TV Series you want to discuss, it's here

Just watched the pilot of the New Normal, the newest project by RM.

I find myself getting Glee flashbacks while watching the episode. There's an offensive and pollitically incorrect middle-aged, Sue Sylvester-ish woman. The main couple on the show comprises an effeminate and fashion-forward gay (who wears one of Kurt's pants in one scene) and a can-pass gay who's into more masculine interests such as football. The 'love is love' speech is made yet again to demonstrate a straight person's acceptance of a gay relationship. Nene Leakes's character isn't all that different from Roz Washington from what I had seen, and it looks like there's more pregnancy drama to come...

Having said all that, the episode is actually quite entertaining, and the actors are quite good. Hard to tell if this series can survive in the long run, but it has a promising start (like most of RM's TV series).

Delight wrote:

I find myself getting Glee flashbacks while watching the episode. There's an offensive and pollitically incorrect middle-aged, Sue Sylvester-ish woman. The main couple on the show comprises an effeminate and fashion-forward gay (who wears one of Kurt's pants in one scene) and a can-pass gay who's into more masculine interests such as football. The 'love is love' speech is made yet again to demonstrate a straight person's acceptance of a gay relationship. Nene Leakes's character isn't all that different from Roz Washington from what I had seen, and it looks like there's more pregnancy drama to come...

Agreed. I also kept having Glee flashbacks. Mostly of Kurt and Blaine through.

@Delight, What pants is wearing the most effeminate character?

I haven't seen the pilot (yet) because I'm not sure if is worth to watch it, well I saw the trailer and it got my attention because I think is a current theme. But as you said in one of your lines, usually RM series looks promising but then... going down .

Sani wrote:
I'm looking forward of the Alpha pack coming to town, I'm expecting there to be lot of conflict, and I'm interested to find out who the new characters are. I think season 3 is going to be awesome... well I hope so.

I can't say for sure that S3 will be great but I'm really looking forward to more werewolves character. I wanna see how the other werewolves packs operate. I think they'll be different from Derek's pack. Hopefully S3 is better than S2. S2 is good but tbh, the finale is a bit disappointing because it's too rushed and hence there're some stuff that weren't explained.

I hope there'll be more Peter and Lydia in S3. I wanna know more about them.

Sani wrote:
I kinda would want to see Stiles as a werewolf, I think it would be pretty interesting... but I'd also like if he stayed as a human.

I understand your feelings As a Stiles fan, I'm interested in watching werewolf!Stiles. However, Stiles has been the most relatable character on TW because he's still a human and I don't want that to change. I would love to him continue his journey as "a boy who run with the wolves" Besides, although human is a lot weaker than werewolves, it enables him to do something that the werewolves can't and I think it might be very helpful for Scott and Derek's pack.

In short, I prefer Stiles to remain a human for now but I'm all for Stiles accepting the bite if he wants to.

Did I mention that Stiles/his dad is my favorite relationship on the show? NGL, Stiles' hallucination scene in 2.09 broke my heart I've read somewhere that we're going to find out about Stiles' mom's death in S3, so YAY

BTW, found a TW fanart:





Regarding New Normal, I'm not sure if I wanna watch another RM's show after knowing his behavior because of Glee. Has anyone watched American Horror Story? Is it good? Horror stuff is always my thing.

[quote="BlueJazz"]

Sani wrote:
Regarding New Normal, I'm not sure if I wanna watch another RM's show after knowing his behavior because of Glee. Has anyone watched American Horror Story? Is it good? Horror stuff is always my thing.

I loved it!!!It's SO good!

BlueJazz wrote:
I can't say for sure that S3 will be great but I'm really looking forward to more werewolves character. I wanna see how the other werewolves packs operate. I think they'll be different from Derek's pack. Hopefully S3 is better than S2. S2 is good but tbh, the finale is a bit disappointing because it's too rushed and hence there're some stuff that weren't explained.

Yes, I thought so too, and I was hoping they would kill some people off... like Erica and Boyd, yeah I don't like them that much.

