So what have you guys been watching lately?

[Jmustang1968]

I so don't agree with this. 5-10 years ago T.V. was mostly dominated by reality T.V. and celebrity focused T.V. I find that mindless junk is much less entertaining than the actual planned out T.V. shows with storylines that are starting to come into prominence again.

I didn't watch any of that shit. I suppose when I am referring to TV being better 5-10 years ago I am mostly referring to HBO shows being better (Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, etc.) and giving me a reason to watch TV at all. Network and the rest of cable was, agreed, mostly a terrible wasteland ( I think The Office was the only non-HBO show I was watching for a long time). Perhaps network and regular cable have improved, but I feel like their recent improvements are still far behind what the best TV (e.g. HBO shows) was like a decade ago. And with a few notable exceptions, contemporary sci-fi/fantasy/comic book shows are even worse than the increasingly shitty feature films in those genres.

I disagree. I couldn't really get into much tv 5-10 years ago. But now I have shows I actually watch and look forward to.

Game of Thrones
Walking Dead
Spartacus (gone now)
Boardwalk Empire
Sons of Anarchy
Breaking Bad
Hell on Wheels (not great but decent)

Not all of those shows above are perfect, but they are really good or compelling.
I hear Justified is good and was recommended to me.

[Forlorn Drifter]

Hell on Wheels (not great but decent)

Don't know if you could call it great since that is such an objective idea, but I love Hell on Wheels. Although it probably won't catch most like it catches me. I feel like I understand Mr. Bohannon, although I would have made sure that I killed the Swede by now.

[MrPopo]

I don't have any of the premium channels.

I think if you did or had a decade ago your view of contemporary network and basic cable TV would be more pessimistic. Hell, even premium cable shows are more lackluster these days.

I think your life of academia has left you a broken and bitter shell of a man. You need to get out there and have fun again. Rent a bouncy castle and just go all out.

[Jmustang1968]

I don't have any of the premium channels.

I think if you did or had a decade ago your view of contemporary network and basic cable TV would be more pessimistic. Hell, even premium cable shows are more lackluster these days.

I think your life of academia has left you a broken and bitter shell of a man. You need to get out there and have fun again. Rent a bouncy castle and just go all out.

That or they require too much thinking

[Ack]

I don't have any of the premium channels.

I think if you did or had a decade ago your view of contemporary network and basic cable TV would be more pessimistic. Hell, even premium cable shows are more lackluster these days.

I think your life of academia has left you a broken and bitter shell of a man. You need to get out there and have fun again. Rent a bouncy castle and just go all out.

...actually I think we could all use that.

[Gamerforlife]

I forgot about Downton.

I'd say that TV was much better about 5-10 years ago than it is right now. No offense, Gamerforlife, but a lot of the shows that you enjoy and defend (especially in the sci-fi/comic/fantasy/supernatural realms) I just find to be hackneyed versions of overwrought stories in genres that have become filled with unwitting self-parodies.

I'll readily admit that some of the shows I watch in those genres are not amongst the best television programs ever made, but they still provide me with entertainment value. I guess that's my point really, that I find a wide range of stuff on TV or Netflix today that I find entertaining ranging from stuff that's good to stuff that just damn timeless and classic (like Breaking Bad was). I just can't be pessimistic about the state of TV when there's so much stuff out there that is at the very least good.

So yeah, not every show I mentioned is a masterpiece, or revolutionary, or genre defining, but they entertain me.

I feel like you are with TV shows the way I am with video games, hard to please. Two sides of the same coin in a way

There have been times when I've been in a mood to deliver a similar rant to the one you gave in this thread, but about today's video games rather than today's television shows. And ironically, you'll often praise games that seem to me to be just more of the same mindless, lazy, uninspired, drek that floods store shelves every year(like the Uncharted series). That's not meant to be an insult, I just find it interesting that I can get just as ranty as you, just towards a different medium

[Sano]

So, what television series' have you been watching? Old or new.

Old: SG-1

New: The Blacklist
New: Defiance

Both the new ones are on brake now. Also watched all of Deep Space Nine a while ago as well.

[BurningDoom]

Old: SG-1

BurningDoom approves!

As good as SG-1 is. I like both Atlantis and Universe better, though.

[Gamerforlife]

Nice finale tonight to one of my all time favorite network TV shows



I'll miss this show. I'm glad the reviews I've read for the finale so far are all positive, but Nikita is a show that always got positive reviews yet continued to be ignored by many TV viewers and probably never won any awards either. I'm glad I didn't miss out on a great show.

[dsheinem]

Nice finale tonight to one of my all time favorite network TV shows



I'll miss this show. I'm glad the reviews I've read for the finale so far are all positive, but Nikita is a show that always got positive reviews yet continued to be ignored by many TV viewers and probably never won any awards either. I'm glad I didn't miss out on a great show.

Every time you post about this show this song gets stuck in my head.

EDIT: I'd forgot how awesome this video was