Topic: Rate the last TV show you've seen

[TJ Spyke]

Maybe it's not technically breaking the fourth wall, but it is close (and I didn't know this, but apparently there is now a "fifth wall" term, it's when they acknoledge critics). Take the Pokemon movies for example, in the third movie Team Rocket saves Ash. When Ash asks why they did it, they said without him they say that without him they would be out of show business. In the Pokemon Ranger movie (which aired during season 9), Meowth mentions Diamond and Pearl are good names for games, and later when James said they would find diamonds and pearls Meowth responded by saying  "let's get through this season first." (the next season was Pokemon Diamond and Pearl).

In the final season, Doug would point out sitcom cliches like when one of them would say they need something from the store and then right after the mom got home from the store with the items, or that all of the food items had generic names and looks (rather than brand names and having to pay for those). In one of the later episodes he starts seeing a shrink and the shrink is recording it (and has her own cameraman) to air as a show, so that adds in a whole new set of humor.

I think part of what hurt the show in ratings was that they kept moving it around, didn't advertise it, and just didn't seem to care. I think Sony Pictures Television (who made it) only wanted to keep it around so it could reach the 100 episode mark that really helps sell a show in syndication.

[Halbred]

Mark yon calendars: Modern Family starts back up on the 22nd.

[ThePerm]

on the 5th wall

animaniacs would always make jokes about the censors, and would often have really dirty jokes that got by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xmAC9Qu908

[TJ Spyke]

Over the weekend I watched the two day marathon of this season of Futurama on Comedy Central (they aired 6 episodes on Saturday and 6 on Sunday). Really good season, only 1 or 2 mediocre episodes. I won't spoil anything for people who haven't seen it, but I wonder if the way the season ended (with the mutants now being allowed to walk above ground whenever they want) will have much impact on next season. I also hope next season is more than just 12 episodes.

[gbuell]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Santa Claus. This one is delightfully bizarro.

[Caliban]

I wonder if the way the season ended (with the mutants now being allowed to walk above ground whenever they want) will have much impact on next season. I also hope next season is more than just 12 episodes.

That was the end of the season? Awww, I want more Futurama.

[TJ Spyke]

Yeah, I thought it was gonna be longer too but Comedy Central (which airs it here in the US) kept mentioning in the ads that the season was over but they would air all 12 episodes in a marathon. I have no idea when the next season airs.

[TheBlackCat]

I watched the first episode of a great new show for Discovery Channel called "Bad Universe".  The guy doing the show is an astronomer and author I really like, Phil Plait, who wrote a book called Bad Astronomy that dealt with astronomy myths and misconceptions and a second one called Death From the Skies that was about various astronomical threats to us, such as asteroid, comets, black holes, solar flares, alien attacks, supernovas, and gamma ray bursts. 

The show is along the lines of the book.  This episode was about asteroids and comets.  Like the book it starts off with a plausible scenario (in this case a few dozen meter asteroid hitting Sydney), then goes into more detail about the science behind asteroid and comet impacts, including a number of scale experiments to see what the effects would be and how effective different strategies would be for protecting us.  When I say "scale", I mean their first experiment is to blow up a 7000 pound fertilizer/fuel oil bomb (equivalent to about 3000 pounds of TNT) to see simulate an impact (that is about 1/20th scale for what they are looking at).

In short, imagine Mythbusters dealing with space, and a lot bigger explosions.  There was a lot of interesting science, cool facts, fancy CG reconstructions, explosions, big guns, lasers, and some more cartoony reconstructions (the dinosaur extinction event was made to look like an animated comic book, for instance).

I thought it was pretty cool, although he was really pushing for people to take this threat seriously (which I agree with).  It is pretty staggering how little effort is being put into this.  I am also a bit disappointed they didn't discuss more about the Tunguska impact, since I think that would have driven the message home more. 

This is just the first episode, judging from the intro they are also going to deal with at least: alien invasions, black holes, supernovas, and solar flares. 

So I would say, probably 9/10, only because I don't think the 3D reconstruction of the impact was as good as it could be, they skipped Tunguska, and Phil didn't come across as serious as he probably meant to when emphasizing the threat.

[ThePerm]

i liked that episode, but i felt his simulation of a nuke impact wasn't accurate. He basically simulated just crashing the thing into the asteroid, not landing on the asteroid and then detonating it. A more accurate representation would be c4 on a boulder. Not enough impact to destroy the asteroid, but enough to create reverse propulsion. Although if the asteroid was the size of a football field then yes it would destroy it.


Burn Notice thumbs up+

[TheBlackCat]

The problem with using explosives, and the reason the impact is a good model, is that there is no air in space.  That means there is nothing to carry the shockwave like there is on earth, all of the energy would be dumped into the asteroid at the point of the explosion (minus some negligible radiation damage).  In air the shockwave would be carried by the air as well, which completely changes how the damage is distributed.  So a kinetic energy impact against a solid object is a pretty good model for a nuke in a vacuum, much better than an explosion in air would be.

