Georgius the Peasant

Show List, Mark 3

Saturday, 7. March 2009, 22:56:30

expectations, doomed optimism, time, I implore you, general obnoxiousness, Non-Whedon-Television, lists, megalomania

I know, I'm posting very rarely lately. Three reasons for that. One, I'm lazy. Two, I have a ton of writing to do with regards to my master's thesis. And three, I watch a heck of a lot of TV.

On that note, even though I'm full-booked TV-wise until, well, September-ish very likely, I figured I'd have a run-down. You might remember this list from last spring. It's been very thinned out since then, my having seen Brisco County Jr., Dexter, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, The Tudors and half of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (the rest is part of why any new stuff will have to wait until September) since then. A few new ones have been added, of course, so here's the list as it stands right now:

Alias
Brotherhood
Burn Notice
Dark Angel
Dirty Sexy Money
Drive
Dr. Who/Torchwood
Entourage
Farscape
Joan of Arcadia
Life
Medium
Monk
Moonlight
Jericho
Journeyman
Justice League
Oz
The Pretender
Quantum Leap
Red Dwarf
Sanctuary
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Sharpe
The Shield
Six Feet Under
Supernatural
Tru Calling

Of these, I would currently like to prioritise the following five:

Brotherhood
Burn Notice
Sharpe
Justice League
The Shield

But which one of them first, that's up to you people. There is also the matter of carry-on-votes from last time:

Farscape (2)
The Pretender (1)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1)

Thus, I make the following ruling. One remaining vote last time equals qualification for the ones up for considering now. Farscape goes directly on the list with a vote in place due to its two carry-ons. If anyone wants to add another show to this list, let me know - if two of you want to add the same one, I'll even add it to the list of the ones that can be voted for.

Brotherhood
Burn Notice
Farscape (1)
Sharpe
Justice League
The Pretender
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Shield

Commence helping me waste more time daily, please!

Dexter, season 1Link of the Day

Comments

Anonymous # 7. March 2009, 23:07

Morridini writes:

Prioritise Burn Notice, best of the ones on the list.
Farscape is also darned good..... and so is Pretender.....
But go with Burn Notice first.

Oh, and add Quantum Leap if you haven't already seen it, Journeyman is pretty much a spiritual remake of it.

Loki Aesir # 7. March 2009, 23:13

Aye sir, 'tis done.

Brotherhood
Burn Notice (1)
Farscape (1)
Sharpe
Justice League
The Pretender
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Shield

Kaffekatten # 9. March 2009, 09:00

I'd say Medium and Red Dwarf are well worth your time - if only because they are the only two I have watched on your list.

Medium is better than it sounds - if only because the show is really character-driven, and with interesting, lovable characters. Especially the husband and kids of the main character. My better half and a female friend of hers exposed me to this show, and I went, in time, from playing WoW with the show in the background to becoming an interested viewer.

Red Dwarf is awesome because it is BBC in space, but it's not Blackadder in space, so keep your expectations realistic. I only watched the first 3 seasons because I feared the show would suffer from M*A*S*H syndrome after that. Whether that fear was unfounded or not I can't say, as I haven't watched the rest.

Amrasananas # 9. March 2009, 09:16

Heh. I'm not watching anything besides my regular shows right now. Well, that's not entirely true - I do watch random Firefly episodes when I feel like it.

But that don't mean I can't vote! So, without any further ado, I submit that Doctor Who should be your next viewing experience; and you should note that I don't recommend Torchwood. You'll have to watch that show entirely on your own - and Obdormio's obviously - accord.

Loki Aesir # 9. March 2009, 11:04

I will never watch a show to its end without also seeing it's spin-off, dude.

And thanks the both of you for the recs. ^^ They are hereby noted.

Obdormio # 9. March 2009, 13:09

I should like to chime in on the record that Torchwood is, on the whole, not all that good. They have some gems occasionally, and it has Captain Jack, but in general I would not watch it if it did not share contiuity with Doctor Who.

Incidentally, when I got to the end of DW series four, it became clear that I should also have watched the Sarah Jane Adventures if I wanted the whole picture to make sense, but I haven't yet 'cause it really seems like a straight-up children's show.

Gotta love a franchise that has a show where most of the characters are twelve at one end, and a show full of sex and blood and gay kisses at the other.

As for voting, I stick by my windmill and say Pretender.

Loki Aesir # 9. March 2009, 14:12

Don't think of it as a windmill, I do want to see the show, it's just not among the shows I really, deeply wish to see, so it keeps being bumped down.

That's two Dr. Who-recs, so it goes directly on the voting list, and I take it Amras wished to vote for that so I'll count that as his vote, too.

Brotherhood
Burn Notice (1)
Dr. Who (1)
Farscape (1)
Sharpe
Justice League
The Pretender (1)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Shield

By the way, Kaffekatten, they DID do Blackadder in space, and if my memory of his Christmas Carol serves, it kinda stunk...

Kaffekatten # 9. March 2009, 18:17

I found that flashforward quite enjoyable, for the following reasons:

1) Role reversal at its finest
2) It was brief - though it might have been an interesting spinoff series in its own right...
3) The slave costume was a hoot, both times

Loki Aesir # 9. March 2009, 20:33

Disagreed, for the following reasons.

1) The role reversal only makes the second of the two flashwords somewhat entertaining, and it is noticably shorter than the first. (Understandably, due to the repetitious nature of the scene) And due to the repetition of every joke, only reversed, it gets boringly predictable beyond the initial funny-factor of the scene as a concept.

2) A spinoff in its own right might indeed have been interesting, as it would have included an actual plot. The briefness of the flashforward was something of a mixed blessing and a curse - it was probably the lack of context that made it so boring, but on the other hand, being so short made it more endurable to get back to the genuinely entertaining main story of Ebenezer Blackadder.

3) The slave costume really was only a hoot the second time, due to the delightful look of "Oh, God..." on Atkinson's face as he's wearing it. Baldrick always looks clueless, seeing him look clueless in a slave costume doesn't really entertain me more or less than seeing him look clueless in a serf costume.

But I'm glad you seem to have enjoyed it. ^^ I did love the flashbacks, though, particularly the one to Prince George's court.

Kaffekatten # 11. March 2009, 13:26

To comment on #3 further, I found the idea of the commander's slave being brought forth absurd in a funny way, even more so when the ruler of the universe knows Baldrick by name.

He also got his own little slave fanfare, which I found hilarious.

As for general enjoyment, the prospect of Baldrick being in charge of an interstellar army/navy...

Loki Aesir # 11. March 2009, 14:40

The slave fanfare IS a little hysterical, I admit that.

"As for general enjoyment, the prospect of Baldrick being in charge of an interstellar army/navy..."

Again, that's in the (for obvious reasons far more amusing) second flashforward. Which I just don't find to be worth the bother of the first one. Though their ramifications in the main plot makes it all forgivable of course.

Amrasananas # 12. March 2009, 17:52

If I change my vote to "Burn Notice", will you watch that next? I once saw the feature-length pilot episode, and while I didn't like it enough to pick up the rest of the show, I thought it was decent.

(*Plots cynically to have you watch it and tell me whether it gets better as it goes*)

Loki Aesir # 12. March 2009, 17:58

"Next" meaning "once I finish the ones I am currently watching" - yes. Those are, aside from my weekly ongoings, "The Practice" (a little over two seasons left), "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (a little under half left), and a rewatch of "The West Wing" (five and a half seasons left right now). So it will take a good while. But yes, after I finish these things, next.

Brotherhood
Burn Notice (2)
Dr. Who
Farscape (1)
Sharpe
Justice League
The Pretender (1)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Shield