the wire

[Galleleo]

So far I find this The Prisoner miniseries pretty interesting, it's a remake from a British 1967 series and the first two episodes were pretty interesting. I believe it's a 6 episode series in total.

Also, I hardly hear anyone talk about Oz, that was a great show. And if you see how many people started their careers in Oz.

[Fidel Castro]

This just in:

The visitors are lizard people who are going to enlsave/eat the human race. The tv reporter and some other chick start a resistance, and eventually some of the vistors join up as well. Chaos ensues.

Welcome to 1984, enjoy your stay.

[Squeezer]

I just started to watch a brand new show called "V". There's just 3 episodes out so far, but every episode has been brilliant. I really like the direction this is going, basically V is about aliens showing up in motherships all over earth.

I don't want to explain too much about this show because I don't want to give any spoilers at all. All I can say is that this is one of the best starts for a show I have ever seen, I can't wait for the next episode.

I watched the first twenty minutes and couldn't get into it, even though it has Juliet from Lost in it. There was a pretty sweet looking jet that crashed down on Broadway in NYC, but after that I kind of stopped watching.

Maybe I'll give it another try. It seemed like the aliens were secretly malificent or something.

[Noah]

I just started to watch a brand new show called "V". There's just 3 episodes out so far, but every episode has been brilliant. I really like the direction this is going, basically V is about aliens showing up in motherships all over earth.

I don't want to explain too much about this show because I don't want to give any spoilers at all. All I can say is that this is one of the best starts for a show I have ever seen, I can't wait for the next episode.

[Facetious]

I watched Season 1 of Mad Men, thought it was different, so I'm gonna get season 2, but if Season 3 is utter rubbish, I'm gonna feel gutted shelling out for something that turns to shit.

season 3 isnt bad at all, its just got some flaws, in my mind

first two seasons are good enough that i have faith he'll completely right the ship

[Dabram]

Dexter was original and fresh for 2 seasons.. now they're running out of angles and it's getting somewhat soapie and the storyline starts to feel forced..
Debra should be pushed to the side.. she's pretty annoying and would do better in a small role..
The Laguerta/Batista love affair between 2 side-characters is simply annoying because it's so forced and seems to be just there to fill up some time.. They've never been given much depth, so I can't really care..

Still Dexter is the only thing I'm watching atm (besides Top Gear ofc)..

Strongly considering rewatching Boston Legal again or The Wire.. Just finished rewatching Tour of Duty a couple of months ago.... There's not that many GREAT series imo, and I like when I have something to watch religiously (preferably in big marathon sessions).

Downloaded 4 seasons of Hustle a week ago.. it's okay, but not as great as I had hoped.. Meh..

[Cops]

How promising? I watched two episodes of season 4 and stopped. I digested Season 1 and 2 in a matter of a week. I'll probably download Season 4 when it's over.

[Displaced]

ok, i gotta start getting me some of The Wire, just so I can join in the convo.

Dexter Season 4 is promising, I almost gave up after season 3.

I watched Season 1 of Mad Men, thought it was different, so I'm gonna get season 2, but if Season 3 is utter rubbish, I'm gonna feel gutted shelling out for something that turns to shit.

[Squeezer]

I watched the Corner right after The Wire. It is incredibly depressing.

Homicide (Simon's other project) was okay. Very different from most conceptions of basic cable cop dramas, but nowhere near the magnum opus of the Wire.

[Noah]

Debra in Dexter is one of the most annoying characters in any show I've watched.

This is only if we exclude everyone from Stargate Universe. That show is the worst. I could only watch it windowed while whining to Turban about how terrible the show is. I've given up that it will become anywhere near decent now so I'm not watching it anymore. It's fun to see that almost everyone on imdb agrees though, what a fucking failure.

