Which TV Series Are You Binging On?

[TheIntruder]

I finished Season 1 of Breaking Bad last night. That was a great first season, and it's showing how you can do character development on a limited number of episodes. Each episode has done a great job meeting the characters and showing Walt's transformation, to the point where what he did in the penultimate episode of the season was bad ass. I have to say though I'm not entirely a fan of Skyler yet. The episode with the Intervention kind of turned me off from her. It seems like she wants to make all the decisions for Walt, and Walt's response of this was the first time he's had to make a decision was spot on.

If you haven't watched Saul (yet), you may like it even better than BB.

With BB, the producers were on a bit of a learning curve, and still feeling things out as the show developed.

With Saul, having had that experience, they fell into a groove, operating like a finely-oiled machine. In some ways it's better than BB, and even more about character. I was skeptical about the need or want for a prequel, but this is one of those rare cases where it worked.

Saul has been shooting its final season, but probably won't air until '22, which sucks. Bittersweet.

 

[pachyderm]

If you haven't watched Saul (yet), you may like it even better than BB.

With BB, the producers were on a bit of a learning curve, and still feeling things out as the show developed.

With Saul, having had that experience, they fell into a groove, operating like a finely-oiled machine. In some ways it's better than BB, and even more about character. I was skeptical about the need or want for a prequel, but this is one of those rare cases where it worked.

Saul has been shooting its final season, but probably won't air until '22, which sucks. Bittersweet.

BCS > BB IMHO.



Also rewatching this:

 

[GlenK]

X-Files is one of the most iconic tv series in history but I never got to watch it, does it still hold its quality or turned cheesy by today's standard?

I am on E2 , I know shows need time to develop, but doesn't look that interesting to watch.

Also, is it one of those shows that have exact repetitive formula for each episode? I hate those.

It just depends on what you like. If you're a syfy fan you'll probably really like the X-Files, if not you won't. The relationship development between Mulder and Scully is really good but does take time. It is a show that is unpredictable. You never know what the cases are about and some of them remain unsolved.

 

[Nütztjanix]

BCS > BB IMHO.



Also rewatching this:

I liked Good Omens.

 

[michael9891]

After hearing about how good Brooklyn Nine-Nine is, finally started it from the beginning a few weeks ago. Absolutely brilliant, just need to find another comedy to watch after this as I'm already on season 6.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Watching The Nevers. So far loving it.

 

[MacBH928]

Started as "monster of the week" show and then went down the "just add more conspiracy and nonsense" rabbit hole.

-> total trash even 25 years ago

this does not sound too encouraging. Why was it so popular then. I am ok with monster of the week, but not so much about delusional conspiracy stuff. So long as they keep it near the realistic thing and not more onto the Star Trek side of things I am ok.

You never know what the cases are about and some of them remain unsolved.

Actually thats nice change, you usually expect there is a nice conclusion to everything. I hear Fringe is better, I think there is another show too but I can not recall its name now.

 

[MacBH928]

I finished Season 1 of Breaking Bad last night. That was a great first season, and it's showing how you can do character development on a limited number of episodes. Each episode has done a great job meeting the characters and showing Walt's transformation, to the point where what he did in the penultimate episode of the season was bad ass. I have to say though I'm not entirely a fan of Skyler yet. The episode with the Intervention kind of turned me off from her. It seems like she wants to make all the decisions for Walt, and Walt's response of this was the first time he's had to make a decision was spot on.

You are in for a wild ride

 

[Expos of 1969]

You are in for a wild ride

Yes he is!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Watching The Nevers. So far loving it.

Caught the first one this week. I'd say I'm undecided so far.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Why was it so popular then.

Thats a valid question for most that was popular in the 90s

I see it this way, in the 80s and before you had 2 kinds of TV series, those without any continuity (Detective shows, sitcoms) and those with a cliffhanger at every episode (Dallas, Dynasty....).
They did try to combine those 2 and while some did succeed (Babylon5/ST-DS9 are the prime examples) other failed miserably (Twin Peaks and Lost come to mind). IMO it wasn't until the rise of streaming services that "TV-series" really nailed that.

