Colossal TV Show thread

[NTP66]

Robert California was a **** character.

[shmenguin]

Wait…he was the CEO? Kathy Bates replacement? And he lived in Scranton instead of Orlando or whatever? Man…I have no clue what went on there.

[shmenguin]

I got into Rick and Morty this past year…just in time for it to become a big pile of sht that I don’t want to watch anymore.

Season 2 though…one of the most perfect seasons of TV.

[PFiDC]

I got into Rick and Morty this past year…just in time for it to become a big pile of sht that I don’t want to watch anymore.

Season 2 though…one of the most perfect seasons of TV.

Same. I was excited for the new episodes but man they suck.

It peaked at Mr. Meseeks

[tifosi77]

I wonder if I would like Breaking Bad more if I watched it in real-time. When you binge it you really see how lazy some of the writing is by how easily solvable most of his problems are. Maybe I'm not taking the broader view that Walt is just a flawed piece of **** who can't get out of his own way but that kind of undercuts the whole point of watching if you acknowledge that.

A small but not insignificant 'for instance':

The world-saving oncologist is out of your insurance network so you pay out of pocket, I could see that. But the surgeon that wants $170k out of pocket is the ONLY one that can remove a tumor? You can't find an in-network surgeon anywhere to do that? This is **** New Mexico, maybe look around a bit. Try a real state.

If you watch two or three episodes in a row stuff like that jumps out at you.

I am about to watch the last episode of S2, so:

The c***y wife finally had that kid, felt like she was pregnant for three years. And Walt letting Jesse's girlfriend die was one of the better scenes in the show so far. Though I thought her suddenly going money-crazy in her last episode was against character and a lazy way out.

It's better than a lot of shows but isn't top-shelf yet. Having Bob Odenkirk around has helped. He certainly doesn't make it less of a comedy, though.

Might be mis-remembering this, but as I remember it,

Walt did have to go to that surgeon. It was an experimental/aggressive thoracic surgery which that specific Dr was developing. That's what sticks in my head today, 13 years removed.

Also, remember that the show premiered in 2008, pre-Obamacare, and the fact that Walt had HMO insurance was a plot point. To your point about the plots of 90% of Seinfeld episodes being obviated by the existence of cell phones, Breaking Bad wouldn't work in just about any other country in the world, thanks to universal healthcare. I find that amusing.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Wait…he was the CEO? Kathy Bates replacement? And he lived in Scranton instead of Orlando or whatever? Man…I have no clue what went on there.

Yea. He supposedly convinced Kathy Bates' character to name him CEO but decided to spend most of his time in Scranton for whatever reason. They never really explained why, but perhaps he was originally from there? Not sure. A lot about his character never made sense.

[Dickie Dunn]

Robert California wasn’t even his real name.

[Nuge]

As I read through this Breaking Bad talk my reaction was, "hmm yeah I guess Walt did have cancer." It became such an afterthought once things really pick up.

[PFiDC]

As I read through this Breaking Bad talk my reaction was, "hmm yeah I guess Walt did have cancer." It became such an afterthought once things really pick up.

This is what I wanted to tell my wife at the time but didn't want to spoil it. Breaking Bad isn't about a dude with cancer.

[LeopardLetang]

Wait…he was the CEO? Kathy Bates replacement? And he lived in Scranton instead of Orlando or whatever? Man…I have no clue what went on there.

Yea. He supposedly convinced Kathy Bates' character to name him CEO but decided to spend most of his time in Scranton for whatever reason. They never really explained why, but perhaps he was originally from there? Not sure. A lot about his character never made sense.

When Dwight wanted a promotion to Florida, Robert California told him Florida is a horrible hot swamp why do you think i spend all my time in Scranton. He notes that they really haven't improved on desserts since the Oreo. And he laments to Jim about having/trying to sell the most expensive house in his neighborhood.

[nocera]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. The Office ended when Michael left.

[LeopardLetang]

That's a stu... an astute observation nocera

[Pavel Bure]

It's a nitpick because it's a representative sample. Even mentioning an imperfection with BB catches flack so I wouldn't dream of writing out a list of petty observations for this crowd. There are a lot of ultra convienant plot points that can only be accounted for by lazy writing or budget concerns. Good writing can cover for a small budget; it doesn't in this case.

For me, lazy writing comes down to being able to recognize a pattern. It absolutely killed Sons of Anarchy for me because I recognized the pattern that was used for every episode and didn’t watch the final season until this year.

Breaking bad does not suffer from that problem.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Good points LL. I had forgotten about that.

[PFiDC]

It's a nitpick because it's a representative sample. Even mentioning an imperfection with BB catches flack so I wouldn't dream of writing out a list of petty observations for this crowd. There are a lot of ultra convienant plot points that can only be accounted for by lazy writing or budget concerns. Good writing can cover for a small budget; it doesn't in this case.

For me, lazy writing comes down to being able to recognize a pattern. It absolutely killed Sons of Anarchy for me because I recognized the pattern that was used for every episode and didn’t watch the final season until this year.

Breaking bad does not suffer from that problem.

What was it again?

Intro
Meeting
Fight
Car chase
Murder

I had totally forgotten about the SOA formula that I can't even remember what it was...

[robbiestoupe]

Expecting a TV show to be seamless and 100% believable is asking too much, IMO. There just isn't enough time in a 50 minute episode to tell the full story. The way TV shows were written before streaming took off, each show in and of itself had to stand alone. You needed to have a beginning, middle, and end for each episode. It's not like today where an entire season is released in one day, and you could (and are obligated to) have open ended issues at the end of each episode.

So yeah, the writing for BB may seem "lazy" and "hurried" but that was television pre-streaming. I notice it while watching shows like Manifest and especially Yellowstone. You start to notice the manufactured drama, and realize how silly it would be for one person/family to experience all these situations in such a short amount of time. The plot points are hurried, even if they were originally well thought-out in the writers room.

Good shows are able to minimize this and make you forget about it because you are so immersed into the story.

[shmenguin]

Better Call Saul, I think, works really hard to iron out those little wrinkles.

And what you get in return is a significantly more boring version of Breaking Bad.

[LeopardLetang]

Agree

[shmenguin]

Odenkirk had a heart attack last week. Did that get mentioned here?

[NTP66]

Yep.

[robbiestoupe]

I think it got mentioned in the movie thread for some reason

[NTP66]

Yeah, that was my bad.

[nocera]

I mean, he's in movies. It's not outrageous.

[NTP66]

[tifosi77]

I ascribe to the Pixar definition of 'lazy': It is perfectly acceptable to use happenstance or weird coincidence to get the protagonist into trouble. It is lazy to use happenstance or weird coincidence to get them out of trouble.