Friends, Ozark, Simpsons(saturation) all soap operas, holby city/casualty
Television Overrated TV series
- Thread starter OleBoiii
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Rick and Morty. Just another half-decent animated show. It's nothing special.
I don't really think that the perfect TV show exists. Not even among the so-called best. The usual mentions are always The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad and to a lesser extent Band of Brothers. Whichever you find to be the best of all time, you still sacrifice something.
I've only seen a few episodes of The Sopranos so I can't really write about that. Band of Brothers I've already mentioned. I don't think it deserves to even be compared to Breaking Bad and The Wire.
The Wire
I don't think it's possible to get much better writing and world-building. And when it comes to breaking conventional story-telling rules, I don't think any show has done it better than The Wire. There doesn't seem to be any substantial plot holes either, which is impressive when you consider the all the details. Overall, it's worthy of its praise. Having said that, the show looks incredibly bland. I also don't buy into the idea that the pacing must be so slow to flesh out the universe and the characters. You could easily have sped things up 10-20% and achieved the same amazing details. If you view TV as "books with moving pictures", The Wire is pretty much perfect. If you care about visuals or tension, you'll always feel that something is missing.
Breaking Bad
Very different from The Wire in its approach. The story is much more classical, and the pace is higher and more intense. Visually it's much more interesting. The characters and the universe are still fleshed out, though not to the same extent as The Wire. Ultimately you need to look past some minor plot holes and stupid character decisions that are there to move the plot forward. This is the sacrifice you make when you have a less realistic setting and a higher pace.
I love both, but I prefer Breaking Bad over The Wire.
I've only seen a few episodes of The Sopranos so I can't really write about that. Band of Brothers I've already mentioned. I don't think it deserves to even be compared to Breaking Bad and The Wire.
The Wire
I don't think it's possible to get much better writing and world-building. And when it comes to breaking conventional story-telling rules, I don't think any show has done it better than The Wire. There doesn't seem to be any substantial plot holes either, which is impressive when you consider the all the details. Overall, it's worthy of its praise. Having said that, the show looks incredibly bland. I also don't buy into the idea that the pacing must be so slow to flesh out the universe and the characters. You could easily have sped things up 10-20% and achieved the same amazing details. If you view TV as "books with moving pictures", The Wire is pretty much perfect. If you care about visuals or tension, you'll always feel that something is missing.
Breaking Bad
Very different from The Wire in its approach. The story is much more classical, and the pace is higher and more intense. Visually it's much more interesting. The characters and the universe are still fleshed out, though not to the same extent as The Wire. Ultimately you need to look past some minor plot holes and stupid character decisions that are there to move the plot forward. This is the sacrifice you make when you have a less realistic setting and a higher pace.
I love both, but I prefer Breaking Bad over The Wire.
The Office. Good, but there are plenty of better comedies out there.
By all accounts from his men, the commander actually was borderline flawless.
You are aware they are real people, right? Most people just aren't very interesting, and each actor had the real guy on hand to help guide their character.
By all accounts from his men, the commander actually was borderline flawless.
Chernobyl is also based on real people and I find it much better than Band of Brothers. The former was obviously given more freedom, but in some cases that's necessary when you're not making a documentary. You can end up restricting your story too much.
And even if the characters are based on real people, it doesn't mean you can't flesh them out more. You don't always need to be interesting for people to care about you.
Why couldn't it have been more visually interesting?
By "visually interesting" I'm not talking about explosions, CGI or complete lack of realism. For instance: Breaking Bad is way more visually interesting than The Wire.
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Has to be The Wire for me of the top of my head.
Different show.
Breaking Bad and Sopranos.
Line of Duty. Series 1 was kind of interesting but after that it descends into the most absolutely unbelievable and improbable shite. So many unbelievable actions and interactions it drove me crazy.
It's Breaking Bad for me as well. Thoroughly entertaining (with some pretty significant lulls in middle), but not nearly as clever as it is so often portrayed. Super magnets anyone?
Was talking about The Stranger, not Stranger Things. Was born late 80s so Stranger Things is one pure nostalgia hit for me for sure. The Stranger is a really poorly written thriller that loads of people seemed to watch.
