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DJ Jo-D

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Moaning of life is fantastic. Without Gervais forcing him in to situations, Karl seems much more up for a laugh, and you can see in a few instances he backs out of stuff because he genuinely doesn't want to do it, and he gets to. I loved Idiot Abroad but do find this more enjoyable, it's more laughing with than laughing at.

 

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Who was it that recommended Northern Exposure? Ca_gere?

 

You're owed a big thank you. I've been working my way through it for a while now. There's been some periods where I didn't watch it much but I've been going through season 4 quickly this past week. It's got to the point where I'd probably consider it an all time great show. 

 

The writing is excellent and in a way which I don't think you really get on tv these days. It's light hearted and fun but very meaningful at the same time. The entire cast of characters is great which allows it to have about three separate story lines an episode none of which are dull or just filler which is quite amazing for a network 20+ episodes season.

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Yeah that was me. It's always been a favourite of mine. My parents used to watch it religiously when it was on TV at home (I forget which channel aired it) and I remember them later saying how ahead of its time it was. I think nowadays the bar for TV shows in general has been raised but back then this was a diamond in the rough and it still holds up well. I might have to re watch it now, it's been a few years.

Edited by ca_gere
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Did you have a facourite character if you can remember? Mine is almost definitely Chris. The bar has been raised in a sense. The best tv shows are now much more ambitious and they have these arcing story lines but I wouldn't say the team behind Northern Exposure is really any less talented than many of the top shows around now. It's been the consistency which has really impressed me. I'd previously thought I'd have had enough by this point and not make it to the end. Now unless the remaining two seasons have a big drop in quality I'm sure I will keep going until the last episode.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Who was it that recommended Northern Exposure? Ca_gere?

 

You're owed a big thank you. I've been working my way through it for a while now. There's been some periods where I didn't watch it much but I've been going through season 4 quickly this past week. It's got to the point where I'd probably consider it an all time great show. 

 

The writing is excellent and in a way which I don't think you really get on tv these days. It's light hearted and fun but very meaningful at the same time. The entire cast of characters is great which allows it to have about three separate story lines an episode none of which are dull or just filler which is quite amazing for a network 20+ episodes season.

 

One that seems to have a similar feel for me is Picket Fences, I'm not sure this has been shown much in the UK, but it's well worth checking out if you can get it.

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Some of my favourites at the moment are The Blacklist - inspired by this I have started rewatching the brilliantly funny Boston Legal again, Still Game - in preparation for next years live show, Dr Who (goes without saying), NCIS, Hart of Dixie (a modern take on Northern Exposure I guess - pap but I like it), Elementary and Castle.

 

I think my favourite new show by quite some margin this year has been the Blacklist, Spader is just effortlessly brilliant in it. If you haven't watched it you should get the whole lot and watch from the beginning.

 

Elementary is still being brilliant with Jonny Lee Miller giving possibly the most accurate version of Holmes since Jeremy Brett, he has the capability to be quite charming and very sociable when it suits him (the original Sherlock Holmes got a maid to agree to marry him in order to get information - so could be quite charming if need be), unlike Cumberbatch's Holmes who's autistic style Holmes isn't as true to the books as so many people seem to claim - not to mention what they did to Irene Adler (I do like Sherlock but there was some shocking writing in Season 2) !!!

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I saw Blacklist has gotten commissioned for a second season too. I've been meaning to get tucked in. The trailer made it look really good. The fact it will run longer than one season gives me more reason to watch. Weird how that works nowadays.

 

Elementary looked rank from the trailers. It was everywhere for a while on TV in Poland. More recently the ads have been toned down to make it seem less hammy and I'd definitely be up for giving it a go.

 

Never heard of Picket Fences. Will seek it out.

 

I've just finished Season 5 of the Shield. Forgot about the ending... it hit me just as hard as it did the first time. Forest Whitaker is excellent in season 5. He just lifts the whole show up a notch.

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The second series of House Of Cards will be on Netflix from the 14th February. How romantic! :love:

 

Awesome didn't realise that would be back so soon. The Americans is back in the new year too which I'm looking forward to.

