1332 replies to this topic

[Cruiserweight]

Tonight Show

[tdalton]

Castle: Last night's episode wasn't the best episode of the series by a long shot, but it was still a good deal of fun. What I will say about it, though, was that it featured some nice progression of the Castle/Beckett relationship, even if only through some fairly subtle nuances of how they interacted with eachother, as well as one fairly big moment when

Spoiler

Castle asked Beckett if she would look after his daughter if something were to happen to him, which was a rather surprising and very touching moment for the series

[dodge]

24. House on fire entertainment, in its grand tradition. Tonight, the recorded last episodes of Damage and The Good Wife. Happy days.

[dodge]

The Good Wife and Damages. Good Wife was hampered by an annoyingly 'experimental' script that took us back and forth from the jurors' deliberations to the actual trial--the result being that viewers were cheated of the real, compelling story: whether Alicia and her repentant husband Peter will get back together.

As for Damages--OMG! An absolutely brilliant hour that showed what a crackerjack creative team can do: 1) Returned character Arthur Frobisher (played by Ted Danson), a formerly ruthless mogul willing to dabble in murder, had returned as a, supposedly, reformed and knightly character working for the environment now. But, when a film actor options his Autobio for the movies and demands to see his Dark Side, manohmanohmanohman, Frobisher delivers! 2) An absolutely appalling and shocking scene of violence wherein the troubled heirs of a now-dead fiscal criminal proved themselves as evil and greedy as poor dear dead dad. I reeled in shock and shouted, "Yeah! This is why I want to write and this is how it's done!"

[SecretAgentFan]

CRIMINAL MINDS

At first I resisted watching this show because it was so clearly fashioned to be another CSI clone. Then I came across it by chance and... was hooked. The team is so much more interesting than any CSI-team, the show is not afraid to embrace truly dark stories, the characters itself are depicted with all their weaknesses and not as always infallible heroes. Patinkin dropping out was a major blow that the show, however, survived pretty well and made the team even stronger.

Great show, still going strong.

Chuck - Season Two

Unfortunately, I finished the last episode of that season. Unfortunately? Because I now have to wait for the next season to be released on DVD (since I got no access to US television). Season Two of "Chuck" is probably one of the strongest second seasons of any series ever. I still feel withdrawal symptoms now that there is no episode left to watch. And with Season 3 apparently much weaker...

[Cruiserweight]

American Idol

[tdalton]

Chuck - Season Two

Unfortunately, I finished the last episode of that season. Unfortunately? Because I now have to wait for the next season to be released on DVD (since I got no access to US television). Season Two of "Chuck" is probably one of the strongest second seasons of any series ever. I still feel withdrawal symptoms now that there is no episode left to watch. And with Season 3 apparently much weaker...

I wholeheartedly agree with what I bolded from your post. Season 2 of Chuck is also one of, if not THE, best seasons I can remember seeing of a TV show (not even just a best second season, but just in an overall sense). Like you, I was a bit saddened when I reached the end of it because there wasn't anything else to view, as I had been almost addicted to the show, watching one episode after the other in fairly rapid succession until I had burned through both Season 1 and Season 2.

What I will say, though, is that you should definitely give Season 3 a try whenever it becomes available to you. From what I've gathered from reading other sites, it's a love-it-or-hate-it season. There are some who absolutely love the direction that they took the series, others (including me) absolutely loathe where they took it, so you should at least give it a try to see what side of the fence you come down on. What I will say, though, is regardless of your feelings on season 3, there is 1 episode you should watch regardless of whether Season 3 ends up being something that you like or not. The thirteenth episode of Season 3 (titled "Chuck vs. the Other Guy") is essential viewing for a Chuck fan, and it is, despite the mediocrity to downright awfulness it's surrounded by in Season 3, is one of the absolute best episodes of the series.

[AgentBentley]

The opening episode of Nip/Tuck season 4.
A funny contrast at the beginning with the supposed seriousness of surgery and the sound of Boogie-oogie-oogie by A Taste of Honey.

[SecretAgentFan]

Chuck - Season Two

Unfortunately, I finished the last episode of that season. Unfortunately? Because I now have to wait for the next season to be released on DVD (since I got no access to US television). Season Two of "Chuck" is probably one of the strongest second seasons of any series ever. I still feel withdrawal symptoms now that there is no episode left to watch. And with Season 3 apparently much weaker...