I think one of the main points of BoB was to focus on the effects of war on different individuals and the dynamics among a group of soldiers within a company living through some of the worst conditions on the western front. I think they managed to do that brilliantly. The characters are important for the developing story, but they become way more interesting in the broader context in my opinion.
Because it’s meant to be a glimpse into the reality of that life, and the way it was produced deliberately had the feel of an almost fly on the wall type approach, as if you were watching over the shoulder of the people in any given scene.
Breaking Bad style POV shots or brighter lighting or expansive cinematography would have lost that feeling of realism.
What kind of visual changes would you want to make to it?
How do you define something as overrated, though?
Surely if it's something like The Wire or Breaking bad which around 95% of people and critics who have watched think are amongst the greatest TV shows ever then you're the one under-rating them if you think they're not worthy of that praise.
Basically if you said The Wire, you're wrong, go feck yourself you Hitler.
Surely if it's something like The Wire or Breaking bad which around 95% of people and critics who have watched think are amongst the greatest TV shows ever then you're the one under-rating them if you think they're not worthy of that praise.
Basically if you said The Wire, you're wrong, go feck yourself you Hitler.
You wouldn't make any. It's like asking Emile Zola to change his style of writing, it makes absolutely no sense - the way it is depicting the bleak reality of life in Baltimore is part of the show. It's just absurd to envisage The Wire with anything else than a cold, naturalistic perspective, it completely defeats what the show is about.
I know it's not what you're suggesting Rado, you're a sensible one.
Every "overrated" thread on the Caf is an absolute car crash - it's just people who didn't like or didn't get something very popular that use it as an opportunity to shit on it. But the fact The Wire was mentioned within the first few posts shows that these threads are absolute nonsense.
Ah I see
think I read the thread and clicked up and quoted first one I seen stranger in, sure someone mentioned stranger things.Red Dwarf has aged but nothing is Mrs Brown's Boys level of shite.
My brother in law thinks MBBs is hilarious. When he first started raving about it, I walked behind him. He said "what are you doing", I said "looking for your lobotomy scar".
Over-rated TV.... The Bodyguard which my wife made me watch. What a pile of crap, you could replace the main actor with a plank of wood.... frowning and saying "maam" does not an actor make.
Oh, there is Keeley Hawes though I guess.
I suppose trying to condense 2 years of preparation and war into 10 hours means corners had to be cut, especially with a group that saw as much action as they did. Chernobyl had half the time to cover a couple of days. For me the brilliance of Band of Brothers was showing for probably the first time on TV how fast paced and horrific the war must have been for those on the front lines.
Exactly, the production of the show was absolutely spot on.
It’s the same as how (with a very small number of notable exceptions) all the music in The Wire came from sources in the scene, so car stereos or boom boxes or the characters being in a club/bar etc.
It’s all organic.
The Wire. I liked The Shield a lot more. I watched The Wire through once and The Shield about 6 times already.
Maybe people were looking for some entertainment and pretty shots? I suppose on that level the Wire isn't the greatest show in the world ever.
I think Breaking Bad was a mediocre show with a great ending. I gave up watching it a couple seasons before the end because i hated all the characters. Went back much later and the regard it was held in made a lot more sense. Probably could have cut it into 3 seasons and had something comparable to Soprano's and the Wire but think its a long, long way behind them both as is.
I think Breaking Bad was a mediocre show with a great ending. I gave up watching it a couple seasons before the end because i hated all the characters. Went back much later and the regard it was held in made a lot more sense. Probably could have cut it into 3 seasons and had something comparable to Soprano's and the Wire but think its a long, long way behind them both as is.
Plus I find it strange to complain about the visuals in The Wire. it had some of the most striking and emotional shots and imagery I've seen. Just because there was no orchestral background music or grainy overtones doesn't change that. Off the top of my head (don't open if you haven't seen the full show) ..
Omar in the morgue with the ID card showing that he really was just a mortal after all.
The final scene with Mc Nulty and the homeless guy on the bridge.
Stringer's death
Bodie's death
etc.
The final scene with Mc Nulty and the homeless guy on the bridge.
Stringer's death
Bodie's death
etc.
