Just to clarify, I'm not arguing that Premium should be changed. I have no horse in that race. I'm just saying that, if we decide to create new tv threads, I suggest we base them on genre, not channel.

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I don't have a problem with expanding the scope of Premium, even though I don't watch those FX shows. Based on what I know about them, I agree that they share certain characteristics with the Premium dramas, which seem to be more than just fucking and cussing. Trying to define what those characteristics are, though, is problematic, as problematic as trying to define the genre trappings of literary fiction. They are realistic in a way that network dramas generally aren't, mainly because they seem to let their heroes be short-sighted and petty and generally unheroic, just like people are in real life. The good guys - when you can figure out who falls into this category - don't win, just like in real life. Someone a little sharper than I am could probably draw it together.

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I think The Shield shares a charismatic anti-hero and generally pessimistic view of societal restraints with Deadwood and The Tudors. Seem to me that all of them draw from the same well of Richard III and Dickens.

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The current thread slug mentions:

Deadwood, Entourage, Big Love, Brotherhood, Weeds, Dexter, etc.

Without even getting into FX shows, do you really see all of those shows as being of a type?

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No, but I don't recall a whole lot of discussion on some of those shows. I know that dreck like Arli$$ and The Mind of the Married Man have only come up with derision.

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See, this "underlying feel" thing with Boxed Set is a big factor in what gets talked over in that thread. People were surprised when I remarked, during the most recent what-goes-where talk, that Boxed Set is the media fandom thread, but that (usually subtextual) definition is how things are classed into or out of the thread.

I don't know if there's a name for people who watch premium shows plus the hard stuff of FX, but I do tend to group those two things together in my mind -- not because of genre, but because they attract the same people.

They just need a name! And then this question will be resolved.

t /polyanna

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I'm starting to come around to Hec's idea of show threads that we don't let become permanent fixtures. Then there's no spoiler issue because it's easy to avoid, and there's no, "I didn't know we were talking about that in the thread of Group X shows." Sometimes, shows will fit together for whatever reason (genre, etc.) and we might want to group them. I don't know. I don't think there's an easy answer, because while the board can't be everything to everyone, we seem to work better when we're not so rigid about stuff.

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They just need a name! And then this question will be resolved.

Gutter Rats?

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No, but I don't recall a whole lot of discussion on some of those shows.

Okay, but can you see how people who don't participate in the thread might be a little confused when that's what they have to go on? Again, I'm in favor of being able to tell from the name/description what is actually going on in the thread.

I'll repeat my earlier suggestion: why not simply define that particular thread according to the shows y'all actually want to discuss, and not worry about trying to invent a category based on network or genre or anything else?

Call me a crazy utilitarian, but it seems a lot simpler.

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why not simply define that particular thread according to the shows y'all actually want to discuss

From my point of view, that's best for me as it allows me to easily pick where to put or go for stuff. But I realise I might be a minority view point.

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