I wholeheartedly agree with what I bolded from your post. Season 2 of Chuck is also one of, if not THE, best seasons I can remember seeing of a TV show (not even just a best second season, but just in an overall sense). Like you, I was a bit saddened when I reached the end of it because there wasn't anything else to view, as I had been almost addicted to the show, watching one episode after the other in fairly rapid succession until I had burned through both Season 1 and Season 2.

What I will say, though, is that you should definitely give Season 3 a try whenever it becomes available to you. From what I've gathered from reading other sites, it's a love-it-or-hate-it season. There are some who absolutely love the direction that they took the series, others (including me) absolutely loathe where they took it, so you should at least give it a try to see what side of the fence you come down on. What I will say, though, is regardless of your feelings on season 3, there is 1 episode you should watch regardless of whether Season 3 ends up being something that you like or not. The thirteenth episode of Season 3 (titled "Chuck vs. the Other Guy") is essential viewing for a Chuck fan, and it is, despite the mediocrity to downright awfulness it's surrounded by in Season 3, is one of the absolute best episodes of the series.

Thanks for the tip, Tdalton! I certainly hope that there also will be a season 4 since "Chuck" has so much potential to go on even if season 3 went into a different direction.

[Joe Bond]

Chuck vs. The other Guy
I finally got to see the latest Chuck episode and tdalton's positive response to the episode made my expectations high. Dating back to the pilot, which I will get to later, I can't remember seeing a Chuck episode that was any more perfect than this one. Everything from the action, suspense, and character development were top notch and for a second their it almost had a cinematic quality to the storytelling. Those who are fans of not just Chuck but fans of good smart entertainment will be thrilled by this episode and its also has a suprisingly stand alone element to it since most of the pertinent information is given at the begining. I sure hope the next 6 can hold up this same quality plus I find the idea of having other nerds on a CIA team quite interesting.

Chuck: Pilot
It was very strange seeing the first episode since I first saw it when it first aired. In fact, I believe Chuck and Lost are the only two shows I have watched since they first aired. I found this episode to be very funny and found myself laughing quite a lot especially at the homage to A Fistful of Dollars which ironically I casually watched on TCM today. Chuck too me personly is a great parody of the spy genre IMO by having the CIA and NSA dependent on of all people a nerd. This storyline IMO more interesting and has more possiblities then the usual complete idiot spy story and yet it comes off as more believeable. Additionally, you feel for Chuck since he such a likeable person and this is the problem I have with some of the current season's episodes where he either comes off as a whiner or even worse a jerk. Like I mentioned above it seems Chuck vs. The Other Guy brings back the Chuck of old.

[Cruiserweight]

SNL

[tdalton]

Chuck vs. The other Guy
I finally got to see the latest Chuck episode and tdalton's positive response to the episode made my expectations high. Dating back to the pilot, which I will get to later, I can't remember seeing a Chuck episode that was any more perfect than this one. Everything from the action, suspense, and character development were top notch and for a second their it almost had a cinematic quality to the storytelling. Those who are fans of not just Chuck but fans of good smart entertainment will be thrilled by this episode and its also has a suprisingly stand alone element to it since most of the pertinent information is given at the begining. I sure hope the next 6 can hold up this same quality plus I find the idea of having other nerds on a CIA team quite interesting.

I'm glad that you enjoyed "Chuck vs. the Other Guy". Definitely the sole worthwhile episode of Season 3, although I wonder if I think that simply because its head and shoulders better than everything that preceded it in Season 3 or if it's because it actually does stand with the very best of the series. It'll be interesting to re-evaluate it a little later on down the road.

What has really disappointed me about Season 3 is that they could have reached the point they reached at the end of "vs. the Other Guy" without having to go through the garbage they took the series through to get there.

