2016 TV Thread

[Thomkal]

Well guess its time to start a new thread here.

MTV, yes MTV, has a new show starting tomorrow based on Terry Brooks, Shannara series. expect lots of teenage sex I guess:

The Shannara Chronicles | Season 1 Episodes (TV Series) | MTV

[panerd]

Really looking forward to Billions and Westworld.

Not sure whether or not to get Hulu but loved 11-22-63 and really would like to check it out.

Taboo also sounds promising.

[Peregrine]

I loved the book 11-22-63 but not sure how a TV show based on it would turn out. Might be worth a watch.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I loved the book 11-22-63 but not sure how a TV show based on it would turn out. Might be worth a watch.

James Franco plays the lead. (Not sure if that makes it better or worse )

I've already been considering Hulu for The Man in the High Castle but haven't cared much for the adaptations of Dick's books outside of Blade Runner.

[Peregrine]

Think you mean Amazon Prime for Man in the High Castle - totally great show though.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Think you mean Amazon Prime for Man in the High Castle - totally great show though.

Yeah you are right. Guess that rules that one out, heh.

[panerd]

So about Amazon prime... Is there no other way to watch their exclusives then subscribe? My wife is a secondary prime member where we get the free shipping from her mom but not the video. $100 or whatever a year isn't worth it for just the show but it seems odd that they would offer no other way to watch it either. (At least with Netflix or Hulu you could subscribe for a few months at $10-20) I guess it will be out on DVD maybe at some point?

[Peregrine]

Pretty sure you can straight buy it but not sure how expensive it is.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Pretty sure you can straight buy it but not sure how expensive it is.

Yeah I looked this morning to see if that was possible and the only option seemed to be Amazon prime. Have about 4-5 other shows going right now anyways but the thought passed in my head to see how much it would cost to add it to my "queue".

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, it seems like you can buy each episode or (maybe) as a full season as you'd purchase any other show on Amazon Instant Video.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by panerd

Yeah I looked this morning to see if that was possible and the only option seemed to be Amazon prime. Have about 4-5 other shows going right now anyways but the thought passed in my head to see how much it would cost to add it to my "queue".

My Amazon has a "More Purchase Options" click on you can do on the page for a Prime show. Try that.

[ISiddiqui]

Oh wait.. that was just for Season 1 of Mozart in the Jungle... maybe you have to wait until a show gets to "selling" date... it's like its DVD date or something.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Oh wait.. that was just for Season 1 of Mozart in the Jungle... maybe you have to wait until a show gets to "selling" date... it's like its DVD date or something.

Yeah I guess it is a selling point of prime for now and then a way to make money a different way later on.

[stevew]

Just do a 1 month free trial and watch

[whomario]

Man in the High Castle is awesome. As for other options: There aren´t any and likely won´t be for a while as Amazon is using their shows as a selling point to their prime service. Overall, i think the 100 bucks are not all that much, but get why there´s little incentive if you have another streaming service already (well, hence the need to try and expand exclusive content ).

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Well guess its time to start a new thread here.

MTV, yes MTV, has a new show starting tomorrow based on Terry Brooks, Shannara series. expect lots of teenage sex I guess:

The Shannara Chronicles | Season 1 Episodes (TV Series) | MTV

I actually watched the first 2 episodes the other day and while it was far from great, it was also not horrible. Admittedly i read the books a while back and never actually was that invested in them, so maybe i´m less harsh than others. (i do think that choosing the 2nd book is a good decision)

It is totally obvious from the get-go that this is an MTV series, if i had to describe the optics in one word i´d go with "pretty". The young actors are not horrible, but you know that´s not why they got the job. Manu Bennett (from Arrow) has a good presence (and sounds eerily like Sean Connery, which is always a plus).
They are also trying very hard to jump on the Dystopia train, although i actually think the "easter eggs" in the shape of famous landmarks and/or technological advancement now in ruins was kinda charming. It does not bother at all with tiny stuff like logic (in terms of space/time especially with apparently a single horse ride leading you from desert to the ocean via lush forrests) and felt rushed as heck. Just way too much going on in the first couple episodes, especially the 2nd, with a lot of it serving very little narrative purpose. And the dialogue is at times legitimately cringe-worthy (my favourite: "You know it to be true" ).

But both in terms of sounds and visually its worthwhile (shooting in Hobbitland, ähm New Zealand doesn´t hurt) and feels very "earnest" in that no one is trying to hide the fact that its a fantasy show doing fantasy things in a fantasy world. And if you suspend disbelieve a little (and maybe the need to compare with the books) i think it could turn out to be a fun show to watch as a change of pace at least.

[RainMaker]

I just finished The Leftovers and that show is absolutely incredible.

