@f00l July 2011. Little hope of seeing book 6 before next summer, and then there’s still a whole other book to wait for. The man’s nearly 70. Add to that the fact that he has made statements that he doesn’t work on the book anywhere but at home and his steadily increasing project load and trips to conventions, promotional events, etc. and it’s no mystery why progress is slow. With a bunch of spin off TV series in the works it’s only going to get worse.
I used to think he would finish it. Now I fear we will have another Robert Jordan situation.
The work in progress issaid to be well over 1000 pages. When does he pull it together and start the editing? Can he tie things up 1-2 books or will he need 3-4?
I get the feeling he would rather do conventions than write. And I get it. Writing is hard work and he’s done plenty of it. But if his health is not great, that’s pretty hard on the fans.
“EVERY TIME I GET ASKED WHEN WILL THE NEXT BOOK BE FINISHED, I KILL A STARK.”
@jbartus I can understand that. Imagine if large numbers of people frequently asked after your health only because they were interested in whether you’d be able to finish your project at work. It suggests that the only reason people care if you live or die that that they want your work product. It’s dehumanizing, and I could see it making you hate your work.
@moondrake I can see that. With that said, to be fair to those people, the only reason he’s enjoying the success and jetset lifestyle he is today is because of many of those people who read his books when he was a relative unknown and spread word of the series to their friends. It was over a decade after the release of A Game of Thrones that HBO took an interest, everything before that was viral marketing by way of fans of the series. It’s understandable for people who are invested in the series to be concerned when the author is rapidly approaching 70, is far from the picture of fitness, and is constantly adding more items to his schedule that he has stated unequivocally obstruct his writing of the books.
Personally I feel like GRRM owes it to his long time readers to finish the series, he wouldn’t be able to do half of what he can do today without their long term support and his actions seem to indicate that he really doesn’t feel like he owes them anything. What’s worse is based on things he’s said we probably can’t even hope for a Robert Jordan situation where another author picks up the torch to finish the tale.
@f00l I don’t think he’d have much to say about it. His heirs would control the copyrights. Whether they would conform to his wishes might depend on how much money was on the table.
@f00l let’s just say that he’s made statements that tend to indicate he’s not a fan of such arrangements. I’m not sure he’s ever come out and said it outright. Either way such an effort will hardly be easy and end up being based on the TV series if he doesn’t get some sort of outlines together for them to work off of. Based on history I don’t feel like he’s got that kind of prior planning down on paper anywhere.
I know “6 Feet Under” is one of those shows that everyone says you need to watch, but you need to watch “6 Feet Under” if you have never seen it. It is one of the first shows I ever binge watched, and loved every second of it.
@2many2no the only commercials I’ve seen are ads for their other shows between movies. I don’t have it though, I just watch it occasionally at friend’s houses.
@2many2no we pay for hbo as part of our cable package and i agree with the others - the only ‘commercials’ are previews for other shows between shows or movies.
That one with the man with the curly hair seems like it would be terrible, because his hair is curly, but I have voted for Entourage, because I watched an episode.
@f00l I admire the portrayal. I’m not a cool enough hand to enjoy it yet, though. Hate the character too much. Probably all of the characters. Maybe I’d tolerate them more easily if I didn’t believe they were real.
I’m sure it’ll grow on me, if I give it a year or ten.
I did watch my way thru Entourage. Because of Piven.
The show started out as a fictional take on Mark Walburg’s east coast street kid posse mixing it up in Hollywood. But that part didn’t go very far. Tho it kinda pretended to be the heart of the show, it wasn’t - and had it been, the show would have been worthless.
Either the posse and their adventures didn’t have much of a story to tell (besides a kinda east cost street style atittudes and interactions), or the need to keep the series kinda “light” (vaguely upbeat-Hollywood-snark American Dream with lots of pretty people in LA-riche settings) meant that they couldn’t go into any depths into anyone’s life.
Most of the rest if it was “look at the Hollywood parties and sex and privilege” stuff (boring to me) mixed up with well-done behind-the-scenes stuff and anti-glamour snark.
