Since 1) I have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon besides grade 170 essays and 2) we've been talking about trolls and trolling of late, I thought, "Scott, you should troll your own blog!" So here goes:
After watching last night's episode of Fringe and consulting the deep recesses of my nerdy soul, I'm going to declare that Fringe is very close to eclipsing The Wire as the best English-language television show I've ever watched. That final conditional means I'm not going to include shows from the dark days of network television, because I've seen more silent films than I have episodes of Hill Street Blues or Airwolf. Now, I know you're going to complain that Fringe opened as an X-Files clone and didn't evolve into anything interesting until midway through its second season -- when, threatened with cancellation, the writers decided that if they were going to be cancelled, they may as well do so on their own terms -- whereas The Wire's first season was a well-orchestrated slow-burn, and I'm not going to disagree. But what I appreciate about Fringe is that it's become what it is despite itself. Or maybe I'm just being unduly presentist. Either way, here's my list:
- Fringe (technically 1a)
- The Wire (technically 1b)
- Deadwood
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Mad Men
- The first season of Twin Peaks
- The only season of Firefly
- Seinfeld
- Every episode except the series finale of Battlestar Galactica
- Doctor Who
- The first and second seasons of Homicide, as well as that episode with Vincent D'Onofrio
- The UK version of Prime Suspect
- The first season of the American version of In Treatment
- The second and final seasons of Angel
- The UK version of Life on Mars
- UPDATE: Shows some idiot neglected to include on this list include: Arrested Development; the second, third and fourth seasons of Babylon 5; Breaking Bad; the UK version of The Office; Freaks and Geeks; Leverage; and ...
Plus all the ones I forgot or couldn't stomach including, like the Michael Moriarty episodes of Law & Order, which have been retroactively ruined by his crazy Canadian racism. I imagine I've forgotten quite a few, but I'm just as (if not more) interested in discovering and/or being reminded of items not included above.
wrt #8, is Fox not a network? If it is not, I would put The Simpsons well in front of Seinfeld.
Posted by: The Modesto Kid | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 05:45 PM
I don't actually find The Simpsons funny. It's too random for my tastes. (ducks and runs)
Posted by: SEK | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 05:55 PM
Rome?
Veronica Mars (1st or 2nd Season, depending on your tastes)?
Carnivale?
Breaking Bad?
I only really enjoyed the first season of Mad Men. After that it was fun to _look_ at, but I totally lost interest in Don Draper after that.
I really enjoyed Veronica Mars, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea.
Not sure it belongs on my list, but my favorite guilty pleasure was....Gilmore Girls. I am prepared for any and all mocking.
Posted by: jme | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 06:14 PM
Joran: check out the somehow already insanely long comment thread at LGM on this post. I make amends for my omissions, I promise.
Posted by: SEK | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 06:26 PM
Wow the LGM thread exploded, no? My wife and I haven't watched Fringe yet, so we tend to just refer to it as "that show with Pacey and Denethor".
Posted by: jme | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 07:48 PM
They all have, of late. Not sure why. But as for Fringe, I was of the same opinion and was about to stop watching after a few episodes, but thankfully, I bow to the whims of inertia, kept watching, and have been paid off more than a hundred-fold over. Seriously, sit through the first season and take my word, it'll be worth the pain.
Posted by: SEK | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 07:57 PM
Ahem: The Shield? The Sopranos?
Posted by: Doctor Memory | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 08:19 PM
Also, if you're going to limit yourself to subsections of shows' runs, I think it's fair to say that only seasons 2-5 of Buffy really qualify.
Posted by: Doctor Memory | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 08:20 PM
The Shield? The Sopranos?
LGM! (I don't specify I x-post anymore, because I like my different audiences to be, um, different, but I did address that there.)
Also, if you're going to limit yourself to subsections of shows' runs, I think it's fair to say that only seasons 2-5 of Buffy really qualify.
I should've gone with more Angel and qualified "Once More, With Feeling" with Buffy and stopped at the fifth season. However, if I had, Rick Perlstein wouldn't have told me that I don't suck at lists, I'm actually very modern in my desire to crowd-source away my ignorance, so there's that, um, consolation?