Spoiler

Shaw should have been revealed as a villain very early on in the season, perhaps around episode 5, which would have given Chuck a recurring nemesis, which is something that both the character and the show have desperately needed, especially since The Ring has proven to be about as threatening as a dishrag, especially compared to Fulcrum, which was infinitely more frightening, even though it was apparently a smaller faction of The Ring. Having Shaw and Chuck as recurring adversaries for the better part of a season would have allowed for them to delve into some of the darker aspects of Chuck becoming a spy, using Shaw as Chuck's look into the future if he continues going down the path that he's chosen, and all of that could have been done without sacrificing the humor and fun of the show, which is what they decided to sacrifice by taking Chuck on his tour through the underbelly of the spy world. They could have still saved the whole Chuck and Sarah finally getting together thing for the thirteenth episode, but by having Shaw as a villain early on, it might not have led to the writers completely destroying all of the characters that they had built up over two seasons. Chuck become whiny and intolerable for most of the season, the writers completely destroyed any integrity that the Sarah Walker character had built up over two seasons, making her romance with Chuck ring quite hollow, and Casey was relegated to cameo status. The writers of Chuck should have looked to a show like Castle to see how to treat its characters. Even though there's bound to be years (hopefully) of will-they/won't-they action between Castle and Beckett, never are those characters treated with any disrespect or written as completely out of character as Chuck and Sarah were during season 3. If Chuck somehow manages a fourth season, I think the writers should sit down with some DVDs of Castle and see how a relationship can be written in a will-they/won't-they fashion without having to resort to endless love triangles/squares/whatever-other-shapes and without destroying the integrity of either character, which is what has happened in Season 3 of Chuck.

All of this could have been avoided, and the fans could have been shown some appreciation for having brought the show back from cancellation with a bunch of light and fun episodes (like in Seasons 1 and 2), but instead, the writers created Agent Shaw, which was basically a slap in the face of the fans, and will ultimately be what leads to the series cancellation next month. Sad, really, but at least there's hope that the next six episodes could be what Season 3 should have been all along, which is a good dose of Chuck and Sarah going all Mr. and Mrs. Smith on The Ring and taking down the organization before the clock runs out next month.

[Joe Bond]

Chuck vs. The other Guy
I finally got to see the latest Chuck episode and tdalton's positive response to the episode made my expectations high. Dating back to the pilot, which I will get to later, I can't remember seeing a Chuck episode that was any more perfect than this one. Everything from the action, suspense, and character development were top notch and for a second their it almost had a cinematic quality to the storytelling. Those who are fans of not just Chuck but fans of good smart entertainment will be thrilled by this episode and its also has a suprisingly stand alone element to it since most of the pertinent information is given at the begining. I sure hope the next 6 can hold up this same quality plus I find the idea of having other nerds on a CIA team quite interesting.

I'm glad that you enjoyed "Chuck vs. the Other Guy". Definitely the sole worthwhile episode of Season 3, although I wonder if I think that simply because its head and shoulders better than everything that preceded it in Season 3 or if it's because it actually does stand with the very best of the series. It'll be interesting to re-evaluate it a little later on down the road.

What has really disappointed me about Season 3 is that they could have reached the point they reached at the end of "vs. the Other Guy" without having to go through the garbage they took the series through to get there.

Spoiler

Shaw should have been revealed as a villain very early on in the season, perhaps around episode 5, which would have given Chuck a recurring nemesis, which is something that both the character and the show have desperately needed, especially since The Ring has proven to be about as threatening as a dishrag, especially compared to Fulcrum, which was infinitely more frightening, even though it was apparently a smaller faction of The Ring. Having Shaw and Chuck as recurring adversaries for the better part of a season would have allowed for them to delve into some of the darker aspects of Chuck becoming a spy, using Shaw as Chuck's look into the future if he continues going down the path that he's chosen, and all of that could have been done without sacrificing the humor and fun of the show, which is what they decided to sacrifice by taking Chuck on his tour through the underbelly of the spy world. They could have still saved the whole Chuck and Sarah finally getting together thing for the thirteenth episode, but by having Shaw as a villain early on, it might not have led to the writers completely destroying all of the characters that they had built up over two seasons. Chuck become whiny and intolerable for most of the season, the writers completely destroyed any integrity that the Sarah Walker character had built up over two seasons, making her romance with Chuck ring quite hollow, and Casey was relegated to cameo status. The writers of Chuck should have looked to a show like Castle to see how to treat its characters. Even though there's bound to be years (hopefully) of will-they/won't-they action between Castle and Beckett, never are those characters treated with any disrespect or written as completely out of character as Chuck and Sarah were during season 3. If Chuck somehow manages a fourth season, I think the writers should sit down with some DVDs of Castle and see how a relationship can be written in a will-they/won't-they fashion without having to resort to endless love triangles/squares/whatever-other-shapes and without destroying the integrity of either character, which is what has happened in Season 3 of Chuck.

