New TV season... anything good on?

[cybercoma]

I watch NFL online all the time because I find NFL Sunday Ticket a massive rip off. But it's not an ideal way to consume to product.

Why isn't it? There's myriad ways to hook up a computer to your television and stream the video full screen in HD with little to no lag. There would be little difference to watching through a network or on cable. People just haven't embraced these options yet. But they're starting to and every year the numbers increase exponentially. We're on the cusp of a huge leap in that direction. Edited October 9, 2013 by cybercoma

[Boges]

Why isn't it? There's myriad ways to hook up a computer to your television and stream the video full screen in HD with little to no lag. There would be little difference to watching through a network or on cable. People just haven't embraced these options yet. But they're starting to and every year the numbers increase exponentially. We're on the cusp of a huge leap in that direction.

It's not desirable because of the pop-up ads and quality is poor.

If you know of a site where I can stream NFL in HD quality for Free, please let know and I'll forever be in your debt.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Boges

[cybercoma]

For free? No.

[Boges]

For free? No.

I could pay The Shield (NFL) $20-$30 a month to watch all their games, but I only really need to watch one. And that game might be on free TV anyway. So I watch it for free online, when it's not.

So, in a way, I sympathize with your opinion that A La Carte or internet only options for consuming content would be beneficial. But if the provider doesn't allow for that, by all means steal the content.

I'm more opposed to people who basically bitTorrent everything because they're too cheap to pay for cable, but they watch TV as much as anyway else.

[cybercoma]

I don't agree with stealing content. I think if you enjoy a show or something, you should give them some money for it. The problem I have with HBO is that I can't get the content the way that I want it. For the record, I've never pirated Game of Thrones. I'm still waiting for Season 3 to come out on iTunes so I can get it. Meanwhile, Season 4 will be beginning soon and I'm still a season behind and it'll be another year before I can get Season 4.

Oh and Season 3 is already available in Australia on iTunes. It's just not available in North America because HBO is in bed with the cable companies.

[cybercoma]

An article from the NYTimes that May interest you, Boges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/media/time-warner-reports-record-quarterly-loss-of-tv-subscribers.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2Findex.jsonp&_r=0

Time-Warner, record quarterly loss of customers.

[kimmy]

I agree about Shield but I will give it another couple of viewings. To date my favorites are The Blacklist ( I am huge James Spader fan) , and Sleepy Hollow.

I'm still fairly "meh" on Agents of Shield, but have been continuing to watch anyway.

I have hopped on board the Blacklist bandwagon. James Spader alone is reason enough to watch the show! The show is sort of a weird mix. The mash-up of "young career woman angst" and FBI business and occassionally creepy villains makes it sort of like Ally McBeal meets Clarice Starling, but James Spader and his alter-ego "Red" Reddington are enough to carry the whole show. What's his deal? Why is he obsessed with Liz? What dark secrets does he carry? What fragrance would he wear? And the villain-of-the-week format gives them a handy way of creating a variety of different moods and advancing the main story arc within stand-alone episodes (this is a challenge that good serials do well and bad serials struggle with. "Buffy" and "Veronica Mars" did this extremely well... "Heroes" didn't.)

I still have not checked out Sleepy Hollow, though I do plan to give it a look.

-k

[Guest Derek L]

Going to check out "Almost Human" on Fox tonight:

http://youtu.be/ykwxg534yAw

[Guest]

I still have not checked out Sleepy Hollow, though I do plan to give it a look.

-k

I just saw a trailer for Sleepy Hollow. They have some guy with no head tied up, and they are interrogating him...

[overthere]

DVRs have changed cable. You don't have to worry about watching stuff when it's aired anymore and you don't have to consume ads if you don't want to.

I have been wondering about this topic for a while. Like many others, almost all of what we watch now is on DVR. About the only 'destination' TV I consume is sports.

With so very many people skipping the ads, what impact does that have on revenues?. Networks cannot expect advertisers to pay full pop for 60 seconds of ad on Mad Men if half the viewers never see it.

The OP: the new show I have most enjoyed this year is Ray Donovan. Excellent cast, well written and can't wait for the next season. on Movie Central.

