premier League a very good watch.

I've finished watching Jack Taylor, a one-series Irish show about an ex-cop turned private detective - a bit of the material is hackneyed but overall I felt they were very well done.

If you're into wine, Somm is an excellent documentary about some dudes trying to become master sommeliers. It's nuts what they have to do.

I'll have to watch this one. I know a couple of world-renown master sommeliers. I've heard it's borderline ridiculous.

Wrong thread

First 4 seasons of Dexter are up on Netflix. Last 4 come January 1st. It got bad at the end but the first couple seasons were good.


Going to watch it tonight. Thanks for the recommendation.

Just finished this. A fantastic watch. Now to fire up the old FM. :D

This was fun to watch. Ended up going to ESPN and checking up to see how well they did after filming was over.

I'll just say I have always wanted to have a winery, but I know soooooo little about wine other than the flavor I generally like. Couldn't begin to explain the notes and regions of a wine just by swishing it around and smelling it and examining the viscosity, etc. These guys can do it with what seems like 50% accuracy, which boggles my mind.

Thanks for the heads up on this - I watched it last night after seeing the recommendations here.

A must-watch for any FM fans, as it's almost entirely "back-room" stuff and truly fascinating stuff at that.

What's amazing to me is that the owners of the club are the ones that essentially funded this film and they come across as villains (speaking of Flavio Briatore and Gianni Paladini).

They seem absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to work for - hell, Neil Warnock had them at the top of the table, playing great football and they have that one loss to Watford and there's Paladini and Briatore acting like spoiled children and saying the coach sucks.

Just a fascinating piece. The son-in-law part owner (Amit Bhatia) comes across much, much better. Seems like a humble (yet very rich) guy and I could only imagine how tough it was for him to bite his lip when his two, hot-headed partners would spout off.

Highly recommended film.

BTW: just read up on Flavio a bit - he went out with Heidi Klum and fathered a child with her??? Shows what money can do...

It is amazing how quickly teams lose patience with their managers. :eek:

Laura Prepon May Be Returning to Orange Is the New Black for More Episodes - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com

good news!

I commented about that to the wife, while watching. I don't follow soccer, but is that normal? Makes American sports franchises look downright stable. :lol:

I've been racing through "Fringe" on netflix. It's not high quality tv, but it's watchable and has some good characters. Especially The Observer.

Kind of like X-Files and Lost met and had a baby, and the baby was Fringe.

I loved Fringe. Was very sad to see it go... though they ended it pretty cool :)

Somebody I work with who is a huge x-files nerd recommended Fringe, the fact it came to a proper end and wasnt canceled mid-season was what got it onto my watch list.

I finally managed to get through all 13 episodes of "Orange Is The New Black." Great series. I really enjoyed it.

Just finished Fringe yesterday...I enjoyed it very much. Loved that everything was wrapped up in the end.

Two down, eleven to go. Intrigued, but not yet sucked into "must race through season!" mode.

New House of Cards starts on Feb 14

Sad day for me as I finished up Parks and Recs. I absolutely love that show. Each character was great!

Parks and Rec is still ongoing, and you can catch up on this season's episodes if you have Hulu+

The final 8 episodes of Breaking Bad really need to be added.

I'm waiting for these to be added before I start my binge watching. I've never watched the show.

I can't judge season 5 yet, but 1 was very good with 2-4 being a hell of a run.

I was the same way when I watched a few months ago. Good, not great early on, but it really gathers steam mid-season and then finishes strong.

+1

+2

Very, very good documentary.

You might as well get started now. I mean, no hyperbole, it's the greatest show ever.

I noticed that the other day. It's tempting...Are there any major differences between NF & Hulu?

Netflix airs their first original documentary next week (on the 12th if memory serves). The Short Game has some buzz and according to Variety could get a look during Oscar season.

Biggest difference is that Hulu+ is better overall for TV shows IMO. The current seasons in particular is a big draw for people who don't have cable, like me.

Netflix is vastly superior when it comes to movies. In fact, I can't remember the last time I watched a movie on Hulu+, unless it was one of the Criterion Collection films.

Watched those as well. I really enjoyed them…they were a bit cliched at times, but still solid acting and worth the view.

Good to know about Hulu. I downgraded my cable to the lowest tier ever since I got Netflix.
Now I'm going to grab Hulu + :)

Just noticed while browsing the listings that all seasons of Dexter will be available on Netflix starting in January. Previously, only seasons 1-4 were available. Pretty excited to burn through that entire series.

The other big difference is ads during the shows on Hulu+, unless that changed recently...

That's why we got rid of Hulu+ - "why am I paying for this service if I still have to see &*(% ads!"

+1. A paid service that still has ads is a non-starter for me, regardless of what they offer.

Louie Season 3 is pure gold.

Short Game was pretty good.

IMO, this view is completely silly. Cable is a paid service that still has ads.

Anyways, I just started Hulu+, and its been great for me. I have heard great things about "Sleepy Hollow", but I didn't DVR it because the premise seemed dumb. So, I was able to go back and watch some eps. I also plan to do this with Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Also it saved me a bit when I recorded an episode of glee on my Tivo, but the signal was too garbled. I just fired up the Hulu+ (on Chromecast) and watched it there.

You might be better off just stopping at season 4. I wouldn't say the remaining seasons aren't worth watching at all if you have the time, but expectations need to be toned way way down. And that's before we even get until the final season.