Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

2014 RANDOM TV THOUGHTS


RIPPA

Recommended Posts

Season premiere of Sherlock:  Does Steven Moffat get off on trolling fans or something?

 

Moffat's arrogance and self-indulgence during Sherlock was astounding. Credit to guys like Vincent Giligan and David Chase, in the later seasons of Breaking Bad and The Sopranos respectively, they knew they'd made hit shows, but they didn't feel the need to actually make a big deal of it on air or turn the characters into parodies of themselves.

 

It also felt like the only TV show I've ever seen where going into it everyone went "Right. Our goal here is to make as many clips and scenes that can be turned into cool gifs as possible!"

 

I genuinely did like the first five minutes. But after that, they should have stopped with all the meta stuff and just got on with the show. But they just kept going with it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If they wanted to take a truly funny shot at Elementary, they should have had Molly walking around in absurdly high heels and then Sherlock asks her how exactly she can run around everywhere in those things. Or have someone suggest to Sherlock he get some cool tattoos.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last month a UK channel, E4 asked viewers to go on their website and vote from a selection of The Big Bang Theory episodes. The top five would then be shown over New Year’s Eve 2013 from 5-1. Here they are, (I don’t have the titles of the episodes just what they were about):

 

1. Penny dislocates shoulder so Sheldon has to look after her.

2. Dungeon and Dragons, Sheldon and Amy then play their own

3. Flashback episode to Sheldon/Leonard first meeting in the apartment

4. Sheldon gets award and gets drunk.

5. Lord of the Rings episode.

 

I was lent The Big Bang Theory (the complete first season) DVD which I finished in November. I liked it and became a fan of the show from it and watching episodes shown on TV. I got the complete box set as a Christmas present so I’ll be better placed if I wanted to try and do my own top five episodes. What do you make of this list?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Solid, but the one with Sheldon getting awards and drunk is probably the best on the list. If you're just getting into it, the later episodes (where they introduce Bernadette and Amy) are vastly superior to the earlier ones. To be honest, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did without them. Leonard being a pussy even after Sheldon's hot GA falls for him though gets old after a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Solid, but the one with Sheldon getting awards and drunk is probably the best on the list. If you're just getting into it, the later episodes (where they introduce Bernadette and Amy) are vastly superior to the earlier ones. To be honest, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did without them. Leonard being a pussy even after Sheldon's hot GA falls for him though gets old after a while.

 

I’ve watched the episodes shown on TV and looking at Wikipedia, they have come from most of season three and seasons xix with some from season four/season five. With the jump between watching season one and those on TV, you find out certain things have taken place but not the episodes when it happens. Amy's great. My second favourite character after Sheldon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TBS, for the most part, seems to air them in order, although they've taken liberties with the latest season (six?). Once you've watched the later episodes, it's hard to go back to the ones before the girls, just because it's so obvious how much the show was lacking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny, I like the earlier episodes a lot more than the later ones (love 'em all though).

I think they're funnier and I'm not a huge fan of the females besides Penny.

Any particular reason?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the early episodes better too, but I feel like the show would have had a shorter shelf life with just the original core characters.  Where do you go with Walowitz without Bernadette?  He was a very one note character early on.  Raj's current storyline doesn't work without all the female characters involved either.  So yeah, the early stuff was funnier, but the female characters extended the life of the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Tabe on BIG BANG.  I thought the earlier episodes focused more on the character's work environment, which was genuinely unique and, for awhile pretty carefully constructed.  The science/sci-fi patter was a bigger part of the show and better done.

 

Once it became a hit, they started playing up the relationships and the characters had become more set and less flexible. In the last few years have started relying more on more generic sitcom dating stuff and letting each character do their standard joke (Raj: "I'm not gay!" [exit Raj.]  Howard: "I have a jewish mother!" [exit Howard]...and on and on...)

 

It can still be good in flashes...good enough that it's still the only standard sitcom that I bother DVR-ing, but it's not as unique as it was.

 

Mayim Bialik is insanely great, though.  There are episodes, like this year's thanksgiving episode, that she single-handedly saves with one or two great line deliveries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Tabe on BIG BANG.  I thought the earlier episodes focused more on the character's work environment, which was genuinely unique and, for awhile pretty carefully constructed.  The science/sci-fi patter was a bigger part of the show and better done.

 

Once it became a hit, they started playing up the relationships and the characters had become more set and less flexible. In the last few years have started relying more on more generic sitcom dating stuff and letting each character do their standard joke (Raj: "I'm not gay!" [exit Raj.]  Howard: "I have a jewish mother!" [exit Howard]...and on and on...)

 

It can still be good in flashes...good enough that it's still the only standard sitcom that I bother DVR-ing, but it's not as unique as it was.

 

Mayim Bialik is insanely great, though.  There are episodes, like this year's thanksgiving episode, that she single-handedly saves with one or two great line deliveries.

I'm with you there.  Amy and Raj have been the MVP's of the season by far with the jokes they are given to work with.  Raj had me dying in the treasure hunt episode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll concede that the earlier, work-related jokes are an unfortunate missing part of these later episodes. But as you said before, Wolowitz was a one-joke character, they had to do SOMETHING to keep him interesting (The episode where Bernie finds out about all the creepy stuff he did in his past is one of my favorites). And up until they cured Raj, his jokes with Penny were starting to get stale too. If anything, as much as I like Amy, I think adding her to Sheldon was probably the most unnecessary move: He's too much of a robot to have romantic feelings. It definitely felt tacked on, but Amy's become funny enough to overlook her introduction (When the girls are talking about how weird a couple Penny and Leonard are, Penny asks Amy if she can't possibly think of a weirder couple, and Amy points to Bernie and goes "I can, but she's right there..." Great stuff.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big Bang suffers from the same fate as many successful sitcoms. Find formula that makes it unique. Find parts of formula that get the best reception. Let romance bloom and let parts of formula that get best reception fill in the blanks. Hope that people still enjoy parts while you keep making money and everyone gets rich.

 

There are a few that were able to buck the trend, but that's what made them great as opposed to just successful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...