The TV thread

I think at its best, it was like a Chicago centered, non-cop version of The Wire. Meaning - It showed how a low class segment of society lived and dealt with that day to day stress, and why it was so difficult for them to improve their lot in life. But even in the first two seasons, there were some farcical elements, like Frank's whole relationship with Karen's mom, and the show just abandoned elements of past characterization as it went on, so it rarely hit that peak. I believe that's a common trait with Showtime's long-running programs, though.

 

I quit after season 9. There were some interesting and fun moments at times and I really dug Lip's character, but it was already going off the rails, so I decided I was done. I feel like I made a good choice.

 

they way they ruined Lip is one of the all-time blunders in Showtime history. Which is saying a lot with that network.

Shameless was at its best as a melodrama, dramedy, and after 4-6 years it mistook itself as comedy of the absurd and declined accordingly

 

I mean, when Debbie chopped off half her foot, that was just a eye-rolling moment.

 

It's kind of interesting how they took Debbie and Carl in opposite directions than you might expect for them - Debbie ended up becoming pretty awful, and Carl is kind of dumb but ultimately acts in a decent way. But none of it really feels "planned," it just feels like random shit from season to season.

 

Started The Expanse after finding out I would need another streaming service to watch The Bureau.

 

Don't sleep on Stath Lets Flats.

 

Peter Jackson spent $300m on the three LOTR movies. This is for the first of six seasons, $250m of which goes to the Tolkien estate. This thing is going to be a monster. GoT averaged around $15m per episode.

Amazon spending $465 million on first season of its Lord Of The Rings show

 

Eh, some of that's Amazon being Amazon though. If you watch their other shows - Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Pack, The Wilds - it's pretty clear they're budgeting at a different level than the other content providers now.

 

Sure - but that quantity of cash will also deliver some quality if the scriptwriting is solid. Also, a lot of the first season spending is a one off. Once some of the major sets are built they'll be used for at least parts of the following five seasons.

 

Can’t unionize and afford this extravagance.