television!

[jazzfish]

I have a vague desire to drown myself in television. Which of these, o lazyweb, would you recommend? (ETA: I've seen none of these except the BSG pilot)

• Babylon 5
  
• Farscape
  
• Battlestar Galactica
  
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
  
• Something else entirely

(No poll because I'm more interested in the Whys.)

Not that this will be happening anytime soon: the next four months or so are kinda busy. But once we get settled I may do something like 'i made my wordcount for the week so i get another episode of X.'

Comments

A few thoughts...

[elf.livejournal.com]

First: What jsciv said. BSG is ultimately about a cast of characters (and a full society) that is dealing with PTSD. The back drop is certainly sci-fi, and events/technologies/etc are generally used to explore the characters - as opposed to vice versa. It has it's technical flaws, to be sure - but it's absolutely worth the watch and grabbed me in a way no television show has done before (or since).

Does it deliver everything you end up wanting to? No. But I think the reason it's so polarizing is that it *did* grab so many people, and had such an incredibly invested audience - a feat in and of itself. There were a lot of poor choices made in terms of timing and delivery (for those of us who watched as it came out) that alienated a lot of viewers - and the writers did, in many ways, take on things that were too big for them. Criticisms re: lack of a plan are spot on. But all the same it's a very moving and addictive piece of work.

Farscape is at turns whimsical and entertaining and involves things created by the Henson workshop. It's fun - and while it has some overarching story arcs, there's nothing about it that makes you ache for the next installment. It's like mass market candy or paperbacks - there are things which make it endearing and enjoyable, but on the whole once you step away it's pretty forgettable.

B5 I'm a lot more critical of then anyone on your list so far has been. I thought it looked pretty bad when it came out - and age has done little for it. I've tried watching it a couple of times (and suffered through quite a bit of it), and I found that when I was willing and able to look past the camp, bad acting, and budget issues it's ...okay. From speaking with the fans in my circle(s), the best I can gather is that the love for it is primarily a nostalgia thing. To be fair: I have NOT seen the entire series, so perhaps there's some big pay off at the end I'm unaware of.

I'm a fan of having a well planned story arc in general - and I respect B5 for trying to bring that to an american sci-fi audience weaned primarily on monster/planet of the week series. It just didn't do it effectively (for me).

Long answer short: BSG is absolutely flawed and technically challenged. But in spite of that it's incredibly compelling in a way that neither Farscape nor B5 ever come close to pulling off.

Re: A few thoughts...

[jazzfish]

That is quite a spirited defense of BSG, and much appreciated. Thank you!

Are the 'poor choices in timing and delivery' still problematic (or made worse) by watching it 1-2 episodes a week?

And, I take it you've not seen Avatar?