Television

I share your reactions for stuff like ER, Matt. Personally I really enjoy Grey's Anatomy.

I've become a lot more emotional about things I see on tv, read in books, and hear in music. I cried listening to Andre Agassi's words to the audience after his last tennis match, and I havent followed his career for very long at all.

My guilty pleasures would be the top 100 lists they crank out on E. I also watch alot of music video top 10's and 50's where they order the lists according to votes - those can be interesting.

Some of Adult Swim's original programming is pretty sweet. Family Guy seems to improve with each season, and I like how Venture Brothers just keeps getting crazier and crazier without sacrificing any of the funny.

Daily Show is still a favourite, despite alot of its best known players leaving. Comedy Central's stand-up comics are usually fun to watch but there's not much else on that channel since Chappelle left (and rightly so, from what I've heard). Drawn Together, however, is great. It's really, really stupid in the most joyus of ways. And reruns of South Park from up until about a year ago = comedy gold.

Simpsons is still good. Not much to say here since it hasn't gotten any better or worse in the years I've been watching.

Food Network has some good stuff on, although alot of their shows try way to hard to be trendy.

National Geographic Channel is kind of a mixed bag. They can go from "educational but fun" to "exploitative reality trash" in the blink of an eye. Their tornado documentaries are usually entertaining and non-sadistic, and they show alot of quality "let's follow around deadly animals" stuff.

Science Channel, baby. Science Channel. Less than half the exploitation you get on National Geographic, Discovery and TLC, with NONE of the home decorating! It's totally worth the price of digital cable. Discovery Times is also interesting, lots of "ancient mystery" stuff (god damn, I LOVE Pyramids, Mummies and Tombs).

My guilty pleasure: anything on G4. All of their original programming is godawful, and I think they know it given how aggressively they've been pimping the Star Trek reruns. On the other hand, they do show alot of clips from video games that look cool but I'll never be able to play since I can't afford a new console. Plus, Blair Butler is funny.

Another guilty pleasure would be Anime Network. They actually have some pretty decent shows, but their specialty is bad shows that for some reason I can't stop watching.

Just as an aside, is the term "guilty pleasure" meant to be taken literally? If you like something, why feel guilty even if you know it sucks?

Summary: not all media needs to be art to be considered good, and non artistic media is not necessarily bad or unpleasant to watch.

This thread has mutated insanely. Maybe a submarine could save it.

It seems all my favorite shows are cancelled - Aeon Flux, Absolutely Fabulous, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Strangers with Candy, Upright Citizen's Brigade...

And I do love Ghost Hunters and South Park, of course. Not to mention The Colbert Report.

(It doesn't help that I once fell in love with a medical intern who now works in an ER in Chicago -- bad memories mix with what's on the screen, and just end up making it worse -- and because of that, for some reason, better viewing.)

Maeda had asked me back when we finished Animatrix if I'd be up for directing episodes. I declined, being unsure of what he had in mind. Having seen it, I know now, but I really don't know what I might have contributed, since the show has such a distinctive directorial approach.
It was nice getting hooked on an animated show again. Highly recommended.

I've begun watching Gankutsuou. I realy enjoy its surreal intense and unhinged use of patterns and colours in combination with the formality and composure presented in its depiction of a(1800's reminiscent? - my history sucks) high culture.

Anthoyn I loved Buffy too, so disappointed she didn't do the movie. Terrible loss as far as I'm concerned. South Park is good I wish they'd leave off the gross stuff, I really think it would be a better show. I know those guys think if it's offensive it's on the edge but I just like his characters. I wish they'd do them just like cute kids vs the crazy world they live in up there in Colorado, lol.

Love Taps, glad Brian is back.

The "ninjettes" stuff is from my recent animated commercial for S*ny Br*via

Yeah, there has been alot of that lately. In the beginning, they didn't seem to care about being "edgy" or offensive just for the sake of being offensive; instead, they seemed to enjoy the simple pleasures of really dirty jokes mixed in with intelligent satire, both of which I deeply appreciate. Now it's become obvious they're just being as gross and controversial as they can be to get attention. It's a sign they're running out of good ideas.

As for the "ninjettes" thing, IT LOOKS AWESOME. Can't wait to see the full version.

As far as South Park, I don't think they've changed substantially. They've always been attention-getting for the sake of it, disgusting, and sharp. Of course, some episodes are always better than others.

... And that's where we disagree. For me, the earlier episodes were all about having fun with pop culture and shit jokes, and the recent episodes are all about blatant attention-whoring and preaching at the audience. I am glad you can still enjoy them (not being sarcastic here, I really am envious that it's still a good show in your eyes) and since all art is 100% subjective, the show isn't really one way or the other -- it's all just how each of us sees it.

Don't take this personally but I'm now sick to death of talking about South Park and am going to stop.

With Southpark, they probably always wanted to do the kind of preachy, over-the-top episodes they've been doing lately, but didn't want to risk it early on because they weren't established, or weren't comfortable enough with the medium yet. But that's just a guess.

