Thread: Supernatural
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Old 07-13-2010, 03:38 AM   #42
Apathy's_Child
 
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So is it worth starting with series 3? Is the quality of the storylines drastically different, or just marginally?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger View Post
By the way, AC, there's a lot of programs on TV that have a good idea at the core of them but don't end up as good as most of us think they ought to. Television, more than any other medium, forces so many compromises on the creative process that I'm amazed anything good gets on the air at all. So I'm probably more forgiving of "oh what could have been" shows than you are.
True. That's why I don't really watch TV except on recommendations, or from lucking onto things channel-hopping. My girlfriend and I don't even own a TV set - pretty unecessary, when you can get more or less everything online.

Last series I watched was Breaking Bad after getting it recommended - to be fair, most things were going to suck compared to that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger View Post
Mostly because I have no desire to go write television shows myself. I was going to ask you about that, but you answered with the fanfiction line.
Nah, I was just being facetious about that. The wanting to rewrite it is just an irrational habit I get every time I see something - TV show, movie, piece of writing - that I feel has potential but just misses the mark. I have absolutely no desire to write for the screen in any way; I kind of feel that it's an inherently bastardized medium, given the number of factors you're held hostage to in bringing the project to fruition (something that concerned me when I started playwriting, though luckily I have a few good buddies with their hand in that shit whose ideas I can usually jam with. Still, I do sometimes have trouble reliquishing control of something I've written to someone else).

That's not to say a good movie or TV show can't ever be as good as a good novel in and of itself. Just that I think I'd bust a vein in my temple even in the unlikely event that I were lucky enough to catch a break doing that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger View Post
I do have a question for you, though. If the episodes of this show that you saw were crap, and Buffy is a notch above that, what in your opinion is a good prime-time live action supernatural ghost/monster hunter type of show? I'm not asking to be sarcastic, but to get your honest opinion.
To be honest, I don't hate Buffy as much as I probably sounded like I do up there. it's not really my thing, but my girlfriend has a huge affection for it, and after being forced into some okay episodes I was forced to admit that I'd been unduly harsh on it. It's a decent show, with a satisfyingly tight and consistent mythology of its own, good characterization and a strong script. Personally I find it too juvenile, but that's the nature of the beast given its target audience, and it's good for what it is. It's certainly a lot more sophisticated than Supernatural - both morally, and in its use of the monster as metaphor.

As for your (very specific) question, I guess the only thing that really springs to mind are certain episodes of Angel. Somewhere between shameless attempts to emotionally manipulate the viewer and disappearing up its own ass, I think that show occasionally struck gold.

EDIT: You may think I'm stretching this a bit, but I thik the inclusion of Dr. Who would also be justifiable, since most the aliens are essentially monsters.
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