Tell me what to watch, O flist!

[snick_backup]

Today I'll finish S2 of The West Wing and the next season isn't available for Netflix streaming. However, all sorts of other good things are! Here's a bunch of the shows I've been meaning to watch for years. Here, decide for me! And feel free to stump for your choices in comments.



[Poll #1629589]

Comments

[dipenates.livejournal.com]

Also: if you do watch Veronica Mars and feel like writing some fic, that would be the very pinnacle of awesome. (Or not. As you wish.)

[snickfic]

Hee. Noted. My fic-writing inclination towards non-SF/fantasy canon seems to be about nil, but it could happen!

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

I voted for several shows I like, but oh my goodness, you must watch Farscape! Many people have that reaction to John in the beginning - it will not last. He becomes a very complex character. Who makes Buffy references! And Aeryn Sun is perhaps my favorite female character, ever. And that's just John and Aeryn - the supporting characters are wonderful. Even the ship is a character! And FS has one of the most delicious villains ever. And a great redemption story (more than one, actually). The first season is a typical first season, meaning it's a lot of set-up for what's to follow, but once you get to season 2, it's just amazing.

Okay, I'm done pimping now. *g*

[snickfic]

Hee! Duly noted, and pimping totally appreciated. Those first few episodes were hard, yo, but I hung on through BtVS S1, so I should give other shows the same chance, yeah? And I do know a number of sensible people who squee over it, so.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I actually really like most of these. Babylon 5 & X-files are some of my favorites ever. I got about as far in farscape as you did though for the same reason.

I love Dexter, but I can only watch so much before I get seriously squicked. I watched the first two seasons as a marathon-- I don't recommend that method!

The first season of Veronica Mars is great. Season 2 was OK, though the ending IMO was terrible. Season three was kind of meh.

But New Who is probably my personal favorite at the moment. And each season is only 13 episodes so it doesn't take all that long to catch up!

[snickfic]

I'm not actually committed to watching all of VM (or of The X-Files, for that matter) because I've heard from a lot of people that it lost its sparkle after a while. But yeah, I'd heard the first season was marvelous.

I've seen about six S1 eps of Dexter (in order, but not all contiguous) when CBS was running them on Sunday nights. You're right, about once a week was all the serial killer voiceover I needed.

New Who! New Who looks so very shiny, and so very many people I like love it and have Opinions about it.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree on VM - the first season is wonderful, but it's all downhill from there.

I love Dexter, too - but yes, once a week is probably enough. *g*

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

First two seasons of VMars you should definitely watch. S3 you can ignore completely. I do!

[jalixx3.livejournal.com]

X-Files: I was disappointed when I watched this as an adult. They never do anything with the characters, and nothing is ever resolved. I really find it annoying that Mulder believes Everything and is always right except that he mock's Scully's tentative Catholic faith. That said, there is some good action, funny stuff, and scary stuff, and Duchovany is hott. I would recommend you watch the monster-of-the-week episodes and not seek continuity. (The season with Scully and Doggett has some good episodes, too, despite what people say.) You can look for any list of recommended episodes, but most people leave off "The Unnatural" from Season Six. Don't miss the episodes with Krycek either.

Babylon 5: Probably way too cheesy for you, but it is now my favorite discontinued Sci-fi series. The acting improves in the second season, and the characters stop saying their lines so fast. (Maybe a change of director?) Free on Netflix.

Dr. Who: Far cheesier than Babylon 5, and hardly sci-fi. You will have to turn off your rational brain occasionally. There is an episode where the Dr. dives headfirst to the center of a planet with no comment, and this is considered one of the best episodes. Quality is extremely variable, but it is a lot of fun. The companions hurt my feminist sensibilities, though. It is free to stream on Netflix.

Deep Space 9: I was so disappointed in this show. The characters are depressed a lot and ham-handedly deal with Issues. (You don't like Battlestar Gallactica, right? Well, this show is not that serious, but it tries to be sometimes.) People who like serious sci-fi like it the best of all the Star Treks, but people who like cheesy sci-fi only like the Ferengi episodes and select others, in my experience. I recommend The Ascent in the 5th season, in particular.

