TV Meme: Day 01

[moonshayde]

All right. I'm play. I haven't done a meme in ages. Let's see if I can finish this one...

Day 01 - A show that should have never been canceled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

This one is a tie for me for two different reasons.



Firefly: This show was pretty awesome when it first aired. Shows usually take a while to hook me, and I was hooked on Firefly after 2 episodes. Sadly, there were only 13 episodes total and some weren't even shown on Fox. heck, Fox had a hard enough time showing Firefly in its normal timeslot.

Really, this show didn't deserve to go when it did. It could have been something amazing, though I guess maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I'm not a big Whedon fan and I cringe to think what he might have done to my fave characters after a few seasons.

Dark Angel: I just only watched this show a couple of years ago on DVD. I didn't get into it when it aired on TV, mainly do to my irrational hate of James Cameron. But I was super impressed with S1 and think this show had amazing potential. S2 was pretty much junk in the plot department, but the new characters of Joshua and Alec were pretty darn awesome. I wish it hadn't been canceled because I held out hope that maybe S3 would have gone back to the family/gritty roots of S1 and left the...I don't even know WHAT to call whatever S2 was. So I keep wondering where it could have gone because so much character growth potential was there.

Comments

[purpleshrub.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I agree with you on both of those. I think I maybe trust Whedon a little more than you-not that his choices on shows are always my choices, but I think he usually has reasons for what he does and plans more than the schizophrenia of a lot of shows.

I never saw season two of Dark Angel. A part of me wants to, for Jenson Ackles. But I'd heard somewhere that season two ruined the show for some people, and thought "why risk it?" What I always liked about that show was one of the leads in a wheelchair. That maybe sounds bad, but it's just something different and I think the media tends to portray people with disabilities as almost asexual, and definitely marginalized. I'm not sure Max was as strong a character as she was meant to be-too sexualized for me. But the show did seem to have promise.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah I can't really advise you whether to check out S2 or not. I came to the show long after the fact and watched it solely for Jensen. I was warned about S2 in advance. S2 didn't ruin S1 for me, but it did make me mad in terms of lost potential. For fans of the show who don't want S1 ruined, maybe I would pass.

But there are some great episodes in S2 and aside from the crappy plot and some questionable choices, the new characters are outstanding. Alec and Joshua were really wonderful written and cast. It's a shame they were stuck in a bad season plot, LOL.

I wish they had kept Logan in a wheelchair :(

[shardsofblu.livejournal.com]

Well that reminds me that I *must* finish watching Firefly some time. :p I've only watched 4 episodes so far, and I really like what I've seen so far although I'm lacking in actual motivation to continue watching the series. I feel the same way with Farscape, which I've stopped at S1.

Granted, I haven't watched that much TV but most of the time I feel like it's almost better for them to be canceled or have as few seasons as possible. They're always better that way, the creators shape up and are focused on their stories, and they all go out with a bang-up finale or an absolutely crazy cliffhanger. Sure I'd be sad and all, but I'd rather have that a million times than to be continually frustrated when they start to drag things out.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Firefly is a good series. It has it's flaws, like anything else, and I find a couple of the characters fall into stereotypes a little too well, but it's an enjoyable series to watch and I wish it had at least made it a full season. If anything, I'd watch for the western/space feel.

I agree with you for the most part on your comment about short series vs long series. I think in the beginning, the writers and actors tend to very committed and focused on the story and the characters. They tend to reach a peek in quality in the season 3-4 range, generally, although that is not always the case. I think a good run for a series is anywhere between 4-6 seasons, IF the series can sustain itself that long. So series can't. Some series are meant to be only a season or two because of the story. I wish that the entertainment industry would see it that way.

(And so many movies don't need sequels, oy.)

But I do get frustrated when a show ends on an intense cliffhanger because the studio pulled out. I HATE THAT.

And I think that is why so many shows hold back. they are afraid to do something with a long arc that is amazing because they never know if they are going to be renewed. Then you get one year arcs that are hastily rewritten.

Looking at you, Smallville.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Good shows! DA was just getting interesting to me and FF - that was just crap that it got cancelled! I was so pissed!

*hugs*

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I knooooow.

