Keytus Television (original) (raw)

Elinor, Tues and I are watching. Elinor is all caught up, Tues needs to watch this week's, and I've only seen the first episode of the season thus far.

Are you watching? Any thoughts? Better than last season? worse? the same? Like any of the new characters?

--I enjoyed Marica Gay Harden's character's few little displays of a sense of humor in the first ep
--sad that they speeded up the theme song, will have to adjust

Never has this icon been more accurate. This thread is long overdue. Months overdue. (Most of you can guess the reasons why.) I don't know how many of you are even checking LJ all that regularly anymore, but for those of you who are, here's a thread to talk about this new season. What are you watching? What have you given up on? What are you thinking about in general? Do you miss the regular discussion threads? Do I even still need to keep posting the thread rules? Well, in case I do...

Remember:
(1) Keep the conversation centered on scripted television related topics. (Dramas, comedies, reality tv, even documentaries are all fine.)
(2) Put the show and season (or episode) in the subject line.
(3) Track your thread! There might be some really interesting posts later you might otherwise miss.
(4) One show (or episode) per post and only one sub-thread for each show (or episode). It makes it easier for others to follow the convers

Brian's magazine piece puts Will in a dangerous state, then Mac in a right tizzy, then me in a sort of open-mouthed stare. (They didn't think the guy who thought Mac cheated on him with Will would write a scathing piece? Okay.)

In Mac and Will's absence, Sloan and Don decide to take a leadership role in the newsroom by filling the utter vacuum of sexual tension with some really solid work. Sloan has some career decisions to make, and she makes them.

Will and the team produce and air an episode exploring the voter ID laws and skewering the Tea Party.

TMI's Nina Howard locates her conscience, to the extent that she tells Mac she's about to run a story on Will. (Not to the extent that she won't do it.) Will and Charlie deduce Nina's source and use Solomon Hancock's information to their benefit.

Jim and Maggie continue to be Jim and Maggie.

Feeling: drained

The team still need more Casey Anthony to get the debate. Lisa's only friend pimps her out to ACN, which involves a visit to Lisa's workplace you'd THINK would alienate her further (past the point where Maggie revealed her secret to a news organization for her own gain). But no, Lisa is (among other positions) a stand-up girl and she agrees to be interviewed. It doesn't go that great.

Will shows the RNC reps (including Adam Fucking Arkin, ladies and gents) their mock debate. Shockingly, the RNC don't cotton to Will absolutely skewering the half-statements the "candidates" are allowed to make.

A flower delivery outs Don as a "we were on a break" kind of boyfriend. Maggie convinces Lisa to give Jim another chance and, because Maggie's ideas usually work out well for Lisa, she agrees.

Sloan agrees to be the object of Neal's faux-trolling; he gets his foot in the door but finds he needs more to establish himself and get his super icky and wholly inconsequential story to fly.

Feeling:partied out

News Night hires a new Defense of the Dark Arts instructor, who teaches them how to use sensational stories to lure back lost viewers. Ratings improve their chances to get the Republican debate. Will allows Brian Brenner, Mac's cheat-buddy, to write a profile of News Night. Sloan struggles with body dysmorphia and lack of airtime to report on the impending financial crisis. Neal wants to pose as an internet troll and destroy them from within, because Mac has lots of airtime to spend on this sort of thing and we totally can't see anyone's issues in this storyline. Charlie meets with Late for Dinner and then offers to serve Leona some, cold.

Feeling: tired

An anonymous source contacts Charlie and provides advance details on an imminent story of national importance. When news breaks that the President will be making a televised speech that night, the 2.0 staff cuts short its one-year (and one-week) anniversary party, and rushes back to the newsroom amidst a flurry of speculation as to what exactly happened. -- HBO

I'm out of town and off the grid right now. Didn't watch yet and won't have another chance to watch and weigh in until Thursday. Carry on and I'll talk to you then! M

Feeling:Pure Michigan

Will receives a death threat and a tabloid threat, which result in a security detail and new assignment for Jim and Maggie, respectively. Sloan pursues the latest on the Fukijima nuclear reactor and goes too far, on air. Will's insomnia drives him to his psychiatrist, who uncovers the origin of some of his behavior.

Feeling: sleepy

It's February 2011 and News Night is covering the Egyptian uprising. As the team try to get good footage from Cairo and keep reporters safe, Maggie breaks the Wisconsin protest story. Don has big Valentine's plans for Maggie, which prompts her to prop up Jim's and Lisa's night. Sloan coaches Mac on economics. Mac learns her production choices have made her appear unethical, which puts her in the cross-hairs of TMI's Nina Howard.

Feeling: sleepy

Unaware of Leona's opposition to News Night 2.0, Will and Mac take on lying liars who lie. To spectacular effect, IMO. Meanwhile, Don waves shiny roommates in front of Jim, Will gets wet, and Neal tries to convince his co-workers that Bigfoot is real. When Gabrielle Giffords is shot, the team gets it right.

Feeling:parched

Over the first five months of the new News Night, Will and Mac target the Tea Party. After some pointed election night panel coverage, Charlie is taken to a very high-tech woodshed by an ironic-in-at-least-two-ways Jane Fonda, playing the owner of the network. In the subplots, Jim Harper continues to be Jim Halpert, Don gets convincingly drunk and Maggie presents some mitigating medical issues.

Will and Mac start doing "News Night 2.0" with the new staff Mac has hired. The team lose the interview at the center of their first broadcast and Mac tries to set the record straight on her breakup with Will.

