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JUNE 2017 TV DISCUSSION THREAD


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10 hours ago, RolandTHTG said:

To me asking questions that you'd either already know the answer to when you're as good/experienced as Colbert is, or just didn't bother googling, like "where do you live now?", "you've got a new show out? Where is it airing on?", just seemed deliberately unprofessional/unnecessary.

 

That seems like standard late night talk show questions. 

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In the context where he had Scarlett Johansson on earlier, and gushed over how good her latest film was, making it clear that he'd actually seen the film/enjoyed it/implied he'd recommended it, as opposed to "Well, tell me about it/haven't actually watched it yet", made it seem a bit "Ehh, just do your thing and get out"

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Man, the finale of 'Veep' was so good, jumping around in the timeline, giving us Gary's first meeting with Selena; Selena using Andrew's philandering ways to fund her campaign (Foreshadowing the end of the episode) and Gary's grotesque Misery-esque living with a pilled-up Selena and pretending they're married.  And the ending

I CANNOT wait a whole year for Selena vs. Jonah on the campaign trail

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I actually didn't know F is for Family was a Burr project until that shitty, awkward interview with Colbert. Love his stand-up but I think, after binging both seasons this past week, that I prefer F Is For Family. 

Veep's season was not on the same level as years past, as it seemed like a lot of treading water. BUT, now that we get what we get for next season, I'm more than okay. Jonah is the star of the show and we get more of him so I'm all on board.

Silicon Valley too was a whole lot of not much happening for most of the season. Even then, I just enjoy the banter and we got the fridge hack, so it was still enjoyable TV. We're now poised, much like with Veep, for what we should've been watching this season. They should probably wrap the show up by the end of next season but I could see them drawing it out for another two years. There are only so many Deus ex machina they can use before it gets beyond ridiculous.

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1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

Silicon Valley too was a whole lot of not much happening for most of the season. Even then, I just enjoy the banter and we got the fridge hack, so it was still enjoyable TV. We're now poised, much like with Veep, for what we should've been watching this season. They should probably wrap the show up by the end of next season but I could see them drawing it out for another two years. There are only so many Deus ex machina they can use before it gets beyond ridiculous.

I run hot and cold on SV.  I love Jared and Dinesh  and Erlich.  But a lot of times this past season or two it just is the same pattern: they have a break, they screw it up/get screwed over, they get a break.  Like every time something good happens, I just go "I wonder how they will screw this up" instead of being invested in the storyline.

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Hopefully with Erlich gone, and the dynamic changing, the next season won't be more of the same. Richard is starting to turn into Gavin, slowly, so that'll be a fun transformation if it continues. But I do agree that this season had a noticeable pattern and it's pretty annoying. We're about to go into Season 5, and Pied Piper hasn't really made a mark in Sillicon Valley for (presumably) 4-5 years. They need to change this shit up, fast. It's still one of the funniest shows on television, well, sometimes, but the formula is getting tiring.

I don't remember much of Veep because I watched it after Twin Peaks and I was still reeling from that episode. I don't know if I like how the season finale ended, it seemed like that was pretty obvious from the first episode of this season, to me anyway. There's more value in Veep when Selina is actually in politics and Washington, D.C. than her as a private citizen. I did love what ended up happening to Jonah, though. I'm kind of rooting for him, actually.

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11 hours ago, caley said:

I run hot and cold on SV.  I love Jared and Dinesh  and Erlich.  But a lot of times this past season or two it just is the same pattern: they have a break, they screw it up/get screwed over, they get a break.  Like every time something good happens, I just go "I wonder how they will screw this up" instead of being invested in the storyline.

I like the show when it does full on comedy. But when it shifts the focus to tech storylines, I develop a really thick filter. 

I haven't even checked on this season. I wish Mike Judge could get another animated series going. I have been watching King Of The Hill on cable and really miss it. 

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For the longest time a staple of Silicon Valley was exploring some entirely inane and bizarre part of real life that many weren't familiar about and using that for the B-story. There wasn't a whole lot of that this season. The closes we got was Dinesh and his hacker girlfriend and that was way too on the nose. On the other hand, it did give us Dinesh completely selling her out at least three times, which made me laugh each time.

I'm really hoping that the end of this season wrapped up what felt like a 3 season long story arc where Richard started out as this too nice of a guy, tried to act tough at times, sounded incredibly awkward standing up to just about anyone, and then eventually worked his way up to tell just about everyone around him to fuck off, acting like a tyrant, installing malware on phones without anyone knowing, fucking a man's fiancee, telling everyone to fuck off around him again, and firing Jared. The whole, "I do these things and you guys call me a pussy, but then I do the other thing instead and you guys say I'm a dick" speech felt like a story arc coming to a close. That and apologizing to Jared. Anyway, I haven't liked Richard the last couple seasons. Seasons 1 and 2 I really rooted for him, but since then he's been an asshole. My girlfriend basically gave up on it because of how much a dick Richard was and how delusional Richard was to think he should be CEO when he's TERRIBLE at being CEO.

