The Television Discussion Thread

[briofthesilversea]

Lol, Bri! That's the one with oh...what's his face from Lost--Boone *can't remember his name..Ian? something?*. That would be the only selling point for me, but the trailer I saw didn't even have him. Maybe I'll check it out online sometime. Post in here and tell us what you think of it!

I didn't see this until today! Sorry I didn't post sooner It's a great show! What does he look like? I've never seen Lost, so I wouldn't know what to look for. But the good thing about the Vampire Diaries is, the girl is great! Not annoying in the least. I have to admit I like Damon, although he is the 'bad guy'. Really I watched the show for a laugh, but it's much better then the trailers let on.

Anyone else watch The Cleaner? I recently got into watching it, and now the season has ended I'm going to have to get the 1st season on DVD, especially since it has Jackson Rathbone in one of the episodes!

[greenleaf23]

So anyone here see the Season Premiere of NCIS tonight? I didn't get to watch it, but I heard what happened, and from what I heard it was AWESOME I think I might even get the iTunes season pass. I only got to see a little of the end of the premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles, it just didn't seem like NCIS to me. Maybe I'll change my mind after I see the whole thing though.

[Bookwyrm]

The season finale of Warehouse 13 aired tonight. It was pretty awesome. Leena is evil?!?!?! It ended on a cliffhanger, but they've already been renewed for a second season, so I'm not too upset about that.
It's been interesting to see the show slowly evolve over the season from kind of a goofy comedy to a show with a nice balance of humor and drama.

[Kate]

I'm excited that Fall TV is starting up again!

I enjoyed the season premier of The Office and Merlin's first episode was pretty good. I wasn't even aware that Heroes had started up again. I think they really need to trim some of their characters/story lines. They just keep adding them! I really only care about Claire, Peter, Hiro/Ando, and Nathan, with the inevitable intervention of Noah and Angela. I can do without the new people, Tracy, Matt Parkman, and anyone else. But where is Mohinder?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Matt Parkman and Mohinder Suresh aren't new, they've been on the show since the very beginning.

[Gandalfs Beard]

Wait a minute Kate. Did you just say "...Merlin's first episode"? The season finale was just a few weeks ago, and I am in California too . I love that show and my DVR is set to record any new episodes. Though, come to think of it, you are probably watching the BBC America broadcasts which would be starting the second season already I suppose.

I saw the season premiere of House and Castle last night. Apparently House is the most popular American program globally at the moment. And it's no wonder. The season premiere was brilliant enough to be a theatrical release. It was both flat out hilarious and extremely moving. Some adult themes though, might make it unsuitable for some families.

Castle was good, but more standard television faire. The characters and humourous dialogue are still the strongest aspect of the show.

I haven't watched the Warehouse 13 finale yet Booky (it seems like the series just started, I can't believe one season has gone by already). I'm a little bummed I've got to wait so long for the next season . And Sanctuary just doesn't do it for me. I hope Stargate Universe and the new BSG spin-off are decent enough to keep me entertained in the meantime. I think they should be starting soon.

GB

[Kate]

I know W4J; that was supposed to be a list, but I can see how you would have taken it otherwise. I meant that I was tired of Matt Parkman, Tracy Strauss, and I could do without the new people they added. I was also wondering where Mohinder had ended up because he didn't appear.

GB: Yeah, that's what I meant. I've been following Merlin on BBC, so I meant the season 2 premier.

[Bookwyrm]

I didn't know Castle started up already. Good thing I'm I'm almost finished with Veronica Mars, because now I've got new episodes of all my shows to watch.

It was a pretty short season, GB. Maybe 13 or 14 episodes. I guess that's becoming the trend for a show's first season. Both Dollhouse and Castle had short first seasons.

[BuBbLyLu]

Just watched the premiere episode for Heroes' Season 4. I'm not too sure what to make of it yet--it's hard to see where they're going with this now that they've added on seemingly a whole new storyline. But the new characters look interesting.

I think they really need to trim some of their characters/story lines. They just keep adding them! I really only care about Claire, Peter, Hiro/Ando, and Nathan, with the inevitable intervention of Noah and Angela. I can do without the new people, Tracy, Matt Parkman, and anyone else. But where is Mohinder?

Yeah, those are the only characters I really care about seeing shaped up--minus Claire though. Matt's okay, and the new characters could hold some interesting possibilities, but as for Tracy...

SHOW SPOILER

I'm extremely peeved they brought her back! Why? Why was that necessary! She wasn't much of a character before, neither was Ali Later's previous character Nikki. And supposedly there's a third sister? Barbara was it? Oy, this is never going to end.

