Top TV shows for 2011 [and now 2012]

[gh]

Haven't had time to dive into Alcatraz yet, but glad to see that Justified kicked off with a bang!

[guru]

Haven't had time to dive into Alcatraz yet, but glad to see that Justified kicked off with a bang!

Boy, no kidding! Loved the opening scene between Boyd and Raylan, and it will be interesting to see where the storyline with the Detroit mafia goes. Did that Icepick character remind anyone else of Anton Chigurh(the assassin in No Country for Old Men)?

[gh]

he did... and with the hat, it took me nearly the whole hour before I recognized him as Deb's partner in Dexter.

[jeremyp]

he did... and with the hat, it took me nearly the whole hour before I recognized him as Deb's partner in Dexter.

Ka Ching!

[gh]

One hour into the two-hour premiere of JJ Abrams' Alcatraz - so far, so great

As was the second hour. I'm hooked already!

[jhc68]

Raylon added a new line to the all-time TV lexicon: "Sorry about the tablecloth..."

[guru]

American Horror Story, which has already wrapped it's maiden season, and been renewed for a 2nd, is terrific. The premise - a fictional house in LA haunted by anyone who has died there - made for some interesting storylines, which included the real-life Black Dahlia. The first season ended with the lastest inhabitants - Dylan McDermott's character and family - all dying by various means and joining the growing cast of trapped ghosts(who can leave the house on just one day a year - Halloween). Should make for an interesting season 2.

American Horror Story, fresh off 17 Emmy nominations, returns for Season 2 October 17 with a whole new storyline(really no other way they could proceed), but with many of last year's actors returning in entirely new roles. An interesting and intriguing idea.

A quick rundown

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20624933,00.html

[Marlow]

Is anyone else as enamored by USA's Suits as my entire family is? It's the smartest written and acted show on TV in our collective opinion.

[gh]

Suits is my wife's fave: catching up on Season 1 was her entertainment whilst I was in London.


(yet another vote for the best possible TV being to skip the hot series when they first come out, then watch them en masse for an orgy of entertainment)

[jeremyp]

Is anyone else as enamored by USA's Suits as my entire family is? It's the smartest written and acted show on TV in our collective opinion.

I watch it but I hardly view it as highly as you (no surprise there, considering our differing opinions in the past). I was a Frat Bro to the father of Gabriel Macht (Steve) so I started watching it due to that. It's slick enough and high on the "suspend disbelief" scale and I cannot stand Lewis, but it does manage to entertain.

[gh]

If you can stand harsh reality, try Copper, which is now a couple of episodes in on BBC America. When I say "harsh" let's just say it's partially the creation of Tom Fontana, who was behind Oz, perhaps the grittiest show ever seen on TV.

The echoes are there.

[Marlow]

If you can stand harsh reality, try Copper, which is now a couple of episodes in on BBC America. When I say "harsh" let's just say it's partially the creation of Tom Fontana, who was behind Oz, perhaps the grittiest show ever seen on TV.
The echoes are there.

Watched the first show with high hopes . . . which were brutally dashed.

[jeremyp]

If you can stand harsh reality, try Copper, which is now a couple of episodes in on BBC America. When I say "harsh" let's just say it's partially the creation of Tom Fontana, who was behind Oz, perhaps the grittiest show ever seen on TV.

The echoes are there.

It's certainly dark enough (in content as well as lighting) but I am struggling with it's gutter level look at life, with, as yet, no characters worth watching. The episode where they allow us to see a child being encouraged to kill, and killing her abuser, was too much for me.
"Hell on Wheels" has a similar dark, gutter theme but the characters are well defined and interesting, and it's very well filmed.

[gh]

Awwright! Sons returns tonite. Perfect timing after I spent the last week rewatching all 14 episodes of season 4 to be fully prepared for Jax as the new prez.

[gh]

Sons is starting to make Breaking Bad look like Bambi.

[jeremyp]

Sons is starting to make Breaking Bad look like Bambi.

I think Walter Whyte would smoke Clay. Not so sure about him versus Gemma or Tara.

[guru]

If you don't know "Homeland". Well, you had better check it out

I'm two episodes in to the 1st season. Outstanding!

[gh]

but-but-but-but... we loved Opie! The Beauteous Babs broke into tears. Jax's revenge is going to be off the scale, neh?

[j-a-m]

1. The Mentalist

The Mentalist is a great show that doesn't seem to get enough love from critics. Occasionally a major network manages to produce a "mainstream" show (and keep it on the air for a few years) that's actually really good, and this is one of those rare cases.

[lonewolf]

One of my favorite shows.. if they can just keep that funky Renault, or whatever it is, running.

[gh]

OK, two weeks in and Last Resort is blowing my mind. Of course the JJ Abrams touch & feel is all over it. When the troops were hiding in the kill zone in ep2, I kept expecting the Volkswagen Microbus from Lost to come rolling down the hill.

Has there ever been a production with Andre Brauger in it that wasn't eminently worth watching?

(anybody ever catch him in The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson?)

[jeremyp]

OK, two weeks in and Last Resort is blowing my mind. Of course the JJ Abrams touch & feel is all over it. When the troops were hiding in the kill zone in ep2, I kept expecting the Volkswagen Microbus from Lost to come rolling down the hill.

