I love "The Tudors." It is on a premium cable channel here. Reruns are on BBC America. For a month we have that premium channel and I've been happily watching the more recent seasons in "On Demand." The first couple of seasons made me glad I'd read Wolf Hall and the next makes me anxious for the sequel.

Are Dexter, Deadwood, Justified, and Friday Night Lights available there? "Friday Night Lights" is ostensibly about American Football, (which may limit its appeal elsewhere) but so much more. It has the best depiction of a marital relationship I've ever seen on TV. Mrs. Coach talking about sex to her 14 year old daughter was an astounding scene. And I could babble on and on about it.

Deadwood is about the settling of a gold mining camp in the 1870s and it ran from '04 through '06. Not safe for family viewing.

Interestingly enough, Milch, the creator, producer, and writer of Deadwood, on the first DVD talks about how we have become inured to violence on TV. To make us feel the violence more, he dropped the f-bomb all over the dialog. As, I confess, a prude, I was pleased to see this experienced purveyor of words and feelings recognize the real violence of certain words.

Dexter is based on a series of books starting with Darkly Dreaming Dexter. How bizarre it is to cheer for a killer.

"Justified" is based on a Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole."

Lots more good stuff on TV, but that's enough for now. Except, I'm thinking these days that while as a whole TV is garbage, the best is better than what is coming out of movie studios.

There! Did I tie this thread firmly into the world of books?

Ann, I don't know if there is a site under this 'Garden Web' blanket that deals with TV shows although non-Americans might not be able to pick them up. I do occasionally check the Circle Theater page and noticed that at one of the 'games' they play it was 'suggested' by a regular that only American-made film titles should be used. Thankfully here at RP no-one has told us only to narrow our discussions to US only books. ;-)
I only watched a few mins of the 'Tudors' first series and was put off by the very 'modern' feel of the show and the considerable lack of authenticity of 'fact'. Also I am almost totally Tudored-out what with the plethora of films/dramas of that period.

The only site I know of where you can discuss TV shows is IMDB.com. The initials stand for Internet Movie Data Base. The site includes movies and TV shows. The bad news is that the discussion is pretty low-level for the most part.

I too would be interested in a TV forum for intelligent and thoughtful discussion of the relatively few TV shows that merit it.

Hi Ann,
I watched part of part one of The Tudors and was not impressed, all the bed hopping etc.
I am hooked on SBS, I tape their movies each night and they come on a little late for me!! Then I view the following evening. I am the sole viewer which makes it alot easier!!They also have some great docos.

SBS Film Site allows for discussion of individual movies.They also have a great "SBS Schedule" site.

The Tudors (the little I watched) drove me as insane as trying to read Phillipa Gregory does-so inaccurate. I can't enjoy something that makes me yell at the tv or the book every few minutes.
If I didn't know the history I probably would have loved it-I enjoyed The Far Pavilions even though I have seen that panned by scholars of Indian history.

Thanks for all these responses.
In reply, Chris, we get none of those programs. The TV networks buy only those programs from overseas that they believe will rate. We get CSIs, Glee, House, Good Wife and a lot of police procedurals from the US, also comedy shows. Most of the UK shows are on non-commercial channels. Any that don't rate or are the less popular part of a package deal get a late slot or are shown on minor subsidiary stations.
Ginny: I have looked at other places but prefer RP discussions. They are mannerly and thoughtful. Participants on other forums can be quite nasty to each other, displaying their ignorance of customs and cultures.
Junek, I do watch SBS at times. The documentaries are excellent.
I agree that it is hard to watch inaccurate historical depictions but I was impressed by the episode in "The Tudors" depicting the 'English sweat' plague. That seemed authentic. I looked it up afterwards as I was not familiar with that plague and what caused it. Still no-one knows.
I enjoy comedies but have seen too many reruns of UK classics. Are there no new good ones? I would like to see "Two and a Half Men" return but I wonder what form it could take if Charlie Sheen is not in it!

