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FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: buffcoat on May 26, 2012, 10:58:27 PM

Title: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: buffcoat on May 26, 2012, 10:58:27 PM
You all seem to watch a lot of television...
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: masterofsparks on May 26, 2012, 11:19:19 PM
I highly recommend Veep, especially if you saw & liked In the Loop or like political comedy (or, really, any type of comedy that celebrates the maddening frustration of bureaucracy).

Haven't seen Girls.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Gilly on May 27, 2012, 02:35:47 AM
I hated Veep but only because I'm kind of tired of political humor especially when it's not taking any risks. I think Girls is fantastic, the only people I know who don't like Girls say they can't relate to it in any way so I guess it depends on if you need to relate to a show, or if you do relate to it. Maybe this is a simple way of looking at it because of the producer and the actors, but it really does feel like an adult Freaks and Geeks.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Flood on May 27, 2012, 10:44:07 AM
I heard Girls was a show for white folks.

http://gawker.com/5903468/a-girls-writers-ironic-racism-and-other-white-people-problems (http://gawker.com/5903468/a-girls-writers-ironic-racism-and-other-white-people-problems)
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Omar on May 27, 2012, 03:44:58 PM
I'm with Gilly on this one.  Not sure how F&G-y the entirety of s1 one has been, but last week's episode (co-written by Apatow) in which Hannah returns to Michigan certainly recalled F&G in terms of tone, geography, and (a topless) Becky Ann Baker.

I saw the first two episodes of Veep, and while I did not hate them, I have not returned. 
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: effecT on May 27, 2012, 03:58:24 PM
I saw the first two episodes of Veep, and while I did not hate them, I have not returned.
You should, it got a lot better.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: BadGuyZero on May 27, 2012, 04:02:38 PM
I watched the first epidode of Veep last night and enjoyed it. Looks like I need to check out Girls.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Martin on May 27, 2012, 05:18:56 PM
I am largely underwhelmed by Veep, probably because I hold it against the impossibly high standard of The Thick of It and everything else Iannucci has done over the years. It is fine, of course -- well-written, well-acted, well-cast -- but it doesn't fly, it doesn't sparkle.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: not that clay on May 28, 2012, 01:13:20 AM
I watched two episodes of Veep.  Too much Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I think it needs some characters who aren't morons.

Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: wood and iron on May 28, 2012, 12:06:31 PM
I really really like Girls. It has a pretty realistic tone while still having really funny lines/moments. I've never been a woman in her early twenties in Brooklyn but the show feels really truthfully sketched. I do get a Freaks and Geeks tone (might be the Apatow involvement) and really enjoy it.

I've never watched Tiny Furniture and after all the negative stuff I've heard about it, I don't think I will because I really enjoy Dunham's work on Girls so much that I don't want a pretentious movie to ruin it.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Omar on May 28, 2012, 08:27:05 PM

I've never watched Tiny Furniture and after all the negative stuff I've heard about it, I don't think I will because I really enjoy Dunham's work on Girls so much that I don't want a pretentious movie to ruin it.

You should definitely view TF via the Criterion Blu-ray. 
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: BadGuyZero on May 28, 2012, 08:37:45 PM

I've never watched Tiny Furniture and after all the negative stuff I've heard about it, I don't think I will because I really enjoy Dunham's work on Girls so much that I don't want a pretentious movie to ruin it.

You should definitely view TF via the Criterion Blu-ray. 

It's also streaming on Netflix (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Tiny_Furniture/70134639). I haven't seen it but plan on watching it this week.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Paul DeLouisiana on May 29, 2012, 10:56:31 PM
Both are great for their own reasons. Though I could go without seeing Lena Dunham naked every episode.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Flood on June 01, 2012, 01:02:58 AM
a few (late) thoughts on hbo's girls  (http://jamellebouie.net/home/2012/5/31/a-few-late-thoughts-on-hbos-girls.html) by the always-thoughtful Jamelle Bouie.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: BadGuyZero on June 01, 2012, 04:41:29 AM
I just watched the first episode of "Girls."

Meh.

