cbs, abc and sci-fi oh my!

[Danny]

hey folks, this is one for the whole forum, im working on a project for college on u.s dramas, y'know lost, and the like so i was just wondering if any of you fans of these kinda shows would mind saying why you watch some but dont watch the others, NOT just writing about how "lost is great, lost is great", just say for example, why you like lost but hate invasion.
it'lll help me out since its this or ask peopel on the street and them chavs are looking antsy.

heres a few that spring to mind right now.

lost
jericho
heroes
the 4400
invasion (cancelled)
threshold (cancelled)

im sure theres a few more i cant remember, but dont say stuff like battle star galactica im talking about those u.s sci-fi dramas with the cliff hanger at the end of every episode.



i have a feeling a flame war may pop up in this thread between fans of the respective shows though...:dead:

[Eyebiter]

lost
jericho
heroes
the 4400
invasion (cancelled)
threshold (cancelled)


Haven't watched LOST. The show appeals to the same demographic that watches Survivor.

Watched all jericho episodes because it's interesting subject matter. Too many commercials on CBS broadcast TV, watch the show online. If the show wasn't available for free on the internet wouldn't likely watch it until the season 1 DVD.

Not interested in heroes, looks like a show for teenagers.

No opinion on Invasion (ABC) or Threshold (CBS). Usually only watch those network channels for the evening news.

Dramatic scifi shows tend to suffer on the major networks, too much corporate interference and limits on the script content. Example: do you think the Battlestar Galatica remake would be of the same quality if it was on CBS network?

[Terran]

Haven't watched LOST. The show appeals to the same demographic that watches Survivor.

Watched all jericho episodes because it's interesting subject matter. Too many commercials on CBS broadcast TV, watch the show online. If the show wasn't available for free on the internet wouldn't likely watch it until the season 1 DVD.

Not interested in heroes, looks like a show for teenagers.


Nah....Lost is like the worst show in existence and doesnt appeal to the same demographic as Survivor....

Cause like one is reality TV and one is stupid :confused: .....I love Survivor and hate Lost....:D

[MinionZombie]

*here ye, bask in the glory of my helpful jibber-jabber!* :D

Lost:

I had heard a bit about in from America being this big "thing", but I didn't watch it to be "in with everyone else watching it". It was actually premiered on Channel 4 on the Friday night that Big Brother (series 6) kicked off, so as I was sat there anyway watching BB (guilty pleasure/sociological marvel) and figured I might as well try it out. At that stage I was already into a couple of these quality dramas, so I thought I'd try Lost out (despite being a bit put off by the daft advert with them all dancing on the beach :rockbrow:).

I actually really enjoyed it once I got into the premise and by the end of the first two episodes I had to find out "what was that all about then?", and as these things inevitably go, I was sucked into the whole thing and that, shall we say, was the end of that.

Sadly, Lost has a tendency to sag in the middle by dragging a plot point out over too many episodes without much advancement, but the first and final thirds of each season are just fantastic. It quite literally is carrot-in-front-of-starving-donkey television - one question is answered, three more are asked. Finally, the flash backs - finding out new information out about characters you think you know and have so far judged, only to have your assumptions turned over. The flashbacks are also - to a fan at least - great fun as it's like piecing a puzzle together.



Invasion:

Never bothered with it, by the time it was being advertised (after season one of Lost had been shown on Channel 4) I had enough quality dramas on my plate. I didn't want to commit to yet another show (I had plenty of shows I was committed to on a weekly basis as it was). I also didn't bother as it just looked like it was trying to hard, it looked like it had checklisted the basic structures of making (and viewing) other quality dramas that had come before. It looked like a poor man's Lost quite frankly.



24:

My favourite of all the quality dramas out there now. Again, I'd heard a little bit about 'some show from America which is in real time'. Straight away the real time element immediately attracted me (it's not exactly common). The real time was the show's unique selling point and that hooked me. I was also a fan of Kiefer Sutherland's work and was interested in seeing his 'second wind' acting (so to speak) as he'd been a rare sight in the middle to late 1990s.

The whole show is about keeping you on the edge of your seat - ticking clocks, quick cuts, hand held cameras all at human height (you don't see crane shots or low angles, you are kept face-to-face with the characters). There are constant plot twists, constant corners to be escaped from and then of course - there's Jack himself. Often referred to by the fans as "The Jack Bauer Power Hour", 24 wouldn't even be half as good without Jack. His character is endlessly sacrificing, but endlessly moral without being a liberal wimp - the guy gets the right job done when anyone else wouldn't be able to.

The on-going saga of the show also keeps me hooked - where are the characters now, what are they doing, how have things changed - that's what I want to desperately know at the beginning of a season after the painfully (yet enjoyably so) OTT cliff-hanger season endings. While the show is obviously fictional, and some elements are definately very much unreal (the season 3 virus for example - completely unreal in almost every way), it still feels completely real. You are sucked into the universe of 24 and as a result it can be utterly overwhelming - episode 18 of season 3 (Ryan Chappelle's final episode) was just knock you to the floor television. The show keeps you on edge - any character is expendable (well, except Jack - even though he has technically died once already), and season five's first ten minutes shows you this in spades as you are repeatedly knocked for six. It's face-pounding television, it's completely gripping and completely addictive. 24 goes where other shows never have stepped before - it's like 24, connected hour long movies.



