Trevor

I loved BSG, both incarnations, but pretty much only watched them once each. All this talk is making me think about loading her up this month. Now where did I buy it all digitally .....Amazon or Vudu or Google.....?

davidh777

Razor is much more essential than The Plan. It was released as part of the season 4.0 DVD set, but the Amazon Video version doesn't appear to include it, so use your gift card for that. And you'll want to watch it between seasons 3 and 4, even though chronologically it takes place earlier than that.

The Plan seemed pretty useless when I watched it.

Fortunately I don't have Trevor's problem. I had nearly all the seasons on DVD except 4.0, plus a couple BDs, so I splurged on the complete BD set from the UK. I was thinking I might background-watch some Banshee, but maybe BSG would be a better choice. I haven't watched it in ages.

shadokitty

I'm watching the Battlestar Galactica miniseries right now, but Amazon packaged it as one 3 hour movie. How many parts was it? So I know how to count it.

davidh777

I think it was three parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...ca_(miniseries)

shadokitty

After I finished the mini series, which I really enjoyed by the way, I felt like a sports show, so turned on an episode of SEC Now, on the SEC Network. It was quite interesting, as most of the talk was about Monday's upcoming BCS Championship Game, between Alabama and Clemson.

shadokitty

I've been up all night with insomnia, so have been working on the Challenge. I've watched a wide variety of shows, from sports talk shows, news shows, fishing shows, sci-fi, and right now I just finished a particularly good episode of Life, about reptiles and amphibians.

shadokitty

I've been watching Doctor Who, on Amazon Prime this morning, as I felt like some sci-fi. Just finished 'The End Of The World', and found one scene in particular quite amusing. When the guests were gathering to watch the Earth explode, a 45 started to play, and the song of all things was Britney Spears' 'Toxic'.

Ash Ketchum

I've now seen something from every decade from the 1950s to the 2010s. I still have to watch some Lone Ranger eps. from 1949 to check off the '40s.

And when I'm done watching the following, I'll have something from the 1930s as well, a filmed record of the very first television broadcast in 1936:


And Part 2:

shadokitty

I woke up in the middle of the night, and figured, 'Why not work on the Challenge?' I looked on the Dish Guide, and found one of my favorite shows was on Outside Television, Rolex Spirit Of Yachting.

shadokitty

I'll be doing a lot of TV watching today, since I have the house to myself. My main problem will be deciding on what to watch. I had a lot of trouble deciding what to watch last night. I'll probably just wing things today. Started my marathon with an episode of Fishin' Hot Spots, on the World Fishing Network, in which the host was off of the coast of Jacksonville, fishing for Redfish.

Ash Ketchum

In watching TV westerns on the Encore Western Channel this week, I spotted Michael Landon as a supporting actor in three of them. He played an army trooper in "Cheyenne," serving under James Garner, and two roles on "Tales of Wells Fargo," a stagecoach shotgun rider in one and an outlaw in the other (pictured here).

BobO'Link

I finished the original Battlestar Galactica last night. I'd given up on this one during the original airings as it became too kidified and had stories too much like "standard" dramas of the day. When I finally saw it all last year I enjoyed the series and it became less kidified as it went along, although still had too much, overall, to suit me. The episodes which annoy me the most are those where they actually had some interaction with Earth people then took it nowhere. Considering the writing was likely on the wall for the series being cancelled by the time those episodes were produced you'd think they'd have used them to get the fleet to Earth. The BR edition looks better than the DVD but still has issues, mostly due to the original film. Just because I have them I'll screen a few WS converted episodes but have read they're worse looking than the original FS. I'll also break down and finally watch Galactica 1980 so I can shelf this set (I got the "deluxe" one with FS & WS editions of both series).

Yesterday was a unexpected Snow Day for my grandkids so, being a Friday, I took the day off to hang with them. My youngest granddaughter here (5.75) discovered Sabrina, the Teenage Witch a few months back and "found" my new full series set shortly after. I've watched S1 with her over the past few months, when she's not asked for Batman (1966), but yesterday she asked to watch Sabrina so we started S2. During the original run of this one I'd pretty much dismissed it, being part of ABC's Friday Night Kids block which my kids watched without fail, but I'm finding it's much better than I'd previously given it credit for and have enjoyed the episodes I've watched with her. So far it's fun, funny, and has some type of "lesson" imbedded into the story in a very unobvious manner. All three of the grandkids here like the series, something which surprised me as I'd thought their brother wouldn't care for it (he's 13).

ntnon

Sabrina is great. I remember enjoying it when it was on, and still do now.