All of this could have been avoided, and the fans could have been shown some appreciation for having brought the show back from cancellation with a bunch of light and fun episodes (like in Seasons 1 and 2), but instead, the writers created Agent Shaw, which was basically a slap in the face of the fans, and will ultimately be what leads to the series cancellation next month. Sad, really, but at least there's hope that the next six episodes could be what Season 3 should have been all along, which is a good dose of Chuck and Sarah going all Mr. and Mrs. Smith on The Ring and taking down the organization before the clock runs out next month.

Pretty much agree with you on this one. On a side not I found a poster from Chuck that is a throw back to the old movies posters when they were hand drawn and looks very reminiscent to a some of the older Bond posters:

[tdalton]

Last night's Castle: Another strong episode for the show, probably one of my favorite episodes of the series. This one was unusually star-studded, with Fred Willard, Tom Bergeron, French Stewart, Nicholle Tom, and Kelly Carlson, which was something of a pleasant surprise to see a few faces that I hadn't seen in a while (namely Tom and Stewart).

Glee: A disappointing launch of the second half of Season 1. The music was good (most notably Lea Michele's performance of "Gives You Hell", one of the best performances on the show to date), but the rest of it was so gloomy and not gleeful (pardon the pun) at all that it didn't feel like the same series that had been so much fun to watch during the first half of the season. Hopefully it picks up next week with the much anticipated Madonna episode.

[Cruiserweight]

Late Late Show

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Friends

[SecretAgentFan]

Glee

"There´s nothing more powerful in a director´s arsenal than a strategically placed song."

Well, Will Ferrell didn´t really mean that when he introduced the Best Original Song during a previous Oscar show. But watching "Glee" I remembered his line and thought: yes, music, when used in the right way, really can lift up anything.

Not that "Glee" is in need of any additional support since this high school satire really works splendidly, due to the sharp writing and the fantastic actors bringing the colorful characters to life. But the musical element really makes this one special.

I watched the first four episodes and was truly put in a fantastic mood. Can´t wait to continue watching this show.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

Friends

[Royal Dalton]

Public Eye - Series Four

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

The Eastenders Omnibus. Christ that show's gone downhill.

[tdalton]

Glee

"There´s nothing more powerful in a director´s arsenal than a strategically placed song."

Well, Will Ferrell didn´t really mean that when he introduced the Best Original Song during a previous Oscar show. But watching "Glee" I remembered his line and thought: yes, music, when used in the right way, really can lift up anything.

Not that "Glee" is in need of any additional support since this high school satire really works splendidly, due to the sharp writing and the fantastic actors bringing the colorful characters to life. But the musical element really makes this one special.

I watched the first four episodes and was truly put in a fantastic mood. Can´t wait to continue watching this show.

Great to see another fan of the show around here. I agree completely with your assessment of the show, it's definitely one that is able to make its leave the show in a good mood as well as one that thoroughly entertains from start to finish. Before watching this show, I'd never been at all a fan of musicals (I'm still not, really), and it was mainly the promos that featured Jane Lynch that really pulled me into giving the show a chance, as I had remembered her hilarious turns in films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and her stint on Two and a Half Men as Charlie's psychiatrist. And Jane Lynch does quite a bit towards making the show as great as it is, but I'd have to say that what keeps my coming back to the show each and every week is the talent of Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), who I think is one of, if not the, most talented female vocalists out there. Also, her acting ability and comedic timing are superb, and the rest of the cast (Dianna Agron in particular) are also quite good in their roles.

Also, I'd suggest checking out the show's thread on this forum that danielcraigisjamesbond007 does a very good job of updating with the latest news regarding the show.

I'd also suggest, since it appears that between Chuck and now Glee, that we have a fairly similar taste in current TV shows, that you check out ABC's Castle if you haven't already done so. I'd compare that show quite a bit to Chuck, although I'd say that it's a much more polished show than Chuck. It has similar relationship-type stuff, although handled in a MUCH more mature way than it is on Chuck, and the balance of humor and drama is handled superbly. Also, it features Quantum of Solace's Stana Katic (who played Corinne) in the lead female role, along with the absolutely hilarious Nathan Fillion as the male lead.

