I agree with this 1000%. You gotta remember C_f_t_t, Mikey also got offended by that Chaser skit about sick children. But hey, why enjoy quality dark humour when you can watch Charlie Sheen do, uh, well. When you can watch Charlie Sheen for half an hour???!?!??

Best comedian on Aus TV by a ridiculous amount. Ghengis also sucks, on this note. Also that scene was fucken hilarious mikey, out of all the scenes you pick that one. I know you have no sense of humour but no need to make it that obvious, jeez.

I love Community seriously one of the best sitcoms i've seen in some time, doesn't compare to Peep Show or Always Sunny though.

I've been trying to watch the new series of True Blood, can't get into it anymore.
Justified is easily the best thing on at the moment (atleast in the UK) sad to see the series final this week, but atleast i know Sons of Anarchy is back.

Not sure if mentioned in the topic but The Young Ones was pretty awesome, especially when now famous comedians have small cameos, I love that shit. Speaking of Brit-coms I need to watch The Thick Of It, its been on my list for ages.

The Thick of It is awesome - such an hilarious political satire. Anything by Armando Iannucci is hilarious really. His stuff with Partridge, his self-titled show, IT Crowd,etc, etc. The guy's easily one of my favourite comedy personalities. That show has hilarious situations parodying the way government types are and operate, hilarious swear words, ridiculous attitudes, great acting, a real original vibe to it. Initially it was shot on a really small budget too. The BBC told Iannucci "Here, make with with this what you can." I'm currently watching se3 of that - and the specials and extras.

SoA i hope is better than last season. Decent show, but not to the same standard of Band of Brothers, Sopranos, Wire, Breaking Bad (the latter is also back this week or next, i believe). Watch more stuff like that and you'll wonder why you ever bothered with True Blood.

Tried watching about 10 episodes of Community now and really it's nowhere near the standard of Party Down, Arrested Development, IASIP or Parks & Recreation, which are pretty much the style of show theyre going for. Party Down is great. For oncve an American show went off the air too early. Sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPZ77_vORPY

New show from John Saffran. Looks awesome. I've long been a fan of his documentary shows.

John Saffran's Music Jamboree, John Saffran Vs God and his latest one. Good to see him back out there in full swing, he had a lull of a few years there, and i was hoping he's come back.

Looks awesome, I loved Music Jamboree and the Vs God one, I only saw an Ep or two of that third series he did. Really funny guy so look forward to this one.

Word.

Watched a few episodes of that new show presented by Jonathan Ross: Penn & Teller's Fool Us. Magic show whereby British magicians attempt to do a trick awesome enough that Penn & Teller can't figure out how to do it. And those cunts seriously know their fucking magic tricks. Those that do get all expenses trips to Vegas and get to be their opening act at their long running massive magic show at the Rio in Vegas. Pretty fun stuff. Some neat tricks and Penn & Teller do some cool shit, like this gory stunt where sawing this woman in half goes horribly wrong - pretty neat lookin.

Also: Colbert Report.

Young Ones is amazing.

In Thick Of It should be great. I loved the film based on that show. Funniest film i'd seen in years, and haven't seen anything funnier since.

My sense of humour is evil 99% of the time, beyond black really. I thought that skit was pretty lame though. Bottom line is that nobody likes children being sick. Chasers boys are a lot smarter than that. There is plenty of other stuff worth taking the piss out of.

Did anyone catch the season 3 premiere of Adventure Time? I saw it on TV and didn't think it was super great (merely good), but I watched it a couple more times (from ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING) and have come to the conclusion that it's super great. The funniest part was Finn and Jake's army consisting of LSP, Beemo, Cinnamon Bun and Boobafina.

Come into lots of new stuff lately.

Watched all the available episodes of Louie season 2, which is great. I like shows that cultivate a genuine, realistic, down to earth and unique vibe, and i definitely think that shows fits the mould well. It's by far nowhere near the funniest show out there, but the ambiance of it is great and it seems really true to life, like other sitcoms Episodes and Party Down. The comedy in Louie seems to result from real world experiences and Luoie's own interpretations of life and it's experiences and situations and neuroses, like with Sein and Curb.

Currently watching the first episode of Wilfred (Australian). Not sure what to think yet. I do have somewhat of an affinity for Australian TV as if done well can be just really hilarious for being Australian. Anyway, it doesn't seem anywhere near on par with other top quality Aussie shows but hopefully itgets more interesting.

Watching a bit of Futurama season 6, which i think has improved in the later epiosdes, gone back to more of a classic feeling vibe, rather than a random, trying too hard kinda thing which they seemed to be on somewhat for a while.

