anyway: TV Roundup (Spoilers!)

2013-09-16 : TV Roundup (Spoilers!)

Well, so. I've gotten all defeatist about talking about game design, so I guess it's time to talk TV instead.

Spartacus! Meg and I are on episode 5 or so of War of the Damned. I'm pretty sure Spartacus is the best TV show, right? I'm having a hard time thinking of one that's definitely better. Vengeance was its worst season and I don't know but War of the Damned might be its best. I know there are Batiatus & Lucretia fans who'd disagree, but I'm really, really digging it so far.

When the show first started, I knew exactly one fact about the historical (or mythical) Spartacus. Now I know 10 facts or so. 2 or 3 of them are still to come, and ho boy. They're doozies.

I surprised myself by kind of liking season 2 of Game of Thrones. I think that Brand Robins' explanation of why I'd never enjoy it reoriented me to the point where I can enjoy it.

Is anyone else as dissatisfied with this latest season of Justified as I am? The thing where he arranges himself to be suspended so that he can set a guy up to be murdered without having a professional conflict of interest about it, I fear that the show's writers expect me to applaud that crap. I don't applaud it.

Also watching: The Tudors, Boardwalk Empire, Quick Draw, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Who Do You Think You Are?, Time Team, and god help me season one of Blue Bloods, which is maybe the most soothing cop show in history.

Anything good I should be sure to catch?

1. On 2013-09-16, Vincent said:

Oh! I totally binged Orange is the New Black, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

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2. On 2013-09-16, Ben Lehman said:

Parks and Recreation.

I've been watching Sailor Moon (only 20 years behind the times) and it is _fucking amazing_.

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3. On 2013-09-16, Gordon said:

Longmire. Katee Sackhoff may have roped me in, but ... turns out it's good, with just one bit that I think is bad in its' two (short) seasons.

Sorry to hear about defeatist design talk - I was looking forward to your take on what arriving at that particular destination means.

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This makes...
BL go "Yes!"*

*click in for more

4. On 2013-09-16, Heikki Hallamaa said:

Breaking Bad. It's impossible not to watch all of it once you start.

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5. On 2013-09-17, Meserach said:

I keep thinking that Spartacus would make an excellent Apocalypse World hack, actually. Dunno if anyone's already attempted it to your knowledge, Vincent.

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6. On 2013-09-17, strongbif said:

Well I just watched the Spartacus pilot. First impressions:

"Spartacus: Blood and Boobs" (I'm trying to decide whether it's gratuitous, or whether they symbolize different things in different contexts, like maybe it's for a non-marketing reason.)

The violence is very stylized, but then so is gladiator combat, I suppose. Neat.

Character motivations and politics was enough to get me to watch another one.

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This makes...
sb go "keeps getting better"*
VB go "I know, right?"*

*click in for more

7. On 2013-09-18, weeks said:

Is The Tudors good? Cathy and I watched the first two or three episodes and never felt motivated to watch more. Like, it wasn't awful, just...meh.

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8. On 2013-09-18, E. Torner said:

Sounds as if Vincent is watching "television," also known as Netflix. ;-)

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9. On 2013-09-18, Alex D said: