Random TV Thoughts

[Dewar]

 

If you didn't catch the August 6th Colbert Report, find a replay and watch it.Daft Punk was scheduled to appear and got pulled by MTV because they wanted them exclusive for the Video Awards. Colbert proceeded to verbally dismantle his own parent corp., followed by a dance number featuring Hugh Laurie, Ashton Kutcher, Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, the Rockettes, Jimmy Fallon, the cast of AGT, Jon Stewart, etc. Followed by a surprise musical replacement. Damnedest half hour of tv I ever saw.

That was the funniest "Fuck you" I've ever seen.

 

 

Agreed with both posts. That show was fantastic, and a massive middle finger to MTV Networks at the same time.

[LooseCannon]

I've been meaning to look up who sings that song for a while now but never got around to it....

[Newb82]

Well, the end of last week threw out my theory that the Producers were in on it, but yeah... Can the weasly DJ dude that's starting to go insane because he found the totems get his neck snapped by Mossad chick soon?

The thing is, if the Producers aren't in on it...who's editing this shit together?Something terrible is going to happen to everyone remaining (and I'm waiting for the reveal that some awful shit happened to the people that tried to leave). Esther seems destined for a particularly nasty death.Who/whatever is causing all the freaky shit, Sabina (the Mossad chick) is definitely involved.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

I only care about Suits and think we should talk about nothing else until Game of Thrones comes back.

Suits is a weird one for me, I find none of the characters likeable, there's some odd moralising stuff and the guy who plays Mike is just a shite actor, as is his love interest whose name I forget.

 

But I still watch it. Louis is the star of the show.

[Fat Spanish Waiter]

THEY REFERRED TO THE WIRE THIS WEEK ON SUITS YET BUNK PLAYS RACHEL'S DAD.

 

When constant references go wrong.

[Curt McGirt]

Ray not having humor is wrong. What about Ray's dad uttering the classic line "I could go for some oral rape" in the abuse meeting, then going to watch booty videos at the library? Then Bunchy bought that ridiculous bike with the ape hangers. And the LSD reaction from the FBI agent was hilarious. Granted these moments are very few and far between but they show up. 

 

The best part of the Colbert episode was Bryan Cranston and him dancing on roller skates with Cranston wearing the wig, shades and that hilarious disco suit. I immediately informed an out-of-town friend about the ep since he's disgustingly obsessed with that damn song. Kind of weird for a total metalhead...

[EVA]

I'm so excited to see what Cranston does next after BREAKING BAD. I know the odds are against him being in a show half as good, but he's so versatile, he could literally do anything.

[piranesi]

I have a feeling it will be something where a man's smiling exterior covers up the quiet desperation he feels on the inside.

 

Because at this point that's all I can see when I see his face.

[J.T.]

THEY REFERRED TO THE WIRE THIS WEEK ON SUITS YET BUNK PLAYS RACHEL'S DAD.

 

When constant references go wrong.

 

This really didn't bother me since I remember him being Special Agent Wendell Gill from Hackers first.

[stiffshots]

Miscellaneous thoughts on previous msgs/threads:

• I understand the NEWSROOM hate, I really do.  And I can honestly say the only other Sorkin-penned thingie I've seen was THE SOCIAL NETWORK.  And yet...for all the show's sitcommy slapstick and shoehorned-in rom-com moments, I will continue to put with it because the dialog is hilarious, often tack-sharp and delivered at warp speeds.  (It's the same reason I adore SUITS, btw...)
• I'm not sure I get why a lack of humor in RAY DONOVAN is a bad thing.  It's a dark drama, people.  (Then again, I've been watching a whole lotta dark lately, mostly HBO docs like THE CHESHIRE MURDERS and THE CRASH REEL.  And BROADCHURCH.)  Having said that: yes, FBI Agent Miller's LSD freakout was enough hilarity for several seasons.
• And on the topic of "several seasons:" earlier this week, Starz pulled the plug on MAGIC CITY.  I'm disappointed, if not heartbroken - it was a show I didn't exactly love, but certainly liked a lot - however, I think a lot of folk, INCLUDING the network, viewed it as Starz's answer to MAD MEN when it was closer in spirit to BOARDWALK EMPIRE.  Now, will somebody please cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a modern-day Peter Gunn?

[ultimoDANK]

Oh boy the people that go on Catfish. That is a show if I find on I gotta see the trainwreck.

[Curt McGirt]

Disappointed about Magic City but you could see it coming. Show was just too damn slow for its own good. I'm really interested to see the finale now, though, because they've set a lot of things in place to make it a crazy last episode. If Ben Diamond actually goes down then it might be satisfying enough to end the show off proper.

