PSA: New shows today!

Treme E01 - from the makers of The Wire
Underbelly S03 - The Golden Mile E01 and E02

And for those with pleb TV, The Pacific on One tonight.

cheers Kris, treme looks interesting

I are excite about the pacific starting tonite

Jman wanted to d/l it but i said to wait, its nice to have something to look forward to on a monday night.

You mean just like I look forward to watching it on a Monday night each week?

TVNZ have been doing some hard out promo for that ....so you just know it's going to be chock full of insane levels of advartising.

I didn't get that thing in the mail for the pacific was waiting patiently for it.. it sounded cool

I don't usually like war programmes but it does look good.

I got that letter, confused the hell outta me, thought it was from the old bloke who takes care of the section

the lack of whore stories should have been a give away

It gets better with each episode imo. Ep4 was a stunner. Looking forward to Treme!!!

Pumped for both

Recently finished watching Season 5 of The Wire on DVD - greatest show ever imo.

I know it's good but I really think 'greatest show ever' is a stretch. The season situated at the docks was pretty shit for starters.

Sif.

Name better shows? It's a hard ask.

Candidates:
* Sopranos
*.....

Great show, huge potential. The same typical gritty realism you expect from this team. Wonderfully cast, amazing sets. Liked John Goodman's character a lot, Bunk and Lester are gunna be sweet too.

It is now clear to me that David Simon is a genius.

I could handle 'greatest show ever of its type'....which I would basically call a crime drama.

Sopranos while dominating in the early seasons really fell apart towards the end for me, I think they they just did one maybe two seasons too many.

The Wire on the other hand probably finished up a better show than it started.

Breaking Bad is also essentially a crime drama and would have to be up there with the rest, its just a bit more um zany...

The other problem with the Sopranos is that it never really had a clear story arc that spread throughout the seasons, stuff just happened randomly but things mostly stayed the same apart from a main character getting whacked every now and then.

Calling The Wire a "crime drama" pretty much illustrates how much you don't understand about the show thus your lowly opinion of it. Personally I'd go for something like: "Urban Epic" as The Wire covered much much much more than just crime in Baltimore. It was essentially an ode to a failing city. Crime just happens to be one symptom of that.

Buy hey, everytime a call like "best show ever" is made, there is always someone who stands up and counters it, even if he understands it or not. Countering popular (and critical) opinion just for the sake of offering a contrary opinion is an all too human trait.

Also the questions still stands. If not The Wire... then what?

lol I understand the various themes and messages of the show, they are pretty obvious.

Crime may not be the only theme of the show but its certainly the glue that's holds the various stories together, therefore I consider it a crime drama.

And I'm fully aware that the creator doesn't consider it a crime drama either but I think you're missing the point.

There is no 'greatest show ever' and there never will be, perhaps that's why its always countered.

I have to agree here. I'd add that the real core theme of The Wire (and where I feel Treme is heading) is the city itself and its heart, its personality. And funny you say that, just as I read elsewhere:
"Treme is from David Simon, the co-creator of The Wire, which 9 out of 10 people in TV IV will tell you is the best television show ever created. The 10th person could have a genuinely thoughtful counter-opinion, but he could also be edgy or stoned out of his fucking gourd."


Virtually all of the Treme reviews are positive. I like Variety's take, it covers what we're talking about here too:
"Producer David Simon's "The Wire" charted a vicious cycle of poverty, violence, neglect and political ass-covering in a corroding American city; his latest urban tragedy takes a lower-key approach, examining the hardscrabble existence of musicians, restaurateurs and others desperately clinging to their way of life in a damaged, wounded town. Rich, textured and too leisurely in its gait, "Treme" won't be to everyone's taste, but by episode three, a hardy band will be hopelessly hooked."

What I do think could be a problem for some viewers is context - it may be hard to "connect" to The Wire plots without being aware of the utter decay Baltimore has been through, and likewise with Treme - while the decay is obvious, a lot of the significance of certain happenings will be lost on those who have no knowledge of the New Orleans music scene, New Orleans traditions and history.

Yeah, I'm gunna have to go ahead and just say you aren't very good at watching these shows.

FURTHMORE in new show news, I'm REALLY looking forward to Boardwalk Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardwalk_Empire

*About the birth of Atlantic City in the '20s
*Big mobster period piece
*Executive producers: Terrance Winter (Emmy award winning screenwriter and producer of The Sopranos), Mark Wahlberg, and MARTIN FUCKING SCORSESE.
*Pilot episode directed by MARTIN FUCKING SCORSESE.
*Steve Buscemi in the lead role
*Also stars Michael K. Williams, who you might know as FUCKING OMAR!
*HBO, 12 eps ordered so far

Sounds brilliant.
Preview 1: http://www.hbo.com/#/boardwalk-empire/about/video/preview.html
Preview 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5fpNXPVG1k

lol You're actually going to try and defend this 'greatest show ever' claim huh? How can you not see how completely ridiculous that statement is.

