Overrated/Underrated Geek Media

[Willie the Duck]

I wasn’t part of geek culture in those days. I formed my opinion of those shows on my own.

Wonderful, but isn't the topic of discussion whether these IPs are under- or over-rated by the community at large others, not ourselves? I'm not sure how this statement pertains to my point.

*Edited because people have not been catching my intended meaning.

 

[Zardnaar]

<quotes cut to cover singular topics>


This is why I think thread like this need more first post defining of terms. To me, under/over-rated suggest what those that know a thing think of the thing. If more people should know about the thing, that would be a thread about what would be more popular. Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is a prime example -- nearly everyone who still knows about the thing seem to agree that it's wildly better than it need to (or had any right to*) be. Based on my interpretation, this falls into correctly rated. But if not-known-by-enough**-people falls into underrated, than it decidedly is underrated.
*based on being an 80s toy-commercial tv show, not based on the talent behind it
**as many as ought to know about it


This is another 'what are the definitions?' situation. To my mind, Babylon 5 and Deep Space 9 are both over-rated by geek culture because -- well, how could they not be? Nothing that is merely great television could live up to the online geek consensus surrounding these shows. Most non-universal cancer cures or lesser forms of world peace would be over-rated if they had the same general perception as these two shows have with online geek culture*.
*western audience of young boomer to young millennials who would have been watching tv in the 90s that... etc. etc. etc. (whatever the actual demographics are, you know what I'm getting at).

Anyways, that's a bunch of theorizing about the boundaries of the question. Trying to match how others are using it (what isn't good that lots of people say is; what is good that not enough people say is), I will nominate:

Overrated: the sci fi work of Larry Niven. Not as popular as he was in the 70s and 80s, but still pretty universally acclaimed when brought up*. Here my main complaint is repetition. I enjoyed the first of his works I read (The Mote in God's Eye), but each subsequent book I read I saw the same characters (with different names) going through the same dynamics, setting up the same man-of-action vs women/intellectuals within group conflict surrounded by a different interesting sci-fi set piece. *keeping politics and personal foibles out of the discussion.

Underrated: This breaks my personal interpretation of the rules, since most people who know of them do like them*. However, I think The Chronicles of Prydain are really solid young adult literature that deserve both more praise and attention, and recognition as one of the first and more influential post-Tolkien fantasy series that helped define the field in the 60s. There's no denying that Alexander saw the Hobbit/LotR come out and said, 'this is the template I should follow,' but he already had the seed of his story from being stationed in Wales during WWII, and that gives his tale a uniqueness that other immediate-Tolkien-followers lacked. They are interesting novels worthy of sharing with your kids.
*minus those who only know the Disney movie and dislike it.

DS9 probably gets over rated due to it's consistency. By Star Trek standards it's great start to finish. By other Sci fi standards it's good. I suspect Trekkies use curated episode lists for a lot of the shows.

B5 is better imho I think it deserves a high placing. It's not my favorite. It's probably the best or second best 90s Sci fi show. Other contenders being Farscape and Stargate SG1.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

DS9 probably gets over rated due to it's consistency. By Star Trek standards it's great start to finish

Move along home.

 

[Zardnaar]

Move along home.

Well even trekkies admit TNG, Voyager (DS9 contemporaries) have big issues early on. First 2 seasons of TNG are very very rough.

Other shows have way better season 1s.

Stargate SG1, Babylon 5 and Farscape are all roughly contemporary /90s.

One of the DS9 guys did BSG reboot iirc?

 

[MarkB]

Wonderful, but isn't the topic of discussion whether these IPs are under- or over-rated by the community at large?

Is it? That's not stated in the OP.

DS9 is highly rated within a fair portion of Star Trek fandom, but it's still one of the less-known Trek shows in wider SF fandom, let alone general audiences, behind both TNG and Voyager.

 

[payn]

DS9 probably gets over rated due to it's consistency. By Star Trek standards it's great start to finish. By other Sci fi standards it's good. I suspect Trekkies use curated episode lists for a lot of the shows.

B5 is better imho I think it deserves a high placing. It's not my favorite. It's probably the best or second best 90s Sci fi show. Other contenders being Farscape and Stargate SG1.

I love them both dearly, but after a recent re-watch its confirmed, B5 is just outclassed by DS9 in nearly every way. Budget, set design, acting talent, writing, etc..

 

[Zardnaar]

I love them both dearly, but after a recent re-watch its confirmed, B5 is just outclassed by DS9 in nearly every way. Budget, set design, acting talent, writing, etc..

Probably gave to watch DS9 more.

B5 dies look worse comparatively. I like the story better.

DS9 has really good character development not just relative to othervtrek shows.

I'm wondering if you grew up with TNG let's one overlook certain things. 3 characters soak up way more screen time tgan the rest, character development isn't great, first two seasons are fairly bad.

I don't mind a roughfirst season but even then it's often relative to what came after. I suspect TNG would get canceled if it screened 20 to 30 years later (assume it had contemporary special effects).

DS9, SG1, B5 have kinda slow season 1 but they're not that bad.

 

[Umbran]

Agreed. I'd add "Ryan Reynolds." He's funny(ish) and talented at what he does, but a little bit goes a long way, and we never get just a little Ryan Reynolds.

I used to think that, but then I enjoyed The Adam Project and Free Guy. I realized that it was Deadpool I had an issue with, not Reynolds.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

underrated: the raw creativity of 80's toy commercials. So many great ideas for rpgs and I have tried my best to steal...er crib them all.
Overrated: Song of ice and fire/Game of Thrones. it felt like an teenaged alien wrote this series and it's attempt to make it unpredictable made it predictable in it's own right and worst, completely unlikable characters. Defiance did Game of thrones better in every conceivable way.
Underrated: Defiance. the show rocks my socks and I never knew I wanted to watch Graham Green feud with space elves.

 

[Greg K]

Overrated: James Bond.

007 has some cool gadgets and some good quips. But as you actually go through the catalog, you'll find that the average Bond movie is completely forgettable action schlock, the lows are really low, and the high points aren't that high. There's plenty of bad Bonds, not to mention the sexism and racism. The franchise has run on nostalgia for decades.

Given a choice, I'll take the Sean Connery movies and the Daniel Craig Casino Royale and ditch everything in between.