Mission: Impossible is very keen on "reaction shots" - there are dozens in the early episodes, and still plenty as I near the end of season 1. Probably the most noticeable are in the IMF agent 'choosing'* scenes where Dan looks at the picture, then we see the picture, then Dan looking at the picture, then "Guest Star Martin Landau", then Dan again.... Hands down the Nazi's sons hunting for gold and the Mafia dinner have the best ones though - each lingered on the three Nazis'/Mafioso's faces, then Landau several times per episode. Lots of silent faces, reacting.

Great show. Very inventive and pretty revealing about tricks, SFX, magic methods and the like: sets, dummies, sleight of hand, masks, cheating at cards. Even a surprisingly lengthy sequence involving a hand-operated grabber stealing, dropping and replacing a diamond. Straight-forward, but tricky and interesting.



*...because the chosen vary so often...

Ash Ketchum

I watched a few of these for the challenge. Not a big fan, though, unless I just haven't gotten to the good episodes. I can't understand whether every member of the team is supposed to be fluent in the language of every country they visit or if it's some alternate universe where EVERYONE speaks English in EVERY country.

Also I don't understand why Landau is constantly listed as a guest star when he's a regular cast member. Why isn't he listed with the others as a regular?

BobO'Link

My favorite seasons of Mission Impossible are the first 4. Once Landau and Bain left it started a bit of a downhill slide and I had trouble accepting Nimoy as he was fresh off Star Trek so it was difficult to see him out of the Spock makeup/role. I felt they started to really get formulaic in the 5th season but would still go home on a Saturday night to watch it, and The Carol Burnett Show, before going back "uptown" to cruise some more. Then, too, that 5th season was where they started phasing out the international missions and it became more of a US based organized crime busting program. That also lent to the formulaic feel of the program. Those international "busts" were more "romantic" and adventurous feeling.
I always assumed they were all speaking the native language and, as agents, were expected to be fluent, or that's part of why they were chosen for a particular mission.

If you've not gotten past S1 that *could* be part of the issue. I really like S1 but feel the series really took off during S2.
From Wikipedia:
Hill, who played Dan Briggs - the main agent, is an Orthodox Jew, and left the set on Fridays at 4 p.m. to be home before sundown and was not available until after dark the next day. That created issues in filming that first season.

shadokitty

I've been watching various genres of shows today, depending on my mood. Earlier, I watched some hunting and fishing shows, including a safari show on Wild Television On Demand, which I discovered recently on Roku. There are tons of outdoor programs, and the channel has a 1 cent trial for 30 days, before going to $2.99 a month. After the outdoor shows, I was in the mood for some nature documentaries, so watched a few episodes of Wildest Islands, on Netflix. I'm almost through with that series, as I only have a couple episodes left in season two before I finish. Switched gears to some sci-fi, and watched some classic William Hartnell Doctor Who after that with an episode of 'The Aztecs'. I bought that storyline yesterday on Amazon Instant Video, as watching the new Doctor Who got me interested in checking out the earlier episodes. Finally, I moved to Gaia, and watched an episode of Beyond Belief With George Noory, in which he interviewed a man who had done research on The Ark Of The Covenant.

Regarding the idea of a series regular being billed as a guest star, it is much like Lost In Space, in which Dr. Smith, is billed as Special Guest Star, Jonathan Harris.

mrcellophane

I've been a bit erratic with my viewing choices. In an attempt to relax and decompress, I've been rewatching the first season of Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter is so earnest and spunky in her attempts to spread feminism and fight Nazis! Perhaps that's one of the reasons I'm finding it very comforting at the moment.

The best thing I've watched so far is O.J.: Made in America, Ezra Edelman's immersive documentary series. The documentary chronicles the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson as well as racism in L.A., misogyny in sports culture, celebrity, the bizarreness of our legal system, and many other issues. It's currently streaming on Hulu, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who subscribes.

This evening I started Fractale, a 2011 anime with flying ships and "doppels". I'm two episodes into the series, and it's holding its cards pretty close to the vest.

LJG765

I watched Sabrina when it first aired, but kind of faded away from it in the last couple seasons. I always enjoyed it though. I have debated about getting the full series or just buying the last few I need. I think it'll be actually cheaper if I just buy the full series, though. How is the full series package wise?

Slow start here, I've been down with a nasty cold and just didn't have any desire to do more than lay in bed. Finally feeling better though and watched a few random things on the DVR. Have to admit, cooking shows are my to go to when I'm not sure what I want to watch. I should pull out one of my unwatched seasons of something, but just not in the mood for a marathon. Kind of like switching things up every couple episodes or so.

