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Messages - Khushrenada

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51
Podcast Discussion / Re: Episode 844: Why Are We Talking About Horace?
« on: October 17, 2023, 10:05:48 AM »
Returned? He never left! Horace will always be with us until the heat death of the universe. (And even then he'll probably still be around after that.)

52
Shows That I've Watched Completely (11-20)

Bones

I got into this series for a couple reasons. One is that I'd heard there was a good twist about the hunt for a killer on the show and the second is because Noah Hawley who was responsible for Fargo and Legion had been a writer on it. (I've still yet to ever get around to Legion despite being interested about it). Ultimately, I got semi-spoiled on the twist based on a little bit of knowledge of future seasons when I did begin watching it. As well, Hawley wasn't really a major writer on the show. He might have been showrunner for Seasons 2 and 3 but he was gone after season 3 and the show went for 11 seasons. There's a lot of ridiculous things about the show and I'm surprised I watched the whole thing through but it had a lot of characters you just liked seeing play off each other and it found ways to inject a lot of comedy to keep things a bit more light amongst the continuous rotting corpses and bones.

Breaking Bad

From the first episode, this show hooks you and just seems to continually have one obstacle after another to overcome. It just seemed to keep building momentum and expanding its world to keep surprising you. At the time, I was so impressed at how tightly written it seemed to be like keeping track of how many days the action of the show was taking place over and making sure it didn't exceed it or keeping track of things like the ricin poison. It's crazy to find out that they were mostly making it up as they went along. Still a top tier series to me.

Brooklyn Nine Nine

As a fan of Andy Samberg because of SNL and his Lonely Island stuff and with Micheal Schur also behind it, I checked this show out when it first aired and followed it all through as it aired. If it wasn't for Abby's or Rutherford Falls, this would probably be the weakest of the Schur created comedies I've watched. Perhaps it was because of the setting but the show just never seemed able to get to a higher comedy level being stuck with what it could do in that law enforcement setting. As well, it just seemed like there were some characters that couldn't mesh well together for comedy and felt uneven in that regard. I'm sometimes amazed how much leverage the show got out of the deadpan seriousness of Captain Holt but it was often the reason for some of the biggest laughs on the show. Also, a shoutout to Amy Santiago who's nerdiness and facial reactions also did a lot of heavy lifting for that show when things like Boyle's weirdness or Gina's indifference could fall flat. There were times I considered dropping the show but I don't regret sticking with it and watching the whole thing. However, I also have no real desire to go back and rewatch it at this point in time.

Community

There's a lot I can think about saying on this show because it's a wild ride. It starts out like an expected sitcom. There's even a sort of love triangle forming by the end of the first season. But Dan Harmon isn't interested in going by regular story beats so he dismisses and blows up that stuff at the start of the second season and forget about even trying to keep things semi-realistic. Although there are some signs of it in the first season, by the second season on, I had the thought that this was practically an animated series just done in real-life. I drew a parallel to Futurama which would often do a lot of episodes parodying something and slotting in the characters to work within that parody. With the cast changes and some background drama that occurred during its run, that approach basically helped the show keep surviving and still being able to put out funny stuff without ever feeling stale although the later 3 seasons do feel a bit uneven compared to the first three.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm not sure if anyone else here as ever seen this show or given it a chance. As far as I remember, I was the only one to post about it or try and talk about it in the "Rate the Last TV Show You Watched" thread to try and generate interest on it and give it some word of mouth. I think the idea of Musical TV scared a lot of people perhaps because of Glee which seemed to be a polarizing show. I wasn't really sure if I would care for it myself when there were advertisements for it before it aired but the premise did seem like it could be funny so I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. It could have some of painfully awkward comedic moments like The Office and there were a lot of great comedic moments and gems in the songs that were created for the show. Yet, I was also surprised at how much it actually cared about the "Crazy" part of the name and also began to take a serious look at mental health which just wasn't something I'd seen in many shows at that point. The triumphs, the setbacks and the effort that can come from taking an honest look at ones self and working to improve and get better. I still think this is a gem of a show and hopefully other people will find they like it more than expected if they give it a shot also.

Godless

My father likes Western movies. I was visiting my parents at a time when this had just recently come on Netflix so we watched through it all over a few nights. It was a mixed reaction. It could have some good moments and there were a few characters that we got invested in but there were also some characters and subplots that felt like they were dragging or taking away from the more interesting ones and then when it ended, it was kind of a shrug. It just wasn't the most satisfying ending. It's something I've mostly forgotten about.

Good Eats

I don't know how I missed out on this show when it first aired as I liked Alton Brown from stuff I'd seen him do on the Food Network like Iron Chef or appearances on shows like The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Before I finally saw this in 2017, I had been watching a bit of MasterChef and Chopped and always found it amazing how people could know how to make all types of food without a recipe in front of them. Watching Good Eats felt like getting a real cooking class on understanding how a dish came to be, how to properly cook it and the science behind the recipes and ingredients. This alos includes the recent Good Eats:Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return. Sadly, it seems Good Eats is now done forever but I hope Alton continues to find some new ways to keep educating on the science of food. Good Eats:Reloaded was fascinating to me in seeing how even in the past 15 - 20 years, there have been new refinements and innovations in cooking to change up a lot of things he had first presented and do them better.

