Small Talk: The Quiver

[thuganomics85]

I will probably check it out, but it will probably wait till Monday since apparently all my summer shows air either on Sunday or Thursday. Spread the wealth, Summer TV!  But the early reviews have been mainly positive.  My only real issue going in is that I find William Hurt to be a huge mixed bag: sometimes his style of acting works, but other times he is honestly pretty bad.  Campy, but not in an entertaining William Shatner way, but in a cringe-worthy and uncomfortable way.  So, I'm just wondering if Humans is going to have Good/Decent William Hurt or Bad William Hurt.

 

At least Colin Morgan should be able to make up for it.  It's cool seeing all the former Merlin folks pop up in various things lately: Bradley James in iZombie, Katie McGrath in Jurassic World, and, hell, even Anthony Head, Eoin Macken, and Santiago Cabrera are all in shows I still watch.  I guess that just leaves Angel Coulby.  What the hell happened to her?  Because, I swear I haven't seen her in anything after Merlin.

Edited June 28, 2015 by thuganomics85

[SonofaBiscuit]

My brother and I used to go to my grandma's after school and watch Gargoyles, DuckTales, Pinky and the Brain, TaleSpin, Chip 'n Dale, Bonkers, and the Power Rangers (I'm sure all of these didn't air the same years).  I also remember Aladdin, Dinosaurs, and ReBoot (pretty sure those were all morning cartoons).  There's probably a ton more, but my brother would have a way better recollection than I do.  Those were some really great cartoons.

 

 

[dcinmb]

[EmeraldArcher]

Wow! Thanks, dcinmb, for posting the Shane Koyczan poem! I'd never heard of him until I saw your post, but now I've watched several of his YouTube videos. There's something so transcendent about good poetry. Also, I LOVED the poem you posted. Superman has always been my favorite hero because he is always good, unfailing noble, and practically indestructible. He really is a symbol of hope.

I can't believe how many incredibly talented Canadians have come to my attention in the last few years. It's like almost every time I dig a little bit into an interesting person's bio, I'm saying, "Yep, they're Canadian--figures" to myself. There's just so many things to adore about Canada.

[tv echo]

Here's an interesting NY Times article on SDCC...

 

Comic-Con, Defending Fantasy Culture and, Now, Its Brand
By MICHAEL CIEPLY and BROOKS BARNESJUNE 28, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/business/media/comic-con-defending-fantasy-culture-and-now-its-brand.html?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0

[Delphi]

Yeah, I even saw a BTS photo of young Jubilee and young Jean which is hilarious to me since the comics tried to keep Jubilee a kid forever. She's been so misused by both Comics and movies that I don't hold out much hope for her on Age of Apocalypse.

Jube is pretty much my favourite mutant in the marvel verse and no matter what medium she's in they mess her up or her scenes get deleted. I'm forever bitter that they gave Rogue her relationship with Logan in the movie even though I still like movie Rogue (even though the misused her in the movies as well). Seriously, I could write a better purpose for both characters in the last few movies right now in my very hungover, sunburnt state.

I didn't realize I was so angry about that until just now.

[Sakura12]

The movies decided to give everything to Wolverine (and Mystique in the prequels). Spread the wealth X-Men writers, you have a whole bunch of interesting characters.

[BkWurm1]

Back in the day I watched the X-men cartoon only sporadically.  I had some favorites but at this point it's been so long I wouldn't be able to name them except for Rogue.  I remembered liking her in the cartoon so I again liked her in the movie.  I did not like Wolverine in the cartoon but the movie guy was fun...to a limit.  The problem with focusing on only a couple characters is I end up not caring much about the rest of the characters and that makes up the other half of the movie. 

 

I liked Beast.  They spent enough time on his character to connect me to him but otherwise even if they have had a good scene in one movie, they never seem to build on it in the next so by the NEXT movie, I've forgotten about them in the first place (since I am by no means a passionate fan).  Still, I always feel like I SHOULD be more connected to these characters.  I do have a lot of fondness for Prof X and Magneto and at least the younger variation of Raven but after what, 5 movies, (plus another 2 for Wolverine) shouldn't I care more?? 

