24 (Fox)

Post by **Pepperidge** » Sat May 29, 2004 7:28 pm

Apparently the 13 episodes of Wonderfalls that did get filmed tell a full story arc in themselves, so at least getting the show on DVD

That's why I hate American TV. "Cancellation" doesn't really seem to exist anywhere else in the world because shows are designed to last only a certain number of episodes. If American stations operated that way, at least they could air a show without the mentalitiy of forcing it to last forever.

The problem with the Futurama conclusion was that it wasn't produced to be a series finale. And while it ended Fry and Leela's relationship on an above average note, I just don't think it brought enough closure to the show what with all of the backstory that had been developed. I get the feeling that Groening and co. wanted to show is much, much more.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat May 29, 2004 7:30 pm

Why do you want closure? I liked the way they concluded things, but still left it open-ended.

Biby128 · Post by **Biby128** » Sat May 29, 2004 7:49 pm

24 is OK, I've seen a few episodes, even though I don't know what's going on, I'm liking the show so far.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Sat May 29, 2004 8:16 pm

Segaholic2 wrote:Arrested Development blows. ^_^

You just don't get the humor. =P =)

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat May 29, 2004 8:20 pm

I guess not. :P

But I'll argue against the point that it has the same universal appeal as Seinfeld. You can't just sit down and watch three completely random episodes and understand or appreciate the humor as well as you can with three completely random Seinfeld episodes. The Seinfeld characters are classic because they're so simple and require no explanation. Not to say that they're completely shallow characters (okay, maybe they are...), but Seinfeld only gets better and funnier the more you watch and understand the individual character's quirks.

Okay, so I just made your point with Arrested Development as well (and probably every other show in existence). :P What I'm trying to say is I don't think AD is as accessible as Seinfeld. So there.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Sat May 29, 2004 8:32 pm

I think the point you are trying to make it that AD has more of a sense of continuity than Seinfield so when you do miss a few episodes of AD, sometimes you would feel lost despite they do recap to events that happens in past episodes. I guess you call only get the full effect of the show from watching the begining to the end of the season making it more akin to Curb Your Euthisiam than Seinfield.

But it still has that same smart type of comedy most other sitcoms lack.

I also like the fact that this show lacks a laugh track as it doesn't force the viewer to laugh at so called "funny" events.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat May 29, 2004 8:40 pm

GG!, I never would've guessed you to be a Family Guy man.

I wouldn't have thought so either, because I usually hate modern sitcoms, even the animated ones. I'd caught bits and pieces of it while Spam was watching it and I was surprised by how clever it was, so when his friend brought over the season 1 & 2 DVDs I sat down to watch it. In the first episode when the Kool-Aid man bursts through the wall of the court house, that's when I became hooked.

I've only seen a couple of episodes from season 3, but they were the best ones yet. When did the show finish airing? Like, 2000 or 2001, huh?

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:07 pm

I refuse to watch 24, because the episodes are 45 minutes long rather than 1 hour long. American commercial breaks be damned, that just ruins the entire gimmick the show is based upon.

Fifteen minutes missing from each hour. 24 hours. That's 360 minutes. Divided by 60 - 6 hours are missing from each season of 24. That's a hell of a lot. But I guess the name "18" sounds more like a porno.

If you like, simply think of the characters going to the bathroom for six hours a day. That explains the missing time.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:16 pm

Zeta wrote:If you like, simply think of the characters going to the bathroom for six hours a day. That explains the missing time.

Or, you know, use that whole "suspension of disbelief" thing. Y'know, the thing that allows us to enjoy fiction and all...

Post by **Esrever** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:36 pm

The time in which commercials air is actually included in the time of the show. The action keeps going in real time during the commercials... you just don't see it. Every time someone has to drive somewhere, or read something long, or search through a pile of something or others, or wait for someone to phone, or anything else that would result in a few minutes of boring footage... they plop in a commercial break. It's probably more convinient for the writers than it is hindering.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:39 pm

Esrever wrote:The time in which commercials air is actually included in the time of the show. The action keeps going in real time during the commercials... you just don't see it. Every time someone has to drive somewhere, or read something long, or search through a pile of something or others, or wait for someone to phone, or anything else that would result in a few minutes of boring footage... they plop in a commercial break. It's probably more convinient for the writers than it is hindering.