 

[Nütztjanix]

Thats a valid question for most that was popular in the 90s

I see it this way, in the 80s and before you had 2 kinds of TV series, those without any continuity (Detective shows, sitcoms) and those with a cliffhanger at every episode (Dallas, Dynasty....).
They did try to combine those 2 and while some did succeed (Babylon5/ST-DS9 are the prime examples) other failed miserably (Twin Peaks and Lost come to mind). IMO it wasn't until the rise of streaming services that "TV-series" really nailed that.

I actually liked Lost. At least the first seasons. It became somewhat strange-for-the-sake-of-strangeness in the end.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Started to rewatch “Sliders” (in correct order, yeah that’s for you Fox!)

 

[tranceking26]

I plan to finish Star Wars The Clone Wars, then try out this new The Bad Batch series. Didn't even know it existed until logging in yesterday!

 

[TheIntruder]

BCS > BB IMHO.

There is merit in that thought.

As I said, the producers had the advantage of the BB experience under their belts in deciding to make BCS. They'd established the universe, knew the characters, and how to tell stories about them, while complementing them with new ones who are just as compelling.

As for BB, the final season was kind of anticlimactic in some ways -- Jack and his gang could never live up to Gus as the antagonist, but Walt's story had to be completed. That still gave us the To'hajiilee and Ozymandias episodes, called two of the finest hours of TV ever produced. The stakes were still high, but Walt vs. Jack just didn't have the weight of Walt vs. Gus. And if the OP already dislikes Skyler in the first season, well…

BCS isn't immune from criticism either. Early on, it had to find footing as well, and before Saul's, Mike's and Gus' stories were melded, it felt like two different shows in one. That required time, but was also needed for it to feel organic, and well, have a show to watch.

Another minor nitpick of mine is that they sometimes get a little too carried away with the musical montages.

That said, it's like picking one kid over another as the favorite. They're both good kids.

The X-Files mention is also timely, since Vince Gilligan cut his teeth on the that show, and the others under Chris Carter. TX-F was appointment TV during its time, but given the rigors of a network show that demanded 20+ episodes per season, it was inevitable that not all of them would be good. But some of them were very good.

The later work related to the franchise also revealed how much the show, and Carter relied on Gilligan, and the other producers who would graduate to their own creations. Left to his own devices, Carter veered off course, and an argument could be made that the others served to flatter him.

But the X-Files did a decent job of bearing the weight of its mythology without collapsing. I'm not sure the same could be said of Lost, though it, too, had its moments. I would have been content had the show ended with the bomb at the Dharma collective, and faded away to white (kinda like Bobby Simone). But the golden cave…

 

[pachyderm]

There is merit in that thought.

As I said, the producers had the advantage of the BB experience under their belts in deciding to make BCS. They'd established the universe, knew the characters, and how to tell stories about them, while complementing them with new ones who are just as compelling.

As for BB, the final season was kind of anticlimactic in some ways -- Jack and his gang could never live up to Gus as the antagonist, but Walt's story had to be completed. That still gave us the To'hajiilee and Ozymandias episodes, called two of the finest hours of TV ever produced. The stakes were still high, but Walt vs. Jack just didn't have the weight of Walt vs. Gus. And if the OP already dislikes Skyler in the first season, well…

BCS isn't immune from criticism either. Early on, it had to find footing as well, and before Saul's, Mike's and Gus' stories were melded, it felt like two different shows in one. That required time, but was also needed for it to feel organic, and well, have a show to watch.

Another minor nitpick of mine is that they sometimes get a little too carried away with the musical montages.

That said, it's like picking one kid over another as the favorite. They're both good kids.

The X-Files mention is also timely, since Vince Gilligan cut his teeth on the that show, and the others under Chris Carter. TX-F was appointment TV during its time, but given the rigors of a network show that demanded 20+ episodes per season, it was inevitable that not all of them would be good. But some of them were very good.

The later work related to the franchise also revealed how much the show, and Carter relied on Gilligan, and the other producers who would graduate to their own creations. Left to his own devices, Carter veered off course, and an argument could be made that the others served to flatter him.

