Moments when a piece of entertainment completely rocked you.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:56 am

Draco_Argentum wrote:True Blood

I didn't mind it, surprising since it revolves around a horrific murderous alien species with strange arcane ways. You know. Hill Billies. (Well, the regional variant perhaps but still).

Draco_Argentum wrote:Farscape gets seconded. Thats some awesome scifi that got treated like shit by the network over here.

Hah! you should have seen how they treated it here in Australia. (assuming you aren't one of the locals I fail to keep track of)

Farscape was made by the Jim Henson company here in Australia (that's why all the peacekeepers have Australian and New Zealand accents). It was produced/funded/whatever by the sci fi channel... and channel 9 (an Australian commercial free to air station).

Channel 9 screened SOME of series one of Farscape. Very late at night.

Then it just stopped.

Then hey, Farscape was gonna come out on DVD! Holy shit they have rights to that and no FUCKING way would they let it come out before they used them.

So they screened it. All of it (I think, they may have missed some).

At (approximately) 3 in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays (give or take an hour at random each time). And then maybe on Wednesdays and Fridays. And sometimes on Saturdays. And sometimes also one or two more episodes from different seasons around midnight on the same or different days, give or take a few hours at random again.

And sometimes it would appear in the TV guides (but not on the channel nine promo ads/"up next" programs) but it was just as likely to NOT be on the same time, or even the same day as listed in a tv guide.

And it was ALL totally out of fucking order, sometimes the episodes in (vaguely) the same time slot were from the same(ish) season but probably not consecutive.

And like I said I think they covered basically all of at least the first 2 or three seasons. But really who the fuck could tell?

In other news when it first came around they played like 2 episodes of Futurama here in Australia before canceling it/shifting it to our abysmal pay tv.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:05 am

Damn do they hate American entertainment in Australia? If I remember Ben Yahtzee's rants correctly videogames are also marked up when they hit shelves there.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:16 am

That's WHEN and even IF they make it here at all.

But what do you mean American entertainment? Farscape was made here.

"Rigel" even came and visited my retail water plants nursery. Though I missed it.

MGuy · Post by **MGuy** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:20 am

*Never watched Farscape* Did not know that. Then you just get screwed on entertainment in general?

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:23 am

At least we got Red Dwarf and Doctor Who.

For free.

With no ads.

Britain knows how to treat us. What have you done for us lately?

edit: PS we also get screwed on book releases and pricing. And we have basically our own "screw you" DVD region (sort of).

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:54 am

Except that only matters for those who use their PS2 as a DVD player, seeing as everyone just region-unlocks their DVD player.

And yeah, Britain treats us well - that's what we get in return for being too lazy to become a republic. Although that being said, they're taking their sweet time releasing QI out here.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:03 am

Koumei wrote:Except that only matters for those who use their PS2 as a DVD player, seeing as everyone just region-unlocks their DVD player.

It matters.

Our DVD region still dictates and limits releases. And though our DVD players are actually mandated to be region free the manufacturers basically did that for a whole of about five minutes and unreliably at that.

As someone who has an extensive collection of out of region DVDs and regularly tries to play them on other peoples machines that are supposed to be region free these days... trust me. They aren't.

Predit: Uh oh, watching my DVDs with friends, I'm probably in breach of those moronic annoying "warnings".... er... think quick... what do those warnings go on and on about... er... it wasn't on an oil rig, no really!

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:56 pm

about every five minutes of Inglorious Bastards.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:02 pm

That's right, they explicitly call out playing them on oil rigs, for no readily apparent reason.

I may as well mention a piece of entertainment I've mentioned before:

"A Bit of Fry & Laurie"

4 seasons, and you can seriously find most of it on youtube, quite legally. Brought to you by the BBC. Most of their stuff was made before I was even born, and I still find it hilarious.

Only a few days ago did I notice one had a bonus feature: Cambridge Footlights Revue. Just check out this catchy song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-qpH8VtoQ

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:29 pm

What about oil rigs?

-Crissa

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:06 pm

Crissa wrote:What about oil rigs?

The annoying copyright warnings on videos and DVDs here have a strange obsession with telling you it is prohibited to watch them on oil rigs.

