A thread for JUSTIFIED, a TV show on FX starring Timothy Olyphant

ive seen eurotrip at least lol 3 times, it was on cable a lot, its p hilar in its own way, hes not the lead but he has a big part - scotty doesnt know scotty doesnt know dont tell scotty --matt damon

hmm

this is not really the type of movie you want to watch 'on purpose'

jus fyi

I had a feeling

local garda otm in this thread -- justified is a fine show with flashes of greatness (and i would rather watch it than mad men, but that doesn't matter because i'd rather watch almost anything over mad men), but it's kind of, i dunno, basic. last season totally stepped up but the reviews going 'omg it's the wire for the appalachians!' were just ridic.

Mostly everything that gets compared to 'The Wire' is wishful-thinking/shameless hyperbole. Brits did it hardcore with the Danish The Killing.

re: Mad Men being a soap vs. this: Mad Men is so character based that the plots hinge not on what actually happens but how the characters react to them. That's what we're watching for and that's what makes it great. Justified doesn't quite do that in the same way: Lots of viewer interest relies on what Mags and her clan is up to/how Raylon and Winona are going to get out of the evidence box fiasco/whatever happened in the few stand-alones. It's just the way the show is designed, and at the moment, that can only allow for so much of the character development that a lot of people think makes shows like Mad Men great. If they were to try a predominately two-person episode (perhaps a bottle, perhaps not) like "The Suitcase" or "The Fly", I'm not sure how well it would work. Though I'd love to see them try.

some dude, no offense but you like rizzoli and isles.

Just because they don't quote fuckin' Socrates or make meta commentaries on the state of domestic politics via meth labs doesn't diminish it one bit.

this argument's getting way too snooty for my liking.

basic.

PAH.

PAH I SAY.

I love Justified! I'm just saying that it should be approached differently from shows like Mad Men, and shouldn't be compared.

ireland, the most cosmopolitan country in the world

mm

might want to get your sarcasm radar rewired.

i agree the comparison thing is kinda stupid, i didn't really go down that road to begin with, it was foisted on me!

Mad Men is so character based that the plots hinge not on what actually happens but how the characters react to them.

but there's still a fairly good plot, like even within that this is telling a story about people's lives and the events that they react to are interesting/funny.

breaking bad manages to balance a really intense plot with just perfect character development all the way through, like how it manages to pace each episode and make every moment feel so deftly used is amazing.

if we are to compare it's probably a better comparison point. i also disagree with the notion that wanting something that gets really raw and deep into its characters is somehow snooty or something. it's not, it's just exciting.

some dude, no offense but you like rizzoli and isles.

― polyphonic, Thursday, June 30, 2011 1:05 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

i like Justified more fwiw, and there is a large difference of context between saying a highly praised and ilx-popular show isn't quite what people have hyped it up to be and saying that a show noone gives a shit about is pretty decent and watchable. but y'know whatever weakass ad hominem you want to use to discredit my opinion, "no offense."

sometimes shows just dont 'click' with people, for example i think community is petty funny but ilx thinks its the best sitcom of the decade, nothing you can do about that really, the thing is though, justified is really effing good

it might be because i have come to a lot of these shows after a long time never watching any tv drama, and i think with justified it feels too much "like a tv show" before i stopped watching stuff.

Ah....okay well that makes sense. See I probably watch more TV than anything else, and I kinda like the genre stuff that still behaves like regular tv.

having said all this i will watch s3, just prob like s2, when there's a lull between other stuff i like a bit better. it's still entertaining.

now i feel bad; mad men was just a red herring because i was mad. sorry!

there's a reason it's not called happy ladies iirc

it might be because i have come to a lot of these shows after a long time never watching any tv drama, and i think with justified it feels too much "like a tv show" before i stopped watching stuff.

― LocalGarda, Thursday, June 30, 2011 9:29 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

justified is v 'tv-showy' but imo it kinda transcends the form via knowingness/having such attention to detail

weakass ad hominem

I just find it odd that you like that show, but this show is "basic" and Mad Men is no good at all. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.

why would a tv show need to transcend the form the form is awesome >:[

it doesnt need to

i can't even track who i'm mad at itt anymore

i think the ways in which this show is meta are kind of not at the heart of it anyway; i just assume the writers get bored and like to amuse themselves with it.

and they are interested in genre as a thing so they like to comment on it

oh and another thing i liek abt it thats not boilerplate tv drama is how the plot for next week episode starts at the end of the previous week, gives it a nice rhythm

idk i think the meta thing is v much written into the main character so

because of the hat or

polyphonic there are shades of nuance and context to why anyone expresses enjoyment of one thing and dislike of another. a lot of things are "odd" if you boil them down to reductive better than/less than rankings that I never actually expressed.

also yeah i don't see the meta at all really

i think the "meta" thing is kind of "standard" elmore leonard knowingness/irony. its not really very winky or tarantino look-at-me its just kind of... leonard at his very best (& this show) is good at acknowledging that hes working within a set of well-worn tropes without it feeling all "CHECK THIS OUT GUYS"

right, the thing about leonard and also about good tv shows is that they celebrate conventions of genre.

they don't pretend they're better than them.

because of the hat or

― horseshoe, Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:42 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well the hat and him killing people in shootouts all the time, in a more straightforward show hed be celebrated for this sort of behavior, but here everyones rolling their eyes like this guy - its sort of like the macgruber movie in that way if anyone follows lol

right, the thing about leonard and also about good tv shows is that they celebrate conventions of genre.

― horseshoe, Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:45 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

eh imo it goes beyond celebration, like its not disparaging them, but its not taking them seriously either, its more i guess playful, which is great

yeah, it is playful, but i mean, i don't think leonard would have a problem with being called a genre writer

that's what genre is good for it gives you a set of conventions to play around with

whoa so the sniper was the skinny david spade dude in eurotrip

no shit

i don't think this is even a real argument i am just *defensive* about justified

2007 Across the Universe Rap Magazine Employee Movie

lol

*ads to queue*

I'm with you, horseshoe.

that's what genre is good for it gives you a set of conventions to play around with

― horseshoe, Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:49 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is maybe getting tiresome but ill just say in closing the elements of convention are assembled somewhat unconventionally in this show, and i like it

whoa so the sniper was the skinny david spade dude in eurotrip

no shit

― ☂ (max), Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:50 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

haha

this is maybe getting tiresome but ill just say in closing the elements of convention are assembled somewhat unconventionally in this show, and i like it

― ice cr?m, Thursday, June 30, 2011 11:56 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, for sure, of course there are much more conventional cop shows. sorry i was such a pain; you described the meta-ness as "annoying" before, that's all.

haha captain save-a-justified, i really like the show and i think its annoying as in it manages to use the metaness to further the dramatic tension, which is impressive, like its not just showily meta but actually incorporates it into the meaning of the show, it irritates and compels, the nature of drama

i mean its a v good show and it messes w/you, plays the edges, puts wynona who is also v annoying btw lol in yr face for a lil too long, its v crafty

annoying like a girl you secretly want to smash, got it

ok im glad we came to an understanding here