let's talk about tv shows itt

someone should give christopher moltisanti another vehicle because he's cute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDPIK7Fz_g4

I didn't watch any tv forever and then I discovered Parks & Recreation and I love this show!

hooray! the other day my sisters and i made our mom watch like six episodes from season 2 (basically any episode louis ck was in), and now she's a total convert, too. so excited for her to get to season three and see "ron and tammy 2".

also my youngest sister has got us watching the whole series of avatar: the last airbender. i had heard good things about it secondhand, but i'm really charmed and impressed by how fun and funny it is without being pandering or try-hard at all.

av clubs top 30

oh man homeland huh this is really p good but gd lynne reed ;_;

god i know that fucking storyline. this show is p depressing imo.

srsly... everyone is so broken and desperate. but i was impressed that they made a p minor character seem so impt in just a couple of episodes partic bcuz she was so obv doomed after the stupid chief signed her death warrant. (cmon claire danes gets results!)

That A.V. Club list is one of the more interesting I've seen this year, and I definitely agree that their top four are the four best shows currently(-ish) on TV (if, perhaps, in a slightly different order). I'm a little puzzled by the Boss diss, but I'm glad to see Men Of A Certain Age show up. It was a quality, low-key show that's sadly probably going to be lost to the ages after two brief and, y'know, low-key seasons.

I don't think Time's ten best episodes of the year list has popped up here yet. I definitely agree with the selection of the episodes that I've seen, but I keep feeling the need to draw special attention to "You're Getting Old" (and the follow-up episode, "Ass Burgers"). I think there was some discussion of it on the non-sandbox board. If you're a general fan who's fallen off the South Park bandwagon, I'd highly recommend checking these episodes out. Existential and bleak and introspective in a way South Park usually isn't. But still funny.

it seems p questionable to list any episode of curb as one of the ten best of the year but to then not make it palestinian chicken is just smh

On my podcast I gave "You're Getting Old" the "Best episode of a show not on your top ten" award. It really is something else. ("Ass Burgers" was great too but makes for a much sillier-sounding mention.)

Has there been any discussion of Life's Too Short 'round these parts? It's apparently gotten negative reviews and really poor ratings, but that seems to be mostly Britisher backlash towards Ricky Gervais's public persona. Which I understand but don't really sympathize with. Especially as I think it was an improvement on Extras.

what podcast is that? i've been looking for new tv podcasts...

as a newly created too late terriers fanboy, i am sad to see it not making these lists

xp I co-host this. Our end-of-year wrap up ep won't be up till next Tuesday, though.

The entirety of Terriers aired in 2010.

thanks!

oh well that makes sense then

I'm glad to see Men Of A Certain Age show up. It was a quality, low-key show that's sadly probably going to be lost to the ages after two brief and, y'know, low-key seasons.

I LOVED that show

watching the last years doctor who and omg the reveal who river song is and then the next episode is called 'let's kill hitler'! i always forget about this show because i work saturdays but it is possibly the most fun thing on tv.

On my podcast I gave "You're Getting Old" the "Best episode of a show not on your top ten" award. It really is something else.

I think this might be the best episode of any show on the air this year that isn't Louie. Or maybe I just relate to it too much.

Life's Too Short was abysmal.

I haven't watched that but I suspected it would be bad? Ricky Gervais seems so insufferably smug lately in everything he has worked on.

Smug, lazy, sub Jim Davidson shite with a protective layer of "irony"

That's...just baffling to me. I mean, it was nowhere near The Office (not much is), but I thought it was largely quite funny. Based on what I've read thus far, there's been a real schism between reactions in the UK and reactions in the US (it'll be interesting to see how it does once it's actually released in the States). Which seems to lend a lot of credence to the belief that a lot of the negative reaction towards Life's Too Short is really just an expression of exhaustion towards Ricky Gervais in general. There are certainly valid criticisms of the show, but writing it off as an awful program full stop just seems really reactionary. Like, if it had been created by some unknown, I feel like it probably would've seen heaps of praise.

Well it's difficult to divorce Gervais's work from his persona at this point but to me the majority of the show consisted of the exact same celebrities acting wacky shit which he's already done to death in Extras (oooh look Liam Neeson doing a standup routine about AIDS), with the rest consisting of the usual comedy of awkwardness stuff with Warwick Davis doing a Gervais impression in the middle of it. It so fucking tired.

and this show couldn't possibly have been created by an unknown, it's Gervaisian to its core.

