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TV: Give Me That Remote!

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Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

At some point I'll need to finish that series. I think it's the only AAA series I've put down. Even my dad finished it.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

At some point I'll need to finish that series. I think it's the only AAA series I've put down. Even my dad finished it.

It's good for 2 seasons, maybe 3. Then it REALLY kicks it up a few notches. The end of S3 really sets the tone. Those last 2 eps of S3...yeah.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

Mad Men.......Season 4 is when it actually gets good. Patience is beyond key here. I almost gave that series up, and a glad I didn't.

MM is very good right from the start. There is one weak season -- maybe 3? And the final season is a step down. But still an excellent show right from the first episode.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

MM is very good right from the start. There is one weak season -- maybe 3? And the final season is a step down. But still an excellent show right from the first episode.

I just felt that nothing REALLY happens until season 4. It's a slow series the whole way through, I think the first 3 seasons were simply set-up/get-to-know-and-connect, THEN here comes the series we want to show you.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

I picked up mad men a month or two ago. It was kind of startling the sexism that was rampant back then and the show doesn't back away from it. It's a very, very good show though I'm only around midway through the first season.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

I just felt that nothing REALLY happens until season 4. It's a slow series the whole way through, I think the first 3 seasons were simply set-up/get-to-know-and-connect, THEN here comes the series we want to show you.

I'm going to spoiler:

I thought the show effectively ended with the final episode of the 3rd season: the immortal "Close the door. Have a seat." which is the best episode in the entire show. That was amazing, and coming as it did after season 3 which was a big disappointment it was that much more powerful.

But I like discovering the characters and the dynamics much more than watching them play out, so I can understand what you're saying even though I personally don't agree. For me, setting up the pieces is the game. Afterwards they're just going about their moves but all of that has been to some extent predestined by the set up. It also didn't help for me that I didn't really like where the characters went: I was much more impressed with their potential than their actual trajectories.


For me most shows get boring after season 2 or 3. MASH and Cheers are both classic examples of shows where I really enjoyed the creation of the whole Rube Goldberg device and was disappointed and a little bored having to watch it play out (so much so that I gave up on both shows long before they ended).

I am hopeful that the limit shows are now putting on their runs will help. Galactica was the first show I noticed that didn't diminish in quality towards the end (not that it was consistent -- but the mean didn't get lower even though the wild swings from great to meh never stopped).
 
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Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

The only shows I can come up with off the top of my head that didn't diminish significantly as they neared the end were The Sopranos and Game of Thrones. Futurama too in its original four-season run.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

M*A*S*H was hurt in time by losing Henry, Radar, Frank and Trapper. Potter was solid, but Klinger eventually lost his charm, and Charles and BJ didn't bring the same dynamic to that tent for me as Frank and Trapper. Although Charles by himself was a great chracter. It grew increasingly full of itself, more preachy and definitely more sappy. I think too as Alan Alda was given more and more involvement as a producer over Charles Dubin the tone changed as well. Still overall it's my favorite sitcom of all time.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

The increased sappiness worked, though, because if you're to imagine being stuck in a MASH hospital, you'd have to think that the mind would often turn to home. Since you're not a frontline soldier, you're less likely to become inured to what war does to the local population and your fellow soldiers, or coworkers as would be so easy for a drafted doctor to view these people. It just seemed natural.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

The only shows I can come up with off the top of my head that didn't diminish significantly as they neared the end were The Sopranos and Game of Thrones. Futurama too in its original four-season run.
Hard to include GoT in that list. At this point we don't know whether it will diminish or not near the end. The last two seasons could be a huge disappointment.
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

Hard to include GoT in that list. At this point we don't know whether it will diminish or not near the end. The last two seasons could be a huge disappointment.

quite possible since they don't have a published book to at least sort of hold to...
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

quite possible since they don't have a published book to at least sort of hold to...

They have an outline from GRRM, but there are quotes out there that they can't end the TV series the same way as the books because they changed something along the way that prevents the outcome - either killed a character or setup the character in such a way that said person must die or isn't in a position to claim the throne. I don't know precisely, and I pretty much gave up on the books shortly after the inclusion of Lady Stoneheart.
 
They have an outline from GRRM, but there are quotes out there that they can't end the TV series the same way as the books because they changed something along the way that prevents the outcome - either killed a character or setup the character in such a way that said person must die or isn't in a position to claim the throne. I don't know precisely, and I pretty much gave up on the books shortly after the inclusion of Lady Stoneheart.

I saw a rumor this weekend that lady stoneheart is introduced this season. I hope it's just a rumor
 
Re: TV: Give Me That Remote!

M*A*S*H was hurt in time by losing Henry, Radar, Frank and Trapper. Potter was solid, but Klinger eventually lost his charm, and Charles and BJ didn't bring the same dynamic to that tent for me as Frank and Trapper. Although Charles by himself was a great chracter. It grew increasingly full of itself, more preachy and definitely more sappy. I think too as Alan Alda was given more and more involvement as a producer over Charles Dubin the tone changed as well. Still overall it's my favorite sitcom of all time.

The great thing about MASH was it smuggled a criticism of the Vietnam war into Ma and Pa Kettle's livingroom every week. As that connection withered with the end of the war and the gradually fading from consciousness, the show lost its whole purpose. Meanwhile, the industry was moving to dumb it down and sand off its rough edges. The last few years are atrocious.
 
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