Ash Ketchum

I find it hard to suspend disbelief here. They can't ALL be fluent in EVERY language of EVERY country they visit. And poor Barney (Greg Morris) is not going to be taken as a native in countries where there are no black people. Surely, the local authorities must suspect SOMETHING.

Thanks for the info.

The other problem I have with the M:I episodes I've seen is that there's never any suspense. They never act like they're in any danger and never experience any step of their complicated plans going wrong. In one episode, Landau breaks someone out of a Soviet bloc "maximum security" prison that "no one's ever escaped from," yet he does it with ridiculous ease. The back wall is easy to climb over and there's only one guard there, a woeful slacker played by Monte Markham(!), who's easily distracted by Mary Ann Mobley posing as a circus performer doing her act--right outside the prison!

And Steven Hill is the worst. He never reacts to anything. He has blank expressions throughout. In the middle of their missions, with enemy soldiers all around his obvious hiding place, he smiles--constantly--and communicates with his team with gestures and nods, even at night when they're many yards away, also in hiding. I'm glad they got rid of him after one season.

shadokitty

I started off today with my old stand by's, by watching a couple of hunting shows on the Pursuit Channel. I first started off with a goose hunt, on an episode of The Real Deal, and followed it up with a turkey hunt, on an episode of HuntCo.

BobO'Link

I've always thought it started to go downhill when Sabrina graduated HS and went to college. They took out quite a bit of what had made it fun. I *think* that happens in S5 but it's been toooooo long and I've not really looked it up.

I got that full series for the same reason you're debating. I "needed" 3 seasons to complete the series and it was less expensive to purchase the full series than those 3 seasons. Since I'm left with stand-alone releases of S1-S4 I'll likely give them to my granddaughters - especially the 5 year old since she's the one who asks to watch it on a regular basis.

It's in one of those clear Epic-Pak cases with 2 overlapping discs per page side (4 discs per page with 2 per side - there are some photos on the Amazon page for the set). I don't like the overlapping disc part but *do* like those Epic-Pak cases. It's about the width of 3.5 standard keep cases. No booklet but does have a episode list (although no synopsis) on the back of the cover art. It's also in a standard thickness slip-case (aka o-ring) that just duplicates the case cover art. The TV movie "Sabrina Goes to Rome" is included, but it's also included as a bonus feature on the S7 set.

BobO'Link

It helps that "Barney" and "Willy" don't get "parts" that require them to speak to locals that often. "Barney" usually winds up in a lackey type role which helps explain his presence.
Yeah... that one was pretty bad. That changes in the 2nd season and there are episodes where one, or more, team member runs into issues that either almost expose them or cause changes in the plans in order to pull off the mission.
While there are a several episodes in S1 I enjoy I liked it better after he left the series. That first season has a feel all its own which is different than later seasons. Almost like a new show.

ntnon

Probably just not your thing...

TV logic. There are also a tonne of cases where there's clearly an easier/safer/quicker option..!

Money, I assume. Or maybe time constraints. He's a series regular on Season 2. I don't really get why there's a show every episode of choosing the team, when it's only occasionally they add someone or leave someone out. Otherwise it's the four you'd expect, every time..

ntnon

There's also the possible problem of Cinnamon being a famous enough face to get magazine covers, but anonymous enough to be a secret agent. Rollin also appeared in a live-broadcast sting that allegedly reached tens of millions of people - but not enough to compromise his face!


Yep! Breaks out twice in two days by... picking the lock. Brilliant.

Although even that (two-part) episode has a load of mini-twists and problems - Rollin smuggles in a lockpick and gets caught by the metal detector; later he drops it in plain view of the guard. He breaks out the Father they've come for to time his escape run but when Rollin goes back for him the next day, he's been moved. Even right at the end, they hit a roadblock and almost get caught... it may be TV-tension, but there are wrinkles.

I like Steven Hill. Possibly for those reasons!

Plus, after two minutes of vague information and a couple of photographs, Dan comes up with an elaborate plan and all the equipment to make it happen in no time flat. Utilising the skills of his team of four perfectly. Unless they're somehow able to recruit into this ultra-secretive force a random local chef, top heart surgeon, diamond expert... who all are either secret spies or very patriotic. Convenient!

ntnon

Around there, yes. I've not watched much of those last few seasons because it really doesn't seem as good. Looks like very little Harvey, no Libby and not much (if any) Martin Mull.

On the other hand, Kate Jackson turned up for a Christmas episode..