DVDizzy Forum

Just finished watching Season One of In Plain Sight and Season Eight of JAG.

Our lovable K-Mart put "In Plain Sight" on the shelves Sunday and I snatched it up, and also got a great price on it!! That was bonus.

I finished Season 3 of Drawn Together, we're still working on the second season of Eureka, and I'm starting Firefly.

Just watched, courtesy of Netflix Instant Viewer the entire first series of:

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I tried the U.S. version (which I'd never seen before) first and the 1st episode was so awful, I couldn't get through more than 4 minutes of it. The first episode of the British version ("Downsize") wasn't much better, so I was expecting the show itself to be less than stellar... The 2nd episode, "Work Experience," blew that suspicion right out the water. The writing improved immensely, you could actually understand what was going on, and you got to really know who the characters were. And though some of the humor was much too mean-spirited in the 3rd episode, the rest of the series was sometimes funny, very sharp, and clever. Highly recommended. As for the American version... I'll try the 2nd episode later. And if it stinks, I'm writing the entire series off.

Season (Series) Overview:
- Episode 1, "Downsize"

- Episode 2, "Work Experience"

- Episode 3, "The Quiz"

- Episode 4, "Training"

- Episode 5, "The New Girl"

- Episode 6, "Judgement"

Hi Laz!

Unlike some people who seem to be allergic to Ricky Gervais, I like the man *cough*Ichabod*cough*, but I just can't enjoy The Office. To me, it's too close to my real-life working experience, and I really find it uncomfortable viewing. That said, despite that, I can appreciate the skill that goes into the writing and filming of the series.

I will say Series 2 is better, because you really do feel for David Brent - its a rare skill for a comedy character to be both nauseating and sympathetic. And by the Office Specials, you'll really understand how and why David Brent is what he is, and you'll see him grow up and do something that will make you cheer out loud in the final episode/special.

I recommend Extras as well - which although less well received than the Office both in the UK and the USA, I personally find is a better series. It's actually more sit-com, in that the premise allows more extravagant situations to happen, while feel "normal", you get the fun of seeing stars play up to the public perception of them (or sometimes, purposely do the opposite) and finally, I feel the writing and relationship between Andy and Maggie is head-over-heels better than any relationship/interaction in The Office.

I just got done watching Season 3 of House. This is my first time watching this show. I'm definitely going to miss the old team.

2099net wrote:Hi Laz!

Unlike some people who seem to be allergic to Ricky Gervais, I like the man *cough*Ichabod*cough*, but I just can't enjoy The Office. To me, it's too close to my real-life working experience, and I really find it uncomfortable viewing.

I completely agree. It's squirm-worthy stuff indeed. I have to pause it, then try and collect myself because I'm so stunned, every time I get so embarrassed for David's character. Or, every time Gareth says something incredibly stupid. Or every time Dawn makes that face. Sort of like this one, but when David's talking to her and she has to sit silent because she knows she can't say something rude in return. Maybe all that discomfort is the reason the show only ran 2 series. I can't see the specials because Netflix doesn't have them.

2099net wrote:I recommend Extras as well - which although less well received than the Office both in the UK and the USA, I personally find is a better series. It's actually more sit-com, in that the premise allows more extravagant situations to happen, while feel "normal", you get the fun of seeing stars play up to the public perception of them (or sometimes, purposely do the opposite) and finally, I feel the writing and relationship between Andy and Maggie is head-over-heels better than any relationship/interaction in The Office.

I'll have to check that out sometime.

No, it only ran two series because Gervais wanted it to stop. If you see series 2, you'll see he basically created a beginning, a middle and an end for David Brent. In some respects the Specials are redundant (pardon the pun) as very little of them takes place in "the Office" - but they are an ideal closure to David's story (as well as the other characters). Trust me, the BBC wanted more, more, more! - the specials was a compromise.

We're not so concerned with "franchises" over here - even a well loved series can have several years between seasons (such as Fawlty Towers, One Foot in the Grave and Only Fools and Horses... the latter undoubtably Britain's most beloved sit-com).

