OT: New Fall Series

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:13 pm

I love 30 Rock as well. Wouldn't consider myself a huge Baldwin fan, but I find his character on this show fascinating. I still chuckle every time I think of him "expecting a page from 1983".

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:18 pm

Zeppo wrote:BTW the only other new show I really dig is 30 Rock.

Heroes and 30 Rock are also the only two new shows I watch as well, though I only go out of my way to catch Heroes. I like Rock, but don't view it as a must see.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:20 pm

Slumberland wrote:I love 30 Rock as well. Wouldn't consider myself a huge Baldwin fan, but I find his character on this show fascinating. I still chuckle every time I think of him "expecting a page from 1983".

I've always liked him OK, but never really loved him. In this show, he is just brilliant! He's also consistently good whenever he's on SNL; isn't he the guy who's hosted the most? Him or Walken, it has to be. Point is, he is very, very good at comedy, and goes whole hog in this role. Really great stuff!

I forgot: The 'page from 1983' was great, that whole interaction with him and the 'rat king' was funny as hell. But the bit where they saw the footage of his corporate shoot, after Lemon decided he should be on the show after seeing the final version? Holy cow, that had me in stitches! "This is weird; I never thought about what to do with my arms before."

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:38 pm

Well not technically new but they don't run it every year or start in the fall but The Wire season 4 has been terrific as usual.

Dexter has been great too and looking forward to Sleeper Cell: American Terror. It's like 24 with brains. But they're starting to promo 24 again too.

The final Prime Suspect aired a couple of weeks ago. Brilliant again.

Friday Night Lights, Studio 60, 30 Rock, Ugly Betty have all been good. Office isn't new but it's terrific. Enjoy it every bit as much as the UK Office. Those who look down their noses at it aren't being open-minded.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:06 pm

wco81 wrote:Those who look down their noses at it aren't being open-minded.

I've watched it the NBC version of "The Office." It's different than the BBC version, and I prefer the BBC version.

What's closed-minded about that?

Take care,
PK

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:46 pm

I got up to speed on "Ugly Betty" over the weekend. Hugely entertaining and very smartly written. Quite the surprise, IMO.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:08 pm

Just finished watching the first 5 episodes of Heroes all in one sitting and holy freaking crap what a show so far, I love it!
It's definitely on my short list of must see shows now along with Lost, great show.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:26 pm

On a somewhat related note... any of you mac people know of a way to convert avi files to wmv? I've got some shows to catch up on, and I'd love to be able to take the torrents and stream them to my 360.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:03 pm

I know ffmpegx will convert AVI to MPEG2.

But WMV is a proprietary format so it might require a Microsoft or Microsoft-supported solution.

They stopped development of WMP for Mac well over a year ago and then said some third-party company would do some work so that WMV 10 and later would be played back on the Mac somehow.

Not sure about WMV format support though.

You could go to versiontracker.com and search for WMV or something like transcode.

I thought you needed a PC running Windows or Windows Media Center Editiion to stream to the 360?

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:05 pm

wco81 wrote: I thought you needed a PC running Windows or Windows Media Center Editiion to stream to the 360?

No.

EDIT: Oops! here it is:

http://www.nullriver.com/

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:44 pm

While I think Heroes is a good show, the best new show IMO is Friday Night Lights. I thought it was average after the first couple of episodes but as the season has gone on it's really turned into something special. I like how they took the focus off of the football games and put it on the people. I was afraid every episode was going to end with the game being played but that's not what happened at all. The acting on the show is top notch as well. I'm very surprised that the cast is so good considering most of them are so young.

I'm still a fan of Studio 60. I've never watched a Sorkin show before so it's fresh to me.

Jericho has been pretty cool too. It's a nice mindless change of pace for me and has the cheesy quality of MacGyver.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 1:59 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:While I think Heroes is a good show, the best new show IMO is Friday Night Lights. I thought it was average after the first couple of episodes but as the season has gone on it's really turned into something special. I like how they took the focus off of the football games and put it on the people. I was afraid every episode was going to end with the game being played but that's not what happened at all. The acting on the show is top notch as well. I'm very surprised that the cast is so good considering most of them are so young.

Agree on all counts. "Friday Night Lights" has hooked me since the opening minutes of the first episode.

NBC needs to convince the masses that this is a show about human relationships with a football backdrop, not vice-versa. It's almost criminal that a show this good suffers from low ratings.