 

It's like they only  spend time on characters long enough to use their flashy abilities but they don't want to do the work of fleshing them out, or at least beyond Prof X, Beast, Wolverine, and Raven.   In the first movies I know they attempted something with Jean and Storm and Scott but it for me fell flat.  I did though learn their names so I guess that counts for something.  

Change in topic.

 

Watched the first episode of AMC's Humans.  It's a big fat meh, from me though I hold hope of it getting better.  The Pilot had an awful lot of plotty setup and introduction of characters and at this point I'm not sure who to root for so that's confusing, lol. 

[wingster55]

Many seem to be down about True Detective this season, but I'm liking it. Rachel McAdams is killing it.

This may be due to me not seeing season 1. 

[Morrigan2575]

Jube is pretty much my favourite mutant in the marvel verse and no matter what medium she's in they mess her up or her scenes get deleted. I'm forever bitter that they gave Rogue her relationship with Logan in the movie even though I still like movie Rogue (even though the misused her in the movies as well). Seriously, I could write a better purpose for both characters in the last few movies right now in my very hungover, sunburnt state.

I didn't realize I was so angry about that until just now.

Yeah, totally bitter about Jube's treatment in the movieverse. Of course her treatment in.comics hasn't been that much better. I had to drop X-Men because Wood turned her into a Baby Carrier (litterly, all she did was carry her adopted (stolen) baby around). Ironically, MG is the reason I started reading X-Men again; his run treated her much better and he really seemed to have her voice/personality down.

At the very least I'm happy they gave the story to Rogue instead of Kitty...I hate Kitty. No idea when it started but, I really can't stand her. I think it might go all the way back to the orginal 80s X-Men cartoon. Please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers that show.

Sort of off topic but how come no one told me Deadpool had his own X-Box 360 Game?! Looking at you Calliope

Edited June 29, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[calliope1975]

Sort of off topic but how come no one told me Deadpool had his own X-Box 360 Game?! Looking at you Calliope

 

To be fair, I only have a PS4 after making the leap from a Wii, and I'm a terrible gamer. However, I have watched many clips from the Deadpool game because I love DP and Nolan North. 

 

I humbly offer Deadpool on Ultimate Spider-Man in apology.

[Morrigan2575]

That was adorable, even got lil pool in there. You are forgiven ;-)

I found the game from watching Deadpool clips on YouTube. It's available in PC, Xbox and PS3 (I think). Going to get it from Amazon for funsies.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[FurryFury]

I've watched the pilots for Killjoys and Dark Matter, new SyFy shows. I think both are quite watchable, if not exactly good. It's been ages since I've seen proper space sci-fi. Those are both low-budget and rather light on the science element (I don't mind though, I'm actually more of a fantasy fan anyway), but try to focus on the characters which is a plus for me. Killjoys was overall done a bit better (and has a kickass female lead to boot), but Dark Matter has a more interesting premise (it's only revealed at the end of the pilot and I sure hope they won't back down from it). So if you like the genre you could check it out.

[dtissagirl]

Yeah, I'm watching both Killjoys and Dark Matter as well.

 

I was looking forward to Killjoys since it was announced, and it's exactly the kind of space shenanigans I like. It's from the creator of Lost Girl, and I really like Aaron Ashmore now that I don't have to hate his guts on Smallville. :) Not comparing quality here, but I thought the vibe on Killjoys was very Firefly-like.

 

Dark Matter is from the dudebros showruners that DESTROYED Stargate: Atlantis for me [my angriest rage-quit ever], so I went in with a cold heart and tons of mistrust. But the second episode won me over. Plus, I gratuitously love Roger Cross and Jodelle Ferland, which helps. As a funny connection to Greg Berlanti, Martin Gero, who's showrunning Blindspot for Berlanti Co. next season, also used to be a writer-producer on SGA, and he wrote episode 103 of Dark Matter. I've always enjoyed Gero's dialog, and it was fun to watch sci-fi technobabble written by him again.

[Starfish35]

Another Ausiello Blind Item.

http://tvline.com/2015/06/30/blind-item-ausiello-couple-breaking-up-fall-tv/

I hope it's not Castle, but it sounds like it might be.

Dark Matter is from the dudebros showruners that DESTROYED Stargate: Atlantis for me [my angriest rage-quit ever]

When did you quit SGA?

