What non-sci-fi TV did you watch today?

[Bajka20]

Desperate Housewives s7/ep1

[Leeta]

Sky News

[DigiFluid]

Conan 2010/12/02
Kardashian Fembots (THERE. ARE. FOUR. LIGHTS!)
Kevin Nealon
Musical: Deerhunter




Also in response to a question above, Boardwalk Empire is awesome. Perhaps not quite as awesome as other HBO fare, but excellent nonetheless.

[chocolate_muffin]

Misfits 2.04

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Burn Notice 4.15 Brotherly Love

[Thunderstorm]

Also in response to a question above, Boardwalk Empire is awesome. Perhaps not quite as awesome as other HBO fare, but excellent nonetheless.

I think it's better than other HBO fare, but then I haven't cared for an HBO series since OZ (which ended 7 yrs ago)

[DigiFluid]

I think it's better than other HBO fare, but then I haven't cared for an HBO series since OZ (which ended 7 yrs ago)

I loved Oz, but it went pretty off-the-rails in the last few episodes.

As much as I enjoyed Oz though, I do tend to think of it as the 'beta' for future HBO hourlong dramas. It was good, but I think they learned a lot from it that allowed its future productions to be better. The Sopranos, The Wire, Carnivale, Deadwood, Rome--all series that were made better simply by the virtue of not being first.

Boardwalk Empire, I find, is in much the same vein. It's a cut above what they accomplished in Oz. But I don't think they've managed to achieve quite the same consistency of quality and exciting storytelling as the other shows I mentioned above.

[Thunderstorm]

I loved Oz, but it went pretty off-the-rails in the last few episodes.

the whole last season sadly, but the last few even more so. Was there something in the contract that said we have to kill everybody off.

As much as I enjoyed Oz though, I do tend to think of it as the 'beta' for future HBO hourlong dramas. It was good, but I think they learned a lot from it that allowed its future productions to be better. The Sopranos, The Wire, Carnivale, Deadwood, Rome--all series that were made better simply by the virtue of not being first.

This is where we have different tastes because I wouldn't recommend those to anyone. I'd put Sopranos on a most overrated list. Carnivale I wouldn't say was bad but I just couldn't get into it. Rome started out good but about half way thru the 1st season it went downhill and I quit watching. Never watched much of the wire but I got the feeling it was another of those the bad guy is the hero - watch it because bad cops are cool which I detest with all my breath. So if it was something different and it comes on tv again I'll gvie it a chance.

[DigiFluid]

Never watched much of the wire but I got the feeling it was another of those the bad guy is the hero - watch it because bad cops are cool which I detest with all my breath. So if it was something different and it comes on tv again I'll gvie it a chance.

Yeah you kind of....completely missed the point on that one

[Thunderstorm]

Yeah you kind of....completely missed the point on that one

I just looked to see when it aired. And I think at that point I had become sick and tired of trying these HBO series only to have another I couldn't stand. And I had probably given up at that point. And also somewhere in there I didn't have cable for a couple years.

But I really loved OZ (at least the 1st 3 or 4 seasons. S5 was so-so and forget S6. It was one of my guilty pleasures as I couldn't tell my family I like it - my mom would be horrified if she knew I watched something like that. I have the 1st 2 seasons on DVD. If I had more money and the seasons weren't so expensive (at least last I looked), I buy S3 and 4.

[Pharaoh Atem]

storm chasers

[DigiFluid]

But I really loved OZ (at least the 1st 3 or 4 seasons. S5 was so-so and forget S6. It was one of my guilty pleasures as I couldn't tell my family I like it - my mom would be horrified if she knew I watched something like that. I have the 1st 2 seasons on DVD. If I had more money and the seasons weren't so expensive (at least last I looked), I buy S3 and 4.

They've come down a lot over the years. I managed to get them on sale for $20 apiece, but regular sale price isn't too too much more than that.

I just looked to see when it aired. And I think at that point I had become sick and tired of trying these HBO series only to have another I couldn't stand. And I had probably given up at that point. And also somewhere in there I didn't have cable for a couple years.

Sad...HBO routinely makes the best TV

The Wire is routinely (and quite correctly) hailed as the best show ever made. It's not about "bad cops" at all; what it is about is all the grey in narcotics law enforcement in Baltimore. They do an absolutely phenomenal job of portraying the law enforcement struggle from both sides, there really aren't totally pure or totally villanous. All the characters are three-dimensional people with goals and motivations all their own. Each season approaches the city from a different angle; the first year is to do with combatting the drug trade in the Projects, the second shifts focus to the Docks (where a lot of the drugs come into the city) and the blue-collar workers there's involvement in it, the third season looks more at the interrelationship of the political offices and the police force (the fine art of 'covering one's ass). Season 4 is by far the most compelling IMO, as it tackles the role of an underfunded and underappreciated education system's role in saving and failing to save young lives from the drug trade. The fifth and final year goes into the press' involvement in shaping public opinion with regards to crime.

This is the sort of show that city officials decry, while the regular joes (namely, the real-life Baltimore PD officers) endlessly praise as being an accurate depiction of what's involved in their work.


In fact, I'm going to start rewatching it right now!

[LoneStar1836]

I'd definitely recommend The Wire, TS.

I've never had HBO but the only other HBO series I've ever watched was The Sopranos (when it finally came to basic cable), which I enjoyed, but The Wire is some of the best tv I've ever watched.

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The Wire
Episode 1 The Target
Episode 2 The Detail
Episode 3 The Buys
Episode 4 Old Cases
Episode 5 The Pager
Episode 6 The Wire
Episode 7 One Arrest
Episode 8 Lessons



Why yes, I did just watch 8 consecutive episodes of The Wire. Why do you ask?

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The Wire
Episode 9 Game Day
Episode 10 The Cost
Episode 11 The Hunt
Episode 12 Cleaning Up
Episode 13 Sentencing