[promit]

Surprised to see no mention of the new series of Top Gear. What did you guys think of the first two episodes?

A friend of mine recommended this show called Designated Survivor. Any thoughts, how is it?

[dark.knight]

I'm more of a comedy guy, and one show has managed to keep me a fan for more than a decade, a show which revolutionized American comedy, was voted as the biggest American show of all time (currently behind The Sopranos) and without doubt the number one comedy of all time, if Seinfeld the show is an elephant then others like Big Bang Theory and Friends are gnats in comparison. What i LOVED about it and still do, is ZERO emotions, its a show about 4 semi-social, misanthropic friends who are hardly friends who go through life shocking people and pushing societal norms, at the same time it is a parody on life in New York and a view from the mind of a stand-up artist. A 10/10 show, a must watch for comedy lovers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYoBPuUrklk

This show boasts a list of then "totally unknown" guest actors who grew to become huge in Hollywood, and if you can see, the list is massive :

- Jon Favreau - actor/producer/director, most notable for Iron Man
- Jon Lowitz - of Friends fame
- Courteney Coz - of Friends fame
- Debra Messing - of Will & Grace
- James Spader - of Boston Legal
- Brad Garrett - of Everybody Loves Raymond
- Bryan Cranston - before Breaking Bad he was a small-timer in Seinfeld
- Denise Richards - yes, that's how she began
- Christine Taylor - wife of Ben Stiller
- Jerry Stiller - father of Ben Stiller - his breakout role was in Seinfeld
- Marcia Cross, Kristin Davis, Teri Hatcher, Brenda Strong - Desperate Housewives alumni, all featured in Seinfeld as their first gig
- And about 2 dozen others.

Perhaps the most ground-breaking show in the history of television, ever.

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by promit

Surprised to see no mention of the new series of Top Gear. What did you guys think of the first two episodes?

Meh. The thing that made the original Top Gear awesome, IMO, was the chemistry between the three middle aged blokes. Take that away, and all you're left with is fancy cinematography, exotic locations and big budget spends on making the 50 odd minutes look nice. And while Joey is infinitely more tolerable, even likeable to an extent, than that psychotic over-hyped ginger radio DJ, he is no match for the big daddy, Jezza. Same with the other two as well.

Harris monkey is brilliant. No doubt. But I liked his YouTube videos with Neil Carey much much better than I do his Top Gear reviews. Rory Reid isn't bad at all, but I have to compare him & Harris with Hamster & Captain Slow. And all I can say is that they're good. Just not as fantastic as Jezza, Hamster & Slow used to be. Same for the new Top Gear. Guess that answers your query about why there's no mention of the new season

On the other hand, binged on Marvel's Iron Fist Season 1 over the weekend. What a disappointment, after some spectacular stuff like Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by promit

Surprised to see no mention of the new series of Top Gear.

That's probably only because there are dedicated threads for the new series ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/inter...teps-down.html (Chris Evans replaces Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear. EDIT: Evans steps down!) ) as well as the Clarkson/May/Hammond series "The Grand Tour" ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/inter...light=top+gear (Top Gear trio returns with "The Grand Tour" on Amazon Prime!) ).

Originally Posted by mayankk

Seinfeld. The New York traffic when they aired the last episode is anecdotal.

What was it about the traffic? I've not seen Seinfeld in any continuous manner, just watch it if I happen to channel surf onto an episode.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

I'm more ----------SNIP-------- television, ever.

You don't have to discuss Seinfeld. It is the best there ever was. Period. The New York traffic when they aired the last episode is anecdotal.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by mayankk

You don't have to discuss Seinfeld. It is the best there ever was. Period. The New York traffic when they aired the last episode is anecdotal.

Looks like we tend to agree on almost everything discussed thus far, glad to see one more Seinfeld fan in India, I guess we were lucky that they aired it more than a decade ago and now even though the show is syndicated and on re-runs in America, here the last time FX showed it, every little childish, non-controversial jokes were edited, and as you know the show is least offensive as it is.

I can't believe Indian television was so mature back then, HBO even aired Curb Your Enthusiasm unedited back then and that show, while it picks up where Seinfeld left, pushed the envelope of offensive comedy way more. If you're a Curb fan as well (and I hope you are), the new finale season is in the making and up for a mid year release. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld are the power-duo of comedy and they redefined the sitcom story-line for everything else.

I can't help seeing how Big Bang Theory squarely ripped off from Seinfeld :

* Howard's invisible nagging Jewish mother (who debuted in Seinfeld in person) is a straight lift from one episode where George Costanza's mother Estelle who was absent from the episode, was voiced in later with her usual loud nagging hilarious Jewish-mom style.

* Sheldon is Kramer+1000 geek points minus comedy

* Howard (Helberg) himself looks like a shorter, far less funny version of Seinfeld.

* Bold references to Jewish culture and poking fun at it, until Seinfeld most shows had a typical Christian backdrop, Seinfeld was unapologetically Jewish in nature and I love it.

The only other show that comes close to the comedy quotient is King Of Queens, great slapstick comedy by Jerry Stiller and Kevin James.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Bold references to Jewish culture and poking fun at it.

On this point, I've noticed that in recent months, we've been getting a bunch of TV comedies in quick succession that are based on ethnicities/religions - off the top of my head, the ones I recall are Blackish (naturally, this focuses on an African-American family), Fresh off the Boat (Asian - probably Chinese - family), The Real O'Neals (a Catholic family).