Edited June 30, 2015 by Starfish35

[dtissagirl]

When did you quit SGA?

 

When they fired Torri Higginson. I only watched the first 3 seasons.

[Starfish35]

Oh yeah. :( I should have quit then too, but I ended up watching most of the rest of it (I think there's about three episodes of season five I've never watched).

[dtissagirl]

It broke my heart that Sam replaced Elizabeth, because Sam is pretty much my favorite fictional person in all universes, but I just couldn't watch it. I fanwanked it as Sam didn't want that assignment anyway.

[Starfish35]

Yeah I'll never understand why they thought it was a good idea to get rid of Elizabeth. The show was never the same after that. :(

[lemotomato]

Ugh... Whenever I see people complain about "fan service" on Arrow and how it mistreats its lead actress, I want to point them to SGA to show them how it's actually done.

[FurryFury]

I quit SGA after watching the first half of the pilot. It just never gelled for me. But then, I never liked SG1 as well (although I've seen more, maybe 8 episodes or so).

 

I've also felt a Firefly vibe from Killjoys but Dark Matter has some of it too. I mean, maybe he changes later, but Three was basically Jayne without the hat and played by a worse actor. Jeez.

 

I hope it's not Castle, but it sounds like it might be.

 

This would be a supremely stupid idea. I don't watch Castle (seen the pilot, decided it's not my thing and moved on) but there's no way that such an old procedural would get new viewers at this point, new romance or not. They'll just piss off their old audience which, if my impression is right, is mostly there because they like both leads and their relationship. There are shows that could survive even by breaking up the central couple. I think Grey's Anatomy may because it has an ensemble cast. Scandal probably could as well. Arrow, Once Upon A Time, etc. But not Castle or Bones.

Edited June 30, 2015 by FurryFury

[Sakura12]

Castle would be stupid to break up a married couple. I could understand if Stana didn't renew her contract but she did. How come there are so few actual creative writers on tv? They always stoop to doing the dumbest choices out of the many they should have come up with. Or they try to shock the audience instead of thinking of an interesting story to tell. 

 

Grey's did break up their main couple, well they killed him but they are done now. For Grey's I mean main couple as the couple we started the show out with a million years ago. I haven't watched Grey's since Addison left so I have no idea if they are considered a main couple anymore. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by Sakura12

[Starfish35]

I think it would be immensely stupid too, but I'm not sure what other show fits all the clues.

a hit series will throw caution to the wind and put a (possibly permanent!) pin in one of TV’s most popular love stories — a game-changing move that threatens to seismically alter the DNA of the series.

Oh, and it will also piss off a lot of people, a backlash The Powers That Be are said to be fully prepared for and not necessarily all that fearful of; the aging[emphasis mine] series could benefit from having its core rocked, many believe.

And it's a one-hour drama on one of the main five broadcast networks.

Grey's just killed off half of their main couple, so it's not them. It could be Bones, but I heard they already broke them up this last season and then put them back together. OUAT - breaking up Captain Swan might piss off a lot of people, but I'm not sure how it would drastically alter the DNA of the show. I don't know. If it's not Castle, and I hope it's not, I'm not sure who it could be.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Starfish35

[NumberCruncher]

Bringing over the discussion from the relationships thread:

I'm loving all of the Poldark/Arrow comparisons, tv echo and statsgirl, because I recently realized just how eerily similar the major tropes are between the two shows (e.g. the main character returns fatherless from the dead to a struggling city, discovers the girl he loved is now with his best friend, said best friend spends most of his time being insecure about his lady's residual feelings for the main character, wealthy main character becomes the champion of the struggling masses, unexpected love comes in the form of the awkward yet lovable assistant/servant whom he doesn't really notice at first but realizes he can't live without). I've already posted about the Felicity/Demelza comparisons so I won't repeat myself, but it's all pretty funny given how the shows wouldn't seem to be all that similar to the casual eye.

[Morrigan2575]

It's amazing how different people view the same subject. I have a friend who was big into the SGA fandom and she has a totally different view of SGA firing Torri.

