desh | (no subject)

(no subject)

House is some damn good television.

(Though people on TWoP are talking about last week's episode the way they used to talk about "Two Cathedrals" from West Wing. "Two Cathedrals" was way better. I will never see better television than that.)

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Oooh, in my world, it's nigh on blasphemy to compare anything to "Two Cathedrals"--or really to the entire second season of The West Wing, as you'd be hard pressed to find another season of television that could compare to that.

Also, a question for you: I stopped watching House after it turned into a slightly snarkier version of Survivor earlier this season, but I've heard nothing but good things about these last few episodes. Is it worth spending the time to catch up on Season 4?

I might be a bad person to ask, since I've only seen season 4 (and whatever random reruns I've caught this year). If you can tolerate a new diagnostic team, and the old team members having smaller roles than they used to, then yes. Some people don't like the new crew, but I do.

two cathedrals was a fine television episode, but honestly, season 2 of the west wing it doesnt begin to compare to season 4 of battlestar galactica.

Based on the reaction of half my friends list, the current season of BSG compares favorably to Hamlet.

I'll watch it one day on DVD, perhaps. That and The Wire are probbly at the top of my list.

i'm honestly trying to think of reasons why bsg isnt better than hamlet, and im honestly having trouble. and i really like hamlet, too. srsly, if hamlet were a 4-year episodic serial, ophelia's suicide at the end of season 3 would have a lot more impact and season 4 would be a pretty outrageous thrillride.

and yeah, the wire is pretty awesome and more than a little devestating. i need to catch up on seasons 4 and 5.

i think the major difference is that the wire addresses a narrower topic (i.e. the dysfunction of the american city) whereas bsg is a broader study of humanity at large, though it has many thematic resonances with recent events in american history. also, it happens in space, dude!

oh, ps...that new episode of house was really good. the best one since the "three stories" episode of season 1 where we get some really good exposition on the greg house character.

then again, i've missed a lot of the episodes in between, so there may well have been other really good ones in there, too.

I've tried House a few times, but it's always seemed silly and contrived the way most television dramas are. Just with good acting.

I was not a dedicated West Wing follower, but I did love it.

BSG's writing isn't quite so tight, but the ensemble is as strong, and the scale (of plotis ridiculously cinematic. It makes most sci-fi movies look lazy. The first regular series episode, 33, is possibly my favorite hour of television ever produced.

Oh, the in-episode plot of any given House episode is totally contrived, with the possible exception of stuff near the start and end of any given season. But the character development is phenomenal, the acting is quite good to my non-discerning eye, and the overarching plot is compelling to the extent that it exists.

This is where I feel completely TV illiterate, and rather ok with that. Though from what I've heard of House, it sounds like a show I could get into if I actually watched it.

There's good TV out there if you know where to look; same with any other storytelling medium. TV happens to be my favorite, but I've nothing against people who prefer movies or books or video games for that.

Yeah, I know. . . I think it's the time-thing-- a book or something is always there, and I can pick it up and put it down and go back a chapter as I want. So in theory, Tivo would be perfect for me, but that would require getting hooked enough on tv to be motivated to get it. . . so I remain a non tv person. And , um, thanks for not having anything against that :)

Ha, you're welcome.

If you do want to get into TV, and the serialized shows in particular (which these days is just about everything other than Law & Order), then renting DVDs is probably the way to go. You don't need to buy Tivo or even cable! I also find it very difficult to watch TV on a schedule, but I have enough hardware that I rarely have to anymore.

I don't want to badly enough to spend money on it... I've never analyzed my lack of tv habit this in depth before

I wholeheartedly agree with both of your statements.

the end.

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