Great News

I'm not sure why I watched this. I saw it after it had been cancelled. I remember it being mentioned as kind of the next big project for Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield after 30 Rock which didn't exactly peak my interest but I feel I probably some online comments and reviews of people liking it or saying it was funny. It definitely felt like a comedy more in-line with 30 Rock's approach and I never really found it that hilarious. For some reason, the biggest laugh I remember having was when a character talked about the sadness of eating alone at the Olive Garden; "They say when you're here you're family... but they don't really mean that." Perhaps those who like 30 Rock would enjoy it but I don't think anyone is missing out on anything if the skip it.

Heroes & Heroes:Reborn

Hey! Remember Heroes?! This show went from so popular to so forgotten pretty fast. Plenty enough has been said about it already. I'll just say that I seem to be on the more forgiving side of the show and don't hate the time I spent on it compared to others. I feel it did a lot of things well in doing a "superhero" show for TV that one could learn from or copy for future projects. When Heroes:Reborn first aired, I was struck at how well they were able to recreate the tone and pace of the original series and how exciting and compelling it could feel at times. Yeah, there was weakness in the logic at times and the plotting could fumble things. I know there was always disappointment at never showing any kind of great budget heavy superhero fights but I still enjoyed the ride enough that I'd still try it again whether there is a Heroes: Reborn Again or maybe watch it all through again with someone else who hadn't seen it before.

Hit & Miss

Wow. Here's an obscure show. A quick synopsis from Wikipedia: "It stars Chloë Sevigny as a transgender contract killer who discovers she has a child with her former lover. She struggles between caring for her newfound family and maintaining her job as an assassin." It was a British show that only lasted for one season of six episodes. It's been around a decade since I saw it. I don't remember why I ended up watching it now. I recall being more interested in the assassin part than the becoming a parent part but in the end nothing was particularly great about it. Forgettable.

53
TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Downloads - October 19, 2023
« on: October 16, 2023, 06:15:06 PM »
Quote
Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express ($39.99/$45.99)



Seriously?!

Just go to the library and read the book or just watch one of the movie versions of it if you don't know this story yet. To spend that much on it and I have no idea what the time spent on it would be like seems wild. I just don't get the reason for why this exists...

54
Shows That I've Watched Completely (The First 10)

30 Rock

I'll be listing these shows in alphabetical order. My final actual list will be after I've listed everything for my judging pool. That makes 30 Rock the first and it's the only way this show would ever end up first in a list that I can think of. There was a brief time when NBC had a Thursday night comedy block with 30 Rock, Community, The Office and Parks and Recreation. All these comedies developed big fan followings and are still talked about even though at the time, some struggled with ratings as the TV landscape began fragmenting under more cable channels and Netflix streaming. I watched an episode or two of 30 Rock at the time but just didn't find it that great compared to the other shows. To me, it is the weakest of those 4 comedies listed yet it is the one that dominated the Emmys during that run of shows.

It was around 2018 - 2019 that I finally decided to watch the show from the beginning since a lot of comedy shows can build off past jokes so I knew watching an episode here and there isn't the best way to judge a show. Yet, ultimately, I still don't get the popularity of the show. After a couple months of going through the first four seasons, I stopped at a point with season 5 as I was then in a move. It was almost one year after that I finally decided to get back to finishing the series. It was sort of a case of I'd gone this far and might as well see where it all ends up. But I could have just as easily not bothered. It just never hooked me like those other shows. It's also a weird show in that it seemed built more around bringing in all sorts of big name guest stars to do jokes about or with them while some of the regulars were sort of underutilized (or just not that funny to spend time with in my opinion). In that regard, it was almost like SNL: The Sitcom which, in a way, is sort of what the setting of the show was. Ultimately, I see it as an uneven show that felt quite dated by the time I watched it.

Seeing it at number 4 on THR's list is just something that doesn't compute to me. I seriously forget I ever watched this show most of the time. Nothing about it has ever really stuck with me. THR said "And its cynicism — about Hollywood, the Bush administration, corporate greed — appears to have prognosticated the cultural and political crises we find ourselves in 15 years later" but I think they've gone overboard. Yeah, 30 Rock would make fun of TV and what might air on it with stuff like MILF Island but I don't think anything the show did surpassed reality. Looking over broadcast TV, even before 30 Rock aired, you had Are You Hot?, Extreme Makeover and The Swan or Tiaras and Toddlers which began after it was airing as just some of the What-The-Hell ideas of shows to actually air. And I'll also add that when it comes to TV, the movie Network still seems like the most prescient and accurate take of TV's future that still applies to today despite coming out in 1975 and I'd say is more cynical than anything on 30 Rock.

Welp, that's my brief rant on 30 Rock. Spoiler alert, it's not going to make my final list. A real shocker, I know. ;)

Abby’s

Micheal Schur has talked about his love for Cheers and this was his attempt to sort of duplicate it. Because of his work on stuff like The Office and Parks and Rec, I checked it out when it first aired. It only lasted a single season of 10 episodes. It wasn't that great and it wasn't that bad. Like I don't regret watching it but there's really nothing to recommend about it especially with Cheers still existing. It wasn't that memorable aside from the weird premise of a woman running an open air bar in her backyard that her neighbors actually would frequent.

American Crime Story

This is an anthology series. Each season focuses on a different real life crime. So far, the seasons have been The People v. O. J. Simpson, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and Impeachment (about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal). It's possible there could be more entries in the series but so far this has been it. Although I've found all seasons to have some compelling elements about them and would consider worth checking out, by far, it is the first season with O.J. Simpson that is the must see of this show. When it first aired back in 2016, it was the show that I couldn't wait for the next episode to air. Back when it actually happened in real life, it was called The Trial of the Century and, after watching this version of it, I feel that comment is still appropriate. I was joking at work that here we are over 20 years later and I can't wait to see what happens next in the trial. 

