Really specific cry for help.
Nov. 8th, 2019 06:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
callunavPls help.
I need TV. Rather, a new TV series. I need something new to get absorbed in, something new for my thoughts to revolve around besides work. Unfortunately, if I'm going to get sucked in, I have a stupidly specific list of requirements. So here goes. If you can think of anything that meets most or many of the requirements, I would be infinitely grateful for ideas.
I usually gravitate toward SFF, but not exclusively.
- At least three seasons already out. I can't binge on something that only has a few episodes.
- Occasional humorous touches, but not comedy. I don't like things where it feels like the creators of the show believe that if they haven't made you laugh in the past 3 minutes, they're failing.
- Not a drama completely about relationships. I get sick of watching angst-filled relationships, especially since 90% of the angst could be resolved with one good, honest conversation.
- At least one main character I find likable and not morally objectionable, whom I can enjoy identifying with.
- On that note, a bit of heroism never goes amiss.
- Reasonably good acting and writing.
- Dear God, no major or ongoing tension based on love triangles, I can't even.
- Story arcs/continuity/character development. I don't like shows that seem to hit a reset button between the end of one episode and the start of the next. Fortunately, shows with continuity are a lot easier to find now than they were before ~2000.
- Not a requirement but can be good: if they're done right, some disturbing relationships or abusive/objectionable situations, as long as A: I'm going to like the victim more than the perpetrator (there's that 'characters I enjoy identifying with' thing), B: it's clear that the show - not necessarily the characters, but the subtext of the show - knows it's wrong, C: there's some resolution in sight.
And here's the really sticky one:
- Nothing really tense or really suspenseful. I'm feeling fragile and anxious almost all the time right now, which means my tolerance is really low. I can't cope with horror, even in books that I've read before, let alone in something new and more immersive. A few episodes in a row where tension ramps up is fine, but I can't wait an entire season for some resolution. No horror, nothing jumping out at me from around corners or incidental music working relentlessly on my nerves.
This one's a problem because it's really difficult to find a balance between 'enough tension to keep the viewer's interest and attention' and 'aughstressful.' Also, it's very subjective, which makes it hard to make recommendations. Sorry.
- Fringe. Bizarre concept of continuity and ridiculous non-science, but some wonderful performances and characters and good suspense of plot. Also, quietly gorgeous cinematography and use of color. Lots of wonderful sneaky details that reward rewatching. The horror aspects were usually so over-the-top that I didn't have to buy into them. Anna Torv ended up playing...uh...five? versions of her own character and one terrifying performance lasting a couple episodes of Leonard Nemoy. Completely amazing. One genuinely boring main character, but Lance Hendrick, Anna Torv, John Noble, and, startlingly, Blair Brown were awesome enough to carry it just fine. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 5th season, but I can live with only having 4.
- Stargate SG-1. Seasons 1-8 ridiculous, and yet awesome. I liked MacGyver, but the older Richard Dean Anderson has that screen magic that can sometimes eclipse everyone else on stage. Fortunately, it's handled well, and Amanda Tapping does a great job complementing his performance. The chemistry and slow evolution of connection between their two characters is a thing of beauty. The individual episode premises are often superficially stupid, but tend to have something not at all stupid running underneath. And there are some episodes that are really magic.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aw yeah.
- Stargate Atlantis: Some really good story happening there, running underneath the episode plots, and some good performances. A strong 'it's always more complicated' trend when it comes to antagonists which I really loved, and Christopher Heyerdahl is mesmerizing.
- Shoujou Kakumei Utena/Revolutionary Girl Utena. Here we have the disturbing relationships thing working out really, really well. I like the surreality, the likability of the main character, the intriguing ambiguity of Anthy, the way everyone has a story, and how the actual content both suits all the hearts, flowers, huge eyes and glowing pinks and water-colors, and also doesn't.