I hope there'll be more Peter and Lydia in S3. I wanna know more about them.

Yep, and I would also like see more of Chris Argent, I really started to like him when he went up against Gerard.

I've read somewhere that we're going to find out about Stiles' mom's death in S3, so YAY

Yeah, I've heard it too, I think Jeff Davis said she died "slowly" when he was asked about it... so i'm wondering how she died...

Regarding New Normal, I'm not sure if I wanna watch another RM's show after knowing his behavior because of Glee. Has anyone watched American Horror Story? Is it good? Horror stuff is always my thing.

I thought the New Normal was okay, maybe little bit too preachy at the times, but okay. As for AHS I tried watching it once, not really my thing. I don't watch horror, so that might be the reason why I didn't like it.

brisallie wrote:@Delight, What pants is wearing the most effeminate character?

I haven't seen the pilot (yet) because I'm not sure if is worth to watch it, well I saw the trailer and it got my attention because I think is a current theme. But as you said in one of your lines, usually RM series looks promising but then... going down .

Thanks to Tumblr CSI, here's the evidence:





I understand the feeling of not wanting to start watching a TV series, fall in love with the characters, only to have everything go down the tubes as the season progresses.

Glee used to be enjoyable to watch, once upon a time.

I've started to get into Teen Wolf recently, because of all these Teen Wolf discussions going on here. Only watched the pilot so far, but I have to say that the actor who played the human Stiles seem to stand out more than the protagonist. He's just so animated and expressive

is Teen Wolf about werewolves? Is it scary? I like scary shows.

^ Yup, it's about werewolves. The TV show does have an element of horror in it, on top of teenage angst and boy-girl relationship stuff. Can't comment too much about how gory/violent things would turn out, seeing that I've only watched the first episode so far. I'm sure BlueJazz or Sani can tell you more about the series than me

I guess I am one of the few who is absolutely uninterested in teen love stories (actually, ANY love stories - me so boring!)

Season 1 of Teen Wolf was alright. Season 2 is way better imo. I felt there was a lot more action.

usually S1 of most shows are the best and then everything go down the hill. I guess TW is somehow special.

My schedule for fall season of tv shows (the ones in bold are new shows that I will give a shot for an episode or two before deciding to carry on. The premier air date is in the brackets)

Monday:

Bones (17/09)
The Mob Doctor (17/09)
Revolution (17/09)
Castle (24/09)
Gossip Girl (08/10)

Wednesday:

Animal Practice (26/09)
Criminal Minds (26/09)
Arrow (10/10)
American Horror Story (17/10)

Thursday :

Glee (13/09)
The Big Bang Theory (27/09)
Last Resort (27/09)
Elementary (27/09)
Beauty and the Beast (11/10)

Saturday :

Merlin in UK (29/09)

Sunday :

Downton Abbey in UK (16/09)
Once Upon A Time (30/09)
Dexter (30/09)
Revenge (30/09)
The Mentalist (30/09)

(WOW, Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings are going to be bussy )


Plus, if in the mean time I start watching one of the previously downloaded shows or those I'm behind the list may include some of the fallowing as well (CSI - Las Vegas, The Vampire Diaries, Homeland, Fringe, Sons Of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, How I Met Your Mother, Hawaii Five-0, Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy,The Good Wife, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Touch, Community)

I know, I know. I have no life.

Besides Glee, I'm most looking forward to The New Normal. I almost forgot about Big Bang Theory! It's become one of my favorite shows.

i'm not a big fan of comedies, particularly those that are 20 minutes long once a week. i hate the wait. i have never watched a half hour show while it airs. usually afterword, but given the number of shows i will fallow this fall, TBBT is must - I'm addicted to it.

i guess it has to do with our programing. most shows we got to watch in serbia would be at least 4-5 years old, so channels would air an episode every day. only recently, have began the once a week thing with our own shows. shows like castle, bones, csi and alike that air on our national television, are still aired every work day of the week and they repeat then once or twice a year till they buy a new one. (so in a row we get something like this- 6th season of Bones, 10th Season of CSI, 5th Season of CSI Miami, 4th Season of CSI NY, 3rd Season of Castle, and some other shows I don't watch like Burn Notice, Medium,...)

next to glee, the show i just can't wait to watch this fall is dexter, no contest. last season was all over the place, but given that previews and promos i've seen and the plot-line we have been promised, this one is going to be a killer (pun intended).