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the show has been unable to top that first season because of all that things that happened and coalesced during that trial. Of the other two seasons, I'd put Impeachment as second best. It was a bit different than expected as the impeachment isn't exactly the main focus. Rather it's more focused on Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky and what led to the whole affair coming out and the effect it had on them with although how that led to an impeachment trial was enlightening as it wasn't something I really followed back at the time. Although it can be debated, I felt the ending points about Clinton being found Not Guilty and the effects it had on US politics after that seemed to have a ring of truth to them.

The second season on Versace is the weakest of the three. There's a couple reasons. There was no trial in this case. I'm not sure it was really a news story that dominated like OJ or the Impeachment. It's also told of backwards with each episode sort of happening at an early point in the life of the killer until the last episode which resumes after the death of Versace. Moreover, most of those other episodes would then take a focus on the other victims of the killer before he got to Versace so you're being introduced to all these people coming and going and it makes for a bit more of disorienting journey compared to the unfolding action of the other two. Plus, there's really no connection between Versace and the killer aside from the killing. So then you have Versace's past also unfolding which just feels superfluous. At the same time, I think I get why it was done this way because of when you get to the penultimate episode. I won't say why so as not to give much away for those that may want to see it but if anyone just wants to know then I guess I can post something in spoilers later or maybe you can figure it out by looking up reviews of it.

American Vandal

I wasn't planning on doing a review of all these shows yet I seem to have suddenly put myself down this path which I'm regretting as I didn't expect to do all this typing. Unless there is an actual demand for it I'm going to scale down my comments here. (If you want more of my thoughts on a show listed, you can also ask for them since it's easier typing more when you know there's an interest).

Basically, I saw this show earlier this year. I'd been intrigued by it's premise and reviews back when it first aired. The idea is a comedy and sort of send-up of all the true crime podcasts or documentaries that have been springing up with things like Making a Murderer but this is all fiction and scripted. Yet, it proved me to why this content has become so popular in the last decade. As it would slowly examine the evidence and testimony to see what could or couldn't be trusted and dole out different evidence and conclusions in the unfolding of the investigation, I was hooked and invested in seeing how it would all unfold. It also gave me a slight vibe of working through Phoenix Wright cases. Worth checking out.

Andy Barker P.I.

Alright. I'll admit. I hardly remember anything about this series. It was a late TV season addition and only had 6 episodes made and aired. For some reason, the only thing I recall is a hazy season of tracking down a bad guy who worked at a chicken farm and in the confrontation he ranted about having to handle chicken eggs and the smell with the hens laying them. I don't know why that's my only memory but that's about all I can tell you of the show. I regretted missing out on Richter's earlier sitcom effort of Andy Richter Controls the Universe so when this came out, I was there plus it aired during the Thursdays of The Office, Parks and Rec, etc so it was easy for me to catch. I suppose like the Abby's right up, it was just alright, clearly nothing memorable. I'd have been ok with it getting more a chance to flesh itself out and see what it might develop into but I'd also have to watch it again at this point to see what the quality was like. It certainly was no First Season (6 episodes) of The Office.

Arrested Development

When I finally got around to watching Arrested Development, it was around 2017 and it felt like this sort of missing link between your classic sitcoms of Seinfeld, Frasier and the newer style like The Office, Parks and Rec, etc. It wasn't a mockumentary but it almost had that feeling with the cameras not being in the same sort of fixed locations and moving along with the characters. So many great things about the first two seasons. The shorter third season is still pretty good but I thought the British / Mr. F stuff was a bit weaker while the second half when it worked on wrapping some things up worked better. I have also seen the fourth and fifth Netflix seasons. They're definitely weaker and you get the sense that the creativity and comedic magic of the first years had been lost by the gap in time. There are still some great moments to me in those later seasons but it seemed more like the show was interested in how much plotting it could cram in than jokes. Look at how many plates we keep spinning at the same time. Still, those later seasons don't ruin the show for me or undo the greatness of those early seasons. Absolutely loved those ending stingers for next time.

Arrow

Myself and other users have engaged in a lot of Arrow talk over the years as the show unfolded. Thus, I'm not going to comment much on it but to say, when thinking about it overall, I still have some fondness for the series. Not that much fondness that I'd think about watching it all over again but enough that I'd still say it might be worth a watch for someone who hasn't seen it but were looking for a superhero show to watch. Casting Stephen Amell was a big reason in keeping that show watchable even when it got rough in the later seasons particularly when a lot of the stronger secondary characters slowly left over time although David Ramsey's Diggle sticking around also helped.

Band of Brothers

It's harder for me to remember much about this miniseries compared to things like Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day or Patton which are movies I've seen a few times and deal with a lot of the same moments of the war like D-Day or The Battle of the Bulge. The one thing I do recall is near the end of the series when they liberate a concentration camp and the bewildering sight of seeing how the prisoners had been starved and treated. Perhaps I should revisit this series again because I'm surprised how much has faded from my mind.   

Batman Beyond

Looking it up, about half of the show aired in the 21st Century. Around 7 or 8 years ago, I watched through the whole series because I had missed a lot of the third season episodes back when it was first airing and had recently gone through the whole Batman: TAS episodes. This still feels like an underrated series when people think of the DC Animated series as talk usually is about the Batman, Superman or Justice League series. Personally, I still quite enjoy the unrealistic future setting that was created for it and the premise and situation the characters find themselves in. Yet, it also feels like they only scratched the surface here and there was a lot more drama and conflict that could have been found from it beyond how it often felt of just setting up new villain origin stories and foiling their plots when they returned.