I was never involved in SG1/SGA/SGU fandom so I have no idea how fandom reacted. I liked Torri/Weir and wasn't happy she left. I felt the same about Beckett leaving the show.

I have feeling I might be one of the fan serviced because I loved Rodney and Sheppard/Rodney friendship.

[Starfish35]

Rodney was my favorite character, and Rodney/Sheppard friendship was my favorite thing on the show. But....I don't think I have ever gotten as defensive over a character as I got over Elizabeth. I don't even really know why exactly. I guess that whole situation just really made me mad.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Starfish35

[dtissagirl]

Haha. I've never loathed a fictional person more than I loathed McKay. Just thinking about him now is filling me with HULKSMASH.

[Sakura12]

I liked McKay in the earlier seasons, in the later ones he really started to grate. 

 

I liked Weir and was slightly upset when they got rid of her, but not enough to stop watching the show. She was far from my favorite character. I'm also one that was thrilled when Sam joined SGA. She was my favorite female character on television at that time. 

[kismet]

Castle would be stupid to break up a married couple. I could understand if Stana didn't renew her contract but she did. How come there are so few actual creative writers on tv? They always stoop to doing the dumbest choices out of the many they should have come up with. Or they try to shock the audience instead of thinking of an interesting story to tell. 

 

Grey's did break up their main couple, well they killed him but they are done now. For Grey's I mean main couple as the couple we started the show out with a million years ago. I haven't watched Grey's since Addison left so I have no idea if they are considered a main couple anymore. 

Walked away from Grey's after they killed one of the original cast via tragic bus accident. The show became different from what I had signed up for at that point. Despite that, one can help but hear about or slightly follow the major events of GA if you read some of the TV websites. Most of all the Grey's main couple splits come from contract disputes, issues with Shonda &/or people leaving. Very rarely, from what my friends who do still watch the show do the broken parts of main couples stay on the show for more than a season. Someone generally leaves. 

 

But totally agree that a show like Castle or Bones could not sustain the ending of main couples without one of the cast members choosing to not return, thereby forcing the writers' hands. Some ensembles can handle it. But shows that have built themselves around a relationship for many seasons, needs that relationship to continue otherwise there is a big hole in the show. It all depends on how integral the relationship has become to telling the story even if it has nothing to do with the major plot.

[Morrigan2575]

Rodney was my favorite character, and Rodney/Sheppard friendship was my favorite thing on the show. But....I don't think I have ever gotten as defensive over a character as I got over Elizabeth. I don't even really know why exactly. I guess that whole situation just really made me mad.

Can someone explain what happened? I thought they fired Torri because Amanda Tapping was still under contract when SG1 ended?

[Starfish35]

I've heard different stories. Joe Flanigan said at a con that it was to bring Amanda Tapping over. Joe Mallozzi flatly denied that, and said that the decision to write Torri out came first, and then they decided to replace her with Amanda. So who knows. Torri had talked about having some differences of opinion with the writers about how Elizabeth was being written, but it never sounded serious - just the kind of stuff you normally hear actors talking about (for example, she disagreed with the decision to have Elizabeth approve Kavanagh's torture in season two - she didn't think Elizabeth would go there). Another theory that was thrown around was that since TPTB were planning to go ahead with the John/Teyla ship in season four (until that got derailed by Rachel Luttrell's pregnancy), they got rid of Elizabeth in order to try to kill off the more popular John/Elizabeth ship. But I don't know if there's any validity to that at all.

ETA: the more frustrating thing, at least for me, was their refusal to give Elizabeth's story an ending. They seemed to want to keep the Elizabeth fans on the hook indefinitely, but never really give any sort of payoff. Torri has said that's why she turned down the chance to come back in season five, because she didn't feel like it was fair to the fans. Mallozzi I think again disputed that version and said they tried to work with her on the story, but that she turned them down anyway. *shrug* I tend to believe Torri, but that might be my personal bias talking.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Starfish35

[Sakura12]

I heard that they needed to run out Tapping's contract and were going to reduce Higginson's role to 5 episodes or something. Then she didn't like the story line and decided not to return for her reduced role. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by Sakura12

[Starfish35]

They gave her four episodes in season four (although one of those was just a cameo at the end). But when they did the episode Ghost In The Machine in season five, they wanted to bring her back for that, but she said no.

