Think I've gone full circle. Got into Home Theatre via 2 channel music and played with some reasonably decent stuff along the way...

• Rotel, Sony, Yamaha, Technics (when they were still relatively high end), Kiseki, Fidelity Research, Nakamichi, Pioneer, Bowers and Wilkins, Lentek, Michell (Gyrodek), Meridian, Lexicon, Musical Fidelity, Krell, Wadia, Graham Slee, Bryston, PMC (love their speakers) and various universal remotes.

Now I'm content with the R4i, a 13 year old Sony TV and cheap Sony DVD player.

Now a Panasonic TX-L65WT600B, a Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 2, a breathed on Oppo BDP-105 and a PS4.

PS
And I must also give a shout out to Tim Hawkins who created a brilliant AV unit for me.

Have just ploughed through season 2 of Elementary - brilliant stuff!

Season 3's a bit different. The dynamic has changed dramatically, and I'm not totally enamored with the changes. Granted it's only episode 3, but I do hope there's an intention over the season's arc to work towards returning the dynamic to what it was.

Yes I've seen there have been a few changes, and can well understand the uncertainty of the altered dynamic (I'm a little that way with Dr Who), but if the stories, scripts and dialogue remain as witty and entertaining then I'll be more than happy.

Elementary seems to be finding its way.

Been watching another new show, Forever, that has a kind of a Elementary/Sherlock vibe: gritty modern New York setting, smart highly-observant mystery-solving - but immortal - character, flashbacks to events in "olden times", harpsichord used in music... not nearly as good yet, but still an enjoyable watch.

Also, have you ever seen Murdoch Mysteries? Turn-of-the-century mystery show filmed (and set) right here in Toronto.

And from the far side of the pond, The Doctor Blake Mysteries out of Australia are nice period pieces.

Re. Elementary - Whoo-Hoo!

Forever sounds interesting - a bit like " target="_blank">this perhaps. (N.B. Harpsichord music reminds me of " target="_blank">this - showing my age bit.)

I've been looking for something different so I'll see if I can dig out discs of the Murdoch and Doctor Blake Mysteries (Henry's aged a bit though - and if you've never seen Neighbours you'll have no idea what I'm talking about).

TV shows I've enjoyed recently are the House of Cards remake, Hannibal season 2, True Detective, Penny Dreadful and Castle season 6 (though it seems to drifting into the realms of Hart to Hart).

Films wise, most have been okayish - Godzilla, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Maleficent, Begin Again (Keira is always easy on the eye), but I really did/do enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy and (even though it's a Tom Cruise film) Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow - perhaps I'm just a sucker for time travel stuff.

Update:
Well I'll go t' foot o' our stairs - as someone from Yorkshire might say.

Although I retired earlier this year the one thing I've strenuously avoided is daytime TV. Today, however, Mishka wanted a bit of a fuss (she seems to be getting more clingy as she gets older) so I sat down, flicked the TV on and lo and behold an episode of The Doctor Blake Mysteries was on. 'Tis a ol' funny world.

I like Sherlock (though like DEaniel said it bugs me each series is so short) and elementary as well

forever reminded me more of [Link: tv.com] than SherlockI like it enough to watch it but it also kind of bugs me a bit for two reasons

1) I get it the guy is immortal but do we really need him to die endlessly (for those that have not seen the show, when he dies the dead body disappears and he shows up in the nearest body of water alive again.)

2)why did they make him a coroner in NY? he is never in the coroner's office and we have to assume that somehow NY can't find a decent police officer to partner with the homicide detective so he is always out on the field working as her partner while his apprentice takes care of the dead.

Never been a fan of Murdoch Mysteries, to me it always just tried too hard and came off as cheesy because of it.

They've kind of almost stopped doing #1 in the recent episodes. As for #2, at least half the procedurals out there are about a seemingly inappropriate outsider teaming up with the police, and/or doing things far outside the duties of their position.

I'm pretty sure Murdoch Mysteries is *purposefully* cheesy!

After the dismal fair of the holiday season things have just taken a turn for the better: three new episodes of Foyle's War starts tonight.

Now that's one I've never been able to get into. And yes, on a whole there does seems to be a lot less "must see TV" this year vs most any other year. Which is good in one way: it's let me start catching up on movies!

...And Silent Witness.

Note, as well, the return of Broadchurch - though I wasn't as enamoured as most over series 1 (I thought the "plot twist" was pretty obvious).

Re. Films. I find the outlook somewhat gloomy - how many times can you rehash the earth invasion schtick, zombie and "found footage" movies. Could that be a reason for the decline in cinema attendances?

How far does your list go back? And my brief take on the films of the last 24 months or so...

Cast: In Order of Appearance.

