This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
Clarice wrote:
WHO ELSE LOVES BLACKADDER. COME ON, COME ON, I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE.
YES!
Also for British comedies, Black Books is worth checking out.
Last edited by Ragnarok (05-13-2008 10:56:29 AM)
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Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:
Raven Nightshade wrote:
Are You Being Served?
Keeping Up Appearances
Absolutely FabulousBut, our local PBS still shows KUA regularly... I think I've seen almost all of them by now.
PBS on Saturday nights is your friend! At least it is in Texas and Louisiana, not sure what it does anywhere else. It's honestly where 90% of my Britcom exposure comes from. AbFab came from Comedy Central. It still comes on BBC America now and then, since there was a marathon Sunday, according to SexingTouga.
And put me on the list for BlackAdder fans! I didn't get to see a lot of it, but what I have seen, I love.
I know there's some more I forgot: Father Ted, Allo! Allo!, Mr. Bean, and Last of the Summer Wine.
I couldn't really get into As Time Goes By or A Fine Romance. I don't blame Dame Judy, though.
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Raven Nightshade wrote:
Allo! Allo!, Mr. Bean
I think there's not a single episode of Mr. Bean I haven't seen less than ten times. And Allo! Allo! is one I remembered my father made me watch "to better understand Britishmen's view on Frenchmen".
No love for Yes, minister, though?
Last edited by Asfalolh (05-13-2008 05:09:54 PM)
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Meh. I hardly ever watch TV anymore... I do a fair bit of viewing when I'm at my parents' and there's not much else to do. I'll usually have something on and half-watch it while I play a game on my DS or draw or something. In that case, it's usually something on the Discovery, National Geographic or History channels.
The only shows I voluntarily tune into on a regular basis are Mythbusters and Pokemon. Since I watch the new episodes of Doctor Who as they air in England, there's not much point in watching them a few weeks later on the Sci-Fi channel, but I will if the episode was particularly good.
Ragnarok: Fuck yeah, Black Books! That's a fantastic little show.
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Black Books and Yes, Minister have never been made available to me, so I'll be reserving judgment until I see it.
Since we have a TV thread now, I can do all my squeeing about Boston Legal here. Next week's season finale should be a good one. It looks like Alan and Denny might break up...again. Next season better be really damn good since it's their last one.
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Raven Nightshade wrote:
Black Books and Yes, Minister have never been made available to me, so I'll be reserving judgment until I see it.
All three series/seasons of Black Books are available on dvd in North America, you could probably rent them from somewhere if you were so inclined.
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Ragnarok wrote:
Raven Nightshade wrote:
Black Books and Yes, Minister have never been made available to me, so I'll be reserving judgment until I see it.
All three series/seasons of Black Books are available on dvd in North America, you could probably rent them from somewhere if you were so inclined.
Hell, I've even seen them at my local Borders. Seriously, those episodes just don't get old, and the kind of humor in them is hilarious. And as a bonus, Simon Pegg guest stars in an episode, and is brilliant as usual.
Edit: Oh, yeah. A bit different from the kind of shows we've been talking about, but I'm a huge fan of classic cartoons and I've been loving the hell out of the Talespin DVD boxsets. Why can't they makes cartoons this good anymore?
Last edited by Baka Kakumei Reanna (05-14-2008 10:33:34 PM)
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I'm watching How I Met Your Mother. One of the characters just said, and I quote--
There's no such things as miracles.
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So my station's showing this new Japanese drama based on a famous shoujo manga called "Hana Yori Dango." The basic premise is that a middle-class girl ends up going to this elite private school full of rich spoiled kids. Among them are four uber-rich ultra-spoiled kids who run the school like a dictatorship and viciously bully any who oppose them.
It's like, Utena comes to Ohtori, except she's not popular at all, and all the students are Nanami (or a version of her whose evil schemes are effective), and the student council consists of four Tougas (or variations of him with no appealing qualities at all).
It's a very evocative series. I find that Tsukushi, the main character, is very likable and easy to relate to. I found myself cheering out loud when she punched out the bad guy. But I don't like the direction the series is heading, which appears to center around one or more of the four rich assholes becoming love intersts for her.