[supremebve]

Oh boy the people that go on Catfish. That is a show if I find on I gotta see the trainwreck.

Is this the best all-time example of a show that is almost 100% the same every week, but you can't turn away on the sliver of a chance something different will happen.  I swear every person on this show has spent years talking to some imaginary significant other, without asking any relevant questions.  I don't know how they can still find people to be on this show, when it is a self selecting group who has to understand what is going on.  They sent in a request to be on a show that exposes people for "catfishing," so they know this type of shit exists, but can't see the signs that it is happening to them. 

[PuroresuFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Gzs8MxWxk

 

I thought last season was great. Jessica Lange did an amazing job and I can't wait to see her chewing up the scenery with Kathy Bates. Add in Lily Rabe as a sexy, vixen wiccan and a cameo by Pepper and I'll be a happy camper.

[Ace]

The way that she and they have stayed relatively silent does lead me to believe Naomi Grossman's in S3.

[pipGofern]

Re: WHODUNNIT?If that person hadn't been eliminated, then everyone would have figured out they were the killer.

I'm glad Joe Lucia mentioned Whodunnit a few pages back. I heard it advertised but totally forgot to follow up on when it aired. I detest most reality tv but Clue is one of my all-time favorite movies and this reality version of it has been totally addicting. The dude playing Giles deserves his own series. I hope the ratings are good enough for a second season as I haven't enjoyed a reality program this much since the first season of the brilliant Joe Schmo.Anyway, I blew through the first four eps over the weekend and caught up with the final few last night. I don't know what was the bigger head-slapper; the retired LAPD arson detective being utterly clueless or Ronnie's monkey. I suppose you're right, if he had survived after that Case Statement, he pretty much had to be the killer.So:

I'm not the only one convinced that Cris is totally the killer, right?

[mco543]

Shark Week this year has been an absolute disgrace. Worst ever, the Megalodon mockumentary was cool but other than that this has been shit, they even managed to completely fuck up sharks of the abyss. There is a special place in Hell for whoever thought Shark After Dark was a remotely good idea. Discovery really needs retool how they do this because it's fucking impossible to preach conservation and how sharks need to be saved while showing them eating people all week and having a show titled "Great White Serial Killer". Although I do notice that conservation doesn't really seem to be on their list of important items anymore since I don't think they've shown any ads or promoted anything regarding it.

 

I used to look forward to Shark Week every year since they're my favorite animals and I've been obsessed with them since I was a little kid but it seems like the last 5 or so years it just gets worse and worse with this year's being the nadir of the entire run.

[Joe Lucia]

WHODUNNIT TALK!

 

This isn't going to narrow it down, but it's one of the women. No doubt in my mind. Lindsay seems too obvious...either Cris or Melina. I think I'm leaning towards Melina, just because with her getting set up as the obvious fall girl this week as the last one on her team. She also has never been the "impressed" guest at all, nor has she solved a riddle

 

I doubt it gets a second season. Ratings have been bad (1.0/3 million pretty consistently past week one), and the budget is absurd (750k per day, with each episode taking three days...that's something like $20 million for a nine episode run? YIKES.

[piranesi]

Shark Week this year has been an absolute disgrace. Worst ever, the Megalodon mockumentary was cool but other than that this has been shit, they even managed to completely fuck up sharks of the abyss. There is a special place in Hell for whoever thought Shark After Dark was a remotely good idea. Discovery really needs retool how they do this because it's fucking impossible to preach conservation and how sharks need to be saved while showing them eating people all week and having a show titled "Great White Serial Killer". Although I do notice that conservation doesn't really seem to be on their list of important items anymore since I don't think they've shown any ads or promoted anything regarding it.

 

I used to look forward to Shark Week every year since they're my favorite animals and I've been obsessed with them since I was a little kid but it seems like the last 5 or so years it just gets worse and worse with this year's being the nadir of the entire run.

 

The early Shark Weeks were so great.  They were, like, grainy old documentaries featuring awesome shirtless Australian dudes whose lives consisted of floating around taking notes about awesome sharks.  I didn't even really watch for the sharks, but for the amazing fantasy lifestyle of the "field marine biologist" who just soaks up sun and takes pictures of stuff and looks at sonar screens and labelling fish.

 

But that was back when channels like Discovery and History were about, like, science stuff and history stuff.

[Randy]

I've been meaning to ask this about Shark Week.  I've never watched it.  Why is it so popular?  There are nature shows on every day.

[mco543]

I think it's current surge in popularity is because it's now some type of hipster shit or something. I don't think any of these people tweeting such idiotic questions to that shitty program Shark After Dark actually give a fuck about sharks one way or another.

