TV Show Reviews

[Guest]

Since we have a thread on "What was the last movie you watched?"  I figured we could do something on TV shows.  Here's my first entry.

Castle: I loved the first few seasons.  But I thought season 7 was going downhill.  Season 8 was just a downer.  I'm glad they realized it too.  The season finale was pretty good, but the end???

Leverage: If you haven't heard about this, you've GOT to see it.  The first season is available on Hulu for free.  The remaining ones cost money.  The first two seasons are definitely the best.  But I loved all five seasons.  If you like movies with chess-like movements, with enough comedy to lighten the mood, this is the show for you.  But what makes the show worthwhile even to the end is the character development.

Hardison's orange soda and "Age of the Geek".

Elliot's "It's a very distinctive..."

Nate's "Let's go steal a..."

Each of the main characters is someone you'd like to have in your home -- in their own way.  Detective Benano was asked if he had a problem having a friend who is an ex-con.  He said,"Yeah, but you get used to it."  My sentiments exactly.  Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.  Despite it's liberal bent, it did it in a more Robin Hood attitude and was not an in-your-face political statement during every episode.

Arrow: I watched the first couple of seasons.  But after a while it just kept pulling emotions that didn't make any sense at all.  Even though you got invested in these characters and everyone loved Felicity Smoak.  But then she started doing things that were completely unreasonable.  After she started acting unbelievable, I just couldn't suspend my disbelief any more.  And since so many people on this board made some convincing moral objections to the show, I thought it best to discontinue.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Guest

[Guest]

The Flash: It was difficult to watch  Arrow without also watching The Flash.  And I like it a lot better.  Not as dark.  Doesn't have near the level of sex and violence as Arrow.  It has a lot more humor and more relatable characters.  I just plain like Grant Gustin as well as Barry Allen.  The Cisco jokes are always fun.  They try to stay with real science except when they have to go out on a limb to make the story line work or if they were making a bow to some DC convention (like promethium metal).  Overall, good scripting & acting, nice special effects.

Supergirl: I was introduced to this because of the crossover with The Flash.  I thought that made a fun story.  Calista Flockhart let us know that her acting abilities went beyond the quirky Ally McBeal that made a momentary splash on the collective psyche of the American audience.  It's good to see that she's been able to get back into the public eye.  Nice one-liners:

Quote

"He was so unfailingly charming and nice that he had to either be a superhero or a Mormon."

So, I decided to watch the first episode.  Again Calista Flockhart was a shining gem.  Mehcad Brooks and David Harewood made their scenes worth watching.  But the rest of it was a huge dud.  

I don't think I can handle watching Melissa Benoist speak another sentence.  Maybe it was her delivery.  Maybe it was bad scripting.  Maybe it was both.  But she is not the character to be leading the show.  She has characteristics that make her completely unrelatable in a bad way.  The set design looked cheap. The special effects are poor.  The motivations for the characters were pedestrian and didn't fit well with each other.  They tried shoving way too much character development into a single episode.  By doing so, it felt shoved and wasn't a naturally flowing discovery.  And some of it wasn't even necessary.  It would have made for a much better reveal if they had held off for at least a few episodes.  I found the sister to be completely unnecessary as a character.

 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Guest

[NeedleinA]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Arrow: I watched the first couple of seasons... And since so many people on this board made some convincing moral objections to the show, I thought it best to discontinue.

We also watched the first couple of seasons and then just fizzled out on it. I must have missed the moral objections here to Arrow...hah! If Arrow has moral objections then my shows aren't any better. 

We typically watch TV shows on VUDU/Netflix/Amazon, and as such we tend to watch more shows that would have aired on Cable channels vs. broadcast. Anyways...

