The Swamp

BSF21 wrote:

Rush2112 wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Renee Kelly might have been the hottest TC contestant ever, even though she was painfully annoying.

Really? I can't think of anyone offhand, but there has to be several.

Kristen Kish?

Unbelievably talented, doesn't do it for me. Very rare that Asian-decent does.

Yeah, Kristen was cool, but 12yo boys don't turn me on. Even if they are Asian.


Casey Thompson, and there isn't another woman in the conversation.






Although Jen Carroll looked good in a bikini:




ETA: wrote this before all the previous posts, but didn't submit. Good call on Brooke. Jen was super bitchy, but there was something about her negative energy and anger that turned me on.

Plant me in the Jen was offputtingly bitchy but way hot. I'll also give you Brooke. I'm sticking to my guns here though. Hot redheads win.

Brooke's a good one too. That redhead is a bad one.

Wasn't there a bombshell Austrailian chick that lasted 2 episodes max a few seasons back? She's on the list too.

Also Padma gets the pub, but Gail is smokin'.

BSF21 wrote:Wasn't there a bombshell Austrailian chick that lasted 2 episodes max a few seasons back? She's on the list too.

Also Padma gets the pub, but Gail is smokin'.

Smokin' is a huge overstatement, but she has some appeal. I vaguely remember an Australian chick. There was also a really young contestant in Season 1 or 2 that went out really early, maybe second. I just remember not seeing enough of her to tell if she was hot, or just comparatively hot.

Anyone checking out Outsiders on WGN? It has a little bit of a Justified feel to it, but not nearly as good (obviously). Ryan Hurst looks like he stepped out of Sons of Anarchy into this without a wardrobe change.

Vinyl's premiere was too long, but I think it'll end up being good.

Giff wrote:Vinyl's premiere was too long, but I think it'll end up being good.

I was disappointed. Andrew Dice Clay stole the show, he was fantastic. The music selection was incoherent; it's like Marty picked 30 of his favorite songs across all genres (and they were all great tunes) and tossed in 20 second snips almost at random.

I worried that the subject is difficult to adapt to a movie or TV series. The very small number of successful music industry themed shows testifies to this difficulty. It is also very easy to slip into a drug abuse story, which has been told every which way already. (My personally having 1) worked in the music biz; 2) lived in New York at the tail end of the period the show describes; 3) have my own up close and personal experiences with the drug thing are more reasons for me to not be that interested in a TV treatment of this kind of story.)

Scorsese and the other big shots involved gave me some hope. The story of the emergence of Punk and Hip Hop in New York City in the mid 70s is potentially great material. But this was a disappointment for me. Although pilot episodes are difficult, they have to lay out a scene and several main characters, they could come around, and I'll give it a chance. I didn't like Boardwalk Empire from the start either.

This review was pretty scathing, notable because of the source. I pretty much agree:

Richard Hell Reviews HBO’s Vinyl

(I suppose I need to note, I know Richard Hell; Richard Hell is an acquaintance of mine. James Jagger, you're no Richard Hell.)

eta: forgot to mention, Ray Romano is very good too, I hope his character gets more play as the story goes on.

Great, scathing review, because he explains his points well, instead of just throwing bile. I was going to post about who Richard Hell is, but the article already does that. I have a Heartbreakers album he plays on (NOT to be confused with the similarly-named but unrelated Tom Petty band) and the two original New York Dolls albums. Sounds like Scorcese decided to do Scorcese instead of focusing on the music, so I can see why RH is pissed. I wanted to see the show but haven't figured out how I'm going to do it.

The Sybian wrote:

BSF21 wrote:Wasn't there a bombshell Austrailian chick that lasted 2 episodes max a few seasons back? She's on the list too.

Also Padma gets the pub, but Gail is smokin'.

Smokin' is a huge overstatement, but she has some appeal. I vaguely remember an Australian chick. There was also a really young contestant in Season 1 or 2 that went out really early, maybe second. I just remember not seeing enough of her to tell if she was hot, or just comparatively hot.