You guys don't know how hard it is for me not to write recaps at the head of these posts. :)

Will McAvoy loses it at a college forum, goes on vacation, and comes back to find he has lost his staff and gained a new executive producer, his ex, Mackenzie MacHale. Will tries to get her fired. As they and their staff try to figure out who's who, the BP Deep Horizon well story breaks.

Let's talk!

Feeling: tired

So Sorkin has a new series. Because of that, he's been getting a lot of press. So in honor of the new show (and our shared love for a total classic), let's talk about All Things Sorkin!

UPDATE NEWSFLASH: There has been a request for a weekly discussion thread for Newsroom. So stay tuned to this station for more details.

So Winnie the Pooh started out as a book, that was adapted into movies which were in turn adapted into multiple television series. On the other side of things, both Mission: Impossible and Charlie's Angels were television series that then became fairly successful movies series. Joss Whedon adapted Buffy the Vampire Slayer into a comic book after the series ended on TV. BSG was an adaptation of an early television series, as is the current Hawaii Five-O. And I bet by now you have come up with a load of examples that I missed.

So our topic: Adaptations, For Better and For Worse. What's your favorite adaptation? What were you surprised to find out was an adaptation? What adaptation should never, ever have happened?

So our new topic in a round about way, both with Edgy sharing this article right about when I getting lost on TV Tropes. (Seriously, you think I would know better by now. That place is addicting!)

So our topic: The Will-They-Or-Won't-They Couple. Who did it best? Who did it worse? Who remains your favorite? And, in a post-Pam & Jim world, does the Moonlighting Curse really apply anymore?

Back once again for the renegade master... or something like that. It's been a while since we've had regular topic threads. (And I'd like to thank my fellow mods for picking up the slack for me while I've otherwise been distracted!) Most of you know that the main reason I've been MIA is that I've moved abroad. Now that I'm mostly settled, I'll try to be better about opening threads.

But our topic is based on my recent experience of trying to fit an entire life into two suitcases. I couldn't bring my entire DVD collection with me. I didn't even have to space for the full series... or a full season in some cases. With such limits I realized some pretty interesting things about some of my favorite shows. It turns out I have a standard that's even higher than "stuck on a deasert island". I'm calling it the base basics, for lack of a better term.

So our topic is: What's in your bare basics DVD collection and why?

We're nearing the end of Awards Show Season. The time between the Oscars and the Emmys stretches before us like something long and boring.

So let's discuss the hell out of them.
- Who were your favorite wins?
- Who deserves all the Emmys and Globes and SAGs?
- Who are some of your most egregious snubs?
- Who do you want to win just for the awesome acceptance speech that will follow?
- Who would you root against just because of the insufferable acceptance speech?
- Who are your favorite awards show hosts?
- Who are you wearing?

Feeling: amused
Listen Up:Suburgatory

Midseason Replacements: Love them or Hate them?

We've reached that part of the year which signals the start of Midseason Replacements. Are there any returning shows you can't wait to welcome back to your tv screen? Any new shows you are dying to see? Have any new shows replaced your show and you are now furious with the network?

Come share your thoughts on this and more.

Remember:

(1) Keep the conversation centered on scripted television related topics. (Dramas, comedies, reality tv, even documentaries are all fine.)

(2) Put the show and season (or episode) in the subject line.

(3) Track your thread! There might be some really interesting posts later you might otherwise miss.

(4) One show (or episode) per post and only one sub-thread for each show (or episode). It makes it easier for others to follow the conversation.

Feeling:accomplished

Happy New Year, everyone! With the end of the year, everyone is putting out their Year End Review. What's yours? What are your top ten (or eleven or twelve) favorite moments? What was your least favorite moment? What will you never forget?

On a housekeeping note, our New Year's Resolution is to post more consistently (and for me to share posting duties.)

Remember:

(1) Keep the conversation centered on scripted television related topics. (Dramas, comedies, reality tv, even documentaries are all fine.)

(2) Put the show and season (or episode) in the subject line.

(3) Track your thread! There might be some really interesting posts later you might otherwise miss.

(4) One show (or episode) per post and only one sub-thread for each show (or episode). It makes it easier for others to follow the conversation.

Have you ever watched a show when two of your favorite characters are separated? You wait and wait for them to see each other again and when they finally do... Well, either can be everything you hoped or utterly anti-climatic. Our topic: Best (or worst) reunion.

I'm giving paladin98 full credit for this one: What plot twist did you not see coming?

Our new topic is all about procrastination. (Oh, hush.) What series have you been meaning to watch, but just haven't gotten around to yet? Or, if your prefer, what show took you forever to check out and now you're kicking yourself for taking so long?

Another September, another new television season begins. Tell us what you are watching, what new shows look good and what shows you are happy to have back.

So the next time I go on a cool trip overseas, somebody remind me to ask someone ELSE to open the next discussion thread. Well, better late than never, right?

Three guesses to what inspired this topic: Watching foreign television when you travel. Do you turn on the TV when you are travelling somewhere where you don't speak the language? Have you lived abroad and have a TV expirience from that? What about the comericals?

Sometimes a show can shock us with a surprising twist. Other times, much to the writers' dismay, we can see it coming a mile away. Our topic: When did you call it well in advance?

Well, it looks like LJ has sorted out it's issues. Just to be sure (and to make up for the late start), we'll be keeping the thread open a little longer this time around.

Our topic is a play on a question we asked a year ago, with a little of last week's thread sprinkled in: The Episode You Watch The Most on DVD? Which episode do you wind up reaching for the most? Is it the one you would have expected when you watch the series through the first time?

We'll be having two week threads until further notice. (We'll still post a reminder thread, like this one, halfway through.)

So come and tell us about your DVD Collections and we'll see you next week with a new thread topic.