Pawn Star has always been scripted (i.e. staged times and actors bringing in rare novelty items)from Day 1. Production costs dictate it. One simply can't set up an expensive production crew on location and wait for something or someone interesting to walk into the door. Perfect example was an episode where a customer finds a Shelby Cobra body abandoned in a storage unit. Lo & behold, the guys haggle over it, and take to the local racetrack and the next thing ya know—they make a sweet deal on a rare Cobra! Three things: nobody forgets about a rare cobra body in a storage unit; the Shelby Cobra Club and restoration hdqtrs is conveniently located in…Las Vegas. The 'stranger' who found the car is actually the brother of the owner of one of the Pawn shop's restoration places.
My television has morphed into an ancillary monitor for my iMac. I have no cable or satellite provider any longer. There are some things I miss. I use apple TV and subscribe to various services offered in cyberspace both paid and gratis. I like to think I am on the cutting edge of the evolution of TV entertainment. Sometimes I think too highly of myself.
True detective, NCIS, NCIS LA, Sons of Anarchy, Black Sails. A few others catch my attention here and there.
PBS is airing Ken Burn's latest documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History all week, one episode per night, 7 episodes. It's excellent and every bit up to the high standards he's set with his previous films.
I've heard some good things about this. I need to watch it… Most of my viewing is via NetFlix these days. Some of my current favorites: • Sons of Anarchy — exploits of an outlaw, lowlife gun-running NorCal biker club, well-written • Walking Dead — A series that needs an injection of 'life' as the last 3 seasons have really been rather dreary.. • Hell on Wheels — Building of the transcontinental railroad & all the drama within that western drama. Well acted... • House of Cards — just started this; big fan of Kevin Spacey...
Me too. The Strain is awesome. The new period piece, "The Knick" (Cinemax) starring Clive Owen as a coke-shooting surgeon in 1900 New York is a real winner. It's directed by Steven Soderberg who I love.
I'm on the Netflix/Hulu+ list too. No cable. Lately I've been watching Californication and Manhattan. I just finished the first season of House of Cards, great show. Saving season 2 for rainy Fall nights. I agree with The Walking Dead. They're really stretching the storyline out. To give you an idea, so far I think the whole zombiegeddon thing has lasted around 12-18 months in the comics, which translates to a little over 130 issues, or at least in that ballpark. The TV show so far in its entirety has done about the first 3-4 months of that, in however many years. I swear, by the time they get to the next storyline the actor who plays Carl will be 25 in real life.
I ought to start by saying that I don't watch much TV at all these days (broadcast, streaming or otherwise), but reading the "best of" recommendations here only underscores what I've long thought...nearly all of it's rubbish. Soap-operatic mini-series that drone on and on (season after season...after season...)? Isn't House of Cards a just a recapitulation of the old Ian Richardson mini-series?. And reality TV?? Seriously, that hardly even bears thinking about, so much the less actually watching. And this is late summer/early autumn we're talking about here, one of the best times of the whole year. Get up off the couch and get outside! It just defies belief, honestly. On a more positive note, the Roosevelt series is also on PBS's website for streaming, presumably on most of the popular platforms.
More of an inspired by type deal. The old Ian Richardson mini-series was just a recapitulation of a book.
