OT-Homeland
Last week three beers turned into five, five turned into seven, lack of beers eight and nine forced me into a glass of merlot (just awful) and the unexpected drunkenness lead to me call Comcast to order Showtime to catch the last 2/3 of Event Horizon. In any case, Event Horizon is not nearly as scary as I remember, but oooohhhh boy, Showtime can put together a drama. I have been strictly an HBO guy, and while I still maintain that there is nothing on TV as good as Game of Thrones, Homeland may just have slid past Boardwalk Empire in the must see category. For those of you looking for some good watching material, Homeland is a middle east-war-terrorist-CIA drama without the slightest hint on political agenda. Fantastic cast, including Gideon from criminal minds who is flat out awesome), many twists and turns but none contrived. Only through episode five and I'm sure there is a lot to come, but I'm all in. Give it a look if you have Showtime, or if you are intoxicated enough to order it anytime soon.
January 26th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^
Without spoiling the near-ending of Season 1, there was a chain of events that was just too 24-ishly improbable for my tastes (the vest not functioning properly and then the timing of the phone call made by the daughter). Those who have seen it will know what I mean. I like Homeland because it is all the things that 24 was not -- and I felt somewhat let down by the writing in the last couple of episodes.
And now we have the ol' memory loss cliche to deal with in Season 2...
In any event, I cancelled my Showtime subscription right after I finished watching Season 1 of Homeland on demand. Showtime just doesn't offer enough any more to be worth it. They have the most consistently BAD movie selection, and Dexter well...yeah. It's already been said in this thread how bad this past season was.
On the flip side, there's enough on HBO in terms of original programming to justify the cost. Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Eastbound & Down, Treme, and now the new one starting soon with Dustin Hoffman, Luck...good stuff.
January 26th, 2012 at 11:32 AM ^
Homeland is pretty good, so long as you suspend your disbelief that the CIA is operating on US soil. Rather than the CIA, I imagine Danes is working for the a "generic secret government agency that combines foreign intelligence collection and domestic surveillance and law enforcement"
January 26th, 2012 at 11:50 AM ^
The movies they show are not as great as HBO, but Showtime series outshine all other networks IMO. Shameless is fantastic, but Californication alone is enough to watch Showtime. Hank Moody is the greatest anti-hero ever!
January 26th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^
Or as I like to call them, "The Morena Baccarin and Emmy Rossum shows".
January 26th, 2012 at 12:39 PM ^
Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are def top of the list, Dexter is still ok, but it has fallen off a little, although the twist at the end of this season will serve as the catalyst for the final 2 seasons. I like Homeland, it is a little more believable that 24, and it is pretty entertaining.
I like a few network shows too. Fringe is a great show, Alcatraz looks interesting, Parks and Rec and Community are funny as hell also.
FX and AMC are good networks but I am only a fan of a few of their shows. I like Breaking Bad and sons of anarchy. Don't really care for Amer horr story, Justified, Mad Men, or walking dead.
USA has some solid shows with Psych, Burn Notice and white collar.
January 26th, 2012 at 1:16 PM ^
You lost me at "Psych, Burn Notice, and White Collar" being solid. Are you Aziz Ansari's cousin Harris?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyOPk4E0-ow
January 26th, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
Everyone has their opinion. Psych is hilarious, Burn notice has Bruce Campbell, nuff said. White Collar is a good show too, I deal with forgery and white collar crime on a daily basis, and this show deals with all of that. My wife watches those shows and she got me into them, and I am glad she did.
January 26th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^
"and the unexpected drunkenness lead to me call Comcast to order Showtime to catch the last 2/3 of Event Horizon."
Funniest thing I've read in a while. I can totally relate, and I agree about subsequent viewings of Event Horizon. My most recent viewing left me wondering why I had thought it was the ultimate horror movie for some time (it's still good, it just isn't quite the epic masterpiece I used to think it was).
January 26th, 2012 at 3:56 PM ^
I agree that Homeland is the best new show out this year. The episode, I believe “the weekend” was the title, was excellent. The last scene on the patio where Brody confronts Carrie about spying on him was good enough on its own to make watching the season worth it. Claire Danes already won the Golden Globe and should also win the Emmy.
I have also enjoyed Walking Dead but am starting to question its future. The first season was great but the second has dragged. The farm is growing very boring. Do the writers really want to string out the stay at the farm this long or is this more of a result of the limited funding available though AMC? The show is in need of a change of pace. Hopefully the second half of the season will deliver.
Breaking Bad is the best of all three. The last season was one of the finest in television history. When we look back on the series I suspect it will stand as the series highpoint. I am not expecting the series to fall off a cliff but it seems unlikely that the final two seasons will be able to match the last. Even if the final couple seasons of Breaking Bad are only 75% as good as the last, I will still consider it one of the all time great television series.