I also managed to get the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, which i used to love back in the 80s, and looking forward to flicking through that. According to my mate who i got it off, it's still really enjoyable and fun to watch even at this ripe old age.

I wish I could tell you all how awesome the Breaking Bad premiere was... If only I could pick my jaw up from the ground.

Adventure Time UPDATE: Thanks to ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING I have now viewed "Morituri Te Salutamus" and can report that it is GOOD. Despite having a very simple story and playing into the cliches implicit in these stories, as (almost) always, the kindly makers of this program took every plot twist in an unexpected direction. Not a particularly funny episode with no stand out joke but entertaining and fascinating as always. Loved the despair of the ghost gladiators that all the characters completely disregarded. The Fight King himself had a bit more interesting character design than character (which for a visual medium like this may or may not be good). They're keepin' it up. Looking forward to next week more, though, "Memory of a Memory" looks like it'll be great. Since it apparently takes place in a mindscape it should be full of weird and disturbing abstractions like only cartoons can make such delightful use of (did anyone see the fan made episode of Xavier: Renegade Angel?). Over and out.

Hey. Are there fans here of the Big Bang Theory sitcom? I mean, I just remembered what a good, hilarious time I had watching the first two seasons. A wonderful sitcom. Jim Parsons is a genius.

Love it. Sheldon is a neverending source of entertainment.

In other news, Tyrion is so fucking metal:

Huge fan and I've seemed to have missed it twice now due to me not having tivo ..argh!!

I've actually caught the last ten minutes each time,figures. Best drama on t.v. in years. I'm going to tie my ass to the couch Sunday if it kills me.

Where is that pic from?? Awesome!

Are there other fans of The Big Bang Theory or am I the only one realizing the genius of this sitcom? Well, for the ones that have not heard of it, it's about 4 geeks' everyday life. It's highly entertaining and in this computer age that we are now, it's almost certain that everyone will enjoy it. Anyway, my favourite is Howard. Can't beat that character.

You sound like a moron to think that show has anything to do with genius, really. Have you ever watched any good sitcoms or are you coming from a background of Will & Grace, Friends, Dharma & Greg and the like? The "4 Geeks" on that show are very unrealistic, overly stereotyped and tacky renditions.

^ I was wandering whether or not should I retype because 'genius' is indeed a very strong word. Anyway, can you tell me some sitcoms you deem to be genius?

And to tell you the truth, a sitcom's 'job' is to take you away from the everyday reality and to make you laugh. TBBT did that for me and I'm completely happy with it. Too bad it didn't do the same for you - it's really rewarding. Maybe you were not able to catch up the humour. And yes, I do sound a bit like a 'moron' because I indeed do not have much experience with watching sitcoms (although I do have acting experience).

To tell you the truth once more, I have not heard of Will & Grace and I have never been a fan of Friends, Dharma & Greg. It seems you come from a much different 'sitcom background' - can you englighten me a bit on how to measure the quality of a sitcom?

Thanks

Well yeah it's just that even if you like the show i'd hardly see how it could be termed genius, being that it's so similar in nature to many other mainstream, commercially oriented 90s/2000s sitcoms.

Here's a list of most of my sitcom/comedy shows - somewhat in order of best to not as good, though i feel all those shows are pretty decent. Shows i'd term "genius" on that list would include I'm Alan Partridge, Seinfeld, Curb, The Thick of It, IDEAL and Peep Show, Armando Ianucci Shows. Perhaps a few others.

http://www.imdb.com/list/CG7tc8D1yHY/

Yeah man, you need to get on it stat! Like you said, it's one of the best. Highy addictive. The first two episodes this season have taken an almost minimalistic approach as far as the dialogue goes. It will be very interesting to see how things unfold for Mr. White.

Speaking of BB, i finally got round to watching the premiere, AND the second episode. Hardout shit. Lots of crazy shit going on. With that murder going down - there looks like there's going to be a big investigation paralleling and intertwining with the main characters - much like there was in the earlier seasons. Juicy, juicy stuff. No predictions as to how things are going to shapeup, but lets just say there is a shitload going on and it looks like it's going to be a meaty season.

Also: New Curb is fucking legit. Seriously one of the best starts to a season i've seen of anything in recent years, and i'm never someone who's too impressed with new seasons, or anything for that matter those of you who know me will testify. Anyway, really funny, some hilarious stuff going on and Leon he's been unstoppable - so fucking good. Lovin it.