PG range:
Person of Interest: helping people, little action show
Survivor: Dumb mindless fun
Wipeout: Super dumb mindless fun --- for family time
Judge Judy: Super duper dumb mindless fun

PG-13 - R range:
TURN : about Americas first spy ring during the Revolutionary War.
Hell on Wheels: perhaps a little too gritty for most... Season 4-5 involve Brigham Young and saints helping to building the rail road - 100% historically accurate... not!
Homeland: CIA spook type stuff. 
American Odyssey: Netflix. Military drama
 

[Guest]

Apart from Survior and Judge Judy, I really don't know anything about the others.  Thanks.

The main objection to Arrow was that there was way too much sex and violence for the "hero" to be involved in.  It wasn't just your basic martial arts action.  He was killing people.  And there was an awful lot of death all over.

[NeedleinA]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

 And there was an awful lot of death all over.

Huhhhh... didn't he take some no killing vow after season one? That was one of the corny reasons we stopped watching it. Not that we wanted him to kill, but rather they repetitively kept making it a point to stress about that it was getting old real quick. If he isn't going to kill = great, just stop talking and talking and talking about it all the time.

Edited June 13, 2016 by NeedleinA

[anatess2]

Arrow - where the hero goes to bed with all the heroines...  we were cheering on Felicity as the last hold-out... and then she fell for it too.  Lame.

Flash - this multiverse stuff has just gotten ridiculous.  How many times is he going to save his mother?

So guess what... the only thing I really watch on TV besides the news is... Fixer Upper.  When you got Chip Gaines picking up a dead cockroach off the garage floor of an old house and EAT IT and then chase his screaming wife Joanna so he can kiss her with roach legs on his teeth... you know you got good TV.

[NeedleinA]

2 hours ago, anatess2 said:

Felicity as the last hold-out... and then she fell for it too.  Lame.

Fixer Upper.  

Ughhhh.... spoiler alert next time on Flash!
Fixer Upper... on at my house all the time thanks to my wife. Only thing I can't stand are the fake low prices to do renovations. Those cost have to be TV subsidized some how otherwise they wouldn't be in business at those prices. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by NeedleinA

[tesuji]

My favorite TV shows are:

Star Wars Rebels - I love this show, even though I guess it's aimed at kids. It's the classic SW spirit - good values, facing your fears to fight evil.

Agents of Shield - the first season started off slow, but it got very good after that. The latest season got a little dark for my taste. 

Peggy Carter - I loved this show and was sorry it got cancelled. It ended up being lighter than I expected, but I still enjoyed it. They did seem to kind of run out of plot ideas toward the end.

Parks and Recreation - A little too PG13 but great fun. This show ended a couple years ago but I keep re-watching it.

The Last Man on Earth - A little too PG13 (actually, adult themes) but I enjoy it in spite of that. You never know what's going to happen on this show. Spoiler, possibly: Are you ready for a possible spoiler... OK, the showrunner says the long term arc for this show will be how Phil/Tandy learns not to be a selfish jerk. Knowing this makes Phil's character easier to endure because he's going to be redeemable.

TURN: Washington's Spies - This show really does push up against an R/TV-MA rating. But I love the story. I love the based-on-historical fact, Revolutionary War setting.

The Last Ship - This is one of the shows I watch while I'm waiting for new seasons of my real favorites. The premise is unique (a navy ship, trying to save the world). I like the unpredictability of the plot. One or two things have been just plain dumb (burning bodies in a power plant?).

Shows I have gotten tired of:

Flash - got boring after a couple seasons.

Arrow - got boring for me after a couple seasons. And so much violence. For me it "jumped the shark" when (spoiler---) his mother was killed so graphically.

Legends of Tomorrow - watched a few of the first episodes, was bored.

I'm seeing a trend here for me, with DC Comics TV shows...

Game of Thrones - To see what all the fuss is about, I watched the first episode on Vidangel, heavily content-filtered. What a horrible story and horrible characters, even with the sleazy stuff removed.

All these TV-MA "prestige shows" make me ill thinking about them - how rotten TV has gotten.

Manhattan - Very offensive content even though TV14. I am intrigued to watch next season but don't know if it's worth it.

[added]

I forgot a few more favorites. My wife loves PBS mysteries, and sometimes I get hooked on them too.

