the Timeless Art of Seduction.

This is the cast of the hit TV comedy Brooklyn Nine Nine:

It is a well-rounded cast.  The characters are different people with different dreams and goals and personalities and priorities, and they work together.

These two are Amy Santiago and Rosa Diaz, two Latina women:

Although they are both Latina women, they are very different characters.  Amy is a nerdy, easily-excited perfectionist and Rosa is a blunt, tough-as-nails badass.

If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the Latina character on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.

These two are Captain Raymond Holt and Terry Jeffords, two black men:

Although they are both black men, they are very different characters.  Captain Holt is strict and humourless, Terry is a musclebound teddy bear.

If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the black man on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.

A lot of people don’t like “tokenism” in fiction.  And, it’s true, if you’re adding in a black character just for the sake of representing all black people in your fiction, it can be an example of poor writing.

But, when you watch Brooklyn Nine Nine, none of the characters above feel like token characters.

Now, if I were to remove Amy Santiago from the show, many people might think of Rosa as the token Latina.  And, as the only Latina, many people might think that she was there to represent all Latina women. They might say “Is that really what you think all Latina women are like?  That they all wear leather jackets and grunt in monosyllables and beat people senseless?  What a terrible stereotype!”

If I were to remove Captain Holt from the show, many people might think of Terry as the token black man.  And, as the only black man, many people might think that he was there to represent all black men.  They might say “Is that really what you think all black men are like?  That they’re all vain, overmuscled behemoths, tamed into domesticity?  What a terrible stereotype!”.

It is precisely because the show features multiple examples of each of these demographics that they escape stereotyping.  If you see one Latina woman who exhibits aggressive traits, you might think that all Latina women have anger management problems.  If you see two Latina women, though, and one is aggressive and the other isn’t, you would not reach that conclusion.  It would be impossible for someone to watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine and come away thinking “ah yes, now I know what all Latina women are like” or “ah yes, now I know what all black men are like”.

It is fine not to approve of tokenism in fiction.  It’s fine!  Including a character purely to check that character’s ethnicity or gender or disability or sexuality off of a checklist can be terrible writing.  Token characters can perpetuate negative stereotypes, or even help to create new ones.

But, if you don’t like token characters, the answer isn’t less diversity.

It’s more.

Word

I also agree.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the funniest shows on TV too. Consistently funny, without hitting you over the head with anything. The characters are likable, and you want to keep watching them. There are really no characters on the show that get overly annoying if you binge it either. Every character works perfectly, and Andre Bauer is hysterical as the dead-as-can-be dead-pan Captain Holt. For a guy known for playing such serious roles, he clearly is enjoying himself on the show. Samberg is hilarious without being overbearing too. Everyone fits, and the diversity really adds layers and depth to the show.

I’m currently on bed-rest with the Flu. I’m binging Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and I absolutely stand by this. I have plowed through season 4 and I’m halfway through 5 now. The jokes don’t get old. It’s consistently funny, with a lot of depth to each character. The characters grow on you and you care about them. And it’s funny.

Bruce Campbell's other TV Show from that time period, "Jack of All Trades", is also well worth tracking down.

Bruce plays Jack, an American Agent of the newly minted United States, fighting against Verne Troyer as Napoleon Bonaparte on a tropical island. The first episode has an intro where he swings through a window and says "Sorry, I would have knocked, but my fists had other plans". It's glorious.

Gotham

I just tried to watch that show on Netflix. I struggled through the first episode of season 1, and got about 15 minutes into episode two of season 1. That is a terrible TV show that is costing Warner Brothers waaaaay too much money.

Man you got farther than i did, i stopped halfway through episode one. That is show is just horribly awful.

Everything about it is just bad. And the producers are spending a LOT of money to make a show that is so thoroughly terrible. The dialogue, the writing, and the story is just so freaking awful. I don’t even blame the actors. I think the whole production of the show is flawed. The actors are actually quite good, which I gather to be the reason for the show’s continued existence.

If all of Gotham’s villains are waiting in the wings, then Batman is a grown man that is waging a one man war on a group of sixty-something year old career criminals. And he physically beats on these people. So, 30 year old Batman gets into regular fist fights with 60+ year old Penguin, the Riddler, and so on?

And Jim Gordon has a super awesome pad for a guy that is supposed to be the only honest Rookie Detective in a new city. Complete with a ginormous fire place and a bear skin rug.

Ugh. I just can’t.

My friends watch and send me clips, and they only watch to see how bad it gets, oh man the clips they send me are seriously terrible. From what clips ive seen it looks like they’re trying to make every villian super extra joker crazy. But perhaps i really shouldn’t talk because i don’t really watch it, i remember reading stuff about the show before it aired, everything i read was about how the show would focus on Gordon.

They’re not really making them “Joker crazy”… It’s just really, really over the top and self-serious. It is tongue in cheek camp played like a super-serious drama, with zero self awareness. That is the problem.

