April 16, 2009
I wasn’t sure after seeing the premier but Kings has kind of grown on me. I enjoy the plot and mostly enjoy the characters - the dialog is a bit lacking - but the mythos tends to make up for it. I like the fact that the biblical narrative isn’t too heavy-handed - it’s a solid mix between biblical lore, sci-fi, and Shakespere. I also like Ian McShane in this (of course, I enjoyed him in Deadwood, as well). I’m interested to see where the series goes - I feel like it has potential and can absolutely go in either direction at this point.

I wasn’t sure after seeing the premier but Kings has kind of grown on me. I enjoy the plot and mostly enjoy the characters - the dialog is a bit lacking - but the mythos tends to make up for it. I like the fact that the biblical narrative isn’t too heavy-handed - it’s a solid mix between biblical lore, sci-fi, and Shakespere.

I also like Ian McShane in this (of course, I enjoyed him in Deadwood, as well). I’m interested to see where the series goes - I feel like it has potential and can absolutely go in either direction at this point.

•
I’m current again in Breaking Bad (Season 2, Episode 6). This is one show that took me a while to get into. I tried watching Season 1 back when it was on and I found it to be just too dark and harrowing. I revisited it once the season was done and it really caught on with me - I’m now hooked on it in a big way. The combination of nihilism, lies, and danger mix into a compelling experience that I love watching. Walt seems to always find himself caught in a mixture of impossible situations/lies that just breaks your heart while hoping to see some positive resolution. Absolutely one of my favorite shows that’s currently airing.

I’m current again in Breaking Bad (Season 2, Episode 6). This is one show that took me a while to get into. I tried watching Season 1 back when it was on and I found it to be just too dark and harrowing. I revisited it once the season was done and it really caught on with me - I’m now hooked on it in a big way.

The combination of nihilism, lies, and danger mix into a compelling experience that I love watching. Walt seems to always find himself caught in a mixture of impossible situations/lies that just breaks your heart while hoping to see some positive resolution. Absolutely one of my favorite shows that’s currently airing.

•
Finished Season 2 of Damages. I enjoyed this season, as well. I don’t think it was quite as compelling as the first season (possibly because they stuck to their very tried-and-true formula of deception, lies, and allusion). I was surprised at the quality of the cast this season - glad to see FX putting some serious resources behind their original content.

Finished Season 2 of Damages. I enjoyed this season, as well. I don’t think it was quite as compelling as the first season (possibly because they stuck to their very tried-and-true formula of deception, lies, and allusion). I was surprised at the quality of the cast this season - glad to see FX putting some serious resources behind their original content.

•
Finished watching The Sopranos the other day. I really enjoyed this series. Based upon my initial impression (“mobsters”/”mafia”) I was expecting the show to be more about crime, murder, etc. (sort of the hole that Oz got sucked in to) where it was much introspective (especially with regards to the protagonist, Tony Soprano). Of course all the introspection in the world (or, at least, over the course of the 6 seasons of the show) did little to abate his destructive tendencies. If there was ever a show that was going to be littered with dream sequences and sit-downs with psychologists I wouldn’t have guessed that this show would be it. Overall I’d absolutely recommend the show to others - the vast majority of episodes were excellent (something like a 3:1 ratio of good to ‘ok’ episodes). This is another case where watching the show rapidly on DVD is likely to have altered my perception of the show. I feel bad for those who had to waits years inbetween seasons - I can only imagine how the quality of the viewing experience must’ve diminished over those periods of time.

Finished watching The Sopranos the other day. I really enjoyed this series. Based upon my initial impression (“mobsters”/”mafia”) I was expecting the show to be more about crime, murder, etc. (sort of the hole that Oz got sucked in to) where it was much introspective (especially with regards to the protagonist, Tony Soprano). Of course all the introspection in the world (or, at least, over the course of the 6 seasons of the show) did little to abate his destructive tendencies. If there was ever a show that was going to be littered with dream sequences and sit-downs with psychologists I wouldn’t have guessed that this show would be it.

Overall I’d absolutely recommend the show to others - the vast majority of episodes were excellent (something like a 3:1 ratio of good to ‘ok’ episodes).

This is another case where watching the show rapidly on DVD is likely to have altered my perception of the show. I feel bad for those who had to waits years inbetween seasons - I can only imagine how the quality of the viewing experience must’ve diminished over those periods of time.

•
April 6, 2009
I had the opportunity to see Sliders for the first time recently and I’ve been slowly making my way through the first season. It’s a great, humorous, low-thought, Sci-Fi show. Something fun to throw on when you want to watch something that doesn’t involve a lot of concern - and where the order in which you watch the episodes doesn’t matter a whole lot.

I had the opportunity to see Sliders for the first time recently and I’ve been slowly making my way through the first season. It’s a great, humorous, low-thought, Sci-Fi show. Something fun to throw on when you want to watch something that doesn’t involve a lot of concern - and where the order in which you watch the episodes doesn’t matter a whole lot.

•
Just started watching the second season of Damages. I really enjoyed the first season, lots of excellent back-stabbing (reminds me of a higher-quality version of the early ’90s show Profit). I was excited to see Timothy Olyphant join the cast, it’ll be interesting to see if his character has an interesting role to play (at least more-so than Ellen’s fiancee).

Just started watching the second season of Damages. I really enjoyed the first season, lots of excellent back-stabbing (reminds me of a higher-quality version of the early ’90s show Profit). I was excited to see Timothy Olyphant join the cast, it’ll be interesting to see if his character has an interesting role to play (at least more-so than Ellen’s fiancee).

•
Finished up Season 5 of The Sopranos. I enjoyed this season. The tension between Tony and Carmela provided some good drama to seed the season and I liked Steve Buscemi’s character pulling along the story line. The Sopranos has been pretty good about maintaining a certain level of quality throughout the series, which I appreciate - although it’s not as engaging as the first season was. I think one of the things that surprised me the most about the show was the lack of death amongst the main characters - there’s surprisingly little turnover (a couple characters per season, and most of them at the end - almost always the new characters that were introduced that season). I’m looking forward to starting and finishing the 6th season.

Finished up Season 5 of The Sopranos. I enjoyed this season. The tension between Tony and Carmela provided some good drama to seed the season and I liked Steve Buscemi’s character pulling along the story line. The Sopranos has been pretty good about maintaining a certain level of quality throughout the series, which I appreciate - although it’s not as engaging as the first season was. I think one of the things that surprised me the most about the show was the lack of death amongst the main characters - there’s surprisingly little turnover (a couple characters per season, and most of them at the end - almost always the new characters that were introduced that season). I’m looking forward to starting and finishing the 6th season.

•
April 4, 2009
Just had the opportunity to see an episode of Venture Bros Season 3 in 1080p. It’s gorgeous. I fully approve of the move towards HD in animated programs. The recent Futurama movies, this season of South Park, and this season of The Simpsons (although, no amount of HD will make that show funny again) - it’s amazing how crisp the output looks.

Just had the opportunity to see an episode of Venture Bros Season 3 in 1080p. It’s gorgeous. I fully approve of the move towards HD in animated programs. The recent Futurama movies, this season of South Park, and this season of The Simpsons (although, no amount of HD will make that show funny again) - it’s amazing how crisp the output looks.

•