Fans of Television Series

[esanthosh]

I agree with you, hydra! It's quickly becoming one of my favorite series.

After finishing season 1, I finished Season 2 in 3 nights (at the cost of being tired for better part of the last 2 days). Will finish off S3 just as quickly, I guess. The sheer number of characters and a large number of parallel story lines is exactly why I am attracted to it as well. Besides the high production value, what I like is the fact that most characters are realistic in a way. While their intentions and actions are not always good, they do what they must for their own survival within their circle of competence. You can understand why they do what they do even if you hate it. The second thing I like about it is the uncertainty surrounding the characters - anything can happen to anybody. Though there is magical and mythical elements, they are so intertwined within the story that they do not stand out oddly (or because it keeps shifting, you do not bother to question - either way it's well done).

Ramayana and Mahabharatha - HBO will probably run out of money if they go for a detailed treatment . Though when thinking about it, Ramayana is not a perfect good vs evil story, it mostly is. But, Mahabharatha has more shades of grey.

BB - I want some closure too. I wonder what Vince Gilligan has in store for eight episodes though. Hope it's twisted and interesting.

 

[technobhatt]

Ramayana and Mahabharatha - HBO will probably run out of money if they go for a detailed treatment . Though when thinking about it, Ramayana is not a perfect good vs evil story, it mostly is. But, Mahabharatha has more shades of grey.

BB - I want some closure too. I wonder what Vince Gilligan has in store for eight episodes though. Hope it's twisted and interesting.

Same as you, I have always dreamt of Mahabharata being given a whole new treatment by some Hollywood production company.
I have no complains with B.R. Chopra version and I remember how passionately three of us friends had re-watched it around 2 years before in just 1 month and there was hell of a discussion on its various aspect of good vs bad. I still cherish all the great actors and characters. It looks hard to imagine Krishna when he is not Nitish Bhardwaj, or Duryodhan is not Puneet Issar or Bheeshm Pitamaah is not Mukesh Khanna and so on.
I feel pretty disappointed while this great saga is remade recently by some Indian channels and completely ruined by bad actors and poor production values.

I don't know if Mahabharat was filmed on 35 mm or not. Then there could be a slight chance of its remastered version release on Bluray.

About 'Breaking Bad': All I can guess is...last 8 episodes are gonna be hell of a blast, but I can feel its end may not make every viewer happy!!

 

[prepress]

I have Mahabharat on BR Chopra's DVDs, 37 DVDs set (not moser baer) and the result is very good, the sound is very clear and clean. 36 DVDs contains all Mahabharat episodes and 1 DVD (I think this is VCD) has interviews and the making. But unfortunately there is some manufacturing issue with the complete set. It doesn't play well from PBC Menu and some DVDs plays in Player and some not, tried it my PC too. But this is not with any particular DVD, it varies. Some work in computer, some not but sometimes not working in computer works in player. Recently purchased new Blu-Ray player, let see if all work in that.

I can imagine if Mahabharat ever release on Blu-Ray, the war scenes, the crowd, Arrows in sky, sound of arrows, everyone's jewelleries etc etc. I completely agree remade of the Mahabharat is worst as we all know "great things happen all at once".

Same as you, I have always dreamt of Mahabharata being given a whole new treatment by some Hollywood production company.
I have no complains with B.R. Chopra version and I remember how passionately three of us friends had re-watched it around 2 years before in just 1 month and there was hell of a discussion on its various aspect of good vs bad. I still cherish all the great actors and characters. It looks hard to imagine Krishna when he is not Nitish Bhardwaj, or Duryodhan is not Puneet Issar or Bheeshm Pitamaah is not Mukesh Khanna and so on.
I feel pretty disappointed while this great saga is remade recently by some Indian channels and completely ruined by bad actors and poor production values.

I don't know if Mahabharat was filmed on 35 mm or not. Then there could be a slight chance of its remastered version release on Bluray.

About 'Breaking Bad': All I can guess is...last 8 episodes are gonna be hell of a blast, but I can feel its end may not make every viewer happy!!

 

[Rupam]

I started watching Dexter, but did not liked at all. I never understood the American obsession with weirdos and psychopaths. Any other good mystery thriller recommendation?

 

[hydra]

@rupam, the western world's obsession with such people is quite real. IMO to them, anybody who doesn't fit in with the "rules", psychopath or not, is a freak or an abnormality, and somebody to be watched/observed -- sometimes with curiosity, sometimes with caution, fear & dread. This is just like people going to watch animals in a zoo: Scary and dangerous? Yes! Entertaining? Hell, yeah!

I started on Dexter just 3 weeks back. I didn't quite like it at first, but after 2 episodes, I found that I identify with him very much! And that's got me watching the series.

