TV Shows Discussion

[fragger]

Cheers, PZ :)

I think you'd like The Persuaders if you liked The Saint. Similar, but I think with more humour.

[PZ]

I just put The Persuaders on my rental list - looks to be something that I would appreciate.  Thanks for the tip, fragger!  :-X

[fragger]

Most welcome, mate :)

[JRD]

I haven't heard of any of those shows, but Ric, your comment reminded me of a few all-time favorites of mine:

• The Saint with Roger Moore
• The Avengers with Steed and Emma or Steed and Tara - never formed an appreciation for the episodes with Steed and Cathy
• Secret Agent with Patrick McGoohan
  

I remember those well PZ, except for "Secret Agent" with Patrick McGoohan. Unless this is the same show as "Dangerman" (which starred McGoohan) with a different title for the US market.

In a similar vein to the shows you listed, I also used to enjoy "The Persuaders" with Roger Moore and Tony Curtiss.

@JRD: "My Name is Earl" is a really funny show, judging by the few episodes of it I've seen. It cracked me up :-X

@Ric: Can't say I remember "The Sandbaggers" either. Maybe it was never shown here.

Geez... I don`t know any of those... not from my generation, I guess <dodges thropwn objects>... I`m from the 70`s but only got aware of TV at the beginning of 80`s. TV shows in Brazil, however, were aired about a decade latter ::) so you can say I`m familiar with most of the 70`s stuff...

The oldest I recall are Star Trek and Agetn 86 - Maxwel Smart!!!

[PZ]

I love Get Smart!  Purchased the complete series on DVD not too long ago - killer of a deal at a local warehouse - Costco.

I'm old enough to remember when we had to change the vacuum tubes in our old B/W TV.  We'd pinch the clips on the back of the set to remove the cover and look for which tube was not glowing, unplug it, then bring it to the nearest drug store where they had a tube tester.  Purchase a new one if we were lucky enough to have found the correct one and we were back in business  :-X

[JRD]

You bought a new color tube to upgrade your old B/W TV???
AT A DRUGSSTORE???  :o



Yes... Get Smart... that`s the name  :-X

Great show... I love 99... Max always refer to her as... 99  ;D ;D ;D how cool is that??  8)

[PZ]

You bought a new color tube to upgrade your old B/W TV???
AT A DRUGSSTORE???  :o

lol, I wish that had been possible - no, the tubes I'm referring to were the ones that would glow on the main board of the set - the ones that solid state electronics have replaced.  ;D

[Art Blade]

hehe :) Pity retiredgord seems to have retired from OWG, too. He'd probably tell us how he remembers going to a theatre that showed silent movies  ;D

[PZ]

lol, I'll bet that Gord remembers seeing the first horseless carriage  ;D

[Art Blade]

 ;D

[fragger]

 ;D ;D You guys!

Haven't heard from Gord for a while, hope he's OK... I miss his ripping yarns.

And yeah, Get Smart is a classic :-X

Trivia - 99's "real" name is Susan Dawson. Learned that in a game of Trivial Pursuit once.

Now: Who can tell me the Chief's first name? The winner gets a Kewpie doll.

[RedRaven]

Have any of you ever heard of an old TV show called "The Prisoner" ??
Was only a 6 episode run from back in '67.  All about a retired secret agent in a weird village / prison. It has recently been re-done. Looks like they have done a decent job of it too.

[PZ]

Yes, in fact, it is available on DVD, and although I'm not positive, I believe there are more than 6 episodes.  The Prisoner takes off where Secret Agent (Danger Man) leaves off - John Drake (the secret agent) decides to retire, but the "company" won't let him - they kidnap him and deliver him to "the village".

[RedRaven]

It may well be more than 6 episodes, the new version is just 6. The village it is set in actually exists too, couple of friends have been there.

[fragger]

A mate of mine has been to the villiage and brought back some good photos. Very intriguing looking place, I wouldn't mind seeing it myself one of these years.

I wouldn't mind getting the old series too, I saw just one episode when I was a kid. Can't remember much about it, except for thinking at the time what an unusual sort of show it was.

[PZ]

It was actually quite good, but not as good as Secret Agent (Danger Man) in my opinion.  All episodes were in color while the early Secret Agent episodes were in b/w.  Patrick McGoohan's dry sense of humor is priceless.