The Last Stand: Typical Arnie film - total rubbish.
Broken City: Have seen it, but can't remember much about it. Does that say something?
Hansel and Gretal: A light hearted horror romp with the added attraction of Gemma Arterton. Will no doubt watch again at some time.
Parker: A typical Jason Statham film - enjoyable rubbish. Happy to watch again.
Side Effects: A very entertaining crime drama. Will watch again.
A Good Day to Die Hard: A very poor addition to the franchise, but will no doubt watch again because it's a Die Hard film.
Snitch: Typical Rock film - total rubbish.
Jack The Giant Slayer: See "Broken City".
The Sweeney: A not very good take on an old TV favourite. Highlight - the "Top Gear" car chase.
Dead Man Down: An average Colin Farrell/Noomi Rapace crime drama.
Olympus Has Fallen: An okayish action movie. Happy to watch again.
The Host: A boring Sci-Fi film.
Trance: An interesting crime drama. Will watch again.
Oblivion: A somewhat dull Tom Cruise Sci-Fi film, but will not doubt watch again at some point.
Iron Man 3: An enjoyable Sci-Fi romp. Will watch again.
Sightseers: An offbeat British comedy about murderous caravaners. Happy to watch again.
Star Trek Into Darkness: An excellent addition to the franchise. Will watch again and again and again...
Fast and Furious 6: A far fetched, but okayish action movie. Seen it once, don't necessarily want to see it again.
Now You See Me: An unbelievable (as in this simply cannot be done) crime drama centering on a group of magicians. Tosh.
Man of Steel: An entertaining rehash of the Superman saga. Will watch again.
World War Z: Another average zombie apocalypse movie. Not sure about watching it again.
Byzantium: A reasonable variation of the vampire theme. Happy to watch again.
The Heat: Didn't expect much from this girlie buddy movie, but must confess to chuckling a few times. Will watch again.
White House Down: An okayish action movie - not as overtly violent as Olympus Has Fallen. Happy to watch again.
The Lone Ranger: Bit of a disappointment to those (like me) who can remember the TV series, but better than most would have you believe. Could have done with a little less of Johnny Depp hamming it up. Happy to watch again.
Pacific Rim: Giant robots fighting monsters from the deep. A better than average Sci-Fi film and way better than the risible Transformers 4. Happy to watch again.
Red 2: Enjoyable tosh. Happy to watch again.
Europa Report: A dull as dish water Sci-Fi found footage film. I turned it off.
2 Guns: A not so funny Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg comedy buddy movie. Will not be revisiting this one.
Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters: Low budget kiddie Mythological/Sci-Fi tosh. Will not be revisiting this one either.
Monsters: This is how to make a low budget Sci-Fi film. Excellent.
Elysium: A dull and boring high budget Sci-Fi film.
We're The Millers: A slightly better than average comedy (I did chuckle a few times).
Kick Ass 2: A very disappointing sequel to the original. Only for completists.
Paranoia: An average crime drama thriller that might be worth a watch - I can't remember much about it.
The World's End: A disappointing finale to the Cornetto Trilogy, but maybe worth a watch.
Closed Circuit: An average crime, drama, mystery, thriller. Might watch again at some point.
The Family: A not so funny crime, thriller, comedy.
Rush: A very entertaining retelling of the James Hunt/Kiki Lauda rivalry of the 1976 F1 season.
Gravity: A very entertaining Sci-Fi survival film.
Parkland: An entertaining retelling of the immediate aftermath of the Kennedy shooting.
Runner Runner: An above average crime, drama, thriller centred around on-line gambling - with, once again, the added attraction of Gemma Arterton. Will watch again.
N.B. One of the original pioneers of on-line gambling is a former local bookie called Mark Blandford - he saw a niche and became a millionaire several times over.

Though a perfectly legal enterprise in this country the US authorities took exception (most likely because they weren't getting their cut) and arrested several Sportingbet bet directors whilst they were travelling/on stop over in the states, though Mark wasn't one of them.