Er, yeah, that too. Which means, technically, that all of s3 could have been one giant ad and no one would have missed anything! ;D

Post by **Esrever** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:43 pm

Ba-dum TSH!

Come on, Salazar was a badass and you know it.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:46 pm

Salazar was definitely badass. Him and Jack's, ah, what Jack went through are the only redeeming qualities of S3.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Sat May 29, 2004 9:57 pm

Esrever wrote:The time in which commercials air is actually included in the time of the show. The action keeps going in real time during the commercials... you just don't see it. Every time someone has to drive somewhere, or read something long, or search through a pile of something or others, or wait for someone to phone, or anything else that would result in a few minutes of boring footage... they plop in a commercial break. It's probably more convinient for the writers than it is hindering.

I believe it was shown on the BBC in the UK. No ads man. And it sucks for DVD, unless they have 15 minutes of deleted scenes on each episode.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Sat May 29, 2004 11:08 pm

Delphine wrote:Salazar was definitely badass. Him and Jack's, ah, what Jack went through are the only redeeming qualities of S3.

Shut up, the both of you. :P

Post by **Delphine** » Sat May 29, 2004 11:30 pm

Well, you started it!

Post by **Esrever** » Sun May 30, 2004 3:00 am

Look, CP. If really want to watch Jack Bauer drive his car and take a crap, then fine, I will admit that 24 is not the show for you.

Post by **Popcorn** » Sun May 30, 2004 11:44 am

You know, I'm not a very patriotic guy, but I think the BBC is one of the finest things known to modern man. It's one of a very few number of things I can truly be proud to say is British. Y'know, like me. Whenever I'm in the States I've actively offended by television-- you have a lot of good exports, sure, but the actual process of sitting and watching television is just a stressful experience over there. You've got commercial after commercial after commercial, and American advertising laws are so fucking brutal it sort of begins to chisel away at your mentality after a few minutes-- everything has an agenda. The BBC isn't perfect, but it's got no ads and, despite being government-funded, no hidden agenda; and, as far as television can be made to be, it's as stress-free a viewing experience as can be imagined. Everything's so clean, modern and easy.

The first season of Twin Peaks it out on DVD-- I borrowed the Region 1 boxset from a friend, that's how I got into it-- but the Region 1 box doesn't have the pilot episode. Criminally.

Post by **Delphine** » Sun May 30, 2004 1:01 pm

Dude. Pop. Just don't watch the ads. <i>Nobody</i> watches the ads. Ad time is time to go to the bathroom or get a snack or stretch your legs. I don't think I've watched a TV advertisement since 1995.

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Sun May 30, 2004 1:05 pm

I think that may be the reason for the high obesity rate in America, snacking during the constant ad breaks.

Post by **Delphine** » Sun May 30, 2004 1:06 pm

No, the reason for the high obesity rate in America is that we're all a bunch of fat lazy apathetic slobs.

Ngangbius · Post by **Ngangbius** » Sun May 30, 2004 1:20 pm

...that eat a lot of fast food. =P

And the only time when ads are amusing is during the Super Bowl.

Post by **Popcorn** » Sun May 30, 2004 3:33 pm

Viewing time shouldn't be interrupted. That's like saying that, from now on, you gotta stop having sex every two minutes in order to take a 30-second period of being beaten around the face with a sock full of bricks. Maybe if you could work up the effort you could dodge the bricks, but you still gotta stop having sex for those 30 seconds.

Damnit, you people even find ways to shove ads in credit sequences.

Post by **Esrever** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:40 am

Popcorn wrote:Viewing time shouldn't be interrupted. That's like saying that, from now on, you gotta stop having sex every two minutes in order to take a 30-second period of being beaten around the face with a sock full of bricks.

Jesus, Pop. I told you to stay out of my bedroom!

I wish the craptacular CBC was as respectable or valuable as the BBC. Oh well.

Post by **Pepperidge** » Mon May 31, 2004 2:39 am

That's exactly what I was just thinking.

At least they have Da Vinci's Inquest. Did you know that the dude who plays Yotsuya in the Maison Ikkoku dub is in that show?