TV Kinda rocks now

[Drunk Monk]

Ok, this was one of those gifts you give to your spouse but it's really for you. I got Stacy an Apple TV box. And we have quicknetflixster. As you all know, I'm a horribly addictive personality and my worst addiction is TV. I've avoided cable all my life because I don't want to fall into that dark heroinhole of TV. With this and medmarijuana clubs in my 'hood, you all may never hear from me again, beyond rambling reviews of old movies....

hmm, not much different than usual, I suppose. :oops:

[thatguy]

Ok. this could be promising:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://io9.com/5895080/totally-badass-trailer-for-battlestar-galacticas-cylon-war-prequel-blood-and-chrome">http://io9.com/5895080/totally-badass-t ... and-chrome</a><!-- m -->

...hopefully better than the Caprica prequel.

--tg

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Weird. I had "Pawn Stars" (the reality show about a Vegas pawn shop) playing in the back ground, when I heard a familiar voice, and saw one of my colleagues putting his collection of Wild West toys up for sale.

Weird.

[cranefly]

I was flipping channels yesterday and lo and behold I came upon Soupy Sales. He looked grayer than I remember, but my god he is so photogenic. He looks good getting pied in the face whether facing left or right. At first he was talking to some guy off to the right (hidden from view by a wall, so all you could see was his hands and arms wildly gesticulating). Then suddenly, smack! Pie in the face. Heh-heh-heh. After that he was talking to some puppet off to the left, and the puppet is doing all sorts of crazy things and, smack! Pie in the face. Heh-heh-heh.

When I was ten years old I had my appendix removed. In the hospital, there was a small TV at the foot of the bed. Soupy Sales was on. I remember he was facing left, talking to this damned puppet in a hot air balloon. The balloon kept going up and down and the puppet was having a crazy conversation with Soupy Sales. Then, smack! Pie in the face. I started to laugh. The nurse and my mom told me not to laugh because of my stitches. I told them I wouldn't laugh anymore. But that balloon kept going up and down and that puppet kept doing crazy things and then, smack! Pie in the face! And I couldn't stop laughing.

They had to shut the TV off.

Ah, Soupy. It's been a long while.

[El Dingo]

So I read an interesting blog post at why TV kinda rocks now.

1. Digital recording. TV jumped all over DV way before film because quality was not important. The cost of film and cameras plummeted and allowed instant editing.
2. FX - CGI effects cost nothing compared to real SFX
3. TTM - Time to market became negligible due to post production schedules dropping dramatically.
4. The combination of the above, plus involvement of 'movie' personnel brought 'legitamacy' to TV

Basically TV is the new 'Golden Age' of film. It looks great, sets and FX are comparable to studio production and talent formerly associated with movies are happily migrating to TV.

To me this is a pro and con scenario:

Pro: Well done TV series that would not have worked as movies (Deadwood, The Wire)
Con: Well done movie ideas that suck as a series (American Horror Story)

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I am going to have to say no on 2. CGI effects are very expensive. Maybe not compared to yesterday when you had to go through various filmed process to make them. I think they are easier to do, which is why they use them, but they are not cheaper.

When we did Cloverfield, 80% of the budget was for special effects. We built a section of the Brooklyn Bridge. The EFX boys were going to add in the rest digitally. For the cost of the effects, we could have built the bridge.

[El Dingo]

Yes, custom FX like that are expensive, but the secondary market (TV, advertising, games) buy 3D sets, creatures, explosions etc. from the equivalent of stock photo dealers. If you've ever used a 'toolbox' from a game developer that lets you create your own environments you know what I mean.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out the company that made a 'custom' Brooklyn bridge is pimping it out to TV and game companies.

Make it once (expensive)

Sell the copies (cheap, cheap, cheap)

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Still, no.

I don't care what market a Production Designer is in, his ego will not let him buy stock anything. They need to put their stamp on everything. Case in point. We had to modify the backlot at Universal for the Production Designer. This was the backlot that had burned down and just been rebuilt. It was brand new and no one had shot on the street. Construction still had to change every building on the street.

They use CGI effects because they are easy to use. Not because they are cheap to use. If they were cheap it wouldn't cost Pixar $150million to make a movie.

[Drunk Monk]

What makes Revenge better than most nighttime soaps is that the main character, Emily, is a ninja. For real. That is the plot. Hot ninja penetrates the Hamptons, bent on revenge, in a cheesey overblown nighttime soap. How could I not love that? Her ninja sensei is played by none other than Hiroyoki Sanada (Twilight Samurai). Season one is available on netflix streaming. He only appeared in four episodes but they're the ones to tune into to for that story arc: Suspicion, Loyalty, Chaos and Scandal. Emily has yet to have a sword fight, but she had an amusing axe fight with the psycho white-haired hitman in his torture chamber for the season finale.

[El Dingo]

I'm really enjoying the second season of "Alphas". It's another Heroes/X-Men clone but the characters are very well developed. The guy who plays an autistic who can 'see' electronic activity is hilarious.

You don't need to have seen season one to understand the storyline. Check it out.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I'm watching again this season. Got bored with it last year and didn't finish this season. I have missed a couple of episodes because my satellite gets cranky with they SciFi Channel. But it does seem better this year.

I need Gary to branch out more. He seems stuck. I did like him out in nature on that one episode at the Alpha farm.

[Drunk Monk]

It did nothing for me. But like I said, I'm over the superhero genre, unless they are kung fu superheroes. I liked the 1st season of Heroes, but when that crashed and burned during the writers' strike, I was done with the concept.

I did like that character who can see waves, although his gestures reminded me too much of Tom Cruise in Minority Report. I also kinda liked that character who deploys the old Dune Bene Gesserit trick 'the voice', mostly because she's a little cross-eyed, which sorta works for me. The cop who gets super strong would be better if he turned green or turned to stone. Way too much David Strathairn in speedos. I trust it gets better, as I do value your esteemed opinions on such media, but I'm not sure if I'll see through. Are there any 'must see' episodes in the first season?

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

A well told tale of domestic terrorism with a bitch of a cliff hanger. Temple Grandin does a great job in the CIA given that her previous experience was mostly building cattle rendering facilities. But her mental instability is still an issue. Also amazing is that the guy who fought in the hedge rows across France is still only a Marine Staff Sergeant fifty years later.

[Drunk Monk]

S kept trying to get me hooked. "Just watch the pilot. I've already downloaded it." I blasted through the series in a few nights. Very amusing. Danes plays psycho so well. Damien is spot on as the conflicted ginger. Morena is still smoking hot. But I find myself sympathizing most with Mandy's character. I'm tempted to watch Hatufim (the original Israeli show) which is on Hulu.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Ow, this show hurts me. I used to enjoy it when the Parental Warning comes on it says nudity. Yay, cheap thrills. But in the Bridge world Nudity is bad. it is never anything I want to see. I've had to bleach my eyes several times.

That being said, this is a really good show. The main detective has Asperger's or some form of autism and is surrounded by a diverse set of characters. It is set in El Paso and Juarez and keeps hopping back forth over the border. The plot is really twisty so you must pay attention to what is going on. The setting for the situation, the bridge between El Paso and Jaurez, seems perfect. I can't envision how the Swedish version upon which this show is made works. How is there such a big dichotomy between Sweden and Denmark that compares to the US/Mexico divide.

It's on FX and you should be watching it while you wait for Big Bang Theory to return.