elektra

When choosing whether or not to watch a show or check out something new, what are your deciding factors?

First and foremost for me is genre. I've seen enough cop/lawyer/doctor shows, so I'll look to see first of all, what type of show it is. If it falls into any of those categories, then it has to have something more to recommend it for me. Such as an actor who's work I like or a writer who's work I like. What drew me to The Shield was Michael Chicklas (sp?) and CCH Pounder, both of whom I feel are good actors. Otherwise, I might not have bothered.

If it's Sci-Fi/Fantasy, I'm going to check it out. Whether or not I stay with it, depends upon how interesting a story they tell, and how well they develop their characters. Although I've been known to by-pass a show if there is an actor in it who I really can't stand to look at.

The next genre I look at is comedy. Because comedy depends on your taste, it's hard for me to find one that I like. I'm not watching any sitcoms right now.

Everything else is dependant on whether or not I find the premise interesting, there is a writer I like working on it, or an actor I like. 24 was really a different premise and I checked that out and really wound up liking it.

So, how do you pick your shows?

Patman

Shows choose me.

Red Dog

Some factors:

Previews
Buzz
Eye Candy
Timeslot
Genre

das Monkey

Survivor-style.

I watch the premiere episode of everything that airs and weed out from there. I'm pretty forgiving of the first few episodes, but after that I follow a very complicated system: if it's good, I keep watching; if it's not so good, I probably keep watching; if it sucks, I still probably keep watching, but maybe not. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to be the guy who misses out on the brilliance of a show like Babylon 5 or The Wire because of poor network promotion or my own personal prejudices. Every show gets a chance, even Baby Bob.

das

elektra

Patman - oooookaaaayyyy. Moving right along!

Red Dog - Have I told you how much I like your sig? Reminds me of Classicman and I can't put my finger on why.

PixyJunket

If it's on Cartoon Network and it's not anime, I watch. Simple.

elektra

das - you seem somewhat familiar to me... Long time, no swap posts! Wow! You're much more forgiving than I am. I'll bear out quite a bit if I think there's a pay off, but Voyager and Enterprise both got flushed and I won't go back to Enterprise no matter how much the claims are that it will be different. They've already lost me, it's too late. Life is too short for suckekekeke tv. It does have to have something to hold me.

pixyboi - Anime just doesn't work for you? The style not to your taste? Or you don't like the way they tell a story? Right now I'm watching Justice League, Futurama and catching up on X-Men Evolution.

PixyJunket

For the most part I still enjoy the art-style but there is a SERIOUS lack of creative juices flowing in Japan in the last 5 years. If you've seen Tenchi or Ranma 1/2 you've seen every popular anime show in the last 10 years BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, the chracters may look slightly different and have different names but are typically in the exact same situations and every single anime that is supposed to be comedy relies SOLELY on site gags that expired in 1986 or "Hey I touched your tits!" humor. Every show I've attempted to watch post 98 have been overly pretentious and self-mastubatory. Another gaping problem is that every series is 30-100 episodes long, when the story (if there is one) that is being told could've been done in 6 while the other 80 are "Hey I touched your tits!! BOOM I hit you with a (spell/weapon/tank) that always kills the 'Bad Guy of the Day' but for some reason only makes you see stars. Comedy Gold!!" Every show has the same cast: Rowdy Tom-Girl, Quite Shy Girl, Underage Girl, Average Dork, Incompitent Rival, Mysterious Girly-Looking Boy, Old Pervert and Cute Animal Mascot. Plus EVERY character is doped up on the highest quality meth and seems to SCREAM all of thier dialouge at speeds and pitches not within normal human range. Then of course, if you STILL like the show in question and want to buy the DVDs, you're in for an anal violation the likes of Paramount's wettest dreams. 8 to 30 discs at thier LOWEST price $26..

*Revolution Girl Utena and Cowboy Bebop are (mostly) unaffected by previous rant.

[deep breath] *whew* [/deep breath]

Now, not to say that this side of the pond isn't just as lacking in the creative department.. not at all. However with most anime they are EXPECTING you to sit through all 30 billion episodes IN SEQUENTIAL ORDER.. which I guess is okay on DVD, but I can turn on Cartoon Network, watch an episode of Dexter's Lab and not care when or what epsiode of it I watch next. Perhaps it's my continually diminishing attention span to blame, though one would argue that it's gotten that way from sitting through too much of the same thing. Who knows..? Many people point out that I started to hate anime the day I watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, claiming that I was shocked to see they COULD write a good story but just chose not to.

Now, a rant like this could have only been created by somebody who was deeply into the whole genre for 5 years..

elektra

pixyboi - at least it was for the best reasons I've ever heard. Poor story telling. I'm fairly new to anime, but here's what I have and have liked so far. These have all been blind buys except for the very first one, which I caught enough of on the sci-fi channel to know I wanted it.

My first, and still Favorite, was Vampire Hunter D. I really loved it and when Bloodlust came out, that was a no brainer. Liked that one too. Then I got some recommendations from DVD talk and got Ninja Scroll. Thought that was pretty good and so when I found Ninja Resurrection, I got that one too. It was okay. I picked up Night Warriors on a whim and it's okay. Then I got Iria Zeiram and thought that was really good. Fairly different. Record of Lodoss War is one that I am very fond of because of my love for gaming. I think it's a good story too. I've avoided the sequel because some friends who said that it was pretty bad. I'd like to check it out though and decide for myself.