Six Feet Under:

Again, heard the odd tidbit about 'this show from America which goes against the grain'. America tries it's best to avoid the reality of death, so an American TV show ALL ABOUT death was SFU's unique selling point to me. The 'corpse of the week' ... 'gimmick' (if you will) was one of those "what happens THIS week" threads of endless interest (like how will The Simpsons sit on their couch this week?).

The fact it was very much and adult show - from America - was appealing. An American show, with sex, violence and swearing (admittedly because it's a cable show) - but from the usual stuff Britain imports from America, it's a shock to the system. The writing and depth of characterisation throughout the show's run was a big draw, they felt real and you could relate to elements of each. Of course, there was the usual cross-season interest to find out what happens next and finally, one of the main reasons the show appealed was it's constant insistance on doing what you'd otherwise not see - and the final season certainly did this. They kill off the main character a couple of episodes before the end, we see the whole family grieve and deal with the situation (as are, to some extent, the audience), and then in a final montage we see the deaths of every single character. Now that is the strongest ending of a show I have ever seen, and perhaps ever will see.



Never got into The Soprano's, essentially 'missed the boat' on that one, but again a case of having too many shows I've already committed to. Sex and the City - definately not my thing, that's more of a girl's show, simple as - doesn't appeal to me on any plane of viewing existence.

[Chakobsa]

As far as your list goes Hellsing, I've only watched Lost and Threshold.
I've followed lost since the last two episodes of the first season, I've given up trying to put it all together and just enjoy it for itself. I've looked at the "Hanso
foundation" websites and all that other stuff and it just iritates me. I like the show but I get the impression that the writers assumed that their audience is stupid, I think that despite what they say a lot of us out here in viewer land got it fairly quickly and it's thrown them. Seems to me that there's a lot of "Deus ex machina" being used as the writers try to keep ahead of the fans. I think that a lot of the show's fan base watch it simply because it's popular and they want to be seen to be admiring the Emperor's new clothes. I'll keep watching...for now.
I thought that Threshold had some interesting stuff going on, I particularly liked the group dynamic of the team, shame it was cancelled.
I watched the second season of 24 and loved it, TV drama does not get much better than this.
I'm not sure if these fall within your criteria (probably not:) ) but the info might help your work; I liked the stand alone X Files episodes but thought that the whole on-going alien conspiracy thing was a mess. Millenium kicked arse; a great series but obviously of it's time and the zietgiest is gone now. Farscape was fresh and original and took a moribund TV genre to interesting new places whilst the Trek franchise was crawling up it's own arse to die, it was criminal that they cancelled that series.
Hope this helps.

[Graebel]

I can't watch regular TV. With my work schedule I miss episodes and then its such a pain to get back into what is going on. I stick to movies....at least with those you can come back to them.

[Eyebiter]

Threshold (cancelled)

Caught an all day marathon on the Scifi channel. Fairly good premise for a show. But CBS doesn't seem to be the best place for this kind of science fiction show. One of those shows that are great when you can watch an entire season on DVD without commercials.

[Dawg]

LOST

Truly a breathe of fresh air of years of crap reality tv. (With the exception of Survivor and mostly only the challenges. I can do without the blinkering unless there is a truly likeable or unlikeable individual on there. None this season, except maybe 'Rocky', but Rupert and Johnny Fairplay/Rotten were great.)

'Lost' for me is an adventure that brings a cliffhanger on about each episode, pretty much like the old serials out of the '40s. (Not that saw them, since I'm only 32!) Frustrating at times like 'X-Files', but still great drama and mystery. It is like a rollercoaster where you'll have dips and curves, but also a hill you have to climb until you get to the peak and drop down in a ride of your life.

You can come up with theory after theory about what is going on and still be wrong. (Or you could have guessed it the first time, who knows?) That is the beauty and mystery of it.

JERICHO

Similar to 'Lost', which no doubt was their intention. I always love the 'end-of-the-worlds' type stories and with nuclear bombs going off and no one knows why and who, it shows you how a small western town tries to survive the outcome. Now if they would have thrown in zombies, it would have been above 'Lost'.

:dead: Dawg

[Terran]

I like Yao Man

[Debbieangel]

Jericho..I just started to watch it...I like end of the world shows. I like the actors on that show so, I probably will keep watching it.
I like the idea of hope it gives after a nuclear attack which I really thought there was no hope if that ever happened! It will be interesting to see how they handle in time what is to happen to the characters. Like what will happen as time goes on sickness or whatever?
I dont watch the shows you mentioned!

