The Official TV Thread - Because We Need It

[tuneschick]

Wow, I totally forgot about that. See why I need to buy it on DVD?

I think they were having some sort of problem with the music rights for the first few seasons and that's why nothing's out on DVD yet. But I don't know if any of Spelling's shows are out? I mean, I know Melrose Place isn't, and I don't even think shows like the Love Boat are... which is weird considering EVERYTHING is on DVD now.

Of course, let's not forget when Donna was going to be held back after getting drunk at the prom. Awww, poor Donna. "Donna Martin graduates!!"

[chrisfan]

Ooh! I had forgotten about Donna's big scandal!!!!! Was it that dance that she wore the giant Gone With the Wind-like dress that she could hardly walk in? Or did she wear that for the dance where Brenda and Kelly had the same dress? Come to think of it ... didn't Donna also dress up as a mermaid for a halloween party only to discover she couldn't walk in the costume? Was Donna the only girl in high school whose mom didn't make her do the walk and bend tests in the dressing room?

[tuneschick]

I think it was when she wore that big poufy dress... I can't remember for sure though. I just remember David's dad giving them champagne and her passing out in front of one of the teachers. Scandalous!

[chrisfan]

I also loved the way that David suddenly was so smart that he could skip a grade once Donna decided he was cool, and not some nerdy little freshman. Remember how freaked out Kelly was when her mom married David's dad? Now here's a relevant question ... why on earth were Kelly's friends like the only guests at that wedding? Who'd get married and say "Let's invite all my kid's friends and no one else"? Had my show gone on the air instead of 90210, that woudln't have happened.

[Ayinger]

chrisfan said:

Does anyone have any idea what time of year FX shows Rescue Me? The talk here has convinced me I have to check it out. But I know FX rotates their shows, so I have no idea when to look for it. I'd mark my calendar for it if I knew, but the FX website is ZERO help.

Season 3 for RESCUE ME will start up sometime between April and June according to FX. 13 episodes were slated to begin filming early this year.

While I was a fan of Leary's previous outing with THE JOB, he clearly got his shit on with this series. It's dramatic, poignant, profane, controversial, and thought-provoking all balled up into one. Oh, and funny as hell in many of spots -- one of my favorite moments being when he punches out the Catholic priest through the talkhole in the confessional booth..."bless me Father for I have sinned" WHAM!!!

Really, if possible catch up on the series to get the idea of where he's coming from/where he's been, and then buckle up for Season 3.

[kool]

LMAO! The whole David skipping a school year once he became one of the cool kids was ridiculous. Remember his 'music'? That was some funny shit. I remember an episode when one of his groupies told him he looked like George Michael and he took it as a compliment!

The only episodes I hated where the later ones where Donna dated that no-good musician Ray... something. Maybe it was due to the fact that that dude was such a terrible actor and that his music stank. Wasn't she dating him in real life? Maybe she persuaded daddy to give him a part.

Melrose Place was still a much better show IMO. The best spin-off since Knots Landing. Actually, those are the only two spin-offs I can think of that were better than the 'originals'.

[kool]

Tunes, look at the ad at the top of this page. Not sure if you can see it. It says "All 10 Seasons 90210 on DVD, 53 DVD's at hardtofindtvshows.com." Of course, chances are it's just some dude's homemade DVR copies [that were transfered from VHS]. Check it out...

[chrisfan]

Funny story about David Silver's music ... When I first became a fan of The Clarks, they were playing in small music clubs - the kind that give unknown acts a chance to play as openers for minor minor headline acts like The Clarks, and the earlier in the night, the younger and more they suck the opening bands are. One of the first Clarks shows I went to (this was back in the day when my friend I went to shows with would make us get their really early so we could get close to the stage) the first band to play was two high school kids and their synthesizers. They looked and sounded like David Silver. So we of course named them "The David Silver Band". At almost every show I go to now, he and I will start talking about various openers, and we always work our way back to the David Silver band. Friends of ours who weren't even at that show now talk about it like they were.

Tori Spelling did date Ray in real life. First he had his own show - The Heights. When that failed, he was put on 90210. And damn you Kool, I'm now going to have that song in my head all night ... "How do you talk to an angel ..."

[kool]

I don't remember that song, thank God. I think he had another 'hit'.

btw, Mark Greene dies? I haven't watched ER in years and was planning on getting the DVD's at some point and watching them right from where I left it. I think the last episodes I saw were the ones where he had tumor removed from his brain and had just had a baby with that British chick. Abby's pregnant too? Who's the father? That Yugoslavian doctor that lost his family in the war? The last I remember of her was when her insane mother [Sally Field] wanted to live with her.

[chrisfan]

Yep, the brain tumor came back and killed Mark. But he got to die in Hawaii. And Abby is pregnant, for now. But in tonight's episode, she is supposed to ponder whether or not she's ready to be a mother. And at the same time coincedentally, Luka (yes, he's the father) and Neela (yes, she's Abby's best friend) are going to be cousenling a devoutly religious teenager who is pregnant (not sure how you can be devoutly religious in aciton and a pregnant teenager, but hey, it's drama!) about ALL of her options. Can anyone else smell a "very special episode of ER?"