Take care,
PK

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 2:49 pm

Jericho, I like a lot, but it has an amateurish feel to it. It's a lot of fun to me, though, a neat little 'what if' adventure, with a whole bunch of compelling characters. There are enough logical holes to drive a fleet of trucks through, but it's a fun ride.

I thought FNL started great, but the middle few episodes showed the real weaknesses of shooting scenes built on improvisational acting. Some of the plot lines started to get a little thin and predictable, but then WHAM a few episodes ago something clicked into place. I do wish there were a bit more football in the football, that is, I wish they could be more specific with some football / preparation / on the field problems. The football team seems to consist of a quarterback, a fullback and a halfback. What, not a single defensive player rates a name or a character in the show? None of the big OL or DL guys have any lines or any kind of life at all? Overall, though, the show was losing me for a bit, but now I am really digging it. It really is good stuff, despite the unevenness the improvisational style tends to give it.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:47 pm

Son of a b*tch! ABC has cancelled Daybreak

I don't know if any of you guys were watching it but I was really digging it. The worst part is that its a show like 24. Now I will never find out what the hell the ultimate answers are to the major questions on the show. This sucks.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:02 pm

Diablo25 wrote:Son of a b*tch! ABC has cancelled Daybreak I don't know if any of you guys were watching it but I was really digging it. The worst part is that its a show like 24. Now I will never find out what the hell the ultimate answers are to the major questions on the show. This sucks.

Whew...at least I can watch the remaining episodes...

Day Break was cancelled on December 15th.[1] ABC has confirmed that the remaining episodes will be released via the internet on abc.com. The episodes are expected to be released on the corresponding day it would have been aired.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:54 pm

Can't watch Friday Night Lights anymore. It makes me dizzy watching that show. If they ever decide to go to normal videography, let me know.

On a side note, King of Queens seems to really be going downhill. Doug needs to knock up Carrie sooner than later!

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:19 pm

OK, back to Heroes:

OMG it's Sulu! It's SULU! Grab your foil and dance half naked around the hallways, Sulu!

I love it. This show is only getting more enjoyable.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:25 pm

Zeppo wrote:OK, back to Heroes:

OMG it's Sulu! It's SULU! Grab your foil and dance half naked around the hallways, Sulu!

I love it. This show is only getting more enjoyable.

I thought last night's episode was dragging...then those last 10 minutes!

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:30 pm

Zeppo wrote:OK, back to Heroes:

OMG it's Sulu! It's SULU! Grab your foil and dance half naked around the hallways, Sulu!

I love it. This show is only getting more enjoyable.

I am a big fan of Heroes. Good stuff. I like how they translate Hiro's "gulp" at the end

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:34 pm

Just an FYI for anyone who enjoyed the ABC show "Daybreak" - the final episodes of the show, which was canceled, are now available to watch at ABC.com. Before it was canceled I was really diggin' this show. I'm pumped that I will get to see the ultimate questions of the show answered.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:21 pm

Tonight's episode of Heroes was soooooo outstanding, great tv.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:16 am

vader29 wrote:Tonight's episode of Heroes was soooooo outstanding, great tv.

Yep. Loved it.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:28 am

LOL I couldn't fast forward through the commercials quickly enough! Great stuff.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:24 am

Yes Heroes really delivered tonight. When she came out of that house it was by far the coolest looking thing I have seen on a TV show.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:34 pm

webdanzer wrote:
vader29 wrote:Tonight's episode of Heroes was soooooo outstanding, great tv.
Yep. Loved it.

eeeh. OK, I enjoyed it a lot, but the whole Eric Roberts thing felt a little haphazard. They just invented him out of whole cloth, just now, all of a sudden, just to redirect the glasses character, give him something bigger and more evil to be rebelling against so that glasses can be redeemed, basically replace what glasses was originally with another so he can fully become a good guy. I don't mind that. I do mind that Eric Roberts shows up out of the blue at the house. OK fine, he can be in flashbacks and so on (revisionist exposition, if you will) but to have him 'pop in' at the end there was just . . . a little thick.

Still, it was great to see a touch of background on some of the characters, like the Haitian, and it was very satisfying to see the glasses guy fully redeemed with his act of tremendous sacrifice, but the way Eric Roberts auntered around the kitchen counter there. . . . hmmm.

Fun twists, though. Seeing Sulu on the pigeon roof with the higher-ups was great. I wonder what he is up to, and of course he must know what Hiro can do, even though until then we had the clear impression he was clueless.

And don't get me wrong, I really like Eric Roberts, and actually think he's a very good actor, so I'm happy to see him on the show, and being a bad guy, which he will have fun with.