Janine...the Australian Chef. Definitely hot.



And Gail doesn't rate as "Smokin'" on the Padma scale, but she's very attractive, and much more "approachable".

Very much enjoying tPvsOJS.

rass wrote:Very much enjoying tPvsOJS.

I wish Ross Kardashian was in everything. UNCLE JUICE!

Ryan wrote:

rass wrote:Very much enjoying tPvsOJS.

I wish Ross Kardashian was in everything. UNCLE JUICE!

I can't decide if he's perfect for that part, or TOO perfect.

brian wrote:Season Three of Rectify starts tonight. Easily one of the five best shows on TV. If you haven't watched yet, Seasons One and Two are on Netflix.

I am binging on Netflix. Now I'm worried I won't be able to find Season 3 when I'm done.

Amazing show... And I'm sure I'm missing a lot of symbolism or literary references.

(Random note: I'm seeing a pattern in a lot of these quality cable shows, where they seem to throw out a lot of almost gratuitous sex in the first half of the first season, and then they kind of move away from it. Game of Thrones is a prime example of that, where they seemed to have a lot of sexy time going on in the first season and it has really tapered off the last 2 seasons.)

rass wrote:Very much enjoying tPvsOJS.

Travolta's eyebrows should get a spin-offf...

Better Call Saul was fantastic last night.

And a fine Hoboken squat cobbler morning to you all.

One of the threads of the show I love is his relationship with Kim. He relies on her intelligence and judgment; sometimes he asks her advice, sometimes she offers it unsolicited. But, so far, he does whatever she suggests/tells him to do.

I anticipate that he will break this pattern, and that will be a key step in the transformation from Jimmy to Saul.

Kim Wexler is my favorite female character in a long time. I hope we learn some of her back story. Nacho is also a very good character. Man I love this show.

howard wrote:One of the threads of the show I love is his relationship with Kim. He relies on her intelligence and judgment; sometimes he asks her advice, sometimes she offers it unsolicited. But, so far, he does whatever she suggests/tells him to do.

I anticipate that he will break this pattern, and that will be a key step in the transformation from Jimmy to Saul.

Kim Wexler is my favorite female character in a long time. I hope we learn some of her back story. Nacho is also a very good character. Man I love this show.

Haven't seen last night's yet but echo what you said. Rhea Seehorn is killing it. The only rough part about all this is we know there's no happy ending here. No matter how much joy seeing Jimmy and Kim gives us, at some point it goes to shit. That's a bummer.

I haven't seen the most recent Better Call Saul yet, but I'm having a hard time envisioning how this is all going to play out. He's already in Albequerque, right? So how does he go from James/Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman in the same city? And he's famous as Saul Goodman too, with commercials all over TV. How can that happen?

Glad I caught Talking Saul after the first episode. I'm hoping they have more episodes. I love that they considered making the show a sitcom where Saul has a different case each week and hilarity ensues. How fucking horrible would that have been? I heard Odenkirk on a podcast during filming, early on in season 1. He said Vince Gilligan still didn't know what direction they were going. That is what makes the show great, and BB great, they had no preconceived plan, and were willing to go whatever direction seemed best after seeing the show unfold. Saul was originally going to be a one or two episode comedy relief, but they loved the character, so they kept writing him in. I think Jesse ended up being a much different character than originally expected as well.

The Sybian wrote:Glad I caught Talking Saul after the first episode. I'm hoping they have more episodes. I love that they considered making the show a sitcom where Saul has a different case each week and hilarity ensues. How fucking horrible would that have been? I heard Odenkirk on a podcast during filming, early on in season 1. He said Vince Gilligan still didn't know what direction they were going. That is what makes the show great, and BB great, they had no preconceived plan, and were willing to go whatever direction seemed best after seeing the show unfold. Saul was originally going to be a one or two episode comedy relief, but they loved the character, so they kept writing him in. I think Jesse ended up being a much different character than originally expected as well.

