Stranger Things


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

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  • Impossible Mission - B

    @pjh That's a decent program for a 4-digit password cracker, except that I don't remember any version of BASIC that had both line numbers and ALGOL-style functions as used here.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @masonwheeler IIRC, BBC Basic had both those features, but you wouldn't have indented the loops like that when using it. It also didn't attach types to variables like that.



  • if (Convert.ToInteger(1) == Convert.ToInteger(1) == Convert.ToBoolean(true))
    


  • @pjh So I’m not the only one who noticed that. Also, I kind of wondered why Bob needed to know BASIC to use menus on a computer.



  • At least that progam does make sense, we've seen much worse in other shows. I would've liked to see the "checkPasswordMatch" function, though.

    Only thing that bothered me with this scene is that once Bob is inside the menu, he still hacks away on the keyboard to move the cursor up and down.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    I like how the "E" comes over the edge of the screen bezel.

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  • Where was this sourced?


  • kills Dumbledore

    @thecpuwizard said in Stranger Things:

    Where was this sourced?

    At a guess, from the second series of Stranger Things



  • @jaloopa Yes, episode 8:

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    This is part of why I like Mr. Robot: the hacking etc. looks plausible even if you know more about computers than “If I move the mouse, the arrow on the screen does too!”



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    If I move the mouse, the arrow on the screen does too!

    But sometimes the arrow turns into a hand and that's really confusing. How do you move the hand? I tried jiggling the monitor and nothing.


  • Dupa

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    @jaloopa Yes, episode 8:

    0_1509647460997_Schermafbeelding 2017-11-02 om 19.30.43.png

    This is part of why I like Mr. Robot: the hacking etc. looks plausible even if you know more about computers than “If I move the mouse, the arrow on the screen does too!”

    Yeah, but the acting is awful there and is unwatchable. Wait, that’s why I hate Mr Robot, even though it’s got a nice premise.



  • @kt_ I can’t say the acting in it bothers me. That said, the acting in most drama shows doesn’t bother me, except if they’re in Dutch. (The acting in American comedy shows, though … don’t get me started.)



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    (The acting in American comedy shows, though … don’t get me started.)

    Wait what? Which show?

    Seinfeld was famously an awful actor. Other than that, most comedy show actors are pretty decent, and many move on to be respected drama actors. (Robin Williams, Will Smith, Jim Carrey to give three examples that leap into my brain.)


  • Dupa

    @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    (The acting in American comedy shows, though … don’t get me started.)

    Wait what? Which show?

    Seinfeld was famously an awful actor. Other than that, most comedy show actors are pretty decent, and many move on to be respected drama actors. (Robin Williams, Will Smith, Jim Carrey to give three examples that leap into my brain.)

    Big Bang Theory from season 5, IIRC. Friends, from season 6. It can be bad. But the winner is Netflix’s very own “The Good Place”. There’s lots of awful acting right there, from day one. And it sucks, because I really liked Parks and Rec.



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    (The acting in American comedy shows, though … don’t get me started.)

    Wait what? Which show?

    Seinfeld was famously an awful actor. Other than that, most comedy show actors are pretty decent, and many move on to be respected drama actors. (Robin Williams, Will Smith, Jim Carrey to give three examples that leap into my brain.)

    I'd argue that the acting on The Late Late Show With James Corden is pretty terrible on purpose.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8atgsWFfDOg



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    (The acting in American comedy shows, though … don’t get me started.)

    Wait what? Which show?

    Most of them. I don’t like the style of acting in American sitcoms in general: nearly everyone pretty much acts like, “Look at me, I’m going to say or do something funny now” followed by an action or a line intended to be humorous. Then everyone pauses for the laugh track, standing there as if to say, “See how funny that was?”


  • kills Dumbledore

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    Then everyone pauses for the laugh track, standing there as if to say, “See how funny that was?”

    Most of them are actually filmed in front of a live audience. You kind of have to wait for the audience reaction to die down before continuing otherwise you get drowned out. Nobody complains about this sort of thing in theatre, even though it's exactly the same



  • @jaloopa I know, but that doesn’t make it any better :) If I wanted to see a theater show, I’d go to one. Comedy shows can be made perfectly fine without a live audience or a laugh track, and end up looking a lot less contrived.


  • kills Dumbledore

    @gurth Unfortunately, they also tend to be perceived as less funny, since laughter is a social activity. It's one of those things where if you notice it it's annoying but if you're joining in with the laughter it tends to enhance it



  • @jaloopa Possibly, but speaking for myself, I enjoy more natural-looking comedy more than comedy with a laugh track and the associated pauses.


  • 🚽 Regular


  • 🚽 Regular

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    @jaloopa Possibly, but speaking for myself, I enjoy more natural-looking comedy more than comedy with a laugh track and the associated pauses.

    There a balance to be struck. Unfortunately, it's highly subjective, so... 🤷



  • @jaloopa Also, if a show uses laugh tracks, they get added on later, right? I know that MAS*H hasn't been filmed in front of a live audience (would've been very had to pull that off) and it had a laugh track added later on. Luckily, on the DVD release you can switch to a audio track without artificial laughter...

