Nine hundred and ninety-nine of whom read this one page and then hit the back button on their browser. So sadly, my readership will dwindle back to its regular size once the link disappears from Whedonesque’s front page (tomorrow I suspect). All the same, thank y’all for visiting. It was nice of you to stop by.

And many thanks to those of you who left comments. Mahulahoop, you’ve been lauding those seasons of E.R. for a good while now. To be honest, I just can’t get behind any show set primarily in a hospital (early episodes of Scrubs, when it was at its weirdest, are exceptions… but comedy in a hosptial is just about bearable; when you’re being asked to take the plight of the patients — and the doctors — seriously, I just find the whole setting too bloody depressing).

As for The Sopranos; I enjoyed the first season and a half. I thought it was damn fine television. But then I missed a couple of episodes and figured I’d wait until it was repeated so that I could catch up. That was three or four years ago now, and I’ve felt absolutely no compulsion to seek it out again. As good as it was, it just made no real lasting impression.

And hallo to Zoe. Mahalia tells me you’ll be over on this island for a few months over the summer. We must get together and discuss parsnips some time.

Vinity, I must admit to having seen very little of Farscape. But what I did see, didn’t grab me. I found the ‘muppet’ characters a little difficult to take seriously I’m afraid. And I’m increasingly irritated by ‘aliens’ who are merely humans with a bumpy forehead or coloured skin. That said, I certainly haven’t watched enough to pass comment on the quality of the writing, which is really my primary interest.

Tom and KS, I recall being intrigued by the trailers for Carnivale but I never saw any of it. And now I’m not sure I will. I’d have difficulty starting to watch a TV series that I knew from the outset was ‘unfinished’. I did it with Firefly simply because I’m in love with Mr. Whedon’s ability to write characters and dialogue. I’m not sure I’d do it with any other show. Watching two seasons and then having it all end with an unresolved cliffhanger would be too much like starting to read a novel you knew was missing the last two chapters.

dmhWQS, Friday Night Lights, The Wire and Freaks and Geeks are three shows I’d never even heard of until your comment (and subsequent back-up from Michael and Steve). I still don’t know anything about them, but I’ll definitely file the names away in my memory should any of them get an airing / repeat here in Ireland. As I mentioned, I’m not watching a whole lot of television at the moment, so I’ll probably not seek them out just now. But thanks for the recommendations all the same. As I say; I’ll keep an eye out for them in the future.

To be honest, dmhWQS, if you didn’t dig Millennium first time round then you probably won’t now either. Even more than The X-Files, it was very much ‘of its time’. Frank’s visions become increasingly apocalyptic as the clock counts down to the year 2000. The fact that the changing of the century passed with something of an anti-climax, makes it difficult to take seriously the tension generated in the series by its approach.

Also, I do rather disagree with your assessment of television in general…

Considering how many books and movies are terrible as well and how much time there is in a day for reasonably respectable channels to broadcast TV shows along with the money required, I think television is doing pretty damn well and getting better every year.

I couldn’t agree more with your implication that the vast majority of books and movies are terrible. Indeed, the vast majority of any popular art tends to be dross. But I honestly feel that television has only very recently matured to the point where anything at all good can be done with it in an artistic sense. And as a medium, it will always struggle, because of the very reason you hinted at… the money.

TV is driven by commercial concerns in a way that even the movie industry isn’t. In the past ten years, there’s been a number of excellent films made independently and on a shoestring budget. That sort of thing is next to impossible in television because of the way networks and studios operate. And because the success of a television show is tied — almost exclusively — to the amount of advertising revenue it can generate, the networks and studios find it very difficult to take genuine risks (hence the early demise of Firefly… and I assume, Carnivale too).

Now, of course the industries behind movies and books (and music) are also dominated by commercial concerns. But the direct link between the desires of (usually very conservative) advertisers and the ‘product’ / ‘artwork’ doesn’t exist in quite the same way. And while indy movies, music and small-press books can exist and indeed thrive, there’s very little chance for the same to occur in television. This isn’t ‘the fault’ of any of the artists working in the television industry, but it is a fact of life. And as a result, television produces far less quality ‘art’ than films, books or music manage.

In my view.

Snake, again, I’ve never even heard of Dexter but I’ll keep an eye out for it should it get a showing / repeat over here. The same goes for Heroes, dreameling. Though comparing it to Unbreakable probably wasn’t the best recommendation from my viewpoint. I’m not what you’d call a fan of Mr. Shyamalan. I thought The Sixth Sense was pretty average, and everything else he’s done since has failed to reach the low bar it set (Signs may well have been the most ridiculous movie made in the past decade… aliens attempt an invasion of earth but it turns out that they find water highly toxic. Quite aside from the fact that our atmosphere is 3% water vapour, what the hell were they going to do when it rained? ‘Absurd’ doesn’t even begin to describe it).

