What is better than FIREFLY? I'm looking for other things to watch....

POSTED BY: Hell's Kitten
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 2, 2005 15:44
VIEWED: 24492
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SICKDUDE

Thursday, June 30, 2005 10:53 PM

Yes, LOST is a definate must see!!!! Fantastic TV technically, and a nifty mystery to boot.

I'll second BlackAdder and Cowboy Bebop.

One nobody has mentioned (I think) is Dead Zone. Very good writing, especially the first two seasons. Also, for anime, try the scifi goodness of Crest of the Stars/ Banner of the Stars. It's derived from a book series, not manga, and that added complexity shows! Just give it to the fifth episode to prove itself.

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

HASLINGER

Thursday, June 30, 2005 11:12 PM

That's a heavy list...

Deadwood is the best show since firefly and frankly holds in the same vain...except the cursing is in English and more frequent.

4400 is descent show. Summer Glau was on it...what's not to like there.

On DVD: Harsh Realm - fan of lost this show has Lok. Fan of Firefly this show as Saffrobridge.

The Lone Gunmen: Byers.

The Star Wars trilogy: Rewatch it and realize that it's just as bad as the new ones...so they're just as good as the "originals."

BEST SHOW'S EVERY ON THE TUBE: Boomtown! and GvsE. Boomtown is a character Dev show, so if you're into growing with the characters get ready. gVSe=whitty, original, Pate brothers.

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Friday, July 1, 2005 12:28 AM

Spaced is the bee's knees. For me, it is tied with Freaks & Geeks for second place after Firefly.

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"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

CYBERSNARK

Friday, July 1, 2005 2:01 AM

Nitpick: Navy NCIS changed its name to just NCIS. They finally realized that they were calling themselves "Navy Naval Criminal Investigative Services."

Quote:
Originally posted by Ferrel:
Not alot of people have heard of a show called Charlie Jade.

!!!

I thought I was the only one who knew Charlie Jade! That show rocks.

Some other gems I forgot and haven't seen mentioned:

Gargoyles
Bar none the coolest cartoon to ever come out of Disney. Don't expect singing teacups or fairy-tale princesses here. It's dark, ominous, deep, epic, and operatic in scale. The show is deeply rooted in Shakespeare (with episodes, characters, and entire ongoing arcs based on Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet. . .), and folktale (Beauty & the Beast, Arthurian Legend, Atlantis). There's more emotional impact than most other shows dream of (easily on the same level as Joss' writing). Romance, seduction, betrayal, attempted suicide, murder, remorse, vengeance, denied guilt and one of the most cutting examinations of "evil" I've ever seen ("What have I. . . What have they DONE?!?"). Season one is out on DVD (a two-disk set), and we may get S2 & 3 if it does well.

Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths, and Legends
A barely-known cartoon series (it had the bad luck to come out around the same time as that other Roswell show

) that runs like a merging of Angel, X-Files, Men in Black, and M.A.S.K. (80s action cartoon). The lead character is even drawn like a cartoon version of David Boreanaz (complete with hair that goes straight up

). There's also Fitz(patrick), who is like Wash, Xander, and the Lone Gunmen all stuck in the same body. It's a playful and unexpectedly sexy action/conspiracy series, with one of the best uses of a "clip show" in history (the clips chosen end up having a completely different significance in hindsight --as the conspiracy slowly starts to come together). There's also an episode co-written by Peter David and Bill ("Lennier," "Will Robinson") Mumy. Sadly, there's no DVD, so you'll have to track down somebody who recorded it (preens proudly over almost-complete set of tapes). Not as emotional as Gargoyles, but with some snappy, almost Whedonesque dialogue and pop-culture references (more Blues Brothers than Shakespeare). Also, the female lead is Irish. With the accent. And the breathy voice that just. . .

*ahem* Where was I?

There've been threads on here before talking about Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles. It's a CGI-animated series that stays far more loyal to Heinlein's books than the tight-T-shirt advertisement of a movie (we have Power Armour!). It's billed as a kids' show, but don't let that fool you; not everyone survives combat (despite what the increasingly-ridiculous propaganda vids say). Again, drama, excitement, and flashes of humour.
DIZZY: No guts, no glory!
RICO: No brains.
JENKINS: No kidding.

There's also Teen Titans, if you're in the mood for zany, caffeine/sugar-fuelled hilarity, with some moments of real pathos/drama thrown in. This show is just insane, and packed with in-jokes and visual references to other shows (especially animé), so it may be an aquired taste. Except for Raven. It's impossible to not love Raven. She's cool and sarcastic and morally-ambiguous and mean. It's like Dawn after hanging around Spike too long.

There's a lot of animé I'd recommend (all those shows I mentioned are American, though TT is heavily animé-influenced), but my tastes tend to be all over the board, so I'm not sure exactly what you might prefer. Also, I'm in Canada, where we've had maybe ten animé shows on TV, ever.

Currently I'm hooked on InuYasha (a fairy-tale story forced to exist in a non-fairy-tale world [people die, and make mistakes, and there's no "happily ever after"]), and Gundam Se

SPACECOWGIRL

Friday, July 1, 2005 2:33 AM

Quote:
I love Firefly.......and the Harry Potter movies (which I will vehemently deny should we ever meet face to face).

LOL I'm not afraid to admit it! I love Harry Potter-the books and the movies. I saw someone mentioned 'Veronica Mars'--that one's pretty good.