- Criminal Minds. Love the ensemble cast, the sense of a show by and large written by, for, and about intelligent people. For a general lack of moral ambiguity, you can't do better than stopping serial killers, and the occasional murky plotline was all the better for it. Eventually (around season 6) had to stop because the horror elements got too much for me. Also, I don't actually like like Shemar Moore's character, and he started becoming more and more important important - as far as I'm concerned, the only interesting thing about about him was his friendship with Garcia. I heart Garcia.
- West Wing. Again, intelligent writing as well as witty, and a strong ensemble cast. I liked a lot of the characters a lot. Eventually (season 3, I think?) couldn't cope with feeling like I was being forced to laugh every 5 minutes. The show show could have held its own without the compulsive humor.
- Marvel: Agents of Shield. Around season 3, there stopped being any characters I felt happy about identifying with, and the tensions between characters weren't enjoyable. I loved May, of course - how can you not? - but but it's hard to identify with her.
- Vision of Escaflowne. Fantastic protagonist for the first 2/3 of the show (and a wonderfully disturbing antagonist). Then the character learns that all her own strengths are actually making things worse, and what she needs to do is believe (hands clasped, eyes wide, altogether now: 'Shinjite iru!') in the two male heroes. Bah. The show starts out being a really interesting refusal to fall into shoujou or shounen categories, and then devolves to the point where keeping the balance just means the female characters have shining big eyes and hearts and flowers, and the male characters have giant mecha to fight with. BAH. There's some good music, though.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was starting to wear out hard on the endless bad communication as a source of tension and story, and then I hit the start of season 5 and I was gone.
- Babylon 5. I was /such/ a fan at the time. But I got frustrated by the simplistic moral/existential lessons of the show, never really managed to like Sheridan, liked but couldn't get really interested in Delenn, resented the loss of Ivanova, and then hit Byron and just lost it. I never finished the 5th season and have never regretted that decision. I'm sure there are several good bits, but Garibaldi, Bester, Londo, G'kar, and Vir stopped being enough to keep me watching.
Thoughts for new shows? Please? Help?
Edited to correct a few of the more egregious typos/errors.
I need TV. Rather, a new TV series. I need something new to get absorbed in, something new for my thoughts to revolve around besides work. Unfortunately, if I'm going to get sucked in, I have a stupidly specific list of requirements. So here goes. If you can think of anything that meets most or many of the requirements, I would be infinitely grateful for ideas.
I usually gravitate toward SFF, but not exclusively.
- At least three seasons already out. I can't binge on something that only has a few episodes.
- Occasional humorous touches, but not comedy. I don't like things where it feels like the creators of the show believe that if they haven't made you laugh in the past 3 minutes, they're failing.
- Not a drama completely about relationships. I get sick of watching angst-filled relationships, especially since 90% of the angst could be resolved with one good, honest conversation.
- At least one main character I find likable and not morally objectionable, whom I can enjoy identifying with.
- On that note, a bit of heroism never goes amiss.
- Reasonably good acting and writing.
- Dear God, no major or ongoing tension based on love triangles, I can't even.
- Story arcs/continuity/character development. I don't like shows that seem to hit a reset button between the end of one episode and the start of the next. Fortunately, shows with continuity are a lot easier to find now than they were before ~2000.
- Not a requirement but can be good: if they're done right, some disturbing relationships or abusive/objectionable situations, as long as A: I'm going to like the victim more than the perpetrator (there's that 'characters I enjoy identifying with' thing), B: it's clear that the show - not necessarily the characters, but the subtext of the show - knows it's wrong, C: there's some resolution in sight.
And here's the really sticky one:
- Nothing really tense or really suspenseful. I'm feeling fragile and anxious almost all the time right now, which means my tolerance is really low. I can't cope with horror, even in books that I've read before, let alone in something new and more immersive. A few episodes in a row where tension ramps up is fine, but I can't wait an entire season for some resolution. No horror, nothing jumping out at me from around corners or incidental music working relentlessly on my nerves.