[vanae.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I felt about Dark Angel. I think that what I always enjoyed most about that show was its potential. I only ever caught a few episodes when it was on TV… of season two. I didn’t like anything about it but this cute guy riding a bike, who turned out to be this lovable character named Alec. Anyway, caught it on dvd an really enjoyed the idea of these transgenic super soldiers escaping from Manticore, the family aspect of it, the futuristic environment etc. It could have been so good and it sorta was for most of season one (hell, I even liked Max). I dug the premise. Season two was a clusterfuck of awfulness. I'm not even sure what it was about and ended up not really caring much either. I only managed to get through it because of my love for Alec, Joshua and Original Cindy... and, I suppose, the hope that it would turn at some point :(

I'm with you on Firefly too. One of the few shows that I've loved right away.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I know! Dark Angel is one of the biggest mysteries of all time for me. I was so surprised how much I liked S1. The characters were likable, realistic, and flawed, but still sympathetic. I really liked Max. I felt for her. She just wanted to find her family and she was learning what it meant to be human.

By S2, there was so much different and wrong I don't know where to start. I can't even explain WHAT is wrong with it. On paper, the season sounds fine: a bunch of transgenics that Max let loose are having trouble assimilating. It makes sense that many would be failed experiments. It makes sense Max would want to clean up her mess. I loved the new characters, especially Joshua. (Despite Jensen Ackles being the reason for me to watch Dark Angel, it took me a while to really like his character here.) But the execution? OMG. Still no sure what they were smoking.

But I still mourn for what it could have been.

[vanae.livejournal.com]

Me too. After first finishing the dvds, I turned to fandom in the hopes that it would provide me with something to fill up the void of lost potential. Seemed to me that if there was ever a foundation for a good fandom this show would be it. Alas, not only was the fandom long dead when I found it, but what was there didn’t live up to my expectations of fandom creativity and talent. What everyone else got from the show wasn’t what I was getting either, and most disappointing was the dominance of the Max/Alec ship which I did not see at all :( *sigh*

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Same here. I've read a couple of good ones, but it's mainly all Alec/Max ship or even Alec/Logan I see a lot of. I don't ship Alec/Max or Alec/Logan. I mean, it's nice that a lot of people like Alec and all, but I would love something more in line with the show, you know?

[vanae.livejournal.com]

I don't really ship anyone on that show except for Max/Logan and that's mainly just because it's canon (I liked them as a couple, too, up until season two when both characters turned unsympathetic and got increasingly annoying together). To me, there's just no basis at all for Alec/Logan (I guess some people really do find the need to implement slash everywhere) and very little for Max/Alec. I'm with you on wanting something more in line and in tune with the actual show. What I'm really looking for with fic in that fandom is something to fill in the missing pieces and develop the undeveloped of canon. Create depth. Something I think the Supernatural fandom has been really good at.

[vanae.livejournal.com]

And I freaking love that icon!

[vanae.livejournal.com]

... the Alec one ;)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Oh the badass one? That is one of mine, so if you like it you can have it.

[vanae.livejournal.com]

Yays! I only have room for fifteen icons, so I'll grab it and save it for when I can afford coughing up the money for a paid account ;)

Seriously, though, good job on it. It's awesome and... smooth.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

And do you know how they canceled Dark Angel? Let me tell you!

The show had been on the bubble. I was very much hoping they would use s3 to straighten out the mess s2 had been, capitalize on the two good characters they'd introduced in s2, and make it a stronger show. It was probably not going to be renewed . . . and then came the announcement that it had been! They'd ordered a third season of DA!

This was followed within a couple of days by, "Whoops, changed our minds!" The brain trust at Fox had been looking at a pilot that they thought had promise, but they didn't think it was quite ready. So they had the writer rewrite part of it, which he did on a plane. When they got it, they picked it up and canceled DA to make room in the schedule. Of course, the guy was Joss Whedon, and the show was Firefly.

Then Fox decided they really didn't like his show all that much after all. They started it in the summer, shunted that pilot that they really liked to a later slot in the season, and started with a random episode that began with a bar fight. We got no further than the bar fight before turning it off. It was only after several people insisted we get the DVDs that we put it on a Christmas list and got into it.

Fox killed DA so that they could take a show they then never gave a chance.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I think you've told me this story several times and it still makes me sad (and angry).

I lived through the Firefly debacle. Color me surprised when they showed the pilot months later. I just sat there with my mouth open because now the darn show MADE SENSE. Oy. But I really liked Firefly within two episodes. At the time, I didn't know DA had been thrown under the bus for it.

I never thought I would like DA as much as I do. I mean I like it enough to keep wanting to write fanfic. I sometimes read fanfic for it. I really, really like it. And it's inspired me a lot in one of my own fiction works.

I'm still blown over S2, though. I don't think I will ever stop ranting about it. it sounds so good on paper but the execution is something terrible.

I need more DA icons.

[clockwork-sky.livejournal.com]

Who would hate a man who can beat his own previous blockbuster with a film about Green(tm), sexualized and athletic smurfs?

How's that irrational?

[vella-amor-dm.livejournal.com]

so much love for DA!