Endeavor - the young inspector Morse. I never could enjoy the original Morse series, though.

Foyle's War is another one we love, but I think it's finally ended now.

Doc Martin is a hoot. Not a mystery, just a, uh, drama/comedy I guess. Unfortunately, new seasons only come every two years. Darn Brits, they insist on taking time for quality...

So, yeah, at this time in my life I have strong need for escape, through watching TV. I'm changing careers soon, and hopefully then I won't need TV to help me get through the week...

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by tesuji

[bytebear]

Jeopardy. Still as good as ever, and they seem to have a good range of LDS related trivia.

I watch Netflix mostly, and found a few somewhat obscure series. 

The IT Crowd is a British comedy about a couple of computer nerds and their very clueless boss.

I still watch the various Star Trek series.  Voyager is my favorite, then TNG, but watched Deep Space 9 after finding a website that said which episodes were lame, and I found the series fairly entertaining.

I also am revisiting the X files. 

Otherwise, it's toddler time with Curious George and Caillou which are actually very good lessons for kids.  And Daniel Tiger which is the animated reboot of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.  I am not thrilled with Sesame Street though.  Too much political correctness and not enough practical learning.

 

Oh, yeah, and lots of home improvement shows.  So many, but Fixer Upper and Decked Out are my current faves.

[bytebear]

1 hour ago, NeedleinA said:

Ughhhh.... spoiler alert next time on Flash!
Fixer Upper... on at my house all the time thanks to my wife. Only thing I can't stand are the fake low prices to do renovations. Those cost have to TV subsidized some how otherwise they wouldn't be in business at those prices. 

I understand that the furniture is actually just for show.  But yeah, most home improvements where they quote prices are crazy cheap.

[NeedleinA]

2 minutes ago, bytebear said:

most home improvements where they quote prices are crazy cheap.

Crazy falsely misleadingly cheap. 

[tesuji]

3 hours ago, bytebear said:

I understand that the furniture is actually just for show.  But yeah, most home improvements where they quote prices are crazy cheap.

LOL, I thought at first you were calling Felicity on Flash "furniture." (They used that term for women in the movie Soylent Green. Very un-PC.)  

[tesuji]

3 hours ago, bytebear said:

watched Deep Space 9 after finding a website that said which episodes were lame, and I found the series fairly entertaining.

This is a great way to watch TV series. Skip the duds.

The following website is great for finding out which episodes are good: http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/

If the search doesn't find your show, just use the following example link, and replace the ID at the end with the correct ID on IMDB, http://graphtv.kevinformatics.com/tt0092455

[Guest MormonGator]

4 hours ago, bytebear said:

Jeopardy I also am revisiting the X files. 

 

Um, want to hang out? I love those two shows. The beautiful LadyGator watches a lot of true crime (ID Discovery, Snapped). Aside from X-Files and Jeopardy I like Seinfeld, Frasier and anything on CNBC or Foxnews .  

[Backroads]

We don't have live TV... we're Netflix/wait-til-the-station-posts-it-online folk.

Hell On Wheels: Now, I've only seen bits here and there and my husband fills me in (he's on his second run of the show), but I do get involved with what I do watch. If you like a gritty western, it's pretty darn good.

Man vs. Food: I watch this on Netflix, drives Husband batty. But, hey, I really like unhealthy road food.

Once Upon a Time: This is pretty much my one and only soap opera. It's cheesy, it's so easy to criticize, but it's a lot of fun probably because of all that. Makes me happy. Not the cleanest despite being a family ABC show if you want to get hypercritical, but good for an older family.

Supernatural: Pretty gritty, very... interesting take on heaven and hell and deity, but I've been faithfully watching this since college. (I'm a Dean girl, for the record).

Gilmore Girls: Frankly, I love this show. Love everything about it. Thrilled there's going to be some Netflix movies.