Perhaps I am misinterpreting the tone of the show, because that's how I feel about Curb. I feel the show wants you to revel in Larry's misery, and that is highlighted by everyone around Larry thinking he's a twat. The tone I get from Seinfeld feels like the opposite to me, that George never wins, but the viewer is supposed to want him to. I will likely dive back in to it again soon, as I keep trying to get it, but personally I think they perfected that tone with Curb. It probably doesn't help that I saw Curb first.
I just wish they dialled back on the canned laughter more than anything. It's a show that doesn't really need it, as it's not just set-up>joke>set-up>joke like sitcoms like Friends were. A lot of the time its just conversations with a laugh after every line, funny or not.
Feck off to any posts saying The Wire or The Sopranos for that matter.
Seinfeld is the one for me.
Seinfeld is the one for me.
The fly on the wall approach is visually boring and "cheap". It's the shaky cam argument all over again. Just because something is "meant" to be a certain way, it doesn't mean that we should completely forget about an aspect that's arguably 50% of what makes cinema cinema. Also, I'm not entirely convinced that "fly on the wall" always is the best approach when realism is the goal.
Something you find less great than the average opinion on something. It could be marginal(thinking that The Wire is a 9.5/10 instead of 10/10, for instance).
Well that's if you believe that the majority and critics can't be wrong or that subjectivity has no matter when judging TV series. I disagree with both.
Big fan of Breaking Bad, but the pacing of it is really bizarre. It would mostly seem like the pace was high, but every season seemed to have a total fluff episode where nothing happens, often contained in the same space, and when the hour is up, you gained nothing. Like the episode with the fly in the lab, or the one where the RV won't start up. Neither of them bad episodes, but very jarring compared to the pacing of the rest of the show.
I mean I disagree. I think the definition of overrated is something that a large volume of people would agree is rated too highly by critics and the media. if it's just you and a few others who don't think it is, then it's not overrated, you're just going against the general consensus. Something can't be overrated if most people rate it!
Isn't that pretty much the only time something can be overrated?
Also, whether something is overrated or not is subjective.You're not going to convince me that something is objectively overrated.
I mean I totally disagree with all of that but fine it’s an opinion. Again though I’m interested to know what changes you’d make to it visually?
Hey
It grows more compelling with every season.
The first season isn’t what people rave about. It’s the worst season by a huge distance.
It grows more compelling with every season.
That may be true but honestly I found it so incredibly boring I can't face trying it again.
Breaking Bad is the tits.
Big Bang Theory, I mean it's rated by a lot of people. Simple people but people nonetheless. On the Internet it's rightfully panned.
I could never get into Seinfeld.
I could never get into Seinfeld.
Billions has been a 4 out of 10 TV show for 3 of its 5 seasons. Season 4 was tumescent. Season 5 is even worse.
Westworld was overrated by a huge margin. It’s long, drawn out and predictable when it’s trying to be secretive.
Westworld was overrated by a huge margin. It’s long, drawn out and predictable when it’s trying to be secretive.
Fargo. Couldn't make it through more than 2 episodes. How am I supposed to give a feck when every single character apart from Billy Bob Thornton is a drooling imbecile?
I generally find it hard to add very specific changes that would boost the visual experience. I can usually tell when a lot of effort has been made when it comes to the visuals, though. Besides that, visuals are also largely subjective. What I find visually pleasing may not please others. The Wire essentially does "nothing" and thus it's almost like reading a book or watching a theater play where nothing happens in the background. Both of those are fine things, but I feel like something is missing when I'm specifically looking for a cinematic experience and a great narrative. A great narrative is still a great narrative, with or without interesting visuals, though. Thus, I still like The Wire a lot. I think it's one of the best shows created despite its visuals.
Breaking Bad - One of those shows that was hyped up immensely to me. I enjoyed certain episodes but the plot line was way too slow. Someone mentioned already way too many filler/random episodes (that fly episode). I personally thought Walter wasn't violent enough for my tasting but that's just me.
You don't think that turning the Hamsterdam section into a glossy music video with Bubbles rapping about the brilliance of WMD could've worked? I pity your lack of imagination.