I have no idea what happened to Mohinder. Does anyone remember what happened to him in the 3rd Season? My horrible memory has probably blocked poor Mohinder out.

[stargazer]

I was able to view the season 4 premiere of Heroes online last night. On the whole I enjoyed it, though a few parts were confusing since I haven't watched much of season 3.

Random remarks: I agree about the large number of characters - it means less development/screen attention for each. On the other hand, a show with a large ensemble allows some flexibility for the writers to eliminate characters (either in the plot itself, or if the actors themselves depart). A good example of this is LOST.

I really only care about Claire, Peter, Hiro/Ando, and Nathan, with the inevitable intervention of Noah and Angela. I can do without the new people, Tracy, Matt Parkman, and anyone else. But where is Mohinder?

I agree, though Claire is a character I could see used less - though she does provide a lot of the motivations for what Noah does, so in that sense she can be a plot driver.

And I too could do without Tracy.

I rather liked Matt's character, especially in season 1, along with his and Mohinder's "adoption" of Molly in season 2. I don't know what happened to Mohinder last season, or where he is now. And also, has Molly been written out of the series? She was in most of the season 2 episodes but barely appeared in the season 3 eps I did see.

Speaking of Matt's ability, I thought they would keep Sylar as "Nathan" for a few more episodes, but he's already screaming to get out.

The carnival seems a natural way for those with abilities to 'hide in plain sight.' In light of its connection to Hiro I wonder if we'll see much more of it as the season progresses.

[Bookwyrm]

Gazer, for some reason a lot of people disappeared in season 3. Monica was dropped from the show with no explanation. Once Nikki died, they just stopped following that set of characters until Micah mysteriously showed up again.

As for Sylar, he'll never go away for good. I keep hoping a meteor will drop from the sky and obliterate him, but considering they've given him so many powers that he's practically a deity, I doubt he'll die any time soon.

Ditto your thoughts on Claire. If I do decide to watch the 4th season, the more she whines about how she's not really human any more and nobody understands her, yada yada yada, the more likely I'll be to tune out. The girl used to be fairly interesting until the angst bug bit her bad.

[DOECOG]

As for Sylar, he'll never go away for good. I keep hoping a meteor will drop from the sky and obliterate him, but considering they've given him so many powers that he's practically a deity, I doubt he'll die any time soon.

I agree. After the first season finale I was happy they didn’t kill him off because he was a very interesting character, but now they have been running him into the ground.

[Bookwyrm]

Yeah, in the first season, Sylar was beyond creepy, especially when he was just the stunt guy and they didn't have an actor yet. Once he became a full-fledged character, the writers went on Sylar overload and we started spending as much time with him as with any of the other characters and that just destroyed his creepiness. Sure he's still pretty disturbing, but he's not scary anymore. It's like in the lame slasher movies where the monster comes back to life again and again. You know he's just going to come back, so the newest attempt to kill him off is just kind of tedious.

[stargazer]

Excellent points, Bookwyrm! I think the creepiness of Sylar's character was pretty significant in season 1, and had he died (as hinted in the last episode of that season) it would have made him a more memorable character.

It reminds me of the Borg in Star Trek. They were really creepy those first few times we met them in TNG - virtually invincible, and something different. But they were such effective bad guys that the writers kept using them more and more (especially in Voyager - I understand the ship traveled through their space on the way home, but I still think they were overused).

Did anyone notice the college prof reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at about 11 minutes into the Heroes premiere? [random]

Thanks to a conversation at Ryadian's house last night, I spent much of today watching episodes from seasons 2 and 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Again I'm impressed with the overall quality of that show.

[Kate]

Wow! Great thoughts on Heroes, particularly on the subject of Sylar. He was much creepier when he was scalping people. Now he has a personality, baggage, and a conscience. I'm still confused why they fused the characters of Nathan and Sylar. Both characters were favorites with the writers and also with the fans. They can't both hang around. I'd like to see more of Sylar than just in Angela's flashes.

I didn't like Claire all that much in the past, but I liked her college story line this time around (probably because I can relate. Sort of. )

I'm sad we lost Monica. She had a really awesome power. And I miss Molly too.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

We had the FlashForward premiere last night, in Australia. I thought it was very good and had a lot of promise but it's too early to comment much further. I'm intrigued where the mystery is going to take us all. I was particularly impressed with the scale of the mayhem towards the beginning. Must have cost a pretty penny. It'll be interesting to see how the free-will versus fate argument compares to LOST.