 

Treme just started its (short) fourth and final season, first episode was great.

 

I enjoy elementary a lot but I don't think it's a patch on Sherkock (which I'm super excited is back soon). 

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Awesome didn't realise that would be back so soon. The Americans is back in the new year too which I'm looking forward to.

 

Treme just started its (short) fourth and final season, first episode was great.

 

I enjoy elementary a lot but I don't think it's a patch on Sherkock (which I'm super excited is back soon). 

 

I just don't like the take on Holmes in Sherlock, being a big fan of the original stories they seem to have slightly missed the point in making him the guy who pretty much no-one can get on with which is totally out of character for Holmes, and his general disregard for Watson is also at odds with the character. Jeremy Brett was the most accurate Holmes though I prefer Rathbone ;)  I also hate what Sherlock did to both Irene Adler and Moriarty, it's similar to what they did to the Master in Dr Who, they made the character mad and insane which is completely at odds with the original character, Moriarty has to be someone who is the anti-Holmes, ie someone who is incredibly clever and who runs everything, they made him a mad irishman. I liked the first season of Sherlock, but not such a fan of the second, hoping they can redeem it in the third. The reason I feel Elementary works so well is that it very deliberately plays hard and loose with the canon so it never seems so surprising or out of place when they do something, and the characterisation of Holmes is far more like that in the books, ie he is manic and can be charming and charismatic and it's not that he doesn't understand about motions etc it's just that unless they directly affect him he isn't interested, whereas Sherlock claims be trying to keep to the original stories to a point so when they get it wrong it's very glaring.

Edited by jester1470
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I've only read one of the stories so I'm not really looking at it from that point of view and maybe that's why we react differently to it. However, I don't really agree that the character in Elementary is any easier to get along with than in Sherlock. The nature of a 24 episode season means they have more time to stray away from cases and go into other aspects of their lives so maybe there are more scenes where you see Holmes putting on his act and making people like him but I don't think that's something missing from Sherlock. 

 

I don't really agree about Moriarty either, I think he does come across as incredibly clever and the person who runs everything.

 

 

What do you think about the Mycroft character in Elementary? That's been my biggest annoyance with the current season, which otherwise I think is up to the standard of the first. 

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I don't really agree about Moriarty either, I think he does come across as incredibly clever and the person who runs everything.

 

 

What do you think about the Mycroft character in Elementary? That's been my biggest annoyance with the current season, which otherwise I think is up to the standard of the first. 

 

The problem with the Moriarty thing with Sherlock is that in the whole of Holmes career Moriarty only appears twice, and only once proper which is in the Final Problem, Moriarty wasn't behind every crime Sherlock has ever investigated. The final episode on the last series of Sherlock had Moriarty as a complete madman, something the original character wasn't, the original character was a university lecturer if I recall, in fact Moriarty was only bothered by Holmes when Holmes started shutting down too many of his schemes, until that point Holmes didn't know he existed, in Sherlock Moriarty's main thing is to get Holmes, the whole elaborate part at the end, shooting himself to thwart Holmes, hardly the act of a sane man, Moriarty would never, ever kill himself, so it just irritates me on every level :p

 

I haven't minded Mycroft in the TV series, I would like to know a bit more about who he's working for - in some ways the character is not dissimilar to proper Mycroft and in some ways totally different, again i hope they don't overuse him, Mycroft is only really in the books twice I think, though mentioned a few other times, if it turns out he's working for the government then all will be forgiven, if it's someone else i won't be as forgiving :p

 

You really should take a punt at some of the other books, some of the short stories are excellent, I would also recommend:  https://archive.org/details/HQSherlockRathboneTCS   the 1940's radio series with the great Basil Rathbone :)

Edited by jester1470
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Started watching American Horror Story last night. Just the first season. Really like it. The one thing I hate is, we all grew up watching the same stuff. Why do people always think of ghosts as a last resort in new tv programs/horrors? I hear a neighbour going home and I'm like SHIT GHOSTS FUCK.

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