[SecretAgentFan]

I love CASTLE!!! Nathan Filion, of course, was already on my watch list since his turn in "Firefly".

I guess all three, CASTLE, CHUCK and GLEE, manage to do something that is rare these days: they don´t take themseves too seriously and love to purely entertain the viewer and leave them in a good mood.

My other favorite shows: LOST, HOUSE, RESCUE ME, IN TREATMENT, DEXTER, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, LEVERAGE, MAD MEN, THE OFFICE.

[tdalton]

I love CASTLE!!! Nathan Filion, of course, was already on my watch list since his turn in "Firefly".

I guess all three, CASTLE, CHUCK and GLEE, manage to do something that is rare these days: they don´t take themseves too seriously and love to purely entertain the viewer and leave them in a good mood.

My other favorite shows: LOST, HOUSE, RESCUE ME, IN TREATMENT, DEXTER, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, LEVERAGE, MAD MEN, THE OFFICE.

Completely agreed on all three shows (although Chuck does start to take itself very seriously through the first 13 episodes of Season 3). What I love about Castle (aside from Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, who are both just fantastic and are two actors that I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of) is that they know that their show is full of cliches, and they don't try to hide from them. Instead, they embrace the cliches and have fun with them, which is cleverly illustrated in one of the promos they did a few weeks ago, with Castle daydreaming about him and Beckett flirting over a game of billiards before snapping out of the daydream to find them investigating a crime that occurred on a billiards table. I'm not doing a very good job of describing the promo, but it was absolutely hilarious and really sums up the entire premise of the show in about a minute.

As for Glee, I think that if you enjoyed the first four episodes, then you're really going to like what's coming up on the show. There's a lot of tremendous performances coming up (especially "Somebody to Love", mashups like "It's My Life/Confessions Part II", and a stunning performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" in the 13th episode, and overall it really is one of those rare shows that makes people feel good when they're watching it, unlike most of everything else that's on TV, which can be downright depressing. I guess that's why I'm such a big fan of CASTLE, GLEE, and CHUCK, as they're all (for the most part) feel-good shows that don't take themselves all that seriously (although there certainly is a time and a place for serious shows).

Also, from your list, I really like DEXTER and LEVERAGE. Can't wait for both of those to come back later this year.

[SecretAgentFan]

Thanks, tdalton, for your quick assessment! Looking forward to the next episodes of our favorite shows!

[tdalton]

Castle: Another brilliant episode. I was a bit unsure about the writers introducing a new character, given how poorly I've seen it done time and time again on shows like CHUCK, but the writers of this show have proven that they can do it in a seemless way that makes sense to the story and also manages to respect the established characters and the audience.

[Conlazmoodalbrocra]

The Snooker World Championships

[Drax Industries]

Twin Peaks:Season One.

Been rewatching my Gold Box Edition again and watched the Pilot and first four episodes again. One of my favourite television shows of all time, the first season had a wonderful momentum to it and even the soap opera aspect of the show had a compulsive nature to it. Truly wonderful stuff.

[dodge]

Season and possibly series finale of DAMAGES. Awesome. They had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of loose ends to tie up in 90 minutes, but I believe they did succeed in one of the bloodiest, and most suspenseful, episodes ever. The violence that was shown was made even more effective by the violence that was barely seen: a major character in the far, far background--really no more than a blip on the screen--jumps to her death from the bridge. I'll miss this series if it doesn't return, but it sure made for three years' great viewing.

[Drax Industries]

Season and possibly series finale of DAMAGES. Awesome. They had a lot of ground to cover and a lot of loose ends to tie up in 90 minutes, but I believe they did succeed in one of the bloodiest, and most suspenseful, episodes ever. The violence that was shown was made even more effective by the violence that was barely seen: a major character in the far, far background--really no more than a blip on the screen--jumps to her death from the bridge. I'll miss this series if it doesn't return, but it sure made for three years' great viewing.

I've heard the rumours about the cancellation. It'll be a shame to see it go, it's been a hugely engrossing and very intelligent show. We've still got a few episodes of it to go here in the UK, guess I'll make the most of it while I still can.

[jwheels]

The mindless Minute to Win it.