I have a big problem with this. To cap off their bullying in the very first episode, these wastes of skin send a group of flunkies to literally gang-rape the main character. I shit you not. Gang rape. I don't care if the "sensitive and mysterious" one steps in at the last minute. Just being involved in the attempt of something so sick rules out the possibility of forgiveness, don't you think? What sort of message is this sending to girls? "Go for the guy with money and looks even if he sent people to violate you." Ugh. Pardon my rant.
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I remember reading the manga for Hana Yori Dango a few years ago. I wish I had a station for that.
So I've gotten into the habit of watching Fear Itself every week. Essentially, the season is 13 episodes, each episode serving as it's own 1-hour mini-moive, and each mini-movie depicts a different element of horror movies. Not every episode has been a smashing success with me so far, but most of them are extremely entertaining.
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OnionPrince wrote:
Hana Yori Dango
At first I thought you meant the anime, which is slightly older than Utena. But I'm guessing that both follow the source material to a fair extent. I haven't seen the whole (anime) series myself; I saw maybe fifteen episodes out of the fifty-one total. And I completely agree with you, the main character is subjected to horrible crap by these guys and yet it's supposed to be a romantic series? As I said, I didn't get far in the series, but even when the boys seem to become less antagonistic... it gets worse.
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Raven Nightshade wrote:
I somehow managed to completely skip my favorite Britcoms:
Are You Being Served? (didn't like the sequel, though.)-- I love Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocombe. When I first started watching it, it was just to see what color her hair was that week.
Keeping Up Appearances-- Hyacinth gets on my last nerve, but I love her. Elizabeth tickles the hell out of me when she keeps breaking Hyacinth's good tea cups. (The best part was when she finally bought a set specifically for Elizabeth to use when she visits.)
Vicar of Dibley-- Haven't watched a whole lot of it, but it stems from my love of Dawn French. I first saw her on the Ruby Wax Show, then on reruns of Saunders & French, where the AbFab pilot came from.
Absolutely Fabulous-- It's not a show, it's a religion. One of my favorite episodes is when Patsy, Edina, and Saffron go to Morocco. (It's the ONLY time Saffy ever asks to go anywhere with them.) I think I've seen every episode. One of my favorite scenes is when Edina's laying in bed and Saffron's trying to get her up. Edina asks Saffy if the incredibly normal-looking pants she has on are the ones she bought for her from Benetton. Saffy tells her yes, and Edina says, "Darling, what did you do to them?"
I am also a fond believer that Sheridan (Hyacinth's son) and Serge (Edina's son) are getting it on at university. This explains it all....you are a genius
Waiting for God-- It's a show about a bunch of people in a nursing home, focusing on Diana Trent, a former journalist who reminds me of a cross between Murphy Brown and Daria. She spent so much time working and traveling that she never bothered getting married and having kids, so her niece was the one who put her in the home. She's very bitter about that.
I fully agree (the only thing that I have not seen is the Vicar of Darby) and We must totally meet up and have a viewing party of BritComs...I shall bring the DVD set of Are You Being Severed ? and Rum cake. Someone should bring Blackadder.
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I'm watching Britain's Missing Top Model right now. It's sort of my ultimate guilty pleasure, because the idea sounds too offensive to be true. It's basically Top Model, but with girls of various disabilities (ie. parapelegic girls, girls with missing limbs, deaf girls) competing for a modeling contract. It sounds horrible, I know, but I think that so far it's been really tastefully edited. I actually find myself skipping most of the competitive parts to see how the girls interact and discuss their struggles. They all seem really believeable, and so much more appreciative to the opportunity than so many other reality tv contestants usually are. And so far the show feels a bit more like a documentary to me than a gimmicky reality tv series. It kind of upsets me that they have a judging panel and eliminations, though. I'd really like to know more about how some of the girls cope with their disabilities and so it's frustrating to see them leave so soon. I don't think that any of them actually will be able to make a change in the industry, but it's nice to see them at least be given an opportunity. Some of the girls are really beautiful, too.
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SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:
I fully agree (the only thing that I have not seen is the Vicar of Darby) and We must totally meet up and have a viewing party of BritComs...I shall bring the DVD set of Are You Being Severed ? and Rum cake. Someone should bring Blackadder.