For some reason, these historical inaccuracies don't push my buttons. "The Tudors" is tons of fun for me and I google and pull out the history books after every episode so I am learning a lot of real, as near as can be, history.

In my view, there is absolutely no good reason why we should not devote a thread here to discussion of TV progs. I still recall how devotedly I used to watch Alistair Cook and his "Masterpiece Theatre." Seems to me the older ones were far more entertaining than the newer ones, e.g. "The Forsythe Saga" and "Upstairs, Downstairs."

I have just finished watching "Any Human Heart," presented on our U.S. public television. I started out not liking it and almost didn't continue watching. Now I am glad I did, as I found it most enjoyable and quite moving. I applaud the decision to use different actors of different ages rather than applying weird makeup to one actor. Reminded me a little of Forrest Gump, albeit more subtle and more sophisticated.

I don't watch much television as I don't have one - I watch streaming video on my computer. Public TV provides the best content, IMHO.

Siobhan: I agree that it is better to have different actors playing an aging role rather than 'old' make-up. When Barbra Streisand and James Caan popped up in a close-up like that in "Funny Lady" the film audience laughed, thinking it was some kind of joke at first!

I am so pleased that there is approval to my need to discuss TV programs. It was wanting to discuss a book I had read that got me to RP :-)

Siobhan, I also recently watched "Any Human Heart" and was glad I did although it was really quite sad. I thought the choice of the old man to play the elder Logan was perfect. I still think of that play and hope Logan found his Freya again at last.

I, too, watched and enjoyed Any Human Heart on PBS. I had read the book, but could not remember any of it (early-onset Alzheimers perhaps...) so this was a fresh new story for me. Next week is The 39 Steps with which I am not familiar but may watch. And then after that, is a new version of Upstairs, Downstairs. I did not watch any of the original, but am hoping this will bring me up to speed. Apparently, it is set at the same house in 1936 in the period leading up to WWII.

And then after that is what I am *really* looking forward to which is South Riding adaption of the book (same title) by Winifred Holtby. I accidentally bought two copies of the same book so if anyone would like one, I would be happy to send it to you (in the US - sorry Astro et al.)

And Froniga - I hope Logan finds his Freya too.

Liz, I can here Dido grinding her teeth at the very mention of the new adaptation of South Riding as I understand from her that the 1974 production by Yorkshire TV (adapted by Stan Barstow) in several leisurely episodes, was far superior. This latest version has only 3 hour long episodes and much of the story has, of necessity, been left out.
Anna Maxwell-Martin, as the headmistress is good. Did you see her in Bleak House?
The new Upstairs Downstairs was on here during the Xmas hols.

Liz, I sent you an email about the book. I too am looking forward to these new programs. They are so different and so far superior to anything else we get here in the States, IMHO. It's too bad we can't enjoy the Barstow series, but we'll take what we get - it has to be better than the drivel we are normally served.

I have requested Any Human Heart from the library and I think I might watch the program again. I missed a couple of things and would like to sort those out.

The thing that was especially poignant to me was that the main character, Logan Mountstuart, was married several times, had children, had good lifelong friends, yet ended up alone in the end. He didn't start out being a particularly moral person, but he turned out to be one. I will be thinking about this for awhile.

I believe I watched a bit of Upstairs Downstairs the first time around, but I was a callow youth at the time. I'm looking forward to seeing the new version.

lemonhead, if no one else wants it, I would be interested in "South Riding."

Why doesn't someone post about TV and film at Circle Theater Forum ... I see no reason why not. Just because there are a lot of game-sters (hee-hee!) over there, why should that keep any of us from using it for our own discussions???

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I saw the first two TV "chapters" of "Any Human Heart", then lost heart, myself. I read the Wm. Boyd novel, and even though I read it cover-to-cover, I never really cared for it. Didn't like the main character much, or dislike him much. After his second wife died, everything went downhill for him. And it NEVER picked up again. I kept reading it -- hoping the story would go "uphill" -- but, except for a slight "lift" of spirit -- it never did.

