General Television Thread

[wood and iron]

I've felt like this thread has been needed for a while for TV shows that we're watching but don't necessarily want to start a new thread for.

Anyway, I'm watching the second season of Sherlock along with the Brits and just watched the second episode. Anyone else? Did anyone else find that second episode really...weird? I mean like too close to science fiction for a Sherlock story?

[buffcoat]

I've felt like this thread has been needed for a while for TV shows that we're watching but don't necessarily want to start a new thread for.

Anyway, I'm watching the second season of Sherlock along with the Brits and just watched the second episode. Anyone else? Did anyone else find that second episode really...weird? I mean like too close to science fiction for a Sherlock story?

How are you watching it?

[buffcoat]

Watching Amazon Prime Instant Video on the TV.  Ain't technology grand?

[dave from knoxville]

I watched Season 1 of Downton Abbey this weekend, and for balance, have seen most of season 1 of Swamp People today. Back to work's approaching though.

[Barry in Ireland]

I watched the first episode of Sherlock and really enjoyed it. Cumberbatch is top-notch, and it's beautifully made.

Also recently pulled the trigger on the Cracker boxset I bought myself for Christmas. Man alive, but that was a good show. Mrs. Barry in Ireland hearts Downton season 1, but is pretty excoriating about the second. Gets a bit soapy, by all accounts.

[masterofsparks]

I watched the first series of Sherlock and I like the look and the two main performances, but the stories really didn't do it for me. I don't know enough about Doyle's work to know if they're based on actual Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Barry in Ireland]

I watched the first series of Sherlock and I like the look and the two main performances, but the stories really didn't do it for me. I don't know enough about Doyle's work to know if they're based on actual Sherlock Holmes stories.

More informed sources tell me that they're based loosely on Doyle stories; S02E01 for example is called "Scandal in Belgravia" and there's a story apparently called "Scandal in Bohemia" or summat. I think they're shifting the focus from being standalone, self-contained stories towards building a mythos OR WHATEVER.

[masterofsparks]

Because the character of Sherlock Holmes is such a part of the discussion in any mystery/detective story, it's weird to watch just such a show set in modern times where you can't make that connection because, I'm assuming, these stories are set in a world where those stories didn't exist. I'm not sure I explained that well, but hopefully it was clear enough.

[wood and iron]

I've felt like this thread has been needed for a while for TV shows that we're watching but don't necessarily want to start a new thread for.

Anyway, I'm watching the second season of Sherlock along with the Brits and just watched the second episode. Anyone else? Did anyone else find that second episode really...weird? I mean like too close to science fiction for a Sherlock story?

How are you watching it?

I'm not watching it by legal means unfortunately. The second season will air on PBS or something in late March. However, I balance that out in my conscience with the knowledge that I donate to PBS and will likely buy the DVD/blu-ray.

With more UK shows gaining popularity here in the US, they really need to start erasing the time between airing in the UK and in the US. It's been working for Doctor Who for about two seasons now.

Also, for the most part BBC America is terrible. It airs US shows!

[buffcoat]

And British reality shows.

It's like the BBC as programmed by American TV executives.  "Let's take the lowest common denominator British stuff; it's all Americans can understand or appreciate."

I don't understand why the British government doesn't just negotiate with American cable to show straight up BBC channels on cable.

[cutout]

I've started getting into The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. I think I'd avoided it for awhile because of how David Cross seemed as a person, but putting that aside, he's pretty funny in the show.

[wood and iron]

And British reality shows.

It's like the BBC as programmed by American TV executives.  "Let's take the lowest common denominator British stuff; it's all Americans can understand or appreciate."

I don't understand why the British government doesn't just negotiate with American cable to show straight up BBC channels on cable.

That would be brilliant.

As for British reality shows, I will admit to a fondness to How Clean is Your Home or whatever that is called because I'm a bit of an Anglophile so I love any glimpse into average British life and I love watching dirty stuff get cleaned (slight OCD coming out there).

[Eric Fishlegs]

There's a British show called OUTNUMBERED that may be airing on your local PBS station that I really enjoy. It's basically a show about a family, but apparently the dialouge of the kids is partly improvised and the little boy and the little girl are just comedy geniuses.

[~L]

Season One of Outnumbered is on hulu.com, I'll check it out!

[free plax]

Two BBC series I've really enjoyed are Wallander and The Street.  Wallander stars Kenneth Branagh as a Swedish detective.  The Street is a pretty gripping drama about life on a, seemingly, normal street in Britain. It stars Bob Hoskins and a lot of the actors who work in Mike Leigh films.