The TV Thread

Last episode of season seven was tremendous, the Doakes flashbacks were awesome. And then the first episode of season 8 seeing the aftermath is amazing. I can't wait for Dexter to end.

In the process of watching the last couple of episodes of Hannibal. There are too many things about it that make it great, acting, story, cinematography. It's such a strong opening series, easily the best new drama this year.

How's Mikkelsen?

Incredible. ede whinged because Hopkins is the only Hannibal, but that's not the point, you're getting a Hannibal here that has more screen time than any other in history and he does a great job of being the intellect, the confidant, the psychopath. You don't spend your time wanting Hopkins to be there because Mads has owned this version of Lecter, and that's a really difficult thing to do.

So Hannibal is worth watching despite being a network series with themes that would have been more suitable for premium cable?

If you're that childish that you need swearing and nudity to enjoy adult themes then avoid at all costs.

I see Franck's point. Whether or not it's valid for Hannibal, I don't know, as I haven't seen it.

But you can bet that shows like Sopranos and The Wire wouldn't have worked on network tv, and it's not just about nudity/swearing etc. It's about how far you can go with darker themes.

Now, serial killer/CSI type network shows tend to be able to go pretty far in regards to violence these days. I don't know exactly why they're getting a pass, but they are. So maybe this show can do what it needs to do without the network shadow crushing it too badly.

Network shows are under pressure to get eyeballs watching every single episode in a way that a cable or premium cable show isn't, that causes a significant difference in how the shows are written well beyond just nudity and profanity.

Anyway, it has Mads Mikkelsen in it so I'll probably check it out.

The Sopranos and The Wire require the freedom of cable television in order to accentuate the reality they are trying to portray, the same can be said of other successful cable dramas such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. They need the viewer to see how people deal with problems and how they relate to them, we enjoy those shows because we want to see ourselves in them.

Any knowledge of the source material related to Hannibal would accept it is less about exploring human themes as it is about witnessing a game of chess between fascinating characters and how they strive to overcome extraordinary circumstances. Hannibal is more gruesome than a show like Dexter, but it is so because of how it is filmed. It rarely shows explicit violence, more the aftermath of it.

To be more to the point you have to ask what a show gains or loses from moving from one style of restriction to the other. If Hannibal was played out on cable I think it would lose it's measured focus, it's brevity, it's ability to say things without just saying them. That is part to do with the excellent writing and part to do with the outstanding acting from the four main characters and the guest stars too. On cable Hannibal would more than likely succumb to excesses that grants, losing track of how beautifully tight the narrative is at the moment.

I think also it helps massively that this is a closed story, we know eventually what will happen so the writers are unable to be too wild with their deviations. You look at NBC's last massively successful drama, Lost, to see how success from the first season caused them to grow too rapidly from what was, almost objectively, one of the most thematically well strung human dramas television has seen. That first season didn't need cable and its freedom to show what needed to be said and Hannibal certainly doesn't need it either.

The most importance difference is formulas vs serials. Network TV hate serials, they want episodes to be watchable individually, and you can't have a quality drama series with individual episodes. Fringe is the best example for that, it went from meh in Season 1 to downright amazing in Season 2-3 when they stopped caring about the ratings (credit to Fox on this one, they've cancelled a lot of good shows but let Fringe have 5 seasons and a proper ending)

Just finished the first season of The Americans, really good stuff. It's like Homeland, Mad Men and Rubicon had a baby. Looking forward to Season 2

Thoroughly enjoying Battlestar Galactica. In the second part of the two part mini-series but it seems like a potentially very interesting Lord of the Flies style drama with the sci-fi taking the backseat. I hope it pans out because some high quality drama to fill the void until Breaking Bad is sorely needed.

Ok. So the only TV shows I've watched the last few years have been Game of Thrones, Black Mirror and a few gay Japanese things.
What's good and why? Need something new to fill my evenings.

Breaking Bad. Great tragic storytelling with fantastic acting and writing, and some of the most cinematic TV ever made.

Breaking Bad and House Of Cards are both on Netflix and are superb. I'd recommend Parks & Recreation if you fancy a light-hearted comedy.

Started watching House Of Cards yesterday and really enjoying it. Gone through 6 episodes already

Yeah, it's brilliant. I powered through it all in three days. It gets better and better as the season goes on.

Kevin Spacey is one mean mother fucker.

Anybody started to watch Under the Dome?

Been meaning to start it after finding it on IMDB. Will likely after I finish House Of Cards

Been watching Magic City, the writing is at soap level at times but it's a really visually compelling series.

Worth watching in the absence of better shows.

Really enjoying Falling Skies.

Watched the 1st 2 episodes of the new Whose Line Is It Anyway. Its funny still but it dont seem right without Drew Carey

Almost finished with season two of Girls and it's pretty confirmed that Adam Driver is the best thing about that show and deserves a supporting actor award for his work.

Is that show worth watching? Looked a bit shit on the trailers I saw.

Just watched the new Suits episode. Good start.

I really enjoy it, it's very real, very funny and it's not sentimental. I don't see how it could end on a note, but as purely a slice of life it's interesting.

Season 1 is great, season 2 is wonky.
Definitely worth a watch though.

On season 3 of the Sopranos (that Gandolfini died as as I first started watching it a tragic coincidence). It's okay, I guess. Average stuff.

No, it's pretty good. Some episodes are just sparkling with cinematographic brilliance and plot ingenuity.

Started watching Grey's Anatomy this week. Onto season 4 now \o/