That is another problem with the show, he doesn't always do the best job of explaining why they used certain approaches.  He also doesn't explain much about the kinetic impactor model, the size, weight, or makeup of the model asteroid in that case (or why those parameters were selected), how they know how much it needed it to move, and so on.  Considering that is really the only approach that actually worked, they should have explained it in more detail perhaps at the expense of some of the other bits.

[ThePerm]

even if there is no air, the rock would be superheated and some of it would become gas, also not to mention the gas created by fission. If I were to do the landing strategy I would pack it in a shell filled with metal dust.

[TheBlackCat]

There would be a tiny amount of gas, but nowhere near enough to carry a noticeable shockwave due to the very low density (it would be a vacuum) and the total kinetic energy would approximately zilch due to the really low mass (relative to the mass of the asteroid). 

With a nuke, metal dust would become gas, and if the gas is what you are looking for you are better of lining the walls of the nuke with a solid shell of depleted uranium or some other really dense material.  It doesn't really matter what you do, it would still be vaporized.  Of course nukes have that anyway because they need to keep the bomb together long enough for the nuclear reaction to take place (it's called a tamper).  But the affect of the gas would still be pretty much negligible because of the tiny mass and very low density.

[oohhboy]

The mass of the nuke is negligible compared to the astroid no matter of what you used. What you need is multiple multi-stage thermonuclear warhead that can direct the force into the astroid like a shape charge. Losing more than half the energy to space is very wasteful You would need multiple hits anyway and from the side. The nukes would also have to be very sizeable in order to produce useful delta V.

At best we can deflect, not stop and most certainly not shatter one without causing an internal explosion of insane proportions.

Give it a bunker buster design so you can vaporise the astroid to increase propellent which will increase energy delivered. However any plan would be based on how much time you have. Further out you detect it, more time you have to deflect, however it will also increases any inaccuracies. It means intervening could cause a near miss to be a hit. The bigger problem is that we can only scan a tiny proportion of the sky.

[TheBlackCat]

The solution the show settled on was a high-velocity kinetic impactor (basically a hunk of metal accelerated to really high speeds), which would push the asteroid out of the way at least for the impending impact.  This would be a lot more effective than a nuke, because a lot more of the energy would go into pushing the asteroid.  Then they would put a gravity tug next to it to pull it into a safe orbit over a longer period of time.  A gravity tug is just a satellite with a weak, long-lasting ion engine that you park next to the asteroid then use the thrusters to prevent the two from touching.  I think ideally we would crash it into the moon or one of the other planets just to be safe.  Throwing every nuke we could at it would be a last resort.

[Halbred]

"The Closer" (first two episodes)

Surprisingly good.

[gbuell]

Reno 911. Working through season 2. Some crazy funny moments in this one.

[TJ Spyke]

Just finished Garfield and Friends season 1 thanks to Netflix. It was better as a kid, but I still enjoyed it (they even managed to sneak in a rare adult joke that kids wouldn't get).

[kraken613]

Hawaii Five-O seems cool a fun action show can always be good.

Chuck was good tonight, can't wait until they really get going with the season.

Now off to watch House and How I Met Your Mother.


All the shows I watch are on Mondays and Thursdays and at the same times as eachother... Annoying.

[NWR_insanolord]

Boardwalk Empire Pilot - 9/10

I only gave it a 9 because I think it has the potential to do even better in the future. A truly excellent show.

[ThePerm]

yeah the Boardwalk Empire Pilot was really good. It has a lot of potential. That time period is pretty interesting. People think society is going down the tubes, its a perennial complaint, but the truth is everything is always getting better. You can't get away with crime nowadays, so you hear about it all the time.

[Caliban]

I watched the first 3 episodes, season 1, of Mad Men. I don't get what's the fuss about this show. I like the era, but that main character leaves much to be desired. All I see is falsity from him.

[gbuell]

I haven't seen Mad Men but I hear it really gets better after the first several episodes.

[Halbred]

He gets more complicated as the show goes on, but Don Draper is NEVER likable. He's very much an anti-hero. Actually, almost none of the characters are likable. I'd say that Peggy (the new girl) sort of is, and Joan gets better as the show progresses. I like Roger, although he has his own demons, too.

Episode 1 of HOUSE!

Not that great. Kinda boring.

[gbuell]

I really like shows with unlikeable characters. I'll probably pull a Lost and wait for Mad Men to finish up and marathon the whole thing.

[ThePerm]

Mad Men to me is just entertaining, its basically just a high production value soap opera.

8.5/10