I gave the novel so much leeway because his "Brazzaville Beach" was such a deep and a fabulous story ... and had fascinating characters, especially the main one -- a young woman scientist (English, goes to Africa -- the settings in the story are of the lush, exotic kind). It's a very strange story, and not depressing at all, even tho' there are sad parts.

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Veer -
I just checked Circle Theater Forum. Found the entry where a regular stated the rules. The one about foreign films says that they are tolerated (in the game). I think that's because most of the people who play the game (I'm one) speak English as a first language; so are going to be mostly American/British/Australian movie goers. A Hungarian film, say, wouldn't likely been seen by any of us (at that game thread). It is a FUN thread, tho'! . . . We have a lot of laughs.

So are TV discussions always going to be here? . . . Or, will they be at Circle Theatre Forum?

Lauramarie, personally I find 'discussions' never seem to take-off at the Circle site. Folk say "I saw so-and-so" and might add "It was awesome" and that is it. RP just seems to have a wider 'audience' for discussions and, despite someone at 'Circle' remarking that everyone at RP was 'so up themselves' (perhaps that should be on Frieda's slang thread) I'm just more comfortable here where discussions can be wide-ranging, intelligent and fun. You should have been here when there were wonderful threads on 'training bras' and afternoon tea. ;-)

Having started this thread and got a good response, I think that here at RP seems to be the best place for TV discussions. There are more posters and quite a lot of the programs have links to books.
There does not appear to be a moderator to decide, so, unless there is a problem, may we continue?

Circle Theatre forum used to be far more interesting years ago, before the games came to predominate. We used to hold actual discussions on specific films. (I recall an interesting thread on "The Village.") I no longer bother to check out that forum.

By all means, carry on!

I am dismayed about the disintegration of "Two and a Half Men". It must be a trying time for the excellent ensemble cast. I hope that something can be salvaged. Actually, I was getting a bit bored with Charlie, so some fresh character(s) might be a good idea. A good show should be able to survive and I have enjoyed it for a number of years, as have many others obviously.

Seeing Veer's, Annpan's, & Woodnymph's remarks ... I second (x 4 !) the motion to keep TV & movie talks here at RP ... also, radio program talk, too!

"Training bras" ... "afternoon tea"?? ... Now that's what I call an open forum!

Did anyone watch The 39 Steps on PBS here in the U.S.; I believe it was broadcast in 2008 in the U.K.? I have just finished watching it on my computer. Very entertaining, I must say! And yes, it is based on a book by John Buchan, who wrote five novels featuring the character Richard Hannay. I think they might be worth seeking out. I have always been fascinated by this time period - WWI - The Great War - because of my grandfather, who told me horrid gruesome stories of trench warfare and descriptions of what life was like for a very poor young man from The Gorbals. Anyway, back to The 39 Steps - I enjoyed this adaption, which I believe is the fourth film made from this book. Well paced with great characterizations. I might watch it again!

Siobhan, we had that program on MP Theater earlier in the season. I thought it was pretty spoofy (e.g., running through the open and avoiding bullets shot from an airplane), but it was enjoyable.

A few years ago I found a book at the library that had all Buchan's work in it and read the whole thing straight through. I liked it tremendously.

Yes indeed, I will agree it was spoofy - very far-fetched to say the least. I am probably swayed by the pulchritude of the leading man and the romance of the whole thing. Just the thing to curl up with on a snowy day in early spring. I have put Buchan's work on my queue at the library, looking forward to it.

"The 39 Steps" on Masterpiece Theater was exciting and well-acted, with beautiful, lush Scottish scenery. I saw it last night for the second time. But I still like the Hitchcock version better. And that had some scenes even "spoofier" than the Masterpiece one did -- Hannay diving through a big glass window at the police station ... even though he was handcuffed to the sergeant!