And Sopranos basically finished up with very little change to the setting it started out with, its strength was in the character development, their interaction and the delivery, rarely the story line.

But to name one other show Mad Men is clearly one of the best shows created for many many years but I would never call it 'the best show ever' because that would be fuking stupid as different shows draw on your emotions in different ways and have different goals so only an idiot would try and claim one show as being the best of all when in fact there are many that are the best of their kind.

I believe the phrase you're looking for, Rips, is:

Apples/Oranges.

End of debate.



gc.

Why is it so ridiculous? In the big award nights (globes, oscars) - you have best animated feature, best doco, best comedy etc. But in the end there's still an overall category right? It's not really apples with oranges either. Sure, some genres should have some different measurements, but in the end they're all TV shows. The claim here is simply that The Wire wins the best overall.

Totally agree with it btw.. The Wire is easily my #1 show of all time.

heh, +1 for the Wire as the greatest show of all time.

And I don't even think it's close... maybe it was the fact that it had no commercial success at all that allowed the writers to create work not tainted by the desire to satisfy the casual viewer. Hah, David Simon has gone so far as to say, "Fuck the casual viewer". It really is unlike any TV show I've ever seen, and people that think it's a "crime drama" just don't get it imo.

No, the Wire is 'best show ever as chosen by middle class white boys'.

Calling The Wire a Crime Drama is like describing The Bible as a book about a boy and his dad.

And I disagree, tv series's can definitely be compared to each other, essentially they are the same at heart. By your logic there would be no Acadamy Awards, no Emmys, no Grammys because they all can't be compared to each other right? No critics can sit there and compare winners from each year and decide which movies, albums or tv series deserve to be up on the pantheon of "greatest ever."

They can and they do and it is generally considered that The Wire is the greatest thing to have been on tv.


And ok you say you understand it fine, but your criticism of the second season is really evidential that you didn't. That you missed the point. As it is the second season that really lays the bedrock for the overarching ambition of the show itself. As it really stepped back and showed you its grand plan. No less than a detailing of the failure of a city in crisis. Crime is only a part of that story. The true story is the people.

Bit more than that mate. How many shows are there on tv where there are more black characters than white? And that those black characters, even the so called "bad" characters who deal drugs and kill people are given such depth to their characterisations? You think that isn't championed by black intellectuals in the States?

In fact I think your opinion is based purely on what you see around you here and not on any literature that you've read.

fuck the wire, its coro street hands down

Terry Teo

lol

Showing your age there bro! No one born after the mid 80's would know anything about Terry Teo!

Yar, but we have tivo like thing so we can skip the ads

I have the gunrunners comic

On the Colbert Report last week he asked David Simon why white people enjoy watching black people suffer so much (perhaps not in those words, I am paraphrasing).. Didn't seem like Simon had been asked that before.

Really enjoyed the first episode of Treme - obviously just setting the scene and characters but already some interesting people and great music

Kris B; yeah I only saw that about Boardwalk Empire yesterday! Looks exciting - HBO have quite a bit of interesting stuff on the go now, I'm looking forward to the adaptation of Game of Thrones though it is still a way off
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_(TV_series)

Can you actually skip ads altogether on a show that is being broadcast at the time? Or just skip the ads on something you've recorded?

heh, saw that too. <3 Colbert... him and David Simon have a pretty good report

I think what Colbert (and Jono) are saynig is just untrue though...

I just want to add that what makes The Wire so incredible is that it is essentially a sociological thesis -- it's about the interaction of institutions and how they destroy/create the lives of the individuals in them.

But that's not to say it's boringly academic; it's overflowing with heart and humanity at the same time.

I could go on about it for a long time...

The Pacific is shaping up to be better than it's predecessor.

Timeshift. You don't start watching the show when it starts, you start about 20 mins in.

I dunno if I'd go that far yet, but ep V was AMAZING. I loved the use of handheld camera in the battle scenes, REALLY involving and immersion.

yeah, Ep 5 is crazy, that battle scene is epic.
Starting to see sledge's story. :>

...and the individual who sets out to change that system, McNaulty, Presbo, Carcetti et al, ultimately ends up becoming a part of that institution or they end up getting crushed by it.