I've been a bit of a Gervais apologist, but after the first coupld of episodes grace I've stopped watching each episode part way through – it's just weak – there was perhaps enough good material for an hour-long special, but even then that would have seemed poor in comparison with Extras.

I was kind of watching Life's Too Short because there was nothing else on but that wedding speech bit was just barrel-scraping at the absolute worst. Really, really terrible. Which is kind of a shame because there have otherwise been a few funny bits (mainly the gormless assistant, thinking back).

After some forgettable episodes it's nice to see Beavis and Butthead stronger than ever with "School Test"/"Snitchers"

which episode(s) of 30 for 30 should i download to watch on the plane?

vlade
marcus dupree
iverson
ricky williams

^all dope

thanks, just went for ricky williams for now, took longer to dl than i expected

kind of bummed about Bored To Death and Hung being canceled but that's almost balanced out by How To Make It In America also being canceled

sis and i watched the first "great expectations" episode, felt kinda rote and by-the-numbers. i want to like gillian anderson's childish miss havisham but it's not quite gelling for me. also lol at "beautiful estella" growing up to be kinda plain and "common pip" growing up to be Mr. Cheekbones.

Dad cannot stop watching cable reality shows aimed at guys. Like every damn night. Whenever I see these things I keep wondering how many onscreen characters have massive chemical dependencies. The two guys who do one of those pawn shows seem like they've just done a mound of blow each time before they talk to the camera.

Also, their constant talking to the camera drives me nuts.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwcor7Fok31qe8bp4o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1325261116&Signature=T8ecET%2BA%2B1NoZMenb178uLHUTxQ%3D

hey you guys (well some of you at least) were right, and happy endings is actually pretty good. also in the grand tradition of being late to the party and only watching good shit after its cancelled, i am burning my way through "life on mars" and its kinda incredible. "detroit 187" was ok but man between the pointless love story and the cramming of obv long form plot points towards the end it didnt really go well for me as a whole

Southland comes back soon too...

imo it's kind of fun to catch up on good short-lived shows after they're canceled, you know exactly how many episodes there are and savor each one, sometimes they work really well as a self-contained miniseries.

yeah terriers was def like that, and i think life on mars will be too.

i've been meaning to watch Life On Mars, a friend was big on the US version but i'm not sure if i should just go straight to the UK one?

is anyone bothering with Hell On Wheels? i'm vaguely tempted to try to catch up but i honestly bailed after one episode partly because i try to minimize the presence of COMMON, ACTOR in my life

im watching the us one, partially because netflix streaming, but also because from what i hear they knew about cancellation early on, and actually managed to do a fairly good job of making it self-contained and resolved.

also why pass up a chance to watch imperioli and keitel chow on scenery in the same show

sis and i watched the first "great expectations" episode, felt kinda rote and by-the-numbers. i want to like gillian anderson's childish miss havisham but it's not quite gelling for me. also lol at "beautiful estella" growing up to be kinda plain and "common pip" growing up to be Mr. Cheekbones.

nah, grown-up estella is super hawt. gillian anderson's miss havisham reminds me of a zonked out version of miranda richardson's queen elizabeth on blackadder. i quite like this so far.

i've been meaning to watch Life On Mars, a friend was big on the US version but i'm not sure if i should just go straight to the UK one?

I know a couple of people who loved the US version, but I thought the couple of episodes I watched were utterly moronic. The UK version has my favorite series finale of all time.

i watched the downton abbey xmas special yesterday

i feel bad cuz my bf really wants to watch downtown abbey but i reflexively skeptical eyebrow every mention of the show

so 'homeland' was p good but not really great, i thought, i feel like it never really hung together even if it was exciting to watch

Downton Abbey is definitely a very stereotypical BBC/PBS Upstairs Downstairsy Masterpiece Theater sort of deal, but it's so good! Suprisingly soapy and fun, lots of oh-snap dialog from Maggie Smith and others.

i feel like if i made a list of things i hate about downton abbey it would be 10x as long as the list of things i like about it, and yet im like totally addicted