Better Call Saul

I'll probably talk more on this later as it will be somewhere on my list. Absolutely one if not the top show for the year during the years it aired. As soon as a season was over, the idea of having to wait so long for another season just seemed so cruel. And then counting down the time when a new season would get an air date. But it always felt to be worth the wait and I got so engrossed in each episode as it would air. So well shot and directed.

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Alrighty. So, I've been spending some time on Wikipedia going over Network Broadcast television for the past 23 years to look over their schedules as well as programming on other cable channels. I created a list of about 200 shows for which I felt I could comment on from having seen a few episodes to the whole series.

Before I create my list, I'm going to create a few posts going over what my TV knowledge and background is. So, if you don't see something like The Wire on my final list, you'll notice it's because it won't be listed among the shows my judging pool will contain since I've yet to see any episode of it. I'm just going based on what I feel confident enough to judge.

When creating my list, I threw in everything I could recall watching over the past 23 years. This included things like NHL games or other sports like Baseball and Poker. Ultimately, I decided to leave off sports for the list because it's a weird sort of entertainment not really judged for any specific artistry when one thinks of a scripted TV Program or the catch-all "Reality" TV. This also made me question if I should include Game Shows which are almost closer to sports than actual TV programs and could almost be considered more disposable programming. When you know the outcome or can remember the answers to a show, does one really want to rewatch a game show like they may want to rewatch an episode of the Simpsons? And yet might that then further apply to reality shows like Survivor or The Amazing Race which I've always felt fall more on the Game Show side of things compared to stuff like Below Deck or The Real Housewives of whatever which are more built around personalities or "slices of life"? In the end, I decided that Game Shows or Cooking Shows or other less scripted programming should count because they are ultimately more of an actual TV production than sports. Sports can happen without TV and weren't built for the medium. The medium just helps broadcast the event. Whereas something like The Price is Right probably isn't going to exist if it was done without TV.

Enough preamble, let's start going through what TV of the 21st Century I've consumed.

56
NWR Forums Discord / Re: Random LOL of the day thread
« on: October 10, 2023, 10:14:47 PM »

57
The West Wing is pretty much great from the start, but it runs into HEAVY seasonal rot by its 6th season and limps its way through its final 2 seasons.

Funny enough, I've always been interested in getting around to the West Wing because of its last season since I know Alan Alda was a big part of it. I've always liked checking out other things he has been in since watching M*A*S*H and I remember reading bits of reviews and articles about the West Wing at the end and how he played a candidate running for President. Him playing a role like that is the biggest reason as to why I sometimes think about getting around to watching that show but, aside from downloading it somewhere, I've never really seen any easy option to get around to watching that show. So, it's an idea that keeps getting kicked further down the road.

On a side note, animation (as usual) got ignored on this list. Avatar TLA being on the list period is nice (especially since I don't believe Korra was, as it deserves), but it's way lower on that list than it should be and the DCAU got screwed in general. Seriously? No love for Batman Beyond; Justice League; or Justice League Unlimited? No love for Spectacular Spider-Man, either.

Yeah, and that's mentioned in the article.

Quote
We each have feelings about things that are missing from the list or things that the list could use more of. Short version: Needs more British TV! Needs more animation! Needs more reality TV!

Perhaps if this was a list of 100 then there would have been more included. There's only two animated shows which are Avatar and Bojack Horseman. I thought Rick and Morty was on the list for some reason until I went back and just checked it over. Bob's Burgers and Harley Quinn got mentioned in the Honorable Mentions but that's it. That said, while making my own list of TV I've seen, I did remember and check to see if Batman Beyond qualified for this century and have noted it among things I've watched. Yet, I doubt it will make my final list. Same with Justice League. They're shows I've enjoyed watching but when thinking of what I would rank among best of TV when compared to things like Mad Men, Better Call Saul, Mr. Robot, etc, it is not a surprise to me none of the DCAU made a list like this either.

58
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 08, 2023, 04:24:33 AM »
Fine. Then it's settled: I will quit gaming as whole, as soon Switch ends its lifecycle next year. However I'm not changing what I've said: I'm still going to get the remaining worthy games that will come on the platform by then (including all the remakes of the games I never played before... which are pretty much all of them except Luigi's Mansion 2, which I did already played, and also not a personal favorite game of mine). Until then I'm still going active on it. If it can help, I can leave this place right now, but don't expect that I'm gonna take easy the direction videogames and the people who play them are going to until I quit it... Nintendo games are being destroyed, and there's nothing I can do about it.

As for this comment, again, it would be nice to get some context. Is there no way to copy and paste some examples of how Nintendo games are being destroyed and why you can't do anything about it? I'd love to be able to see what you are seeing and reading since it just isn't something I've encountered where I live.

In regards to whether you keep gaming or not when a Switch successor comes, that's up to you to decide. I just find it odd that you keep talking about how you are worried about the future of Nintendo and its games vanishing or no longer existing and being made in the future yet your solution is to quit buying their stuff in the future anyways. Isn't quitting Nintendo doing just what the fanboy lies are hoping to accomplish? Have people not buy and play their stuff? I just don't understand why not playing Nintendo stuff you still enjoy in the future is your main solution whereas not bothering to engage in online arguments with people that dislike Nintendo is an impossible solution?