[Matheus]

Ken, the thing about Angel was that the fourth season irritated the fuck out of me. I'm sorry, but Charisma Carpenter was a hell of a lot better than that shlop that they had her playing. It was completely obnoxious. Not to mention the whole black chic, Revelations story they had going on. I hated Connor. He annoyed the fuck out of me. But yeah, they redeemed themselves with Season 5 and then it got cancelled. God, that was fucked up.

I like quirky shows, always have, and Angel was nothing short of quirky. I haven't watched Bones yet, because I'm pretty sure if I end up liking it, it will be cancelled, just like everything else. I don't like TV, I abhor it (and honestly, I watched all of the shows I mentioned on DVD rather than television), because I don't feel like I can get involved when I got someone telling me to eat Cheerios or else I suck cutting in.

I dunno, I like smart shows, and quirky means smart rather than the norm, and that's what I like.

And that's why the cartoons are so brilliant, and why I don't think they'll ever be cancelled, someone will decide to quit before any of those shows get cancelled. Yeah, The Family Guy was cancelled, but it had 3 seasons under its belt beforehand. The Simpsons, South Park, and King Of The Hill have massive built in audiences, and I guarantee you, someone will decide to quit before any of those get cancelled. I just know it.

I dunno why it pisses me off so much about the cancellation of shows, but it's kind of like you get to be involved with characters so much in a TV show that ya can't wait to see what happens to them next or what road they ultimately go down. Usually, when a show gets cancelled, you don't get to know that. No satisfaction there. And these aren't exactly Everybody Loves Raymond or Seinfeld, where you aren't exactly as emotionally involved with the characters or plot...

[Matheus]

90210... I loved that show until Shannen Doherty was kicked off, then it got stupid. I'm sorry, but Brenda made that show. She was the liink that kept it all together. Well, her and Brandon because they kind of infused the "girls" and "boys" together much more than either one of them by themselves.

And did I mention, as much as a homo I am, Shannen Doherty was definitely one of my crushes as a kid. I had a thing for bitches... Shannen Doherty, Amy Fisher, etc...

[Kensterberg]

I think the whole 4th season took a big wrong turn, and I agree that Conner was a mistake. I think that Joss et al came up with "let's have Angel and Darla have a kid!" which sounds like a great plot twist, but then they never came up with a plot arc that lived up to the idea. Maybe if they'd kept Darla around and had her trying to raise Conner and screwing things up (popping up for "support" from Angel at the wrong times, I dunno), that might have been better. But the whole thing just went wrong.

I love TV, but I rarely watch commercials. Through the magic of TiVo, I just time-shift things around and watch shows at my leisure. I'm real skeptical about buying a show I've never seen (i.e. Sopranos, Six Feet Under, etc.), and similarly don't see much point to buying the DVDs when I've already seen the show (i.e. Buffy, Angel, CSI, etc.). And since I just generally can't be arsed to go to the rental stores and pay a couple of bucks per disc for rentals ... well, I've yet to do the whole "TV on DVD" thing.

[chrisfan]

I like the idea of TV shows on DVD from a rental perspective. But I can't think of any show I'd be moved to buy on DVD. Before I got HBO, I LOVED that I could watch all of Sex and the City by renting it. (and I have to admit I can totally understand why some people complain about watching such shows on real TV - after you've gotten into the habit of watching several hours/episodes at one time, it's very hard to accept having to wait another week to see more) I've also been tempted to rent some old shows I used to love like 21 Jump Street. And if Thirtysomething ever is released on DVD, I"ll be the first in line to rent all the discs. But I'm more picky about the DVDs I buy. I have to be willing to watch it over and over and over and over for it to be worth it. It's strange how many movies there are that I won't watch on DVD over and over, and yet every time they're on HBO, I stop and watch.

Did anyone watch ER last night? I could have sworn that in the beginning when Ray was asking Carrie for time off he called her Aunt Carrie. Totally shocked me. But then nothing else was said. Was I imagining things, or did he call her that?

[tuneschick]

Kool - I'm not getting a BH ad at the top of the page right now - just an ad for Monster. But yeah, I've seen that advertised too... this massive collection of burned discs. It'd be tempting if I could guarantee the quality would be good. Can't imagine it'd be top-notch coming off VHS.

Wow Ayinger, you put in one little paragraph everything I love about Rescue Me. I don't remember ever loving a show like I do this one. I LOVED that moment when Tommy punched the priest... perfect.

My only little disappointed this season was the way they wrapped up the storyline with Lou's hooker girlfriend... just seemed a bit too obvious to me. Still felt for him though.

And seriously, I cried for 20 minutes after that last episode. The part where Chief was in the truck with Franco and broke down about wanting "his girl" back broken my heart.

Chris - you reeeeeally need to watch the first two seasons before the third one starts. Don't know if it's running in reruns or anything on FX but if there's ANY way you can catch up on what's happened up until now, it's well worth it.