Sofia the First: I'm so ashamed but... I really like this show. This is up there with MLP, almost, in shows-I-watch-with-my-daughter. I also would like it to be known we had no idea about the friends' names when we named our second daughter Jade and I'm getting tired of asking if we named our daughters Ruby and Jade because of the show and if we are going to name a future third daughter Amber. WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SHOW UNTIL ABOUT 4 MONTHS AGO! Anyway, I think the show is darling and has great lessons and some of the songs are awesome.

My Little Pony: Husband is a Brony now. He won't admit it. He says he is a father of a daughter and it's not the same thing, but he lies.

Psych: This is like my go-to show on Netflix if I'm tired or folding laundry.

The Big Bang Theory: This is my guilty pleasure show. I probably shouldn't watch it. But it really makes me laugh.

 

I have quite a few LDS friends who watch Game of Thrones. I devoured the books in college and I did watch the first season. I have no intention of watching anymore.

 

 

[BeccaKirstyn]

Madam Secretary: my family and I love this show. First season is on Netflix. It's on CBS, but when we miss an episode on live TV it is available on CBS's website to watch. If you like politically related shows, you'll love this one. 

Prison Break: Guilty pleasure for me due to my college education. A decent show though if you like shows that have twists and turns that you don't see coming, even if you are that person who can predict everything that will happen in a show. Accurate depiction of prison violence, so I'd definitely give it a PG-13 rating. 

MasterChef: love cooking shows, and love Gordon Ramsey. Available on Hulu. A lot more interesting than other reality cooking shows IMO.

So You Think You Can Dance: Actually very entertaining to watch, even if you aren't a fan of dance or do it yourself. This season is for little kids though (8-13) so it's a little different from previous seasons. Still skeptical so far, but a very family-friendly show at the moment. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Backroads said:

We don't have live TV... we're Netflix/wait-til-the-station-posts-it-online folk.

We don't either.  The way we watch them has no commercials.  YEY!!!

8 hours ago, Backroads said:

My Little Pony: Husband is a Brony now. He won't admit it. He says he is a father of a daughter and it's not the same thing, but he lies.

HAH!  He should hang out with NT.  I've missed the whatever bird he had for an avatar before.

8 hours ago, Backroads said:

Psych: This is like my go-to show on Netflix if I'm tired or folding laundry.

My favorite show for many years.  Loved it!

[anatess2]

14 hours ago, bytebear said:

I understand that the furniture is actually just for show.  But yeah, most home improvements where they quote prices are crazy cheap.

 

14 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

Crazy falsely misleadingly cheap. 

 

Chip:  " This is a real business, doing real projects, for real clients."

The Gaines' have 4 businesses:
1.)  Magnolia Realty  - the side of the business that looks for homes for sale and negotiates prices
2.)  Magnolia Market - the side of the business that sells home furniture and decor
3.)  Magnolia Homes - the side of the business that does construction.
4.)  Magnolia Villas - this is a subdivision that the Gaines are currently constructing to be able to sell to homebuyers (not part of the show).

All these businesses are in Waco, Texas.  Like most of Texas, property prices are cheaper than 60% of the US.  Although the recent successes of Baylor University and the revitalizing of downtown Waco has caused a lot of property appreciation in the midst of a national economic downturn, the high-end suburbs in Waco still average within the $100K-$200K price range.  Cost of living in Waco, like most of Texas, is also lower so labor rates are low in Texas.

So, a bathroom remodel in the Love It or List It Too show - set in Washington State - or the Flip or Flop - set in California - will go for about $35,000 whereas, Fixer Upper through Magnolia Homes will have remodeled an entire kitchen for that much.

The houses are purchased through Magnolia Realty unless the homeowners already have a house they're targeting.  Magnolia Realty does not charge the clients the realtor fee.  Rather, the Gaines get that money out of their HGTV Talent Fee.

HGTV pitches in for 1 bonus feature and the front landscaping for each remodel.

The Gaines don't always remodel the entire house in the show's budget.  The budget only covers what the show will "reveal".  After the cameras stop rolling, any other remodel the Gaines do to the house will be another budget.