Dexter: It's so good! I recommend this one first. Dexter has a snarky and frightening running commentary in his head serving as the show's narrator. The main appeal is the conflict between Dexter's potential redemption and how much is life is going to be messed up if he slightly misses the mark (rather than completely avoiding redemption and living a safe, hollow life). None of the characters is a "good" person, so it's interesting that Dexter is the one trying the hardest. There is, of course, the problem of all the murdering...it is usually not on-screen, though. Sometimes free on Netflix.

[snickfic]

I have no very high expectations of X-Files except the hott factor and occasional creepiness, and also rewatching the episodes I've seen before and liked (carneytown ep, chicken factory ep, novelist-interviews-Scully-and-Mulder-about-close-encounter ep).

Actually, not too many expectations for Dr. Who, except that it will be fun and have an interesting SF setting every so often. (I have a bit of a thing for David Tennant, as well.)

I remain skeptical of the very concept of Dexter, and yet I was impressed with what I saw and so many people have such very high praise for it. And it's in the lead now. So we shall see.

[next_to_normal]

Heh, this reminds me, I haven't done a TV poll for myself in a while. Of course, I still haven't finished all the top shows from the last poll I did, so... lol.

[snickfic]

Heh. Well, this one should keep me busy for a while...

[deird1]

Was there any doubt about which ones I was going to choose for this? I mean, really...



(With Farscape and AtLA, you really have to get past the first season - as with BtVS. They're good, but the later seasons are way better.)

[snickfic]

There really wasn't any doubt. What amuses me, though, is that Farscape has exactly four votes in each poll; ie, those who like it, really like it. You vocal minority, you. *g*

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I went with VMars and New Who because I love them so very much, though I suspect you would love different things about them than I do.

I also voted for AtLA because I am currently watching it, and wouldn't that be fun to watch together?

[snickfic]

It would be fun! On the other hand, I haven't been much good in the past at following along with someone else.

Speaking of - I just finished The West Wing S2. Like, ten minutes ago. I appreciate that the writers brought the tools of high drama to the finale - storm, ghost, crisis of faith, 80's soundtrack, the works - after a long season of carefully avoiding it.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm kind of watching it sporadically, so I wouldn't expect us to really synchronize because I think we'd both fail at that. ;D

It's good, isn't it? And YES the high drama. The show knows when it to use it and when to dial back, I think.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't get that by "the New Who" you were talking about Dr. Who. It seemed likely, but it could also have been a show I never heard of. I am adding it to my choices. Choices, BTW, which are strongly affected by the fact that I've never watched some of these, so no idea if you would enjoy them or not.

[snickfic]

Sorry. That's what I get for trying to speak the lingo, I guess. *g*

Oh, this isn't just a poll for which I would enjoy the most. It is, a little, a poll of what you'd most like me to watch. *g*

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

Actually, I recommend Leverage. It's like X-Files, only so far the uberplot makes sense and proceeds in a sensible fashion, and the female lead exists for more than the male lead's angst.

Also, Joshua Jackson is hot.

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

and the first few episodes are available online through Hulu!

[snickfic]

I've heard vaguely of Leverage, but not from anyone I knew personally. I might check it out. I know it has Lindsey, from Angel, who had the prettiest eyes in the Buffyverse. So there's that.

Joshua Jackson! I knew I recognized him in the promos from somewhere, but I couldn't place him.

Also, have I mentioned that your happy John icon makes me happy? It does. All your Sherlock icons make me happy. (And I have a very nice student who looks awfully like Moriarty, which I shan't tell him.)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I say VM to see how to do SoCal high school right, and because Veronica is awesome, as is her eventual crew (and boy, is she not always right, even when she is). The New Who because it just gets better all the time. Like whoa.

TV party!

[snickfic]

It's interesting, comparing the social dynamic of VM to that of BtVS. Neptune High is just a more complex place than Sunnydale High. (And more colorful, too - look, they have Latinos in Neptune! Alas, they all seem to be verging on juvenile delinquency.)