Really specific cry for help.

[callunav]

Pls 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.

Comments

[xyzzysqrl]

My first thought is "Have you heard the good word about Yuri!! On Ice?", then I realize that it is in fact quite a bit about relationships and is also quite short.
And then 'Due South' is a police show and thus somewhat stress-inducing, as well as the reset button.
'Legend of Korra' likewise gets slightly dumb about relationships.
'The Good Place' is a comedy, which is unfortunate for purposes of this list as it might work otherwise.

So I'm not sure I've seen anything recently that WOULD be to your tastes, but I hope my musing about why not is in some way assistful.

[callunav]

Well, see, this is why I said 'many or most', and really, if I hadn't started writing it at 6 am and been rushing, I might have come up with a better word than 'requirements' altogether. Nothing is likely to meet everything to the letter (and, heck, maybe something actually would and then I wouldn't like it for more nebulous reasons, and I'd feel idiotic). So recommendations like these which give me some sense of what to expect are actually awesome.

The reset button is probably a hard no, but the others I will keep in mind.

In other words, yes, the musing about why not is very assistful. Thank you!

[julian]

Legend of Korra is basically the sequel to Avatar.

The Good Place is v. good, but isn't done yet. (Is in its last season.)

I've always wanted to watch Due South, which isn't pertinent to you, but this is a reminder to myself.

[jeffy]

I second _The Good Place_. I listen to the companion podcast and the host calls it "the smartest dumbest show on tv". Give it a few episodes because the show reinvents itself repeatedly throughout the run. It's a 30 minute show so not a huge time investment to see where it's going.

_Elementary_ ticks pretty much all of your boxes. Very nice take on the Sherlock Holmes archetype. Lucy Liu's Joan Watson is wonderful, and Jonny Lee Miller makes Holmes's personality more human than many versions. It gives me some of what I miss from Criminal Minds. And they never even hint at the possibility of any romantic feelings between Joan and Sherlock. Their relationship goes through lots of evolution, but never that.

_Orphan Black_ came to mind reading your list, but maybe too tense/suspenseful. It's more of a "one big mystery" kind of show with very smart writing and incredible acting, but there's constant peril and some horror elements. Maybe if the world stops burning so aggressively you might want to give it a try.

_Farscape_? Weird SF space show with a couple of characters portrayed by Henson puppets. Peril far enough removed from our reality to make for escapism rather than stress. Good ensemble. I've only seen the first couple seasons because it disappeared from all streaming services on me. But it's back on Amazon Prime now. I'm told it ends on a cliffhanger, but there's a posthumous miniseries that tidies that up, I guess? I need to get back to it.

[pameladean]

Have you seen "Slings and Arrows"? It's a Canadian show, three seasons, long episodes, about a struggling theater. Its ideas of pacing and of what is important are not like anything else. It's hilarious and also deeply moving. It adores plays, it loves Shakespeare, and it dances effortlessly with Shakespeare. There is a kind of love triangle early on, but I don't care for those much either and I was okay with it. It's taken lightly. Not by the characters, but by the narrative. I don't recall that it lasted long, but I could be wrong.

P.

[callunav]

I loved Farscape, and for some reason never made it past the start of Season 3, either of the times I watched it. I should try again. Among a lot of the more obvious things to like about it, I was fascinated by the complicated dance Crichton's body-language did with gender norms.

Thank you for all of these - they definitely sound worth checking out.

[callunav]

That sounds excellent, and no, I've never encountered it. Thank you!

[xyzzysqrl]

Oh that both sounds really good AND has Paul Gross in it.
I may look into that myself.

[quiara]

I wish I could recommend Dickinson here. I can't, not because it's bad but because it's relationships (and gay!), snark and only one season. It's delightfully weird so far, though. I like to see queer joy because it's so rare and there are some really great examples of it in Dickinson so far. Unfortunately, anything I'm likely to think of, you've probably already seen. I'm currently rewatching the 7 seasons of The Mentalist. It's not perfect, but it's entertaining enough. I hate being in that position, though: really wanting to consume a certain type of media that scratches a particular brain itch and not having anything at hand to do that.

[pameladean]

Paul Gross is EPIC. His character is not always sympathetic, but when he is he's amazing and when he isn't you just want to tear out your hair. A really good performance all around.

P.

[callunav]

I just had another friend mention Dickinson today. It does sound like fun, and like something I'm glad exists, even if it's not what I'm looking for right this moment.

[quiara]

I don’t watch a lot of video media - movies, TV, clips in general - but I got a year of Apple TV+ free when I had to upgrade my phone and clicked on it after hearing some friends talk about the premise and it’s been enjoyable so far. Just ...depictions of queer joy are rare in so much media; I’ve been lapping this up. I forget sometimes she was an awkward teen writing emo poems and fighting against a world that told her she didn’t belong. Ms. Emily absolutely would have been on LJ if it had been an option and I’m a little mad the timeline conspired against that happening.

[callunav]

It's been ages since I watched any TV - last year, I think, maybe a year and a half ago, I watched a slew of new movies, especially looking for Spanish language movies or Spanish dubs of English-language movies I already liked. But I've been rereading books I like until I just can't anymore, and I'm too restless/prickly/stressy to do well with new fiction sometimes, but a new TV show would probably work better.

[quiara]

Oh, I have nothing against TV. Videos just increase my baseline anxiety level. I still binge random things sometimes - GBBO is fun and the only reality show I like. I will usually wait for a new season to finish and then binge it all and then go several months without seeking another video experience. But sometimes it’s exactly what a stressed brain needs, and that’s valid.