[Facetious]

out of order responses:

no, melo. the guy who is played by the real life jay landsman.



january jones is the hottest woman on television by a large margin so i put up with watching her. being hot is generally not enough, but, jesus. i think pete is really compelling when he is at home, so i'm cool with that. i like how dumb sterling's wife is. peggy's family, yeah. horrible.

this season of dexter adds the angel/laguerta bullshit though, which is just as bad as any of the rita/deb crap.

i believe that colvin is based on a real thing, but there's no way it was on the scale they depicted on the show

the corner is incredible, yeah

[Fidel Castro]

And Face, did you know that the character of Bunny Colvin is based on a real police officer in Baltimore that created a zone like "Hamsterdam" as a social experiment? That bit is actually non-fictional. David Simon based him on this real cop, who was similarly a longterm veteran of the force, and attempted to legalize drugs in certain areas only to be get egg on his face and be vilified by the press. No one actually looked to see how his experiment had panned out, but rather chose to demonize the guy instead.

3 is close behind season 4 in my mind.

4 > 3 > 1 > 5 > 2

Actually a lot of the wire is based on real life shit. The entire first season is based on Ed Burns (one of the creators of the show) busting Melvin Watkins (the guy who plays the deacon in the last 3 seasons, also sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of heroin in the 70's and 80's). The shit with the pagers and the code of the backwards telephone numbers is the actual code that Melvins crew used. Bubbles is based on Ed Burns' old snitch. David Simon used to work for the Baltimore Sun, hence season 5 and the "buyouts" of the staff, which actually happened to him. There really were Barksdales that ran west Baltimore. Ed Norris plays a homicide detective, but was really the Baltimore Police Commissioner, and seems to be the basis of the Rawls character. Carcetti is obviously based on Martin O'Malley. Sgt Landsman is based on a real character who in fact plays Bunny's shift Lt. in the 3rd season.

And all of you Wire fans, you need to watch the Corner if you haven't already. It was the miniseries that came before the Wire, and it mostly concentrates on the dope fiends of west Baltimore and features several actors from the Wire. Good shit, but really depressing in the end. Several of the real life characters from the Corner actually appear on the Wire as well, for example the basis of the main character of the Corner plays Brother Mouzones right hand man in the Wire.

The homelife in Mad Men is a huuuuuuge part of the show, and in Dexter its not, its just side drama. Thats the difference. Plus Deb and Rita are easily more tolerable than Trudy, Peggy and her family, the Sterling family, and the Draper family. There is no contest there. I will admit that Deb is probably my least favorite tv character, but she has developed into an important part of the dectectives. Then again, I'm probably still frustrated that season 3 of Mad Men was clearly a level below the previous seasons.

[phata$$]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBbv8kyFPs

[Cops]

1 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 2

[Squeezer]

Melo? Did you mean Marlo? What was unrealistic about that. I really liked the way Marlo figured out a way to get rid of the bodies during season 4.

IMO Season 4 is the best 13 hours in television. The scope of what it covers is ridiculous. Showing how dysfunction in the highest and lowest levels has a direct impact on the poor. Whether at school, in the community, or in city hall, "the shit rolls downhill" as Freamon (I believe, though it might have been one of the other homicide detectives). The other thing David Simon did with incredible success is show how poverty, illeteracy and social epidemics can become cyclical. We see the development of Randy, as he becomes a street orphan, Michael as he changes gradually into the next great B-More stickup man, Dukie as he learns to collect scrap metal and gains an addiction to heroin (like Bubbles), and Wee-Bey's kid (Namond...right?) who escapes the ghetto not because of his personal achievements, but through sheer dumb luck. More than any season, I felt that season 4 underlined the failure of America's attempts to cure the social ills that plague the poorest in our country. It did so by telling a captivating, no-bullshit or punches pulled kind of story. The boys acted like 14-year-old boys, and all of the points Simon had been trying to make fit perfectly with the core of the plot. Plus it has the scene where Omar robs Marlo's card game (the ongoing joke about the ring was pretty cool), and Lester Freamon being a badass yet again when he figures out the nail dilemma. It has the best death scene too (Bodie).

And Face, did you know that the character of Bunny Colvin is based on a real police officer in Baltimore that created a zone like "Hamsterdam" as a social experiment? That bit is actually non-fictional. David Simon based him on this real cop, who was similarly a longterm veteran of the force, and attempted to legalize drugs in certain areas only to be get egg on his face and be vilified by the press. No one actually looked to see how his experiment had panned out, but rather chose to demonize the guy instead.

3 is close behind season 4 in my mind.

4 > 3 > 1 > 5 > 2