    Other shows like Married with children are filmed in front of a live audience but for the international release the real laughter gets replaced by a laugh track. I mean, wtf?

    Home Improvement, on the other hand, had the original laughter from the audience even for the international release. Also, it's the only sitcom I know of to include the audience from time to time.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    MAS*H

    “Nice” drive-by markdown attack there…



  • @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Other shows like Married with children are filmed in front of a live audience but for the international release the real laughter gets replaced by a laugh track. I mean, wtf?

    It's because in America it's traditional to shoot your guns in the air when laughing at a comedy show, so they have to edit that out for other audiences.



  • @hungrier said in Stranger Things:

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Other shows like Married with children are filmed in front of a live audience but for the international release the real laughter gets replaced by a laugh track. I mean, wtf?

    It's because in America it's traditional to shoot your guns in the air when laughing at a comedy show, so they have to edit that out for other audiences.

    Yeah. And when it's not funny you rather shoot at the cast to make it funny, eh?



  • This post is deleted!


  • @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    Big Bang Theory from season 5, IIRC.

    Never watched it.

    @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    Friends, from season 6. It can be bad.

    That was a case of good actors who didn't give a shit and were only there to collect the paycheck. Different situation.

    @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    But the winner is Netflix’s very own “The Good Place”.

    Also never seen it.



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    Most of them. I don’t like the style of acting in American sitcoms in general: nearly everyone pretty much acts like, “Look at me, I’m going to say or do something funny now” followed by an action or a line intended to be humorous.

    That's the exact, exact, criticism of sitcoms that Ricky Gervais made when he created Extras. That, and having pointless guest stars for no reason. The twist is: he was bitching about British sitcoms!

    But yeah, fair enough: bad sitcoms are bad. Sitcoms made by Disney, especially those intended for kids, are awful. I'll grant you that.

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    Then everyone pauses for the laugh track, standing there as if to say, “See how funny that was?”

    American sitcoms almost always have a live audience, they have to pause or the audience wouldn't hear the next line. (I think even those cheap shitty Disney ones have live audiences.)

    Shows that don't have a live audience but still do the pause (looking at you, Red Dwarf Season 7) then add in canned laughter at a sound effect desk are shit.

    (Actually Red Dwarf Season 7 had pretty good humor, but why the fuck did they do the laugh track thing! Even worse, they had a DVD "extra" which was the episode without the laugh track, which is just the actors doing awkward pauses for like 20 seconds after each line, it was surreal.)



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    Comedy shows can be made perfectly fine without a live audience or a laugh track, and end up looking a lot less contrived.

    There are US comedy shows without studio audiences, but they're usually either:

    1. Animated
    2. High budget "classy" entertainment (like Sports Night, which they call a "comedy drama" because it's classier than a sitcom.)


  • @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Also, if a show uses laugh tracks, they get added on later, right? I know that MAS*H hasn't been filmed in front of a live audience (would've been very had to pull that off) and it had a laugh track added later on.

    Good point, but keep in mind MASH was weird. I mean, if you've seen the movie, can you imagine pitching a TV network on a sitcom based on it?

    I wager it had the same issue as the first season of Sports Night: nobody on the production wanted a laugh track, but to some network executive suit "comedy == laugh track" and they were forced to add one. Probably the same reason MASH (the TV show) didn't have the black doctor with the nickname of "spear chucker". Although in that case, I'd agree 100% with the network executive.

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Other shows like Married with children are filmed in front of a live audience but for the international release the real laughter gets replaced by a laugh track. I mean, wtf?

    Because the original laughter doesn't fit the dubbing? I dunno.

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Also, it's the only sitcom I know of to include the audience from time to time.

    The beginning and end comedy routines in Seinfeld were to the audience watching that episode of the show, IIRC.



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    Big Bang Theory from season 5, IIRC.

    Never watched it.

    You haven't missed anything, in my opinion. I watched one episode, because it was on following something else (sports?) that I watched, or something like that. It's one of those shows that leaves you feeling stupider for having watched it — not just the stupidity of having wasted your time; it actually sucks the intelligence out of you.



  • @hardwaregeek Someone told me it's a whole sitcom that's basically about a guy who has aspergers or something similar and a hot chick moves in with him. And I'm like huh? I mean the whole premise sounds moronic.



  • @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Home Improvement, on the other hand, had the original laughter from the audience even for the international release. Also, it's the only sitcom I know of to include the audience from time to time.

    Home Improvement was a show about a guy whose role in the show was as a TV presenter. So the Home Improvement audience was "acting" as the audience of the show he was presenting.



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    I mean the whole premise sounds moronic.

    I don't disagree. I have not watched enough to know whether that is the actual premise (and I don't want to watch any more to find out), but whatever the premise is, I'll accept "moronic" as an accurate description.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @hardwaregeek Someone told me it's a whole sitcom that's basically about a guy who has aspergers or something similar and a hot chick moves in with him. And I'm like huh? I mean the whole premise sounds moronic.