Oh yeah, there is no point in trying to predict which way the story is going to go. That first episode will never allow you to look at a boxcutter quite the same way again huh? That's what places Breaking Bad ahead of the pack. Just when you think the intensity can't pass a certain point, they ramp it up a few more notches.

New Curb out today (yesterday in America) which i'm psyched for. Season has been great, also Breaking Bad, which i might view hot off the download at my friend's place this evening. I still havent seen episode 11 and 12 of Angry Boys, but heard that shit was pretty classic. Lilly needs to make another season of that show, for a change.

If only he showed that kind of enthusiasm for mastering accents. His horrible attempt at an Oxfordshire cadence nearly ruined the entire show.

Anyone here watch the UK Wallander? Seriously one of the best detective shows I've ever seen, and I've certainly seen my share. I've been trying to get my hands on the original Swedish version of the show, as I hear it's just as good.

Seen it from time to time, but it's just weird watching a Swedish thing in English. Weird, I tell you.

Anyone else dismayed at how boring Mad Men has become over the last couple seasons? The first two were incredible, but now it feels like there's nothing really in it to care about anymore. Really hoping something compelling will start happening in that show, it'd be such a waste otherwise.

I thought it was a cool episode and it was funny when Jake destroyed that things house by accident.

I finally got round to watching that show recently and was incredibly unimpressed, it took me this long to get round to watching it though, so i can't really be disappointed, and it shows my instincts are right. That show just sucks from the ground up. From the brain of some moron women (notice the amount of female writers) and their fantasy of 50s era men in a time when they could be forward with their women, dress in dapper suits and have short groomed hair, drinking martinis - what an idiotic fantasy. The premise is thin, and the episode's plots are just as lacking in real drama and interesting development. My girlfriend really liked it, which isn't surprising really. A show for women and their fantasies about high-powered men from the 50s who dress in suits. Nowhere near as well acted, casted, written or as creative as other top notch TV drama series.

How exactly has it got worse since season 1? That's the only season i've seen and need to see, and i can't really imagine it getting worse. Seems like they started the show with next to no ideas "oooh these guys cheat on their wives and are mean to women, and jealous and competitive" so i can't see how they could get flatter or more lacklustre. I just really hate that show. Would lump it in with moron level TV "dramas" like True Blood, Lost, Prison Break, Leverage.

First i've heard of this show Wallander, havent seen a detective series for ages, like 15 years (unless you count Police Squad! - lol), and i'd be interested in checking one out if it were good. I prefer generally to check out the original versions of shows ( such as The Killing ).

What kind of moron thinks Leverage is a drama?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1103987/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(TV_series)
though i'd label it a crime/action drama myself.

There's just no way that show's anywhere near the level of drama shows like The Wire, Sopranos, Treme, Band of Brothers, Oz, Pacific, Breaking Bad etc. I actually know several people who's tastes are usually pretty developed and agreeable who happen to like that show. Can't see why is all. Would anyone care to elaborate on why that show is good? Might help me get another perspective on it.

Fantasy? I get you're from New Zealand, but those sorts of people actually did exist, you know. Like rich white men in early-60s America didn't dress in suits, drink cocktails, and chase women? Uh...yeah.

Well, since you asked for reasons why the show is (used to be?) good, I can try and throw some at you. From what you described, it sounded like you were taking the show on a fairly superficial level, and while that works fine for some shows, I think what Mad Men was going for (at least in the first couple seasons) was far more subtle than the simple events that occur on its surface. The subtext is really where the show's quality is. For me what it is (has been?) about are the psychological undercurrents and desires that motivate people actions and aspirations, how people deal with going about achieving what they perceive to be their highest potential. The advertising theme of the show is constantly reminding us about these subconscious desires and how they puppet us into doing the things we do, directing our dreams and our goals. So many of the characters on the show are these façades of people, selling each other on a fantasy that they can never really fulfill in their hearts. So for me (at least in the first two seasons) there was this rich reservoir of contemplation to tap from, digging into the possible unspoken urges and subconscious "real selves" that lay beneath these masks. There was also really cool stuff going on with the cinematography that echoed the sort of content manipulation that you find in advertising. For a while now, though, the show has sort of slipped into being a normal drama and there isn't nearly as much tension or subconscious intrigue.

Nice bit of conspicuous neo-colonialism to start your post off with.

