HBO Original Series

[Zarithar]

Not sure if this is the right place for it, but I've just got to give props to HBO for bringing some excellent TV. To me it's actually kind of a put down to call it mere "TV programming", because these shows exist on a higher level than all the incarnations of "Desperate CSI Fat Guy With Hot Wife" type shows out there... Anyhoo:

Band of Brothers: If you haven't seen this, what's wrong with you!? This is World War II on a personal level above and beyond even something like "Saving Private Ryan." Forget all of the sanitized WWII movies of the past...

Rome: Decadent, conspiring, and with more plot twists than you can shake a stick at. The costume and set design is amazing, and the two main protagonists, legionaires Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are excellent and interesting characters, although Ciarin Hinds as Julius Caesar steals the show in my opinion. Unfortunately... no season 2 until 2007!

Deadwood: I saved the best for last. This is NOT a "Western" in the traditional sense of the genre. The actors that play Al Swearengen and James "Wild Bill" Hickok are top notch. There is not a single bit of bad or cheesy acting to be found in this show. Simply the best TV series I have ever seen... Season 3 coming out this year!

Anyhoo, anyone else seen these and want to chime in?

[Mordican]

I bought Band of Brothers the instant it came out on DvD. Everyone at my work has borrowed it, all my friends have seen it, and its currently down in Alabama with my buddy in the Military. I recieved an e-mail from his commanding officer thanking me for letting my friend have the DVD's for a while.

BoB is, hands down, the best thing ever produced for TV in any way, shape or form. If I were forced to throw away all but one of my DVD movies/sets this is the one I would keep. For those that have not seen it, please consider finding it.

As Zar said it puts a personal touch to the war, but not in the way you would expect. The series does not pull its punches. You see American Soliders dying. You see how it affects the men of Easy Company and how they hanlde the pressure and circumstances. Each episode is presented from the perspective of one of the men of Easy Company. Everything from their Commanding officer to privates. IMO the best part of the series is in regards to Bastonge. You get to see through the perspective of the company medic and the company Fst. Sgt.

That being said the part of the DVD's that make you think are the interviews with the surviving members of Easy. They do little intros to each DVD and a few have follows up, howver the best is on the companion DVD with the Episode "The Men of Easy Company" Also on that disk is the personal video taken by a few of the cast members during filming. Again is just great stuff.

Bottom line is that I cannot say enough about this series. It even puts a face on the average german solider, not just the SS and Nazi related units.

I will end this with a quote from Shifty Powers, one of the men of Easy"

"We could have been friends. For all I know might like to hunt and I like to fish. We could have been friends. I think about that alot."

[junior]

Something that hasn't been explicitly stated about BoB - it's based on the book of the same name, and is historically accurate. Everything that happens in the series is based on what really happened to the unit in question during the war.

History Channel also seems to show it quite frequently, and it's worth keeping an eye out for.

[Tristate0999]

Agreed 100%. Band of Brothers is a must see if you like war movies, and especially if you like WWII movies. Yes I know it's not a movie, but you can watch it like a movie. Anywho...pick it up if you have an extra $80 or so.

[Zarithar]

Just FYI, in case you weren't aware... Rome is on the 3rd episode of its second season now. If you haven't been following it, they are re-running the first 3 episodes this week (of course you can always watch them "on demand").

In my opinion, the series does not "flow" as well as the first season did, though perhaps I'll change my mind after a couple more episodes. Still, it is one of the best shows currently on TV in my opinion!

[Takara]

I think it flows alright, but there are a lot of new faces, and I keep going "who is that"? It takes me a few hours after the show to go, "Ohhhh...."

I <3 Rome.

[Zarithar]

I think it flows alright, but there are a lot of new faces, and I keep going "who is that"? It takes me a few hours after the show to go, "Ohhhh...."

I <3 Rome.

Yep that's for sure... like Timon's brother Levi, all of the characters at the Aventine Collegium ("Gaia", the other legionaire who's name escapes me, etc), Agrippa, Jocasta, etc... it makes the head spin!

Furthermore, Octavian is being replaced by an older actor next episode to reflect that he has aged since last we saw him.

Personally, I like the fact that Cicero remembered where he put his balls with last night's episode.

[Woody]

As far as Rome goes, I love the show, but the tendancy this season to jump forward in time makes the show less immediate and not quite as enjoyable as the first season. I think the coming war between Octavian and Mark Anthony will make up for some of the things we've lost to time jumps.

[Freiyr]

Sadly, I have heard that this second season of Rome will also be the last.

I guess it makes sense though, seeing as the series is supposed to center around Vorenus and Pullo, I suppose it cannot go on forvever.

[Kallysti]

My boyfriend has made me watch all of Band of Brothers (heck, I'm the one that got it for him for Christmas, lol). Damn was I ever glad he did. I especially love the interviews before each episode from the real guys that the show was about. I'm really not a history/war kind of girl, either.

It's real. Good and evil, brave and cowardly... they spare nothing. I laughed and I cried. Every episode was emotionally draining. Especially...

the episode with the medic and the French nurse. I cried so hard when he found her ribbon in the wreckage.

And also the 2nd to last one where they find the concentration camp.

I couldn't watch any more for a while after each of those episodes. I had to... recharge, I guess is the word.

Best. Mini-series. EVER.

[Aren31]

Rome is one of my favorite shows now, awesome and gritty.

I can't say enough good things about it.

[Serresrelic]

Band of Brothers is literally the only tv show/movie/etc that has actually ever left me staring at the screen slack-jawed in amazement.

The way they present the personal side of war and the trials that these guys went through was truly masterful.

And the fact that it is very historically accurate just adds to the wow factor, knowing that these men actually went through all of that. Truly amazing.

[Zarithar]

For anyone else that was following Rome faithfully.... what did you think of the way it ended (last 2 episodes or so) ?

Frankly I was dissapointed and thought that it felt rushed.

[Nokei]

I think the majority, if not all, of the season had been scripted by the time HBO pulled the plug. If that's true, then I think they did a decent job with what they had to work with. There was a reasonable amount of closure for me, given the series' short run.

I'm more intersted to see how they end The Sopranos in 2 weeks (in my opinion Tony has to die, or it leaves it open for a movie or something, which I would hate) and Deadwood, which will have something like 4 more hours to wind the series up later this year.

Not to be discounted, I really hope The Wire (what I consider to be the best show on television, ever) sometime has a season that ends with me not wanting to slit my wrists. The Wire season 6 debuts this fall.

[Khatib]

First post in this thread in a while... but I just have to say it's so disappointing that they killed off Deadwood to give the creator free time to develop a new series... John from Cincinnati, which I have to say I don't find interesting at all. I watched the first two episodes, and it did nothing for me. Hopefully they do get around to making that Deadwood movie to tie off the series.

I'm still enjoying Entourage, and I absolutely love Flight of the Conchords. It's kinda like Tenacious D v2.0.

And the most exciting news I've heard for a while is that HBO is working on developing a mini-series for the George R.R. Martin book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Hands down the best fantasy books I've ever read. I even put them above LotR. I guess because GRRM doesn't protect any of his characters. Good guys can die just as much as the bad guys. Bad guys can turn out to be good guys just from a perspective change. It's just very gritty and real, and I think it'll make a great series if they adapt it properly. Right now I guess they're looking at about 12 episodes a season, one season per book.