Although shown here on a channel meant more for teenagers, I enjoy a US sitcom "The Middle". Last night was about Valentine's Day and it struck a chord with me how pleased Frankie, the mother, was to be asked to help her normally morose teenage son shop for his girlfriend's gift and have lunch with him.
I, too, love to shop and lunch with family members and it is a joy to be asked. I smiled at Frankie excitedly telling strangers in the shop that her son wanted to have lunch with her! Even though she was paying!

Did anyone catch the first episode of Upstairs, Downstairs last night on PBS (at least here in TX)? I was completely caught up in it, and am looking forward to the rest of it. I find it interesting that it's about the same time as The King's Speech movie and they reference the same cultural events etc.

Did anyone watch the original Up/Down when it was on the BBC during the 70's? I was too young to be interested in that sort of thing, but would like to see if my library has the series available...

Liz, we saw the 'new' Upstairs Downstairs during the Xmas/New Year hols in the UK. Quite an enjoyable, easy-to-watch show and interesting to see that the character Rose (the palour maid in the original series) was back as housekeeper. Played by actress Jean Marsh, she had had the idea for the original thing way back . . .
I had seen some of the original programmes and had enjoyed many of the 'Downstairs' characters: Mrs Bridges the cook, Mr Hudson, the butler and poor Ruby the put-upon scullery maid who could never do anything right. The 'Upstairs' people were/are never so interesting.

DC and I just watched UD online and found it quite entertaining. I saw very little of the original but loved what I did see. Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins are wonderful.

I have noticed something - perhaps because we only receive a few British programs here, but they seem to be thick with meaty parts for older ladies. I've been watching Doctor Who and am continually amazed at that older women are often cast in roles that would automatically go to men on this side of the pond.

I watched the original Upstairs Downstairs, loved it, and found myself smiling at the TV last night when the new one began. I enjoyed it, too, particularly Rose.

I don't think this has been on in Australia yet, but I loved the original and want to see this one.

I loved the butler, who manages to be extremely pompous but bring humor and dimension to his role. i usually don't care for the butler!

I was fortunate last summer to have a friend loan me the entire set of the original series as I had missed much of it when it was first broadcast. How wonderful to be immersed in l65 Eaton Place for all those hours!

The new series is quite good. Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins are standouts, and although the new butler will never replace Gordon Jackson, he's really beginning to grow on me.

My only complaint is that the series will only be three episodes long! Now that theme music again consumes my days I'll have to ditch it much too soon!

On another forum, someone posted that six more episodes are being filmed for next season.

Thanks Carolyn. That's good to know. Wonder why they only did three this season? Testing the waters?

Always about money - they won't spend more money until they know there is demand. JMHO of course.

I enjoyed Downton Abbey so much. Of course, the original UD will always be my very favorite. I like the new UD, too. I notice that more and more programs are taking the "test the waters" approach before filming additional episodes. That's true for Downton Abbey and now for UD. It also seems true for Mad Men. By the time the next season finally rolls around I have just about forgotten what was happening.

I also am watching Mildred Pierce on HBO. It started off strong but is losing steam for me. I don't like the performance of the grownup Veda, and she and Kate Winslet (Mildred) are too close in age. Veda grew up but Mildred seems to have stayed the same age!

In a couple more months the cost of HBO will more than double, so that will be curtains for me. I won't miss it and feel it's generally not worth the expense. I can always watch the better series later on DVD or Netflix.

Dedtired: Will you be able to keep abreast of the 'better series'? I have missed out on so many shows because they were not broadcast on Australian television and I was not aware they existed. I have just purchased a DVD box set of Kenneth More as G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown." Made in the seventies, I think, and proudly proclaiming that it was made 'In Colour'! The acting is a bit stagey as so many actors were recruited from the theatre then, but interesting.

Annpan, I am very fortunate that my local public library here in the good old US of A has a very good selection of PBS series, as well as those that were popular on channels such as HBO. They even have series such as Friday Night Lights, which is on one of the regular stations (NBC?)and The Good Wife.

The trick is getting the DVDs in order. Sometimes you have to wait for the next one to be returned, although we can reserve them. I am so lucky to have wonderful libraries near me.

