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Line of Duty was excellent. I agree that the second season was better than the first but the first was good too.

Fargo was also really good.

I've just watched the first two episodes of Tyrant about a despot in a fictional Arab country. They weren't quite brave enough to make it completely Arab, so there is the family member that grew up in America as the lead. It could go either way really but it's different at least.

The first episode of The Leftovers was interesting. 2% of the worlds population disappears in an instant but instead of focusing on the why and how, the show seems to more interested in the effect the disappearance has on the people that are dealing with the loss. Not exactly a cheer you up kind of show but I'm looking forward to more.

The rest is fluff but that doesn't mean not enjoyable. Gang Related is a new show. Falling Skies is back and so is Jack Bauer in 24: Live Another Day, which is a fun show.

In the running for stupidest concept for a show ever, is Taxi Brooklyn. It's a police procedural. A pretty detective who is sometimes reckless and a terrible driver gets put on foot patrol because she can't be trusted to drive and no will partner with her. Through a series of increasing unbelievable events, she ends up helping a French immigrant taxi driver. He offers to drive her anywhere, whenever she needs, and so becomes her new unofficial partner. With her detective skills and determination and his awesome driving abilities and worldliness, they fight crime in Brooklyn. Meanwhile her cougar mother has the hots for the taxi driver.

This show really has to be seen to believed.

As for American series, based on your posts I think you'll completely hate this next one, but I kind of like 'The Last Ship' which has started recently.  Hammy acting. Lots of action. Sort of like a mix between transformers and an advert for the American Navy, but me like the 1st 2 episodes.

Thus challenged, I did watch. Even the women had lantern jaws.

*salutes*

I started watching Tyrant, which is by the same production team as Homeland. It is kind of an interesting premise -- this guy is the second son of some Saddam Hussein type. He's made a life for himself in America, even married an American woman, and has tried to put his past and heritage behind him. His wife finally convinces him to return home for a visit so the kids can get in touch with their heritage, etc etc, and of course while the family is there some shit goes down and they find leaving isn't so easy.

I've seen two episodes so far and it has managed not to be terribly offensive, which would be my major concern with a show set in the Middle East. I was one of the people who watched Homeland always kind of wishing Brody would just stay a terrorist, and this show satisfies some of that desire to see more Middle Eastern political intrigue where the Americans are not automatically the good guys. It also has the guy who played Andy on Weeds. He plays this smarmy expat guy and does a good job of it. Maybe check it out?

HBO also has a new show out, an adaptation of one of Tom Perrotta's books, The Leftovers. Tom is a friend of a friend so I started watching it out of support for him. The premise is rather odd -- a large portion of the world's population just disappeared, in a rapture like event or something. The story is set many years later, after the immediate aftermath, as people try to rebuild their lives.  The first episode was alright. If you like strange and like HBO, it might be a good one to try.

The only other summer show I've checked out is Reckless, which I watched because it is set in my hometown of Charleston, SC. I was not terribly impressed with the first episode, but it is always fun seeing shows set in familiar places.

Stil, I agree with everything you said about Taxi Brooklyn but you left out how every single line in the show is a cliche and delivered with what can only be called melodramatic, overacted pathos, the characters are so flat you could slide them under a door and there is not a single element of the plot that hasn't been lifted from somewhere else. In actual fact, this is a good show...if one wanted to use a TV show in class to show how bad something can be by over-usage of stereotypes, cliches and cut-and-paste plot formulas.

Line of Duty was excellent. I agree that the second season was better than the first but the first was good too.

Fargo was also really good.

I've just watched the first two episodes of Tyrant about a despot in a fictional Arab country. They weren't quite brave enough to make it completely Arab, so there is the family member that grew up in America as the lead. It could go either way really but it's different at least.

The first episode of The Leftovers was interesting. 2% of the worlds population disappears in an instant but instead of focusing on the why and how, the show seems to more interested in the effect the disappearance has on the people that are dealing with the loss. Not exactly a cheer you up kind of show but I'm looking forward to more.

The rest is fluff but that doesn't mean not enjoyable. Gang Related is a new show. Falling Skies is back and so is Jack Bauer in 24: Live Another Day, which is a fun show.

In the running for stupidest concept for a show ever, is Taxi Brooklyn. It's a police procedural. A pretty detective who is sometimes reckless and a terrible driver gets put on foot patrol because she can't be trusted to drive and no will partner with her. Through a series of increasing unbelievable events, she ends up helping a French immigrant taxi driver. He offers to drive her anywhere, whenever she needs, and so becomes her new unofficial partner. With her detective skills and determination and his awesome driving abilities and worldliness, they fight crime in Brooklyn. Meanwhile her cougar mother has the hots for the taxi driver.

This show really has to be seen to believed.

I just realized that we watched the same new shows. That's what I get for not reading upthread.

I rather liked The Leftovers but I am kind of wondering how it will play out as a multi-season series. It doesn't immediately strike me as having massive amounts of plot to develop, but I guess we'll see.

I just realized that we watched the same new shows. That's what I get for not reading upthread.

I rather liked The Leftovers but I am kind of wondering how it will play out as a multi-season series. It doesn't immediately strike me as having massive amounts of plot to develop, but I guess we'll see.

That 2% could always come back, I suppose. Maybe religious factions?

It's based on a book that was well received but I don't know anything about it.

Stil, I agree with everything you said about Taxi Brooklyn but you left out how every single line in the show is a cliche and delivered with what can only be called melodramatic, overacted pathos, the characters are so flat you could slide them under a door and there is not a single element of the plot that hasn't been lifted from somewhere else. In actual fact, this is a good show...if one wanted to use a TV show in class to show how bad something can be by over-usage of stereotypes, cliches and cut-and-paste plot formulas.

Yeah, you got it.

