TV Thread - beware, [expletive] can get spoilery

[G. Keenan]

Hooray for internet piracy! Just watched the Boardwalk Empire pilot.

I concur with thrill's analysis, solid opener. The whole Al Capone angle was neat and I hope they continue to feature the Chicago mob scene in addition to Atlantic City so as to expend the show's scope. I don't know how many twists and turns a period piece of this type can take set in just one city. It might start to get a little claustrophobic.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Never watched Sopranos or The Wire, but watched Boardwalk Empire and loved it.

[lukethedrifter]

I've been watching Louie on Hulu. Bleak, hits too close to home at times, I love it.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Boardwalk Empire has already been renewed

[G. Keenan]

Boardwalk Empire has already been renewed

Hopefully it doesn't go the way of Carnivale and Rome, which were epic in scope and simply awesome, but only became popular after they'd decided not to bring them back for a 3rd season.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

This is so good I had to post it in two threads.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9WGHGF3 ... r_embedded][/youtube]

[JL21]

Boardwalk Empire has already been renewed

Hopefully it doesn't go the way of Carnivale and Rome, which were epic in scope and simply awesome, but only became popular after they'd decided not to bring them back for a 3rd season.

I'm assuming that the involvement of Terrence Winter and Martin Scorsese insulate it from that kind of thing.

[ghostrunner]

I think Mad Men has hit it out of the park the last 3 episodes after a rough start. Dramatically, I think the easy way out is to let Don continue on a downward spiral, and I'm glad they're not going that route. At the same time it doesn't seem cheesily uplifting or revelatory as he figures out how to do the right thing. He also still fails here and there.

This is the first season of Mad Men where I've felt like it's actually worth all the praise it gets. I thought the Draper voiceover during the last episode was a bit much (an unnecessary break in style) but that's my only minor gripe.

Also got through Season 2 on Breaking Bad. No way to be certain of this, but if the two leads aren't as spectacular as they are, I'm not sure that show is as good. Nice that they both got Emmy's because they're both deserved. I'd like to single one of the two out but you really can't. I read a good review comparing it to Mad Men, and it made the point that you care about these characters more than those on Mad Men, even though Mad Men has a tougher job in that it has to create drama out of real life (and avoid being soapy) as opposed to the conflicts imposed by the criminal life or cancer. That summed it up pretty well for me, though I think the two shows are apples and oranges.

I agree that the show wouldn't be as good without Cranston and Aaron Paul. But I still think it'd be a very good show because of the writing. Things are foreshadowed, characters develop fully, there are consequences for their actions, etc. And despite the fantastic current season of Mad Men, I still think Breaking Bad runs laps around it because there's real-life character development and not just a bunch of sloppy plot lines. You mention Mad Men having to avoid being soapy, but that's my biggest gripe with it. It embraces the soap opera b.s. Peggy is pregnant... with Pete's baby! Don Draper's name is not really Don Draper! Every single employee at Sterling Cooper is cheating on their wife! Don has a double super secret past life! OMG! Enough already.

I was good with the voiceover, and I like a break in style once in a while. So often you don't really know what's in Don's head or why he does what he does. Matthew Weiner made a comment that the episode was the closest they can get to a short story, which I thought seemed appropriate.

As far as the soapy stuff, I think it's all in how you treat it. While the subject matter is familiar and potentially trite, I think they've usually approached it in a realistic way, as opposed to merely trying to titillate. That's Desperate Housewives territory.

Now - Breaking Bad.

[SHOW]

I'm mid season 3 and most of my reservations have evaporated. The biggest flaw up until now was the supporting cast, who I thought were too often used for comic relief and came off as caricatures. Hank and his macho act, Marie being a flake, and Skyler was the butt of the show's joke in a way. This season they've all been grounded, and the layers have been peeled back. Most satisfying, Walt's been confronted repeatedly with how much of a dick he is. Just watched the scene where Jesse lays into him at the hospital and I'm wondering if that got Aaron Paul the Emmy.

Bryan Cranston is so freaking good though. The way he goes between his old passive self and then suddenly turns cruel and vicious when he needs to is amazing. Yet you continue to root for the guy while hating his guts. More so than with even Tony Soprano or Don Draper.

Only gripe I have are the two cousins - they're a little gimmicky and so stoic it's hard to take them seriously. They don't even seem real. In a way, they remind me of the Leonard Smalls character from Raising Arizona, but I'm not finding a good way to articulate why that is.

Nice "Good Bad and the Ugly" reference a couple episodes back. Danny Trejo saying "there are two kinds of people - those who drink, and those who pour" which was a variation on Tuco's sayings in that movie. And Tuco is also a character on BB. One of the writers must be a fan.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

I was wondering how long until this gif would be made. Apparently the answer is a few hours.

[lukethedrifter]

Watched the first episode of Boardwalk Empire. Pretty good but I just don't buy Steve Buscemi. At all.