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Mrs. Fungus and I have been watching DaVinci's Demons and Defiance, and we're not sure we like either series.
The latter series is one we want to like, but the complete lack of likable (or even sympathetic) characters is a major problem. The writers of the pilot just went over to TVtropes.org and treated the thing like a checklist. Starting with The Sheriff:
Stock plot — The Gunslinger (sometimes, the Young Gun, but if so he'll have his more experienced advisor with him) comes into town, and is immediately appointed The Sheriff by the townspeople. This invariably means there's a villain (an Outlaw or a old-west-style Corrupt Corporate Executive) in town who has run off or killed the old sheriff and is terrorizing the townspeople, stealing cattle, cheating at poker, and probably not paying his brothel bill. It's up to the new guy to avoid getting killed, beat the villain, then move on. Also see The Drifter for more detail on this.There's the usual Romeo and Juliet subplot, there's the "alien customs conflict with human morals" thing, and on, and on, and on.
The most interesting character is the new sheriff's adopted alien daughter, and at that I don't even like her any; she just has the most interesting story behind her because she's not obviously any of the Typical Television Cardboard Cutout Characters. ($5 says that it becomes obvious what her character type is within 2-3 eps, and it'll be something just as boringly typical as the other characters in the series.)
So unless things get a lot better and fast, we're going to cut it.
DaVinci's Demons suffers from trying to be the Robert Downey Sherlock Holmes set in the Renaissance. We've only watched the pilot so far, but--again--none of the characters are likable and it's like ticking off a checklist. Ooh, the main antagonist is very powerful in the Catholic church (I think he's supposed to be the Pope) so naturally the first time we see him, he's naked in a huge bathtub with a young boy, holding a knife to the boy's throat in some kind of weird S&M thing. *rolleyes* (Of course the boy ends up dead at the end of the scene, floating face-down in the bath, his throat cut by the Pope's thug because he heard something he wasn't supposed to hear.)
It also suffers from trying to use many of the same cinematographic tricks used in the Sherlock Holmes movies, for much the same reason--DaVinci is a super-genius--and of course he's an expert swordsman who is ambidextrous to the point of being able to fight two-handed.
Yeah, okay.
On the plus side, Game of Thrones continues to be good. Having had a bit of a tiptoe through the various Wikis on it, I've learned that the first season covers the first book, second season the second, and so on. I read a spoiler on one page about something that's going to happen in this season, which ought to be quite entertaining. Sunday's ep had some major doings in it; one was a plot point that I predicted last week, and contained an element I had been expecting (or, at least, hoping for) all season.
Turns out Mrs. Fungus has some of the books, so if we ever find them I can read them without putting any of my money in G.R.R. Martin's pockets. (I don't know the story but I feel as if "George R.R. Martin" is an affectation meant to be like "J.R.R. Tolkien". I'm probably wrong.)
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There's not much else to comment on right now. I'm just surprised that it's f-ing Wednesday already.