The Official TV Thread

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

I suppose. I think, though, that at this point the series is going to have diminishing returns from cynically pulling the rug out from under the good guys' legs.

I agree, it was a definite body blow, maybe more so than the end of season one.

It will be interesting to see if this has a negative impact on the viewing figures.

At the same time, I think they'll stay fairly close to the source material which is pretty relentless in it's overall message, they deserve some credit for that.

 

[Bender]

Game of thrones.... What. The. Hell.

I guess maybe it's a good thing I haven't read the books because that was a shock.

Yeah. That was something. I haven't read the books, but I did feel like something was brewing. Didn't expect that, though.

No, that was definitely beyond the pale. After a season of what has felt just like a bunch of characters walking around it got crazy in a hurry.

What the hell indeed!

I need to watch this damn show!

 

[Kin]

I agree, it was a definite body blow, maybe more so than the end of season one.

It will be interesting to see if this has a negative impact on the viewing figures.

At the same time, I think they'll stay fairly close to the source material which is pretty relentless in it's overall message, they deserve some credit for that.

Oh, I kind of meant the opposite. I'm sure people liked it and will still watch it I just mean that, for me at least, because the show is, as you put it, pretty relentless about having grim stuff happen to its characters it loses some of that punch because it just keeps happening. Last night when (SPOILERS) Robb kept talking about what he wanted to name his kid I couldn't help but think of Goose from Top Gun. (SPOILERS)

 

[Bullfrog]

I'm just catching up on the shows now, but I've read the books so I know what's coming. For me, the story really dragged on after this part for awhile, but then it picks up again. I think the Jon Snow and Arya stories (and what's to come) are the more intriguing parts.

I think I enjoy the TV shows more than the books.

 

[Joe S.]

A friend of mine who has read all the books keeps telling me that Jamie gets way more interesting as a character, he says 'you think this was big, just you wait'

 

[hockeyfan1]

Anyone here watch the show called "Supernatural"?

 

[lamajama]

If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

I suppose. I think, though, that at this point the series is going to have diminishing returns from cynically pulling the rug out from under the good guys' legs.

I tend to agree. <SPOILER ALERT> Everyone that one might "root" for
seems to be dispatched. The show last night took a major plot line from
the last half of Season 2 and a diminished plot in this season and tossed
it out the window. It really was a WTF and a disappointment (for me anyway).The war is now over so we're back to lunatic King Joffrey (sp?) and his antics. I suppose the drama will come from overseas where the blonde bombshell is amassing a pretty large army. I don't see the other plot lines (Joffrey and Dragon Lady plot lines aside) really amounting to much. I'm sure I'm wrong here though. I don't read the books until each season is over so I'm surprised at what happens - although Season 3 is apparently half of Book 3.

 

[bustaheims]

I may be in the minority, but, I think the show actually got more interesting after last night. The predictable "good eventually triumphing over evil" storyline is gone. We're dealing almost exclusively with shades of grey right now. There are still a few bright lights, but there's no group who are clearly "the good guys." I love that. I mean, that's how real life works. There's a lot of smaller, side stories out there that I think could make things really interesting. I'm really intrigued to see how this plays out.

 

[Kin]

I may be in the minority, but, I think the show actually got more interesting after last night. The predictable "good eventually triumphing over evil" storyline is gone. We're dealing almost exclusively with shades of grey right now. There are still a few bright lights, but there's no group who are clearly "the good guys." I love that. I mean, that's how real life works. There's a lot of smaller, side stories out there that I think could make things really interesting. I'm really intrigued to see how this plays out.

Well, I'd agree that the show got more interesting in as much as I think that the characters who are, um, no longer with us tended to be some of the show's more one-note and uninteresting characters there are still a bunch of characters out there who are "good" guys that we're rooting for, I think. And, to counter that, I don't necessarily know that we're dealing with shades of grey. I mean, after last night, I tend to think we're really just dealing with a lot of shades of black.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Anyone agree?  For their genres perhaps, but I doubt they should be named best ever.

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/06/03/the-sopranos-seinfeld-named-best-written-shows-of-all-time-by-writers-guild-of-america/

 

[Kin]

Anyone agree?  For their genres perhaps, but I doubt they should be named best ever.

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/06/03/the-sopranos-seinfeld-named-best-written-shows-of-all-time-by-writers-guild-of-america/

Their genres? Their genres were Drama and Sitcom. That's more or less all TV shows are.

 

[lamajama]

As far as Soprano's goes, I really enjoyed that show, and thought (probably unlike others) that the ending was done very well - BUT.. (there's always a "but") I was a late-comer to the show and had to watch entire seasons on DVD to catch up - and this is where they lose that #1 status.

Maybe it wasn't as noticeable watching weekly but very often story lines just stopped. The continuity was weak. I don't need a "not everything in life comes to
a conclusion" line from everyone but we are dealing with fiction here. If a
situation or character is set up and then it just never re-appears I consider
that poor storytelling. Just my opinion.