[Peregrine]

I watched a few of the Leftovers when it first started then sort of left it- think I will pick it up again soon,

[Thomkal]

Colony starts tonight on USA (which is why I couldn't find anything about it on SyFY's site ) It looks very intriguing. An alien force (which we know next to nothing about at the beginning) invades and builds massive walls around LA and the surrounding areas (a la Donald Trump I guess ) Communication is cut off with the rest of the world, so we won't know if they control Earth now. Resisters are captured and disappear. Some humans become sympathesizers. others will become resistors. Unfortunately Lori from The Walking Dead co-stars but Josh Holloway from Lost seems to be the main character.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I just finished The Leftovers and that show is absolutely incredible.

"Will you make a wish? I think I may be a fraud."

[stevew]

Watching season 2 of the Affair. Show is great.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Colony starts tonight on USA (which is why I couldn't find anything about it on SyFY's site ) It looks very intriguing. An alien force (which we know next to nothing about at the beginning) invades and builds massive walls around LA and the surrounding areas (a la Donald Trump I guess ) Communication is cut off with the rest of the world, so we won't know if they control Earth now. Resisters are captured and disappear. Some humans become sympathesizers. others will become resistors. Unfortunately Lori from The Walking Dead co-stars but Josh Holloway from Lost seems to be the main character.

Not a bad start I think. My one concern is that they will concentrate too much on this one family, and not enough on who the aliens are, and what kind of control they have on the rest of Earth. Why did they choose the LA area to wall off? Great job on the wall. like how they have drones to fly over it, and where do they go, and to whom? Also curious as to the fate of the missing son.

[stevew]

Lori from the Walking Dead is a show killer to me.

[cubboyroy1826]

Really like the Shannara Chronicles so far. I read the books as a kid and will admit it is still one of my favorite series. This was really the first fantasy series I read which is probably why it holds a special place.

[Julio Riddols]

Originally Posted by stevew

Lori from the Walking Dead is a show killer to me.

I have barely watched the show at all, but they still haven't killed her dumb ass off?

[stevew]

Watched the pilot to Billions during the free Showtime weekend. It stars Paul Giamatti, Damien Lewis, Tara from Sons of Anarchy and others. Really good.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by stevew

Lori from the Walking Dead is a show killer to me.

honestly, I thought Josh Holloway was the bigger issue.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by stevew

Watched the pilot to Billions during the free Showtime weekend. It stars Paul Giamatti, Damien Lewis, Tara from Sons of Anarchy and others. Really good.

Yes I enjoyed the pilot a lot. Glad they made the characters more nuanced so that Lewis isn't just an evil rich guy though he is likely headed that way. I don't know about you but it's hard to take Tara as anything other than a biker chick for me.

[Thomkal]

So anybody see Legends of Tomorrow yet? Just watched it and it was okay. Already has one strike against it being a time travel story for me. Kind of lame they all fell for Rip Hunter's lies, but they don't exactly have a way of checking out his background story do they? Have to think there is a little more to Rip's reasons than just 7 characters that won't have much impact on the timeline-have to think there may be some other reasons they were chosen. Rip was kind of boring too.

Rest of the cast were okay, but clearly will need time to develop chemistry with each other. Seemed a bit forced on us at times-would like to see more conflict/differences between them. Funniest bit was when Prof Stein says he doesn't remember Atom as one of his students. Poor Ray.

anyone else's thoughts?

[thealmighty]

Black Sails starts a new season tomorrow on Starz if anyone watches it besides me.

[Thomkal]

X-Files is back Sunday night for a 6 week run on Fox.

The X-Files review – reboot gets off to a stuttering start then gains momentum | Television & radio | The Guardian

spoilers in that article-I've not read it yet

[RainMaker]

Just saw the trailer for this and looked interesting. Little wary of network TV but this is definitely something I'll check out as I'm a big Zach Gilford fan.

THE FAMILY Season 1 TRAILER (2015) New ABC Series - YouTube

[Thomkal]

freaky

[Scarecrow]

Enjoying the Lucifer soundtrack; the show's not that bad either.

[cartman]

Just found out this is coming to TV in March. I've read several of the Hap and Leonard books, so I'm really anticipating seeing this brought to life.

http://www.sundance.tv/series/hap-and-leonard

[RainMaker]

Fortitude is apparently on Amazon Prime now. Anyone seen it? Got some great reviews despite being on an unknown network.

Also still blown away by how good The Leftovers is. How is that show not bigger?

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Black Sails starts a new season tomorrow on Starz if anyone watches it besides me.

I had actually never heard of this show (Starz and all) but started watching the first season online and it's pretty damned good.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I had actually never heard of this show (Starz and all) but started watching the first season online and it's pretty damned good.

I feel like Black Sails improves significantly with a little time, so if you like it now it only gets better.

...I would hate to admit how long it took me to figure out that it's based around Long John Silver (and Captain Flint & Billy Bones, etc.) from Treasure Island.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I feel like Black Sails improves significantly with a little time, so if you like it now it only gets better.

...I would hate to admit how long it took me to figure out that it's based around Long John Silver (and Captain Flint & Billy Bones, etc.) from Treasure Island.

Well it's a weird mix of real life historical pirates (Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Hornigold etc) and the fictional ones.