Kurtsie4ever wrote:Season 1 of Teen Wolf was alright. Season 2 is way better imo. I felt there was a lot more action.

I don't usually like the supernatural shows and I have not watched Teen Wolf, but I loved BBCs Being Human even if it had just about every possible mythical creature featured in it.

For someone who has seen both of them, how do these two compare? Or do they?

tanita_mors wrote:My schedule for fall season of tv shows (the ones in bold are new shows that I will give a shot for an episode or two before deciding to carry on. The premier air date is in the brackets)

Monday:
Gossip Girl (08/10)

Thursday :
Glee (13/09)
Elementary (27/09)

(WOW, Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings are going to be bussy )
Plus, if in the mean time I start watching one of the previously downloaded shows or those I'm behind the list may include some of the fallowing as well (CSI - Las Vegas, The Vampire Diaries, Homeland, Fringe, Sons Of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, How I Met Your Mother, Hawaii Five-0, Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy,The Good Wife, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Touch, Community)

I know, I know. I have no life.

Is Gossip Girl still running? It's survived awfully long now. I just noticed that I am a very irregular TV watcher. Like TBBT is something that I'm eagerly waiting every year and then by the 16th ep or so I just forget to look up the newest ep. Or Sons of Anarchy was something I watched for the first season but not so much now.

It's like you @tanita said, far and few apart breaks the viewing experience. We get all the shows here in a direct line, week after week until the entire season is done. I guess we don't have to tolerate the hiatuses but you do have to wait couple of years though for new seasons. (Internet has been a saviour!)

But what I'm really waiting is New Girl S2, this Sherlock adaptation Elementary and the new CBS sitcom Partners. Partners' previews have been really, really funny. And I loved Will & Grace so if it's anything like that I know I will just adore it. And I'm just terribly behind on Community, shame on me.

Because Fantastica and I have been chatting about Downton Abbey on PM and there's only so much inbox memory space, I've decided to move our discussions here.

I have to warn that what we're about to discuss are very spoiler-ish, so do avoid if you're interested in watching this series but haven't gotten the chance to do so.

---

The dialogue and character interactions in Downton Abbey are written way, way better. It's too bad that superior and more wholesome TV shows don't appeal to teenagers as much as something shallow and oftentimes offensive like Glee.

I wasn't much of a fan of the Mary-Matthew romance from the start. It took me a while to warm up to Mary; and you can still see signs of her sharp tongue and barbed words when she interacts with her sister Edith. In the latest season, Matthew and marriage seemed to have mellowed her enough that she's like-able again. I fear how Matthew's death would affect her in the next season.

Speaking of dispute-handling skills, I really like the Dowager this season. She's probably the only character I've consistently liked over the 3 seasons. She helped to repair that rift between Lord and Lady Grantham after Sybil's death; and despite her intervention not being appreciated, she had helped Ethel find a new job working closer to her child.

Some gems in her dialogue that made me laugh :

---
To her son who's wearing a black bow-tie: "I'm so sorry, I thought you were a waiter."
---
Violet: "I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her, I'm reminded of the virtues of the English."
Matthew: "But isn't she American?"
Violet: "Exactly."
---

Yeah, I agree with your take on Anna and Bates' story. They've dragged out the 'would they get together' drama long enough. It's now time to move on to how this husband and wife team would deal with the problems that come their way. This is a couple which I doubt would suffer from infidelity/cheating drama. When I think about how that's the modus operandi for creating all of Glee's relationship dramas, I'm reminded of how little imagination the Glee writers have.

