Random Movie Talk XII: A Locker Full of Hurtin'

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lazarus said:
Well, I'd recommend starting with the man who took the show into the stratosphere, and has long been the audience favorite, Tom Baker. He played the role for seven years, and went through several companions, script editors, and show-runners, so there's a decent range of stuff from his era.

As far as what is available on DVD, I'd probably start with these, all of them rated very high by most fans:

1. The Pyramids of Mars
Great script, the best companion (journalist Sarah Jane Smith), some creepy villains, and a decent amount of on-location film to balance the soundstage video stuff.
2. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Victorian-era London period epic and homage to Sherlock Holmes from the man considered the show's best script writer, Robert Holmes. Companion here is the savage warrior Leela.
3. The Robots of Death
A good murder whodunnit in Isaac Asimov territory, with some additional influence from Dune. Again, with Leela.
4. The Ark in Space
One of the highest viewer-ratings in the show's history, kind of an Alien vibe, stuck on a space station with a predator on the loose. Also from Robert Holmes and with companion Sarah Jane Smith.
5. City of Death
Co-written by Douglas Adams (of Hitchhiker's Guide fame), shot on location in Paris, and one of the most flat-out entertaining (and funny) stories ever. John Cleese cameos, as does Leonardo Da Vinci, and the companion this time is fellow Time Lord and genius Romana.
6. The Leisure Hive
This last one isn't actually a big fan favorite but to me it's pretty hard sci-fi and one of the more interesting stories from the late, moodier period of this Doctor. Companion again is Romana.

Anyway, pick one or two that sound the most interesting and see what happens. Key thing to remember is that these are mostly shot on video and look cheap as all hell, with dodgy special effects. Of course this is something Survivors shares (though it has more location work on film) and Blake's 7 looks even cheesier (and was on air around the same time). It's really about Tom Baker and the writing. If for some reason you can't get into Baker, the guy before him (Jon Pertwee) is older and a bit more of a serious action guy, and the one after (Peter Davison) is younger and more sympathetic. Though I'd probably just tell you to skip ahead to the new series.
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This is perfect, thanks.
 
Since I'm so woefully ignorant of most contemporary western television (but seriously, fuck TV anyway), I think I'm going to start making an effort to watch a number of the more acclaimed and promising series I've completely ignored. First up I think is going to be Deadwood. Then Twin Peaks. After that I could go anywhere really if I still feel like it. Possibly The Wire.
 
Yeah, I really want to sit down someday soon and run through Twin Peaks. I watched the pilot online a couple months back and adored it. Thought it was fascinating, and MacLachlan's character was hilarious. But I haven't really been in the mood or found the time to start the rest of it.
 
How many seasons was Twin Peaks? I've never watched it either. One of my friends has a man crush on Deadwood. I need to watch that as well.

Speaking of catching up with television series I've always wanted to see, my Blu-Ray copy of the complete series for Firefly finally showed up today.
 
Twin Peaks was 2 seasons - pretty sure.
I only watched it live back then on network TV. (perhaps on a VHS tape if I was out the one night it was on)

I enjoyed it alot back then. Don't know how it stands up over time.
 
Season one of Twin Peaks is, for me, outstanding.

Season two is very up and down.

Worth checking out, I feel, even now.

Lance, fuck you if you elect not to watch The Wire. Though, good on you for starting with Deadwood.
 
I'm sure The Wire is as good as everybody says it is. However, it terms of interest I can't help prefer a good Western and some Lynch over a show about fucking Baltimore.
 
Awesome, Netflix streams it like it was a "full screen" shitty old television show too. Why the hell aren't all of their movies streamed as wide screen?
 
I was actually trying to watch Twin Peaks recently, but I'm too busy to get into it at the moment, later in the year maybe.