There wasn't nearly enough Gilfoyle too. More Gilfoyle and Dinesh please.

Anyway, the sentiment that they're treading water is correct. They need to start moving forward with something, anything, instead of doing the same tired Pied Piper vs Hooli shit that gets wrapped up with a deus ex machina they do every season.

As for Veep, I finally watched the finale at work today. I was hot and cold on the season. This was probably Selina at her very worst, as much as I loathe Gary I didn't like seeing him get used at his own birthday party, the CBS Morning News stuff went nowhere, they had Paul Scheer and barely used him, and the library was largely a waste of time. That said, there were some touching moments. I actually felt kinda bad when Selina broke up with Jafar. The Jonah stuff was amazing. That felt more like Veep than anything else this season. I tend to enjoy Ben and Kent as underlings than Gary, Mike, and Amy. The best parts of Selina on the trail were with Richard Splett. This was the best season for Richard Splett as he gave us amazing comedy nuggets like the Splettshirt. This was also the best season for Furlong and Will. It got to a point where I was basically waiting for the Furlong and Will scene every episode. I laugh so fucking hard at every awful thing that comes out of Furlong's mouth and at everything Will says about himself. The other great part about the Furlong and Will moments is that the characters around them always break character and act ultra nice and normal to Will.

But Jonah vs Selina? Holy shit. This is what I thought would happen this season, but now we're finally going to get it. I can't wait. This is like Joe vs Brock.

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AV Club made a great point about the "treading water" nature of Silicon Valley.  They argued that, in the real world, a tech genius like Richard would have already flipped his technology for millions and rode off into the sunset or moved on to something else.  Since the show relies on Richard and the rest being downtrodden losers, we can't have that, so we get the (very sitcommy) conceit of a reset to the status quo every time things look like they're about to work out.   

I thought it was a very uneven season and not as incredible and laugh-out-loud funny as previous seasons.

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To me a season of Silicon Valley rises or falls not on how the plot moves forward or even how the main characters develop or even how much material they get, but on how many new on-the-nose-but-insane side characters or environments are introduced.

Season 2 gave us Laurie Bream, Russ Hanneman., and Pete Monanahn

Season 3 gave us Jack Barker, the ridiculous Pied Piper startup space, and that design guy.

All of those were amazing and well utilized.

This season we got less of that and it was used less well. We got: Keenan Feldspar (who was okay but no Russ Hanneman), Big Head at Stanford (which should have been amazing but was barely used), and Mia (who to me was a fairly absurd character although the concept of Dinesh pissing off a hacker was a good one).

This was the first season where the world of Silicon Valley didn't substantially expand for us and so all that mattered was the serial nature of the plot.

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2 hours ago, Technico Support said:

AV Club made a great point about the "treading water" nature of Silicon Valley.  They argued that, in the real world, a tech genius like Richard would have already flipped his technology for millions and rode off into the sunset or moved on to something else.  Since the show relies on Richard and the rest being downtrodden losers, we can't have that, so we get the (very sitcommy) conceit of a reset to the status quo every time things look like they're about to work out.   

I thought it was a very uneven season and not as incredible and laugh-out-loud funny as previous seasons.

I would like to see them just become super rich and see where it goes. I think that is what TJ Miller was proposing when he left. Force them to make change and see what happens. 

Richard uses the algorithm to create sentient life and runs for the Senate. Then they go to court to prove the android is the property of Pied Piper and not human. 

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On 6/17/2017 at 2:08 PM, Craig H said:

For the Leftovers fans here, how similar is the series to Lost? I saw that comparison somewhere else and it got my attention. Is that accurate? If I loved Lost, would I enjoy the Leftovers? 

Without giving too much away...

  • A lot of seasons 2 and 3 (and a couple episodes of 1) of The Leftovers are very singularly focused on one character or a pair. So there is a comparison to be made that way.
  • The show uses a theme song in season two which acknowledges that all of the mysteries of the universe may not be solvable from the perspective of man. So Lindelof is aware of his rep.
  • Even if it's gibberish, it's satisfying, thoughtful gibberish. 

And it's better overall than Lost. I say that as a big fan of both. Buckle down and watch it. Season one is divisive (I love large chunks of it), but you should power through it. 2 and 3 are appreciably better and reach for greatness. 

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I finished up Season Two of Flaked, and I'm fine if it's canceled. I think after an infuriating season, it hit a home run with the season finale and every characters' life gets tied up with a neat little bow.

I really wish TV shows wouldn't insist on making all their main characters so unlikable all the time, though.

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18 hours ago, Technico Support said:

On a Silicon Valley related note, I watched the TJ Miller standup special.  Holy shit was it bad.  

I love TJ Miller turning up as comic relief in various films (Cloverfield, Deadpool...even Transformers), love him on Sillicon Valley, and thought he was really funny and weird on Crashing (Which is a totally underrated show btw) but on that show he does standup and I thought "Man, I like TJ Miller, but if this is what his standup is really like, I don't wanna see it".  And then I saw the ad for his HBO special which further cemented that thought.  I'm going to go out of my way not to see it.

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