oh shiit guys (and Capn) I totally forgot about all these great shows!

It's always sunny in Philly - kinda going down hill, 2nd season was the best by far, but it's still my kind of show. seen every episode a few times. Green Man!

The Soup
Weeds - Love Weeds, very entertaining. that chick is so hot! I usually don't like older women but those eyes man... is this show still on?
Chealsey Lately - pretty good. not great
Real Time with Bill Maher - don't get the premium channels, but the clips I see are usually entertaining

30 Rock - best show nobody watches. download the first and second seasons and watch it from the start, the characters need some time to get used to, but they are sooo good. It wins tons of awards and acclaim from critics, but it gets really low ratings, and I can't get any of my friends into it. watch it for me.



Shows that are starting to tank:
- Family Guy
- Simpsons (it's been on for 20 seasons though)

Lost don't get me started on lost man. WAS a fantastic new show, typical greedy SOBs at ABC: gets good ratings and awards the first two years, so what do they do? they extend a show that should have ended in it's third or forth season, 3 more years. I watched the first two seasons in about 2 weeks back in 2005 (thank you Isohunt) great story, deserved all the hype and more. but now they've adjusted the story to make it last 3 more years and added way to many characters and plot lines. each of the like 20 (seriously around 20) plot lines inches along, and you get like 5 minutes of each story per episode. here's a typical plot line for one episode: Lock and Hugo walk through the forest and find some interesting piece of shiit on the ground. the end.

Whats does the bastardization of a great show like lost was, result in? the episodes don't have a central theme like they used to, there's no direction to the overall story, you get confused easily, and just stop caring. and for every answer they give to "the mystery of the Island", they ask 10 more. As some online said once, "call me in two years and tell my why I watched the first season".

it's unfair to loyal viewers and they're paying the price (ratings).

oh and I know the secret to the island (not confirmed but makes complete sense). you can look it up online. it's good. really good. but you won't look it up right? Will Power.
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Lost rant over
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Survivor's still on? who the F still watches that? I could barely get through the first season without losing interest.

I think the problem with these popular shows isn't that the original concept is bad, it's just that people go on just to become famous these days. Real World Hollywood (Hollywood, wonder who that attracts), Big Brother, Survivor, Bachelor/ette - they all want to be famous and get their own spinoff show.

I was listening to NPR a couple months ago and they had a pop culture analyst/sociologist on. she brought up to big trends of the new millennium decade:
1.) mass exclusivity - a product should be luxurious
yet available to the mass market. the idea that you can have something mass produced, but is still unique
2.) Instant Fame

Mass E. = things like the Ipod, Nike Basketball shoes you can customize online, anything you can buy and then customize has been popular this decade.

Instant Fame = things like YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, Reality television, I'd even say music (rappers and emo bands) ANYONE CAN BECOME FAMOUS. after all the sit-coms, and laugh tracks of the 80s-90s, real people with no script was refreshing and new. now it's old.

Interesting how cheaper to produce is in. Ipod - has my music in it, but I bought the same exact thing as my friend, which results in lower production costs (over CDs). Reality TV - don't have to pay writers, just let a crazy b!tches go at it and make sure your always recording.

I wonder what the new trend will be?

sorry I got off on a tangent, survivor made me think of all this sh!t.

Oh and btw does anyone agree with me that the new episodes of South Park suck? old crappy animation is way better if you ask me

give me the Nambla episode over the "Imagination land" trilogy any day. North-American-Marlon-Brando-Look-Alikes! priceless. Mega-Barbra-Streisand (w/ Sydney Pottier and robert smith of the cure)! Cherokee Hair Tampons. all priceless. Bring back the good old days!

first off wrote:
Lost don't get me started on lost man. WAS a fantastic new show, typical greedy SOBs at ABC: gets good ratings and awards the first two years, so what do they do? they extend a show that should have ended in it's third or forth season, 3 more years. I watched the first two seasons in about 2 weeks back in 2005 (thank you Isohunt) great story, deserved all the hype and more. but now they've adjusted the story to make it last 3 more years and added way to many characters and plot lines. each of the like 20 (seriously around 20) plot lines inches along, and you get like 5 minutes of each story per episode. here's a typical plot line for one episode: Lock and Hugo walk through the forest and find some interesting piece of shiit on the ground. the end.

Whats does the bastardization of a great show like lost was, result in? the episodes don't have a central theme like they used to, there's no direction to the overall story, you get confused easily, and just stop caring. and for every answer they give to "the mystery of the Island", they ask 10 more. As some online said once, "call me in two years and tell my why I watched the first season".

it's unfair to loyal viewers and they're paying the price (ratings).

oh and I know the secret to the island (not confirmed but makes complete sense). you can look it up online. it's good. really good. but you won't look it up right? Will Power.
-------
Lost rant over
-------

couldnt be more wrong First off... should of ended in season 3? that was the least interesting season (in harsher terms, its worst). No way any show should end at its worse (unless the show sucked in the first place).