I really liked 'Joan of Arcadia' which alas was cancelled prematurely. (This seems to happen to most shows that I like). 'Joan of Arcadia' was a bit along the line of Buffy (in fact Joan was played by Amber Tamblyn who appeared as Dawn's friend Janice in the Buffy episode All The Way) Joan had a small group of odd friends and a secret life. There were some supernatural elements too. Season 1 is out on DVD.

"I aim to misbehave."

REGINAROADIE

Saturday, July 2, 2005 2:18 PM

Hey. I'm glad to see that there another guy here who really dug BOOMTOWN. I think Donnie is far better actor than Mark, and Neal McDonough deserves another show (and not that lame MEDICAL INVESTIGATION) just for David McNorris. McNorris has to be the most complex character ever created for network tv.

BOOMTOWN was like FIREFLY in that it really pushed the boundaries as to what a genre show can do. And even though it had only nine eps, I'm still waiting on the second season.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like ... ow ... ound ... round ... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?

DAELUS

Saturday, July 2, 2005 3:24 PM

'Nip/Tuck' is pretty good, although it's not sci-fi. You can get the first season on DVD.

Another good show, that's not sci-fi, is 'Father Ted'. It's hilarious, and you can get all three seasons in a boxed set for not too expensive a price, I think.

I'll also second the recommendations of 'Six Feet Under', although I've only seen season 1.

A good anime with a sci-fi/fantasy twist is 'Fruits Basket'.

Another good cancelled show is 'Freaks and Geeks' which deals with high school in 1980, specifically focused on the 'freaks' (as in, the potheads) and 'geeks' (as in sci-fi geeks, of course). Brilliant show.

"My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."

BASSGRAVI

Saturday, July 2, 2005 5:26 PM

SPORTS NIGHT! W007!

LISSA

Saturday, July 2, 2005 5:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BayBreeze1:
Seems nobody has mentioned "House". Sorry to say it's on FOX, who of course I loathe, detest, and despise. However, I'm not a believer in "cutting off my nose to spite my face" and just couldn't let my hatred of FOX keep me away from this great show. Daughter and I watch it every Tuesday at 9:00. It's in reruns now from its first season and has been given the greenlight on a second season. As a general rule I don't normally watch medical shows, but this show is just so great, tense, funny, etc. and Hugh Laurie who plays Dr. House is incredible! I HIGHLY recommend it!

I love "house!" i also avoid watching medical dramas, but this one is just...better lol. lugh laurie really is amazing, and my roommates and i all think he's incredibly sexy (2 of us are 19, the other 18). all the other characters are interesting as well. really good stuff here.

~lissa, spwhore

MIKEYMO

Saturday, July 2, 2005 6:39 PM

Well, first I have to second, third, or "nth" the calls for Veronica Mars, LOST, and Wonderfalls.

VM might be the best show I've seen since the last season of Angel. I honestly have trouble believing that it's not composed of Mutant Enemy writers, because everything from the long-arc pacing to the dialogue is just incredible. The lead never gets too "likeable" and cutesy - she's always somewhat hard-edged, and (within the story) with good reason. And it would have been really easy to go the Inspector Gadget route with this, since she and her father are private detectives. But her dad, instead of being a bumbling idiot, is just as good (and sometimes better) than she is. The supporting cast is excellent as well.

LOST is a bit more hit-and-miss, though it has a really compelling season arc and a lot of character development. David Fury wrote a couple of the best episodes, and Gavin from Angel S3-4 is a featured character. Like Veronica Mars, it never gets too black-and-white - every character has shades of grey, and a lot richer for it. Terry O'Quinn should get the Emmy or I'll have definitive proof that there is no God.

Wonderfalls has been mentioned so much that I don't really need to add anything to it. Suffice to say that it was the second project from the creator of Dead Like Me, and was run by Tim Minear. Gold, baby!

Also, I have to mention Space: Above and Beyond. It's hard to describe why I loved the show (especially since it's been a few years since I've seen an episode), but it has some of the elements of really good science fiction. The space physics are good (always a plus), and the characters are really compelling. It also has to be said that Joss credited an episode of this show as being the precursor to the Buffy episode Hush - that is, almost entirely silent. It's impossible to get your hands on at this point, though I heard (on this board, even) that DVD sets are going to be released later this year.

Other shows I watch or used to watch:

The O.C. - Stop laughing! Peter Gallagher is the man. Look at those eyebrows! They have the thespian power of three mortal men! Anyway, the writing for most of the first season was clever. Last season sucked balls.

Gilmore Girls - I said STOP LAUGHING. This show has the most consistently funny dialogue of nearly any show I've seen. Jane Espensen spent a year or two as writer/story editor, and it was a perfect match. Some classic characters - the daughter's nemesis/friend, Paris, makes me laugh every time she's on screen.

24 - Next year, David Fury will be executive producer. The show is a tour-de-force for Kiefer Sutherland. The internal consistency (of the real-time format) is laughable bad, it sometimes offends my personal politics, and the storylines get hilariously grandiose toward the end of the season... but I still love it. It's a 24-hour action movie. Especially recommended would be watching an episode, then reading the recap on Television Without Pity. Enjoy TWoP's efforts to determine where CTU HQ could be, seeing as it's 5 minutes away from every location in Los Angeles. Your nitpicking enjoyment could never be greater. Also, during the season, my friends and I play a Monday night drinking game:

1 sip what someone is "just doing their job"
1 sip whenever the word "time" is said
chug a beer when the words "there's no time" or "we're running out of time" are said (usually 2-4 times per episode)

OK, I've gone on for a while. Enjoy.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

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