|
 I've spent so much time banging on about movies
since I started writing this column, I've all but overlooked one of
the greatest pleasures to be found on DVD, namely TV. But, no
longer. I've been glued to the telly since I was a kid, a confirmed
couch potato and proud of it, an avid consumer of cartoons, sitcoms
and Sci
Fi dramas by the bucket load. And what a pleasure it is,
thanks to the wonder of DVD, to be able to see entire series' of
shows back-to-back, no waiting, no adverts, just hours and hours of
fabulous television. With extras! Surely this is a golden age of
sitting comfortably and watching passively.
Though we all have our
favourite shows, I'm the one doing the writing, so I'm going to
focus on some of mine. Apologies in advance for not including Buffy,
Angel,
The
X-Files, The
West Wing and The
Sopranos as I've yet to get into them. Though I've seen episodes
from each, I'm still waiting to be gripped by that restless
compulsion to see every one. If and when I do, with a little help
from Blockbuster Online
, I'll be able to see them all from start to finish. And compared with the
enormous expense of buying them, it'll hardly cost me a thing.
Some shows you
should definitely leave alone, treasured childhood memories that can
be shattered forever by discovering, years later, they were actually
pretty crummy. Though I loved him at the time, I'll never revisit Tom
Baker's Dr Who years for fear of what I might find. That's
pretty gutless I guess, but I won't risk the memories. Besides,
there are enough Dr
Who fans out there to keep the old shows warm. I will say
without any reservation however that I loved the new series, and
look forward to watching them all again. And how amazing is it going
to be when Casanova's
David
Tennant takes charge in the next series? As for vintage Sci Fi
I'm confident has aged well, I still watch The
Prisoner with gob-smacked wonder, a strange and tangled tale of
head-trips, escape drama and large, roaring inflatables. I envy
anyone who hasn't seen it and urge all newcomers in its direction.
Likewise The
Twilight Zone , Rod Serling's supernatural twist-in-the-tale anthology show, a classy, all-star
Sixties effort with an x-factor that few programmes since have
possessed.
I am, and always will be, a Trekkie.
As far as I'm concerned, the collected voyages of Captains Kirk,
Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer represent everything that is
wonderful about science fiction: big ideas without frontiers, clever
storytelling which keeps you guessing, exotic characters you come to
care about, epic space battles, nifty hardware and sexy, soft-focus
alien chicks. Despite the animosity I personally feel towards William
Shatner, I enjoy those old shows as much as I do the newer ones.
It's all one great, delicious Star
Trek soup to me.
Smallville
I enjoy because I'm a bit of a Superman
fan and like all the references, plus it's incredibly silly and
always good for a laugh, if not intentional then otherwise. So many
injuries, so many wild plot twists, so much acting... if only Lionel
Luthor was given his own spin-off sitcom. It would last longer than
Friends
. A little more
serious but really no less outrageous is The
4400 , a mysterious sci fi drama about a group of folk snatched
from time for puzzling reasons and returned to present day Earth for
purposes unclear. You can rent
the first series right now from Blockbuster - season two is due
on the telly quite soon. The same goes for the spectacular
re-imagining of Battlestar
Galactica , no
longer clunky but slick, exciting and puzzling with lots to think
about and even the odd flash of humour. The pilot mini-series that
launched the remake is particularly fantastic, one of the best
pilots I've ever seen.
 Since
there's far too much tv to cover in a single column, I'm going to
save cartoons and sitcoms for next week. So many superheroes, so
many laughs, so many classic half hours. So many reasons to veg on
your sofa and never get up again. So I'm going to wrap up this
week's telly shenanigans by declaring my love for Firefly, a
futuristic sci fi/western hybrid from Buffy creator Joss Whedon.
Shame on Fox for cancelling this amazing series after just 15
episodes. The story of a band of smugglers making the best of a
fairly awful future, it may not have lasted long on the small
screen, but it's future is brighter than you'd think. Mostly because
Whedon loved the show so much he went and made a movie version.
Serenity hits UK cinemas October 7, and after that, who knows? Maybe
a spin-off tv show. Now that's a good idea...
Marshall
What's Your
View?
What did you think of this article? Click here to contact our editorial
team.
Can't Find What You're Looking
For?
Tell us what you like
and we'll suggest titles based upon your preferences! Click here for more
information.
|