Season 4 was awesome. Sure it was like 14 eps, but much better quality then season 3 and i like the direction of the show. A show that's so complex like LOST was penciled in to fail, but they managed and its worth it... big risk, big reward.

I dont get wat u mean punish its loyal viewers. I see it as quite the contrary. It rewards its loyal viewers. I dont like it when shows have to dumb down things just for the audience, or have to repeat things over and over. (Remember the car that saved the day in finale of season 3...we thought the car was gone forever right)

IMO Lost is one of the top 5 shows of all time. It has it all. Very Sciency, very religious, action, comedy, suspense, drama, great writing, awesome plot... list goes on!

Any thoughts about Entourage?

I still watch the show but I feel its turned into a one trick pony of late. The only moments I find funny anymore involve Ari. Even those are getting tiring.

Also, anyone watch True Blood on HBO yet. I've DVR'd the first 6 episodes but haven't got around to watching it. I'm not really into shows of this genre, but most HBO shows tend to be good.

Another favorite of mine was Curb Your Enthusiasm. I say was because I can't remember the last time I saw a new episode. Was the series put on hiatus?

Linc Mob wrote:Any thoughts about Entourage?

I still watch the show but I feel its turned into a one trick pony of late. The only moments I find funny anymore involve Ari. Even those are getting tiring.

Also, anyone watch True Blood on HBO yet. I've DVR'd the first 6 episodes but haven't got around to watching it. I'm not really into shows of this genre, but most HBO shows tend to be good.

Another favorite of mine was Curb Your Enthusiasm. I say was because I can't remember the last time I saw a new episode. Was the series put on hiatus?

Yeah i feel the same way with Entourage...Good line, it is a one trick pony... I only watched the first couple seasons and gave up on it after season 2 (maybe) The last thing i remember was the drama with Aquaman and mandy moore was there and Sloan was very hot (she still is). got boring.

First Off,
Entourage = a show with NO CONFLICT!!!! = zzzzzz!

even the most blandest sit-coms have a sense of conflict and resolution in each episode. there's just nothing that grabs you in entourage. I mean it's a sweet life, but kinda a dull one. the only people I know that like it are posers that want that life style, or people who are going through a mid-life crisis and want to feel young and free (like my dad).

watched the first season and part of the second and then just completely lost interest. that's just my opinion though, a lot of people seem to love it.
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Oh and about lost... It should have ended in the fourth season. that's not just my opinion, a lot people seem to agree with me in various ways.

...Lost returned to the air at the perfect time to wrangle in some new viewers. When the fourth season of the series premiered back in January, the writers' strike was still going strong and the airwaves were littered with reruns and lame reality shows. This dire television landscape surely helped Lost's return episode, "The Beginning of the End," dominate the ratings with 16.07 million viewers. This was an increase of nearly three million compared to the third season finale, proving that a lot of people were starved for a scripted hit. However, as Lost's fourth season continued, the ratings fell from week to week, eventually bottoming out at 11.28 million viewers for last Thursday's installment. Why did nearly five million people abandon the show over those eight weeks?...

Also I remember hearing that season three was voted most annoying thing to watch on television by TV guide or some entertainment mag.

it may have gone up a little on the rankings (12th from 17th in the third) but part of that is due to, as mentioned above, the writers strike and the thirst for something scripted. the other reason is, like I mentioned at the start of this thread, there's nothing good on anymore, reality TV used to be at least half way watchable 4 years ago.

I loved watching Michael Jordan play basketball, but he never should have joined the wizards. that last year or two muddied up his amazing career. don't want the same for lost.

here's the main reason I've grown tired of it: the plot has gotten needlessly complicated. I love a complex plot that makes you think, but this one has just run out of gas. they started out with a great mystery with entertaining, deep characters. now the time has come to finish the mystery, and they want to throw a whole new mystery on top of the old 1, instead of answering the questions.

the part from season 4 that sticks out in my mind is daniel faraday (like the last name - real scientist and related reference btw). they ask him a question like where are you from? why did you do that? why is the boat not here? - he just gives this pathetic stare, and then they cut to something else going on in the island. and when they cut back the conflict is gone. daniel is getting firewood w/ jack or some shiit.
I'm fine with a willful suspension of disbelief, but you can't keep pointing a gun people's heads and then in the next scene, be buddy-buddy with them. it's like, OK you have guns, why not just point it at faraday's face and force him to answer the question?

I know why they are not doing that, they've written a main plot that was excellent, and then the writers were told they have to stretch it out way longer then it's supposed to be. if they didn't stretch scenes like that out the series would be done not necessarily bad writing... just fire the producers or something.

actually that's true of all the new comers to the island this season, they are supposed to be filled with mystery, and secrets, but there is no back-bone to their character. Ben was the perfect balance of mystery and character. Farday, that asian dude, and the red head chick, are to mysterious to be interesting. there's no emotion besides "why the F am I still watching this?" when these new people are on the screen.