TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

[G. Keenan]

Anyone watching The River? I watched the premier last night - it had a few good moments. Enough that I'll continue watching.

I've watched the first two episodes (the first three are up on Hulu). I thought it was awful. The dialogue, the uber-contrived reality show within a reality show/found footage premise, the fact that they are supposedly in Brazil yet speak Spanish to villagers in one scene, etc., etc. In one scene the son will be screaming that they shouldn't be there and should never have come then in literally the next scene he will be saying they should press on. It's a cluster you-know-what so far. The writing and editing to make sure the viewers can follow the plot, which is not complicated to begin with, are so dumbed down at times that it's both cringe-worthy and insulting to the viewer's intelligence. Basically I hate it and it's terrible, truly stupid television. And yet I'll probably keep watching because it's set in the Amazon on a boat and there's crazy tribes and magic involved and I love that [expletive] and always have. How thoroughly they've managed to bungle it so far is almost impressive though.

Between The River and Alcatraz the various networks are striking out big time in their attempts to make the next Lost.

I thought of many of the points you made here, then I thought back to how ridiculous the first couple of episodes of Lost seemed at the time (polar bears on a tropical island) and that turned out pretty good. I'm not saying The River is, or will be anywhere as good, but I'm going to give it a shot. Although Lost had characters that were engaging from the start. We'll see how it plays out...at least it's a semi-fresh idea for a TV show.

True, and I'm going to hang with it longer than two episodes in the hopes that it will turn things around because I like the basic premise. I'm not optimistic though because the writing has just been so terrible so far.

[JL21]

Anyone watching the second season of An Idiot Abroad?

[G. Keenan]

Anyone watching the second season of An Idiot Abroad?

Yep, I watched it a while ago on one of those immoral pirating websites. Loved it.

[JL21]

I look forward to An Idiot Abroad more than anything currently airing. That might change once Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and Boardwalk Empire start back up.

[cpebbles]

Jim should have slept with Kathy on The Office last night. On-camera. That actress is really sexy, and Jenna Fischer isn't so sexy these days.

[thrill]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNLc5Nf9 ... r_embedded][/youtube]

[JL21]

I really like that show.

Did other Game of Thrones fans see this? I forget if I posted it here or not:

http://www.supermercadoent.com/illustra ... f-muppets/

[longhornbaseball]

I just finished re-watching the first season. Peter Dinklage gets all the credit (deservedly so), but Aiden Gillen and Conleth Hill are both outstanding as Littlefinger and Lord Varys respectively. Maybe it's because I read the book after seeing the series, but all of the actors in the show perfectly encapsulate the characters from the book. It's a really well acted series. I can't wait to see Stephen Dillane as Stannis.

[clevername]

they did a really excellent job of casting the show, so I'm really hopeful for the new cast members, too.

[Maclowery]

I'm probably the biggest Martin geek here, and talked about it before to an embarassingly geeky degree, and I strongly agree. In 98 alternate realities, I would be a strong hater of a Game of Thrones TV show due to miscasting, changing of plot, or million reasons.

They have absolutely nailed it so far. Only the biggest book-faithfuls have disliked the series so far. Its truly amazing how well they did it. I can't wait to hear your reactions to the fan-hitting that is going to happen in season two. Get ready.