Aazealh said:
Not a fan of McFarlane but I did chuckle a few times during the trailer. I share your concern that it might just get old real fast though.
Yeah, his live action work was always suspect and there's not much to say for him at all lately, so we'll see. I like the concept, hopefully they can pull it off and sustain it. I'll be pretty disappointed if it's a bunch of generic jokes about him and his ex-wife that have nothing to do with the setting otherwise.
Walter said:
Are they, though? I admittedly have only followed the TV-fiction side of the story from a distance, but I have a hard time believing they can comfortably bring this sprawling story to a conclusion so quickly.
Last season when they really started running out of book material and started adapting based on whatever George RR Martin wrote on a hotel bar napkin for them it really picked up the pace.

I still would prefer they do two more proper seasons to match the, ahem,
deliberate pacing of the rest of the series. I mean, the walkers still haven't even been seen in the North yet! So, after 60 episodes of teasing them, they're going to do whatever they were going to all this time in some part of 13 episodes, along with everything else that's actually been center stage all this time? Not promising unless it's going to be wall-to-wall action; not necessarily fighting, but dramatic shit galore. I guess the best case scenario is the last season of Breaking Bad? Kind of a similar result, except here the showrunners got tired of putting it on rather than the network, because HBO would run it in perpetuity (and is already looking to find a way =)
Oburi said:
As far as GoT goes, it definitely seems like it'll be wrapping up in these last two seasons and I for one am excited because I think the shortened season will cut out the filler and help the story stick to the action and what's important. Plus I'm guessing that means they can spend more money on the things that need it. If this was two years ago, I probably wouldn't care as much, but seeing as how last season got the series back on track as far as I'm concerned, with some truly outstanding episodes and developments, I'm back to being invested in the show.
Season 4 was the best and most substantive season of TV they've done and likely will do, from every aspect, start to finish. 5 was awful except for the last half of Hardhome and the finale, and last season was alright, entertaining and all, definitely a comeback year, but it's basically just a live-action cartoon at this point, and I can only expect even more of the same in the last 13 episodes. I mean, it's great to think it'll be all killer and no filler, but that's not what the first 4 seasons were about (and set up a lot of stuff they're likely just abandoning, or just was never important it turns out), so it's going to imbalance the story and be a bit of a letdown that they're not going to just use those extra 7 hours to flesh it out and tell a better, more complete conclusion when they're
this close. The only hurry at this point is these guys are probably exhausted after doing a production of this expense and scale, going on 70 hours worth, for seven years straight now. I don't completely blame them, but it would be like if Miura announced tomorrow there's only two volumes left of Berserk after this, with everything he's still got going on (and the rest of it taking up 40). They're definitely not going to get to all of it, and I have my doubts what they will get to will feel earned and wholly satisfying. You can't take forever, pacing-wise, with the first 85% of the story (seasons 2 & 3 are alright, but interminable =) and then give the payoff short shrift, it's the worst of both worlds. But hey, maybe they wrote exactly how much they needed to setup and execute that perfect ending, whether that wound up being 7, 18, or 23 more episodes. Color me skeptical, though.
Oburi said:
And of course I'm very happy about one more season of Curb. Honestly I think it's the best comedy of it's time. It's what the The Larry Sanders Show was in the early 90's. I rewatched the whole thing last year on my own, and now I'm rewatching it again because my girlfriend hasn't seen it and it's just as great. Doesn't get old. I think Larry has one more great season in him. Yea, he's getting older, but he was always old. What, is he going to get even more cranky? The show will still work, I'm not worried.
I hope so, I recently watched it again start to finish with my wife and can only hope he's just getting weirder with age. Season 8 was one of the best and a great sendoff, so hopefully this is worth the return and not one of those bad idea comebacks after you've lost your mojo. Part of me thinks Larry could write these stories forever (it's been 3 decades), but you never know, there's some "magic" to it too, and it would be painful to see him going through the same motions and it just not working anymore. Still, that's a worst case scenario in the back of my mind, until proven otherwise I'm expecting what we've seen from him in the past.
Oburi said:
For anyone wondering how to watch all these new shows across all these networks, this seems like a good chance to plug what I've been using to watch all my tv and movie needs since Christmas, the increasingly popular Amazon firestick (with the right apps, of course). While I was initially not satisfied because of some issues here and there (occasional bad quality, mislabeled episodes, missing episodes) I do find myself always going back to it because, well, the convenience of having just about everything at my fingertips at any given time is too great. Sometimes older shows can be a bit spotty, but for newer stuff that's just airing it's great.
You know, I actually got the firestick when it was super cheap a couple years ago but had some connection issues after moving and kind of just gave up on it. I should plug that sucker back in and see what it can do for me now.