Has there ever been a production with Andre Brauger in it that wasn't eminently worth watching?

(anybody ever catch him in The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson?)

It's LOST with a submarine. Which means it teeters on top of a ludicrous supposition that does not fit the real world. I mean come on: Pakistan has been nuked! They have the 3d largest number of Nukes in the world (more than Israel) and there would be a nuclear war going on out there....meanwhile back on the Island. Andre is great! "Thief" was a good show pulled way too early, mainly because it required thought.

[gh]

.... I mean come on: Pakistan has been nuked! They have the 3d largest number of Nukes in the world (more than Israel) and there would be a nuclear war going on out there...

But would there? At least one that involves the U.S., that is. Pakistan can have all the nukes it wants; if it doesn't have a delivery system capable of getting them out of its immediate neighborhood, that makes for a whole different ballgame.

I would also guess that unlike the U.S., which has strike-capacity redundancy spread over tens of thousands of square miles (without even getting into subs), Pakistan's resources (both in terms of the hardware itself and those with the decision-making authority) are likely to be rather compact, and one well-placed nuke would pretty much neuter them.

(I hasten to add that I'm advocating no such thing! Just noting what the tactical aspects seem to be, given that we're debating a fantasy planet in the first place.)

[Conor Dary]

.... I mean come on: Pakistan has been nuked! They have the 3d largest number of Nukes in the world (more than Israel) and there would be a nuclear war going on out there...

But would there? At least one that involves the U.S., that is. Pakistan can have all the nukes it wants; if it doesn't have a delivery system capable of getting them out of its immediate neighborhood, that makes for a whole different ballgame.

I would also guess that unlike the U.S., which has strike-capacity redundancy spread over tens of thousands of square miles (without even getting into subs), Pakistan's resources (both in terms of the hardware itself and those with the decision-making authority) are likely to be rather compact, and one well-placed nuke would pretty much neuter them.

(I hasten to add that I'm advocating no such thing! Just noting what the tactical aspects seem to be, given that we're debating a fantasy planet in the first place.)

I truly doubt Pakistan has any nukes, capable of reaching the US or even pointed at the US. They are all pointed at India, and maybe a few at China. If a nuclear war ever started it would most likely be there. In fact a few years ago it looked like it might come to that.

And why would the US get involved, nuclearly, in that?

[jeremyp]

.... I mean come on: Pakistan has been nuked! They have the 3d largest number of Nukes in the world (more than Israel) and there would be a nuclear war going on out there...

But would there? At least one that involves the U.S., that is. Pakistan can have all the nukes it wants; if it doesn't have a delivery system capable of getting them out of its immediate neighborhood, that makes for a whole different ballgame.

They also have thousands of foam mouthed jihadists quite willing to take a nuke across borders and the Pakistan govt would hand them out like candy. A nuclear war with India would draw us in big time. In the end we'd win but............... in the meantime back on the island.

(I hasten to add that I'm advocating no such thing! Just noting what the tactical aspects seem to be, given that we're debating a fantasy planet in the first place.)

And we're debating good fantasy versus silly fantsay.

[Conor Dary]

The big risk of a nuclear war in that region for the US is nuclear winter.

The greatest risk for nuclear war in our time is the scenario in which a Pakistan-based terror group with ties to Inter-Services Intelligence launches another attack on India ("another Mumbai" is the catchphrase, but it won't necessarily have to be of that scale or spectacle and is widely considered a matter of when, not if) and this touches off a sequence of escalation that results in a nuclear strike and response. It's nearly happened before. Aparna Pande, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, described the strong pro-nuclear strike faction in Indian politics after the Mumbai attacks in 2008 and the common sentiment of, "if Pakistan can cross the border and hit us, why can't we hit back?" The answer is: because it's a short fuse. That simple fact, and the peril it implies, has been enough in the past, but it might not be good enough next time.

This is a global problem. "The impact on the United States is potentially larger than people realize," said Matthew Bunn, co-principal investigator for the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard University. He described studies in which nuclear war was simulated using atmospheric models developed for climate change research, "and if cities are actually burned it can cause enough soot to go up into the upper atmosphere that will stay for a long time, to seriously interfere with global agriculture." The resultant nuclear autumn could cause famine, and not just in South Asia.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/20 ... r_exchange

[Marlow]

I'm into Last Resort too, but my suspension of disbelief is also being stretched to the limit. There would be many, many ways to have already taken out the Colorado, given the resources of whoever the Bad Guys turn out to be. And the nature of the Bad Guys doesn't make for a logical fit. Like Lost, there's already too many stray pieces that will EVER be re-integrated into the puzzle.

[gh]

Best night of the week for TV now is Friday, watching the DVRed versions of Thursday's Last Resort and Person Of Interest.

[jeremyp]

Best night of the week for TV now is Friday, watching the DVRed versions of Thursday's Last Resort and Person Of Interest.

Actually it's Sunday!
Masterpiece (2x Midwife and Upstairs/downstairs, and soon Downton Abbey)), The Good Wife, The Walking Dead, Sixty minutes, and.....oh O.K. Revenge. Or as we call it: The Good the Bad and the Ugly.