I'm no serial killer, but I'm as much an "alone-person" as he is. A lot of what he says about wanting to fit in with "regular" people, or not having the same fears and emotions as "regular" people do, and having to act "normal" for the sake of appearing "normal", are the same things I've felt quite often. Society is rarely comfortable with people who are completely at peace with themselves, without the need to constantly socialize or make small talk or express their emotions to somebody else.

I don't think I've seen as accurate a treatment of such a person (= one who's completely emotionally self-sufficient and comfortable with himself, and completely aware and accepting of what he is) in cinema to date. And that makes this worth watching!

I've finished seasons 1 to 4. Taking a break for now. LOTS of movies pending.

 

[Kudla]

I started watching Dexter, but did not liked at all. I never understood the American obsession with weirdos and psychopaths. Any other good mystery thriller recommendation?

Try watching 'The Fall', the british thriller series. It is a murder mystery based out of northern ireland and has 'Gillian Anderson' of X-files as the lead detective. Last heard, BBC has commissioned the second season.

 

[sanro]

If you haven't watched already.. try prison break. IMHO , Michael Scofield character is better than dexter . In Prison Break , there is everything except that weird psychogiri.. wish to own prison break all episodes box sets one day..

 

[esanthosh]

I'm no serial killer, but I'm as much an "alone-person" as he is. A lot of what he says about wanting to fit in with "regular" people, or not having the same fears and emotions as "regular" people do, and having to act "normal" for the sake of appearing "normal", are the same things I've felt quite often. Society is rarely comfortable with people who are completely at peace with themselves, without the need to constantly socialize or make small talk or express their emotions to somebody else.

I don't think I've seen as accurate a treatment of such a person

Exactly why I liked Dexter as well.

I identified so many things in common with Dexter especially when it came to some socially awkward situations.

Updated: Finished GoT. I am looking forward to the next season

@technobhatt,

Yep! If they are treated just as a cash cow, end result will be mediocre. Fresh eyes and fresh treatment is required without ruining it. I seriously wish someone steps up and takes up the challenge within our life time!

 

[Rupam]

Try watching 'The Fall', the british thriller series. It is a murder mystery based out of northern ireland and has 'Gillian Anderson' of X-files as the lead detective. Last heard, BBC has commissioned the second season.

Already watched it... reported here also in this thread

Thanks hydra, actually I could not accept myself to watch a police man to take the law in his own hands and justify the killings as good deed. For me Dexter is also culprit as the others.

Is this what justice stands for in USA?

After all I can't forget India Spend 53 crore on Kasab before hanging him and to give him a fair trial.

Please recommed me something to watch, I'm getting bored

 

[jbgude]

Can anyone confrm if the DVDs in Indian shops of TV shows like " Dexter" etc are shown more complete than what is seeen on TV chanels here.

What I would like to know is are they (brutally) censored like most of the movies and has anyone had the opportunity to make an A-B comparison with an imported version ? Thanks.

 

[Rupam]

Can anyone confrm if the DVDs in Indian shops of TV shows like " Dexter" etc are shown more complete than what is seeen on TV chanels here.

What I would like to know is are they (brutally) censored like most of the movies and has anyone had the opportunity to make an A-B comparison with an imported version ? Thanks.

No Luck for Indian viewers. Dexter, Game of thrones, or any other explicit TV series like Tudors are not officially available in India. If you censor Most of the A rated scenes from these TV series, you will also loose a lot of plot information and dialogues. The only way to is to import through amazon.com

 

[jbgude]

Dexter, Game of thrones, or any other explicit TV series like Tudors are not officially available in India.

Rupam, some series are officially available, like "Dexter" -not sure if they are original imports or " Made in India", if they are manufactured in India, I am sure they will be censored heavily, however some DVDs ( like Music concerts) used to be directly imported -I have over 40 of them -and are the same as what is available abroad.
Since the market for these series are small, I was wondering if these discs are the imported versions with the Indian censor certificate pasted on the covers as legally required.

 

[JasonX]

For all TV series fans there are some GREAT shows running at Star World / FX / Zee Cafe. So if you want to Buy any Series this is great time to make a decision.

Also $ / GBP is running all time high... so this a good time to wait & watch.

The list of Shows are:-

1) Breaking Bad on Star World. (Mon- Fri 11PM)
2) Glee on Star World.
3) Son of Anarchy on FX.

Finally

LOST Season 1-6 on Zee Cafe (Mon - Fri 9PM)

 

[nSinghal]

Surprised to see no one mentioned The Newsroom yet. Definitely worth your time.

Another series not yet mentioned in the thread but worth watching is The Practice. A must watch series if you like courtroom dramas.