[bleeding heart]

Networks cannot expect advertisers to pay full pop for 60 seconds of ads on Mad Men if half the viewers never see it.

Interesting choice of program to mention, given the topic.

[Boges]

An article from the NYTimes that May interest you, Boges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/business/media/time-warner-reports-record-quarterly-loss-of-tv-subscribers.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2Findex.jsonp&_r=0

Time-Warner, record quarterly loss of customers.

The incumbents have held up remarkably well — only a small fraction of American homes have stopped paying for monthly TV subscriptions in the last few years.

The article seems more an indictment of contract squabbles then the long-term sustainability of cable TV. Remember, especially in Canada, most cable or satellite companies are also Internet providers so they get you either way.

Once bandwidth gets to a price where unlimited packages are very affordable, I see a completely onDemand system for new programming where ads show up at the start, sort of like with Youtube videos.

Breaking News and Sports are still slaves to the old system though. I can watch sports online (doing it now actually) but the quality is low, I'd much rather watch sports on my HDTV.

[DogOnPorch]

All things must pass...

http://screenrant.com/boardwalk-empire-last-season-5/

[Mighty AC]

I'll miss Boardwalk Empire...though I'd rather see great shows end before they drag.

I've started watching Orange Is The New Black on Netflix and I'm enjoying it so far. It has enough interesting and quirky characters to last for a while.

[Boges]

Boardwalk needs to keep going until at least Capone becomes the historic Capone we know. Introducing an Elliot Ness character would be awesome.

I've been watching the Ken Burns documentary on Prohibition on Netflix and it's quite interesting to see how much Boardwalk Empires gets it right. Though, the documentary spends a lot of time on George Remus. Remus is depicted as a bit of a baffoon on BE but his story is quite interesting. (Getting away with killing his wife etc) But his interactions with Doherty and Jess Smith is spot on.

The way the made a fictional character (Van Alden) interweave into real life events in the life of Capone is great work.

I can't say enough good stuff about the fourth season of BE. It's getting better, not worse.

Orange is the New Black is a good show, looking forward to a second season.

True Detective on HBO is a current show I'm really interested in right now.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Boges

[DogOnPorch]

Van Alden/Mueller is awesome. You never know what that fellow is going to do next.

Settle down, George...relax!

Edited January 27, 2014 by DogOnPorch

[Boges]

If I was him I would have shot those guys too. :-D

Up until that moment the Van Alden storyline was rather boring. He was just this pathetic guy that had fallen off his perch.

SPOILER!!!!!

Having Eli banished to Chicago to work with Capone will make both character's story arch fascinating. I'm sure Van Aldan knows Eli, but I'm unsure if Eli knew Van Alden. Either way it'll be one of the more interesting things in the future season.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Boges

[DogOnPorch]

If I was him I would have shot those guys too. :-D

Up until that moment the Van Alden storyline was rather boring. He was just this pathetic guy that had fallen off his perch.

SPOILER!!!!!

Having Eli banished to Chicago to work with Capone will make both character's story arch fascinating. I'm sure Van Aldan knows Eli, but I'm unsure if Eli knew Van Alden. Either way it'll be one of the more interesting things in the future season.

I have to say this is one of the best ever...beats Sopranos...and that's no small feat.

[Michael Hardner]

I have to say this is one of the best ever...beats Sopranos...and that's no small feat.

I'd like to know how the Empire 'beats' the Sopranos. Just the variety of stories, themes and number of characters and stories in the Sopranos puts it in a different league. BE is just a period gangster piece... without much focus, either, for my money. I have liked it enough, but last season was so much of a bore that I may not continue.

[Boges]

I'd like to know how the Empire 'beats' the Sopranos. Just the variety of stories, themes and number of characters and stories in the Sopranos puts it in a different league. BE is just a period gangster piece... without much focus, either, for my money. I have liked it enough, but last season was so much of a bore that I may not continue.

It's hard to argue with an opinion but I think BE is one of the best shows on TV today. The fact the show doesn't really have to much of a central focus is a positive thing. You have several characters with a loose relationship to one guy (Nucky) but they do their own thing. Some arcs are stronger than others, but that's to be expected.

