is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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baxter
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by baxter »

I have a Dennis Potter boxset and am working up to The Singing Detective. I've watched Pennies from Heaven and most of his version of Casanova. Both of these are great, and the latter is particularly striking given how experimental it is for prime time TV in the early 70s. It must have seriously blown some minds. It also blew mine, in the sense that TV clearly allowed major experimentation (at least on the BBC) decades earlier than I had been led to believe.
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NightTimeMyTime
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by NightTimeMyTime »

baxter wrote:I have a Dennis Potter boxset and am working up to The Singing Detective. I've watched Pennies from Heaven and most of his version of Casanova. Both of these are great, and the latter is particularly striking given how experimental it is for prime time TV in the early 70s. It must have seriously blown some minds. It also blew mine, in the sense that TV clearly allowed major experimentation (at least on the BBC) decades earlier than I had been led to believe.
(Off topic but...) A real wake up call for me regarding the experimental times of BBC are all the TV "fictional documentaries" Ken Russell did for BBC in the 60's and 70's. More like experimental biopics on composers and artists of value to the creative history but with a LOT of creative changes just for the creative fun of it. I love Russell's crazy style of portraying historical figures.
baxter
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by baxter »

Noted, thanks. Will add these to the list.

I used to love the 90s documentaries of Jonathan Meades for a similar reason.
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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Xavier: Renegade Angel, the short-lived Adult Swim series. It's absurd and brilliant, a bizarrely philosophical and spiritual comedy dressed in vulgarities and innuendo. Each 12 minute episode reaches an exponentially surreal crescendo that leaves me buzzing, and it's so dense I pick up something new every time I rewatch it.
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AXX°N N.
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by AXX°N N. »

RedThread wrote:Xavier: Renegade Angel, the short-lived Adult Swim series. It's absurd and brilliant, a bizarrely philosophical and spiritual comedy dressed in vulgarities and innuendo. Each 12 minute episode reaches an exponentially surreal crescendo that leaves me buzzing, and it's so dense I pick up something new every time I rewatch it.
Yes! PFFR in general are just fantastic.
Recipe not my own. In a coffee cup. 3 TBS flour, 2 TBS sugar, 1.5 TBS cocoa powder, .25 TSP baking powder, pinch of salt. 3 TBS milk, 1.5 TBS vegetable oil, 1 TBS peanut butter. Add and mix each set. Microwave 1 minute 10 seconds. The cup will be hot.
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underthefan
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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An interesting article relating to this thread:

http://time.com/4769270/twin-peaks-lost ... d=homepage

And contradicting the popular belief on here, David Chase was clearly influenced by Lynch in The Sopranos!
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by Agent Earle »

underthefan wrote: And contradicting the popular belief on here, David Chase was clearly influenced by Lynch in The Sopranos!
I talked about that a little bit on here; what I said was that I don't see any notable similarities between the two shows, merely some minor, very artificial ones (both shows featured dreams as often key propellers of plot progression, for instance). I can see how Twin Peaks pawed the way for new television in numerous ways (and so not only for The Sopranos, but also for The Wire, The Shield, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Game of Thrones etc. etc.) and definitely believe Chase when he says he was inspired by it, but I take it he means it more on a general level (his concrete motivations and influences when crafting The Sopranos are believably and thoroughly explained in the book Difficult Men by Brett Martin, which chronicles the current "golden-age" TV, and Twin Peaks doesn't figure into it); the two shows are just too different to make comparisons between them sound and worthwhile.
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underthefan
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by underthefan »

You might be right in the big picture, Earle. But I could not escape the feeling of TP influence in a few places, like the Big P**** dream. I know you categorically disagree with that, but it's a subjective thing at the end of the day, isn't it?

On another note, I did hear about the book you mentioned. Is it worth a read?
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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underthefan wrote:You might be right in the big picture, Earle. But I could not escape the feeling of TP influence in a few places, like the Big P**** dream. I know you categorically disagree with that, but it's a subjective thing at the end of the day, isn't it?

On another note, I did hear about the book you mentioned. Is it worth a read?
Agreed, no point in arguing subjective impressions and feelings.

Yes, I most definitely recommend the book - it gives an objective, grounded and all-encompassing overview of the modern TV renaissance, its sources, influences, merits, achievements. Several "new" shows are discussed in depth (The Sopranos and The Wire most notably), there are lots of interesting anecdotes (particularly those pertaining to specific showrunners), the prose is very readable and to-the-point (I'd say it strikes just the right balance between academic jargon and everyday "plain folks" talk) and it's all exceptionally well structured (it forgoes the traditional structure of such books where each show would get a separate chapter; rather, it follows a roughly chronological orientation, but jumps back and forth and intertwines talk about several shows, creators, TV eras in a way that makes sense). Truly an all-around fun and thoroughly informative work, the one that stimulated me to embark on a journey to watch shows it's discussing, all of them (except The Sopranos) for the first time: so far, I've managed to see The Wire, The Shield, Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos (again) and am now halfway through Oz. All in all, my life's been much more exciting and fulfilled these past three years and I've got this book to thank for it :)
Last edited by Agent Earle on Thu May 11, 2017 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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underthefan
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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Oh wow, that sounds fantastic, Earle! I have seen all those shows (other than The Shield), so I have to add this one to my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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underthefan wrote:Oh wow, that sounds fantastic, Earle! I have seen all those shows (other than The Shield), so I have to add this one to my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Glad to be of service. I've been singing this book's praises to whoever will listen :)
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underthefan
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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Agent Earle wrote:
underthefan wrote:Oh wow, that sounds fantastic, Earle! I have seen all those shows (other than The Shield), so I have to add this one to my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Glad to be of service. I've been singing this book's praises to whoever will listen :)
I just put the Kindle version on hold at my library. I will hit you up again once I read it! :)
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by Agent Earle »

underthefan wrote:
Agent Earle wrote:
underthefan wrote:Oh wow, that sounds fantastic, Earle! I have seen all those shows (other than The Shield), so I have to add this one to my reading list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Glad to be of service. I've been singing this book's praises to whoever will listen :)
I just put the Kindle version on hold at my library. I will hit you up again once I read it! :)
Looking forward to it!
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krishnanspace
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

Post by krishnanspace »

kitty666cats wrote:The other show I've been obsessed with has been Attack on Titan. It's so, so good. I don't really watch any other modern anime, but I will always love anime. I also read the manga, which is WAY ahead of the anime, and it is batshit crazy in the best way possible!
I love attack on Titan too. Didn't get the time to watch the second season
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kitty666cats
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Re: is there any other show that even comes close to your obsession with TP?

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krishnanspace wrote:
kitty666cats wrote:The other show I've been obsessed with has been Attack on Titan. It's so, so good. I don't really watch any other modern anime, but I will always love anime. I also read the manga, which is WAY ahead of the anime, and it is batshit crazy in the best way possible!
I love attack on Titan too. Didn't get the time to watch the second season
Second season is still going on, it's 6 episodes deep and the 7th will be out this weekend! Took YEARS for season 2 to come out :(
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