Re: TV discussion
I don't watch a lot of TV, which means I don't hear about things until they've been on and then I either have to watch them on DVD or catchup, which means I skip the adverts and miss other TV shows that might interest me. Ever decreasing circles and all that.
Ben said:
I finished watching season 6 of Dexter tonight.
It was a bit crap, but better than 3 and 5.
Netflix is excellent as I can start watching shows like this that otherwise it's difficult to get into after you've missed a few episodes on a channel without catchup (then it's a series you've missed, etc, etc.
So watching Dexter series one now on Netflix and it's average to good. I like the concept, but like most US dramas the actual content is cliched and obvious. The bit that's "twisted" (which makes it
not a run of the mill cop drama) is interesting and raises the level of the series. I also like that America have finally understood a story arc is a thing. So better than most, but still not superb. I do want to watch more and more episodes though so it's got to have something about it. It's not like House or Lie to me where I watch it just to take the piss, or The Walking Dead to see if it will ever get as good as people think it is
On live, real TV I'm watching the BBC documentary series about the Crusades which is a little early for my interests, but still quite informative. Also watching a series on BBC4 about cataclysm survivors; species that have lived through mass extinctions. It's a little annoying, but it's great to see some very odd and ancient creatures still around today. Though obviously it's all lies as the world has only been around for 4,000 years, but science is a renegade like that and enjoys making stuff up to back up their wild and crazy beliefs
On DVD I'm trying to plough through the entire collection of Babylon 5, which was (for me) the top TV series of the 90's. An entire 100+ hours of story written in a 5 series arc before Lost was even a minor glimpse in the eye of anyone. Things in the very first episode don't become relevant until another series and characters and plots entwine cunningly through the whole series. It helps that it's light entertainment too
From the 90's there was this and Buffy, and Buffy learned a lot about creating a story world from Babylon 5. Sadly the series went rapidly to pot with Warner never promising to renew while a series was being written. So each series was neutered just in case they never got the budget. In the end, the plots and episodes suffered from a hint of desperation to complete the story. Oddly, Babylon 5 never went over budget and never failed to make Warner money at
any point, they just didn't understand the concept of having a story world and arc that meant you had mysteries that wouldn't be solved for years to come. Something that has proven over the last decade to be a necessity with American drama.
Watching it again, it IS cliched and very wooden and poor in parts, but the story is king and with that it excels.