Andrew Dice Clay was a continuing character for a while. I was prepared to roll my eyes, but he was quite good in the role, playing a trashed, humiliated, and somewhat redeemed version of himself.
But the reason to watch is Piven as Ari Gold. If you’re curious about the series and you find yourself zoning out or hating the triteness, just skip to the Piven stuff and all the behind the scenes film biz stuff. Read an episode summary and then just watch the good bits.
All Ari Gold’s horrible and sometimes effective conduct plays out over time as the metaphor for what success gets you in Hollywood.
The Gold character, as written, is a way over-the-top caracature of super-agent Ari Emmanuel, who was supposedly quite amused by his fictional version.
Emmanuel was also supposedly instrumental in selling the show to HBO.
Kevin Dillon is quite good playing the less successful and barely known struggling actor and brother (who always gets in his own way), in a family that contains a genuine Hollywood star. The role is, in a way, a poignant parody of his own life.
Martin Landau is excellent in a small continuing role as an insanely rich elderly producer who’s half out of it, but also still has juice. The role is partially based on producer Rubber Evans, who wanted Landau in the part, and who let the crew shoot scenes in his house.
Supposedly, if you live and breathe Hollywood, you know who all the continuing characters are based on. I don’t.
Gary Busey has a few small excellent moments. Many known Hollywood faces get well-written “as themselves” cameos that are far from throwaways.
The rest - the endless clubs, parties, car-cruising, and hookups - is entirely forgettable.
@f00l hmm, that’s all interesting, and maybe describes some of how that show is lost on me.
I’ve got very slight tolerance for pettiness and ego, and dislike celebrity as an inevitable piece of culture. I also have gotten through life so far with virtually no consumption of any media focused on Hollywood. (I had to look up every name you mentioned.)
Entourage reads to me like a mildly comedic take on causality and motive at the bottom of a vat of toxic hellstew – a potentially perspective-broadening investigation of the worst parts of human nature.
I did watch those YouTube videos twice though, and thought they were pretty funny the second time. So maybe it’s mainly a matter of acclimation.
I prob see one in theater film a year or less. At home - I have some Blu-rays and Netflix and Amazon prime and a long list of stuff I might watch someday.
I basically hardly watch video of any kind. Maybe someday. Maybe next year. But the publishing industry is producing new stuff also, so maybe not.
I got into Entourage not when it was on, but later, after someone showed me Ari Gold clips on YouTube. I went, “Hmmmm, that’s not what I thought it was.”
It will never be considered with one of the best TV series ever. And all the T&A and beach scenes and “boys together” scenes can be skipped if you feel like it. Beyond that, I thought it was worth the time.
I know about some of the Hollywood industry because I read. Books and news. Memoirs. History. Soup can labels. Some of that reading is on the film and media industries.
I don’t care about celebrity, other than that it’s OK if they are decent humans or if they do a little good along the way, and I hope they don’t hurt anyone, including themselves.
But what makes the film and television and media industries “go” is interesting to me. Entourage didn’t do a terrible job.
@RiotDemon not knowing you personally it would be hard for me to answer that question. at first i wasn’t going to watch it when i heard it was about - essentially - catty rich moms. but i actually really enjoyed it. the storyline involving nicole kidman and alexander skarsgård is extremely well done, compelling, and hard to watch imho. the ending (like, literally the very last minute) was a bit unnecessary/stupid to me, but the rest hooked me. i believe it is based on a book.
have you heard of/watched the affair? i wouldn’t say it’s like the affair, but has similarities to where i would say if you liked one you would probably like the other.
@jerk_nugget@RiotDemon There’s a nice little movie called What Maisie Knew that I watched for Skarsgard and found to actually be quite good and memorable. A good cast overall, and an engaging story.
There also needs to be a “none of the above” button. I’ve never subscribed to HBO. Except, I watched The Sopranos when at work, we got free cable because one T.V. was supposed to stay on the weather channel and the other three on the news channels. They foolishly put one in a spot that management couldn’t see and a universal remote was always handy.
@therealjrn It was third shift and HBO reruns on Wednesday nights (our slowest night) and other than CNN there was no news. So, you being who you are (when it comes to me) I don’t know if I should say F you or thank you. I’m going to take the high road and say thank you.
