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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2009 14:43:27 GMT
What are people watching around the world these days? Are we all watching the same series? In France, the main imported ones would be C.S.I., Without a Trace, Cold Case, Dexter, House, NCIS...
I'd like to hear about some of the more obscure ones, not necessarily American or English ones, but not excluding those either. Explain what is interesting about them.
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Post by livaco on Feb 9, 2009 18:17:08 GMT
My favorite recently has been Ugly Betty. It was originally from Colombia, and you can tell. It's very much in a "telenovela" style -- kind of over the top at times. But the contrast of that with some very interesting characters that you really get to care about makes it compelling. Also it is funny. Amanda and Marc are hilarious.
I've also been getting into Life on Mars. Its premise makes it sound like it would be silly, and maybe it is, but I like it. It's about a guy who is in an accident and wakes up in 1973. The thing is you really don't know if he's crazy, or in a coma, or really time-traveling or what. And he doesn't know either. But in the meantime he's a cop and helps solve crimes. And Harvey Keitel is great in it. I'm only able to watch the American version. I've seen a couple of episodes of the British version on-line, and that is good, too. I was a kid in 1973, so it's cool to see them recreate that time.
I also like House. I love Hugh Laurie's character.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2009 18:22:58 GMT
Ugly Betty is a problem in France because we have had the original version, a French copy and the American version. People finally overdosed so they pulled the plug on it.
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Post by BigIain on Feb 9, 2009 22:13:16 GMT
well, 24 has started running in the UK again, I have recorded the first 6 or so episodes so far. And there is a truly fantastic docu seiries on called Ross Kemp returns to Afghanistan. It is on Sky (no not that one) on Sunday nights. I have seen the first 2, he is living and working with a garrison of soldiers in that country. Forget whether the war is right or wrong because it is a startling piece of TV
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Post by Jazz on Feb 10, 2009 6:18:34 GMT
Madmen
Brilliant. It's set in the late 50's, early 60's in an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York. What is most remarkable and chilling is the role of women.
These run off and on, but you can rent them.
The Wire
A series set in Baltimore, Maryland. Each season focuses on a different aspect of the city---the drug trade, the Port, city bureacracy, the school system, the print media etc. "Despite never seeing commercial success or winning any major TV awards, The Wire has been described as the greatest TV series of all time." I had never heard of it, but, it is great. If nothing else, watch season 2, the port...how ironic. This season is fabulous.
Decalogue
This German series is heavy going, but brilliant. Ten hours, each hour is devoted to one of the ten commandments. Decalogue 2: A woman has a problem. Her husband is in hospital with a brain disease. She is pregnant with another man's child. If her husband has any chance of living she needs to terminate. If her husband dies, she wants to keep her child. Her doctor is cold, aloof, distant. What to do?
Band of Brothers
This is a 10-part WW2 series directed by Stephen Speilberg and Tom Hanks. It is based on the true story of 'Easy Company' of the 101st Airborne Division, US...the landing at Normandy, Operation Market Garden, The Battle of Bastogne etc. I have watched it three times and it is in my top 20 of war films ( here, a series) from any country. Far superior to Saving Private Ryan. It is the best American portrayal of WW2 that I have seen.
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Post by tigronette on Feb 10, 2009 16:14:34 GMT
The Wire is definitely in a league of its own as far as TV series are concerned, it's actually better than most films. It's also notable for adapting Greek mythology to the TV series format.
On a completely different note, the series currently doing the rounds at Tigronne towers is "How I met your mother". It's totally daft but funny and engaging like a weirder version of friends. I actually hated it at first but once you get into the characters it becomes compulsive viewing, especially now that Desperate Housewives has gone down the toilet.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2009 21:44:16 GMT
I rarely watch TV anymore but have to agree with the aforementioned THE WIRE and MADMEN,both are incredibly well written. THE WIRE in particular uses great music, David Simon,the writer /directer of most of the episodes was a newspaper writer in Baltimore for years so much of the content is based on real cases. He was also a writer for the series HOMICIDE: Life on the Streets which ran in the '90's which I saw every episode. Also,set in Baltimore. As to the DECALOGUE,haven't heard of. Any relation to Krzysztof Kieslowski's movie(s) of the same name?