Question Kris: Is Ed Burns a part of Treme or is it just David Simons this time? Because we can't underplay his part in what made The Wire so good. It was his experience that was drawn on for the police and the teachers. Also there were other writers who made awesome contributions too like George Pelecanos who I see was also heavily involved in The Pacific. Pelecanos is responsible for some of The Wires most memorable dialogue.

No, but Eric Overmyer is, who worked on both Homicide and The Wire, and was responsible for lots of McNaulty's character.

we do a time lapse thing so you pause it for 10 mins or so at the start and then you just ffwd the ads. Im usually not ready to sit down and watch til 8.45ish anyways so its perfect.

no need to - theres a number of books being published on this series...

Like pause and fast forward on MySky?

Haha yep, old timer alright

Bring back Count Homogenised!

Well MySky is a DVR, what Just is describing is a DVR, so yes

None of these shows are better than the UK office though...

i mean, come on.

But other candidates - Lost & Dexter.

there was telly prior to the current era - was there nothing you lot haven't lived with that counts?

Gen x & y > everything else that has ever existed.

shallow self obssessed good for nothing youth of today

*shakes fist*

Whilst a big fan of Both, neither come close to the realistic story telling masterpieces balanced with scathing social commentary Simon et al comes out with.

Yar. Its some computer programme cos our tv is run through the computer. dont ask me what its called tho.

ps. Rock of Love Bus is the best tv show ever. Its got rock n roll, big titties, skanky bitchy chicks and Bret Michaels. Bitchen. C4 tonight 8.30.



ssly tho, my vote would have to be for Friends. That shit is still funny and still awesome and i never get sick of watching it. Its not a drama and its not realistic or "gritty" but its entertainment.

I read the OP as "PSA: New shoes today!" and thought you had finally replaced your jandals.

/as you were

<3

"People who eat basil are laaame"

The rate the jandals I got at Xmas are going, I'll be swapping back to my 2+ season old, duct taped $3 azn emporium specials soon.

You just use the channel change button and return once the ads are gone; like voodoo fucking magic I tells ya ^_^

Spaced would be right up there in terms of best shows of all time IMO.

Ooh actually, i change my vote to Arrested Development.

Sopranos was better than the Wire.

You haven't even seen The Wire!

I've seen two seasons that were shown late at night in the UK, no idea which ones they were.

Needs more context then.

I've always been a long term Soprano's fan, but I think The Wire edges it out.

Just stop.

Watched first ep of Treme last night - have high hopes for this show Some solid character/context groundwork done already.. Loving Goodman's character heh.

Lester fucking rocked the shit as well.

Like the music in Treme?

http://www.hbo.com/treme#/treme/episodes/1/01-do-you-know-what-it-means/music

Buy links to iTunes for virtually everything, and it tells you which songs were playing in which scenes. Sick.

new deadliest catch season out :>>>>> fucking LOVE it

Wish they'd done this for Entourage - in-show soundtrack for that is mean

Good interview with David Simon, pre-Treme
http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n12/htdocs/david-simon-280.php?page=1

And another:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/magazine/21simon-t.html

AND a NO site is providing heaps of coverage, including post episode commentaries
http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/
Good intro from Simon: http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/hbos_treme_creator_david_simon.html

X-Files, Mash, Cheers, Fraser, Fuking Happy Days.....

All truly great shows within context.

The Wire > Sopranos.

In some ways I like Mad Men more than all of them though.

Two of the skippers are coming to Auckland in the near future...

zomg - who seen this week's Southpark? Where the hell did that episode come from - epic cliffhanger!!

HBO has renewed its new critically acclaimed new drama series "Treme" for a second season.

The move is a significant leap of faith for the network -- the show just premiered Sunday night to 1.4 million viewers in its combined airings. By comparison, the final season of modestly rated "The Wire" averaged 890,000 for premiere episodes.

But HBO president Michael Lombardo tells THR that the network loves "Treme" so much that a pickup was inevitable.

"We would have picked up this show last week," Lombardo said. "We've seen the first nine episodes it's as strong as any show we've seen. Much like 'The Wire,' the audience is so passionate and so invested. We're about servicing our subscriber base and I believe that people will become addicted to this show. We have to be a place where this kind of excellence is giving space to continue."

The David Simon and Eric Overmeyer series chronically life in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will resume production this fall, with season two debuting next spring -- about the time another project, "Game of Thrones," will be ready to hit the air.

"They should be ready about the same time," Lombardo said.

Lombardo confirmed that the "Thrones" pilots had some re-shoots, but assured the show's quality is high.

"It looks beautiful, the compelling scripts are just fantastic, we're doing reshoots but nothing major," he said. "The show is there."


