Help me pick a new show to watch
08-11-04 | 12:18 AM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Help me pick a new show to watch
I'm trying to find a solid show to watch in August--preferably something scifi with big story arcs. My favorite shows are B5, Farscape, and DS9. I've enjoyed Buffy/Angel and Firefly recently and wondered if there are any good scifi shows I've missed. I tried to watch Stargate SG-1 and didn't like it, and I don't care for anthologies (kind of hard to have a big arc and I'm not a fan of O. Henry endings whether they're in literature or the twilight zone.
)
So. . . I was thinking
Dr. Who? (which one and are they too cheesy now? I have a hard time with Star Trek TOS based on the cheese factor.)
Odyssey 5? (I've watched the pilot and enjoyed it, but does the series ending leave you hanging since Showtime dropped it?)
Jeremiah? (JMS)
Crusade? (Does it live up to B5?)
Dead Like Me (I watched the pilot and was non-plussed but I think it's a popular show. Should I give it a longer chance?)
Any input greatly appreciated here--I've only got a few weeks to the no-tv land of grad school, so I want to veg out on something worth watching now.
tasha
)
So. . . I was thinking
Dr. Who? (which one and are they too cheesy now? I have a hard time with Star Trek TOS based on the cheese factor.)
Odyssey 5? (I've watched the pilot and enjoyed it, but does the series ending leave you hanging since Showtime dropped it?)
Jeremiah? (JMS)
Crusade? (Does it live up to B5?)
Dead Like Me (I watched the pilot and was non-plussed but I think it's a popular show. Should I give it a longer chance?)
Any input greatly appreciated here--I've only got a few weeks to the no-tv land of grad school, so I want to veg out on something worth watching now.
tasha
08-11-04 | 06:04 AM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
If you have a problem with TOS cheese, I don't think you're going to like British cheese either. Dr. Who is an all-time classic, but it's low budget gives it a lot more cheese than you might care for.
Crusade never really got the chance to get off the ground. It doesn't live up to B5.
Odyssey 5 and Dead Like Me I never saw much of. Jeremiah I only saw the first season.
I guess I can't really tell you what to watch out of what you've listed, sorry.
Crusade never really got the chance to get off the ground. It doesn't live up to B5.
Odyssey 5 and Dead Like Me I never saw much of. Jeremiah I only saw the first season.
I guess I can't really tell you what to watch out of what you've listed, sorry.
08-11-04 | 08:08 AM
#3
Yeah, you're in bad shape here. Odyssey 5 had a great concept and started to get interesting, but it never made it far enough (and Showtime refused to show the last episodes, so you have to get them "elsewhere"). Crusade also had a great concept, but it was all chopped apart and short-lived. Jeremiah was really looking strong, but it's only 2 seasons, the second half of the second season also being held hostage by Showtime (and also accessible "elsewhere"). Dead Like Me is a really neat show, but it's nothing like what you've listed as criteria ("scifi with big story arcs"). I agree with Chew that if you can't handle TOS, then Dr. Who probably isn't worth your time.
B5 and Farscape are two of the most unique shows in television history, and Deep Space Nine isn't too far behind. It's going to be near impossible to find something that competes with them in the areas you desire. I could recommend many great TV series, but none that are going to fill the void left by these shows.
What saddens me is that the environment that allowed WB and PTEN to try the experiment of B5 is no more; the environment that allowed SFC to create Farscape is no more; and the environment that allowed The WB to take a chance on Buffy is no more. It took unique situations to allow these shows to flourish, and it could be a long time before we see anything like them again.
das
B5 and Farscape are two of the most unique shows in television history, and Deep Space Nine isn't too far behind. It's going to be near impossible to find something that competes with them in the areas you desire. I could recommend many great TV series, but none that are going to fill the void left by these shows.