@ruouttaurmind I admit I didn’t give it much of a chance (I gave insecure a few episodes, only gave Silicon Valley a few minutes), but my initial thought on the characters was that they were annoying.
i feel like this poll is flawed in that i don’t think many of these were considered must watch/highly rated to begin with, and thus wouldn’t meet my criteria for ‘overrated.’
the last few seasons of true blood were just…super corny, bad, soap opera-y, but i don’t think anyone denies that, and they were still enjoyable in their own right depending on how much you loved the show.
i love girls, so much that i’ve not watched the last season because then i’ll have to admit it’s over. that show probably meets others’ standards for overrated i suppose. the target audience is pretty small compared to the others and i understand why some people just want nothing to do with lena dunham.
i chose the wire…i’ve tried a few times to start from the beginning and i’m just bored to tears and end up falling asleep. i love cop dramas (for lack of a better term) so, i don’t know. i also suspect it gets better but i just can’t start shows from partway in.
i don’t think many of these were considered must watch/highly rated to begin with
I think MOST of the shows listed were highly rated, critically acclaimed, multiple award winning blockbusters. HBO was primarily responsible for breaking the barrier between Emmys and cable/pay-tv with their HBO Original programming. And even the Oscars with the HBO documentaries.
@ruouttaurmind emphasis should have been on the “i” in my original statement. award shows are total garbage and not necessarily representative of what’s great, imo. great shows (and actors) win awards, great shows (and actors) don’t win awards.
was mostly speaking from an ‘everybody says you HAVE to see this’ general public type thing - i’d say the wire, GoT, the sopranos fit that criteria for me.
i watch a ton of tv and we pay for hbo and i’ve never even heard of arli$$. couldn’t tell you much about deadwood but it seems ti have a cult following. i was under the impression most people viewed entourage as a joke. loved true blood but as i mentioned before it’s hardly a masterpiece. and sex in the city, really? don’t really consider last week tonight like the others given the format, but i enjoy it & dvr it. my dad is the only person i’ve ever heard mention six feet under and he didn’t even finish it.
loved boardwalk empire but felt like a lot of people skipped over it or quickly lost interest. westworld was fun but i’d need to see more before it’s on the same page as the other options.
@jerk_nugget I’m thinking that some of these choices might come down to age. Arli$$ started in the 90’s, so may be before many people’s time, same can be said about Six Feet Under, which ended in 2005.
@ConAndLibrarian ahh, yes, that’ll do it. can’t say i would have been watching hbo at 13 nor interested in a show about sports…people? even if we did have that kind of cable!
Has to be ‘Girls’, because I’ve heard people say it’s worth watching (it’s not).
‘True Blood’ was universally acknowledged as just embarrassing (it was worse than that), ‘Six Feet Under’ was only marginally better than that, and about ‘Sex in the City’, well, the less said, the better.
Wow, lotta a GoT haters. I didn’t like it for the first few episodes, then I realized Tyrion is awesome. I started liking some other main characters along the way too, and so far they are all still alive, surprisingly.
However, I fully expect a very disappointing ending. Endings almost always suck.
@katylava Everything popular has its haters. Some people seem to feel it’s a way of expressing individuality, others just have tastes that diverge from the majority. I’d rather go to the dentist than sit through most “comedy” films. To each their own.
CNNs show “the Eighties” talks about how TV moved from a second class medium to a true first class art form due mostly to content and writing. Cable TV, starting with the Sopranos began the “TV can be as good, if not better, than movies” era. Most of the shows listed above deserve audiences, some more than others but All were top quality TV.
Watched the first episode of Game of Thrones and said “meh” and never went back. Enjoyed the Sopranos, but since then everything seems to be following the Sopranos formula – nudity, sex, violence, lather, rinse, repeat. Finding much more varied and interesting content on Netflix and Amazon, thank you.
… seriously though, I agree with you. HBO burns me out fast. (I was enjoying Game of Thrones though… I was watching it, anyways. liked the books a little better where there were differences.)
@thismyusername Oh, still I stay up at night waiting for Ellen Muth, but she never shows so I figure that I have to get up in the morning and go to bed.
