Mike Judge's "Silicon Valley" (HBO Show)

i don't really buy that Richard has values and these are driving the new company. i think the internet scheme is mostly a mostly ego boost for him. i think he's good about coming off as a brilliant visionary in speeches but it is obvious he wants total control over anything he creates. im not buying that he is going to create a new decentralized internet that nobody controls. it goes completely against the one principle he has stood buy, that he should have total control over everything.

i cant even understand what it is you're looking for them to do

plots beyond "(another) last ditch effort where Richard screws it up and magically it works anyways" every single episode would be good. the earlier seasons had a flow to them, you saw things develop, you saw people float in and out of their orbit. everyone is a walking a plot device now. these other characters are all shells of people. when Gilfoyle and Nidesh say "You lied to us!" i wanted to slap them. yes you idiots, the guy who has lied to you dozens of times now, has lied to you again, and yet you are still working here. for what? is he paying their salary? they didn't pay the internet bill because when Jared brought him the bill he said "Go away mom". which is funny, lol, what a great joke, but it also displays that the show itself is a joke.

i think he's good about coming off as a brilliant visionary in speeches but it is obvious he wants total control over anything he creates. im not buying that he is going to create a new decentralized internet that nobody controls. it goes completely against the one principle he has stood buy, that he should have total control over everything

this is both accurate to the character and to, ime, their real-life equivalents. personal rep and/or wealth overshadows any and all other hifalutin considerations.

who on earth wants more details on the new internet?

who wants details on a compression algorithm? yet we heard about that constantly. its detailed funtionality is even central to the final episode-long joke of the season 1-ending.

they can write good. they once did. they are writing poorly now.

personal rep and/or wealth overshadows any and all other hifalutin considerations

but this is not a VALUE. "I'm going to do what is good for me" is not a VALUE.

I could use a few more technical shenanigans (losing Anton out the back of the truck, their network somehow working on fridges, VR exposed as a technical failure) than venture capital shenanigans (the Jack/Gavin junk which seems a little too petty to be entertaining, the will-or-won't-they stuff with Laurie funding them, failing to really make Monica have any stake in what their doing but having her appear for balance).

*they're

my god I'm a monster

why make the writers play to their weaknesses when they can double down on
http://i.imgur.com/VTgM7VC.jpg?1

i don't really buy that Richard has values and these are driving the new company. i think the internet scheme is mostly a mostly ego boost for him. i think he's good about coming off as a brilliant visionary in speeches but it is obvious he wants total control over anything he creates. im not buying that he is going to create a new decentralized internet that nobody controls. it goes completely against the one principle he has stood buy, that he should have total control over everything.

This paragraph does not resonate as true to me whatsoever. i mean, of course its an 'ego boost' for him, so is you posting on this thread—that doesn't mean he doesn't have any values

flopson otm

in the TJ interview he kind of nails it with the "this guy is from Seinfeld and he's applying Seinfeld logic to the arc" except it this HBO context it just doesn't really work as a compelling thing

gilfoyle with the cat eye contacts was a great, obvious gag

of course he doesn't have normal contact lenses, just ones he got for halloween

yeah kurt OTM, read that Miller interview and it's interesting that he thought his own departure may change the shows staid formula. Also seemed like he had some weird tension with Middleditch.

Anyways, weakest season overall easily

imo they should make Richard fully devolve into the malnourished, shrinking, weird sexual deviant malcontent he seems to be

they could have a couple episodes of him finding out where all the leaders of failed startups go and have that fear put in him

mh very much agree

they could have a couple episodes of him finding out where all the leaders of failed startups go and have that fear put in him

I picture them somehow being in partnership with another company that takes them to an escape room place for cross-team bonding

and Richard keeps talking to the guy working there, who looks dejected and hungover, and he's the ex-ceo of some company hooli bought and immediately shelved

then they find out the escape room has no escape

finding out where all the leaders of failed startups go

^^ There you go. Burning Man with Russ Hanneman.