The focus on all of these is the ethnicity or religion of the family in question, and the unifying theme across all of them is that they are boring - same old trite stereotypes driving the humour.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

The focus on all of these is the ethnicity or religion of the family in question, and the unifying theme across all of them is that they are boring - same old trite stereotypes driving the humour.

Yep, agree.. the thing is once a formula succeeds and wins, everyone tries to replicate the same. However I feel that while shows like Off the Boat (Taiwan if I remember) and others dedicated to African-Americans, typical Texan-American families etc tried to replicate the comedy quotient using that formula, the problem is that their way of life doesn't provide chuckles, at all.

Shows like Seinfeld and Curb do use the Jewishness, but they just use that to bounce a few jokes off it now and then, not reliant on that factor. Their claim-to-fame with laughs is the nagging mom-dad-wife scenario which they don't even have to advertise, next comes their natural proclivity to comedy as Hollywood in general and close to 99% comedians are Jewish, so their very reputation helps them take-off. One exception is the latest show "The Goldbergs" which isn't funny at all yet is boosted with 9+ rating on IMDB and survives solely on this factor.

Another show which has an overdose of African-American life and ways, yet made it as one of the finest comedies all-time is Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, thanks solely to Will Smith who shattered myths about rappers not being able to act and matured to be one of the best actors today. A few exceptions to the norm I guess.

[fast_elegance]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

Anyone has watched Silicon Valley? Seems like a nice show about entrepreneurship and it's struggles.

IMDB link : http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2575988/pl...ef_=m_tt_ov_pl

There is a hindi web series 'Pitchers' by TVF inspired by silicon valley. I watched the entire season in one go i.e. 5 episodes. I found the cast to be very competitive and natural. I have not watched silicon valley and therefore cannot compare. Recommended watch.

The first 3 episodes are present in youtube. Episodes 4 & 5 are available in TVF site.

[deathwalkr]

Iron Fist:

Such a disappointment.

Too much of telling people "i'm the iron fist" and too less of actually being the iron fist.
Too much of telling people about the "secret place" and too less of [actually nil] of showing it.
Too much of time on side characters and too less on danny/iron fist
and so on and on...

Hope he does not drag down the defenders.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

On this point, I've noticed that in recent months, we've been getting a bunch of TV comedies in quick succession that are based on ethnicities/religions - off the top of my head, the ones I recall are Blackish (naturally, this focuses on an African-American family), Fresh off the Boat (Asian - probably Chinese - family), The Real O'Neals (a Catholic family).

You should try the oldies. Try Everybody hates Chris and Malcolm in the middle.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Jewish... the latest show "The Goldbergs"

I vaguely knew there was a show about a Jewish family that was utterly dreary (I couldn't sit through the entirety of a single episode) that needed to be added to my list, thanks for jogging my memory!

Originally Posted by mayankk

Try Everybody hates Chris and Malcolm in the middle.

Thank you for those recommendations . I've previously seen and enjoyed Everybody Hates Chris some time ago, and currently watch Malcolm in the Middle when I get a chance. Having seen Bryan Cranston as Walter White for ages, its an added source of amusement to see him as the befuddled father here. And he pulls off this role as capably as his other ones.

[TorqueyTechie]

Glad to see fans of Seinfeld, King of Queens here. I will be mostly seeing comedies on TV and the recent ones are very boring( or that I may not get their version of comedy). As already mentioned Goldbergs, undeateable, Young and hungry are few in which I do not understand the comedy at all. I do like Big bang theory though of the newer lot and wouldn't exactly say its a rip off of seinfeld. One more I used to love was Everybody loves raymond but it got boring by the last season. The one show which I watch anytime would be America's funniest videos. Call me sadistic but nothing beats than watching people making a fool of themselves.

Does anybody watch Shark tank? I love the idea and concept of the show. Get to hear some great ideas along with some wacky ones surprisingly doing well.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I do like Big bang theory though of the newer lot and wouldn't exactly say its a rip off of seinfeld. One more I used to love was Everybody loves raymond but it got boring by the last season.

Does anybody watch Shark tank? I love the idea and concept of the show. Get to hear some great ideas along with some wacky ones surprisingly doing well.

The general views I've personally heard are that its mostly (8/10 viewers), women who LOVE 1) Big Bang Theory 2) Friends 3) Modern Family, for any combination of geek factor, romance, and familial relations, in short I'm not going to debate women on how they aren't comedies, they are going to get unpleasant very quickly ;o) most men however like the shows like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fresh Prince, etc while women hate it (though all 3 don't have a notable fan-base in India). Shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens though, can be watched by everyone, it pleases all and offends none and that is the greatest reason for their success.

Shark Tank, of course, and like its sister show The Apprentice its largely scripted.. its way better than The Apprentice though but I keep away from it now seeing that I know exactly how its scripted. I was genuinely happy to watch entrepreneurs who had ecological-friendly products, life-changing inventions, and substitutes for unhealthy products, succeed and get bids by the investors but the rest like "inventing" a new coffee, ice-cream, or fashion label, PLEASE, gimme a break. Entrepreneurship has become a joke now since the world has switched to "apps", its a cyber-biz world and to me without the personal touch and without really useful inventions, there is no point to capitalism anymore.

P.S, I'm also an NBA fan and its hilarious to see how Mark Cuban (owner of Dallas Mavericks) sits there cool, calm and pretends to be someone he's not I've seen him sitting in the bleachers years ago abusing the referees and calling players names just for wrong calls or for losing, he gets fined roughly close to half a mill$ each season for doing that.

[Eddy]

The latest season of The Walking Dead is such a drag. I am waiting for some real action to start :X