I watched the second episode, couldn't help myself. It's like watching a car crash or something.

I was a big Burn Notice Fan.
Currently I've just started watching Defiance.
Also pretty much any animation gets watched.

Currently I've just started watching Defiance.

Is it any good? I kept seeing promos for it on the end of Continuum and wondered.


Meanwhile, I have accepted the Line of Doody challenge and sought out the first episode. We shall see,

Sherlock from the BBC vs Elementary from CBS.

SPOILER ALERTIf you haven't seen these, skip this post.
SPOILER ALERT - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Each one takes its own spin on modernizing the Sherlock Holmes tradition.  Updating Holmes to the current year isn't as new of a concept as it seems.  During WWII, there were movies with Sherlock Holmes foiling the Nazis.

Sherlock has epic, movie quality writing and production, but only 3 episodes per year.  At 24 episodes per year, Elementary can't quite compete on the quality level, but more than makes up for this in quantity.

And now, let's let our 2 versions of Sherlock Holmes debate for points.  To save time, we'll use S for the one from Sherlock and E for the one from Elementary.

S - I think I left my riding crop in the mortuary.

E - I prefer to strangle a corpse with my bare hands.

Point goes to S just for the quote value alone.


S - I have a mind castle.

E - I sit on the floor staring at the evidence.

S - I meditate.

E - I watch 10 TVs at once.

Tie - both Sherlocks definitely need therapy.


S - My parents are boring, normal people.

E - I never speak of my mother.  My father is very rich and powerful.

Close, but S's parents stole the show when they appeared.  E may yet recapture this point if we ever meet his father or mother.


S - I permit no distractions in my life.

E - I have one night stands with different women all the time to keep my mind clear.

Considering that at least one of his explorations involved checking a pair of identical twins for any possible differences, E definitively wins this point.


S - I have a network of homeless people assisting me.

E - I have a shadowy group of hackers assisting me.

S - I pay my assistants with small amounts of money.

E - I pay my assistants by performing bizarre acts of self-humiliation both online and in public.

Point goes to E.


S - Dr. John Watson is also a cute little hobbit named Bilbo.

E - Dr. Joan Watson is Lucy Liu.

No question that E wins this point.


E - I won't even admit it to myself, but I think I'm secretly in love with my Watson.

S - I'm also secretly in love with my Wats . . .  Oh wait, I didn't say that.

Tie - there probably are betting pools worldwide on which Holmes-Watson couple will be the first to kiss.


E - I've had sex with Moriarty.

S - But I thought you were straight.

E - My Moriarty is Irene Adler.

S - WHAT?!?

E - Have you done it with your Moriarty?

S - Wait until next season to find out.

Point to E.


E - My brother owns restaurants and works for MI6.

S - My brother owns most of the UK government and MI6 works for him.

Point to S.


E - I'm a recovering heroin addict.

S - I could consume twice my body weight in drugs and my mind would overcome the effects with no effort.

Point to S.


S - My housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, smokes pot, but is a nice lady.

E - My housekeeper, Ms. Hudson, is a ladyboy.

Tie - we have to wait at least one more season to see who's going to win the point for weirdest version of Mrs. Hudson.


S - I do foolishly dangerous things when I'm bored, and I'm often bored.

E - I do foolishly dangerous things when I'm angry, and I'm easily angered.

Tie - and another recommendation for therapy along with large doses of anti-psychotic medication too.

Quote from: redoctoberblack on July 07, 2014, 05:19:00 PM

Currently I've just started watching Defiance.

Is it any good? I kept seeing promos for it on the end of Continuum and wondered.


Meanwhile, I have accepted the Line of Doody challenge and sought out the first episode. We shall see,

It's quite alright, I enjoy it much more than Dominion.

Line of Duty - Season 2

Finished it. Liked it a lot. BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND>...

SPOILERS

So Jane Ackers was on the take. And she was working with Dot Cotton to set up Tommy. Then Lindsay Denton blunders in. She wants to arrest Tommy, or hassle him, not knowing what or who he is, only that he beat up a girl who may or may not have blown Lindsay's estranged ex-bf, DCC Dryden. Jane Ackers sees Lindsay's naive actions as an opening. She makes contact and begs Lindsay to help her pull Tommy out into the open because...

I don't get who Jane wanted Tommy to fall into the hands of. She said, no guns, no heroics. She said there were people who had an interest. I *guess* since she was on the take and Tommy was getting unstable, she did mean for him to disappear. She knew moving Tommy would be a hit? Or she didn't know, and she was trying to protect him, but someone else, possibly Dot, made other arrangements?

Who put the tracker on Lindsay's car?

Etc.

I have been watching "Sons of Anarchy" for the last few weeks. I am on Season 5 now and it is a good show. Quite gripping. There is not a single likeable character in it, the supposed internal struggle that Jax, the main character is apparently dealing with is non-existent. The thing that makes the show so watchable is that it is populated by the most intriguing and messed-up bunch of sell-serving, delusional sociopaths I have ever seen, if one disregards "Breaking Bad".

Outlander

In 1945, married World War II nurse Claire Randall finds herself transported back to 1743 Scotland, where she finds civil war and the dashing Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser.

This is a new show, only two episodes have screened so far. I am entertained. The romance and inter-personal danger elements are attractive and working well so far. It could turn soap opera-ish, but the sci-fi/fantasy elements might yet keep it afloat. Haven't read the books. Might give them a try.

I watched the first episode of Outlander too, but haven't seen the second episode yet. The book series, which I haven't read either, is really popular, so I'm trying to give it a shot even though for some reason I really hate time travel just as a general thing.

(I have not really examined why I dislike time travel so much ... SciFi and fantasy don't bother me, I can even enjoy the genres, but time travel really really bugs. Why, I wonder?)