If the Batman ‘66 show took itself completely serious, and was focused almost entirely on Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Harrah dealing with organized crime, it would be what “Gotham” is.

I see, such a shame that this show turned out terrible, so much lore and material to work with regarding the dark knight, and it ends up being a complete mess. I wonder how it would’ve ended up if the people behind Arrow and The Flash and all the other shows within that universe were in charge, though truth be told I don’t really watch them that much either if at all. But I hear good things about those shows.

The Flash, Arrow, Legend of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Constantine are all good. Binging them on Netflix will make the repetitive nature of the storylines evident from the get-go, but they are good. The production is great, the writing is solid, the acting is good, and the casting has yet to disappoint.

A Gotham city show that tied into those shows would be great, especially if it focused on Nightwing or someone else that was a part of the Bat-Family, but not just another Batman show.

The DCEU shows have vastly improved since the Smallville era. Let's be honest: Smallville had its moments, but a lot of it was "Villain of the Week" stuff, where every baddie got their powers from the same source. And Smallville didn't really get good until the last 2-3 seasons, when Geoff Johns started contributing to the writing.

The first season of the Flash seemed poised to be headed in that same direction, but sticking with it is totally worth the effort. The first two seasons of the Flash are on Netflix. I binged hard on it a couple months ago.

Constantine was another standout, but it has not shown up on Netflix or DVD yet, which really sucks. The only problem Constantine had was that they put it on Fox during prime time. The Hellblazer comic book was never a marquee title, so I have no idea what made them think the show would draw the kind of viewership necessary to keep it in that time slot. The show was awesome though. The right mix of geeky Easter Eggs, mixed with a surly British Bloke that fights demons in between pints. The helm of Nabu showed up in one episode.

Mad Men by Phil Noto.

This is the cast of the hit TV comedy Brooklyn Nine Nine:

It is a well-rounded cast.  The characters are different people with different dreams and goals and personalities and priorities, and they work together.

These two are Amy Santiago and Rosa Diaz, two Latina women:

Although they are both Latina women, they are very different characters.  Amy is a nerdy, easily-excited perfectionist and Rosa is a blunt, tough-as-nails badass.

If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the Latina character on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.

These two are Captain Raymond Holt and Terry Jeffords, two black men:

Although they are both black men, they are very different characters.  Captain Holt is strict and humourless, Terry is a musclebound teddy bear.

If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the black man on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.

A lot of people don’t like “tokenism” in fiction.  And, it’s true, if you’re adding in a black character just for the sake of representing all black people in your fiction, it can be an example of poor writing.

But, when you watch Brooklyn Nine Nine, none of the characters above feel like token characters.

Now, if I were to remove Amy Santiago from the show, many people might think of Rosa as the token Latina.  And, as the only Latina, many people might think that she was there to represent all Latina women. They might say “Is that really what you think all Latina women are like?  That they all wear leather jackets and grunt in monosyllables and beat people senseless?  What a terrible stereotype!”

If I were to remove Captain Holt from the show, many people might think of Terry as the token black man.  And, as the only black man, many people might think that he was there to represent all black men.  They might say “Is that really what you think all black men are like?  That they’re all vain, overmuscled behemoths, tamed into domesticity?  What a terrible stereotype!”.

It is precisely because the show features multiple examples of each of these demographics that they escape stereotyping.  If you see one Latina woman who exhibits aggressive traits, you might think that all Latina women have anger management problems.  If you see two Latina women, though, and one is aggressive and the other isn’t, you would not reach that conclusion.  It would be impossible for someone to watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine and come away thinking “ah yes, now I know what all Latina women are like” or “ah yes, now I know what all black men are like”.

It is fine not to approve of tokenism in fiction.  It’s fine!  Including a character purely to check that character’s ethnicity or gender or disability or sexuality off of a checklist can be terrible writing.  Token characters can perpetuate negative stereotypes, or even help to create new ones.

But, if you don’t like token characters, the answer isn’t less diversity.

It’s more.

Word

I also agree.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the funniest shows on TV too. Consistently funny, without hitting you over the head with anything. The characters are likable, and you want to keep watching them. There are really no characters on the show that get overly annoying if you binge it either. Every character works perfectly, and Andre Bauer is hysterical as the dead-as-can-be dead-pan Captain Holt. For a guy known for playing such serious roles, he clearly is enjoying himself on the show. Samberg is hilarious without being overbearing too. Everyone fits, and the diversity really adds layers and depth to the show.

Yeah, the Knick is a great show. That first season swallowed me WHOLE. Wifey and I binge watched the whole season over a weekend after watching it weekly. Such a great series, with FANTASTIC directing and cinematography. The Knick is the best representation I have seen of late 19th-early 20th century NYC.

Good morning! Marvel’s Daredevil - Season 2 - Official Trailer - Netflix [HD]

THE VENTURE BROS SEASON 6 GETS 2016 ADULT SWIM PREMIERE

Yay.

We are all camp people!

I liked this show.

It's been kooky and funny. I have not seen all of it yet, but it has been very amusing so far.