The furnishing for the house use the homeowner's existing furniture when they have it.  A few anchor pieces are bought from local crafts/antiques store and are purchased with the budget money.  Custom furniture pieces from Harper Design are also purchased with the budget money.  Everything else comes from Magnolia Market.   At the end of the show, any pieces from Magnolia Market that the homeowners want to keep can be purchased through the store.

Magnolia Realty/Magnolia Homes operate other remodeling projects that are not part of the show.  They do the exact same thing as what goes on in the show minus the HGTV contributions.

[NeedleinA]

14 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Chip:  " This is a real business, doing real projects, for real clients."

I believe what Chip is saying...it is a real business. Just because someone has a real business it doesn't make it a smart, viable, or profitable business. Magnolia appears to have a wonderful business as a "whole", but I highly doubt it is coming from the costs they charge on remodeling. They are either subsidized by HGTV, their HGTV appearance fees, or they allow their other 3 businesses to subsidize the 4th remodeling one, kind of like a lost lead. The remodel could be a lost lead to sell the home, sell the marked up furniture and maintain a flow of projects for their TV show. Having already taken into account regional material and labor costs, I still stand by my statement that their televised prices are falsely cheap for remodels. Perhaps their 4th remodeling business charges "real" prices for non-televised projects? 

My 2 cents 

[pam]

Boy I am totally lost in this thread.  Since getting rid of tv and just having an antenna, the only show I watch is America's Got Talent.

[anatess2]

11 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

I believe what Chip is saying...it is a real business. Just because someone has a real business it doesn't make it a smart, viable, or profitable business. Magnolia appears to have a wonderful business as a "whole", but I highly doubt it is coming from the costs they charge on remodeling. They are either subsidized by HGTV, their HGTV appearance fees, or they allow their other 3 businesses to subsidize the 4th remodeling one, kind of like a lost lead. The remodel could be a lost lead to sell the home, sell the marked up furniture and maintain a flow of projects for their TV show. Having already taken into account regional material and labor costs, I still stand by my statement that their televised prices are falsely cheap for remodels. Perhaps their 4th remodeling business charges "real" prices for non-televised projects? 

My 2 cents 

No, Magnolia Villas is not a remodeling business.  Magnolia Villas is a subdivision of brand new construction homes.

No, Magnolia Homes do not give different prices for the TV remodels versus the remodels that don't go on TV.  Authenticity is the Fixer Upper identity.

It would be silly for the Gaines to lose money on remodels.  There's no reason for it.  Whether the remodel costs $100K or $10K doesn't matter much to the TV audience.  It only matters to the clients.  The audience is about the before-and-after.  Displaying the $ aspect of the project on TV is to support its authenticity.  It would be highly unethical to put false $ on TV on a show that is identified by its authenticity.  And one thing the Gaines are known for infront of or behind the camera is ethics and morals.

By the way, history on Magnolia Homes.  This used to be a house flipper business.  Chip would find run down houses, fix it up, then sell it.  He quit doing that after the housing bubble because Chip was finding it difficult to front the money for the flip.  So he decided to find a client to buy a house first, sell them the vision of the remodel, then have the clients take out a construction loan on top of the sale price.  Joanna has no professional design training of any kind.  But she had a good eye for furnishings and style.  She was gonna open up a store but then felt inspired by the Holy Ghost to put it off and be a stay at home mom.  When Chip started to do remodels instead of flips, he recruited Joanna to help him on designing according to the homeowner's taste.  This led to her getting out of the stay-at-home-mom life and getting involved in the business.  She finally received the inspiration from the Spirit to open up Magnolia Market after they have already signed up for HGTV.  But even with these businesses hopping, they still continued to live their modest family-oriented lifestyle.  Do you know that the Gaines do not have a TV set in their house?  They go to family TV nights with friends.

 

[pam]

Fixer Upper I think is the ONLY legitimate show on HGTV.

[NeedleinA]

9 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

No, Magnolia Villas is not a remodeling business.  Magnolia Villas is a subdivision of brand new construction homes.

