Television

[ash48]

Yay! Friday evening at last. Spent the day nutting out the draft Australian Curriculum for The Arts and now my head is mush. Time to kick back, have a drink and chat about television. :)

Before I do I want to say how warmed I was by all the lovely comments left at the love meme. It can't be underestimated how powerful and self assuring it is hear good things. I think in our everyday lives we don't always get that. It's a great reminder just how wonderful it is to be part of this fandom. Thank you. <333

Now for some television shows chat. Shows I've been watching...


I finishing watching Season One of Spartacus last night and I have to say I was incredibly impressed with it. It surprised me because I really didn't expect it to be so solid. I adored the visual style. It's like a living graphic novel. It's incredibly bloody - think of the worse place a sword could go and they went there. The camera lens is never spared of the blood splatter either. :) It also has a lot of sex and the language is, um... colourful to say the least. But it is the story and the characters that kept me coming back for more. The story telling never felt labored. It has a good mix of action and character development. (and porn and blood and guts...). And heck... it's slave story - It's got that going for it too! ;D

John Hannah as Batiatus is brilliant. I've always loved him as an actor and it's great to see him in such a meaty role. Lucy Lawless is also fabulous and it was only seeing her name that I realized she was Xena! In fact all the performances are solid. It's so sad to read that the lead actor died of cancer last year and wasn't able to continue the role in Season 2.

I hope S2 is as good.



Yay! I'm loving the new season of White Collar. I've always enjoyed it but it seems to be getting better as it goes on. It's easy watching - lacking the angst as a certain TV show that shall remain nameless - and the characters are easy to love. Of course I ADORE the bromance between Peter and Neal. Their friendship was really showcased at the beginning of this season and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy. Also love Neal and Mozzie's friendship. Peter and Elizabeth own my heart (I adore Elizabeth!) and Diana, Clinton, Sara and June area all awesome too. The stories seems a little bit more plausible, though I'm always happy to hand wave impossibilities in shows like this. :)



Aaawwww Leverage. I do have a soft spot for you, even if you are kinda silly. This is such easy, happy watching. They give us little bits of characterization while mostly focusing on the big bad person or company of the week. I think even Sophie might be growing on me. :) I do enjoy the way the five of them interact. The "stings" are always fun. Just good, happy, easy watching.




YOU are all to blame for me giving Teen Wolf a look. I HAD to see what all the fuss was about. I think I'm getting it. I mean, the slash potential is huge and there's lots of bare chests. *g* The characters are yet to really grab me, but I do love the idea of werewolves and the Alpha thing is intriguing me. (Oh, I'm only 7 eps into S1 so I figure there's lots more to go..*g*). I'm eager to watch some more so I figure there must be something that's attracting me to it. (I do rather like Stiles I have to say...)



Death in Paradise is a little show that we have been watching. It's English and it's absolutely delightful. An Englishman (Detective Poole, played by comedian Ben Miller) is sent to the Caribbean to work. It's plays out like a Agatha Christie whodunit, ending each episode with all the suspects gathered together while Poole explains who dun it. Again though, it's the characters that make it such fun to watch. Love it.

I watched S1 of Sons of Anarchy and am now a few eps into S2. "Enjoy" wouldn't really be the word I'd use because - wow - that's some intense shit going on. I admit I'm struggling now to go back to it because I really have to be in a certain mind frame to watch it. I feel like I'm on the edge of my seat the whole time waiting for a terrible thing to happen. And then it does! Ack! It's so depressing. And yet, engaging when I'm into it.

Hanging out for Game of Thrones to return. It's probably my favorite of them all (other than show that shall remain nameless). I love far too many things about it to list it all. EVERYTHING is awesome!



Er, I think that's it. I'm pretty sure there's a heap of other shows I should be watching but I just don't seem to have the time to sit and actually watch stuff. It's great when I can find a show that hubby likes also. All the above (except Teen Wolf and show that shall not be named) he likes to watch so yay.


I'll save thoughts about the other show for another day...;)

xox

Comments

[ciaimpala.livejournal.com]

I am loving White Collar so much this season too, especially the Peter and Neal bromance. And Leverage is such a fun show :)

And I definitely will see if I can get my hands on Death in Paradise, it sounds like my kind of show!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Death in Paradise is great. There's only 8 episodes (doesn't look like they made a second season) and the characters are fab. I also love the murder mysteries. :))

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I've seen a couple eps of Death in Paradise and yes, delightful, is totally the way to describe it!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

It really is! I love the characters and quirkiness. :)

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

Oh i knew you'd love the visual style of Spartacus (I mean in addition to the beefcake!). But also, yes its a great drama as well!

