Recent comments in /f/television

MrDudeWheresMyCar t1_jdvj57y wrote

Reply to Anyone else finding Lucky Hank kind of boring so far? by trpnblies7

I haven't watched the second episode yet, but I definitely thought the plot was fairly limited in the pilot. Odenkirk's string of great performance has given this show a bit of a longer leash in my eyes though. I'd expect I'll give the whole season a chance and get off there if there isn't much happening.

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Tgs91 t1_jdvhofw wrote

Reply to comment by RiggyTang in No episode of the new season of Party Down has made the top 100 airings of original cable telecasts (non delayed viewing). Other Starz shows frequently make the list. by mar5526

Never heard of the show until it started getting promoted on Hulu to advertise the new season. Watched the old seasons and it was great. I'm not gonna subscribe to Starz for it though, I already have way too many streaming services. I'll watch it when they put it on Hulu

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Prax150 t1_jdvg3dp wrote

Reply to Why have dramas like Breaking Bad and the Sopranos remained relevant while others such as Lost and Dexter remained in the 2000s? by LakeMcKesson

I mean, you're holding up two of the consensus best shows of all time vs. two that had a myriad of problems throughout their runs. BB & Sopranos were never bad. Dexter and LOST were probably in the same stratosphere at their best but Dexter has way more bad seasons than good and LOST probably as many not great as good (plus it aired on broadcast and suffered as a result of that as well). I don't even really agree that they're lost in the zeitgeist (Dexter just had a fairly successful revival and LOST never really left the conversation). Those other two definitely had more staying factor but, again, they're both top 5 consensus best of all time TV shows so, yeah, they're always going to be in the conversation.

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Prophet_Muhammad_phd t1_jdvfovx wrote

Reply to Why have dramas like Breaking Bad and the Sopranos remained relevant while others such as Lost and Dexter remained in the 2000s? by LakeMcKesson

I think the appeal of BB and Sopranos is the inherent humanity to all the characters. Yes they do unspeakably horrible things. But they’re real people. There’s a little bit of Tony and Walt in all of us. Yes Tony is a mob boss, but the writers wrote him in such a human way that you can empathize with him sometimes. I’ve watched the Sopranos so many times now that I’ve begun to hate Tony. Not for the crime and all that, but the bullshitter that he is. He’s such a narcissist. He constantly lies, he manipulates people, he’s an addict, he’s a horrible father, he’s someone that I know irl. Walt is us.

In the opposite direction comes Walt. He’s us, he represents our wants and desires to be something of substance and meaning. He doesn’t want to be ineffectual and forgotten. Even if that something is terrible. He’s cruel because he’s lives a mediocre life despite his intellect. He sees others around him like Gretchen, who were successful, and he resents them. He resents people at home too because he’s stuck with them and their mundanities. He also suffers from pride. He wants to be successful on his own terms. Whether it’s the way he pays for his cancer treatment or cooks meth. He’s been nothing but a cog to other people’s success and he can’t stand it. That’s why at the end he tells Skylar he did it for himself.

I’ve watched bits and pieces of Lost and Dexter. They’re not comparable shows. They’re too far out in fantasy. The characters are “perfect.” Their flaws are superficial or typical. Many people have suffered a mother and father like Tony’s, or lived with a wife like Skylar, or had lived lives like Walt prior to his explosion in living. Dexter plays on a fantasy. It’s goofy and unrealistic.he sleeps with his sister, he’s a forensic scientist who catches killers and kills them. Lost takes place in the afterlife. It’s all very whimsical, not grounded in reality at all.

At least, that’s why I think Sopranos and BB will always be relevant. While the other two, and many others, will fall into obscurity. It’s the same reason Seinfeld is still comedically relevant. It’s taking reality, adding a little extremism to it (observational comedy, a mob setting, a a man who cooks crystal meth) and it blows things out of proportion while still honing in on the human element.

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leuno t1_jdvewae wrote

Reply to Why have dramas like Breaking Bad and the Sopranos remained relevant while others such as Lost and Dexter remained in the 2000s? by LakeMcKesson

Lost and Dexter ended up amounting to disappointment. It's hard to retain enthusiasm for a couple good seasons of a show that then drove itself into the ground. BB is still a big deal because it never wavered in quality and even though it was not written with a lot of plans in mind, it feels like it was, whereas lost and Dexter both feel like they were never supposed to last long enough to fail, yet both did.

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