Posted by: SEK | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 08:24 PM
Hey, speaking of something random and totally different, did you try watching the latest David Milch series before it got canceled?
And there is a dearth of comedy on here, as well as no animation...
Posted by: Sisyphus | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 08:49 PM
That is some first-rate self-trolling. You're even arguing with yourself, with excited punctuation!
Two thoughts: while I understand that crosslinking is tedious, after the first day or so it's very useful. At least, if you're gonna cite the crosspost in comments, link then. Not for us regulars, so much as for posterity, or irregulars.
And,
What is the entertainment value of "Fringe"? I've hardly ever heard anyone mention it positively, much less explain why they were watching it. Would it have any entertainment value for someone who despised the soap opera/global alien conspiracy elements of X-Files?
Posted by: Ahistoricality | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 09:22 PM
And there is a dearth of comedy on here, as well as no animation...
I know, it's almost like I'm not the goofiest motherfucker most people know, and yet ... I have levels.
while I understand that crosslinking is tedious, after the first day or so it's very useful. At least, if you're gonna cite the crosspost in comments, link then. Not for us regulars, so much as for posterity, or irregulars.
I actually like having the two communities though. I receive vastly different sorts of feedback from them, and I've come to value that. When I compose material, I'm actually addressing two audiences. It's why I don't x-post everything, too.
What is the entertainment value of "Fringe"? I've hardly ever heard anyone mention it positively, much less explain why they were watching it. Would it have any entertainment value for someone who despised the soap opera/global alien conspiracy elements of X-Files?
I can't answer the first question without spoiling the series, so I won't. But I can answer the second: because it's not a soap opera-cum-global alien conspiracy, it's brilliantly executed high tragedy performed by actors with the chops to pull it off. In all seriousness, last night's episode was, by all accounts, slight, and yet it worked. Put differently: they've approached and/or pulled off the equivalent of the end of the second season of Buffy about nine times now.
Posted by: SEK | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 09:51 PM
If one wanted to skip to the good stuff in fringe, where would one start? Beginning of the second season?
Posted by: Shane Murphy | Saturday, 24 March 2012 at 11:59 PM
The last three episodes of the first season should be all you need to know to make the good stuff make sense.
Posted by: SEK | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 12:17 AM
I actually like having the two communities though.
I respect that, though I don't exactly see a balance in your responsiveness. But by definition, then, if you're going to cite the other discussion here, you have to assume that this readership may not immediately know where to go for the other discussion.
the equivalent of the end of the second season of Buffy
Can you translate that into Star Trek units? Or is that a geek too far?
Posted by: Ahistoricality | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 01:32 AM
Holy crap obviously you have never (yet) seen an episode of Slings & Arrows
Posted by: David | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 11:25 AM
Re communities, watch Community.
Posted by: Gas | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 12:40 PM
Also, I'd love it if you could provide us with a post on BSG, especially concerning the ending.
Posted by: Gas | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 12:56 PM
David: That's on my list, but I'm not sure how to get my hands on a copy, as I don't have a multi-region DVD player.
Gas: Community's not quite up there with Arrested Development yet, and I forgot to include either on the list, because I've the memory of a toddler in need of Ritalin. But as for a BSG finale post, I've got two Mad Men posts in the works for tomorrow night, then a Game of Thrones, then I'll hit up the BSG finale, if I can stomach it. Oddly, I'm actually enjoying these requests.
Posted by: SEK | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 03:38 PM
I love that you love the UK Life on Mars. In fact, you're the only other person I know besides my spouse who has seen the damn thing. Even my UK friends haven't. One of these days we need to get together and waxed rhapsodic about that show.
And like JME, I'm suprised Veronica Mars isn't on this list (and not just because it has Mars in the title).
I, too, have been *loving* Fringe lately, but have to laugh at the "Pacey and Denethor" refs JME makes, because even though we've been watching it from the beginning, the spouse and I also tend to refer to those actors by those names.
As for the value of it (to answer Ahistoricality), one of the things I love about the show is it's by far one of the best portrayals of a vexed father-son relationship ever. It uses the sci-fi framework brilliantly to avoid schlocky sentimentality. And it does the same with a very grown-up love relationship, too.
Posted by: Dr. Virago | Sunday, 25 March 2012 at 05:42 PM