What saddens me is that the environment that allowed WB and PTEN to try the experiment of B5 is no more; the environment that allowed SFC to create Farscape is no more; and the environment that allowed The WB to take a chance on Buffy is no more. It took unique situations to allow these shows to flourish, and it could be a long time before we see anything like them again.
das
08-11-04 | 08:33 PM
#4
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Well damn Chew and Das, your posts really depressed me, although I suspected I'd already watched the best that long arc scifi has to offer. I may have to crack a book to get the kind of entertainment I want now; something I've been avoiding since I'm kind of burned out from school and reading magazine slush.
I guess maybe I'll go with Arrested Development and Wonderfalls, two shows I've heard good things about. I noticed Tim Minear was a writer for Wonderfalls, and since he wrote for Angel and Firefly, maybe Wonderfalls will have a little of their magic. At least I hope so.
Thanks,
tasha
I guess maybe I'll go with Arrested Development and Wonderfalls, two shows I've heard good things about. I noticed Tim Minear was a writer for Wonderfalls, and since he wrote for Angel and Firefly, maybe Wonderfalls will have a little of their magic. At least I hope so.
Thanks,
tasha
08-12-04 | 05:05 PM
#8
DVD Talk Special Edition
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,849
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally posted by das Monkey
Yeah, you're in bad shape here. Odyssey 5 had a great concept and started to get interesting, but it never made it far enough (and Showtime refused to show the last episodes, so you have to get them "elsewhere"). Crusade also had a great concept, but it was all chopped apart and short-lived. Jeremiah was really looking strong, but it's only 2 seasons, the second half of the second season also being held hostage by Showtime (and also accessible "elsewhere"). Dead Like Me is a really neat show, but it's nothing like what you've listed as criteria ("scifi with big story arcs"). I agree with Chew that if you can't handle TOS, then Dr. Who probably isn't worth your time.
B5 and Farscape are two of the most unique shows in television history, and Deep Space Nine isn't too far behind. It's going to be near impossible to find something that competes with them in the areas you desire. I could recommend many great TV series, but none that are going to fill the void left by these shows.
What saddens me is that the environment that allowed WB and PTEN to try the experiment of B5 is no more; the environment that allowed SFC to create Farscape is no more; and the environment that allowed The WB to take a chance on Buffy is no more. It took unique situations to allow these shows to flourish, and it could be a long time before we see anything like them again.
das
Yeah, you're in bad shape here. Odyssey 5 had a great concept and started to get interesting, but it never made it far enough (and Showtime refused to show the last episodes, so you have to get them "elsewhere"). Crusade also had a great concept, but it was all chopped apart and short-lived. Jeremiah was really looking strong, but it's only 2 seasons, the second half of the second season also being held hostage by Showtime (and also accessible "elsewhere"). Dead Like Me is a really neat show, but it's nothing like what you've listed as criteria ("scifi with big story arcs"). I agree with Chew that if you can't handle TOS, then Dr. Who probably isn't worth your time.
B5 and Farscape are two of the most unique shows in television history, and Deep Space Nine isn't too far behind. It's going to be near impossible to find something that competes with them in the areas you desire. I could recommend many great TV series, but none that are going to fill the void left by these shows.
What saddens me is that the environment that allowed WB and PTEN to try the experiment of B5 is no more; the environment that allowed SFC to create Farscape is no more; and the environment that allowed The WB to take a chance on Buffy is no more. It took unique situations to allow these shows to flourish, and it could be a long time before we see anything like them again.
das
I mourn Firefly, Odyssey 5, Jeremiah, Crusade, The Rangers (that never were) and Wonderfalls (not sci fi, but equally entertaining, imo).
A semi decent miniseries that just aired was The 4400, but it just kinda ends. I liked The Dead Zone a lot the first season, but stopped watching it last year, just lost interest in character stupidity.
If you don't like cheesy tv, stay away from Xena, one of my favorites.
Afraid I don't have any other suggestions for you, as you've already experienced the cream of the crop, although I did really like Roswell. The first season was by far the best, and the second and third seasons were...uneven. Still definitely worth watching, but beware of a bit of teen drama and angst (personally that's what makes me like it more, but that's just me
).