I was gonna vote “girls”…but I don’t know anyone that thought it was a good show, so I figured it couldn’t be overrated…
Game of Thrones is overrated ?
/giphy bitch please
@capguncowboy it’ll never beat the books.
Unless GRRM croaks before he finishes them…
I’ll admit the odds are increasingly likely.
@jbartus The dialogue in the books made them unreadable for me.
@jbartus
Odds aren’t so small that he will.
How many years since DOD dropped?
@f00l July 2011. Little hope of seeing book 6 before next summer, and then there’s still a whole other book to wait for. The man’s nearly 70. Add to that the fact that he has made statements that he doesn’t work on the book anywhere but at home and his steadily increasing project load and trips to conventions, promotional events, etc. and it’s no mystery why progress is slow. With a bunch of spin off TV series in the works it’s only going to get worse.
@jbartus
I used to think he would finish it. Now I fear we will have another Robert Jordan situation.
The work in progress issaid to be well over 1000 pages. When does he pull it together and start the editing? Can he tie things up 1-2 books or will he need 3-4?
I get the feeling he would rather do conventions than write. And I get it. Writing is hard work and he’s done plenty of it. But if his health is not great, that’s pretty hard on the fans.
“EVERY TIME I GET ASKED WHEN WILL THE NEXT BOOK BE FINISHED, I KILL A STARK.”
@f00l yeah he’s downright aggressive whenever the question of his health and by association ability to complete the series comes up.
@jbartus I can understand that. Imagine if large numbers of people frequently asked after your health only because they were interested in whether you’d be able to finish your project at work. It suggests that the only reason people care if you live or die that that they want your work product. It’s dehumanizing, and I could see it making you hate your work.
@moondrake I can see that. With that said, to be fair to those people, the only reason he’s enjoying the success and jetset lifestyle he is today is because of many of those people who read his books when he was a relative unknown and spread word of the series to their friends. It was over a decade after the release of A Game of Thrones that HBO took an interest, everything before that was viral marketing by way of fans of the series. It’s understandable for people who are invested in the series to be concerned when the author is rapidly approaching 70, is far from the picture of fitness, and is constantly adding more items to his schedule that he has stated unequivocally obstruct his writing of the books.
Personally I feel like GRRM owes it to his long time readers to finish the series, he wouldn’t be able to do half of what he can do today without their long term support and his actions seem to indicate that he really doesn’t feel like he owes them anything. What’s worse is based on things he’s said we probably can’t even hope for a Robert Jordan situation where another author picks up the torch to finish the tale.
@jbartus
Has GRRM stated somewhere that he won’t let another writer complete the series if he is unable to?
I was unaware. : (
@f00l I don’t think he’d have much to say about it. His heirs would control the copyrights. Whether they would conform to his wishes might depend on how much money was on the table.
@f00l let’s just say that he’s made statements that tend to indicate he’s not a fan of such arrangements. I’m not sure he’s ever come out and said it outright. Either way such an effort will hardly be easy and end up being based on the TV series if he doesn’t get some sort of outlines together for them to work off of. Based on history I don’t feel like he’s got that kind of prior planning down on paper anywhere.
I know “6 Feet Under” is one of those shows that everyone says you need to watch, but you need to watch “6 Feet Under” if you have never seen it. It is one of the first shows I ever binge watched, and loved every second of it.
@ConAndLibrarian I was sad that it was over.
@ConAndLibrarian Me too.
No TV, no HBO. They are all overrated in my little world.
@heartny
I would have voted john Oliver if I noticed it before game of thrones
Why is there a ‘B’ in my HO?
(don’t have hbo; don’t bother finding a way to view their content)
Isn’t HBO like the rest of cable now?
They basically charge you to watch lots of commercials?
@2many2no the only commercials I’ve seen are ads for their other shows between movies. I don’t have it though, I just watch it occasionally at friend’s houses.
@2many2no I just watch HBO Now and there’s usually a 2 minute commercial for another one of their shows or a movie, but that’s it.
@shawn_mitch @RiotDemon That’s impressive.
I haven’t had HBO since I was in school, so like 1978.