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Aussielover
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Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me.
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Post by Aussielover on Feb 11, 2009 0:33:47 GMT
Agree with MADMen and Ugly Betty.
I also enjoyed the first season of Heroes, but haven't seen any new episodes of late.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 5:47:59 GMT
I am totally addicted to Lost, something I recently started watching online. It's frustrating, because I can't discuss it with anyone as I am so far behind everyone else -- I'm only on Season Two.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2009 6:33:39 GMT
I always refused to watch 'Lost' because I hate the premise of it as a series. If it had been sold as 'Complete story with an ending in 30 episodes' I would have wanted to watch it. 'Prison Break' is the same. I watched the first season of '24' although it was already over the top, but when it returned for new seasons, no way!
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 6:51:59 GMT
Lost is good fun! I don't know if I'll continue to like it over a period of five seasons, but so far, so good. Here's the link I use, if anyone wants to try it. I wish someone would, & would catch up to where I am so I could intensely discuss it. www.watchlostfree.com/category/lost-season-1/page/2/
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Post by tigronette on Feb 11, 2009 9:56:00 GMT
I can't believe I forgot to mention British hit "Gavin and Stacey" which is worth a watch too
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2009 10:29:10 GMT
RDV and Walf-TV were fighting over Prison Break in Senegal. RDV says they have the rights, but Walf-TV says they bought the rights from an Ivorian company and now it is going to court. Maybe somebody will go to prison.
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Post by livaco on Feb 11, 2009 13:14:52 GMT
Weeds is a series that I like to watch, too. But I didn't think of it right away because I don't have Showtime. I've been watching it on dvd's from Netflix.
Anyone watch Weeds? I don't know if it's shown outside the US. It's about a suburban housewife who sells pot to support her family after her husband dies.
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Post by happytraveller on Feb 11, 2009 13:30:28 GMT
I am a Lost fan too bixa !
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 11, 2009 15:53:38 GMT
I can see how Weeds would be addictive, Livaco. I never got into it because I couldn't find a good quality online version. The Lost mania started after a friend came back from the States, where her daughter had hooked her on it.
So frustrating, Happy, to know people who are into Lost because they're all seasons ahead of me. We can't discuss it, because I don't want to hear spoilers.
I have gotten totally pulled into a couple of Mexican soap operas. Soaps here are finite, unlike the American ones that never end. What's frustrating is that all fictional shows on Mexican tv are soaps -- no cop dramas or sitcoms or other forms of standard tv fare.
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Post by BigIain on Feb 13, 2009 11:45:40 GMT
Scrubs keeps cropping up on the lesser Sky (no not that one) channels in the UK. I find it extremely good light evening entertainment on occasions. And there are some cute girls in uniform in it too.
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Post by komsomol on Feb 13, 2009 18:27:14 GMT
I like the hypnotic effect of the German crime series such as Siska and Derrick and Im Namen des Gesetzes. Not much action but everybody lying for hidden motives which are slowly peeled away like sunburned skin.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2009 1:45:38 GMT
David Simon (Homicide,Life on the Streets,an excellent series set in Baltimore ,some years back ,and more recently,The Wire,also set in Baltimore) recently wrapped up a new series set here in NOLA named TREME which is a section of town,rather seedy but very historic and home to some of the best musicians to come out of this town. Will air in May of 2010. Many local musicians and Mardi Gras Indians involved in the project. Doesn't sound near as hokey as some of the lame ones done here. blog.nola.com/davewalker/2009/05/hbo_orders_full_season_of_davi.html
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Post by imec on Nov 27, 2009 14:58:09 GMT
Do you remember any weird TV shows from when you were young? For some reason I remembered this one today which I watched as a very young lad in England. A sort of puppet type animation of Bill and Ben - The Flowerpot Men and their sidekick, Weed (apropos as I'm sure the producers of this show smoked a lot of it). This may be what scared me off of gardening forever...
