Should I Watch True Detective?

[Druidic]

TD was Twin Peaks without the self-indulgence and goofiness. Unfortunately, as good as TD was--and it was very, very good--it didn't quite scale the high points that Twin Peaks did when that show was firing on all cylinders. Nevertheless, these are examples of television drama at its best. Imperfect, sure, but occasionally brilliant.
Seriously, outside of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and a mere handful of other inspired shows, television remains, for the most part, The Great Wasteland...

[Cnev]

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

Seriously, outside of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and a mere handful of other inspired shows, television remains, for the most part, The Great Wasteland...

A co-worker of mine was telling me about a wonderful new TV show she has started watching that is apparently nothing more than the video-recorded responses of people watching TV with their friends/family/whatever. So, a TV show about people watching TV. I mean, can it really get any lower than that?

Anyway....

My expectations for TD being what I wanted it to be were very low. I hadn't watched TV in years before buying TD, so I was interested to see how the Ligottian element would be baked into a detective story on American cable television. I thought it was done just about as well as it could have been considering the audience. It's all business in the end and HBO wants a product they can sell. Taking it all into account, TD was pretty damn brilliant.

[ramonoski]

Quote Originally Posted by Cnev

So, a TV show about people watching TV. I mean, can it really get any lower than that?

No idea which series is that, but I imagine it's an offshot from youtube. There's this trend about "reaction videos", which is exactly what it sounds like: people watch videos, record their reaction, and upload that. Not quite my idea of entertainment, but it hit it off with a lot people.

On the subject of interesting television, not sure if you fellows are familiar with The Booth at the End. The series is nothing but people talking, always in the same location (the eponymous booth at some diner), but it's a very riveting watch. There's some supernatural undertones to it, but the focus is mostly an exploration of morality, cause and effect, and whether the things we wish for are really worth the trouble. There's only two seasons, and apparently a third one is in the works but it might not enter production until late this year at the least.

[Cnev]

Quote Originally Posted by ramonoski

Quote Originally Posted by Cnev So, a TV show about people watching TV. I mean, can it really get any lower than that? No idea which series is that, but I imagine it's an offshot from youtube. There's this trend about "reaction videos", which is exactly what it sounds like: people watch videos, record their reaction, and upload that. Not quite my idea of entertainment, but it hit it off with a lot people. On the subject of interesting television, not sure if you fellows are familiar with The Booth at the End. The series is nothing but people talking, always in the same location (the eponymous booth at some diner), but it's a very riveting watch. There's some supernatural undertones to it, but the focus is mostly an exploration of morality, cause and effect, and whether the things we wish for are really worth the trouble. There's only two seasons, and apparently a third one is in the works but it might not enter production until late this year at the least.

I did a quick Google search and apparently the show is called The People's Couch. I watched about 15 seconds of a clip wherein some middle-aged women were watching some TV show on Bravo while giggling and providing brain-melting commentary. No thanks.

I might have to give The Booth at the End a look. I love coffee shop conversations. I am immediately reminded of this little series Denny's ran a while back:

Dave Koechner Shot Will Arnett! - YouTube

There's a nice little dose of pessimism at the end.


Edit: I apologize for the thread derailment!

[Rust Cohle]

I very much enjoyed True Detective (As you can probably tell by my username). The Weird Fiction influence is there, but not in any huge quantity, it is more a character study with a police procedural attached to it, but I thought it was excellent.Also, it is what brought me into the world of TL via Nic Pizzolato citing him as an influence on his writing, strange where things lead you...

[marioneta]

Entered the world of Ligotti through True Detective, much like our comrade Rust Cohle. That characterization of a philosophy of pessimism is what hooked me to the show. Researching the show and its writer, Nic Pizzolato, led me to references of Ligotti and THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE. I had read the latter before and was blown away, so Ligotti was in my head already. TRUE DETECTIVE added a new and interesting dimension to my weird fiction obsession.

[bendk]

I am a long time fan of noir and I enjoyed True Detective very much (with the exception of a small but important bit of dialogue). I think they explored Ligotti's outlook adequately through Cohle's character, but I would liked to have seen more on The King in Yellow. It was a good idea from Pizzolato to combine noir with the darkest weird fiction and its philosophical undercurrents. Definitely well worth watching. I look forward to the next season.

[Coa]

As dark as TD is, its still nothing compared to the darkness of Two and a Half Men - all things considered, and I'm not joking.

[DoktorH]

yes. bear a couple things in mind...

Matthew mccounaghey paraphrases TCATHR a lot. this is a good thing by itself, and it can provoke amusing repsonses from Woody Allen, which makes it better.

it is not as RWChambers/KingInYellow-y as some make it out to be. there are references to Carcosa and the King in Yellow, but nothing to actually do with the Chambersverse is going on in these shows. it is more like some criminals have appropriated some weird-fiction references as red herrings for investigators to chase.