TV of 2014

[flyonthewall2983]

[flyonthewall2983]

Not to stir anything up, but is there a rule against "lol" here I seemingly have missed out on?

[Matt]

Yes. And I'm now deleting them wherever I find them.

[domino harvey]

Avoid SMS language (or chat/text-speak)Please, no "LOL" or "ROTFL" or "LMFAO" or "OMG." If you need to interject such a response, spell it out. If that's too much work for you, maybe you don't need to include it at all.

[flyonthewall2983]

Okay then. My bad for not being up to date on them.

[Matt]

The "lol" emoticon is still okay, though.

[domino harvey]

Matt, bring back the sunglasses emoticon

[swo17]

That one's only for the cool kids.

[flyonthewall2983]

To get this on track, I'm kind of excited with several shows starting up within the next few months, both new and returning. Justified, House Of Cards, Hannibal and of course True Detective.

[warren oates]

Ditto on the True Detective. And while we're anticipating miniseries' let's not forget The Spoils of Babylon. The only new series I'm curious about so far is AMC's Turn. Here's hoping it's a more authentic historical spy drama than The Americans and a better one too.

[ianungstad]

I don't know if they'll make the fall schedule but AMC ordered pilots for the David Cronenberg/Tim Roth series Knifeman and Seth Rogan/Evan Goldberg's adaptation of Preacher. Both could be potentially great.

[warren oates]

Speaking of miniseries' and authentic spy stories, ABC is airing The Assets, a U.K. produced miniseries starting tomorrow about the Aldrich Ames case. It's based on a book I've read by the two real life Mayas of that mole hunt, female analysts who painstakingly ruled out other suspects and built a case against Ames over a period of years. I can't vouch for the quality of the TV show yet, but the book is fascinating. And I say this having read every other book about Ames. This is Tinker, Tailor for real.

[flyonthewall2983]

I'll have to look into that, despite my allergies to the Big 3.

[flyonthewall2983]

NBC might want to rethink its aggressive Twitter campaign for 'Chicago PD'

[flyonthewall2983]

WWE to launch first-ever "24/7 streaming network" next month.

[domino harvey]

IFC changes its name to... IFC

[jindianajonz]

Way to lose all the brand name recognition you built up, IFC!

[Matt]

People are still just going to call it Independent Fried Chicken.

[Ashirg]

So, now it's pronounced "ee-f-k" since it's no longer an acronym?

[Roger Ryan]

I love how practically all of cable TV is now made up of channels identified by three initials that mean nothing in relation to the actual programming: IFC, TLC, THC, MTV, VH1, HLN, AMC, A&E. I guess HBO still stands for "Home Box Office" and good old TCM is still showing "classic movies" (and then some) after twenty years.

[flyonthewall2983]

Speaking of miniseries' and authentic spy stories, ABC is airing The Assets, a U.K. produced miniseries starting tomorrow about the Aldrich Ames case. It's based on a book I've read by the two real life Mayas of that mole hunt, female analysts who painstakingly ruled out other suspects and built a case against Ames over a period of years. I can't vouch for the quality of the TV show yet, but the book is fascinating. And I say this having read every other book about Ames. This is Tinker, Tailor for real.

Cancelled. Apparently not sexy enough.

[flyonthewall2983]

AMC announces premiere dates for Mad Men, Turn, and Better Call Saul.

[warren oates]

That sucks about The Assets. I wonder if the rest of those episodes will ever turn up anywhere? Btw, I've given up on The Spoils of Babylon after two episodes. Not quite funny or coherent enough as parody or anything else to keep holding my attention. I'll give it some credit for committing fully to its weird amalgam of ideas and influences.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I think it's finished in the US, but is Hostages worth bothering with? Channel 4 has picked it up in the UK and the first episode, despite its daft conceit, didn't really bode that well.

[domino harvey]

I haven't seen it but the reviews and comments section for it at the AV Club were hilarious-- apparently it was so bad that it drove the reviewer to the point of madness! I've literally never heard one good thing about it from anyone, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes so it could very well be genius. I wouldn't place bets though!