give me an episode of Porridge, that'll do me.

Lost, Sopranos, 24, The Wire, etc etc, they all seem to be over-written, over-acted nonsense.

Give me a tightly scripted 30-minute Galton & Simpson or Clement & LaFrenais anyday

I loved the first season of Heroes, pure Geek heaven, the last two seasons smacked of desperation, charcters endlessly repeating the same development arcs with no development at all. Bored of this season after twenty minutes. One year of greatness, three years of shark jumping.

At half past seven, not long after dinner, I slinked off to my *room* with a bottle of wine and my guitar. After an hour or so buggering about with old records and said guitar, this came up -

He was a feckin' genius!!

What was it that bloke once sang..."who needs tv when I got T Rex?"

Do what you want to do....yer wife and son will be glad of the peace....mine certainly are....win/win!

My sister bought me the box set of Prison Break for Christmas.

Anyone want it?

Nurse Jackie has started this week. My wife, Nurse Ashley, watched it Just To See. I passed an eye over it.

Fuck my old boots. It's brilliant. Just wonderful. Dark, dark humour, deft writing, wonderful characters. I detect the hand of Jed Mercurio. Half an hour of greatness. Every night.

I enjoyed it.
Likeable nonsense.

Hiro, Ando & HRG are great TV value.

who have enjoyed "The Wire", "Dexter" and "Battlestar", both the GLW and I were totally nonplussed by the episode tonight. The GLW loved the first series, but, like many others, believed the second series holed the franchise below the waterline. Admittedly, we'd not followed the last series so we had a similar coversation to the reported one above except neither of us had any answers.
I don't agree that they're all over-written, it just seems to be that unless they're HBO the programmes rely on viewing figures to survive, which means that writers don't necessarily get time to develop cohesive story-arcs whtever their plans, and if they continue to get the viewing figures the stories are extended beyond their natural lifespan - in the former case, think "Dollhouse", in the latter, think "Lost"( seriously, I've read features in sci-fi mags about what's going on in that programe and even Mr Hawking would have his understanding tested).

Saw my first episode yesterday - couldn't understand a word of it. These series are never chanced upon nowadays. You have to actively decide to buy into the marketing hype announcing a new US drama and commit to watching it over the run. You can bail at any time but you can never jump on board mid run to join in.

Watched Heroes last night, missed most of the second and third seasons, so didn't really have a clue what was going on. The blond cheer leader still looks cute though.
Just waiting to get Lost Season 5 in the post and I can't wait, massive Lost fan. Still need to see the final half of the last season of BSG too!Another great American series.

I think the reason it succeeds is because it's just half anhour long. no time for padding.

Agreed that Heroes was a load of unintelligable nonsense. I tried to get into it. But the characters just left me cold.

Lost on the other hand is superb. But its not one for the casual observer. I started watching series one episode one, and have watched every single episode since, in order, twice. And some of the additional clips from the website. And it sort of makes sense. Well, the characters' lives do, at any rate. I haven't seen series 5 yet. I need more money before that happens, but I'm excited. Because for the first time it'll explain WHAT the island is, as it was hinted at in series 4. But the level of plot intricacy and self-referencing can be a minefield for someone who gets in half an episode of series 3. it won't make sense. But in the context of the massive storyline, it'll probably all becoming abundantly clear.

No arguement
It's fact

Almost don't want teh last season to start in a couple of weeks cos that means it will be soon be all over. I felt the same before watchi9ng the finale of BSG. Deciding to end before flogging a horse way past death (are you listening. Chris Carter?) is the way to go.

And anyone who says "they are making it up as they go along" gave up watching midway through deason two. Its all coming together nicely and old mysteries are paying off brilliantly. Not gonna SPOILERZ for those not up to date.

I tried starting Prison Break, The Wire and others but they couldn't hook me in - Lost, BSG and (initially) Heroes did. Its a v personal thing TV.

The second season internal infighting and strike killed Heroes (and those bloody Oirish accents) and its struggled ever since

The wife and I have just devoured Mad Men seasons 1 and 2 over the last few weeks. Highly recommended portrayal of New York City in 1960.

I've watched every season from beginning to end. But you have too - impossible to jump aboard otherwise. Sutherland Junior's performance is magnetic throughout - yes it has jumped entire species of sealife on occassion, but Keifer holds it together. Season 8 begins on Sky later this month and I cannot wait!

I got through two seasons of Lost, mildly entertained, guessing along with the rest before the slow realisation dawned. They´ve not only leaped the giant fish but have disappered so far up the own nether region that I wouldn´t be suprised the find that in the end " it was all a dream".

I too prefer a blast of Likely Lads to neverending US babblethons, but I must confess I've become hooked on FlashForward, half the time I have no inkling of the plot, but haven't missed an episode yet.

I really enjoyed last night's Heroes, but I doubt it would work if you hadn't watched the previous series closely. There were a couple of lines spoken early on as a reminder of how it was left (which did actually feel somewhat crowbarred into the script) but it still wouldn't have been enough to go on. It's the same with Lost, it's great if you stick at it but no good for jumping in and out of. It would be like reading a novel and skipping several chapters.

If neither grabbed you in the first place though, it's possibly not worth the effort. I still liked the apparently less popular periods in both shows, but it's all about personal taste isn't it. I've dropped out of a couple of shows myself which I've been told found their feet later, Brothers And Sisters felt dull to the point of unwatchable to me.

...how Sylar ended up hidden in Nathan's 'skin'. And what happened to the real Nathan?

I have watched the last couple of series simply because Mrs S is still enjoying it - if it was up to me alone I'd have bailed half way through series 2, but someone else's enthusiasm can be catching. It's one of those programmes I want to be better than it actually is; probably because I am a massive geek.

it was raining.

...how the blonde woman with the evil twin lost the twin and became Icewoman? And are the indestructible English bloke and Mohinder still in it?

Like Starkley, I stopped watching midway through series 2 and picked up again at the end of the last series (I think Nathan died and Matt Parkman stuck Sylar in him to keep him alive).

Heroes seems to be caught in a bit of a plot loop with Peter, Sylar, Claire and Ando, but it's better than Lost. I gave up on Lost after the first series when it seemed to be a lot of thrown together plot twists and dead ends mixed with longeurs about the rather boring characters.