Aeon Flux seems to be almost the opposite sort of phenomenon... Started out as sensationalistic as possible, untested, and got "tamer" and more subtle maybe as the series went on.

I think that an important part of being an artist is being able to recognise when results outside of ones origninal vision are worth using (I think David Lynch them as "wonderful accidents"). Although I don't want to necessarily fault George Lucas's ability and conviction in terms of finally achieving what he'd always envisioned. Considering the obvious pressure of his position that seems quite respectable.

Check review: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/reviews/display.php?id=654

Carridine is the guy from Kill Bill. He's just great. Kinda wish they'd play Kung Fu on a more commonly watched cable channel. I don't think tv has to be 'now' to be recognized for quality. You don't go to an art museum and appreciate work from only the last two years or so.

@ Matt: you said "Aeon Flux ... Started out as sensationalistic as possible, untested, and got 'tamer' and more subtle maybe as the series went on."

And I have to disagree with you there, too. There was alot of subtlety in the early episodes (how do you pack that much information into such a short period of time without being very good at subtlety?), and I don't see how the later episodes were any tamer. In fact, "sensationalistic" isn't a word I'd use to describe the series at all. Sure it's over-the-top (in a good, intentional way), dramatic and exciting, and the early episodes are extremely fast-paced, but "sensationalistic"?

All of Satosi Kon's work is brilliant. I would highly recommend Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godparents.

Peter, the pencil tests look excellent. I couldn’t imagine what you could possibly be advertising though. I’m assuming it has something to do with the logo on his chest? Anyways, NEAT!!!

I'm not using "sensationalism" as a pejorative, by the way. From the way you worded your response, I'm assuming you think it is?

Do you think of the pilot/first season as being advertisements for the later episodes, or am I reading you wrong?

"I'm not using 'sensationalism' as a pejorative, by the way. From the way you worded your response, I'm assuming you think it is?"

No, actually I interperated your attitude as neutral. I don't know you, but you don't seem like the kind of person to make snide remarks about a show in the forum dedicated to said show. In fact, you seem like a nice guy; I just disagree with you about alot of things.

My feelings are that there was just as much depth to those first few episodes as in the third season, possibly more so given that so much was communicated in such a small amount of time. I really like the third season, but the episodes without dialogue are my current favourites because of the creativity it took to show, rather than tell, an interesting story. There was also alot of insight into the characters' personalities that was shown via their reactions to and interactions with the other characters in the episode -- dialogue added some more depth, but it was a more conventional method of doing so. For me, seeing how you can tell a story without words is, in itself, entertainment, not to mention the depth of the actual stories being told. All the sex and explosions were just icing on the cake.

I didn't get to see the shorts as they were first aired. I joined in when they were into the full blown episodes, and then saw them out of order as MTV was playing havoc with the schedule anyway. They used to come on at 3:am and I was staying up all hours just to see them. But I did get the sense the earlier ones were more sensationally oriented, I see where Matt is coming from.

All right, I think I understand what you're saying now. And I still disagree. However, since this is getting us nowhere, let's just leave it at that.

"I'm not trying to start a fight or anything."

It's been pretty obvious since the beginning of this conversation that I have no interest in fighting with you.

From "Mirror" (a.k.a. "Night"), 2nd season

From the Pilot episode (I think)

From "The Purge", 3rd season

In my opinion, they are all equally badass. Love that freaky perspective in the "Purge" shot -- and never noticed the guy in the background with the "what the fuck?" expression on his face. You notice something new every day.

In more genaric TV-related news, I've just started re-watching Babylon 5 (we taped the entire series when it was run on TNT a few years ago). The first season makes it seem like just another unremarkable slice of cheese but they've already started dropping hints of what's to come. If you've only seen the first season and have already decided you don't like it, I recommend you stick it out awhile. It does get better. So much better.

Great work there, guys falling all around her in space., that stance of hers, sleek elegance, the look I really love. Movements like smoke, that way she moved really caught your eye. Cat like.

Here's a screenshot, also from punkasspunk.com

Unfortunately, there were scenes in that episode that featured some of the ugliest animation of the whole series. So uneven, but one I like nonetheless.

Out of curiosity, I'm wondering what people thought of this version of Aeon? Is this an example of what you'd consider "ugly"? As I've mentioned, I'm currently thinking about how to revamp her design.

Ether Drift screenshot

So, does this mean you're revamping not just her costume or hair, but the style that she's drawn in?

No, linking to the images is okay. Embedding the images in the post, however, is wrong because that means that whenever people look at the thread, they're automatically loading the picture, which uses the bandwidth of the site the picture is on more often than it should be. If you just link to the picture, you're giving people the option of looking at it as opposed to making it automatic, and it's pretty much the same as just linking to the original page the images are on. It took me awhile to learn this lesson; there's a thread on the old Greenspun forum where I hotlinked an image, I'm still emberassed about it.
If anyone from the sites I linked to in this thread objects to my posting links to the individual images, I'll tell the mods to delete the links.