I, too, find the story of how completely Thomas had fallen for Jimmy the footman to be not very convincing. I don't understand why he would still want to protect the man who was forcing him to be fired without any reference, and was not above reporting to the police to bring this about. Jimmy's rejection of his advances was so humiliating and painful to watch. They tried to make Thomas sympathetic by turning him into a love-smitten guy (to the point of sacrificing his self-respect), and I find myself missing the old Thomas, where he's a devious and mean man who allows his desire to take shortcuts to gain fast fortunes bring about his own downfall on many occasions. Thomas is indeed a character whom audiences would love to hate, because he's written as such. However, that only makes the moments when he showed a softer side to him all the more rare and precious. I just didn't think that Jimmy was the deserving of that side of him. Jimmy is too slick and cocky, and doesn't come across as very sincere. He's also just as scheming when it comes to tearing down his competition for the position of first footman. He's also easily manipulated, as evidenced by his interactions with O'Brien.

Speaking of O'Brien, I find that it's interesting that the latest season decided to put her at odds with Thomas, when they had been so close in the previous two. I mean, O'Brien was open enough with Thomas to share the secret of Lady Grantham's soap, and that's akin to handing over the best blackmail material over herself to someone else (that would get her fired at best, and arrested at worst). It didn't look like Thomas would really betray her, but I guess what's more important is that she believed that he would, and therefore desisted in her machinations to get him fired in disgrace.

When I said that minor characters in DA are just as interesting, I'm referring to O'Brien as well. I like how she's so attuned to the petty and vicious schemes by servants (because she's a master of this craft) that she's incapable of falling for the scheme to get her drunk by that other lady's maid at the party. It also showed that although she's quite capable of loyalty, once someone wrongs her, she won't hesitate to retaliate in kind. She is not a nice person, but she remains fascinating to watch.

Maybe there is a method to the writer's 'madness' of killing off the nice characters on this show. It's the flawed and the less-nice characters who keeps the tension and the drama strong on this show.


(Thank goodness Glee isn't such a show, otherwise Kurt would be the first to get killed off )

i can assure you that although i don't have any hard data i am sure most of the glee audience do not watch downton abbey or any of the pbs shows. try to tell a teenager to sit still for a BBC series, unless he/she is the type that naturally like this kind of show.

my hubby was very upset at the end. he said DA killed off hte two fav characters on the show. I didn't like Mathew in the first 2 seasons. I really hated their on and off and again and again romance. I am kinda happy that their marriage is mostly very sound, and I like Mathew this season because he seems such a good husband/father-to-be, and he is so good at calming the disputes between difficult personalities. I still don't like Mary, but since they already killed off her younger sis, I doubt they will kill another daughter.

what I love about the show is that they focus on personalities and characters and their intricate relationships between them. Unlike Glee which was written for 3 yr olds: A does bad things. B calls A out. After a song and dance A learned his/her lessons and turned 180 degrees around - until the next time he/she reverts back and the cycle repeats. None of this is realistic. Emotions and behaviors are mostly black and white and without any transition. Personal relationships are also similarly 1 dimensional. S1 is the best but the glee formula gets old fast. when I watched it last night i felt no emotional connection to it whatsoever. in fact everytime i see oil slicker (don't even want to type his iffy name) or hear Tina spelling out the wet dream that Ryan Murphy had for him just made me sick to my toes. I really can't stand him anymore! Same thing w/ my hubby. He would rather watch the young puck than oil slicker. he hates him too and not because i have any influence on him in this matter, but this guy is just so damn annoying when over exposed unless you are his die hard stan.