Again, it is your time, money and mental health so make the decision that is the best for you in those areas. If that is the best solution than so be it. It just doesn't quite make sense to me.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 08, 2023, 04:11:14 AM »
Also thank you a lot for making me feeling even more lonely in loving XBC2 by telling me that there are other people who hate it around here. Like if I hadn't heard enough hate for it already... no offence.

No offense taken. I was just trying to highlight that from my personal experience, I've seen a lot of different reactions about the game which may be why you've had a hard time finding others who like it as much as you do. I also never said that they hate it. Just that there were elements about it that caused them to like that particular entry less than others.

I would caution that you may want to be careful to assume that because someone doesn't view something with the same emotion you do that this means they must hate it or are the opposite of your view. Let's use the example of a movie. A person can watch a movie and afterwards they may find that they liked some of the characters and specific scenes and moments but didn't like or care for others and they may give reasons why they felt that way. Meanwhile, you may have seen that same movie and liked everything about it and are surprised to find out that this person didn't feel that same way or has complaints about it. Yet, that doesn't mean they hated it. As mentioned, there can be a lot they did still like. To them, there was just other stuff they thought could be better. And that's just human nature. We all have our own likes and dislikes. It isn't necessary that everyone has to feel the same way about everything.

Going back to videogames, Super Mario Sunshine is nowadays often considered the "worst" 3D Mario game. I say worst because when people make a list of Best 3D Mario games it will often be the last entry on the list. Yet, even when ranking the games in this way, people will still mention that there is some good stuff to it. It's not like they are considering it the worst game ever made. Just that in this specific instance of criteria and judging that it is at the bottom. Yet, for me, Sunshine will always be a top Mario game. I recognize that it does have its faults and I can see why many people would put it at the bottom. It's just that the game came out during a time in my life where it could make a big impact and in which I could spend a lot of time with it and repeatedly play it.

Nowadays, it just seems hard to replay and revisit games like that when there is so much out there to play. That's why I've only played through Super Mario Odyssey once. I really liked it. It had a lot of great worlds to explore and challenges in it. It has some excellent music to it. I loved the ability with the hat to control different species and things. But after getting all the Moons and costumes unlocked, I moved on to other games to keep up with all the other stuff I'd like to try out and play. Perhaps if I went back and replayed it over and over again like I did Sunshine then it would become my favorite Mario game or I'd have the same feelings for it as I do for Sunshine. But that's probably not going to happen. That's why for my own list, I would still put Sunshine ahead of Odyssey if I was ranking the Mario titles. Doesn't mean I hate Odyssey or anyone would say Odyssey is a better game that Sunshine. I still like Odyssey and would highly recommend people play it. It's just that I have a greater fondness for Sunshine beyond just it's technical merits which will make it hard for any game to be able to overcome that longtime affection.

At one point, if I saw Mario Sunshine being ranked low on a list, I'd have commented about that and mentioned how I disagreed and why I thought other Mario games were worse than it or why it was better. However, my attitude on that has changed. Having read and listened to the viewpoints of others as to what they don't like about the game and why they don't rate it as highly as I do, when I've revisited and replayed Sunshine, I've since been able to appreciate and see that there is some validity to their points. There are things that haven't aged well. Yet, that hasn't destroyed the game for me. I still get great pleasure in playing it again. What I liked about the game, I still like and enjoy. And that's why I don't bother trying to "defend the honor" of Sunshine like I once might have. Why I don't try and tell other people that they're wrong and I'm right because what does it really matter? The game still exists. It hasn't been taken away. I can still play it and enjoy it. And other people can still play it and decide for themselves if they like it or not regardless of what I tell them. The only thing that's changed is I've gotten more perspective on the game (and life in general) to appreciate and understand other viewpoints beyond my own.

That's why we've been trying to tell you to not get so obsessed over whatever criticism you may being seeing directed at the games you like, whether that criticism is legit or lies. People have their own opinions. Yours is that you like XC2. You Luigi's Mansion 3 more than Luigi's Mansion 2. That's cool. That's great. Go on liking them and playing them. Just remember that you are under no obligation to have to defend them or your reasons for liking them. Unless something absolutely wild happens in which Nintendo is bought by another company or they experience crazy financial misfortune, they are most likely going to still be around and keep making these types of games you like for quite some time. And as for Nintendo being bought or crazy financial misfortune, neither of those things will come about from the mass of lies you are worried about which is, again, why you shouldn't view it as the major issue you are feeling it to be.

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NWR Forums Discord / Re: I REMAIN YOUR GOD IN ABSTENTIA
« on: October 06, 2023, 11:00:52 PM »
I think Crimm is Jon Lindemann.

The Happy Mask Salesman guy that this forum always encourages us to revere via our avatars?

Hmmm, well, he does seem like a very important dude so I guess I'll show my respect for such a powerful figure like that.

61
NWR Forums Discord / Re: I REMAIN YOUR GOD IN ABSTENTIA
« on: October 06, 2023, 08:25:54 PM »
Podcast Discussion

Follow-up. There's a Podcast Discussion forum?! Since when? What is even for? Who would ever use such a thing?

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NWR Forums Discord / Re: I REMAIN YOUR GOD IN ABSTENTIA
« on: October 06, 2023, 08:24:15 PM »
Who's this Crimm guy anyways?