But the X-Files did a decent job of bearing the weight of its mythology without collapsing. I'm not sure the same could be said of Lost, though it, too, had its moments. I would have been content had the show ended with the bomb at the Dharma collective, and faded away to white (kinda like Bobby Simone). But the golden cave…

Well put.

Lost lost it early on IMHO. By season 3 I was done with it.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

I plan to finish Star Wars The Clone Wars, then try out this new The Bad Batch series. Didn't even know it existed until logging in yesterday!

I’m enjoying Bad Batch so far. Right up there with Rebels and Clone Wars.

 

[Pezimak]

BCS > BB IMHO.



Also rewatching this:

I loved this one, very well adapted and acted.

I have recently got into For All Mankind and am enjoying it, good acting and writing again, although it does highlight how much people drank and smoked in the 70's. But it's a good show.

 

[MacBH928]

I had big hopes for Parks and recreation, only 2 episodes in but...

Spoiler

Is this the whole show? The lady is trying to build a park and facing issues? Also I get the type of comedy but it gets old too quick. I do not know what they call this type of comedy.

I also can not get over Leslie Knope character being based off Reese Witherspoon in Election movie.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

I had big hopes for Parks and recreation, only 2 episodes in but...

Spoiler

Is this the whole show? The lady is trying to build a park and facing issues? Also I get the type of comedy but it gets old too quick. I do not know what they call this type of comedy.

I also can not get over Leslie Knope character being based off Reese Witherspoon in Election movie.

It's so much more than that. I would say watch to the end of Season 2. If you still don't like it, than you can stop, but the difference in quality between Season 1 and Season 2 was a big improvement.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I had big hopes for Parks and recreation, only 2 episodes in but...

Spoiler

Is this the whole show? The lady is trying to build a park and facing issues? Also I get the type of comedy but it gets old too quick. I do not know what they call this type of comedy.

I also can not get over Leslie Knope character being based off Reese Witherspoon in Election movie.

P&R's season 1 isn't that good. Leslie is way too goofy, Ron Swanson isn't really well developed yet, Andy has no depth etc.
The show WILL change, quite a lot. This is not to say that you will like it, but S1 is probably the worst of all P&R (well maybe parts of the last season are worse).

In addition, as someone in gov't, sometimes I don't know if I am watching a comedy show or a documentary...

 

[Mefisto]

P&R's season 1 isn't that good. Leslie is way too goofy, Ron Swanson isn't really well developed yet, Andy has no depth etc.
The show WILL change, quite a lot. This is not to say that you will like it, but S1 is probably the worst of all P&R (well maybe parts of the last season are worse).

In addition, as someone in gov't, sometimes I don't know if I am watching a comedy show or a documentary...

I like Tom. He doesn’t do a lot of work around here. He shows zero initative. He’s not a team player. He’s never wanted to go that extra mile. Tom is exactly what I’m looking for in a government employee.

I like me some Ron.

 

[MacBH928]

I started watching SuperStore , looks like just a "filler" sitcom. Nothing special here.

 

[ian87w]

Just finished Jupiter’s Legacy. Didn’t read the comics so I had no clue what it would be. It’s a very interesting take on the super hero genre, and a lot less super heroing (compared to the mainstream Marvel). The back n forth with the past origin story was somewhat annoying, but I appreciated the story, and found the past storyline/arc to be more interesting than the present day one. Would’ve like a more complete season than an obvious cliffhanger though. So for me it’s an okay-ish show. People coming in based on the “super hero” synopsis and poster might be disappointed though, as there’s really not much of that. It’s more of a drama.

 

[Abazigal]

Just finished binging Madoka on Netflix. It's a magical girl anime that gets dark surprisingly fast (only 12 episodes), and I was impressed by the ending, where the protagonist practically rewrites reality.

Now I am thinking of whether I want to pick up on season 4 of Van Helsing. I loved the initial concept (protagonist is a half-vampire in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by vampires, and she is able to turn vampires back to human), but I felt the show started getting draggy with all the new characters and side-plots which while still interesting, didn't really add much to the overall story. It's become somewhat like walking dead in a sense.