"I Don't Know What This Is But I'm Watching It" or " The New Fall TV Season!"

[Seil]

For Chrissakes, Youtube Ads, first you get me hooked on NeedToBreathe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIMt-omB8Ck&ob=av2e), then you get me interested in This. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mfNsWiW0oQ)

I dun even nae what this (http://thescriptlab.com/movie-reviews/tv-reviews/1358-once-upon-a-time-series-premiere) is?

But apparently it's like... The Brothers Grimm (The original brothers) meets Prime Time TV and what-not. So faery tales. Let's see how prime-time TV shall ruin you.

[Magus]

There's like five Grimm's fairy tales based TV shows coming out this fall. Or maybe one is based on Hans Christian Andersen or something to be like, "original". Also ABC has like two Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde TV shows coming out for some reason, or they bought the rights to two different concepts for a Hyde TV show (maybe they'll combine them together cause I can't see a reason for two shows based on that on the same network).

Anyway, what I've been watching:

Boardwalk Empire Season 2 - A so far, only been two episodes but I liked them both. I'm sure by the end of the season it'll be A+ just like last year.
Breaking Bad Season 4 - A+++, best season so far, once it got past the first three episodes it's been super exciting. I think it's even better than season two which was my favorite so far.
Dexter Season 6 - Just seen one episode.
Homeland - Just seen one episode.
Terra Nova - I give the two hour pilot a B-, we'll see how it goes tonight.
Top Shot Season 3 - A, this season has been pretty great so far.
Person of Interest - B+, surprisingly! It is actually pretty good for a CBS show (I've hated every CBS show for the past ten years. Even the one I liked, Smith, they cancelled after three episodes, so...). Just well worth watching.
Revenge - B-, little soapy. Not sure if I'll continue watching.
Strike Back - B. Just a basic action show from what I've seen, but it's not bad.

I think that's about it for what I've been watching?

The Walking Dead Season 2 is premiering October 16, and Hell on Wheels in November. I love AMC since even when my HBO and Showtime runs out I can depend on them for some pretty great dramatic programming.

[Satan's Onion]

Do the things we watch on PBS count in this thread? 'Cos I've been watching that new Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition and it's pretty ace. (I have got to get my hands on that soundtrack.) I expect I'd like Boardwalk Empire too, except it's not on DVD or anything and I don't have that fancy-pants cable teevee.

[Fifthfiend]

Boardwalk Empire is on my to-watch-at-some-point list.

Sons of Anarchy has been own-zone so far; once you have Danny Trejo as the King of All Bikers it's hard to go wrong.

[Seil]

Lost Girl (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTN6fSuYyag) seems pretty neat, and so does Terra Nova. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6aNEIZwPFc)

http://myhollywooddream.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/TerraNova.jpg

[Magus]

Terra Nova is terrible and I hate it. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE it.

That poster implies far too much interesting awesomeness about Terra Nova that does not exist.

Like I was pretty ho-hum about the pilot and I was willing to give it a third chance. Last night's episode was terrible and whoever was involved in making it is a terrible person.

For PBS I like Nature, History Detectives and Secrets of the Dead, I can sometimes get into Nova but it depends on the subject matter. Haven't been watching Prohibition unfortunately...

[Seil]

I know it's old news, but seeing as how we're talkin' about TV and all... Is "V (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQoSCEMzJYE)" any good?

[Magus]

The old V might be good. The new V...I dunno. I never watched the second half of the first season (it seriously had like a six month hiatus or something), and only one or two episode of the second season. And nothing I saw was particularly great.

So no I can't say it's worth watching or "good", especially in lieu of other sci-fi shows currently running or which have run in the past which you may or may not have seen. Like rewatching a good show would make more sense than viewing the new V once.

[synkr0nized]

The classic show is of course a bit hokey by today's standards, but it's a pretty well done miniseries-thing regardless. The current one, well, it had interesting bits but I just stopped caring when they took that huge break and haven't been motivated to go back. I took that to mean that it wasn't interesting enough, but it's fair to note I rarely care about television shows enough to keep up with them.