Yeh, I read somewhere that, originally, Jesse was only supposed to be in a few episodes of BB.

sancarlos wrote:

The Sybian wrote:Glad I caught Talking Saul after the first episode. I'm hoping they have more episodes. I love that they considered making the show a sitcom where Saul has a different case each week and hilarity ensues. How fucking horrible would that have been? I heard Odenkirk on a podcast during filming, early on in season 1. He said Vince Gilligan still didn't know what direction they were going. That is what makes the show great, and BB great, they had no preconceived plan, and were willing to go whatever direction seemed best after seeing the show unfold. Saul was originally going to be a one or two episode comedy relief, but they loved the character, so they kept writing him in. I think Jesse ended up being a much different character than originally expected as well.

Yeh, I read somewhere that, originally, Jesse was only supposed to be in a few episodes of BB.

One of the podcasts I listen to runs a fairly random clip of a popular movie or TV show at the beginning of each episode. Just so happened that they played a clip from one of the first few shows of BB recently.

It was FASCINATING, knowing how much Jesse evolves, to listen to his inability to read the list of supplies WW wants him to go out and purchase.

Shirley wrote:I haven't seen the most recent Better Call Saul yet, but I'm having a hard time envisioning how this is all going to play out. He's already in Albequerque, right? So how does he go from James/Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman in the same city? And he's famous as Saul Goodman too, with commercials all over TV. How can that happen?

I'm gonna guess a part of it goes like this:

He's not really widely known and won't be a "celebrity" as James McGill. The law firm he works at (now) is in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque (that comes out in last night's episode, so spoiler?), and that firm doesn't handle the level/type of clients he does as Saul. As Saul, he does a lot of work that relies on getting clients through daytime television commercials, so he won't be up against a lot of the "big firm" lawyers he runs with now (not to mention those lawyers probably won't see his commercials on TV).

As James, he is very buttoned down, quiet in personality and style of dress. As Saul, he is much more over the top, as that is how he catches clients - by being memorable from his commercials. That way, he also seems like a different person. No one really remembers that quiet guy in the navy suit, but the guy with the outrageous commercials sticks out more.

Unrelated: I liked how, in last night's episode, when they were getting rid of the Hummer, the original owner was wearing a button-down plaid shirt in the same color scheme as the Hummer.

DSafetyGuy wrote: He's not really widely known and won't be a "celebrity" as James McGill. The law firm he works at (now) is in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque (that comes out in last night's episode, so spoiler?), and that firm doesn't handle the level/type of clients he does as Saul. As Saul, he does a lot of work that relies on getting clients through daytime television commercials, so he won't be up against a lot of the "big firm" lawyers he runs with now (not to mention those lawyers probably won't see his commercials on TV).

As James, he is very buttoned down, quiet in personality and style of dress. As Saul, he is much more over the top, as that is how he catches clients - by being memorable from his commercials. That way, he also seems like a different person. No one really remembers that quiet guy in the navy suit, but the guy with the outrageous commercials sticks out more.

Unrelated: I liked how, in last night's episode, when they were getting rid of the Hummer, the original owner was wearing a button-down plaid shirt in the same color scheme as the Hummer.

But he worked at the biggest firm in Albuquerque, and IIRC, his brother was a partner in said firm, wouldn't the entire firm know?

The Sybian wrote:

DSafetyGuy wrote: He's not really widely known and won't be a "celebrity" as James McGill. The law firm he works at (now) is in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque (that comes out in last night's episode, so spoiler?), and that firm doesn't handle the level/type of clients he does as Saul. As Saul, he does a lot of work that relies on getting clients through daytime television commercials, so he won't be up against a lot of the "big firm" lawyers he runs with now (not to mention those lawyers probably won't see his commercials on TV).

As James, he is very buttoned down, quiet in personality and style of dress. As Saul, he is much more over the top, as that is how he catches clients - by being memorable from his commercials. That way, he also seems like a different person. No one really remembers that quiet guy in the navy suit, but the guy with the outrageous commercials sticks out more.

Unrelated: I liked how, in last night's episode, when they were getting rid of the Hummer, the original owner was wearing a button-down plaid shirt in the same color scheme as the Hummer.