Sons of A is very intense! I love it, although sometimes I wonder why because, well no-one is very nice!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

ha! The beefcake is certainly easy on the eye! I went from swooning to cringing in a blink of an eye...:)

well no-one is very nice

I know! The characters are wonderfully complex. I love how even the "evil" ones have back stories that gives them depth. I have to get back to it...

[mithborien.livejournal.com]

haha, I am watching Teen Wolf right now as well! Somehow I started reading Derek/Stiles fic without knowing anything about the show, and then there were gifs on Tumblr and now I am watching the show. I'm only on the second ep but I also like Stiles :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh are you!? Hee... with all the chat on my flist I had to check it out. I haven't done any reading yet (not sure how "hooked" I am just yet), but it looks like something I could check out in the future.

I just have to find some time to watch the rest.

[mithborien.livejournal.com]

You could just totally do what I did and spend your entire weekend watching it instead of doing any actual work! I didn't regret it at all :P

And lol, I just saw your icon. So multipurpose!

[azziria.livejournal.com]

Always watch Ben Miller because my husband used to share an office with him, back when they were both lowly PhD students. He was always very funny :)

I've not seen Game of Thrones but I've just started reading the first book, and I'm hooked. So I may give the show a look.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! That's a great story. How awesome. I love his comedy show, Miller and Armstrong. He's very talented.

Oh and you must check out GoT. It's one of the best produced shows I've ever seen. It's absolutely beautiful and the acting is top notch. Quality TV and I believe it follows the books very closely. Dooo eeet....

xx

[denyce.livejournal.com]

I'm behind on WC and Leverage, but am completely hooked on TW. Hang in there S2 seriously rocks! and just started reading the fic *happy sigh*

And I'm with you on GoT. Although fandomwise I'm not interested in reading any fic; visual prettiness like pic spams, vids yes! Otherwise I adore the show/books on its own.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

The good think about WC and Leverage is that they are easy to catch up with when the time comes.

GoT is totally amazing. I haven't read anything either (in fact, I haven't read any FF from any of the shows above) but it lends itself to anything visual. I would love to vid it. Time is always my enemy though.

(that icon is gorgeous. If I get hooked on TW looks like I better check out icons. Is that a manip?)

[denyce.livejournal.com]

Nope not a manip, a commercial they did for the Teen Choice awards here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKTQPWbxQZk&feature=player_embedded

Yes, lots of pretty in TW. I haven't added more icons however I have a growing folder. From the number of bunnies I've had I can easily predict I'll be writing within the fandom soon...

[ash48.livejournal.com]

HA! OMG... "ship" intended?! So they pay that up? Cooool!

I like I might have just fallen in loooovee...

Thanks so much for the link.

[tiniowien.livejournal.com]

I remember the lead actor in Spartacus. A friend of ours who is a stuntie on the show and works over here between jobs was scheduled to return to New Zealand to re-start filming when they first learned of his illness and they postponed the filming for a while. Unfortunately he passed away.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

It's so sad. I was reading about it because I had heard that he had died. It's weird watching him - he looks so healthy and strong. It proves that that awful disease is totally indiscriminate. It must have it the production crew very hard.

[bluestar1820.livejournal.com]

I just started watching TW as well. Season one is awesome, but season 2 is even better.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I keep hearing that. I am looking forward to getting to S2. :))

[yourlibrarian]

To me Stiles is the only character who seems really engaging although I like what they've done with Allison's character. However, having felt that S1 dragged I can say that things are probably ramping up this season because they're pulling out the stops in terms of the pace of storytelling. It's a whole lot easier to sit through and I actually wonder what's going to happen from one episode to the next. You'll probably find the last two eps of S1 start really going somewhere and that continues to hold in S2 (not unlike SPN which also dragged through S1 but had a killer finale).

To me WC is exactly the opposite. White Collar does have a raft of likable characters, which helps keep its stories afloat. In fact I could easily watch a bunch of episodes each season which focused on the secondary characters because I like all of them. Plus you'd have to be dense not to see the slashiness between Peter and Neal.

I'll have to keep an ear out for Death in Paradise in case it comes this way.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy the way the actor performs Stiles. He has a great sense of timing and I love the level of humor he delivers. I'm looing forward to S2 - everyone seems to think it's much better than S1.

And yeah...WC is very enjoyable. I love the way they play the slashiness between Peter and Neal - it's like a fun tongue in cheek nod.

I checked out when DiP was made and it was last year. We've only just got it here in Aus, so I'm not sure when (or if) any where else (other than the UK) will get it.

[maichan.livejournal.com]

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH CAPSLOCK TO EXPRESS ALL MY FEELS FOR GAME OF THRONES. Amazing cast, amazing production value, just AHHHHHH!!!!

