The really great TV thread

[Brando70]

Can I watch Saul without watching Breaking Bad?

A better question is why the f*ck didn't you watch Breaking Bad?

I just finished BB about two weeks ago. That show came out during early parenthood and before I had a DVR, so I was never able to catch up until I started watching last year. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster to pack all five seasons into a 12-month viewing period.

[Naples39]

When I saw this scene last night I thought this guy sounded just like Trevor from GTAV and as it turns out it actually was him.

Trevor!

Great spot!

He looks like him too (with hair).

[pk500]

Jonathan Banks rules. Great in "Breaking Bad." Even better -- and more fleshed out as a character -- in "Better Call Saul."

[Aristo]

Jonathan Banks rules. Great in "Breaking Bad." Even better -- and more fleshed out as a character -- in "Better Call Saul."

i can't watch that last scene in Five-O without the room getting awfully dusty. He just kills it.

[Jimmydeicide]

It will be interesting to see if Mr spinal Tap shitting on Saul if its now he makes a decision to say "f*** it" I am slippin' Jimmy.
Saul is killing it with his acting also.
Its just another excellent piece of story telling again by these writers.

[sportdan30]

Closing in on finishing up season 5 of Rescue Me. Some episodes are good to very good while others could be decent, but the writers throw in some stupid scenes a little too often, killing the drama of the story. Love the cast of characters, but I'm a little surprised it lasted 7 seasons. It obviously isn't Breaking Bad or Mad Men, but it's still pretty damn enjoyable.

I've only watched the first 2 episodes of Better Call Saul, so I have some catching up to do!

[vinny-b]

Better Call Saul: refreshing to actually have a morally 'good' lead character in a serial series, to pull for. I mean, Jimmy McGill is really a good dude. Very decent season.


Mad Men: the show is complete garbage, at this point. IMO, hasn't been consistently worth the time since the young man's leg was chopped off in the John Deere. And the time-frame when the young copy writer compared Joan to a Madame at a Shanghai whorehouse, to her face. lol, that was good

[Pete1210]

I'd say Mad Men has been consistently great TV. I enjoyed watching Don go back to work in the last 1/2 season. Looking forward to seeing how it wraps up.

This and Sons of Anarchy and Justified all ending within a year. I have to find some new shows.

[vinny-b]

I'd say Mad Men has been consistently great TV. I enjoyed watching Don go back to work in the last 1/2 season. Looking forward to seeing how it wraps up.

This and Sons of Anarchy and Justified all ending within a year. I have to find some new shows.

IMO, the best serial series no one talks of is TYRANT. An American family 'stranded' in a fictional middle-eastern nation. Excellent viewing. The 2nd season will be starting this late spring/summer

[vinny-b]

the best comedy on TV, season premiere (season 2). Silicon Valley (following GOT via HBO)

a Mike Judge production

[RobVarak]

the best comedy on TV, season premiere (season 2). Silicon Valley (following GOT via HBO)

a Mike Judge production

I really, really enjoy Silicon Valley, but on it's best day it isn't 1% as funny as Veep.

[vinny-b]

I really, really enjoy Silicon Valley, but on it's best day it isn't 1% as funny as Veep.

noted. Will check Veep

[pk500]

the best comedy on TV, season premiere (season 2). Silicon Valley (following GOT via HBO)

a Mike Judge production

I really, really enjoy Silicon Valley, but on it's best day it isn't 1% as funny as Veep.

"Veep" was excellent in its two seasons, but I think it's venturing into Aaron Sorkin territory with its scripts. There's no overdose of earnestness like a Sorkin script, but somehow I get the idea the writers sit around and try to outdo each other with lines instead of writing a good show.

I'm sorry, but no ensemble group in any walk of life is as rapier-sharp with one-liners as Selina Meyer's staff, much like Jed Bartlett's staff in the closing years of "The West Wing." I know comedies are meant to suspend disbelief, but I started tiring of the lack of plot development and interesting storylines by the end of season two. The show is very predictable.

I won't add specifics for fear of spoilers. But I'm watching the first few episodes of Season 4 of "Veep" with skepticism.

[RobVarak]

the best comedy on TV, season premiere (season 2). Silicon Valley (following GOT via HBO)

a Mike Judge production

I really, really enjoy Silicon Valley, but on it's best day it isn't 1% as funny as Veep.

"Veep" was excellent in its two seasons, but I think it's venturing into Aaron Sorkin territory with its scripts. There's no overdose of earnestness like a Sorkin script, but somehow I get the idea the writers sit around and try to outdo each other with lines instead of writing a good show.

I'm sorry, but no ensemble group in any walk of life is as rapier-sharp with one-liners as Selina Meyer's staff, much like Jed Bartlett's staff in the closing years of "The West Wing." I know comedies are meant to suspend disbelief, but I started tiring of the lack of plot development and interesting storylines by the end of season two. The show is very predictable.

I won't add specifics for fear of spoilers. But I'm watching the first few episodes of Season 4 of "Veep" with skepticism.

I can understand that concern. Iannucci is definitely a stylist when it comes to his writing, but it reminds me more of Deadwood or Justified in that it's a self-contained universe with unrealistic language patterns...that works. As brilliant as Sorkin is, I'd be much more willing to give him a pass on the way he writes dialogue if he weren't applying his style to topical stories. It's hard to editorialize about real-world events with characters who are operating in such unrealistic ways.

