Whoops, I was considering Gods of the Arena season 2. Yes, season 1 and Gods of the Arena are great. The other stuff I didn't like as much.

Yeah, Odo and Kira were my least favorite characters. Kira's episodes were they explored her past in the resistance were not that good and her romance with Odo was cheesy as fuck. I know I'm dirty but fucking Odo must be...something else! (he's a shapeshifter).

My fav characters were Bashir and O'brien, their bromance was awesome haha.

I wholeheartedly agree, his presence on that show is one of the greatest things I've ever seen, especially season one. Still, I can't say I entirely blame him, as some of the episodes towards the end of seasons two were getting increasingly gratuitous in their violence, even bordering on torture porn briefly (especially the episode where that dude has homeless people wander through the maze). Patinkin has cited the increase in violence and gore as his primary reason for leaving, which does sort of make sense. Sadly, they started toning that down again in season four, but I guess they didn't want to when Patinkin asked them, even though he was the star of the show. I guess from a marketing perspective that wasn't really a terrible decision; the show has continued to be wildly popular with Joe Mantegna (who is good but isn't even close to Patinkin). Another sad case of money driving decisions that lead to a loss of something exceptional. But yeah anyway, rant aside, I treasure those first two seasons and definitely want to watch some more stuff with him.

Wait, I've always thought Criminal Minds was one of those awful CSI/Bones/NCIS lowest-common-denominator cop/forensic shows. Is that not actually the case?

Yes but at the same time a huge resounding no. There's a reason it's one of CBS's most popular shows (to be fair Bones in one of Fox's but let's not go there it is Fox after all, need I say more?), there has never been a show on public T.V. (not cable) that has been able to disturb me and just actually bother me on a whole different level, like deep down and nightmare inducing, like Criminal Minds has. Sure those episodes are few and far between but they are out there. I would say watch the pilot as it's actually really fucking solid and pretty much sets the tone for the whole show.

Not sure if many have heard about this (or care), but the new Homeland trailer is out:



This is gonna be more or less a fresh start with new plots. I hope it can regain the momentum from S1.

Are Criminal Minds fans excited about Jennifer Love Hewitt joining the cast?

I seriously hope you're joking.

Edit: you're not. Well shit,

I don't watch CM outside of an occasional episode here and there, but I was quite surprised when I read that news on IMDB a couple weeks ago. I might check out the season 10 premiere just out of curiosity.

She's a bad actress but she's hot, I guess?

Oh my god!

It'll be shit. I doubt even the awesomeness that is criminal minds can overcome the absolute abyss that is JLH. I've never liked a single role she's done. Also I don't even think she's hot so all she can do is bring the show down in my eyes, honestly K Stew would have been a better choice.


(Ok maybe not but you get my point)

I definitely wouldn't lump it in with those three pieces of shit, mainly for two reasons: the actors, and the show's focus. Especially season one, I love almost every episode of that season and it's just the best season of any crime drama I've seen to date. Patinkin's character is fantastic (although as discussed he sadly leaves after season two) as are Gubler's (Dr. Reid) and Gibson's (Agent Hotchner). Glaudini's is quite cool as well I thought, but she leaves towards the beginning of season two. Morgan, JJ, and Garcia have their moments but aren't exceptional. Prentiss, who replaces Greenaway (Glaudini) is good but not great, the same way I feel about Rossi (Mantegna), although he's better than any other than the first 3 I mentioned.

The focus is, as you might have guessed, often, especially towards the beginning of the series, on the criminals' perspectives and delusions, which I find much more interesting than CSI-style shit. Some episodes less so than others, but even if it doesn't show the criminal much him/herself his/her personality is discussed at length which is usually interesting. I felt like the profiles started to be rehashed around season six, but if not the first five seasons the first two are certainly worth watching. I like season six and on as well, but only as something to watch when I'm bored with the occasional outstanding episode or cool line from Reid or Hotchner. Best line on the show, btw:

Greenaway: I need to get back on the team, I've found myself looking forward to watching soap operas.
Reid [very excitedly]: Which ones?

As to Hewitt: Fuck 'er. I mean she has a great rack, but so does Paget Brewster who is a better actress, so meh.

Just finished Torchwood tonight and like almost all the great shows it ended wide the fuck open. I hate it when great shows end with a lead in to the next season and then just nada. Any other fans of the show on the board?

I hate television shows except for a few things so I cut the cord. The best thing about TV is being able to change the channel and there's way too many commercials. I like the Walking Dead, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Three's Company and The Cosby Show.

