Since this seems to be where we discuss television....

Oh, that and I'm a perv.

so then what you are saying is your recent, um, sabbatical was mainly spent watching the lovely Ms Hunt's new talk show?

Dude, she is definitely watchable however that show, most definitely, is not.

i95 wrote:Dude, she is definitely watchable however that show, most definitely, is not.

So you were watching Rachael Ray?

Tyra.

come clean.

you were watching the view, weren't you?

clothier wrote:come clean.

you were watching the view, weren't you?

I don't think so, he still seems semi-coherent. Watching the view for that long would render anyone senseless.

pastrami-on-wry wrote:I'm a big loyalist of the show, and although definitely still worth watching, Season 3 takes a darker turn than the earlier two seasons and Season 4 (which recently ended) was at times so dark (bordering on creepy) that for me the show lost much of its goofy charm. A saving grace of Season 4 were the 3 or so appearances by Albert Brooks.

I am now through Season 3, and "dark" is a bit of an understatement. Someone gets killed - or threatens to kill or is threatened to be killed in almost every episode. Over the evolution of the show, Nancy has turned into a pretty unlikeable character. At this point, she is pretty much an amoral bad parent who spends more time with her feet up over her head than on the ground. Maybe the social commentary is that this doesn't just happen in the black community?

The strange thing is that I don't feel like I am watching a show with the same writing team. It's kind of like the first two seasons were written by one guy/group and then the third season, someone took all of the same characters, with a similar premise and made a whole new show. Given the ending of the season, it looks like there are going to be some cast changes coming up - and, obviously, a move - but, to where?

A couple of random observations....

Mary-Kate Olson's character was kind of annoying, but I found her to be disturbingly hot. I just always thought that she was up to something...and that never panned out. From what I recall, she is not in Season 4, but perhaps they wrap up that story line....or, maybe the end of the story line was her getting into that ambulance? Whatever.

A mother's way of dealing with her obstinate son is to "force him" to work as a pot grower? On what f-ing planet?

Matthew Modine's character was neither likable nor interesting. A bad combination. A nice twist for the finale would have been him and Mary-Kate Olson having some sort of connection beyond dealer-customer (father/daughter? he's banging her? anything!).

Andy, Kat, U-Turn, and the newly gay Sanjay are all great characters, which tried to keep the show a little more lighthearted - yes, even U-Turn was so over the top that I never found him scary.

I loved the end of the final episode, where they play the show's theme song over video from the opening, but with no people. It really did seem like a show finale - not a season finale.

I am less looking forward to Season 4 than I was Season 3 - and have come down off the "best show on television" title that I almost threw on this show.

Your review of Season 3 is on the money.

Season 4 continues (and actually escalates) the downward spiral of Nancy's character and you will find her pretty despicable in many episodes . The "new writers" (if that's what they actually are) must have taken the original writers hostage since the darkness gets worse and the moral center of pretty much every character takes a negative turn.

Yeah....something tells me that I'm not going to like that. I get frustrated with shows that take turns that just aren't at all plausible. Yes...I know it is television and not real - but, when the show starts, Nancy seems like a decent Mom just trying to preserve her way of life - without causing too much disruption to her and her children's world.

Since then...it seems like she has done everything in and out of her power to cause disruption to her life and put her children in harm's way.

I'm sure that it is not a spoiler to tell you that there is a torture scene in a Season 4 episode that is literally nauseating. The show is certainly not a light-hearted romp any longer.