And yeah, Teen Wolf. You like it against your better judgment. And if you think the show is über slashy, you should see how the cast interacts with one another in real life. THEY BRING NEW MEANING TO THE TERM FAN SERVICE.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

YES!!! CAPSLOCK IS DEF NEEDED FOR GoT!! The production value blows me away. It must cost a fortunate to make - which yay because we get such great TV!

You like it against your better judgment

HA! That's the feeling I'm getting. :) And I LOVE that the cast are acting all slashy! I'll need to find me some footage. (I think you might have just given me justification for watching MORE!)

xox

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

White Collar! ♥

I'm not shipping anything on Teen Wolf but boy is it hitting my narrative buttons, big time. It picks up momentum as you go on--season 2 has been really good.

Sons of Anarchy isn't really the kind of thing you can sit down and just...watch, especially when tired. /o\ It's alarming. Yet remarkably soft-hearted in spots. And has the relentlessness of a freight train.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

but boy is it hitting my narrative buttons

Are you writing stuff? Or just thinking about it...? I have a feeling that once I'm all up to date I might start looking for fic. I haven't checked anything out yet.

And has the relentlessness of a freight train.

That's it! At the end of each ep I feel wrung out. It seems to never let up. Compelling though.

xoxo

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Not yet, haven't really been reading fic yet either, but I feel like things could head that way. There's certainly a lot to play with, there.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on WC, it's great summer TV, and the friendships and characters are great. And Neal oozes that Sinatra charme like nobody else. You totally believe that he can make people fall in love with him on the spot and charm his way into unsuspecting widow's houses.

Teen Wolf is a hoot. Personally I do not get the Derek/Stiles slash, but Stiles is an awesome character, he delivers one-liners and dramatic moments with equal ablombe, and definately is the one person they picked for their acting skills rather than his looks (that is to say he's a great actor, not that he's not cute...) Then there is the random shirtlessness, and the canonically gay character that is not just a plot point. And I actually do like Scott's vanilla character, too, against conceived fan opinion. And then there is all the OTTness. What's not too love.

Spartacus is a show I try very hard not too watch because I know I'd totally fall for it. The visuals, and the history, and half naked men, I don't think I could resist.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Neal is super smooth. I have no problem believing he's a con man. I'd fall for ANYTHING he did because I'd be staring into his eyes too much...:)

and definately is the one person they picked for their acting skills rather than his looks

That's what I'm getting. He's not bad to look at at all but his performance is spot on. I like it best when he is in a scene. I hadn't even considered Derek/Stiles - I think I need to watch more yet because so far I don't think they're together much.

I'm looking forward to watching more. ;)

Oh don't resist Spartacus! It's rather sumptuous. It took me a little while to get used to the accents (filmed in NZ) but after a while I didn't notice it so much. It's unlike anything I've watched before, which made it refreshing as well.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Isn't it weired how Hollywood has trained us to associate ancient cultures with a British accent. My initial idea to Romans speaking with a New Zealand accent was 'that's too weired' but obviously either accent is fine, since they spoke Roman and not English to start with.

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you on White Collar. How rare for a show to get better year after year! My new hobby is Suits - I'm intrigued by characters who have hidden depths. And Game of Thrones will find me watching when new eps are available. And of course, that show that shall remain nameless continues to rule my heart.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh Suits? I've heard about it but I wasn't sure it would be something I might like. Hee... as you can see from above I am drawn to the action and mystery genre. If it's along those lines then it might be my thing (?).

As soon as GoTs is back I will be watching the eps as soon as they are available. So wonderful.

And yeah... that other show, well, that's more of a religion rather than a mere TV show. I can't even be objective about that one..;)

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

I have just watched the opening episode of WC and loved it so - they do seem to be really hitting their stride now in that show. The writing is as sharp as ever between the characters, who truly do seem at ease with each other, and hand waving of plotty impossibilites is neither here nor there when such delicious interactions are offered up to enjoy.

(btw, you got my comment on the love meme, yes?? I posted one but I am worried I might've posted it in the wrong place and I do not want all my love for you and your vids to go to waste:-)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yes exactly! The writing is much tighter. Even my hubby noted that. For a while there he lost interest, but this season he's back into it and I think because the dialogue is much sharper and the characters are more solid or something.

you got my comment on the love meme, yes

Oh noes... I don't believe I did! With all the threads it gets a bit muddled. I just took another look and it's not there (well, on my thread). ;/

But thank you! I'm so glad we found each other hun. <33

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

love for you . Gawd knows where I actually posted this, but I cannot have you not seeing this bit of excited squee..

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh honey!! *beams* Thank you! That's so lovely of you to say. <33 I feel like I haven't posted a vid in ages /o\ Time seems to be against me these days. Let's just say I'm looking forward to the gag reel coming out... ;) And I'm so glad to have met you!!

*hugs* <33