 

Shark Week used to be brilliant and have amazing documentaries, it's just the past 5 or so years that it's descended into "WATCH THE GREAT WHITE BITE PEOPLE AND JUMP OUT OF THE WATER BRAH". Piranesi is completely right Discovery and History have gone totally away from their purpose and show such bullshit now. It's sad.

 

Are the early Shark Week docs up anywhere? Is there a list of them?

[Brian Fowler]

On the bright the two of them are still better than TLC.

[mco543]

That isn't saying a lot. TLC lost their fucking mind the past few years and History and Discovery are slowly following suit.

[piranesi]

I think it's current surge in popularity is because it's now some type of hipster shit or something. I don't think any of these people tweeting such idiotic questions to that shitty program Shark After Dark actually give a fuck about sharks one way or another.

 

Shark Week used to be brilliant and have amazing documentaries, it's just the past 5 or so years that it's descended into "WATCH THE GREAT WHITE BITE PEOPLE AND JUMP OUT OF THE WATER BRAH". Piranesi is completely right Discovery and History have gone totally away from their purpose and show such bullshit now. It's sad.

 

Are the early Shark Week docs up anywhere? Is there a list of them?

 

 

I've only included up to 2000, because things had already started to get crass by then.  But the whole list can be found here:

 

http://www.discovery.ca/article.aspx?aid=44961

 

The ones from like 1989 to 1993 or so were the best in my memory.  Back then there was a lot of Stan Waterman, Rodney Fox, and Ron and Valery Taylor...and they were awesome.  Casual and cool and as much about the ocean itself as about sharks...and no CGI...huh, imagine that?

 

 

 

 

1988: The first-ever SHARK WEEK show, Caged in Fear, aired on Discovery Channel July 17, 1988 at 9PM. The show description read: "A new motorized cage is tested for its resistance to shark attacks." Nine additional shows premiered that year including Sharks - Predators or Prey, The Shark Takes a Siesta and Sharks of a Different Color. Ratings that week nearly doubled Discovery Channel's primetime average.

1989: Due to phenomenal viewer response, Discovery Channel brought SHARK WEEK back for a second year. Programs included Shark: Maneater or Myth?, Shark Hunters of Achill Island and Sharks of San Francisco.

1990: Premieres included: Shark!: The World of Sharks and Barracuda and Sharks: Hunters of the Oceans.

1991: Billed as SHARK WEEK: The Revenge, premieres included Shark Shooters, Sea Lovers and Great Shark Hunt.

1992: SHARK WEEK: They're Back swam onto the scene with four premieres: The Man Who Loves Sharks, featuring pioneer SCUBA diver and underwater producer Stan Waterman, Sharks of Polynesia, Great White Encounters and Great White! Parts 1 & 2.

1993: SHARK WEEK: We Dare You to Watch featured five premiere programs: African Shark Safari, Sharks on the Brink of Extinction, Teeth of Death, Assignment Adventure and Sharks of Pirate Island.

1994: For the first time ever, SHARK WEEK was hosted. "Jaws" author Peter Benchley did the honors, just as his best-selling novel was celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Benchley introduced each program from the same locations where the "Jaws" motion picture was filmed.

1995: Premieres in 1995 included Sharks of the Red Triangle, Rendezvous at Ningaloo, and In Search of the Golden Hammerhead, which profiled an extremely rare shark that had never before been seen on television.

1996: Premieres in 1996 included The Ultimate Guide: Sharks, Danger Beach and Tales of the Tiger Shark, which remains the third most watched SHARK WEEK program ever.

1997: Shark Bites: A Decade of Shark Week, a two-hour retrospective of some of the most thrilling moments of shark filmmaking on Discovery Channel, kicked off the 10th anniversary of SHARK WEEK.

1998: Prehistoric Sharks launched the 1998 SHARK WEEK, which looked at the most bizarre and unusual sharks to ever swim the earth's waters. The week featured four additional premieres, including Zambezi Shark, Hammerheads: Nomads of the Sea and Great White: In Search of the Giants.

1999: SHARK WEEK went live in 1999 with a special two-hour program from the Pacific's Bikini Atoll titled Live From a Shark Cage. Journalist Forrest Sawyer hosted the program, which featured renowned cinematographer Al Giddings.

2000: Dubbed SHARK WEEK UNCAGED, the weeklong event was hosted by zoologist Nigel Marven. Five all-new programs aired, including the first-ever 3-D shark program, Sharks 3-D.

[Fat Spanish Waiter]

On the bright the two of them are still better than TLC.

Waterfalls was great lad.