Too many commercials? Lol, welcome to the internet age where you can binge watch TV series for free...


Torchwood is really a series I should watch, I liked the episodes I've seen and love John Barrowman!

I finished the second season of Orphan Black today, what a fucking awesome show! There's so many surprises and the ending was promising. I can't wait for season 3 already.

Best moments:

Orphan Black was at its best when it focused on the character stuff and funny moments. Tatiana Maslany is seriously awesome and all the characters she played felt like different people, which was fascinating and easily the best thing in the show. I thought the second season was seriously held back by the plot which devolved into

I didn't finish watching the first episode of season 2. It was hmm. I'll probably go back to it eventually though.

I don't know what you've seen but if it was from the first two seasons then you'll definitely enjoy season 3 and 4. They're basically mini series, season 3 was only five episodes but it was my favorite of the seasons followed closely by season 4. Technically the show hasn't been cancelled yet so there is a slight possibility of more episodes but it's been like 3 or 4 years since it *ended* so I kinda doubt that there will ever be a new season.

Where can I watch television shows for free?

Hulu and Nextflix are two really good ones.

Some shows you can even find on YouTube, depending on what you're looking for.

Watching it for free and illegally? Just google 'free tv shows online' or something like that and you'll be directed to plenty of websites with curated links from hosting websites like putlocker, videoweed etc.

Any good series doing the rounds these days? I'm looking for something which is still in its first season.

I use tubeplus.me for streaming movies and shows that aren't on Netflix. Mostly for movies, it has almost everything as far as that's concerned, I'm not sure how exhaustive it is for shows but give it a try, I say.

So there is apparently going to be a Family Guy/Simpsons crossover episode.

I haven't watched either show regularly in ages, but...what. Seems like the kind of thing I would have found awesome as a 14-year-old, I guess.

I saw a five minute clip...it was...really no good.

Anything with Family Guy/American Dad in it immediately blows, and I imagine that particular crossover to be something like a Seinfeld/Everybody Loves Raymond mix bag. I'd rather eat roadkill than watch that.

Coincidentally, I ate roadkill once (barbecued wild grey squirrel), and it was really good. So yeah, I'll take the roadkill too. I didn't think The Simpsons was even still going...

Cringe-worthy....but FXX is going to air like the first 8 seasons of The Simpsons, so that makes up for it.

Been binging on Lost to pass the time and because I hadn't seen it in a while. There's definitely still some stuff that sucks about it (fuck you, Michael...worst character ever) but so much else is neat. The mysteries of the island still pull me in the second time around and they did a great job with giving the characters interesting backgrounds (again, other than Michael) and injecting a lot of emotional weight into their stories, even with the somewhat large ensemble cast. I'll get into season two tomorrow, which was probably my favorite the first time around so we'll see how it holds up.

I loved Lost, even if the ending didn't live up to the massive expectations that built up around it. Simply as a years-long mindfuck of dreamlike fiction it was great, just a wonderfully bizarre ride. By the end I didn't even really care if the conclusion was everything I'd hoped for because the journey itself had been so incredibly strange and fascinating.

Fargo

Penny Dreadful

^
I completely agree. Best show I have seen in a long time. I'm glad it got renewed for a second season.

WTF? Why would you re-watch that shit now that you benefit from lack of ignorance about it?


....iamntbatman has no taste in TV confirmed.

I meant to start watching Lost around the end of the last season, but after seeing my friends who did watch it cry out in anger I decided against it. I guess I made the right call. Still, I'm getting curious again. Should I start watching it or should I just look up the presumably batshit insane, completely improbable, massively disappointing ending on imdb and get it over with?

I really don't think it's anything to get up in arms about. It's not the best way they could have ended the show, clearly, but it's a screwy sci-fi/paranormal/mystical/alternate reality piece, for god's sake... about halfway through the show you kind of have to throw believability out the airlock and just enjoy the ride.

Billy Bob Thornton huh? The blurb about the show looks interesting. I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

I've heard of Penny Dreadful (seen some promo videos too) but I was waiting to hear some good feedback about the show. I'll check that out too I spoze.

Fargo is worth checking out but personally I got bored after like four episodes.

It's definitely worth your time. Morrigan's overreaction to it is...hmm. Perhaps nuttier than anything that actually happens in the show. Really intriguing mysteries, mostly great characters with interesting conflicts between them, etc. Sure, stuff does get batshit insane, but why is that automatically a bad thing?

Oh...I totally forgot, on the subject of new shows, Halt and Catch Fire might be at the top of my list. I'm really enjoying it, best thing AMC has done other than Breaking Bad.