    Eh...no, that guy is shacking up with the chick from Blossom (now grown up, obviously). It's about socially awkward nerds (they all work at Cal Tech). I like watching it but a lot of people don't for a variety of reasons (which you could probably say about any show).



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    Probably the same reason MASH (the TV show) didn't have the black doctor with the nickname of "spear chucker”.

    He was in the first couple of episodes, then he disappeared without a trace. (The MAS*H wikia says six episodes, I find when looking him up.)



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    He was in the first couple of episodes, then he disappeared without a trace.

    Yeah but IIRC they don't use the nickname "spear chucker" in the dialog. I could be wrong.

    I did notice a few years ago when I re-watched the MASH sitcom that he was in the first few episodes. There was also an early episode about Klinger trying to frag the commander, which was very reminiscent (to me at least) of the bit in the film about the dentist who wanted to commit suicide.

    But the show didn't really follow the film much after the first 10 or so episodes. It became its own thing pretty quickly.



  • @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    Yeah but IIRC they don't use the nickname "spear chucker" in the dialog. I could be wrong.

    Not sure, it's been a long time since I watched it, but many years ago, I saw virtually each and every episode two or three times, possibly more. (It was on late at night every night here, and when they got to the last episode, the first one would be on the next night. My brother and I watched pretty much the whole series several times in a row.)

    But the show didn't really follow the film much after the first 10 or so episodes. It became its own thing pretty quickly.

    And was probably much the better for it.


  • 🚽 Regular

    @boomzilla said in Stranger Things:

    the chick from Blossom (now grown up, obviously)

    And with an actual Ph.D in neuroscience.1



  • @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    And was probably much the better for it.

    Yeah until they turned Frank Burns into some kind of weird cartoonish villain. Like they were seriously 2 episodes away from introducing Looney Tunes sound effects whenever he was on screen.


  • :belt_onion:

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Only thing that bothered me with this scene is that once Bob is inside the menu, he still hacks away on the keyboard to move the cursor up and down.

    This is a common trope in all movies and TV shows. Apparently, nobody ever uses a mouse with a GUI. It's command line exclusively and they are constantly flailing away at the keyboard. And when things really get tough, when they're in a pinch and really need to get something done quickly, they have two people typing on the same keyboard at the same time.


  • Dupa

    @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @gurth said in Stranger Things:

    Comedy shows can be made perfectly fine without a live audience or a laugh track, and end up looking a lot less contrived.

    There are US comedy shows without studio audiences, but they're usually either:

    1. Animated
    2. High budget "classy" entertainment (like Sports Night, which they call a "comedy drama" because it's classier than a sitcom.)

    Was Sports Night “high budget”? Dunno, but first cooperation of Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme is definitely worth watching.

    There was also Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip with Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. No canned laughter and definitely more “classy”. :)


  • Dupa

    @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Also, if a show uses laugh tracks, they get added on later, right? I know that MAS*H hasn't been filmed in front of a live audience (would've been very had to pull that off) and it had a laugh track added later on.

    Good point, but keep in mind MASH was weird. I mean, if you've seen the movie, can you imagine pitching a TV network on a sitcom based on it?

    Is your point that it wouldn’t have been made the other way around? Because of course the movie was after.

    I think it was a bad call to make the movie.


  • Dupa

    @el_heffe said in Stranger Things:

    @hans_mueller said in Stranger Things:

    Only thing that bothered me with this scene is that once Bob is inside the menu, he still hacks away on the keyboard to move the cursor up and down.

    This is a common trope in all movies and TV shows. Apparently, nobody ever uses a mouse with a GUI.

    Well, it was supposed to be like 1984, so first Macintosh with GUI wasn’t even released yet, or was released just.



  • @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    Because of course the movie was after.

    Was after what? The TV series? Check your facts.

    The movie MASH came out in 1970. The TV series started in 1972.

    Any sane person, especially any sane person in 1970s TV-land, would have said the MASH movie is un-TV-able. It's weird.

    Then again, when I was a kid in the 80s, there was a Robocop TV series, and Robocop was also un-TV-able. So go figure.


  • Dupa

    @blakeyrat said in Stranger Things:

    @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    Because of course the movie was after.

    Was after what? The TV series? Check your facts.

    The movie MASH came out in 1970. The TV series started in 1972.

    Huh, you’re right. Somehow I was sure it was the other way around…

    Any sane person, especially any sane person in 1970s TV-land, would have said the MASH movie is un-TV-able. It's weird.

    And not really that funny.

    Then again, when I was a kid in the 80s, there was a Robocop TV series, and Robocop was also un-TV-able. So go figure.

    And then there was Monty Python a few years before than. And they were almost completely un-TV-able.



  • @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    And not really that funny.

    It'd be funny to the Korea and Vietnam vets it was intended for, I wager. I'm not sure if I'd call it funny exactly... on paper it's a comedy, but. I dunno.

    Since a lot of the humor relies on people sticking it to the military bureaucracy, I'm guessing veterans would be most receptive to it.



  • @kt_ said in Stranger Things:

    And they were almost completely un-TV-able.

    Maybe but they don't shoot a guy in the dick (with all appropriate special effects) through a woman's dress in the first 15 minutes.


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