There must be a secret international flying helicopter task force with extra legal powers over international waters that exists just to enforce that one...

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:17 pm

Weird... I was hoping to find something about it online.

Does that mean you can't watch it on airplanes or boats, either?

-Crissa

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:05 am

International Waters and Oil Rigs are a separate region to most other places (Region 8 ). However, people in these regions probably use DVD players with different region codes from that assigned - I presume they use ones from the country of origin for most of their employees to allow employees to play their private collections. It's probably not backed up by any actual legal weight, but don't quote me on that - I am not a Lawyer.

It's likely an attempt to prevent casual crime by embarassing or shaming operators into not publically showing discs bearing the warnings. To some extent I can see that working - cruise ships will just not do it, because cruise ships work off a smooth customer experience and a professional air.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:35 am

Region codes. Not making sense since... Ever.

-Crissa

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:01 am

I can see how they make sense, actually. It's not a good plan, but it was a reasonable attempt. Disc standards need studio approval, and the region codes were the simplest way (i.e. cheapest) to get studios on board.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:53 am

Disc standards do not need studio approval. See: VHS

The fact that some studios own disc standards should tell you something is wrong.

-Crissa

Caedrus · Post by **Caedrus** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:23 am

Maxus wrote: -Sonic Adventure 2. The first level for Sonic. Running down the side of a building. The music. Nailing the level's obstacles almost perfectly the first time. And, much later, the final boss of the last story. Also, the Chao Gardens.

I LOVED that level. Escape from the City ftw.

Man, all the new Sonic games depress me though. Last decent Sonic game was the one not made by Sega (the Bioware RPG)

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:37 am

Crissa wrote:Disc standards do not need studio approval. See: VHS

The fact that some studios own disc standards should tell you something is wrong.

-Crissa

Successful disc standards need studio approval. Even if that approval is gained after design, when the design is irrevocable. In modern times the degree of discrimination that content producer cartels can exert against innovators is sufficient that studio approval need be sought ahead of time. It is thoroughly corrupt that they should do so, but the people of the US have yet to recognise the threat that the RIAA and MPAA pose to the welfare and liberty of the public.

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." - Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations.

Caedrus · Post by **Caedrus** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:07 am

PhoneLobster wrote:
Crissa wrote:What about oil rigs?
The annoying copyright warnings on videos and DVDs here have a strange obsession with telling you it is prohibited to watch them on oil rigs.

There must be a secret international flying helicopter task force with extra legal powers over international waters that exists just to enforce that one...

That's a nice image.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:35 am

Caedrus wrote:That's a nice image.

And then there's the anti piracy ads.

Edit: Speaking of which, rocking entertainment? The IT crowd. "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 4:09 am

I hated the old "You wouldn't steal a car" ones. My response was always "Sweet! You can download cars now?" My sister, working at a video store, merely thought "Want a bet? Half our clients probably WOULD steal a handbag or a car, given half the chance."

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 4:24 am

I just found it annoying that they say things like "Piracy is a crime" which is factually untrue. Piracy is a civil, not criminal, legal issue. At least in the UK it is.

Also, that video? I'm not allowed to view it; copyright reasons.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:15 am

Well apparently you can be imprisoned for it in Sweden.

Oh wait, TPB are apparently going to sue Sweden itself for that whole bullshit trial.

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:05 am

PhoneLobster wrote:Hah! you should have seen how they treated it here in Australia. (assuming you aren't one of the locals I fail to keep track of)

Nah I'm Australian. You actually missed a fuck you. Before the afternoon airings was the Olympics. Channel Seven had those and Nine needed some filler programs to play instead of the shows they cared about. So Farscape got played at random times. Asshat network execs.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 3:35 am

Here's another one:

Girl Genius.

I freaking love this comic. It keeps on being awesome, and I can't think of any time I've been disappointed by it.

As for moments when it rocked me:

The Jager trio really being introduced ("I'll give hyu three reasons why it will work")

Seeing Castle Wulfenbach from the outside

Castle Heterodyne in general

The Perfect Coffee

Higgs

And there's probably a few more I can't think of offhand.