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Being Human 5.02
Feb. 12th, 2013 06:05 amIn which we find out more about Alex, and "employees of the month" are never a good idea.
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Feb. 12th, 2013
Thirty Days of TV: Day Four
Feb. 12th, 2013 02:18 pmDay 04 - Your favorite show ever
Great Maker, as Londo Mollari would say. How could I possibly narrow it down like that? I don't have just a single favourite show ever, I honestly don't. I suppose I could say one per genre. Yes, let's try that.
Science Fiction: Star Trek in its various permutations is my oldest fandom, and I love it with undiminished passion, but my loyalties for the top spot are split between DS9 and TNG, and thus it simply has to be the arc show to end all arc shows, the space opera to end all space operas. It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, you know. Why, Babylon 5 of course.
History: I, Claudius, no question about it, based on Robert Graves' novel. I mean, I have loved several shows since, but this masterpiece of 1970s British tv had it all: brilliant dialogue, the best British actors of the day in major and minor roles, and not type cast, either (if you've only ever seen Brian Blessed in shouty roles, check out Augustus' death scene, in which he doesn't utter a word the entire time and does it all with his eyes during Livia's monologue; you'll know exactly the moment he dies, and no, the eyes stay open, it's not that), Derek Jacobi delivering the performance that makes me still forgive much of his Oxfordian nonsense as the title character, Sian Phillips being the overlady to rule them all, and so forth. Also they were on a budget (as most British tv used to be) and thus there are no crowd scenes or spectacles at all (whenever someone watches, say, gladiator games, we stay with three or four spectators the entire time), and you don't miss it at all. The übergory Spartacus doesn't have anything so frightful as the short scene where Caligula opens the door to Claudius, where technically you don't see anything but John Hurt and Derek Jacobi in close up, but because of the information the audience has as to what Claudius sees over Caligula's shoulders, it haunts me to this day. And did I mention the dialogue is brilliant?
Tiberius: Did it ever occur to you, mother, that it might be you they hate, more than me?
Livia: Nothing ever occurs to you that doesn't occur to me first. This is the affliction with which I live.
Fantasy: Here my loyalties are split between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. It really depends on the day I'm having. Angel inspired more fanfiction, Buffymore meta from yours truly. Buffy is the greater achievement, no question, but the category isn't about a critical pov but one's own emotions on the subject, and I really love them both fervently.
Contemporary Drama: Six Feet Under. It had it all: messed up families (as Alan Ball once said, the Fishers were Scandivian drama, the Chenovitchs were Greek drama), black humour, fine actors, the two big canon romances - Nate/Brenda and David/Keith - being treated with equal screentime, and the various sibling and child-parent relationships getting just as much screen time - satire and emotional depth. Oh, and it taught me all about the benefits of clear instructions for my future funeral director. ( I promise not to demand favourite rare comics to be buried with me, too.) I'm a bit more uncertain about the other big SFU message, which is that either pot or LSD are great for enlightenment or family bonding, but there you go. :)
( The rest of the days )
Great Maker, as Londo Mollari would say. How could I possibly narrow it down like that? I don't have just a single favourite show ever, I honestly don't. I suppose I could say one per genre. Yes, let's try that.
Science Fiction: Star Trek in its various permutations is my oldest fandom, and I love it with undiminished passion, but my loyalties for the top spot are split between DS9 and TNG, and thus it simply has to be the arc show to end all arc shows, the space opera to end all space operas. It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, you know. Why, Babylon 5 of course.
History: I, Claudius, no question about it, based on Robert Graves' novel. I mean, I have loved several shows since, but this masterpiece of 1970s British tv had it all: brilliant dialogue, the best British actors of the day in major and minor roles, and not type cast, either (if you've only ever seen Brian Blessed in shouty roles, check out Augustus' death scene, in which he doesn't utter a word the entire time and does it all with his eyes during Livia's monologue; you'll know exactly the moment he dies, and no, the eyes stay open, it's not that), Derek Jacobi delivering the performance that makes me still forgive much of his Oxfordian nonsense as the title character, Sian Phillips being the overlady to rule them all, and so forth. Also they were on a budget (as most British tv used to be) and thus there are no crowd scenes or spectacles at all (whenever someone watches, say, gladiator games, we stay with three or four spectators the entire time), and you don't miss it at all. The übergory Spartacus doesn't have anything so frightful as the short scene where Caligula opens the door to Claudius, where technically you don't see anything but John Hurt and Derek Jacobi in close up, but because of the information the audience has as to what Claudius sees over Caligula's shoulders, it haunts me to this day. And did I mention the dialogue is brilliant?
Tiberius: Did it ever occur to you, mother, that it might be you they hate, more than me?
Livia: Nothing ever occurs to you that doesn't occur to me first. This is the affliction with which I live.
Fantasy: Here my loyalties are split between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. It really depends on the day I'm having. Angel inspired more fanfiction, Buffymore meta from yours truly. Buffy is the greater achievement, no question, but the category isn't about a critical pov but one's own emotions on the subject, and I really love them both fervently.
Contemporary Drama: Six Feet Under. It had it all: messed up families (as Alan Ball once said, the Fishers were Scandivian drama, the Chenovitchs were Greek drama), black humour, fine actors, the two big canon romances - Nate/Brenda and David/Keith - being treated with equal screentime, and the various sibling and child-parent relationships getting just as much screen time - satire and emotional depth. Oh, and it taught me all about the benefits of clear instructions for my future funeral director. ( I promise not to demand favourite rare comics to be buried with me, too.) I'm a bit more uncertain about the other big SFU message, which is that either pot or LSD are great for enlightenment or family bonding, but there you go. :)
( The rest of the days )
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