I thought 15 Million Merits was excellent. Was it slow paced? Kinda, though I've seen much slower. Was it lacking in humour? That really depends on one's understanding of the kind of humour Charlie Brooker was going for. 15 Million Merits is satire, sure, but it's incredibly dark with it, comparable to the tone of the last half of The National Anthem. If she found the latter overtly funny then I really have to question her mental state.

It seems to me that, as an X-Factor fan/reviewer, Amber Paradine was hoping for something a little less biting and more of a friendly, nod-and-a-wink parody. The very fact that she focuses on the portrayal of reality TV in the episode and not the attack on social networking and empty consumption is telling. To review 15 Million Merits with only cursory, superficial mention to the Orwellian, Facebook-like dystopia in which Brooker sets this tale suggests an extreme lack of analytical rigor, suggesting that Paradine is pissed that Brooker would be so scathing of a form of media she's personally invested in.

And now I feel like I'm getting worked up over the intentionally boorish persona adopted by a reviewer for a Cracked.com imitator. Perhaps Amber is being satirical and I'm the one too dumb to get it.

Either way, The Black Mirror is great and I can't wait for episode 3.

The 10 best TV shows of 2011:

Community
Breaking Bad
Parks and Recreation
Homeland
Justified
Friday Night Lights
Treme
Louie
Archer
Curb Your Enthusiasm

The 20 best TV episodes of 2011:

Community, "Paradigms of Human Memory"
Breaking Bad, "Salud"
Community, "Remedial Chaos Theory"
Friday Night Lights, "Always"
Curb Your Enthusiasm, "Palestinian Chicken"
Parks and Recreation, "Flu Season"
Parks and Recreation, "The Fight"
Louie, "Duckling"
Justified, "Brother's Keeper"
Breaking Bad, "Face Off"
Community, "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons"
Louie, "Subway/Pamela"
Archer, "Placebo Effect"
Curb Your Enthusiasm, "The Bi-Sexual"
Homeland, "The Weekend"
Justified, "The Spoil"
Treme, "Carnival Time"
Friday Night Lights, "Don't Go"
Community, "Critical Film Studies"
30 Rock, "Queen of Jordan"

The 15 most disappointing TV episodes of 2011:

Sons of Anarchy season finale
The Office season finale
The Killing, episodes 1-13 (tie)

The 5 shows I most need to start and/or finish watching before I can stop revising this list:

Louie
Homeland
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Boardwalk Empire

my top 15

Louie
Community
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Parks and Rec
The Walking Dead
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Modern Family
Dexter
Wilfred
Game of Thrones
The League
How I Met Your Mother
Hell on Wheels
Once Upon a Time/ New Girl

I don't watch Homeland/The Good Wife/Friday Night Lights/Justified/Sons of Anarchy and i've only seen a couple episodes of Game of Thrones and Boardwalketc...

Upright Citizens Brigade, j'adore!

the increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret...has anyone else watched this. i stumbled across it figuring out what will arnett was up to...it's a lot like eastbound and down as far as the crudeness and absurdity goes. i laughed.

Just joined DDD and am new to the forum. We never replaced our plasma TV when it died on us and decided the cable bill was ridiculously high, so I watch TV shows on Hulu+, Netflix, and my sneaky son downloads all the other series we watch. I actually like discovering a show that I never watched until it was either well into it's 4th season or just had it's last season so I can watch the whole thing in one long marathon over a few weeks. There's so much horrible programming out there and I hope to find out more about series I haven't seen yet. I'm not a fan of what I call "guy humor" (Like "Eastbound and Down" or "Jackass") though there have been parts that were pretty damed funny. If I could only know ahead of time which ones would gross me out before I watched, I might view them more often. I find myself drawn to good crime dramas like "Prime Suspect," "Wire in the Blood," "Fringe," and "Bones" and would like to find more, but some of them have just been disappointing. Any suggestions? And I have to admit that "Revenge," as silly as it is, has become a guilty pleasure. Sort of like watching shows like "Dallas" back in the 70's and 80's.
I'm always glad to find a quirky, intelligent comedy like "30 Rock," "Parks and Recreation," and "Community." Love "Mad Men" (and telling my 20-year-old son how, yes, this is what it was like) and "Breaking Bad" and hope they don't go the way of "Dexter" and "24" and fail to realize when they'd "jumped the shark." Need to check out "Homeland" and "Boardwalk Empire," son says they're great. Had high hopes for "Portlandia," but it's getting repetitive to me. I have my own hipster daughter and son-in-law in Portland and they and their kids are funnier than the show.

So, I'll be checking in for discussion on shows and hope I find some new to watch and talk about.

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Umm, I think I should watch The Wire.

VEEP is going to be the best american comedy in years and years.

you can all mark my words and thank me when it premieres on april 22nd.

Ianucci and Chris Morris, motherfuckers

lacuna, please watch The Chaser's War on Everything sometime. The first two seasons or so. I think you'd really like it.

it looks promising but i'm not a fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. I wish they had just made an american version of The Thick of It like they were going to.

After a long week of finals i crashed by watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and was reminded why i liked the show so much. I think a lot of people who stumble up on the show see meatwad, frylock, and mastershake and with their absurd dialogue end up more baffled then amused. Or i've heard some people say that yeah 'they get it', that it's just a random, post-moderny attempt at humor. But I don't think that's really it's appeal at all. There are a dozen idiotic shows on adults swim with the same humor that just annoy me. I feel like what makes ATHF is it's 'immersion factor'. Like when you play a video game, you want something that completely immerses you in its world, and for me ATHF does this. It has such a distinct style. And almost every episode it has the same basic setting-the same house, the pool out back, carl and his house-that it keeps a sort of consistency. So even if you return to the show after a year without watching it, you're transported back into it's twisted Jersey shore world. But at the same time, that absurdity that i guess is mistaken for lame attempts at humor (although it is pretty funny, sometimes) work more as a tool to take that same basis and twist it in new ways.

also, i think it's more visually interesting than a lot of those other adult swim shows. It's kind of amazing how much animations sets up a show. I think i've even turned the channel sometimes just because the animation was dull.

I'm hooked on Mr. Show With Bob and David.

yeah it's ya buddy carl, leave me a message, or leave me alone
where's da gold?
here, it's a uh, fruit roll-up. i was gonna make you a casserole for your loss but, uh, i didn't