But he worked at the biggest firm in Albuquerque, and IIRC, his brother was a partner in said firm, wouldn't the entire firm know?

He was in the mailroom for almost all of that time at that firm, so I don't think most people in that firm think of him as James McGill, Attorney at Law.

DSafetyGuy wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

DSafetyGuy wrote: He's not really widely known and won't be a "celebrity" as James McGill. The law firm he works at (now) is in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque (that comes out in last night's episode, so spoiler?), and that firm doesn't handle the level/type of clients he does as Saul. As Saul, he does a lot of work that relies on getting clients through daytime television commercials, so he won't be up against a lot of the "big firm" lawyers he runs with now (not to mention those lawyers probably won't see his commercials on TV).

As James, he is very buttoned down, quiet in personality and style of dress. As Saul, he is much more over the top, as that is how he catches clients - by being memorable from his commercials. That way, he also seems like a different person. No one really remembers that quiet guy in the navy suit, but the guy with the outrageous commercials sticks out more.

Unrelated: I liked how, in last night's episode, when they were getting rid of the Hummer, the original owner was wearing a button-down plaid shirt in the same color scheme as the Hummer.

But he worked at the biggest firm in Albuquerque, and IIRC, his brother was a partner in said firm, wouldn't the entire firm know?

He was in the mailroom for almost all of that time at that firm, so I don't think most people in that firm think of him as James McGill, Attorney at Law.

I don't know, he made a huge scene on his way out, and he was friendly with everyone there. His commercials and billboards were pretty noticeable in BB.

Semi-serious question: When do people have time to watch all this good television? I'm 2 episodes behind on Top Chef, one episode behind on Better Call Saul, and we still haven't even started the last season of Mad Men.

By the time I get home, make and have dinner, and sit and catch up, and then clean up, its 930-945 and its time to start thinking about going to bed.

DaveInSeattle wrote:Semi-serious question: When do people have time to watch all this good television? I'm 2 episodes behind on Top Chef, one episode behind on Better Call Saul, and we still haven't even started the last season of Mad Men.

By the time I get home, make and have dinner, and sit and catch up, and then clean up, its 930-945 and its time to start thinking about going to bed.

I stay up way too late. I also watch Amazon Prime on my computer while doing low-concentration work tasks on my laptop.

Just burned through the first 2 seasons of Louie. I like it a lot, but fuck is it a dark and depressing tone to the show. Is it supposed to be a running gag that almost every episode, someone tells Louie he is a good father or a good person?

DSafetyGuy wrote:

Shirley wrote:I haven't seen the most recent Better Call Saul yet, but I'm having a hard time envisioning how this is all going to play out. He's already in Albequerque, right? So how does he go from James/Jimmy McGill to Saul Goodman in the same city? And he's famous as Saul Goodman too, with commercials all over TV. How can that happen?

I'm gonna guess a part of it goes like this:

He's not really widely known and won't be a "celebrity" as James McGill. The law firm he works at (now) is in Santa Fe, not Albuquerque (that comes out in last night's episode, so spoiler?), and that firm doesn't handle the level/type of clients he does as Saul. As Saul, he does a lot of work that relies on getting clients through daytime television commercials, so he won't be up against a lot of the "big firm" lawyers he runs with now (not to mention those lawyers probably won't see his commercials on TV).

As James, he is very buttoned down, quiet in personality and style of dress. As Saul, he is much more over the top, as that is how he catches clients - by being memorable from his commercials. That way, he also seems like a different person. No one really remembers that quiet guy in the navy suit, but the guy with the outrageous commercials sticks out more.

Unrelated: I liked how, in last night's episode, when they were getting rid of the Hummer, the original owner was wearing a button-down plaid shirt in the same color scheme as the Hummer.

I thought the fact that the firm was in Sante Fe was already known in the previous episode, no? Where he's picking out his artwork and such?