2099net wrote:No, it only ran two series because Gervais wanted it to stop. If you see series 2, you'll see he basically created a beginning, a middle and an end for David Brent. In some respects the Specials are redundant (pardon the pun) as very little of them takes place in "the Office" - but they are an ideal closure to David's story (as well as the other characters). Trust me, the BBC wanted more, more, more! - the specials was a compromise.

We're not so concerned with "franchises" over here - even a well loved series can have several years between seasons (such as Fawlty Towers, One Foot in the Grave and Only Fools and Horses... the latter undoubtably Britain's most beloved sit-com).

I'm almost at the end of Episode 4 in Series 2. When I made my first post a few posts back, I was in the middle of Episode 2.

I think I see exactly what you mean. But also I was wondering, even before I finished watching the first series, how it could be fathomed that a documentary crew would film so much of these peoples' lives. Even if they were to release all of what we see from the show, in episode form, how could they film that much? Why would they film these people? Etc. So, right there the story idea is stretched to the breaking point.

As for your series versus our franchises, I can barely watch anything on American television anymore. When Scrubs is done with, I won't need my cable provider at all. (My house, which I share with roommates, has 1 tv hooked up to Comcast's On-Demand service, and most of their stuff sucks too!) I'll have to pick up another show, and it's slim pickin's to say the least. There has to be more freshness in what you have versus what we have.

^ Bah... Cable, who needs it?

I buy 'em on DVD if I'm interested. No commercials, reruns, pre-empted slots for sports, weather, breaking news, elections, etc...

I am still working on Firefly, and we've also started Amazing Stories season 1 (including an episode written by Brad Bird!)

Now, WHERE is his Family Dog series on DVD???

littlefuzzy wrote:^ Bah... Cable, who needs it?

I buy 'em on DVD if I'm interested. No commercials, reruns, pre-empted slots for sports, weather, breaking news, elections, etc...

I'll tell you one thing: I'm not all that impressed with Hulu / Fancast. And by "not all that impressed," I mean: the commercials are b.s. (pretty soon, people will be sitting through 60 seconds of commercials, then 90 seconds, then probably more!), the player freezes frame (while the audio keeps playing) every 5-8 seconds (which YouTube and - the old - Netflix Instant Player do not), and they don't even have any Scrubs.

Just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 and Angel Season 1.

i'm rewatching my "Frasier" seasons at the moment, i'm so far done with 1-4 seasons and watching currently the 5th.

xxhplinkxx wrote:Just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 and Angel Season 1.

Ditto. Thank god that period's over.
Now I can move on to the good stuff!

Disney-Fan wrote:

xxhplinkxx wrote:Just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 and Angel Season 1.

Ditto. Thank god that period's over.
Now I can move on to the good stuff!

God, I KNOW!

Came up with a new drinking game. Every time Riley says/does anything annoying, take a shot!

Which means I'd be wasted within the first ten seconds of any of his appearances.

Dear lord, I hate him. My favorite moment of season 4 was Angel kicking his ass.

xxhplinkxx wrote:God, I KNOW!

Came up with a new drinking game. Every time Riley says/does anything annoying, take a shot!

That would be such a sweet game. If only I had friends that watch the show!
I just wish Riley was the only problem that year. The Initiative was a complete bore-fest, Xander was more annoying than usual, the quality of episodes were literally hit-or-miss (not to mention Angel's mostly miss year). I'm just glad season 5 is next. Now THERE'S some quality TV, even by today's standards.

Oh, I'm fully aware that Riley wasn't the only issue in season 4, but I hated him the most.

This week I started (and blew through) season 1 of The Sopranos. I started watching it about two years ago and I bought season 6 part two last year and I took a break from watching the show near the end of the series. I decided that for me to pick up where I had left off almost a year ago would get too confusing so I just restarted the series, and I'm glad I did. This might just be the greatest TV series of all time. It's just so...addictive!

I HATED Angel Season One. I didn't mind Buffy Season Four, the only episodes I REALLY hated being "Beer Bad," and "Where the Wild Things Are."

xxhplinkxx wrote:Just finished watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 and Angel Season 1.

I need to get the Angel sets (or the big set) so that I can start Buffy season 4...

With some of the crossovers, etc., I kinda want to watch 'em together.

Yes, there are some great crossovers. It's always a good time when Buffy cast members show up on Angel.