Miss Kitty’s Mom, I watched a lot of The West Wing (and I’m quite enjoying Mr. Sorkin’s new one… Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip), but it very much falls into the “worth watching” category for me. The writing is good, and the style and direction is second-to-none, but it felt rather soap-operaish to me…. something that the shows I mentioned above never did.

I never watched Hill Street Blues, but I dislike cop shows even more than I dislike hospital dramas. Also, Hakim Bey once described Hill Street Blues as the “most evil TV show ever“. And while I’ve never seen the show, I tend to agree with the sentiment all the same.

As for Joan of Arcadia, Profit and Miracles… once again TV shows that I’ve never even heard of. I’m taking it as read that all of the programmes mentioned in this thread are at least “above average” in some sense. Yet if I look at the TV guide for tonight, I find I can choose between a whole bunch of soaps, cop shows, dire sketch comedy and a veritable coruncopia of ‘reality programming’. I’ll watch out for Joan of Arcadia and the others, but it seems the rest of the nation is watching out for more Z-list celebrities learning to ballroom dance.

I’ve seen The Singing Detective and — once again — found it a little underwhelming. I can see why so many people praise and recommend it… and maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I saw it, but it didn’t grab me at all.

Eddie, you’re not the only person who thinks Veronica Mars dipped in form during the second season. My friend Gyrus agrees. I don’t as it happens, and I feel it’s been consistently good with — if anything — a slight drop in form during the early part of Season 3 (from which it has since recovered very well). And I’m not sure it’s fair to describe Wallace as ‘Token Black’. If anything, I feel the programme tackles racial issues in a way that 99% of American television drama fails to do.

As I said, I’ve not seen The Wire, though it’s certainly getting a lot of praise. But I again disagree with your view that Battlestar Galactica is over-rated. But hey, that’s blogging for you… personal opinion and all that.

KS and Cat… Babylon Five. Hmmm…. it’s another one of those programmes that’s been recommended plenty of times (in fact, I’m fairly certain you gave it a rather impassioned recommendation that time in Golders Green, Cat. Which was indeed a long time ago now. Jeez, I feel old.).

I’ve not watched it, and lots of people whose opinion I trust insist it’s excellent. But something about it puts me off, and I’m not 100% sure what it is. Still, it has gained the status of a classic, so perhaps I’ll overcome my misgivings at some point.

I didn’t watch Harsh Realm back when it was broadcast, and I’ve yet to see it being repeated anywhere. It’s definitely one I plan on giving a try (as I’ve enjoyed Chris Carter’s other work) at some point though.

Larry, as I mentioned in the piece, Buffy merely uses the horror setting as a canvas on which to paint. It shouldn’t — in my view — be judged as “a horror show”, but as a drama which pays homage to the genre. Once More With Feeling (the musical) is a classic episode, but it’s just one of several dozen classics. Restless (which takes place entirely in the dreams of the main characters) is probably my personal favourite, but the writing is consistently excellent from start to finish.

And I’ll chalk the fact that you describe it as “pussy-ass” up to unfamiliarity with the show. True, the gore-factor is non-existant, but the sheer emotional power of episodes like New Moon Rising or The Body have an impact far beyond anything a traditional horror film could achieve.

Thanks also to everyone who recommended comedy shows. I may — but probably won’t — write a piece specifically on the subject of television comedy. It wasn’t the focus of this piece, which was more about drawing the “good TV show / novel” analogy than anything else.

But briefly, I agree on: Yes, Minister / Yes, Primeminister (though I imagine it’s dated… not seen it in years), and also Spaced which was probably the best sitcom ever. Chris Morris is — it goes without saying — a genius and Blackadder was generally excellent.

I’ve never seen Arrested Development, so I can’t comment, but I have to say I really dislike League of Gentlemen. I understand the comedy of embarrassment and squeamishness, but I don’t enjoy it all that much.

Your list is lacking comedy: recently Peep Show and Monkey Dust were top, Look Around You was good, and going back a bit Brass-Eye, hell anything written by Chris Morris, then Blackadder, Yes Minister, the Young Ones,… And that’s just the British ones.

I’d say there was quite a long list – though still a very low concentration – of decent TV shows.

With you on all the above except the Chris Carter shows – I had more fun with Harsh Realm than X-Files/Millennium put together.

Just like to add two words.
Babylon.
Five.

Well OK, a few more.
Firstly: No B5 – no Galactica.
It was the first show to go all-CGI on SF TV. One of the first SF shows to talk deeply about religion and politics. The first to work with a multiple-season story arc *and stick to it*.
It still stands up despite the occasionally dodgy sequels (Crusade, Legend of the Rangers and a couple of the TV movies – I’ll reserve judgement on the new Direct-to-DVD ‘Lost Tales’ now being made.) Sure, it wasn’t perfect – but it tried a damn sight harder than any other show at the time and set a standard few reach today.

As for comedy shows… I’d recommend Spaced, Darkplace, League of Gentlemen, Arrested Development.