Among all the guys oil slicker has the worst body actually. In one scene he almost looks like he has a beer belly.

now back to DA: Anna and Bates' romance are getting boring, but they don't have to keep on writing about their romance. in fact romance isn't somethign to write about unless you have conflicts to deal with. They should just leave this couple be and focus on other stories that involve these 2 seperately or together - after all they both have plenty of stories to tell before they are together.

i think Lord and Lady Granthem's marriage issues are well-written. It looks like a very relatable couple. I also like that Scottish couple who later went to India. Even though they don't like each other, because when couples are defined by 2 distinct characters and their relationship dynamics tend to be interesting. Unlike Glee - the only thing writable about couple is "lovingly glancing each other, and cheat". Now Finchel probably has the best relationship dynamics, because these 2 characters were written from the very beginning to have very distinct personalities which leads to natural conflicts, although the writers still ruined them w/ constant in and out repeats. Klaine is such a disaster. I still don't know oil slicker except he has oily slick. And any one who pairs w/ Brittany is also a disaster. Since Brittany is such a dummy caricature no relationship involving her feels real. If you cannot relate to someone or a relationship you cannot enjoy it. The reason Kurt/Burt is so wonderful and relatable is because they were both distilled from real life experiences.

Maggie Smith's character was perfectly written. Thomas I thought was very well written as a quite hate-able character but I actually like him (and hated him - i like to hate him. ) but this season he took a turn. they tried to make him very sympathetic, and it kinda throw me off - I mean the rhythm of his storyline was somehow off to me. I find his affection and continued protection of the new footman he had crush on is not too convincing. It's understandable that for a gay kind who cannot openly love some one it must be pretty hard to suppress one's primal instincts, so I understand his pain. But he's already a grown man and he's had some "evilness" in him which should not be easily brushed away. I don't like that he's suddenly turned into a hero. I want him continue to be kinda serlfish and mean in his unique ways. Also, the new footman (whom I start to really dislike now) just isn't that worthy of his love and affection, and almost caused him to be arrested. sorry I forgot that new footman's name but he's too "slick" and a "lady's man" for my liking, and most of all, he doesn't look all that decent a guy. i hope he will do something really bad in the future like betraying his master or something when the opportunity arises.

what I love about this series is that all characters resemble real human beings (maybe Anna being too perfect is a bit of a let down but I'd like to see her having some major weakness in something). Unlike Glee's cardboard cut out. W DA if you were to write a description of a character's personality you would have to write at least a very very long sentence. W/ Glee all you need just one word: nice, dumb, or bitchy.

I've been watching "Smash" this season and I have to say that it is SO much better this year than last year. The major differences are:

1. They stopped making the same awful character a bitch from hell towards the same stupidly naive doormat character, thank God.

2. They separated some characters and gave them their own storylines, rather than having everyone in the same, giant storyline.

3. Best of all, relationship drama and idiotic cheating antics are not the focus of everyone's lives this year. No more dysfunctional relationship obsession here, folks. It's really more about the behind the scenes workings of putting on a musical now, moreso this year than last year. Glee can really learn from this last point, for sure. Not everything has to revolve around who you are screwing.

For those who watch Downton Abbey, it is truth that is a British-American production? Because this weekend I rean an article on the newspaper that it says it has the best from both countries when's about to develope such a good series as is DA. So, what do you think?

i have no idea who the producers/production companies are. i have heard that the same producer(s) are planning to make an Americanized version in the US - not the same story of course, but about a group or family of American aristocrat at the turn of the century - you know, like the Vanderbelt kind of family.

btw, do you know that Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbelt's son?

fantastica wrote:i have no idea who the producers/production companies are. i have heard that the same producer(s) are planning to make an Americanized version in the US - not the same story of course, but about a group or family of American aristocrat at the turn of the century - you know, like the Vanderbelt kind of family.

btw, do you know that Anderson Cooper is Gloria Vanderbelt's son?

I see.

Once Anderson named her mom in Kathy Griffin's show, and it gave me the impression she's a woman from an upper class family. But I don't know if they are or were an important family in the US?

the vanderbelts were the American nobility. they made their fortune in the beginning of hte century (or end of the 19th century) in railroad business and maybe even in steel (don't remember anymore). I have visited several large Vanderbelt estates in the Northeast (including the largest Biltmore Estate in Ashville NC). those places are phenominal. They are replicas of the grand European architecture and furnishings and many famous European and american master paintings are in their collections. It's like going into a museum of American royal palace.