Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

BTW...back on topic - some old sci-fi is OK, I guess you can't go past Star Trek or Star Wars...they have their place:D

But now people seem to create programminng that is a pastiche of suburbia, hipsters and sci-fi..I can't relate to it.

I look at some programmming and it's about suburban people living possibly in yet another 1st world country...if I want to know about suburban 1st world people I can drive down the road or go to work. (Yes call me cynical!)

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Definitely harsh! The Aussies like their fair share of TV too - Australia was the number one torrenting destination for the recent series of Game of Thrones, and they seem to consume shite like The Biggest Loser, The Voice and The Block at an equally prodigious rate. Not to mention every US crime investigation show.



I watch very little broadcast TV myself - but I think that since the Sopranos, the quality of TV shows has definitely increased. Many shows have movie like production values, and people want to buy into the experience, so purchase seasons and series of the show. Game of Thrones and recently Battlestar Galactica were good example of this. When you compare it to the stuff we had in the 80s and 90s, there really is no comparison. Better production values give the show a longer lifespan and people want to go back and watch it again, just like a movie.

I don't really have a problem with people watching scif-fi and fantasy - I think it helps to develop the imagination, and is also good escapism from the drudgery of every day existence. What I don't really understand is drivel like Coronation Street and Eastenders - The stories are mindlessly banal, and are just watching people in normal, every day circumstances, struggling through life. Where's the entertainment in that?

I'd much rather watch a show about the last vestiges of mankind fleeing the Cylon tyranny, and trying to avoid extinction...


S

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Australia downloads because they are so far behind. The biggest issue with the US crime shows is that a crucial device of the progamme is having the characters reveal technical details of crime investigation crucial to the plot by telling each other in rapid-fire which is barely intelligible. Go easy on me, I'm a viewer not a cop!

When Zulu talks about the UK the same could apply to Australia too.

I don't have an issue with sci-fi per se, it's when it's all people do at the expense of other genres. You're right about the drudgery of soaps. UK soaps are particularly drugworthy, a cynic might even wonder whether they are designed to help the masses with their day to day lives...certainly there are uses for them.

I know guys on teams at work who have no idea of early 20th century literature, or even modern literature, and look at you in amazement if you tell them you have read John Buchan, or Fitszgerald, Hemingway etc etc

They would rather read Book 3 in the Epic Epic Series about orcs, and waifes..and God knows what - and when asked, that is all they are interested in. Once one series is read, another series in another world is then moved on to....these writers must be laughing their way to the bank..

Don't get me wrong Sir...I read Lord of the Rings (probably three times in 30 odd years) and tried Dungeons and Dragons.... when I was 11 - and then moved on.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

I prefer SF and Fantasy because it's more realistic than soap operas.

Honestly, wouldn't it be more real world to have Albert Square levelled and a Tescos store built on the site? Two birds, one stone.

Where is the character that says "I'm sick of this run down, no hope, murder capital of the UK - I'm out of this dump" ?

And as for Coronation Street - why are the houses boarded up and up for sale for £1 down, like the real houses in Salford?

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Fantasy and Real life: they could combine Game of Thrones - there are compelling reasons to watch that programme - with Albert Square by having the Eastenders all carry lumps of wood from one side of the set to the other, split firewood, shoe a horse or just roll around in the mud.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

We like our Sci-Fi here, our fantasy and our American crime dramas:D We don't watch soaps, or reality TV, although I do like Strictly:o and property porn is our guilty pleasure;)

For me, TV is about pure escapism. Sometimes I like to watch something that requires a degree of concentration, such as Game of Thrones, but then I like to watch something relatively light and easy to watch, like New Tricks, or NCIS.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

I take it people have seen this :



People have been trying to work out which character is which politician.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

She actually spoke quite normally there.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Game of Thrones - the Charles Dance character. I couldn't understand a effing word he said...lol.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Love GOT - read the books first, but I think it has been dramatized really well: I hate shows that take too many liberties with the original book. I am a Trekkie fan- the original one, but not the hundreds of spin-offs. I read a lot of SF: it is nice to escape into a fantasy world, and my sister writes SF books.

I also have to admit to watching The Biggest Loser from time to time - I find the psychology of the latest parent/child one interesting, and watching how far some of them have come from initial audition tape to finale was also interesting. I hope they do a follow-up one year on so you can see who has stuck to the diets, and who hasn't. I like to sit and eat fattening stuff whilst watching('cos I'm perverse like that) - but it has motivated me to get off my small behind and try to get fitter before I end up lardy.

British soaps- no thank you- give them a very wide berth. Ditto generic US cop shows. I won't watch the US version of Sherlock with plastic mean faced Lucy Liu, although OH does. I do watch the Following however, as again the psychology behind it was interesting, although for me, it is descending into the formulaic mode now, so I may give up on it.

I too watch lots of property shows - particularly Selling Houses Australia, as it makes me feel a little better about my own dump!!

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

I can't follow Game of Thrones at all, most of the characters look the same to me and apparently it helps to look at the map during the opening idents which I never do.

I find I have to go to the Wikipedia episode guide after the show to find out what the f**k just happened.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

Same for me - too f**king confusing. Offset somewhat by the ultra-violence and loads of hot women getting their girls out

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

True, I still think Spartacus is hard to beat for pure filth, who can forget this tender moment....

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

You think they look the same?

Frankly you aren't going to come across a cast of that size that look as dissimilar. That, and the proper english spoken, come from the fact that it's majorly a British/european cast (as opposed to the usual american bimbos).

The map helps both to orientate you to where things are, and also which cities are currently involved in the story.

You never struck me as a hard-of-thinking type. Pay attention and its quite simple (they have simplified it quite a bit from the books). And given its based on the War of the Roses you can make a case that the real world is at least as complex, with the players coming and going, and good deeds getting punished by the conniving of evil little sh*ts.

Re: The Sci-fi thread
 

The map changes? How many Robs are there? they should wear numbers so people like me can keep track. I'm not the only one who finds it confusing:

"...Viewers also have to keep track of 44 other characters, according to HBO's website, and follow the storylines relating to past instances of incest, beheadings, betrayals, allegiances, and dragon births. Has the show gotten too complex for its own good? "

http://theweek.com/article/index/226...cated-to-enjoy