Sayonara.

Cat.

I’m a bit surprised no one has mentioned Babylon 5. They manage a pretty good story arc, they handle the battle between good and evil plot better than most (and it’s not the only one they do), but mostly they have some wonderfully complex characters. Their flagship-of-the-good-guys space station has homeless people. And they managed to actually surprise me fairly often too, which I do appreciate. For character development it’s tough to match the evolution of Londo and G’Kar, their individual evolution is interesting enough, but the evolution of their relationship is a wonderful thing to watch. I liked the rest of the show too, but in the end it is them that I found the most fun. Personally I’d reccomend starting at the beginning of the second season, the first is a bit rough, though it was fun to catch up on later.

And one more, perhaps it is a bit far afield, but there is a British comedy series called Yes Minister (and later Yes Prime Minister) which has excellent ensemble interplay and wicked wit and quite on a par with Whedon’s delightful work, though with rather a smaller ensemble. It follows the career of an elected government minister, his civil service counterpart, and his personal seceretary, which could be incredibly boring but is delivered so well it is anything but. It is a bit older but its subject matter is of the eternal truth of the nature of people and power structures kind, not much connected to current world events, and the quality of its wit and banter makes it a classic well worth watching.

Thank you for your reviews. I had not heard of Veronica Mars and now will take a look. It’s nice to hear some of my favorites so well spoken for. And, “preening ponces on the flight deck”, exactly, thank you.

I loved X-files and feel the same way you do about it to an extent. it was probably the first show i saw that really did it for me, but have since gone on to discover twin peaks.
i watched all of the X-Files though.

Over great past shows:

Buffy, Angel, Wonderfalls, Freaks and Geeks, Deadwood, old doctor who, firefly.

currently i think the Wire is the best show on Television. nothing really comes close to it. Sopranos is the show that gets all the accolades but the Wire is miles better.

Sopranos is still a great show, but the latest season was, for the most part, a self-congratulatory wank-fest.

Battlestar is overrated but still the best scifi on tv. it gets extra points for tackling issues that are going on around us today (eg. the insurgency and suicide bombings on New Caprica).

Veronica Mars had a brilliant first season, a disappointing second season, but a better third. However, Wallace really has turned into Token Black.

My own list includes some of those listed here, such as Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Six Feet Under, Veronica Mars, Carnivale, BSG, and Twin Peaks. Others that I’ve found include:

“The West Wing” especially seasons 1-3, with some high points through the rest of the series. You don’t have to agree with the politics, but we could all wish that government could be like this, passionate, intelligent, committed, and able to deal with its own mistakes and shortcomings. Wonderful characters, great dialog, incredible tension.

“Hill Street Blues” was another of the precursors to the current era of great serial storytelling, with an awesome ensemble cast, great characters and dialog, and the kind of incredible mix of drama, romance, tragedy, comedy, and action that characterizes Buffy and Angel. This show pioneered hand-held camera work to take the viewer into intense action, and does it even better than the hand-held work in Firefly. A survey of truly great television would be incomplete without this one.

“Joan of Arcadia” is another one that can easily get passed by because on the outside, it looks to be much less than it is. The religious aspect is not played “by the book” as the title song tells you outright: “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?” It’s a masterpiece of parallel storytelling, with all five members of Joan’s family dealing with their own issues and crises, so wrapped up in their own focus that they miss developing problems in each other and their relationships. It’s also a great ensemble piece. Like Carnivale, it was cancelled after its second season, with a cliffhanger that promised to alter the fundamentals of the show.

There are a few short series that shouldn’t be missed:

“The Singing Detective” is perhaps the best piece ever to come from British television. It is dark, twisted, anguished, bitterly funny, with surreal dream sequences as good as Buffy’s “Restless” and the dancing dwarf sequence in Twin Peaks. It’s only flaw is the ending; they tried to wrap it up with an action sequence that is totally inappropriate. Up until that ending, though, television couldn’t possibly be any better.

David Greenwalt, another of the creative powers behind Buffy and Angel, has a couple of short series that shouldn’t be missed. “Profit” takes a huge risk by having no good or empathetic characters. The title character, Jim Profit (played by Adrian Pasdar who is now in Heroes) is a sociopath, liar, and ambitious manipulator, but the people he destroys are equally reprehensible.

Also, there’s “Miracles” (produced by Greenwalt and written by another up-and-coming writer, Richard Hatem) deals with a crisis of faith, and has the integrity to provide no answers at all to the questions it raises. The second episode, “The Friendly Skies” is another candidate for the best hour of television you will ever see. Skeet Ulrich is outstanding in this series as a man whose job is investigating miracles for the Catholic church, and finds that his job has destroyed his faith.

Dexter is also a very good (but creepy) show. I hope the second season keeps the same intensity of the first.

Now I might have to start watching BSG again… I had started a while ago but kind of forgot about it…