I wasn't awful nor was it great. It was a way to kill 30 minutes. It seems like it's going to turn into the hipster/indie equivalent of "Sex and the City." I know it's not entirely fair to judge a series on one episode alone, much less the first episode. I'm willing to watch a couple more episodes before rendering a final verdict.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Flood on June 01, 2012, 04:59:08 AM
Apparently, a WFMU/Girls crossover of sorts:
http://wfmu.org/flashplayer.php?version=2&show=45354&archive=78511&starttime=0:07:24 (http://wfmu.org/flashplayer.php?version=2&show=45354&archive=78511&starttime=0:07:24)
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Bryan on June 01, 2012, 05:26:06 PM
I just watched the first two episodes of Girls last night, and I thought it was hilarious. I like the filthiness of it. I enjoyed Tiny Furniture as well. Ms. Dunham is all right with me!
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: buffcoat on June 13, 2012, 09:10:53 AM
I watched the first 25 minutes of Girls (up till the first sex scene).  Not enjoyable to me.  I'll try Veep in the next couple of weeks.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Gilly on June 13, 2012, 05:57:08 PM
I didn't like Tiny Furniture, it was "Girls" with characters who didn't have redeeming qualities. Maybe that's more realistic, but it's a pretty boring and annoying reality.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: B_Buster on June 14, 2012, 04:35:06 AM
What are the redeeming qualities of the characters in Girls, Gilly? They're all pretty unlikeable. The character Adam makes the David Thewlis character in Naked seem like a pretty cool guy that you would like to hang out with by comparison.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Bryan on June 14, 2012, 10:10:01 AM
Oh yeah, the sex scenes in Girls are pretty rough. But I would say that the show has improved as it's continued.

Although the characters are often shown in unflattering ways, I don't think it's right to say that they have no redeeming values. Even Adam, in the last couple of episodes, has become weirdly sympathetic. They're young - they act like jerks sometimes! This is realism! Besides, at this point in the show, I think pretty much every character has been called to account for their bad behavior, so we can be pretty sure that the show is not an uncritical portrayal of these characters.

And even if that weren't true, there are lots and lots of other comedies that everyone loves which have nasty/idiotic/self-involved lead characters: Eastbound and Down, Seinfeld, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Larry Sanders Show...

edit: Having written all this, I realize that there isn't exactly a shortage of Girls-related commentary on the internet. So forgive me! But I think this is one of the best things on tv these days.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Gilly on June 14, 2012, 10:55:03 AM
Adam is one of the greatest characters on TV right now. It's crazy how you start to like the guy and then he does something awful, but you slowly warm up to him again and then he does it again. It's like she's taking you through the same bad relationship.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: B_Buster on June 14, 2012, 12:19:10 PM
Realism?! I've never met a human being that speaks and acts like the characters in Girls. Am I just lucky? And where is the humor in all this? Is it funny because the characters are so self-absorbed and disgusting? I was hoping for at least a little satire on the Williamsburg hipster scene, unfortunately the show takes these characters far too seriously. 
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Gilly on June 14, 2012, 06:49:42 PM
I don't know how real it is, but I can place most of the main characters to someone I've known in the past. I'd say it's more like a caricature of living in the city trying to fight entrance to adulthood.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Paul DeLouisiana on June 14, 2012, 07:05:57 PM
Realism?! I've never met a human being that speaks and acts like the characters in Girls. Am I just lucky? And where is the humor in all this? Is it funny because the characters are so self-absorbed and disgusting? I was hoping for at least a little satire on the Williamsburg hipster scene, unfortunately the show takes these characters far too seriously. 

You are Mike. It's pretty spot on, really. I've noticed that alot of people over 40 have trouble relating to it. I am not like the people on the show, or at least try not to be. But like Gilly, I feel like I've known every character once in  my life.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Yannick on June 14, 2012, 11:21:53 PM
I've known all of these characters in one way or another.
I think the acting/characters are pretty strong, it feels like I've watched those characters for much longer they've actually been on the air (in the best possible way).
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: B_Buster on June 16, 2012, 03:40:43 AM
What can I say? I feel sorry for you guys. As dumb as I was in my 20s, I was never that dumb.
Title: Re: Should I try watching Veep? Or Girls?
Post by: Paul DeLouisiana on June 16, 2012, 08:16:46 PM
Mike, YOU WORK AT WFMU!? I suggest you listen to people at the record fair or ask guest host Hatch about his neighbors.