[Sakura12]

I did a Stargate SG-1 rewatch last summer, I got up to the dreaded Season 6. It wasn't the best season, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered it. Jonas was ok and knowing Daniel was coming back I could enjoy his character a little more. 

[quarks]

I grew to like Stargate: Atlantis much more in retrospect, and by "in retrospect" I mean "after Stargate: Universe aired."  I did find both shows tremendously frustrating - great creative concepts that the shows just didn't follow through on, but SGU was just so frustrating I started to feel nostalgic about SGA.

[DrSpaceman10]

Another Ausiello Blind Item.

http://tvline.com/2015/06/30/blind-item-ausiello-couple-breaking-up-fall-tv/

I hope it's not Castle, but it sounds like it might be.

 

The most popular guesses for that blind seem to be Bones, Castle, and surprisingly, Arrow. I think Castle is the most likely choice of those three. 

[lemotomato]

I scrolled through the comments expecting Arrow to be mentioned, even though it doesn't fit the description of "aging series" at all. Color me not surprised that the anti- Olicity people showed up.

[Morrigan2575]

Anyone watching The Brink on HBO? It's pretty funny.

[Starfish35]

Yeah I don't know why people are guessing Olicity. Arrow is not an "aging series", and furthermore they just got together. Breaking them up right away would certainly infuriate a lot of people, but it would hardly be the radical shakeup that they're talking about here.

[lemotomato]

I think it's more wishful thinking on their part, rather than actual guesses. Maybe if they repeated it often enough, it'll happen! /sarcasm

Edited July 1, 2015 by lemotomato

[WaitandHope]

Could Scandal be the blind item? I've completely stopped watching that show because I find Olivia/Fitz off-putting - but aren't they still happening in some form? I stopped watching Bones years ago but they seem more likely to me than Castle- as Bones has just always been the darker show at its core.

[FurryFury]

I don't watch any of these shows but my take is it's Scandal. Funnily, the stuff I head about the couple sounds absolutely AWFUL to me (I mean, they have the friggin' President behaving in such way? Wow), and it, coupled with not generally being a fan of soaps, is why I've decided to never even try watching that show. Castle and Bones are just way too focused on their main romances, and Scandal seems to have been falling in the ratings lately (and judging by the episode grades at AVClub, quality). They may go for a big change of status quo to gain buzz.

 

I think it's more wishful thinking on their part, rather than actual guesses. Maybe if they repeated it often enough, it'll happen! /sarcasm

 

Captain Swan got the same treatment in the comments to that article, many popular couples have hatedoms, although in the case of OUAT it's usually the opposing shippers (I think many of those who dislike Olicity just didn't like their romance arc in s3, because I don't believe Lauriver have many fans).

Edited July 1, 2015 by FurryFury

[Morrigan2575]

I wouldn't call Scandal an aging show, it's only had 3.5 seasons so far (first season was only 7 episodes).

Edited July 1, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[Chaser]

Did anyone watch Teen Wolf? 

 

I just finished the two-parter and spent most of the episode(s) wondering if they were trying to set up a new teen crew. Which…no. I don't know if me being distracted trying to figure that out was causing the episode to drag or what. I know that this was just the set-up for the season, and they did set-up some legitimately creepy villains, but it felt like it was taking forever to get to the interesting parts. Also, kind of over the 'new kid at school mystery'. He got better at the end, but since I had to wade thru two hours of him not being interesting, it was boring. And what was with Lydia being so separated? I miss when they actually felt like a group. And I miss her and Stiles interacting. 

[Sakura12]

I liked the premiere episode of Teen Wolf, the second one just seemed to be setting up the big bads of the season. Which is typical of teen shows. Mike Montgomery from PLL is the psycho I always thought he was.  Lol. They need to listen to Stiles more, he protects that pack better than the Alpha does.  

[Chaser]

Stiles is most certainly the brains of the operation. I really loved the 'why don't you trust anyone?' - 'because you trust everyone!'. So true. I love Scott, but he slides into the naive category. 

 

I think the problem for me was that Lydia and Parrish were in one corner dealing with Freddie and Stiles was following the new kid around. And I loved that there was pay-off for both story lines, but I was bored waiting for the new kid to get interesting.