[Danny]

well everyone knows i hate lost with a passion, but jericho i tried to like but just dont get into it, my attention ends up wandering and i stop wathcing after 20 mins of yet the same dramatic monologue yet again.
heroes is good, but that woman with an evil reflection is SO lame i keep turing off whenever she comes on the other characters, like the artist and time traveling japanese guy ar eawesome though, they gotta lose the schizo woman, not technically a power huh?

[_liam_]

lost is arbitrary toss.

DOCTOR WHO ALL THE WAY

[Danny]

word byatch', who like a muvva fooker!, isnt it like a month left till season 3 or 4 or the revamp?

[capncnut]

DOCTOR WHO ALL THE WAY
You knows it mon. :sneaky:

[MinionZombie]

Yes the new Doc Who's are awesome, but Lost is also a great show - and don't even bother using the "make it up as they go along" piece-o-shiite argument, because all those sort of shows (i.e. "quality dramas" as they're often referred to in America-land) are written the exact same way, in fact, most things are written without knowing what will happen next. SHEESH! :rolleyes:

I like Lost, it's an interesting and entertaining show, nothing wrong with that *dusts hands, f*cks off*

[coma]

heroes is good, but that woman with an evil reflection is SO lame i keep turing off whenever she comes on the other characters, like the artist and time traveling japanese guy ar eawesome though, they gotta lose the schizo woman, not technically a power huh?
Heroes is the only one I like and I like it alot. I agree that the Schizo skank lady, her stereotype Black criminal husband and that goofy kid are total wrong notes and they gots to go.

I like how it plays like a better hero comic in its useful complexity and cliffhangers. the characters are all well defined and interesting. I like playing the people like real people and all the wierd and/or dumb stuff they would do in that situation rather than the ultra heroic types that barely excist in reality.

They stay far way from pseudo science and explain nothing so far which keeps the imagination from being stretched to far

The gore involved with the Cheerleader is waaaaay beyond anything I have ever seen on network TV. She's cute and gets he guts ripped out regularly. The Morgue scene was Awesome.

The Hiro character is really unique and probably the first foreign languge non villian I have ever seen onan American TV show.

I have never watched Lost as of yet, so no opinion.
I liked the 4400 mini series but not the show. Dull and convoluted.

I guess Im the only person here who digs heroes. I think it's great

[Danny]

no i like it, adn the 4400 by the way, but that "skank woman" just ruins the show for me, and ill turn on my ps2 or 360 and then come bakc a bit later to see if shes been killed off yet:lol:

[Exatreides]

I really like Jericho, watch it on Demand normally.

[Danny]

i watched it for a while on youtube, cus the times its on on hallmark uk overlap with stargate, adn stargate wins:D , but it was an okay series, i just didnt seem to care for any of the characters or there situation, i thought it would be mor epost apocalyptic its more just like a plot device to keep a set group in a drama or something, it started well with a good premise but i dont like it as mucha s i thought i would.

[DjfunkmasterG]

I have given up on TV. Aside from some Simpsons re-runs and Family guy Episodes I haven't watched a TV series since the Quentin Tarantino Directed Season Finale of CSI in spring 2005.

I have been debating having my cable television taken out of my home because I feel the level of programming has gone downhill to the point that I would rather sit on my computer and be entertained by the internet.

Shows, like Lost, Survivor, The 4400, really have no appeal to me. I think it is the marketing of the shows. Nothing really has jumped out to grab my attention. IN all honesty do you know the best series to ever be on TV?

IMHO, it was HBO's OZ. That series had everything you could want and it was never bland. When they start writing shows like that again I ay switch from CNN to network.

[MinionZombie]

Marketting of shows can be a turn off, originally I wasn't going to bother with Lost because of Channel 4's relentless advertising for it (and I thought the advert for it was bloody stupid), but I gave it a go anyway and rather enjoyed it.

I almost didn't start watching a British show on E4 called "Skins", again because of the relentless advertising which was basically just them chuffing about how good it was - arrogant advertising I'd call it - and that was a turn off. But I actually watched the show and it is really good, but the advertising for it before it starting airing was awful, it was cramming it down your throat and it had this air of smug arrogance about it (from the broadcasters, not the show itself), which was a turn off - same thing with Lost when that was trailed on TV.

[Neil]

lost
jericho
heroes
the 4400
invasion (cancelled)
threshold (cancelled)


Haven't watched LOST. The show appeals to the same demographic that watches Survivor.

Watched all jericho episodes because it's interesting subject matter. Too many commercials on CBS broadcast TV, watch the show online. If the show wasn't available for free on the internet wouldn't likely watch it until the season 1 DVD.

Not interested in heroes, looks like a show for teenagers.

No opinion on Invasion (ABC) or Threshold (CBS). Usually only watch those network channels for the evening news.

Dramatic scifi shows tend to suffer on the major networks, too much corporate interference and limits on the script content. Example: do you think the Battlestar Galatica remake would be of the same quality if it was on CBS network?

I prefer Heroes to Jericho... And I really like Jericho :)

Watch the first two episode of Heroes and then see what you think :)