It was certainly better than that Galactica prequel thing that came out around the same time, and I liked it better than most Sci-Fi on TV (though that's an easy feat).

[Seil]

Well, I kinda get what they're going for - Lizard people and all, don't ya know - but once (spoilers, I guess.) Laura Vaandervoort (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqnnmkBFUFU) starts wearing this, all arguments against the show are a moot point.

[Nique]

I think the only new progrums I'm currently watching are Who, Community, and Adventure Time.

Community's opening episode for this season was pretty good. Really liked the musical opening and John Goodman's guest appearance.

[Magus]

Well, I kinda get what they're going for - Lizard people and all, don't ya know - but once (spoilers, I guess.) Laura Vaandervoort (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqnnmkBFUFU) starts wearing this, all arguments against the show are a moot point.

Vapid yet attractive actress wears a bed robe and less? I think we can find better sci-fi shows that easily meet this criterion.

Also I loled at how you couched that as "spoiler I guess", it seems to be a straight-up massive spoiler. Luckily, I don't care.

[walkertexasdruid]

New shows I have been watching:

Revenge: pretty good, kinda like Dallas meets Damages meets Harper's Island, plus the protagonist is really cute.

Damages: Just ended its fourth season, though I only discovered it in the late spring this year. Glen Close does a superb job as Patty Hewes and Rose Byrne is really good as Ellen Parsons (I did not know that she was British until they interviewed her). Also great performances by Ted Danson, Martin Short, and John Goodman as the villain of the season (Daryl Hammond has pretty creepy role in season two as well). My only problem is that I have to wait until next summer for season five.

Person of Interest: Interesting show, a little on the creepy side. I will give it a chance.

Unforgettable: Another good crime drama, and I a definitely a fan of Poppy Montgommery.

Pan Am: Ehhh.... Just watched the pilot so far, I will give it a chance.

Up All Night: A really cute sitcom with Christina Applegate (whom I have loved since Married with Children) and Maya Rudolph (I wish she was still on Saturday Night Live).

Free Agents: A pretty funny sitcom with Hank Azaria, that is almost Simpsonesque (which is fine by me).

[Magus]

I have to say that Homeland (on Showtime) is shaping up to be a pretty great new series. The gist of the series is that an NSA agent (or it might be CIA, not sure) realizes that a returning POW who has been missing for 8 years has been "turned" by a terrorist named Abu Nazir, and he has been planted to commit a major act of terrorism under his "cover" as a returning hero.

The final scene of the first episode was disturbing and made me want to watch the whole seris. The final scene of the second episode was both chilling and beautiful at the same time. Definitely an A-rated show.

If you're thinking 24, though, it is not. It's a very understated drama with actors attempting to deliver real emotion and accurate portrayals of mental illness, PTSD, CIA/NSA procedure, brainwashing, religious devotion, etc. Obviously there are some leaps in logic (even with 8-10 years time, it's difficult to believe a person can be turned from a middle-America-esque Marine into a radical Muslim who acts on his own, even with the level of torture and brainwashing involved to achieve the act seen in flashback at the end of the first episode), but I think once you get past that you see a very interesting show, one that doesn't "cash-in" on what the antagonist has become.

Like I said, the final scene of episode 2 is both chilling and beautiful at the same time. There is clearly real religious devotion there, and a peace that comes from it, combined with the hatred and zealotry of terrorism. It's very complex and beautifully delivered. They could have been very hamhanded about their portrayal of Islam, it would be so easy, but they seem to definitely be trying to show that it is a religion of peace, that is used by evil men to get the devout to commit violent acts.

Also the opening is one of the most unique I've seen, with its distorted progressive jazz soundtrack, news clips about terrorism, flashbacks of the main characters' pasts, and the symbolism of the protagonist and antagonist searching after each other in a hedge maze.

[walkertexasdruid]

Last Man Standing: A really cute sitcom staring Tim Allen, kind of like Home Improvement but with 3 daugthers instead of three sons. Also his oldest daughter has a two year old son, so we get to see Tim as a grandpa. Pretty good so far.

Man Up: A pretty funny new sitcom a about three guys around 40 who are best friends and their families. I like it so far.