Looking forward to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_iYWKev1x8

nice

this new show is good stuff

i'm still watching season 4 of this but i had a question that probably can't be answered because this is a sitcom: when action jack left pied piper WHY didn't the guys just decide to make boxes anyway? they would have been rich and they could have spent their time doing whatever they wanted. working on the platform. etc. i know they hated the box, but still it seems dumb that they had this easy money maker and they just abandoned it. felt kinda dumb. especially since they spend episode after episode trying to get funding and they had this cash cow of their own.

oh well. love the show.

they didn't cos the box wasn't Richard's idea. the entire show is based on Richard being a visionary, which excuses his shitty behavior. well, it's supposed to at any rate. after last season i don't think i'll continue w the show

but it was kinda his idea. even though he was joking about building a box at first.

it just seemed like his financial pals would have said hey you can make a ton of money with the box and then go be a visionary. but whatever.

Richard is a petulant egotist who self-sabotages at every opportunity. This is the core principle of the show.

I don't think anything meant to excuse his shitty behavior. It's supposed to be shitty.

sic and Evan otm

it's a pretty funny take on the fact that most startups have no purity of vision or moral compass and would kill to just cash out, and these guys are saddled with the one dipshit ego-bound dude who seems hell-bent on doing something the _right_ way, even when it's very clear that whatever he comes up with is going to get undercut five minutes later

i still like him though. for some reason. richard.

Isn't this what a comedy is?

Season 5 preview:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/silicon-valley-confronts-a-darker-side-tech-culture-tj-millers-messy-exit-1092493

Season 5 preview:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/silicon-valley-confronts-a-darker-side-tech-culture-tj-millers-messy-exit-1092493

slash heavily thought through PR piece

Those dumb ads that are on all the time have soured me on Richard

The previous season was borderline terrible, Erlich which was my favourite character is out (and was already bad during S4) and I don't think I can't stand more of Richard's fuck ups/stupid behavior and dickhead/smug Dinesh but... I guess I'll watch it though, just to make sure it IS that bad now !
The only characters I still like are Gilfoyle and Jared (also a bit Gavin, Russ Hanneman and Ron Laflamme).

S4 began REALLY well and then shrivelled up in the last few episodes

I'm still enjoying this and finding it funny but the show could definitely use a couple of new characters at this stage.

Yeah. Or give Monica an actual comic storyline instead of using her as plot device/captain exposition.

Denish-as-new-Erlich CEO was so good and could have gone beyond a single episode.

Dinesh made a good-bad ceo and I agree we could have seen more of it

I think the best character bits for me are the Dinesh-Gilfoyle interactions, anything Jared does, and the occasional Big Head interludes, at this point (rip Peter Gregory). They're generally putting in the work, or caught in the increasingly stupider machinations of the system, and the actual core of the show. The plot stuff is just connective tissue for me, and I think of it -- and Richard by extension -- as somewhat loathsome

Monica seems chill but she's this pawn of big capital. Laurie, as a character, I have more patience for because she's completely uninterested in people and the unrelenting pragmatism while trying to funnel the instincts of a dead prognosticator has some script legs, if they run more with it

I hated Dinesh as CEO ! That was actually the point where I couldn't stand him anymore (previously, I enjpyed his interactions with Gilfoyle, of course).
Big Head was fun at first but that got boring. Same with Jiang Yang.
Another character I really can't stand is Jack Barker.
So overall, that's a lot of characters I dislike/don't care about to keep enjoying the show (not even talking about the circular storyline) !

how did I miss Jiang Yang? he might be my most favorite

I hope he starts prank calling Richard

i was kinda hoping that they would do the Being There thing and Bighead would end up some celebrated tenured CS professor and get asked to run for Senate.

there's still time

although his teaching gig didn't quite go that well

Jiang Yang is hilarious but isn't going to work without Erlich.

I think Jiang Yang is going to try to be the new Erlich (running the startup incubator crash house) and there's a little potential there

There's a sweet spot between Parks and Rec Season 1 (too abrasive) and Season 5 (too comfy) and it feel like SV is still at 1, when it should be aiming for 2/3. Maybe.

Also, it's still too bro-y and Judge's "we're just reflecting reality' excuse seems cowardly (and maybe also just wrong)

i do get weary of the fact that so many of the most talented comic actors and writers are stuck in the endless loop of dick/poop/ass/balls but i suppose that is the essence of modern american comedy. in the old days the essence was more falling down a lot/comic accents/mustaches/sexual harassment.

https://smile.amazon.com/How-American-Immigrants-Disappointing-Parents/dp/0306903490/