Sometimes I just hear about them by word of mouth. I recently watched a documentary called "The King of Kong: a fistful of quarters". It was very entertaining and a glimpse into the world of competitive classic video games. Some of those people are a bit strange, to me!

I have the first DVD of a PBS series called Lilies, but evidently it was not a great success. With so many highly rated series to watch, I may just return it.

Perhaps a little googling around would turn up names of popular PBS series. I am next looking forward to Game of Thrones on HBO, although I may have to cancel before it ends. Sigh.

Just saw an introductory piece about Game of Thrones. Think I'll skip that one. Too gory.

How funny dedtired! I came on here to see if anyone was talking about that. We don't get HBO - and don't want it- but we had a free trial this past weekend -to obviously promote Game of Thrones.
I put the book on reserve at the library.

Well, I'm currently watching two shows - Castle and Game of Thrones. Castle's a light series, but Game of Thrones is very intriguing so far. It feels like a mix of ROME and LotR, with more political backstabbing than either one. The politicking between the characters and different houses is definitely a staying factor for me.

The level of detail that went into the opening sequence is amazing. The actors' names have their characters' house sigils next to them. On the map, each house's stronghold cities have the house symbols on buildings. Also, the wooden bar carvings throughout the opening sequence tell Westeros' history.

Once again, I spoiled some of the future events by while reading wiki articles in an attempt to keep the multitude of characters straight in my head. TBH, now I am more curious to see the events play out.

I'm also looking forward to the upcoming novel ;)

I heard some co-workers talking about this program and could hardly believe it is based on George R.R. Martin's classic work - I tried very hard to read it, I loved the writing, the story was intriguing, but just too, too violent for me. Alas, I will not be able to judge the results as I don't have a TV, much less HBO. Maybe I will be able to check it out when it comes on DVD, who knows when that will be!

Anyway, my co-workers love it.

It's not a TV program, but I saw the new film production of Jane Eyre last night. Very good, very atmospheric. I thought the passion between Jane and Mr. Rochester was a bit lacking but I'm probably being too critical. I don't have a 'favorite' version, there have been so many films of this great book. I will probably read it again, which is a good thing to come out of a movie-going experience.

I am still watching "The Tudors" now in the third series. It seems to have less 'sex scenes'. Thank goodness! I have missed a couple of episodes and have borrowed the DVDs to fill in the gaps. I am amazed at the scope of this production. So many different scenes in each of the episodes!

I'm glad you brought this thread down annpan, because, although I didn't see The Tudors (seems to have born little resemblance to what really happened) we have now watched the first two episodes of The Kennedy's. I remember hearing there was some controversy in the US over this mini-series and that the family had tried to get it taken off air etc.
Over here the 'critics' say it is like 'Dallas' relocated to Boston and Washington DC, that there is virtually no mention of politics and that there are far too many sounds of 'braying' trumpets before moments of importance.
Did any of you watch it? What was your 'take' on it?

Chris, so you are a Justified fan? Mr Bookmom, a born/bred Southerner, started watching it at the beginning of the season and I found it truly offensive. Between the violence and the stereotyping, it turned my stomach; I'm not much of a TV or movie watcher and my tolerance for violence is very limited, especially when it involves children (like Loretta.) I work Wednesday evenings. About halfway through the season, I'd call home after I got off work, remind Mr Bookmom to put a beer on ice for me and we'd watch it together. Have you read Elmore Leonard's story? While I can't imagine the television show is any more than "inspired" by the story at this point, I was surprised by how drawn in I was by the plot and am looking forward to season 2.

Nobody watched the Kennedys? One good performance is that of Tom Wilkinson as the manipulating Joe Kennedy, but then only he is given any lines worth saying.

I have been watching, each evening one DVD of "Carnivale", each disc and there a six in the first series last one and a half hours. I watched this on ABC quite a few years ago, it is powerful viewing.
The Carnivale travels thru the dust bowl of America 1935, it reminds me lots of "Water For Elephants", although there are no animals.

I also have series two (6 discs)!!