@2many2no we pay for hbo as part of our cable package and i agree with the others - the only ‘commercials’ are previews for other shows between shows or movies.
That one with the man with the curly hair seems like it would be terrible, because his hair is curly, but I have voted for Entourage, because I watched an episode.
@InnocuousFarmer
Entourage exists so that Jeremy Piven can play Ari Gold.
That justifies the rest if it.
@f00l I… do want to shoot him. To see what color his blood is, is all. I guess that’s basically the same thing as justification.
@InnocuousFarmer
I could watch Piven play that role all day long.
Not completely inaccurate presentation of behind the scenes Hollywood either.
@f00l I admire the portrayal. I’m not a cool enough hand to enjoy it yet, though. Hate the character too much. Probably all of the characters. Maybe I’d tolerate them more easily if I didn’t believe they were real.
I’m sure it’ll grow on me, if I give it a year or ten.
@InnocuousFarmer
I did watch my way thru Entourage. Because of Piven.
The show started out as a fictional take on Mark Walburg’s east coast street kid posse mixing it up in Hollywood. But that part didn’t go very far. Tho it kinda pretended to be the heart of the show, it wasn’t - and had it been, the show would have been worthless.
Either the posse and their adventures didn’t have much of a story to tell (besides a kinda east cost street style atittudes and interactions), or the need to keep the series kinda “light” (vaguely upbeat-Hollywood-snark American Dream with lots of pretty people in LA-riche settings) meant that they couldn’t go into any depths into anyone’s life.
Most of the rest if it was “look at the Hollywood parties and sex and privilege” stuff (boring to me) mixed up with well-done behind-the-scenes stuff and anti-glamour snark.
Andrew Dice Clay was a continuing character for a while. I was prepared to roll my eyes, but he was quite good in the role, playing a trashed, humiliated, and somewhat redeemed version of himself.
But the reason to watch is Piven as Ari Gold. If you’re curious about the series and you find yourself zoning out or hating the triteness, just skip to the Piven stuff and all the behind the scenes film biz stuff. Read an episode summary and then just watch the good bits.
All Ari Gold’s horrible and sometimes effective conduct plays out over time as the metaphor for what success gets you in Hollywood.
The Gold character, as written, is a way over-the-top caracature of super-agent Ari Emmanuel, who was supposedly quite amused by his fictional version.
Emmanuel was also supposedly instrumental in selling the show to HBO.
Kevin Dillon is quite good playing the less successful and barely known struggling actor and brother (who always gets in his own way), in a family that contains a genuine Hollywood star. The role is, in a way, a poignant parody of his own life.
Martin Landau is excellent in a small continuing role as an insanely rich elderly producer who’s half out of it, but also still has juice. The role is partially based on producer Rubber Evans, who wanted Landau in the part, and who let the crew shoot scenes in his house.
Supposedly, if you live and breathe Hollywood, you know who all the continuing characters are based on. I don’t.
Gary Busey has a few small excellent moments. Many known Hollywood faces get well-written “as themselves” cameos that are far from throwaways.
The rest - the endless clubs, parties, car-cruising, and hookups - is entirely forgettable.
@f00l hmm, that’s all interesting, and maybe describes some of how that show is lost on me.
I’ve got very slight tolerance for pettiness and ego, and dislike celebrity as an inevitable piece of culture. I also have gotten through life so far with virtually no consumption of any media focused on Hollywood. (I had to look up every name you mentioned.)
Entourage reads to me like a mildly comedic take on causality and motive at the bottom of a vat of toxic hellstew – a potentially perspective-broadening investigation of the worst parts of human nature.
I did watch those YouTube videos twice though, and thought they were pretty funny the second time. So maybe it’s mainly a matter of acclimation.
@InnocuousFarmer
I prob see one in theater film a year or less. At home - I have some Blu-rays and Netflix and Amazon prime and a long list of stuff I might watch someday.
I basically hardly watch video of any kind. Maybe someday. Maybe next year. But the publishing industry is producing new stuff also, so maybe not.
I got into Entourage not when it was on, but later, after someone showed me Ari Gold clips on YouTube. I went, “Hmmmm, that’s not what I thought it was.”
