The TV Thread

[golem09]

Clerk to drunken Santa Claus:

"Now get out of that commie red suite!"
Ah yes, the original Twilight Zone

[karateexplosion]

So, Doctor Who. I'm on to Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, about eight or so episodes in, and I cannot say I'm the least bit impressed. He does not own the character at all. Not even a comparison to Tennant or Eccleston, I really just don't like his character.

It's really disappointing too, since the way he plays the Doctor, gives an entirely different shift to the show. My biggest problem is simply the fact that Smith's Doctor has virtually no screen presence at all. No bravado, no charisma; most of the time, he actually takes a back seat to Amy or River, in my eyes at least. Pretty much anyone he has along with him becomes the more interesting character, and he's the goddamn Doctor!

Not to mention, and god knows why the writers have been writing him this way, the fact that half the time Smith's Doctor doesn't really have any idea what's going on, or any semblance of a plan, or anything! In most of his episodes, he's had to just either wait around for the situation to work itself out (Flesh and Stone) or have Amelia save the day (The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks). What happened to the classic Doctor "eureka!" moment where he figures out the plan and how to stop it? Smith hasn't had a single one of those moments, yet I've seen.

Finally, I don't get why he plays the Doctor as some sort of bipolar man-child. While the childlike curiosity was endearing at first, when coupled with his manic, unprecedented, on-the-drop-of-a-hat mood swings, it makes the entire character seem unlikable and, frankly, unrealistic. His entire performance just screams "wrong" to me.

I dunno, am I alone here? Maybe it get's better.




At least Karen Gillan is hot.

[golem09]

Don't like him much either, but he became a lot better than that, although most of that must be credited to him becoming a bit more like Tennant.
I kind of almost like him by now, but I wouldn't mind at all if he was replaced at the end of this season.

My best pick for a doctor would still have been John Simm, too bad his talent was already wasted on 2 small but legendary guest appearences.
And if Bill Nighy hadn't done one already he would have been my second choice

What would you say about missing the cheesiness of the RTD seasons?

[karateexplosion]

Bill Nighy would be uh-mazing. Bill Nye as well, though that would probably be terrifying at the same time. John Simm would be pretty cool, but he definitely suits me more as a villian (and to be fair, it was 4 legendary guest appearances plus about 30 seconds in "Utopia" ).

I could see Hugh Laurie playing the Doctor. So hard.

I enjoyed the cheesiness of RTD arcs. My only complaint was how he always tried to cram one last, seemingly unnecessary plot twist in most of his episodes. That and his deus ex machina endings. They were definitely fun though. Don't know if I miss it, but I also don't know if his cheesiness would work with the new format and MS's Doctor. Or it could be just what it needs. I think RTD and Moffat should actually team and co-write scripts. Get the fun, family excitement of RTD mixed with the compelling substance of Moffat. They would balance each other out.

[golem09]

I wasn't really talkiness about the cheesiness about the overall storylines, more about cinematography, cheap sets, ligthing and costumes.

Hugh Laurie would be hilarious. But I could definitely imagine it.

Also Ian McKellen

[Andikki]

How about the guy who did Bernard in Black Books (which, I must say, is the funniest thing ever)?

[TeslaGuy]

I recently started watching TV on my Droid X2 phone. I just finished watching all the episodes (so far) of Breaking Bad and Venture Brothers. Anyone here a fan of either show?

[justriiingo]

I watched 2 seasons of breaking bad a few years back. Pretty interesting.

[karateexplosion]

Originally Posted by golem09

I wasn't really talkiness about the cheesiness about the overall storylines, more about cinematography, cheap sets, ligthing and costumes.

Oh no, that never bothered me. Honestly, production quality has never been something that put much stock in when it comes to Doctor Who. It's definitely more about the adventure and the quirky characters/situations than the literal science-fiction aspect. Hence why the only other sci-fi series apart from Doctor Who that I can stand is Firefly. Plus, it's not like they bumped up the budget of Series 5 and beyond that much. Sure, it's a little more modern, but who cares?

Originally Posted by golem09

Also Ian McKellen

Better yet, Michael Caine.



@Tesla: I like the Venture Bros. pretty well. At best it's a solid Johnny Quest parody and at worst it's typically schlocky Adult Swim fare. But it has it's moments. And Patrick Warburton channels Brock Sampson phenomenally. Along the same lines, anyone a fan of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law? Now that was a clever show.

I haven't seen any of Breaking Bad, but a friend of mine (who recently persuaded me to start up Fringe) has been trying to get me into it for awhile. Recommend?

[The Most Curious Thing]

I recommend Breaking Bad, especially over Fringe. The acting and writing is sometimes uneven, but Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and certain other characters light up the screen and make it absolutely worth watching.

Without spoiling anything for karate, I'll say that the second season is definitely my favorite so far, because it introduced so many of the characters that I love. The third season, apart from some brilliant episodes (like the bottle episode "Fly"), was at times complacent with situations and characters introduced in the second season. I haven't started the fourth season, though.