One show I can't get behind but seems like everyone else loves is the X Files. And I love science fiction! But this one seems so all over the place. The main plot is somewhat interesting but the execution, more often than not is unbelievably bad. One moment Dana gets abducted by aliens for months and just a few episodes after her release, she's still sceptical about aliens, almost as if nothing happened at all. One episode they both almost get killed and the next one, once again, they act like nothing happened. One episode Dana gets first hand experience of spirit and ghosts and few episodes later she refuses to acknowledge the possibility of anything supernatural. If I wasn't using trakt.TV website, I'd probably think that someone messed up somewhere and they aren't airing the episodes chronologically. And then there's the filler episodes. The ones which have nothing to do with the main plot. I don't think I've watched worse fillers in any other series.

My question now is, Does it get any better? I've so far watched appx 4 seasons. About 20 more unwatched episodes are recorded in my tata sky box and I'm not sure if I should even bother anymore and cancel the series for good. Or if i should stick with it a bit more?

 

[haisaikat]

Surprised to see no one mentioned The Newsroom yet. Definitely worth your time.

Another series not yet mentioned in the thread but worth watching is The Practice. A must watch series if you like courtroom dramas.

One show I can't get behind but seems like everyone else loves is the X Files. And I love science fiction! But this one seems so all over the place. The main plot is somewhat interesting but the execution, more often than not is unbelievably bad. One moment Dana gets abducted by aliens for months and just a few episodes after her release, she's still sceptical about aliens, almost as if nothing happened at all. One episode they both almost get killed and the next one, once again, they act like nothing happened. One episode Dana gets first hand experience of spirit and ghosts and few episodes later she refuses to acknowledge the possibility of anything supernatural. If I wasn't using trakt.TV website, I'd probably think that someone messed up somewhere and they aren't airing the episodes chronologically. And then there's the filler episodes. The ones which have nothing to do with the main plot. I don't think I've watched worse fillers in any other series.

My question now is, Does it get any better? I've so far watched appx 4 seasons. About 20 more unwatched episodes are recorded in my tata sky box and I'm not sure if I should even bother anymore and cancel the series for good. Or if i should stick with it a bit more?

My suggestion is dump x-files and watch Fringe, you will be glued to your seat looking at such a sci-fi series, beats x-files anyday in my opinion.

 

[esanthosh]

My question now is, Does it get any better? I've so far watched appx 4 seasons. About 20 more unwatched episodes are recorded in my tata sky box and I'm not sure if I should even bother anymore and cancel the series for good. Or if i should stick with it a bit more?

It won't. Writing goes downhill from there. If you didn't like it so far, you might start hating it more.

X-Files is not pure sci-fi / plot driven - it's just a creative license to place anything and everything under the sun which is not 'normal' in the world of Mulder and Scully (who have a short-term memory worse than us). It is best seen as a string of stand-alone "monster of the week" episodes (Only the episodes at the end of the season and the beginning of the next are exceptions). Unlike other series where story lines need to be remembered, you can watch an episode of X-Files anytime just remembering the names of Mulder, Scully, Skinner and the Cancer man .

But....Walter on LSD > Walter > {Sum of most supporting characters on X-Files}. Still, if there was no X-Files, there would not be 'Fringe' or 'Supernatural' on television.

 

[asliarun]

My suggestion is dump x-files and watch Fringe, you will be glued to your seat looking at such a sci-fi series, beats x-files anyday in my opinion.

Completely agree. Am on episode 35 and am hooked to Fringe. It started a bit slow but gets really spooky and interesting. Fwiw, it is directed by JJ Abrams, the guy who directed the new star trek series and also Lost.

I always found The Twilight Zone to be really spooky and interesting, often times more so than the X Files.

 

[asliarun]

This is going to be controversial but the new Sherlock Holmes, the one with Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson is really really good. Not for the accuracy but for its unique take and for genuinely good plots as well.

 

[nSinghal]

Thanks guys. I'll probably still leave X Files on series recording for a couple more weeks just in case I change my mind though.

Btw, Episdoes (with Matt Le blanc) is starting (again) on FX tomorrow 9:30 pm. It's a very short series with just 16 episodes in two seasons so far but its really good. Set up your DVRs or download it if you have to, but don't miss it.

 

[sam9s]

Surprised to see no one mentioned The Newsroom yet. Definitely worth your time.

Another series not yet mentioned in the thread but worth watching is The Practice. A must watch series if you like courtroom dramas. ?

I love court room dramas, if they are intriguing and realistic ...... One of the two very interesting court room dramas I have seen are ... SHARK and the ultimate awesome The Good Wife ....... after that I am seriously looking for a good intriguing, glue to seat court room drama tv series.

The one which was recommended to me and I have high hopes is Suits, though I still have to start this. next I am adding Newsroom and The practice

If anyone has seen all 3, suits, newsroom and the practice can suggest which one is more intriguing and I can start that. Though I personally feel suits is something I might enjoy most