63
Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 06, 2023, 08:21:23 PM »
Ah, I see. Yeah, XC2 can be a controversial choice although much of the criticism is usually leveled at the character design. One woman I know who highly recommended the first game to me back when it came out in 2012 (and really likes the series) said that she didn't think she'd care that much about it but she did end up feeling ticked off about some of the... artistic choices... that were made. Likewise, there is a lady who posts on the NWR Discord who is also a big fan of the series and she also finds XC2 a low point of the series for various reasons.

Personally, I can't comment on it as I have yet to play it but I do want to get to it particularly because it seems to have such mixed reaction and I want to see what I think of it. I did like its hook of having multiple living creatures that you explore over to differentiate from XC1's static two giant humanoids.

Evan_B(est in show) has written a very extensive review on the various Xenoblade games here on this forum. Perhaps you'll want to check it out by clicking here if you want some deeper thoughts on that game and the series by someone else who has played and really likes that series of games.

Likewise, there are a bunch of games that you've listed that I've played and enjoyed. Odyssey, MK8, Breath of the Wild, Metroid Dread, Kirby and the Forgotten Land. We've had some various threads and discussions on those titles also in the past. Breath of the Wild was probably the most robust. That was a fun time for many people because there was so much of that game we just didn't know about so we were all experiencing the world in different ways and finding new things and sharing that with each other in the thread at the time. I was wondering if TotK might cause that experience again but it doesn't seem to have. Probably because even though there's a lot of new things to see and changes to locations in BotW, it still has many of the same principles and make up to feel like everything is a fresh new discovery.

I'll also note that even though I've played a lot of these same games, I haven't often made much comment on them or discussed them that much. Part of that is because sometimes it just feels redundant or silly to just say "I liked this game" or start listing some of the events I liked even though anyone else playing the game would have probably also encountered those same events so why do they need me to list them again? I supposed it is the "Why" of it all that holds me back. If I'm going to post something, how much should I dig into and explain the why of what I liked or what I may not have liked? Why is a comment from me on a game necessary? As such, I don't often do much actual posting on my experience of playing on a game.

Yet, that doesn't hold me back from still playing Switch games. That's part of why I've mentioned that ignoring the hate and not engaging in comments with online morons may be help for you. I still enjoy my time playing this stuff even if I may not try to tell people about it.

That said, if you want to comment more on any of those titles you listed or something else then feel free to do so here. You may find others here who played those same games and liked them and perhaps they'll add their thoughts on what appealed to them about those games.

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NWR Forums Discord / Re: This forum is a James Jones free zone.
« on: October 06, 2023, 07:51:03 PM »
That's crazy talk! Could you imagine a forum without Crimm?




No one would want that.....

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NWR Forums Discord / Re: I REMAIN YOUR GOD IN ABSTENTIA
« on: October 06, 2023, 07:48:16 PM »

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 06, 2023, 05:28:58 PM »
cut

Cut

*Gasp* Cut my words out! Those were important words!  :o ;) ;D


I'm still going to revisit the games I loved through out the years anyway, no risk in doing that. ... I'm not going to give up on the remaining Switch games, but an entire more year like this IS going to be painful,

On a different note, I'd like to know what games you do like. What have you have been playing that you really enjoy and would try to talk about? Do you have a list of favorite Switch games, for instance? Rather than just hearing about the negative effect fanboys are having on you, it would be nice to at least hear about what it is that you have wanted to share and feel you haven't been able to up to this point when it comes to your actual gaming experiences.

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I've been thinking about this and still need time to collect my thoughts and put together a list, but I'll jump in and agree with the general idea of what Khush heard about Battlestar Galactica. That show was incredible for a while, but seemed to lose focus at a certain point, and the last season or season and a half weren't up to the same standard as the earlier parts. I still liked the show and watched all the way through, but not sticking the landing is probably what's going to prevent that show from making my list.

Did it also end on a cliffhanger or unresolved? When I was typing that, my mind suddenly recalled a sketch on Portlandia in which two people had binged the show but then felt it needed an ending so they tracked down Edward James Olmos and then had him star in their own made up ending for the show. That's what sort cemented the image in my mind that it could be a unresolved journey.

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It feels weird to leave Futurama off this list since it spent less than a year in the 20th century. It's also still going because Disney or whomever won't let it go.

Go ahead and include it. As the Hollywood Reporter said, they considered shows that crossed over that starting point. They just went with the episodes that fell past that starting date. That's why The Soprano's made the list since its last 5 seasons were all in the 21st Century and those seasons were still enough for them to put it 2nd. If you feel the Futurama episodes that aired in the 21st Century are worth rating highly then put it on your list. Make it a Top 20 or 30 if you want.

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General Gaming / Re: Shocktober 4: The Final Chapter
« on: October 05, 2023, 11:27:37 PM »
Online Communication For Wii U And 3DS To End In April 2024

Yikes!! Shocktober just got REAL! I wasn't prepared for this level of dread...

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 05, 2023, 11:23:59 PM »
One more thing.

Sometimes you just have to let people figure things out on their own as well. When I was a teen and young adult, I was dismissive of animated kid's movies. Stuff like The Lion King or Tarzan with breaking out into songs just seemed like kids stuff and I thought it was a lazy way to make movies. However, in my early 20s, I found myself really enjoying a lot of classic movies from the 40s and 50s and became interested in seeing stuff like Best Picture Winners and other films that were highly praised. This also meant a lot of musicals were listed among these works to check out. I had my doubts about those films but watched some expecting to find them sort of silly only to realize that I actually really like them. They've become some of my all-time favorites and I'll watch them again and again. It's sort of disappointing at how hard it seems to be for studios to make a really good musical these days.