It will never be considered with one of the best TV series ever. And all the T&A and beach scenes and “boys together” scenes can be skipped if you feel like it. Beyond that, I thought it was worth the time.
I know about some of the Hollywood industry because I read. Books and news. Memoirs. History. Soup can labels. Some of that reading is on the film and media industries.
I don’t care about celebrity, other than that it’s OK if they are decent humans or if they do a little good along the way, and I hope they don’t hurt anyone, including themselves.
But what makes the film and television and media industries “go” is interesting to me. Entourage didn’t do a terrible job.
This needs to be a multiple choice poll. Many of the titles mentioned were excruciating.
True Blood and Game of Thrones??? How dare you people!
@mfladd these are definitely highly rated, not overrated.
Just was thinking the other day that I should watch True Blood again.
@mfladd Game of Thrones is the best show, ever.
This is what I do to anyone who doesn’t agree with me.
@RiotDemon I loved True Blood. For the first 4 seasons. Then it seemed to get a little… dunno, off track.
@ruouttaurmind it wasn’t my favorite ending, but I still enjoyed the show.
Anyone who votes for Deadwood is dead to me. DEAD.
/giphy swearing as poetry
@haydesigner Me too!!
Let’s add a few more Alexander gifs:
@RiotDemon did you watch big little lies?
@jerk_nugget no.
goes off googling for a little bit
Don’t have HBO. Never even heard of it. Worth watching?
@RiotDemon not knowing you personally it would be hard for me to answer that question. at first i wasn’t going to watch it when i heard it was about - essentially - catty rich moms. but i actually really enjoyed it. the storyline involving nicole kidman and alexander skarsgård is extremely well done, compelling, and hard to watch imho. the ending (like, literally the very last minute) was a bit unnecessary/stupid to me, but the rest hooked me. i believe it is based on a book.
have you heard of/watched the affair? i wouldn’t say it’s like the affair, but has similarities to where i would say if you liked one you would probably like the other.
@jerk_nugget haven’t heard of the affair. Catty rich moms don’t sound like something I’d watch either.
If I came across it, I’d check out the first episode just because I like Alexander.
@jerk_nugget @RiotDemon There’s a nice little movie called What Maisie Knew that I watched for Skarsgard and found to actually be quite good and memorable. A good cast overall, and an engaging story.
@moondrake i’ll have to check this out, thank you. looks a bit brutal on the feels - the kids are alright was the same way for me!
There also needs to be a “none of the above” button. I’ve never subscribed to HBO. Except, I watched The Sopranos when at work, we got free cable because one T.V. was supposed to stay on the weather channel and the other three on the news channels. They foolishly put one in a spot that management couldn’t see and a universal remote was always handy.
@WTFsunshine Thank you for your service.
@therealjrn It was third shift and HBO reruns on Wednesday nights (our slowest night) and other than CNN there was no news. So, you being who you are (when it comes to me) I don’t know if I should say F you or thank you. I’m going to take the high road and say thank you.
I don’t know how highly they’re rated, but Silicon Valley and Insecure were both terrible.
@Pantheist I agree Insecure is bad. Terrible even. But Silicone Valley?? Loads of fun!
@ruouttaurmind i love silicon valley. very sad to lose two of the best characters, though.
@ruouttaurmind I admit I didn’t give it much of a chance (I gave insecure a few episodes, only gave Silicon Valley a few minutes), but my initial thought on the characters was that they were annoying.
I’ve heard of some of those shows but I have never watched any of them.
Not Necessarily the News was overrated.
I’m happy to observe that essentially no one has voted for Deadwood.
i feel like this poll is flawed in that i don’t think many of these were considered must watch/highly rated to begin with, and thus wouldn’t meet my criteria for ‘overrated.’
the last few seasons of true blood were just…super corny, bad, soap opera-y, but i don’t think anyone denies that, and they were still enjoyable in their own right depending on how much you loved the show.
i love girls, so much that i’ve not watched the last season because then i’ll have to admit it’s over. that show probably meets others’ standards for overrated i suppose. the target audience is pretty small compared to the others and i understand why some people just want nothing to do with lena dunham.
i chose the wire…i’ve tried a few times to start from the beginning and i’m just bored to tears and end up falling asleep. i love cop dramas (for lack of a better term) so, i don’t know. i also suspect it gets better but i just can’t start shows from partway in.