YUS

Only managed to watch ep 1 of Treme last night -- tons of promise!

I loved the world of Treme. I can't wait to explore it further. :>

Cable has really been the saviour of quality Television since free to air sold out eh.

In loosely related news I saw a show on Aus TV last night called 'Spectacle' hosted by Elivs Costello which was actually really good. Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp and Norah Jones all in the one room.

Norah Jones = Smoking.

Treme ep2:
A little slower, more time spent on a couple of other characters (the young buskers), but Batiste (Bunk) showing more depth to his character (and also "what is it if it aint pussy?" "barbeque" :> ), and Albert (Lester) showing he's a straight fucking baller. ("you need to hear what i have to say" "fuck you old man" *thud* *thwack* :> )

More sweet musician appearances (Kermit Ruffians is an actual well known NO musician for a start, who IS actually famous for his BBQ) by Costello and Allen fucking Toussaint (the studio scene with those guys was interesting - there really was a collaboration album with Toussaint and Costello, and parts were recorded in the first major studio session in NO post-Katrina. So probably that one we see.

Also, it looks like the two buskers are loosely based on this story: http://www.amazon.com/Shake-Devil-Off-Murder-Orleans/dp/0805088938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244510426&sr=1-1
(Flick to the reviews, and be warned it's a fairly major spoiler as to what MAY happen)

Really really loving Treme, more so than anything else out at the moment. Haven't found the pace of the show an issue either, which was a big turn off for some people with The Wire.

So wtf... spoiler: did Albert murder that guy? That seemed a little abrupt and underplayed.. Still awesome ep

I think the scene showing Albert hiding in the shadows washing the blood off his hands was meant to imply that yes. I suspect we're going to find out a lot more about his background as the show progresses. Although in saying that, maybe he was still breathing, we'll see I guess. Heh though, a mate said to me "hide the body in those boarded up projects Lester! no one will find it there!!!!!"

Edit: Also I think that scene was primarily to hint that this show has a lot of darkness and shit going down that we're yet to see, in order to rope in the viewer even further.

Sorry this is not related at all, but Kris could you head over to the tech forum?

Done

new louis theroux doco out, on medicating kids for mental disorders in america, quite good

Fuck, I KNEW I had something else to watch last night.

Cannot wait to see Treme. Don't know If I can hold out for the NZ broadcast..

Pity there's no other way for you to watch it apart from illegally downloading it, or illegally circumventing territory restrictions huh?

Holy fuck Treme is awesome. I am completely sold. Even the music alone is enough to keep me hooked and wanting more. Lol at Antoine Baptiste.

Fuck I thought exactly the same thing!


Love this show already

"It's official...the boys will be back for their 7th season Sunday, June 27th at 10:30pm." YEAAAAH!

If you don't know what show I'm talking about then boy are you missing out.

How to Make it in America being back for season 2 excites me more than another season of Entourage to be honest

Was there a thread about breaking bad? Couldn't see one..
After a slow start the last few episodes have been amazing. Still enjoying treme but imo breaking bad is the best tv right now.

Breaking Bad last two episodes were amazing :> Hanging out for that more than anything else right now too.

Top 3 in rotation right now would be:
Breaking Bad
Treme
90210 :> haha

i'm only up to season2 of BB.... downloaded a faulty ep 8, and haven't been able to find a good one so has been put on hold.

Also watching the 2nd to last season of scrubs, and the 2nd to last season of 24.

Want to start watching Treme though, will maybe start downloading that tonight. Also downloading Season 2 of mad men... only just watched season 1 - really liking it so far!

Treme needs to pull finger and start developing some decent story fast because those characters just aren't deep enough to carry the show on their own.

Breaking Bad is epic and it will be interesting to see where they take it from EP7.

Here's the synopsis for EP8...

*MILD SPOILER ALERT*

The fallout from Hank's shootout is revealed. While Jesse covers at the lab, Walt attempts to placate Gus. After witnessing a disturbing outburst, Walt worries he and his family are in danger. Walt also has new questions for Gus.

I seriously thought Walt's lab assistant was just there to steal his secrets so they could continue cooking the blue stuff without him but it appears he's out of the picture now...maybe...

This kinda makes you sound like exactly the kind of viewer that Sam Simon wouldn't care about though... The slow-moving pace is obviously very deliberate, I'm loving it frankly. It's not the adrenaline rush that shows like Breaking Bad are, but it's the only thing on TV that really gives a thorough and realistic commentry of society... I really hope they don't feel pressured to speed it up.

Breaking Bad is even quite slow... compared to other shows. Well, up to where i have seen it is anyways,

lol... Just you wait