Likewise, I remember seeing the trailer for Finding Nemo at the time it was coming to theatres and, for the first time in years, I actually wanted to see a kid's animated movie. This was doubly surprising because I also really don't like fish. ;D But I did go and see it in the theatre when it came out and thought it was great. This caused me to re-evaluate the bias I had developed and self-imposed on myself about that type of movie. A few years before that, a relative had offered to take me to the theatre to see Toy Story 2 but I dismissed it because of it being a kid's movie. After Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, I went back to see some of the Pixar movies I didn't see and found it was a good movie. If I had taken up that offer, maybe I would have lost that self-developed bias sooner. Yet, even if they had told me it was good or they liked it, that probably wouldn't have caused me to go. I had to finally make myself be more open to that experience and work out that bias.

It may be the same with these other people you are trying to fight against to defend Nintendo games or change their mind. What you say will likely have little effect. Unless they decide to re-evaluate their stance or be more open-minded as they age and hopefully get wiser, it's highly likely you'll be ineffective now in your efforts to provide counter-arguments. In their mind, they're right and it is you that needs to change your mind whereas you see yourself in the right and they need to change their mind and thus neither side will like change because both think they are in the right no matter what the other says. Therefore, the best advice we can give you and that you seem to be getting is to just walk away from it and ignore it. There's so many better ways to spend your time than an online argument or dwelling on online hate. Please try and find other things find your mind to focus on and to spend your time with. You'll likely be happier by doing so.

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 05, 2023, 11:23:34 PM »
I'll also mention a couple tidbits that I can think of which may be of relevance. Way back in the days of the GameCube, PS2 and XBox, you may know that the GameCube ended up being one of Nintendo's lowest selling consoles. Because of this, not a lot of people owned a GameCube during its lifespan so often when talking with people in school or others my age, it often seem like I was the only one to have and like it. People then were quite dismissive of the system and its games. I remember when meeting someone for the first time, the conversation had turned to games and he had a PS2 and I mentioned having a GameCube. He kind of snorted at that because as far as he was concerned, the system had very few games worth getting it for. I may have had around 7 games I owned for it at the time as I was still just beginning to get more of my own spendable money from working. He said he could probably guess three of the titles I owned and I let him have at it. He listed Super Smash Bros. Melee, Metroid Prime and The Wind Waker. Hilariously, I owned none of those as I wasn't into those series at the time and hadn't ever played any of the games in those series.

Yet, that was the perception of the GameCube then. It was just seen as this odd system with only a couple good games whereas PS2 had the vast library and DVD capabilities and XBox had Halo and online gaming matches for people to play together with. Many gamers just didn't embrace it and Nintendo games were called kiddie and Nintendo was seen as the next Sega and probably would soon be out of hardware and a secondary player in the games market. Personally, I didn't want that to happen because Nintendo games were the software that I was most drawn to and had played and continued to play at this point and didn't want that to end but there was nothing I could do to change that perception no matter how much I may have told others about games and experiences I liked with the system.

Oddly, the GameCube is now looked back on more fondly by many gamers. A few years ago, when talking with a relative about some Nintendo history and mentioning how the GameCube had been the worst console until the Wii U (leaving out Virtual Boy), he was shocked. He thought the GameCube was one of the best systems ever because of a lot of games he had played on. He played those games later on during the end of the Wii era but a lot of them still held up at that time. Even now, I'm still getting together with friends and we are playing the Mario Party games for that system. It continues to have relevance in my life. And Nintendo didn't fade away either. They came back strong with both the Wii and DS kicking butt at the same time. Despite not being able to change people's interest in the GameCube at the time, it really had little bearing on the future. In the end, I was happy with what I was playing and I just kept enjoying it for myself. I was glad to later join and be a part of this community in which I found many other people who did like the GameCube when that was the topic of this place and get many recommendations for other games to try out and grow in my gamer knowledge and find more new experiences I might not have on my own.

(As for that person who tried to guess what GameCube games I owned, we did still become friends. It probably helped that he wasn't trying to trash my taste in games and it was real life so people are usually a bit more respectful when face to face compared to online discourse. In fact, he's one of the people that will play some of those GameCube Mario Party games. Today, he's got a Switch and we'll play some games together on that even though he's still a bit more of a Sony fan. Might not be your experience if this is from random people on Twitter but just wanted to add this extra detail and to show that some people lose their bias over time.)

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Nintendo Gaming / Re: Worried about Nintendo's games future...
« on: October 05, 2023, 11:23:08 PM »
I mean the thought of so many games I have to heart are being destroyed by deliberate hate and lies said by a mass of morons who do this for the sake of keeping other games at the top, and that there's nothing I can do to stop it. It's just unforgivable. I don't even know if I can just accept this happening and move one on my path, the fact that is happening is something I just can't ignore...

I think what I have a hard time understanding is what you mean by games getting destroyed. Like if some people want to trash a game in their opinions or out of ignorance then whatever. Everyone has their opinion on things whether right or wrong. But just because people might be dismissive or purposefully trolling of stuff, they can't actually destroy something by their words. Like you can still play these games you like and still enjoy them just like any other person could read their stuff and then play these same games and realize that they like them and they disagree with what those other people were saying. It's not like they can make these games disappear or can actually affect the code of the games to make them run worse or degrade their quality. So, what are they destroying?