@jerk_nugget
I think MOST of the shows listed were highly rated, critically acclaimed, multiple award winning blockbusters. HBO was primarily responsible for breaking the barrier between Emmys and cable/pay-tv with their HBO Original programming. And even the Oscars with the HBO documentaries.
@ruouttaurmind emphasis should have been on the “i” in my original statement. award shows are total garbage and not necessarily representative of what’s great, imo. great shows (and actors) win awards, great shows (and actors) don’t win awards.
was mostly speaking from an ‘everybody says you HAVE to see this’ general public type thing - i’d say the wire, GoT, the sopranos fit that criteria for me.
i watch a ton of tv and we pay for hbo and i’ve never even heard of arli$$. couldn’t tell you much about deadwood but it seems ti have a cult following. i was under the impression most people viewed entourage as a joke. loved true blood but as i mentioned before it’s hardly a masterpiece. and sex in the city, really? don’t really consider last week tonight like the others given the format, but i enjoy it & dvr it. my dad is the only person i’ve ever heard mention six feet under and he didn’t even finish it.
loved boardwalk empire but felt like a lot of people skipped over it or quickly lost interest. westworld was fun but i’d need to see more before it’s on the same page as the other options.
@ruouttaurmind basically, several extremely enjoyable options listed, definitely excellent tv overall. but almost none where i felt that BOTH:
ergo not meeting the criteria of ‘overrated.’
@jerk_nugget I’m thinking that some of these choices might come down to age. Arli$$ started in the 90’s, so may be before many people’s time, same can be said about Six Feet Under, which ended in 2005.
@ConAndLibrarian ahh, yes, that’ll do it. can’t say i would have been watching hbo at 13 nor interested in a show about sports…people? even if we did have that kind of cable!
Has to be ‘Girls’, because I’ve heard people say it’s worth watching (it’s not).
‘True Blood’ was universally acknowledged as just embarrassing (it was worse than that), ‘Six Feet Under’ was only marginally better than that, and about ‘Sex in the City’, well, the less said, the better.
Wow, lotta a GoT haters. I didn’t like it for the first few episodes, then I realized Tyrion is awesome. I started liking some other main characters along the way too, and so far they are all still alive, surprisingly.
However, I fully expect a very disappointing ending. Endings almost always suck.
@katylava I love Game of Thrones but also don’t see how they can wrap it up in 6 episodes.
@katylava Two best series endings ever: Breaking Bad and Newhart. The last 15 seconds of Newhart was worth the whole series combined.
@katylava Everything popular has its haters. Some people seem to feel it’s a way of expressing individuality, others just have tastes that diverge from the majority. I’d rather go to the dentist than sit through most “comedy” films. To each their own.
CNNs show “the Eighties” talks about how TV moved from a second class medium to a true first class art form due mostly to content and writing. Cable TV, starting with the Sopranos began the “TV can be as good, if not better, than movies” era. Most of the shows listed above deserve audiences, some more than others but All were top quality TV.
Watched the first episode of Game of Thrones and said “meh” and never went back. Enjoyed the Sopranos, but since then everything seems to be following the Sopranos formula – nudity, sex, violence, lather, rinse, repeat. Finding much more varied and interesting content on Netflix and Amazon, thank you.
@Sarahsda
… seriously though, I agree with you. HBO burns me out fast. (I was enjoying Game of Thrones though… I was watching it, anyways. liked the books a little better where there were differences.)
The hipster is strong in this thread.
Ha, they left out Dead Like Me.
@cranky1950 that was showtime.
@thismyusername Oh, still I stay up at night waiting for Ellen Muth, but she never shows so I figure that I have to get up in the morning and go to bed.
Oh, same shit HBO Showtime, I’m not gonna pay for them anyway.
@cranky1950
No wonder you’re cranky.
Sesame Street
the edginess in these comments is so edgy