watch the little fella's dance in this one ;D ;D ;D
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 27, 2009 21:38:48 GMT
unfortunately the film was dubbed in Spanish Ahem. That could work out really well for some of us! A whole series set in the Treme area?! *squeals with anticipation* There's a trailer here, which I can't see because I'm not in the US. Wonder if they'll put in English subtitles for the local accents. ;D Thanks for the reminder about Red Dust, Lola. It's on my list to see.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2009 17:45:55 GMT
There is an excellent new miniseries on French TV at the moment, on Canal Plus (similar to HBO in the U.S.). It's called "Pigalle la Nuit" and takes place in the sex zone. The pitch is that of a young French trader based in London, who gets dragged into one of the sleazy cabarets by a colleague during a visit. He recognizes one of the strippers as his sister who disappeared a few years ago. Mutual flash of recognition and instant disappearance of the sister, so the whole plot is his search for her in the underworld of sleaze.
There is also a sub-plot of the Armenian porn king of Pigalle being challenged by a new Russian mafia guy operating new venues for the glitterati and pervy politicians.
What makes it particularly interesting (besides being filmed only 3 metro stations from where I live) is that it is done pretty much in cinéma vérité style, with cameras out in the street among the real people of the area and using all of the real sex commerces without changing their names.
I'm sure that it will sell very well internationally in the progressive countries, but it would be hard to tone down for the prudish ones.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 1, 2009 5:09:36 GMT
Sounds really good.
Not that I'm comparing them in quality to this show, but one thing that makes some of the Mexican soaps look so good is that real, normal outdoor locations are used, which gives everything a more populated feel.
"Armenian porn king of Pigalle" -- say it really fast, five times!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2011 14:19:54 GMT
I read that Ashton Kutcher wasn't bad in Two and a Half Men. They're going to have a slight problem with the casting change in France, though, because the title here is Mon Oncle Charlie. Oops, no more Charlie! At least he died in Paris from what I read.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 20, 2011 15:38:13 GMT
Oh -- I'd totally forgotten about this thread! Please define "wasn't bad" for the likes of Ashton Kutcher. Does that mean I'd be able to watch him without wanting to club him like a baby seal? Oh well, I had stopped watching that show anyway, as it was only recycling material that had long since ceased to be funny. The series I'm currently watching are Damages, a show that always keeps the viewer off balance and The Big C. The Big C started off great, but lately has been employing the tired device of "kooky" characters. Do tv shows begin with good writers on board, then hire lesser ones later to save money, or do they think that dumbing the shows down will broaden their viewer base? I'm waiting for The Big Bang Theory, Treme, Modern Family, and Mad Men to start new seasons.
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Post by lola on Sept 21, 2011 1:23:03 GMT
Bixa, you are priceless.
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Post by lola on Sept 21, 2011 1:33:36 GMT
I recently read an especially fun review of The Hour on BBC2. In a few years it should show up on DVD in our library system, though I understand there are ways to watch it on cable right here in the USA, currently.
Whenever I'm stuck by myself in a hotel room with nothing to do but watch TV, I seem to run through hundreds of channels, looking in vain for something more fascinating than an old soccer game. But apparently there are good things out there as evidenced above.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 21, 2011 11:13:53 GMT
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Post by nycgirl on Sept 22, 2011 17:11:03 GMT
Breaking Bad on AMC is a one of the best shows I've seen lately. Terrific acting, writing, and directing.
"Informed he has terminal cancer, an underachieving chemistry genius turned high school chemistry teacher turns to using his expertise in chemistry to provide a legacy for his family... by producing the world's highest quality crystal meth."
Don't know if it plays outside the U.S., but I highly recommend it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2011 17:39:15 GMT
Sounds great!
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