[Butter]

Two thumbs up on FX's BASKETS. Worth it just for Louie Anderson alone, really.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I just finished The Leftovers and that show is absolutely incredible.

hey-

Spoiler

So I watched all of these in about a day and a half so maybe I didn't really get a chance to think about it much. Why did Meg rape Tom? Just cause she could? Also we're to believe that Meg visited Miracle before she entered the GR. Then she fostered a relationship with that girl that disappeared and it lead to her leaving? I think this season was great, but maybe didn't have the highs of season 1(specifically the stand alone Nora episode and Matt episode from season 1)

[PilotMan]

Two episodes in and I'm hooked on 11/22/63 on Hulu.

I read the book and the telling of it so far is solid. Very entertaining.

[BYU 14]

I am enjoying The Outsiders on WGN, kind of a 'Sons of Anarchy' meets 'Justified'.

They are doing a fairly good job building the characters at the moment, though some are pretty cliché. Definitely not a groundbreaking show, but it is different and entertaining. Weird watching Ryan Hurst (Opie) as somewhat wimpy after he was such a badass on SOA.

[whomario]

Anybody seen The Night Manager yet ? Have never read the novel, just watched the first 2 episodes with the rest sure to follow fast. Pretty impressive cast of course with Hiddleston and Laurie heading it up but also the usual incredible supporting british cast. Really liked the contrast in setting between the first episode (Arab spring in Egypt) and the second (lonely mountain resort in the Swiss Alpes), nice pacing as well and i generally enjoy these shorter series with a finished plot anyway.

[Professor58]

Originally Posted by whomario

Anybody seen The Night Manager yet ? Have never read the novel, just watched the first 2 episodes with the rest sure to follow fast. Pretty impressive cast of course with Hiddleston and Laurie heading it up but also the usual incredible supporting british cast. Really liked the contrast in setting between the first episode (Arab spring in Egypt) and the second (lonely mountain resort in the Swiss Alpes), nice pacing as well and i generally enjoy these shorter series with a finished plot anyway.

Wont air in the States until April 19th on AMC. Looking forward to see it.

[whomario]

Ah, ill be careful not to spoil anything then (or tag it). Watched it on amazon, so for the people with Prime i can definitely recommend it. Ep 3 was a bit contrived, but nothing too bad.

[whomario]

Really liked it throughout, although the last episode is pushing it in terms of the required "suspension of disbelieve" and veers into "Camp" in a way. The talk of Hiddleston doing "his Bond audition" is pure bullshit. Aside from the title sequence and the flashy optics, this is decidedly not a TV-Bond. Hiddleston is absolutely brilliant though, especially whenever he is allowed to really dig into his "shakespearian" tendencies (hey, he played a kickass King Henry in The Hollow Crown series and a much applauded Coriolanus on stage), f.e. the Restaurant scene or the opening episode in Kairo. Terrific actor, hope he avoids stinkers like the Hank Williams biopic in the future.

Hugh Laurie gets his shining moment in the Turkey/Syria episode, but gets done a disservice in the final episode.

Anyway, series has his flaws but overall its 6 hours of character drived, yet fast-paced TV with absolutely stunning visuals. Highly recommended.



I also just saw the 2nd season of Bosch on Amazon. First season was prerry good but felt a bit empty at times, the second corrects that by upping the pace just a bit and having way fewer exposition scenes. Cast is awesome. Not just Welling as Bosch (smartly updated from the novel) but basically all roles are great. Fans of the Wire will find Lance Reddicks character pretty funny (he´s basically playing the same character, only after making rank) while Jamie Hector plays a convincing younger Partner to Bosch (also, Ziggy is in).

The plot is pretty good, i was especially impressed how it held my interest even after the initial reveal and showdown. Cinematography is impressive as well like it was in season 1, but makes even better use of the contrast between the "lightness" of California and the night scenes.

[GrantDawg]

Love on Netflix was a funny, quirky show. It is about a relationship developing between two people whose lives are train-wrecks in different ways. Really enjoyed it.

Flaked got one episode and a pass. It wasn't funny at all. Maybe it would have gotten better, but there was just nothing likable about the episode to make me want to continue watching.

The Ranch was just weird. Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Sam Elliot all makes you want to watch. The show has a "Two and Half Men" feeling to it, which is very strange for a Netflix show. It has a freekin' laugh track. I mean, come on! Still, I watched the whole season and probably will watch it again just because of the cast. It isn't a great show by any stretch, though.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by cartman

Just found out this is coming to TV in March. I've read several of the Hap and Leonard books, so I'm really anticipating seeing this brought to life.

http://www.sundance.tv/series/hap-and-leonard

The season finale ran last night. It was a short 6 episode season. I enjoyed the series, it did a good job of telling the story that was in the first Hap and Leonard book, 'Savage Season'. Hopefully it does get picked up for a second season.

[stevew]

SMG to reprise her role from Cruel Intentions in a new NBC pilot. I am so totally game, even if it will perhaps be sanitized for network TV.

[TroyF]

I just finished racing through The Man in the High Castle. Man, I loved that show. I know they are filming season 2. I'm all in. I need to read the book it is based on now.