If it is just your happiness or enjoyment then I'm sorry they are doing that to you but I'd also say that this shows something that you may need to work on in life which is to not let yourself get overly influenced or affected by other people. It's not easy and everyone will be affected by others in life but, forget just the aspect of Nintendo stuff, this will help you be happier in life in many other areas when you can learn to let things go especially when it comes to people saying negative things to you. You say there is nothing you can do to stop it but I don't understand why you feel you have to stop it or be the one to do so. You also say that you can't ignore it but I highly recommend that because when you stop engaging with it then it might make a difference in how you feel.

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As for the list itself, I guess I'll break mention some things about it.

Awhile ago, I made a list of some TV shows I'd like to get around and see because of great reviews and they intrigued me in some way. From this list, here are some of the shows that I do still want to get around to seeing:

35. Chernobyl
31. Fleabag
15. Atlanta
12. The Americans
06. Reservation Dogs
05. The Wire
03. Succession

And maybe someday:

18. Friday Night Lights
17. Halt and Catch Fire

Both of those shows seem to have a devoted small following and Friday Night Lights would get mentioned a bit on Parks and Rec as a favorite show of Ann and Leslie and something they bonded over so that's the word of mouth recommendation I have through some fictional characters. To FNL's credit, it does seem to be one of the few times where a TV show has replaced the movie it was based on and is the better product. A rare feat. M*A*S*H is the premier example of this but perhaps someday I'll check out both the movie and show and see what I think about it all. For now, these are still low on my radar.

Then there's these entries:

30. Game of Thrones
26. Battlestar Galactica

Galactica never appealed to me. I like Sci-Fi stuff but, the visuals I'd see of it, the plot and character details I'd hear about it, it just never made me want to check it out. Yet, it also become an early poster child of binge-watching as a lot of people seem to discover it early on in streaming and get addicted to the series. Yet, it feels to me like it evaporated in pop culture awareness and my understanding was that it seemed to lose focus in the last few seasons and did end well? But maybe that's a misconception on my part.

As for not ending well, that seems to be all people want to talk about with Game of Thrones. I find it funny how it went from all sorts of people telling others that they had to watch this show to then telling them it was a waste of time. I know feel like I did the smart thing in never bothering to check it out. I suppose this goes back to my thought on the Mentalist or other shows that perhaps don't end well or unresolved because of getting cancelled. Does the other 70, 80, or 90% of the show that was great up to a point still merit the time to watch or deserve some credit or does the bad taint the good too much?

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Alright. So, of the shows listed, these are the ones I've seen the complete series of with one exception:

44. The Leftovers
38. Band of Brothers
37. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
32. Veep
28. How To With John Wilson (The exception)
27. Parks and Recreation
25. Review
16. Breaking Bad
07. Better Call Saul
04. 30 Rock
01. Mad Men

In regards to How To With John Wilson, I actually watched the first two seasons earlier this year around May. The last season of the show just recently came out a month or two ago and I've meant to check it out but just haven't at the moment. But I will because I do find the show enjoyable enough and will check off another complete series by doing so.

There are a couple entries in which I've watched many episodes but have never seen them all and there's no real obligation (storywise) to watch them all.

13. 30 For 30
11. The Daily Show

Personally, I'd have put The Colbert Report on the list and left off the Daily Show but I get that it was a pretty big deal from 2000 - 2008 and it really created waves through TV from its cast going on to other things and projects.

As for the honorable mentions, these are the ones I've seen: Arrested Development, Justified, The Office (U.S.), Watchmen. I've seen all episodes of those series as well.

Now, for myself, one missing show that I thought was fantastic is Mr. Robot. That show got a lot praise and nominations for its first season and then people just didn't seem to care about the other three seasons and I just don't get it. It's a top tier show from beginning to end as far as I'm concerned. I loved the cinematography and look of it and the way it was willing do some stunts like a wordless episode or a unbroken shot (real time type) episode (which has been done a bit more of late) and other twists it would throw in plus it had a lot of great engaging characters. And yet, it just seems to have been forgotten and never see critics talking about it much since that first season.

Another show that I thought might get mentioned or more love on these forums is Person of Interest. I still think that is a highly underrated show that continues to sort of stay relevant with the continual advances of AI technology. Whenever hearing about peoples fears of AI, I can't help but think of that show from time to time.

I'm going to just browse over TV shows from the past few decades to make sure I'm not missing anything and then when come the hard part of ranking and making my top 20 list.

I guess a couple things on my mind are would I include anything like Smallville, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow or Superman and Lois? Some of those shows like Smallville and Arrow had some dips in quality but, when things did gel on them, I quite enjoyed my time on them. There's also some reality TV stuff like The Amazing Race or Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Then there is stuff like The Mentalist. I watched that entire series and I did enjoy a lot of it but as far as I'm concerned they totally botched the big series mystery on the serial killer Red John. It still bugs me. Will it get a spot despite that or is that too big a problem to overlook?

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I suppose I'll just quickly mention that it had been on my mind for a couple years to create a thread asking us to rate our top ten or twenty shows of the past decade like with stuff airing from 2010 - 2020 particularly since a lot of shows in the latter part of the teens had been wrapping up making it a bit easier to start judging the whole works but never got around to it. Just wasn't sure if the interest would be there.

This idea of just going with the complete 21st Century instead of a decade makes for a stronger and easier way to list and rank things which has got my posting juices pumped up and wanting to make this a thread. Have enough of us watched a lot of TV to do at least a Top 20 list? Get your thinking caps on and let's find out!

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