Worst piece of go-se series either mercifully canceled, or painfully given lots of time for suckage
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 21:03
VIEWED: 5414
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They shoulda done a spin-off: "Dog-Boy: The Series"
"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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I never cared for Babylon 5, but worst piece of go-se?
Meh. Not my cup of tea, but I'm not the sort to throw stones or berate anyone for not agreeing with me.
"The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal."
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Uh, no one said B5 was bad. I used it as an counter example.
"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:I've heard nothing but good things about it, writing-wise.
Originally posted by Storymark:
Uh, no one said B5 was bad.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:I've heard nothing but good things about it, writing-wise.
Originally posted by Storymark:
Uh, no one said B5 was bad.
I never cared for it. Gave it more than one chance, too. I think it sorta sucked a bit less on the 3rd attempt I gave it, which may have been the series finale'??? I'm not even sure, I cared so little.
But I was replying to the thread. And while *I* wasn't thrilled w/ the show, I still wouldn't call it go-se.
Pardon for any confusion.
"The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal."
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:I've heard nothing but good things about it, writing-wise.
Originally posted by Storymark:
Uh, no one said B5 was bad.
The laughing Chrisisall
The first season is the weakest but it does have points and plots that play out in later seasons so it is necessary for the whole picture. The acting can sometimes be a let down as well, especially in the final season.
But take it all in as one big story and you have a fantastic achievement that has one of the best stories out there. A brilliant show that was far ahead of it's time.
On topic:
Shows that should have been cancelled:
Desperate Housewives
CSI: Miami (I actually like the other two)
Heroes (after the first season)
Any reality show
Merciful cancellations:
Knight Rider (new)
Bionic Woman (new)
"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall
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Quote:That WAS a piece of mercy, sir!
Originally posted by lwaves:
Merciful cancellations:
Knight Rider (new)
Bionic Woman (new)
The laughing Chrisisall
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First, thoughts on a few series that have been mentioned in this thread:
STARHUNTER: How'd they get Michael Pare to do a crappy Firefly fan-made series?!?
ANGEL: Cancelled too soon. Ironically, a lot of the series was not great, but just as it was finally living up to it's Whedon'y potential--axed, of course.
I definitely wish it had been given another season... but not if it was gonna be based on the crazy comic book we got.
BABYLON 5: For the first three seasons, this was one of the best-written series on TV. (Note that I say "best-written," because the visuals and special FX were like a poor man's TREK, and a lot of the cast was pretty terrible).
Unfortunately, although JMS had a master plan, he was (not surprisingly) shafted by his network. He intended to do a 5-year series, but was told he was going to be cancelled in 4, so he squeezed all his key stuff from years 4 and 5 into the 4th season. THEN the network renewed the show for another year, leaving them scrambling to find a story arc from the remnants of what they hadn't used.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: Personally, I think it was a decent show, but incredibly overrated. Most of the characters were flat and nuanced only in their varying degrees of misery. The show was unrelentingly dull and dreary. And the plot often heavy-handedly moved characters around like pieces on the chessboard. For all that, though, it's still entertaining most of the time (except for that crap finale).
As for having a grand plan vs not having a grand plan... A GOOD can get away with having no plan, but a GREAT writer probably will have a plan. a BRILLIANT writer, however, WILL have a broad plan, and that plan will be flexible enough to weather contact with the enemy (network execs, actors, etc). It's the difference between writing toward something, and making it up as you go along.
From the first moments of FIREFLY: writing toward something. Lots of BSG: making it up as you go. LOST and X-FILES are great examples of this theory, I think, because both series went through various stages of both. (I firmly believe that neither Abrams nor Carter expected their signature shows to last more than 2-3 seasons, though, which explains why their shows floundered in the middle).
Now, on to the actual topic of the thread:
MERCIFULLY CANCELLED:
Lone Gunmen (good concept, weak execution)
Invasion, Surface, Threshold... Were these the same show?
GIVEN TOO LONG TO SUCK:
X-Files (4-5 seasons would have been more than enough)
Lost (floundered because it went at least 1-2 seasons too long)
Smallville (I actually still enjoy it, but it has floundered terribly during its run)
www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."
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Very thoughtful & well laid out, GWEK!
The laughing Chrisisall
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Thanks. I wanted to add more to the cancelled list, but my fingers hurt from typing. :)
www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."
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