No, Magnolia Homes do not give different prices for the TV remodels versus the remodels that don't go on TV.  Authenticity is the Fixer Upper identity.

It would be silly for the Gaines to lose money on remodels.  There's no reason for it.  Whether the remodel costs $100K or $10K doesn't matter much to the TV audience.  It only matters to the clients.  The audience is about the before-and-after.  Displaying the $ aspect of the project on TV is to support its authenticity.  It would be highly unethical to put false $ on TV on a show that is identified by its authenticity.  And one thing the Gaines are known for infront of or behind the camera is ethics and morals.

1. Uh, yes, I realize Magnolia Villas is not a remodeling business. 
2. Chip and his family don't need the Villas to be a remodeling company in order to help subsidize the other business. A Magnolia Cupcake company could still subsidize the remodeling business. One business, regardless of what it is can always help float another.
3. What price Magnolia homes gives on air versus off air is 100% speculation from us "both". I have no idea, but at the same time nor do you know their "private" pricing. 
4. I'm very aware that "reality" TV is not 100% realty. 
5. "It would be silly for the Gaines to lose money on remodels.  There's no reason for it. " The Gaines don't have to actually "lose" money to offer up televised low/ false* prices. (False = substantially lower than market prices for the sake of TV) Their prices might be for a break even or slight profit... but not for an actual making money profit. They are smart business people. Better to lower the cost of the remodel because it makes the customers extra extra happy on TV to see what they paid (low cost) and what kind of deal they got. Chip always likes to toss out how much "equity" they now have in their house because of their "cheap" remodel. Sharing the figures is part of the hype and wow factor, not just simply the before and after pictures. 

[anatess2]

51 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

1. Uh, yes, I realize Magnolia Villas is not a remodeling business. 
2. Chip and his family don't need the Villas to be a remodeling company in order to help subsidize the other business. A Magnolia Cupcake company could still subsidize the remodeling business. One business, regardless of what it is can always help float another.
3. What price Magnolia homes gives on air versus off air is 100% speculation from us "both". I have no idea, but at the same time nor do you know their "private" pricing. 
4. I'm very aware that "reality" TV is not 100% realty. 
5. "It would be silly for the Gaines to lose money on remodels.  There's no reason for it. " The Gaines don't have to actually "lose" money to offer up televised low/ false* prices. (False = substantially lower than market prices for the sake of TV) Their prices might be for a break even or slight profit... but not for an actual making money profit. They are smart business people. Better to lower the cost of the remodel because it makes the customers extra extra happy on TV to see what they paid (low cost) and what kind of deal they got. Chip always likes to toss out how much "equity" they now have in their house because of their "cheap" remodel. Sharing the figures is part of the hype and wow factor, not just simply the before and after pictures. 

3.  Well, it's only speculation if there's no source.  I've been following this show since 2014... including the news stories around it.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/neglected-north-waco-houses-transformed-as-hgtv-cameras-roll/article_dbf75c5e-460e-5ee8-a63c-81e1171c5f8f.html

[NeedleinA]

31 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

3.  Well, it's only speculation if there's no source.  I've been following this show since 2014... including the news stories around it.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/neglected-north-waco-houses-transformed-as-hgtv-cameras-roll/article_dbf75c5e-460e-5ee8-a63c-81e1171c5f8f.html

Not sure if I'm missing the "source" from the link?? I will admit that I only skimmed over the link, but it appears to give only "one" example of a renovation by the Gaines.

"Hooper’s family bought the house from the city for $24,008, slightly more than the tax appraisal value of $20,991.

A fan of HGTV renovation programs, she heard about the Magnolia Homes series and wrote to owners Chip and Joanna Gaines, who agreed to take it on.

The renovation brought the total cost to about $180,000, Hooper said."

The family referenced in the Waco News article,  Charmaine Hooper and Chuck Codd are listed on HGTV magazine, thus not making it "private" pricing.

http://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/back-from-the-brink-a-fixer-upper-story-pictures