Mmmm, rum cake. I'll bring the apple turnovers I'm supposed to make for you, and Season 5 of AbFab.
And I forgot about BlackAdder. I've only seen random episodes of each season, so it's somewhere in my NetFlix queue. That and Allo! Allo!
So, who's watching Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show besides me and possibly Triforce?
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Raven Nightshade wrote:
SexingTouga24/7/365 wrote:
I fully agree (the only thing that I have not seen is the Vicar of Darby) and We must totally meet up and have a viewing party of BritComs...I shall bring the DVD set of Are You Being Severed ? and Rum cake. Someone should bring Blackadder.
Mmmm, rum cake. I'll bring the apple turnovers I'm supposed to make for you, and Season 5 of AbFab.
And I forgot about BlackAdder. I've only seen random episodes of each season, so it's somewhere in my NetFlix queue. That and Allo! Allo!
So, who's watching Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show besides me and possibly Triforce?
Damn it, when does it play? I'm awful at keeping track of show times. I've missed it the last two times now , and actually want to see it again.
Last edited by Triforce742 (07-15-2008 06:23:16 PM)
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Triforce742 wrote:
Damn it, when does it play? I'm awful at keeping track of show times. I've missed it the last two times now , and actually want to see it again.
RIGHT NOW! GO! GO! GO!
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Thank you Raven, And to avoid making this a 3 word post I'll try to think of some stuff to say. Ummmm, how many people are watching the live E3 coverage on G4?
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Meh. I only watch G4 for Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke.
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I miss watching Fawlty Towers.
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I haven't had access to television (TV yes, TV stations, no) since I got to Canada and you know what? I don't miss it at all. Was there really so little in the way of good stuff? Because I could swear none of us are talking about like...new shows.
It staggers the mind that they haven't made an all-anime TV station yet. I mean even if they only played the old skool stuff...
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Giovanna wrote:
I haven't had access to television (TV yes, TV stations, no) since I got to Canada and you know what? I don't miss it at all. Was there really so little in the way of good stuff? Because I could swear none of us are talking about like...new shows.
It staggers the mind that they haven't made an all-anime TV station yet. I mean even if they only played the old skool stuff...
There isn't anything all that interesting on anymore unless you're into reality tv shows.
An all anime tv station would be great, but something tells me concerned moms and distantly wary and offended religions would take up issue with it.
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I'm pretty sure that there is an all-anime TV station. Anime Network, if I'm not mistaken. I never actually watched it, since the anime they show kind of sucks, and I don't like to start watching things in the middle of the series.
I haven't watched G4 in a while, but I remember a TV show where they took stuff from video games like The Sims: Online and Final Fantasy XI and added voices to them to make a story. There was a cute little Tarutaru who sang in a cute voice:
"I am Snuggydove,
And you killed my friend,
So now I'm going to open up a big can,
A can off whoop-ass,
While still being cute!"
*Casts flare*
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Nah G4 has been pretty awful for awhile outside of Ninja Warrior, and Unbeatable Banzuke. Even X Play is awful now, but they have the first good E3 covereage I've seen from them in years. The last one I can remember they went to a commercial break every 3 minutes. Not exaggerating all that much on that one.
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G4 is made of epic fail. Ever since they changed their target demographic from geeks of all kinds to guys between 18-49, it's gone downhill.
Attack of the Show used to be good until Kevin Rose left. They took off Anime Unleashed a year or two ago, and they had good stuff: Colorful, Cromartie High School, Serial Experiments Lain, Read or Die TV, and Gatekeepers 21. Once everyone from TechTV was gone, it was pretty much dead in the water. Now it's just trying to be another Spike TV, only not as good at it.
And the other big mistake was back when TechTV was still on and so many cable providers moved it from basic/expanded cable to digital cable. That pissed me off.
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Razara wrote:
I'm pretty sure that there is an all-anime TV station. Anime Network, if I'm not mistaken. I never actually watched it, since the anime they show kind of sucks, and I don't like to start watching things in the middle of the series.
I have an anime station, I think it's like Funimation TV or something. It actually does show good series (SKU among them!) but they're all dubbed, so I don't watch it at all. It really sucks too, because otherwise I would definitely tivo quite a few series. Maybe I should write a letter of complaint?
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