08-12-04 | 07:05 PM
#9
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Not Sci Fi but give Nip Tuck a try. Some very good storytelling and some nice story arcs. I too got hooked and I mean hooked on 24 Season 1 and 2 on DVD to the point of not sleeping much.
What about X-files? Smallville?
What about X-files? Smallville?
08-14-04 | 08:50 PM
#13
DVD Talk Special Edition
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,707
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Florida
Dr. Who? (which one and are they too cheesy now? I have a hard time with Star Trek TOS based on the cheese factor.)
I love Farscape, Stargate and Buffy but Doctor Who is my personal favorite sci fi series... but it's very british, the story telling is slower pased and VERY low budget (a whole year of Doctor Who had about the same budget as one episode of Star Trek) however, some will say that's a part of it's charm and what it lacks in special effects it more than makes up for in actual story telling. Doctor Who had some of the best pure science fiction ever shown on television.
The show ran for 26 years with around 700 episodes making up 160 stories and 8 different Doctors, so the stories range from very cheesy and silly to serious sci fi to scary horror and everything in between.
personaly I like a little cheese in my sci fi, I can't stand these overly serious political soap opera dramas in space with aliens that look like perfect humans with perfect accents that have funny bumps on thier forehead.
Doctor Who might be too cheesy for you, I don't know, but it's a whole different sort of cheesy than ST:TOS, so give it a shot... Judging by your tastes in sci fi I suggest the following...
(the links go to the offical episode guide to tell you more about the story)
"Robots of Death" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/...robotsofdeath/
"Caves of Androzani" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/...avesandrozani/
"Spearhead from Space" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/...headfromspace/
and if you don't mind Black and White...
"Tomb of the Cybermen" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/.../tombcybermen/
"Seeds of Death" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/.../seedsofdeath/
"Dalek Invasion of Earth" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/...dalekinvasion/
and remember when you buy a Doctor Who DVD, each "story" on DVD is made up of 4, 5 or 6 or more episodes. (Episode 1, Episode 2, ect) So don't be "WTF? $19.99 for 1 episode?"
and instead of taking my word check out the Doctor Who web sites clip page, there are tons of clips from various episodes with all the Doctors you can watch online... it will give you a much better idea if you will like it or not than I will...
here's the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/clips/index.shtml
and if Doctor Who isn't your thing... how about Battlestar Galactica?
08-14-04 | 10:41 PM
#14
DVD Talk Special Edition
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,739
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Raleigh, NC
Ill also reiterate Arrested Development because its just that damned good. And if you like that, you may want to try Curb Your Enthusiasm or maybe even Scrubs. Ill also second riley_dudes suggestion of The X-Files if you havent watched it yet...yeah, the mythology got pretty bad around S5, but theres still some great standalone episodes throughout the entire series.
08-15-04 | 02:24 AM
#15
Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 226
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: Burbank, CA
Just like everyone & their mother, my favorite new show, perhaps fav show of this last year was Arrested Development.
But, onto Sci-fi-ish shows I would recommend "Carnivale" when it is released on dvd in December I think. Sorry if this isnt of any help, I know you are obviously looking to watch something now, in August, but I'm unfamiliar with sci-fi shows besides Angel/Buffy. Too bad Angel was cancelled. Last season was the only season I have seen and it was one of my favorite shows last year, perhaps second to Arrested Development. Also, I'm not really sure what sort of category "Carnivale" would fall in, but it does incorporate magic, mysticism and a carnival.
Good Luck.
But, onto Sci-fi-ish shows I would recommend "Carnivale" when it is released on dvd in December I think. Sorry if this isnt of any help, I know you are obviously looking to watch something now, in August, but I'm unfamiliar with sci-fi shows besides Angel/Buffy. Too bad Angel was cancelled. Last season was the only season I have seen and it was one of my favorite shows last year, perhaps second to Arrested Development. Also, I'm not really sure what sort of category "Carnivale" would fall in, but it does incorporate magic, mysticism and a carnival.
Good Luck.