It's not the most action-packed shows but when it does action, it does it very well.

The other thing I love about the show is that it basically has origin stories for some of the world's most famous prohibition era gangsters. This is something we don't see in shows/movies surrounding these gangster all that often. The relationship between Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria was dealt with in the movie Mobsters but it wasn't nearly in depth as we see in BE.

I'm looking forward to how BE handles the death of Masseria, the Death of Rothstein, the St. Valentines Day Massacre etc. etc.

I thought they did a good job with the death of Frank Capone.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Boges

[Black Dog]

Anyone watching True Detective on HBO? Three episodes in and I've only seen the first two, but it's stunning. Dark Southern Gothic with standout performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Might be the best new show on TV.

[Boges]

Mentioned earlier that I like it. It's funny because nothing "exciting" has happened in the first two episodes but the dialogue is excellent.

You can attribute a lot to the fact that they're using top shelf actors. This isn't an ongoing series though, this story will come to a close after 8 episodes and if the show comes back it'll be a different story with different actors.

This is the 3rd HBO show I know of set in Louisiana, must be a very interesting place.

[DogOnPorch]

I'd like to know how the Empire 'beats' the Sopranos. Just the variety of stories, themes and number of characters and stories in the Sopranos puts it in a different league. BE is just a period gangster piece... without much focus, either, for my money. I have liked it enough, but last season was so much of a bore that I may not continue.

Quite a few familiar Soprano faces and new characters added makes this a bit like Sopranos Mk II...in my opinion. Either way, my wife really enjoys it...I'd rather cuddle-up with her to watch TV.

It's hard to argue with an opinion but I think BE is one of the best shows on TV today. The fact the show doesn't really have to much of a central focus is a positive thing. You have several characters with a loose relationship to one guy (Nucky) but they do their own thing. Some arcs are stronger than others, but that's to be expected.

It's not the most action-packed shows but when it does action, it does it very well.

The other thing I love about the show is that it basically has origin stories for some of the world's most famous prohibition era gangsters. This is something we don't see in shows/movies surrounding these gangster all that often. The relationship between Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria was dealt with in the movie Mobsters but it wasn't nearly in depth as we see in BE.

I'm looking forward to how BE handles the death of Masseria, the Death of Rothstein, the St. Valentines Day Massacre etc. etc.

I thought they did a good job with the death of Frank Capone.

Yes...I really like the 'early days' approach. As well as the so-called lack of focus which does all tie together in a fashion. I find Game of Thrones far more irritating in this respect....five minutes here...ten minutes here...four minutes over there. The only thing more irritating is not finishing the series off properly...cancelling or rushing things. The Borgias and Rome would be a good examples of that.

One that's pretty bizarre at times is American Horror Story. Coven hasn't been what I was expecting, however. Not sure I like it...better wrap-up properly with Fiona killing everybody from beyond the grave...lol. Asylum, however, was darn creepy.

The one coming-up on the roster is 'The Americans' season 2...season 1 was pretty good. We'll see, I suppose.

[GostHacked]

If you love sci-fi, stay away from Helix (Morre , Baggen) The concept is nice, but the execution and delivery is terrible. Also the first two hour ep advances too fast. All that could have been a great suspenseful season. Predictable lines, characters and events. I did not make it through the whole two hours.

[overthere]

True Detective has a couple of fine actors that just power through a sleepy, surreal setting. I'd watch both McConaughey and Harrelson read the phone book at this point.

Harrelson started out(in my world anyway) as the ultimate lightweight in Cheers. He has shaken that persona long ago and has proven to be a fine actor. I saw him recently in an underated movie called Out Of The Furnace, a chilling role. McConaughey has somehow gone from prettboy without a shirt roles to some very good stuff in just a short time, a few years.

And of course Boardwalk Empire is terrific, and just as certainly it must end soon. In all these high quality endeavours it becomes harder every season to keep a stellar and expensive group of actors writers and support people together. I found the first couple of episodes of BE to be borderline material, mostly because I had a hard time seeing Steve Buscemi as a hardass gangster. No problem with that now!