Best TV series of the 21st Century, so far.
POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Monday, May 19, 2008 03:03
VIEWED: 22931
PAGE 5 of 8
Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
[BMax, much like Mal, starts off not believing in herself..she's a self-justifying thief, lost, searching for who she is from outside herself, and along the way we find out that she is a hero, although again, like Mal, she'd deny it.
The dialogue is crisp and often ironic or funny, and the humanist social commentary is always there.
Maybe because I'm an only child I really 'get' the search for her 'brothers & sisters'- her only family- in a dark and often unforgiving world.
Chris, DA had it's moments, but it's not a Great show. That is Great with a cap G, as in "Lincoln was one of the Great presidents"
I've said this before. DA aired in 2000. This means it was written 1998-1999. What was on TV right at that moment? Season 3 buffy. Place Max (season 1) and Faith (season 3) side by side in your mind's eye. They are the same. Forget the hair, that's just the final layer of copycat character writting. Max and Faith together are concerned about the exact same things and disregard the same people for the same reasons. Both are super-human young women. Both are thieves. Both are angry deep down. Both have similar moments of epiphany regarding their own moralities. The one marked difference twixt the two is that Max chose to rise up at her personal moment and Faith chose to sink further.
DA occasionally does good things with storyline. The best character in the whole show is Max's boss at the courier service, "Normal". That was his name, or rather their nickname for him because he's a walking sterotype of life drudgery. I have always remembered when he was asked permission by the jamacian for a day off. His response was "I've always wanted to take June 12 off but I don't" When asked why the answer was "Because that was the B-day of George Herbert Walker Bush, president #41" The absurdity of that statement coupled with the fact that Normal said it (and believes it) made it the single best line of the whole show.
As for the rest of DA, at times it is apt...but there are too many sci-fi cliche' moments for me. It's an orginal world idea poorly executed. After finishing the 2nd season I was frankly ready to just move on...or as Normal would say: "bip bip bip"
Do not fear me. Our's is a peaceful race and we must live in harmony.
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Quote:I fully disagree with ya, at least as far as the first season goes. I think it was golden.
Originally posted by bluesuncompanyman:
It's an orginal world idea poorly executed.
To each their own...Chrisisall
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I shall cease arguing with the road warrior of the northeast.
I respect your belief it was golden.
Do not fear me. Our's is a peaceful race and we must live in harmony.
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
To each their own...
Yep. It's amazing how much tastes vary, even within a group who passionately share a specific fandom. There are shows on this list I consider flat-out bad, or at best mediocre (and there are some real howlers on the "Best movies of 2007" thread). Even on shows we like in common (someone above mentioned the first season of Farscape was the best, which I felt was shakey, and got really good in season 2 and 3 - just for example), there are different takes.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Quote:
Even on shows we like in common (someone above mentioned the first season of Farscape was the best, which I felt was shakey, and got really good in season 2 and 3 - just for example), there are different takes.
I get what your saying. There's always going to be aspects of things half of us hate and the other half love. Sometimes that aspect will be the entire premise of a series.
About Farscape I just liked season one the best, I think since it was so original. I've never actually rewatched the series at all, if I did I may change my mind. I can tell you I absolutely abhor The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries. I couldn't believe that such a great cast could do something sooo terrible. No one seemed to be taking it seriously at all and their acting was the worst I've ever seen any of them perform. I'm sure some of you feel differently, that's ok.
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"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." Albert Einstein
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Quote:It's like how a poem can make one person cry, and another stare at the wall waiting for it to be over. Firefly touched my soul...so did Dark Angel, and Buffy (last two seasons especially). Not many shows can do that...Kung-Fu and the original Trek did some come to think of it...but a lot depends on what we as individuals bring to the party.
Originally posted by Storymark:Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
To each their own...
Yep. It's amazing how much tastes vary, even within a group who passionately share a specific fandom.
Introspective Chrisisall
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Firefly
Macgyver
The Office
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In no particular order (kinda). And since we're talking best shows and not favorite, I'll unfortunately have to leave Torchwood off of the list (though it pains me greatly to do so).
1. Firefly - Do we need to ask? 
2. Angel - See above. 
3. Buffy - Same here. 
4. Doctor Who - Damn you BBC, for making shows so good, but making us Yanks wait a year to see them.
5. Oz - Different from it's contemporaries on the list, but certainly worthy of extreme praise. Not for those with a weak stomach, though.
6. Pushing Daisies - Haven't been quite so floored by a show since I started with His Jossness. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait to see the last few episodes I missed until the strike's over.
7. Life On Mars - I'll admit, I've only seen three episodes. But the way in which this show is handled is a fascinating, thought-provoking romp. And John Simm really doesn't hurt.
8. House - I loves me some Hugh Laurie. But in addition to the aforementioned yummy goodness, the show's well written, and does a wonderful job of handling his character.
9. Heroes - The writing can be up and down, but after "Company Man", I couldn't not put it here. Great acting, and a great story.
10. Lost - I'm being generous here. The last season didn't really hold my interest, along with a good portion of the second. But the first season renewed some of my faith in TV. So on the list it goes.
ETA: Forgot a couple.
11. Law and Order: SVU - Grumble about it being a procedural all you want; Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay make this one shine above all others.
12. Monk - I hate to base a show's quality on acting alone, but Tony Shalhoub's portrayal of Monk is enough for me.
13. Six Feet Under - I only watched the first couple of seasons, but this had nothing to do with quality. It was the fact that the characters reminded me so much of my own crazy family, I had to put some distance between myself and it. Great acting, and great story all around.
"This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow."
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I totally agree with you on that, chris. Even though I'm a sci-fi geek, I also love more reality based stuff in terms of stories about real people in the real world experiencing real life situations. So I'm really into indie movie as well as HBO dramas that deal with that stuff. That makes the ordinary extraordinary. This is why as much as I love FIREFLY, HEROES, LOST, DOCTOR WHO and these great genre shows, to me the best show so far of the decade as in the one that's affected me the most is SIX FEET UNDER, since it deals with one of the few taboos left in society (death and how one deals with it), it has characters that I feel I know personally (especially Nate in particular since I think I'd react to a lot of the same situations the same way as he would, except for the whole cheating on pregnant wife thing at the end of the series), and the plotlines, while on the surface seem very soap operaish, really get under your skin and really get you emotionally enveloped and devastated. I defy you watch the season 3 finale, the 4th season premiere and the last three eps of the series without your heart breaking or your eyes welling up.
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"And it starts with a sentence that might last a lifetime, or it all might just go down in flames. If I let you know me, then why would you want me? Each day I don't is a shame. Each day I don't is a great shame."
Loudon Wainwright III - "Strange Weirdos" off the "Knocked Up" soundtrack
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