So far as I'm aware everything was eventually resolved, but to this day Mark will not travel to America.
Escape: Arnie and Stallone and more complete tosh.
The Counselor: A big named cast and an even bigger disappointment. More tosh.
Ender's Game: A reasonable kiddies Sci-Fi film which may get a revisit.
Thor 2: An entertaining second outing for the Norse god.
Home Front: Another less than average Statham romp.
Oldboy: A not so bad retelling of the tale. The original is undoubtedly better.
Tim's Vermeer: An excellent documentary of one man's investigation into Vermeer's painting techniques.
Last Days on Mars: A dismal Martian zombie movie which even the attractive delight of Romola Garai couldn't improve.
The Desolation of Smaug: Well what can one say. A definite must have.
American Hustle: A stellar cast, lots of praise from the critics, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, but I found it dull and boring and turned it off.
47 Ronin: Didn't turn it off, but I won't be revisiting. Poor.
Cold Comes the Night: Bryan Cranston cashing in on his Breaking Bad popularity. The film's pretty average though (and neither I wasn't overly enamoured of Breaking Bad - gave up half way through the second or was it the third series).
Jack Ryan: An okay, albeit low budget, reboot of the franchise. I also thought the Ben Affleck film was okay too.
I Frankenstein: Passed the time whilst I was waiting to take the dogs out for their last walk of the day, but it's nothing special and I won't be revisting.
The Lego Movie: Awesome! Well worth the hype.
The Monuments Men: A stellar cast, but poorly realised. Michael Caine once questioned why Hollywood insisted on remaking good films badly (e.g. Get Carter), why not take a bad film and make it better. This is one of those films.
Robocop: And on the subject of remakes... Actually this isn't so bad, but it isn't as good as the original.
Winter's Tale: Again a not so bad cast, but it's a truly dismal film.
Pompeii: A whizz-bang waste of time.
3 Days to Kill: A pretty dull action, crime, drama, thriller that easily makes my not to view again list.
Non-Stop: As 3 days to kill.
300 Rise of an Empire Just dreadful.
The Grand Budapest Hotel Finally a stellar cast that fits the bill. A very funny, if somewhat weird, film.
Need for Speed Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. America, the land of the petrolhead and they try to convince the audience that a Shelby Mustang thing was doing well over 200 m.p.h on a track that seemingly didn't have a straight more than 100m long. Just how stupid do they think we are? (Very by the looks of it having taken just over $200m worldwide on a budget of $66m.) Complete bunk.
Divergent Total nonsense, but have no doubt the tweeny girls loved it.
Sabotage: Again another Arnie film - and again it's total rubbish. Why do I do this to myself.
Under the Skin: Scarlett Johansson in the buff. A weird but entertaining low budget Sci-Fi, horror, thriller.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa: Shock, a comedy that's actually funny, though I'm not so sure it will cross the Atlantic well.
Captain America2 - The Winter Soldier: One of last year's big blockbusters that I unreservedly enjoyed. Have and will happily view again.
Oculus: A Karen Gillan vehicle which she handles pretty well. The film itself though is a pretty average supernatural thriller.
Draft Day: Watched as a result of my becoming a big fan of the NFL. Non football lovers look away now.
Transcendence: A dull and boring Sci-Fi extravaganza. May watch again if there really is nothing else to do.
The Machine: Another dull and boring, low budget, Sci-Fi film that one shouldn't waste one's time with.
Devil's Knot: A pretty bleak story, based on real events, starring a completely out of character Reece Witherspoon and a miscast Colin Firth. Maybe worth a watch, but not if one's feeling depressed.
Million Dollar Arm: Highly entertaining semi biopic thingy.
Godzilla: Another highly entertaining blockbuster. Loved the halo jump scene.
X Men: Days of Future Passed: Another above average blockbuster that's worth a look-see - though they stole the sentinel thingys from Thor (and really should have been Gort in the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still).
Maleficent A highly entertaining take on the Disney cartoons. Well worth a look.
A Million Ways to Die in the West: Despite it's many short comings I did chuckle a few times, though I won't be rushing to watch it again.
Live, Die, Repeat. Edge of Tomorrow: Thoroughly entertaining even if it does have a too old Tom Cruise as the male lead. And just what are those speakers in Brendan Gleeson's office? (The upper ones appear to be B&O, but I can't make out the lower ones.)
22 Jump Street: Absolutely awful. Avoid at all cost.
Transformers 4: Age of Extinction: See 22 Jump Street.
Begin Again: Enjoyable lightweight drama with Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Wonderfully realised, but let down by a below average and clichéd script.
The Rover: Well acted (particularly by Robert Pattinson), but unremittingly bleak. Don't watch if feeling depressed.
Guardians of the Galaxy Turn off brain and enjoy. Really loved it.
The Expendables 3: Time to put this franchise to bed methinks. Very dull and predictable.
The Zero Theorem I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam, but this ranks as one of his lesser efforts. Not sure I want to sit through it a second time.
Dead Snow 2: Red Vs Dead: A passable Norwegian Zombie spoof.

Whilst everyone seems to be enraptured by the return of Game of Thrones (zzzzzzz), I've just finished watching the absolutely brilliant Daredevil on Netflix.

Just started watching that. Up to episode 4!

Also just started watching Mad Men... yeah, I'm a bit behind on that one!

Started watching Mad Men when it was first broadcast on the Beeb, but for some reason I lost track of it. Going to have to give it another go.

Have you been able to give Forever a chance? Or isn't it available yet?

You guys have BGT on again. I miss Simon on the American one.