Hello again! Yesterday, I got started on my top ten spec fic
shows to watch, but then I realized that I was on a path to write a ten or
twelve page blog post and I shut it down halfway through.
Well, today’s the last half, my top five. As before, these
are nothing but my feelings, these aren’t restricted to live action or
animation, kids or adults, indie or major studio.
Now, on with the shows!
5: Marble Hornets (2009-2014)
I’m not a big horror fan by any stretch of the imagination.
Not because I get scared easily, but mostly because I find myself just laughing
at how ridiculous horror movies are. Not that I’m unscareable (totally a word),
but I don’t fall for the horror movie tricks easily. I’m more often a victim of
unease in horror rather than traditional horror.
What makes this show great is, in part, the fact that it had
such low production value. It felt real because things were grainy or somehow
off, not in spite of that. Everyone involved knew what they had to work with,
and this show takes advantage of that to the fullest possible extent.
But more than that, it’s the fear. I refused to watch Marble
Hornets in the dark. I admit, some of it is personal. Slenderman scares the
shit out of me. But he scares the shit out of a lot of people. That’s why
Slenderman works. Marble Hornets managed to make the fear visceral, make you
nervous about turning the corner or looking behind you, make your breath hitch
whenever your screen shivered a little bit, because it could be Slender coming
for you.
The downsides? Well, there are some. If you’re a stickler
for production values, avoid this at all costs. You won’t enjoy it. If you
laugh in the face of Slenderman, it probably won’t be that scary. But the
biggest drawback to watching this, in my opinion, is that it’s over. The series
has ended, which means that you won’t be able to experience the thrill of
seeing a new video posted on the channel. Part of the magic of Marble Hornets
was the way they uploaded videos. Sporadically, in line with the story’s
timeline so that you could believe, just a little bit, that this was actually
happening. You lose that watching it now, but I still recommend it without
hesitation.
4: Once Upon a Time (2011-)
It’s not a new concept. Fairy tales and legends are real and
they’re in our world. Chaos ensues. But the show comes alive, again, because of
characters. The plots go up and down in quality, though they’re never outright horrible,
but it’s the characters that make you come back. You care what happens to Emma
Swan and Rumpelstiltskin and Regina. And it’s as simple as that. They could be
doing almost anything and I would still want to watch this show to see what
happens to my favorites.
The negatives are, of course, there. It sometimes feels like
the writers put themselves in a corner and then have to scramble to get out of
it. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it falls really flat. Never so flat to
make me want to stop watching, but a little flat. There’s also a tendency to muck
up season finales, just a bit. I don’t ever think the finales are bad, per se,
but they sometimes feel overstretched, like there was about half of the plot
that could have been cut and have things remain basically the way they are.
But all that aside, Once Upon a Time is one of the best shows
currently running on TV, and you won’t convince me otherwise. Nope nope nope.
Oh, Avatar. How I love you. Now, if you’ve seen it, this
hardly needs explanation. If you haven’t watched it and assume that I’m adding
this show for nostalgia, you’re dead wrong. I was hardly the target audience
for this show when it came out. But Avatar is different. Avatar has the ongoing
plot lines you see in adult dramas, the aesthetic and story you’re likely to
find in an anime, and animation better than I’ve seen from any of the major
production companies since (The Legend of Korra notwithstanding, of course.).
In a nutshell, the world is at war because of the Fire
Nation. They’re attacking everyone and, to ensure their plot works, they killed
off all the Air Nomads, because the next savior of the world (The Avatar) was
going to be one of them. Except that the Avatar escaped and basically went into
hibernation for 100 years until two members of the Water Tribe found him and
freed him.
That’s just the first couple minutes, mind you. But somehow,
Avatar manages to not only make this an enjoyable show for adults and teens,
but also keeps it accessible to the target audience of kids. It’s a very fine
line, but it treads it well, mixing humor and drama, worldbuilding and plot. I
have yet to see any other western animation live up to this, and I long for the
day that I do. My only complaint is the same as in Gargoyles: sometimes, it got
a little too childish, but what can you expect?
If you haven’t yet seen this show, then for real, get off my
blog and go watch it
2: The Walking Dead (2010-)
I resisted the call of this show for a long time. I don’t
like zombie stories, as a general rule. I think they’re overdone, overrated,
and honestly not that terrifying. So this ranking so high is definitely a
surprise to me. But I’m willing to admit that I’m a huge fan of The Walking
Dead, now. And why? Because it doesn’t have to be zombies. There’s not really a
lot of this show that relies on the zombie mechanic. Hell, there are entire
episodes without a single zombie spotted. What matters is that there’s a threat
out there, something that needs to be killed and avoided. And you never know
when it’s going to go wrong.
As with practically everything, it seems, I love this show because
of the characters. You see them evolve, and it’s not arbitrary. Every bit of it
makes sense. The characters are easy to connect with because they seem like
real people really going through hell. Plus it helps that this is a huge,
tragic drama. I love tragedy, when it’s done well. I’d take it over any other
kind of story without question. So to have this show come up? Now that I’ve
finally watched it, I’m in, and I have literally zero bad things to say about
The Walking Dead. So why isn’t it the top? Well, it’s honestly just personal
preference. Number one and number two on this list are equally good, I would
say, but they tell very different stories.
However, before we hit number one, though, I want to give a
nod to some shows that I considered, but that didn’t quite make the final cut.
No analysis on these, but I would still recommend giving them a watch, if you
have the time:
Digimon (any and all of them)
Now, on with the number one spot.
This is a show. This is easily one of my favorite shows of
all time, and you’re not allowed to just discount it out of hand because it’s
animated. If you never give another single animated show a chance, never watch
anything else on this list, never turn on your set for sci-fi fantasy again,
watch this show. It’s only two seasons, but I’ve rarely seen a television show
that I like so much.
I can’t even give you a basic plot summary. There’s so much
going on. Political intrigue, which is tied in with the descent into darkness,
which comes with terrorist activity, which joins in with a secret second life.
All topped off with a dose of sci-fi… or fantasy. This is another show that
doesn’t bother to delineate what it wants to be, and I would never ask it to.
The main character is an asshole. Plain and simple. He’s
likable at times, but he’s really not a pleasant person by any stretch of the
imagination. But you love him anyway. Lelouch has lived a life that gives him
permission to be an asshole. He’s been through Hell and back, and he didn’t
even get a lousy T-shirt.
The other characters are just as dynamic, and the way they
connect is, at times, mindblowing. And this show doesn’t pull punches. There’s
death. It’s a war, for fuck’s sake. Nothing is sacred to the writers, and that’s
what makes this such a delicious, heart-wrenching show to watch.
Also: giant fighting robots.
The only problem with this is that there isn’t more. And
when that’s the biggest complaint about a show, you know it’s got something
going for it.
So, did I miss any? Have I committed a cardinal sin? Do you
agree or disagree with me? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for
stopping by! I had a blast writing this list.
Voss
1 comment :
For shame that Firefly didn't make your list. You don't get much better SciFi than this. The characters are brilliant and brilliantly portrayed by their actors, who liked the show so much they hung out on the set in the same place their characters did! They have depth and hidden characteristics, the mysteries of which would have been slowly teased out had the show not been cut short. It's both tragic and funny and a perfect blend of both, which is so rare to pull off.
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