Okay, the blind buys that I have that I have not yet watched are: Darkside Blues, Grave of the Fireflies, The Venus Wars and Cowboy Bebop 1. The first one is by the folks who worked on VHD, so I thought it might be worth it. The second and third were recommended here and the last one was recommended by a friend. OH CRAP! Almost forgot, the other blind buy I got was recommended here too, Serial Experiments Lain. That I've heard rave reviews on from friends here too.

I've never seen Tenchi or Ranma because the overall "look and feel" and premise just seemed a bit on the youngish side and I didn't think it would hold my interest. Actually, thinking about it, my first anime was probably Marine Boy. I used to watch that when I was at my grandmother's in NYC. I remember at the time I really liked it a lot. I don't remember too much of it now, but I think I'd like to see it again.

So what are some of your favs? Based on what I told you that I have, is there anything you might recommend?

zerotl

Well, you have to buy the rest of that cowboy bebop set, because a) it rules and b) it totally rules!!!!

Oh you might also like escaflowne.

Not to completely go OT, actually right now, I'm on a nostaligic mood, when it comes to tv shows. most of the stuff on my rtv is macGyver, A-team, cheers, who's the boss, and also some recent ones.... I'm also just discovering the wonders of buffy vampire slayer on fX, and might I add, I'm hukt.

elektra

Buffy is one of the best shows. The only show I can think of that's better is Babylon 5.

jarofclay73

Watercooler talk definitely helps influence what I watch. Friends have recommended some good shows. The Dead Zone and Sports Night come to mind.

Also, I like a combination of quirkiness, drama, comedy and a great story arc.

As for "reality" TV, I've only really been into Battlebots and The Mole.

elektra

The Dead Zone was really well done. What the heck happened to it? I did hear that season one is coming out on dvd soon.

I tried some reality tv and the fact was, it was either so unrealistic or just so lame, I couldn't get into it. I'm thinking I might give one more show a try. But I won't say which one yet.

spainlinx0

I bought season one of the Dead Zone on DVD and really enjoyed it. I think it's on season 3 already? I'm not sure how that happened. I need to find a way to catch up fast.

lisadoris

I usually go on premise. Read the fall preview guides and online chatter and figure out if it sounds interesting. If a show sounds good, I'll see when it's on and whether or not it conflicts with something I'm already attached to. Then I watch. That being said, I don't think I'll be checking out any new shows this year. I have had it with getting attached to great shows just to see the networks flush them down the toilet after 5 episodes.

elektra

Firefly anyone?

Brain Stew

Ads, buzz, if it's on in a certain slot, and if it's a comedy.

I don't watch TV to be rivetted. I don't watch TV to learn something about the human condition. I watch TV to be entertained.

I do not watch dramas on TV. After a long day at work, what's the point? There is no spectacle in TV, and it doesn't take a lot of work, so it's not an event like going to see a movie. I'll save the big production values for movies.

Rypro 525

I go for buzz, or check out any thing that is in the mob/spy genere ie sopranos, 24, kingpin, alias ect.

Geofferson

Buzz, who stars, premise.

that's about it.

Pac-Rat

I put on BBC America. If they're redecorating a house or room or human, I turn to Cartoon Network. If CN has something with Japanese origins I tune to USA or TCM. If something along the way grabs hold of my attention I'll return next time the show is on.
For other channels' programs I pretty much stick to genre programming (science fiction/horror/fantasy), and weed out what doesn't appeal to me along the way.
For a show like The Shield, I tuned in because of the promos/commercials.

clemente

Premise, stars, and buzz tend to help. Much like das (though not to that extent) I check out a lot of TV at the start of the season and slowly but surely, a lot of it falls by the wayside.

And then sometime, a show just finds me. I remeber being hooked by Gilmore Girls late in its first season because Survivor was on it NCAA Tourney move to Wednesday and Friends was a repeat...one episode was all it took.

A repeat of Felicity got me over to ABC to watch Sports Night, and I loved it...and after a few weeks of not really changing the channel I started wondering what was up with the show that would break into black and white everyonce in a while...Once and Again.

All sounds great, but I go through a lot of tapes this way.

Josh-da-man

I don't know. How the hell DO you decide what to watch or what to try out?

I mean, we've got SIX networks. Pay cable. Regular cable. Craploads of original programming.

All of this programming competing for the viewer's limited time. And, unless you have a TiVo, you have to make time in your schedule to watch it, which is harder and harder to do these days.

Honestly, I rarely watch TV anymore. There's just so much stuff out there that it's just overwhelming.

I'm really at a point now that I'd rather just BUY the things that sound good on a reasonably priced DVD set.

Trigger

*click* *click* *click*
*click* *click* *click*
*click* *click* *click*
*click* *click* *click*
*click* *click* *click*
*click* *click* Oh, this looks interesting... zzzzzzzz.

Cibo Matto

hair, makeup, and clothing.....i've been watching she spys...and i'm hooked.

elektra

Trigger - Too funny.

Josh - I know, I know. I have spent hours on the weekends watching the Science Channel, Discovery Times and History International. But there is still a lot of crap out there.