"Is this an example of what you'd consider 'ugly'? [screenshot]"

Nope, that's just fine and dandy. I can't find any really dodgy stuff from Ether Drift Theory on the net but this shot is a little sub-par (maybe just because it's from far away). The animation/drawing style in that episode is at its worst in the scene just after her buddy Lindze leaves her behind, especially the part where she walks up to the port hole and says "Idiots". She's alot less detailed than she ought to be and her face is kind of smoothed out -- that just doesn't appeal to me for some reason. This will sound like ass-kissing, but the show looks best when you have the most involvement.

Funny how there are so many threads that start off talking about the show and end up about something else, and this one started off talking about genaric TV and now we're talking about Aeon Flux again.

P.S. Just out of curiosity, how were you thinking of revamping her design?

P.P.S. Completely unnecessary shot of #16, just because she's so cool.

But Aeon Flux was made for television, and I don't consider we're off topic but centering on topic, here.

I liked the array of Aeons black outfits, the one in the pilot episode still my favorite. She looked young and fresh, and I think that's why I liked that particular look. On the DVD there is a great drawing of her in a similiar outfit, the cover of Disc 3.

I also liked the blue outfit in Chronophasia and to see her in a dress in Last Time opened up her character for me. If anyone else wears a dress its blaise, but when Aeon did it, somehow it was startling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS75tSPpV7A&eurl=

The problem now though is that were stuck in a circle. We can't admit that the election might have been a fraud because it has already happened, but you can't fix something if you don't admit there was a problem in the first place.

I find the concept of a conspiracy a strange and interesting one. In a normal situation, if someone is charged of something like murder or pedophilia, then even if the accusation is wrong, the thought is still implanted into the peoples mind who heard the accusation, and the thought in their subconscious will still guide their actions.
Something changes those rules in situations where a conspiracy is involved though. Perhaps it’s the mere magnitude. Or maybe the involvement of an authority figure. Or the just world principle. Hmmm, DELIBERATION!!!

Anyone got any theories?

The winning song of the talent contest, "Give me the wand" was so catchy and had such energy I was actually curious to know who wrote it. Well, it's Guy Moon, and I am amazed this great songwriter writes for kid a show, he's another Barry Manilow as far as I'm concerned. Even the theme song of the show is pretty enjoyable to listen to. I find myself wondering does anyone else get into this kid show? I'm morphing emotionally backwards, is that a good thing? But I'm having so much fun watching I don't care. It's great to leave behind the jaded adult world for some laughs and optimism.

Course by the time Aeon Flux gets back I'll be dying for surrealistic creative stuff again. Either that or I'll be so dumbed down I won't get the plot. Thank god I have this forum to go to, er, in the rare instance that should happen. Lol.

Speaking of kids cartoons, does anyone here watch Drawn Together. A bunch of familiar kids cartoon character parodies are put in big brother reality tv show situation. There is much extremely crude humor - the show does just about anything for a laugh. Mostly I find it severely entertaining.

Man, if there ever came into being a TV channel that let shows like Drawn Together and Aqua Teen Hunger Force stand alongside shows like Aeon Flux and Paranoia Agent, delightfully stupid humor and beautifully-crafted fine art entertainment shown back-to-back . . . the sun would explode because a lineup like that is too awesome to exist.

Lately I've been watching alot of Kids in the Hall and Red Dwarf because they're both a pretty good combination of intelligent and stupid humour, and the best attributes of both.

Good to see you again, Sam. Good to see the forums up and running again, too, I waited forever.

Nah, bet it's just a coincidence. Of course it could be a [very] subtle homage, since I don't know if the Futurama people are fans, but it's such an obscure part of "Ether Drift Theory" that I doubt they'd make the association even if they did see the episode -- the only similarities I noticed were that both scenes had bees (or bee-like insects, can't remember what they were called in "Ether Drift Theory").

On a somewhat related note, Futurama's at its absolute best when it's making fun of Star Trek. They had a whole episode about it called "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", which I taped a couple of months ago because it's wall-to-wall comedy gold; the writers (like me) seem to have sort of a love/hate thing with Trek which really comes through in the humor. They really rip into the hokey plots and Shatner's acting (they also throw alot of shit at the obsessive fans, although I guess that's not technically an aspect of the show itself) but seem to enjoy bathing in nostalgia and realize that the intentions behind even the crappiest episodes were basically good, or at least heading in the right direction. That episode makes me laugh so hard my insides hurt.

Clip from "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aeon+flux&search=Search

Trying tio find somewhere to ask about this.
Is the blood splatter in Supernatural considered a thing?
Seems like the way it's done it might just be something that has become a recognised fan meme or whatever.
It seems like somebody is employed to throw a bucket of blood-looking semi-liquid on a surface in a very amateur way.
So I'm wondering if it is something that people picked up on at a certain stage and started incorporating into fan fiction or whatever meme like images were being circulated.
I don't know anybody else who watches the show and I'm jut starting to get bugged by its regular presence in seemingly every show, done in a similar way.
Looks like it might have just been picked up from earlier gore films or something but it does seem to be a thing that they are at least semi self-aware about.

Thinking that there presumably must be some level of self awareness in order to self parody like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQMI53cOsI&feature=share