 

I will say, on reflect, I liked the villain fake out on the first episode. And the twist at the end. I really hope that Lydia has more of a storyline this year.

 

Oh and Kira's sword-belt? I want one.

[Sakura12]

Oh and Kira's sword-belt? I want one.

 

That was awesome and the perfect way to carry a sword. I hope she gets to do more this season, she's still just kind of there. 

 

Well apparently Lydia's on her way to becoming a screaming ninja. She fights better than the Alpha. What do they really need Scott for? Stiles is the brain, Malia's the muscle, Liam's the side kick, Lydia's the ninja with death warning bells and even Kira's the electricity with awesome weapons accessories. All they need is for Parish the Phoenix to join them as the bodyguard and they are all set. 

 

I know a lot of people don't like Malia, but I love her and the fact that she gives no shits about what any one thinks of her. I loved that she just lifted that tree like it was no big deal. She doesn't even pretend to hid what she is. My favorite scene is still when Papa Stilinski asked what Malia's favorite meal is and she replied deer.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Sakura12

[Chaser]

I like Scott. Lol

 

I love the Stiles/Scott relationship. I would probably say that Scott is supposed to be the heart. The emotional center or something.

 

I do think Scott suffers from 'Good Alpha Syndrome.' It basically means he is going to suck at fighting until he needs to have a hero moment. Like last season when the assassin used the wire on his neck and Scott just took it off. One of my favorite scenes. Derek had the worst symptoms of this btw. Didn't he win like one or two fights the whole show?

 

Surprised at how much more I like Liam this season. Wasn't impressed last year with the puppy, but he may be the show's Roy Harper.

 

Screaming Ninja is a good definition for Lydia. Can she be Black Canary?

 

Kira is funny to me. I like her because I like her. I couldn't tell you why exactly. I didn't think I would because she was brought in to replace Allison and I'm not generally a fan of replacements but I really liked the way they made the transition. It was smart bringing her into the team when Allison was still alive. And IMO the Scott/Allison break up was handled really well so it didn't feel like she was taking over for someone. Two very different characters and I really appreciated that.

 

Haven't totally warmed up to Malia. I like her well enough, but she still seems a little like a snowflake to me. But it may just be my resentment that we lost so much Lyda/Stiles interaction. I don't care if Lydia/Stiles is romantic or not, I want them to share some screen time. 

 

Parish has my vote as a keeper. 

Edited July 1, 2015 by 10Eleven12

[Sakura12]

Having binge watched the first 3 seasons, I never grew attached to Stiles/Lydia. I liked Lydia and Alison's friendship and now I'd rather see Lydia, Kira and Malia's friendship grow. I liked that non-verbal scene with Kira and Lydia when they were asking each other what Scott was doing in AP Biology. 

 

I think what I'm enjoying about Malia is she is the muscle of the group. We don't see many females taking that role in tv shows. I also love when her Coyote mindset peeks through. I also like her and Stiles, she doesn't always understand why he does what he does, but she'll support him anyway. 

 

I love that they are bringing Mason in, since they didn't really do that with Danny, then when they did he fell of the face of the Earth. 

[SonofaBiscuit]

I feel a bit bad saying this since so many people seemed to have liked her, but I was never a fan of Elizabeth on SGA.  I think it was the actress...I could never warm up to the character.  I watched for John, Teyla, Ronan, and McKay.  I shipped John/Teyla for a long time, and I always wondered why the show never put them together.  Damn real life getting in the way of my ships :)

 

Not gonna lie, basically the only reason that I continue to watch Teen Wolf is for Stiles/Lydia, Stiles/Scott, and Stiles/his dad (see the common thread here?).  I ship Stiles and Lydia, but I think that the show is messing with me, and doesn't plan on ever putting them together.  Wasn't sad to see Allison go (I was not a fan of Crystal Reed's acting), and Kira >>>>>>Alison.

 

Saw the news about Ben Affleck and Jen Garner today.  I don't know why, but I've always felt that he is quite douchey! That whole business with Affleck and Finding Your Roots (PBS) irked the hell out of me.  

Edited July 1, 2015 by SonofaBiscuit