This one's a problem because it's really difficult to find a balance between 'enough tension to keep the viewer's interest and attention' and 'aughstressful.' Also, it's very subjective, which makes it hard to make recommendations. Sorry.
- Fringe. Bizarre concept of continuity and ridiculous non-science, but some wonderful performances and characters and good suspense of plot. Also, quietly gorgeous cinematography and use of color. Lots of wonderful sneaky details that reward rewatching. The horror aspects were usually so over-the-top that I didn't have to buy into them. Anna Torv ended up playing...uh...five? versions of her own character and one terrifying performance lasting a couple episodes of Leonard Nemoy. Completely amazing. One genuinely boring main character, but Lance Hendrick, Anna Torv, John Noble, and, startlingly, Blair Brown were awesome enough to carry it just fine. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 5th season, but I can live with only having 4.
- Stargate SG-1. Seasons 1-8 ridiculous, and yet awesome. I liked MacGyver, but the older Richard Dean Anderson has that screen magic that can sometimes eclipse everyone else on stage. Fortunately, it's handled well, and Amanda Tapping does a great job complementing his performance. The chemistry and slow evolution of connection between their two characters is a thing of beauty. The individual episode premises are often superficially stupid, but tend to have something not at all stupid running underneath. And there are some episodes that are really magic.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aw yeah.
- Stargate Atlantis: Some really good story happening there, running underneath the episode plots, and some good performances. A strong 'it's always more complicated' trend when it comes to antagonists which I really loved, and Christopher Heyerdahl is mesmerizing.
- Shoujou Kakumei Utena/Revolutionary Girl Utena. Here we have the disturbing relationships thing working out really, really well. I like the surreality, the likability of the main character, the intriguing ambiguity of Anthy, the way everyone has a story, and how the actual content both suits all the hearts, flowers, huge eyes and glowing pinks and water-colors, and also doesn't.
- Criminal Minds. Love the ensemble cast, the sense of a show by and large written by, for, and about intelligent people. For a general lack of moral ambiguity, you can't do better than stopping serial killers, and the occasional murky plotline was all the better for it. Eventually (around season 6) had to stop because the horror elements got too much for me. Also, I don't actually like like Shemar Moore's character, and he started becoming more and more important important - as far as I'm concerned, the only interesting thing about about him was his friendship with Garcia. I heart Garcia.
- West Wing. Again, intelligent writing as well as witty, and a strong ensemble cast. I liked a lot of the characters a lot. Eventually (season 3, I think?) couldn't cope with feeling like I was being forced to laugh every 5 minutes. The show show could have held its own without the compulsive humor.
- Marvel: Agents of Shield. Around season 3, there stopped being any characters I felt happy about identifying with, and the tensions between characters weren't enjoyable. I loved May, of course - how can you not? - but but it's hard to identify with her.
- Vision of Escaflowne. Fantastic protagonist for the first 2/3 of the show (and a wonderfully disturbing antagonist). Then the character learns that all her own strengths are actually making things worse, and what she needs to do is believe (hands clasped, eyes wide, altogether now: 'Shinjite iru!') in the two male heroes. Bah. The show starts out being a really interesting refusal to fall into shoujou or shounen categories, and then devolves to the point where keeping the balance just means the female characters have shining big eyes and hearts and flowers, and the male characters have giant mecha to fight with. BAH. There's some good music, though.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was starting to wear out hard on the endless bad communication as a source of tension and story, and then I hit the start of season 5 and I was gone.
- Babylon 5. I was /such/ a fan at the time. But I got frustrated by the simplistic moral/existential lessons of the show, never really managed to like Sheridan, liked but couldn't get really interested in Delenn, resented the loss of Ivanova, and then hit Byron and just lost it. I never finished the 5th season and have never regretted that decision. I'm sure there are several good bits, but Garibaldi, Bester, Londo, G'kar, and Vir stopped being enough to keep me watching.
Thoughts for new shows? Please? Help?
Edited to correct a few of the more egregious typos/errors.
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