As for Veep, I could not care less about plot or story. It's absurd on its face, even more than its predecessor show from the UK, and I'm really only tuning in for the insanity. It's much more like Curb or Archer, for my money. Stories are only outlines for the verbal fireworks within them.

Plus, on a purely visceral level, I can't think of another TV show that has ever more consistently made me laugh until it hurts.

[Danimal]

Anyone else watching Daredevil on Netflix?

[pk500]

I can understand that concern. Iannucci is definitely a stylist when it comes to his writing, but it reminds me more of Deadwood or Justified in that it's a self-contained universe with unrealistic language patterns...that works. As brilliant as Sorkin is, I'd be much more willing to give him a pass on the way he writes dialogue if he weren't applying his style to topical stories. It's hard to editorialize about real-world events with characters who are operating in such unrealistic ways.

As for Veep, I could not care less about plot or story. It's absurd on its face, even more than its predecessor show from the UK, and I'm really only tuning in for the insanity. It's much more like Curb or Archer, for my money. Stories are only outlines for the verbal fireworks within them.

Plus, on a purely visceral level, I can't think of another TV show that has ever more consistently made me laugh until it hurts.

All good points. My abdomen-ripping show was "Trailer Park Boys" on Canadian TV, also available now on Netflix. You're a far more highbrow man than me.

[Aristo]

My favorite low brow comedy, on Amazon Instant (maybe Netflix), is Workaholics. I mean, it's the lowest of the brow, stupid drug humor. But it is surprising consistent in how funny it is. It's actually a Comedy Central show.

[RobVarak]

Justified absolutely stuck the landing. It was a near-perfect finale for a series that was among the greatest Elmore Leonard adaptations. So delighted that it went out with an ending that was true to Leonard's storytelling style.

[Naples39]

Mad Men series finale last night. It was about time for that show to wrap things up, and after a bit of time to digest it, I think it was a pretty solid closing act.

[sportdan30]

Mad Men series finale last night. It was about time for that show to wrap things up, and after a bit of time to digest it, I think it was a pretty solid closing act.

Agree. Initially, I was underwhelmed, but after some time to think about it, it was a nice ending to a wonderful show.

I also wrapped up watching Rescue Me yesterday. IMO, that show was probably on one or two seasons too long. It really lost its luster in season 7. Good show all in all, but well below the likes of Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter, etc. etc.

[wco81]

Wiener gave most of the characters happy endings -- Pete and Trudy are reunited, Peggy and Stan find each other, Roger marries, Joan seems fine with starting a new business even if it means losing the man she thought was the love of her life (though it seems like she has something to prove, as if to undo what she had to do to become rich). And Don develops probably his masterpiece, at least in terms of cultural reach, with the famous Coke ad (though to me, that Coke ad is like corporations making greenwashing commercials for Earth Day, because it's tapping into a zeitgeist to sell soda, whereas the Kodak carousel ad had him tapping into something deeply personal).

Seems uncharacteristic for an "artiste" like Weiner to end things this way. Maybe after the blowback on the Sopranos ending, show runners of prestige TV are under pressure to wrap things nicely and on the upbeat.

Also wonder if the opening (or maybe it was some kind of prologue that the network inserted) montage over the Paul Anka song was something Weiner did or AMC kind of inserted. Seemed too sentimental for Weiner.

[Naples39]

Wiener gave most of the characters happy endings -- Pete and Trudy are reunited, Peggy and Stan find each other, Roger marries, Joan seems fine with starting a new business even if it means losing the man she thought was the love of her life (though it seems like she has something to prove, as if to undo what she had to do to become rich). And Don develops probably his masterpiece, at least in terms of cultural reach, with the famous Coke ad (though to me, that Coke ad is like corporations making greenwashing commercials for Earth Day, because it's tapping into a zeitgeist to sell soda, whereas the Kodak carousel ad had him tapping into something deeply personal).

Seems uncharacteristic for an "artiste" like Weiner to end things this way. Maybe after the blowback on the Sopranos ending, show runners of prestige TV are under pressure to wrap things nicely and on the upbeat.

Also wonder if the opening (or maybe it was some kind of prologue that the network inserted) montage over the Paul Anka song was something Weiner did or AMC kind of inserted. Seemed too sentimental for Weiner.

I liked it from a thematic perspective, and I don't see it as simple happy endings fan service.

-Joan chooses her career, which seems fitting.

-Roger and Marie...who knows about those two.

-Don was lost and has truly burned all the bridges of his personal life. He sees the other business man trapped in a meaningless family life, which was always his worst fear, and at least he's not that. Through it all, he's still a good ad man and he hits new highs.

-Peggy goes the opposite route. Instead of chasing prestige and partnership, she finds a middle way where she is still good at her job, but there's more to her life.

[pk500]

I don't envy Weiner's task to wrap a show that resonated at so many cerebral levels in such a tidy bow, but I thought he pulled it off nicely.

The finale of "Breaking Bad" was far more compelling, exciting and part of the cultural zeitgeist, to be honest. But it was so much easier for Gilligan to finish that show because it was more visceral than cerebral and had a story line that was careening to a violent, dramatic end. The opposite of "Mad Men."

[Inuyasha]

Goodbye David Letterman. You were THE BEST!!!!

[GameSeven]

Game of Thrones... Hardhome

woah