Unpopular Geek Media Opinions

[Bedrockgames]

@Staffan
Babylon5 is not prestige TV. In addition to the fact that they had to do a lot of "monster of the week" episodes early on, it also lacked a few of the the hallmarks that we think about today in addition to the complete serialization (high budget etc.).

@Ryujin
I can't even. The X-Files' best episodes were, by far, the stand-alone episodes. The "mythology" episodes were only decent until you realized that there was never actually any point to them.

Regardless, people can (and do) argue about the proto-shows. Oz? Hill Street Blues? Buffy? Sure. All those and more. But Sopranos definitely marked a stark diving line in terms of television product.

Sopranos definitely marked a stark dividing line for sure. And I would say it is maybe my favorite show after I, Claudius. But I also do like Babylon 5 and can see its influence on these shows.

Maybe it is my tendency to prefer things in their proto-phase, but while I love Sopranos and enjoyed Breaking Bad well enough, I miss shows that had really great stand alone episodes and monster of the week. The more the long form story trend on TV went on, the more I found I wasn't as into it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

The idea that "serial" is new completely misses a huge force in television for decades: the daytime (and sometimes evening) Soap Opera.

It is interested that one of the most derided formats has become the norm. Also some shows seem to be aware of this (Cobra Kai pretty much markets itself as a Karate soap opera now)

 

[MGibster]

I'd argue that there is a separate sci-fi line that started seeing increasing serialization in the late 80s and especially in the 90s, with shows trying out variations of the "monster/problem of the week" with some type of overarching ideas that were loosely involved in the "arc" of the show.

And once more I'm thinking about Friday the 13th: The Series! Each week our heroes encounter another cursed artifact they're trying to return to their late uncle's evil antique store.

 

[Reynard]

There aren't enough examples of the Super hero genre outside of comic books and film/television. While there are some novels, many tend to be deconstructionist in their attempt to be "literary" and short stories are even rarer. Our oldest stories are super hero stories and I think we could use more examples of the genre in forms beyond comics and film: poetry, prog rock concept albums, mockumentary books, etc.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

And once more I'm thinking about Friday the 13th: The Series! Each week our heroes encounter another cursed artifact they're trying to return to their late uncle's evil antique store.

Weirdly, I always think about Andromeda and Earth:Final Conflict, two shows that started out great, only to turn into utter and total crud.

(For different reasons. E:FC ditched the lead actor and the good writing and most of the interesting serialization to chase "Derp Action" after the first season, while Andromeda got totally Sorboed.)

 

[Deset Gled]

And once more I'm thinking about Friday the 13th: The Series! Each week our heroes encounter another cursed artifact they're trying to return to their late uncle's evil antique store.

I'd argue that Friday the 13 is more of the "designed for syndication with a strong central premise", similar to Star Trek: TNG.

My go-to example show for sparking the return of the serial story to prime-time TV in the US would be Twin Peaks.

 

[Ryujin]

Weirdly, I always think about Andromeda and Earth:Final Conflict, two shows that started out great, only to turn into utter and total crud.

(For different reasons. E:FC ditched the lead actor and the good writing and most of the interesting serialization to chase "Derp Action" after the first season, while Andromeda got totally Sorboed.)

In the case of "Andromeda" the line of demarcation is starkly at the point where Sorbo obtained more creative control. Mush the same formula as with why "Buck Rogers" season 2 sucked.

No idea what happened with "Earth:Final Conflict" but from season 3, onward, it was a dumpster fire.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I'd argue that Friday the 13 is more of the "designed for syndication with a strong central premise", similar to Star Trek: TNG.

My go-to example show for sparking the return of the serial story to prime-time TV in the US would be Twin Peaks.

Good call! That said, the idea of the prime-time soap was common in TV- from Dallas to Falcon Crest, there was a long history of the prime-time soap opera.

I would say that Twin Peaks fell into the "soap-adjacent" category, similar to Hill Street Blues or St. Elsewhere. Heck, from a certain perspective, even shows like L.A. Law would arguably be put in there as well.

We forget this now, but Law & Order (which originally aired in 1990) was a reaction AGAINST the serialization that had become common in TV with cop/law/medical shows.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

In the case of "Andromeda" the line of demarcation is starkly at the point where Sorbo obtained more creative control. Mush the same formula as with why "Buck Rogers" season 2 sucked.

No idea what happened with "Earth:Final Conflict" but from season 3, onward, it was a dumpster fire.

I referenced it in my post, but what happened was this-

They had a great concept and a gr... good lead actor. But they decided to chase the derp viewership (people more interested in fight-y fight-y than thinking) and recast the lead to a younger star, and get rid of most of the mystery and thought and turn it into a straight-ahead action show with a lower budget.

The first season was far from perfect, but it remains one of the great "what ifs" in terms on science fiction in the '90s. The delta between the first season and the ones that follow is arguably greater than anything other than, maybe, Dexter's first and last seasons.

 

[Ryujin]

I referenced it in my post, but what happened was this-

They had a great concept and a gr... good lead actor. But they decided to chase the derp viewership (people more interested in fight-y fight-y than thinking) and recast the lead to a younger star, and get rid of most of the mystery and thought and turn it into a straight-ahead action show with a lower budget.

The first season was far from perfect, but it remains one of the great "what ifs" in terms on science fiction in the '90s. The delta between the first season and the ones that follow is arguably greater than anything other than, maybe, Dexter's first and last seasons.

The what was obvious, but I tend to wonder more about the who. What they did in the second season could have been salvage, going forward, but they just kept saying, "hold my beer."