I didn't say they didn't dress like that and drink cocktails, i just feel it's a thin, pathetic and futile premise for a fucking drama show that spans over numerous seasons. That's pretty much all that happens. "Ohhh, we'll make this character wear a suit and cheat on his wife, that's fucking out there and original." Mad Men is NOT a "deep" show, it's a thinly veiled mediocre drama show made up by morons who want to fantasise about a time when men were rude to women, wore suits and had business meetings over cocktails. Terrible, terrible show. Its take on advertising, while i appreciate it offers us a chance to be cynical (who wasn't fucking cynical about it at age 12?), is oversimplistic, trashy, and feels like it's from the brain of a 13 year old. None of the characters i like or i feel i identify with at all - it's just a bunch of wankerish, dipshit wannabe type A personalities trying to out-douche each other. The cast leaves something to be desired, but for the most part it's the moronic concept and lacklustre scripts that make the show a disaster. A show with better exploration of morality and psychological undercurrents is Sopranos, which i've been a fan of for over a decade, or for something more contemporary; Breaking Bad. Mad Men really just feels like one of those shows people watch coz it's on TV, and people think they're intelligent for watching, because it's set in a time in the past, when men wore suits and were rude to women.

Whoever categorizes Leverage as a drama is... what is this I don't even

The show obviously does not take itself seriously. It's goofy as hell, and intentionally so. It does not try to be The Wire, for fuck's sake. That's like comparing Red Dwarf to Babylon 5.

hahahaha!

Nah yeah depending on how broad you want to define the term drama, it is. And of course Leverage is not trying to be The Wire. Just saying, it's a drama show when you use the term broadly, which i do for the purposes of the point i was making, and my opinion of Mad Men is that it's of equal goofiness as said show.

In other news, Morrigan have you watched Treme yet? I think you'd like it. Solid drama (in the purest sense of the word) with actors and crew from The Wire, which i know you're a big fan of. It's another HBO show with 2 seasons thus far.

Treme is great. Everything Eric Overmyer touches is pure gold (usually, in reference to his plays, but he's never let me down on the TV front.)

DRD, it's obvious you didn't actually want anyone to broaden your perspective on the show. You've basically decided that a show that involves people in suits drinking during meetings and being rude to women is stupid. Okay. I'm far from being a blind champion of the series, but I still fail to see how Mad Men is any cheaper or more moronic in its premise than any other historical fiction. Take any such premise and apply the same baseless logic to it ("the writers just want to fantasize about being in an era when so-and-so, how fucking infantile and retarded"), it's just as nonsensical. I'm not sure where you got this idea that the writers (crazed, idiotic women!) were more obsessed with some fantasy of an era than writing a drama. There's not actually a whole lot of wild fantasy there at all, to be honest. It's just an understated show that focuses more on people's psychological underpinnings rather than throwing a bunch of intrigue and insane plot machination at you. There's a lot on the show that's left unsaid and the subtext is very open-ended. It doesn't make for the most intense viewing, true, but I think there's enough content there, presented quietly, to equal most dramas. I mean I've been watching Treme recently, and while I like it a lot, I don't think it's really any deeper than Mad Men. Breaking Bad is also excellent, but is it any deeper either? Not particularly. It's just more extreme.

I can see how the hype around Mad Men would kind of set it up for a fall, but still...it's just not as bad as your railing makes out.

Well i think it's as bad or worse than "my railing" makes out. I know that some of you people have some pretty agreeable tastes in film and TV, but i really don't understand how anyone could mention that show in the same breath as stuff like Treme, The Wire, or Breaking Bad. I also genuinely was asking people to say what is good about the show, so could go without your condescending remarks that assume i wasn't.

In actual good TV news Breaking Bad has been brilliant this season. You could see from episode 1 that theyre really setting up some awesome character and story arcs. That whole stuff with Hank that began last season is really starting to reach boiling point with his crazy wife, and i can't believe what she's getting upto in the most recent episode.

I guess I don't see the point in requesting some points in defense of something you don't like if you're just going to naysay them in the end anyway. No amount of argument or alternative perspective is going to reverse the massive tide of MAD MEN SUCKS that constitutes your opinion on it, so it's a useless exercise. You've already made up your mind. Anyway, I'm done trying to discuss this show, as I don't think anything I've said up to this point has actually been taken into much consideration and definitely won't be after this.

Breaking Bad is indeed looking good again this season.

Yeah after all the shit that Jesse's pulled, it's pretty crazy that he hasn't been killed one way or another. I'm really interested with the whole sub plot of him being all consumed by remorse, guilt, fear etc after that murder, and having people over at his house constantly, partying and whatnot. Pretty extreme. Interested to see how that shapes up over the next few episodes. Also the whole subplot with Hank is very juicy.