 

[Kin]

As far as Soprano's goes, I really enjoyed that show, and thought (probably unlike others) that the ending was done very well - BUT.. (there's always a "but") I was a late-comer to the show and had to watch entire seasons on DVD to catch up - and this is where they lose that #1 status.

Maybe it wasn't as noticeable watching weekly but very often story lines just stopped. The continuity was weak. I don't need a "not everything in life comes to
a conclusion" line from everyone but we are dealing with fiction here. If a
situation or character is set up and then it just never re-appears I consider
that poor storytelling. Just my opinion.

I don't know which characters/situations you're referring to but I think it's fair to note that the Sopranos had to deal with a lot of unexpected stuff that derailed their plans over the years. From the death of the actress who played Tony's mom to, I think, the writer's strike.

 

[bustaheims]

From the death of the actress who played Tony's mom to, I think, the writer's strike.

Just to clear things up, the writers' strike wasn't one of their issues. The last episode of the Sopranos aired in June 2007. The writers' strike began in November 2007.

 

[Jalili]

As far as Soprano's goes, I really enjoyed that show, and thought (probably unlike others) that the ending was done very well - BUT.. (there's always a "but") I was a late-comer to the show and had to watch entire seasons on DVD to catch up - and this is where they lose that #1 status.

Maybe it wasn't as noticeable watching weekly but very often story lines just stopped. The continuity was weak. I don't need a "not everything in life comes to
a conclusion" line from everyone but we are dealing with fiction here. If a
situation or character is set up and then it just never re-appears I consider
that poor storytelling. Just my opinion.

It's one of my favourite shows, but I found they over-did a bit of that whole Italian culture which made it inaccessible for the casual viewer who's not exposed to that kind of stuff.

Like a few episodes they went out of their way to talk about the plight of Italian Americans being depicted negatively in the media and such. The episode about protesting the Christopher Columbus parade is the one that stands out in particular.

And yeah, a few loose ends that were never touched again. Part of that seemed intentional though.

 

[Kin]

From the death of the actress who played Tony's mom to, I think, the writer's strike.

Just to clear things up, the writers' strike wasn't one of their issues. The last episode of the Sopranos aired in June 2007. The writers' strike began in November 2007.

Wasn't there an earlier writer's strike though? Not one that lasted as long but I thought there was a WGA thing a few years before that.

Well, I can't find anything documenting what I was thinking so cheerfully withdrawn.

edited to add: I'm probably thinking of the weird gap in the 6th season which was either caused by Chase's inability to get things done in a timely fashion or HBO's desire to stretch the series out. Not the same thing as the strike but a big gap like that can make certain actors unavailable if they move on to other gigs.

 

[Kin]

Like a few episodes they went out of their way to talk about the plight of Italian Americans being depicted negatively in the media and such. The episode about protesting the Christopher Columbus parade is the one that stands out in particular.

I think a lot of that was self-referential though. David Chase knew that he was going to get heat for another show focusing in on the Mafia and he wanted to present both sides of the coin, the Italian folks who bristle at that sort of stereotyping(like Dr. Melfi's husband) and the guys like Tony.

The Columbus Day episode wasn't that though. I think the Columbus day episode was a bit of a shot at the Italian Anti-Defamation people by suggesting that as offended as they are by negative depictions of Italians in the media they generally seem ok with Columbus day which is taken by some others to be very offensive to their culture.

That said, I think it's one of the worst episodes of the show, regardless of whatever point they were trying to make.

And yeah, a few loose ends that were never touched again. Part of that seemed intentional though.

It definitely was. Regarding the Russian in the forest, for instance, David Chase has said repeatedly that he didn't want to resolve that because he didn't think it was realistic for every hanging plot thread to tie up in a neat little bow.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Anyone agree?  For their genres eras perhaps, but I doubt they should be named best ever.

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/06/03/the-sopranos-seinfeld-named-best-written-shows-of-all-time-by-writers-guild-of-america/

Their genres? Their genres were Drama and Sitcom. That's more or less all TV shows are.

My error.  That should have read "eras" not genres.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The thing I like about Game of Thrones as a TV series is something Grantland touched on in their review of the last episode - it's a series where there can be actual/dramatic change, and unexpected change.  They used the examples of Homeland and The Sopranos - you know the main character in each was going to survive at least until the end of the series.  But in Game of Thrones (unless you've read the books I suppose), you really don't know.

 

[Kin]

The thing I like about Game of Thrones as a TV series is something Grantland touched on in their review of the last episode - it's a series where there can be actual/dramatic change, and unexpected change.  They used the examples of Homeland and The Sopranos - you know the main character in each was going to survive at least until the end of the series.  But in Game of Thrones (unless you've read the books I suppose), you really don't know.

I think that's a trade-off though. The reason that GoT is able to dispose of just about any character is because with most of their characters/narratives we get 5-10 minutes a week with them. That adds predictability but it hurts the show as a character study.