[JRD]

Is anyone of you guys following one of the biggest hits on TV lately?

LOST

Funny there's no mention to it here! Anyway... I just got hold of the complete DVD collection and am currently at the end of season four. Will be starting season five in a week or so!

I actually just started watching that show after it was over and reading a few reviews about it. The first three season got me hooked... the first two got me on the edge of my seat and the 3rd one was really amusing. Season four was a bit off the track, but still keep me awake!

Now, after just seeing how season four ends I am very curious to know what will happen in the last two seasons... so many characters and almost all with very deep and interesting backgrounds. Of course, there's a lot of bullshit during some seasons, some things are just unexplained and sometimes you can tell writers had to meet a deadline and used some childish resources, but overall is a great TV show.

I like how they challenge you to try and get what's going on... it's sometimes much more than what you see (so far) and there's a very tough character - the island itself!  8)

[PZ]

I've seen it advertised for some time, but I've never watched any of the episodes.  I don't watch too much, but my wife rented a martial arts movie this last week starring Tony Jaa and it was something about Ong-Bak (not too sure because I fell asleep).  The only thing I remember in the movie was that it was the first time I saw in movie form a Tuk-Tuk - the kind of taxi that is prevalent in JC2.  For that reason plus the fact that Tony Jaa might even be better than Bruce Lee, I appreciated the movie.  ;D

[fragger]

I was a big fan of Lost and watched it from start to finish on free-to-air, in fact it was the only TV drama series I've bothered to watch in quite a while. I found it to be quite addictive due to the unique storytelling approach, engaging characters and the intriguing puzzles that were presented, and also simply because I love a good twisted time-paradox tale. It finished on TV earlier this year, and as much as I enjoyed the show overall, I got the distinct impression that the producers had intended to make one more season but the series got cut short, and so they had to try and wrap everything up in the last batch of episodes. As a result, the final season had a kind of rushed feel to it, as though the producers had to squeeze in as many story resolutions as they could while they still had time, and an awful lot went unexplained. The finale wasn't terribly satisfying either as it didn't really quite tie everything together the way it should have, and was a bit muddled (still worth watching though, JRD, don't let me turn you off it ;D)

But a highly imaginative, very well made, well written and well acted program nonetheless. A thinking-person's show with tremendous character depth, which is a very rare species these days. I'd give it a few years, then probably watch the whole series again on DVD. There's just so much to take in, and so much to observe with previous-viewing hindsight (i.e. knowing what the dickens is actually happening to these people), that I'd find it worth a second go-around sometime down the track.

EDIT: It was also refreshing for me to see a major Aussie character in an American series that was actually played by an Aussie (Emilie DeRavin, "Claire") without being told to tone the accent down. Nice touch :-X

[JRD]

Yes, Claire is great (and cute  ;) ) ... her accent is very nice indeed, the few Aussies I've met in my life had something like it on their voices, and I'm glad they didn't tone her down as you said.

I like how they mixed the characters - an Aussie girl, a chubby guy that has nothing of a hero and yet is one of the best characters in the whole story, the Iraqui guy (I'm glad they didn't try to turn him into something hatefull or lovely, but a torturer with some deep background), the drug addict, Locke, who I never know if I like or hate but is one of my favourite characters. The Scotsman, also with a strong accent and deep background (Desmond is one of my favorites on the island)

All in all the main(ish) character, Jack, is the one I like the least... he is too much of a good guy / hero for me... and all that "leader" thing around him.... >:(

I'm aware that many mysteries will be left unexplained, but many things I can guess, and reading some Lost forums on the net gives me great insights as to what is going on!

Great show... looking forward to see the rest of it!

[Art Blade]

Never seen it but getting back to PZ's remark, I watched Ong-Bak which was really great and then Ong-Bak2 was so incredibly cheap I couldn't stand watching it to the end, something that doesn't happen often. Avoid #2  :)

[PZ]

Darn it!  Because #1 was so good, my wife rented #2 already  :'(

[Art Blade]

Forget what I just said  ;)

[PZ]

Well, I watched #2 last night and your assessment is good - the movie is not very good.  Perhaps it is because Tony Jaa directed it - funny how someone can be good at martial arts, be successful acting in a movie, and then thinks that he can do anything - like directing for instance.  ;D

[Art Blade]

lol  ;D and thanks for your confirmation.