As for The Wire lance, shame on you, if shows like that were actually popular then intricate and intelligent series might actually get greenlit more than once a decade. Show me another show that had its entire series run planned out and executed like that. I'm so pumped for David Simon's new series Treme, being a huge fan of his work and having a softspot for NOLA and it's musicians, oh and it has a pretty awesome cast.
 
powerhour24 said:
As for The Wire lance, shame on you, if shows like that were actually popular then intricate and intelligent series might actually get greenlit more than once a decade. Show me another show that had its entire series run planned out and executed like that. I'm so pumped for David Simon's new series Treme, being a huge fan of his work and having a softspot for NOLA and it's musicians, oh and it has a pretty awesome cast.
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...the fuck?
 
Lancemc said:
Since I'm so woefully ignorant of most contemporary western television (but seriously, fuck TV anyway), I think I'm going to start making an effort to watch a number of the more acclaimed and promising series I've completely ignored. First up I think is going to be Deadwood. Then Twin Peaks. After that I could go anywhere really if I still feel like it. Possibly The Wire.
Click to expand...

Those are the three series I most want to get into after I catch up on Weeds and Mad Men, along with The Sopranos and Dinner for Five.
 
If only most television series didn't feel the need to go on for so damn long. OK Six Feet Under, I'm sure you're swell, but did you really need to tell your story over 6 whole seasons or whatever?
 
At least be happy that cable seasons are shorter than their network counterparts. It'd be daunting as hell to try and watch all of MASH or The West Wing.
 
Lancemc said:
If only most television series didn't feel the need to go on for so damn long. OK Six Feet Under, I'm sure you're swell, but did you really need to tell your story over 6 whole seasons or whatever?
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Five seasons, but who's counting? Yes, SFU is great, but it's certainly dense. I'm still meandering through the third season.

Mad Men S3 tomorrow. Hop on it, YLB.
 
I watched S1 of Mad Men, loved it, got excited for S2 on Blu... never watched it. Don't care any more. Shows are too long.
 
I partially agree with that. Great TV can be as rewarding as great films, but a box set of an entire season is a pretty daunting undertaking. Still, I've got no doubt that you'd enjoy S2 and S3 as much as the rest of us. It's just infinitely easier to knock out one a week as it airs.
 
I'm sure I would enjoy it, but finishing S1 and seeing S3 just start on tv, I got the feeling the show just had no end in sight. And I've been burned before by a series overstaying its welcome and turning to shit. (relative) Brevity or "narrative economy" is not a virtue any western show runners or networks tend to display, but I feel it's one fairly essential to the success of a long-form work of storytelling like this. Which isn't to say a series can't succeed as a whole over two or three "seasons" of whatever length, but it takes a great deal of skill.
 
Fair points, all. Mad Men, much like The Wire, has a plan though. It's not sticking around past five seasons. But I absolutely understand what you're getting at, which is why I get involved in so few TV dramas. I quit watching Dexter for the exact reasons you're giving.

As a side note, my italics habit is taking a big hit after my move to Google Chrome. Thanks a lot, lack of WYSIWYG support.
 
It's good to know Mad Men has a predestined structure at least, and hopefully they aren't just faking it *cough* Lost *grumble*. I might have to get back into it at some point then.
 
It's staggering how many shows have no plan beyond year one.

The Wire was a notable exception, and their seasons were 13 episodes each, I think, except for Season 5 which was 10. It also shifted focus, if not out of Baltimore then at least towards different issues plaguing the city.

Deadwood was of course brief but brilliant.

Fucking Babylon Five, of all things, had a clear-cut plan from the jump, very rare for American TV.

Even Galactica, which I liked a lot, was sort of winging it towards the last two seasons.

I never read that Mad Men had a long term plan in mind but I'm glad to hear that someone else did.
 
Imps, Madmin's at the top of the QUEUE! though it's on Short Wait already.

Oh, Lost. I'm still planning on holding out until the series ends to watch it all at once, mostly to see the mostly obnoxious fan reaction to the ending that will inevitably disappoint them.
 
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