And I totally agree that this location, in addition to the staid world he is currently occupying keeps him as a very low key guy. He pulled the stunt with the billboard, but I'm assuming his non-stop commercials a few years after the fact trump that flash in the pan story fairly easily.

Remember, the series going all the way back to ep. 1 opens with him coming home from his Cinnabon job to pop in the VHS tape of all those hokey commercials running a loop.

My wife and I tend to watch a lot of low-attention stuff while we cook or as background while we eat. And we usually have time to watch an episode or 2 of something in the evening.

We also have our own stuff (Better Call Saul and Rectify for me, a shitload of E! stuff for her.)

Nonlinear FC wrote:I thought the fact that the firm was in Sante Fe was already known in the previous episode, no? Where he's picking out his artwork and such?

It could have been mentioned, I don't remember. I thought it was introduced in the discussion with Kim in the parking garage in episode two, but could definitely be wrong.

It's not a huge deal, but it's kind of how they closed out the premiere episode. It's starts off with Jimmy wanting to know if Kim will "get with him" if he kind of plays the straight and narrow game, she waffles, he turns down the job.

Then they do the whole bonnie and clyde thing, scamming that dude for the premium tequila. Next day he wants to reprise the roles and realizes she's not going to live that life. He decides to take the Sante Fe job.

We see him go into the offices and start picking out art and the cocobolo desk. He's gone legit, but he's still got his buddy from Illinois' ring on his finger.

One foot in, one foot out. At least that was my read.

Nonlinear FC wrote:It's not a huge deal, but it's kind of how they closed out the premiere episode. It's starts off with Jimmy wanting to know if Kim will "get with him" if he kind of plays the straight and narrow game, she waffles, he turns down the job.

Then they do the whole bonnie and clyde thing, scamming that dude for the premium tequila. Next day he wants to reprise the roles and realizes she's not going to live that life. He decides to take the Sante Fe job.

We see him go into the offices and start picking out art and the cocobolo desk. He's gone legit, but he's still got his buddy from Illinois' ring on his finger.

One foot in, one foot out. At least that was my read.

Succinct and spot on.

Yep. Agree.

Kim enjoyed going along with that little game, but even as much as she likes that part of Jimmy, she wants him to stay on the legit path, her path. So far, she has not resorted to any manipulation or game playing (and I both hope and expect her to continue to play it straight.) When she gives Jimmy a gift (below) is my favorite scene of all . "Just keepin' it real."

Pretty good quote from the WP review of Netflix's Fuller House series:

There’s a point where nostalgia becomes more like necrophilia, and “Fuller House” immediately crosses that line.

The girls are the grown-ups now: Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) has become acclaimed mixmaster DJ Tanner, much to the chagrin of the original D.J. Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure), who has since become a veterinarian.

http://www.avclub.com/review/netflixs-f ... orn-232696" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

howard wrote:Yep. Agree.

Kim enjoyed going along with that little game, but even as much as she likes that part of Jimmy, she wants him to stay on the legit path, her path. So far, she has not resorted to any manipulation or game playing (and I both hope and expect her to continue to play it straight.) When she gives Jimmy a gift (below) is my favorite scene of all . "Just keepin' it real."

Seehorn killed that entire scene.

The way she kept jumping from "you" to "we" (and I'm sure this was a product of great writing too), was stellar. It's like a new level of "will they or won't they" even though they already have and are.

I'm loving this show way more than I thought I would.

mister d wrote:The girls are the grown-ups now: Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) has become acclaimed mixmaster DJ Tanner

http://www.avclub.com/review/netflixs-f ... orn-232696" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of her work can be heard here...

The casting of Louie Anderson as his mother was an inspired choice, but not enough to get me to stick with "Baskets".

DSafetyGuy wrote:The casting of Louie Anderson as his mother was an inspired choice, but not enough to get me to stick with "Baskets".

I watched the first two episodes, but I just don't see that show going anywhere. Just over-the-top quirky characters for the shock value. Not shock, but whatever. Louie Anderson was a stroke of genius, both the casting and his portrayal of the character. I liked the old dude who runs the rodeo, too.