Topic: The TV Show Thread

@FullbringIchigo Strangely, I watched ‘The Cage’ first as it was aired on TV first when they did a rerun. This made ‘The Menagerie’ a bit strange when it was then aired in its original two part format considering it uses a lot of footage from it. It’s still a brilliant episode even now though.

@nessisonett yeah it is, not bad for a few episodes done on the cheap to save money by reusing old footage

but still it was a good idea to use the unaired (at that time) pilot to create a story and it meant Gene got what he wanted and got at least the major bits of it shown on TV

@nessisonett I much prefer the dramatic presentation of "The Menagerie" and knew about it going in, so skipped over watching "The Cage" in its entirety.

Having done it the other way around, would you recommend going back and giving it a look-see?

@RogerRoger It’s a pretty good episode in its own right to be honest. It tells its own story that’s not really Star Trek as you know it but I’d recommend it as long as you haven’t seen ‘The Menagerie’ recently, to avoid confusion and repetition.

@RogerRoger I think I'm the same way, I notice the continuity error, pause the programme so I can voice my intricate knowledge of a silly TV show out loud and then resume watching. Sometimes I'll try and work out how it could be possible for it to fit. The Black Lightning tie in to Crisis on Infinite Earths had a pretty glaring continuity error but oh well, I still enjoyed the crossover!

I'm not so bothered about the cliffhanger endings not being followed up on because they can be frustratingly exciting to just imagine what happens next like in the case of Spiderman Unlimited. But if I know the rest of the show exists and I'm just not able to watch it then I'll just get fomo so it's not worth it for me.

@FullbringIchigo I remember that clamshell in the shops. I think the (magazine) DVDs have the episodes in the right order though. Been a while since I've checked but I am sure the two pilots precede the series at the very least.

The matching spines look great lined up too. For some reason I bought a similar set for next gen from ebay instead of just a collection from a shop. Probably because it was cheaper and had the added value of the magazines. The picture on the matching spines is ridiculously long though because of it. It doesn't fit on any normal human being's single shelf!

@nessisonett Okay, thanks! Might give it a chance when I'm next on Netflix.

@ralphdibny I did, and still do, the same (my standing joke was that I could fix any continuity error in any show, simply by virtue of being an Enterprise fan and therefore "used to filling in the blanks"). It's easy with science fiction and superhero stuff, because anything's possible. Bit more of a challenge with contemporary dramas, but still a fun post-credits exercise to attempt.

My attitude towards unresolved cliffhangers is flexible. If it's something as straightforward as "Let's chase down this thing together, and off we go!" then as you say, it's easy to imagine how events would unfold. If a show leaves major questions unanswered, however, then I'm a bit more hesitant to give my time to something that'll never be resolved. I use Future Guy from Enterprise (there's that show again...) as a yardstick. He's the perfect example of a mystery I'd love to have seen answered, but am just about happy leaving as any number of bizarre possibilities.

And I know Brannon Braga said that it would've been Captain Archer but I totally don't buy that, not least because James Horan is too good an actor to waste with a "Surprise! It was somebody else all along!" reveal. I prefer to imagine that he was a Romulan.

Sorry to see you suffer from FOMO. That can be tough sometimes, for sure!

@RogerRoger I had to look that up because I thought you were talking about crewman Daniels who was one of my favourite non main characters. I never gave much thought to the actual future guy really I don't think. Just thought he was some random interloper from the future.

You have just reminded me of an idea I had for a new trek series before the Chris pine film came out. It was called Time Trek and starred Crewman Daniels who was probably like the captain of the Enterprise J that they showed briefly. It might've featured episodes that visited other Trek eras or even interacted with other time travel episodes of previous Trek where they would sort of visit to scope out the anomaly.

With science fiction and superhero stuff there are rules which are normally set out. I know certain programs just break and chuck in new rules to suit the narrative but often the suspension of disbelief has to be stretched to accomodate this. One of my favourite sci fi franchises is planet of the apes. My favourites are Escape from (the star trek IV of PotA), Conquest of and Rise of (which is basically a remake of conquest). But one of the key bits of canon established in, I think, Conquest or Battle, is that domestic pets like cats and dogs died of a virus which is the reason they began to domesticate apes as pets before realising they could have more functions around the house because of their intelligence. Then I watched the TV series and I think the first episode had a dog running through an ape village. I was so hung up on continuity that I stopped watching it lol. I regret not watching it to this day, but now I am less hung up on things like that, I hope to revisit it one day so I can appreciate it for what it is.

Another one I'd really like on DVD (for the shelf) is the animated series which I think was called Return to the PotA but I don't think it was ever released in the UK and good luck finding a new, preferably HDMI, DVD player these days that advertises whether it's region free or not (some just are by accident).

@ralphdibny Oh yeah, not Daniels (who was pretty cool, I agree). The actual Future Guy was supposed to be a seven-season mystery that would come to define Enterprise, but got ditched when studio meddling forced the show to make drastic changes to survive; ironic, as it was Paramount who'd insisted on Future Guy and the whole Temporal Cold War plot device to begin with.

Given the huge popularity of franchise crossovers nowadays, I'd say a time-spanning Trek show would be an incredible idea. I'd have watched that, for sure!

I've never given Planet of the Apes a chance, alas, but can totally understand your reaction to the specific canon-breaking example you vividly describe. As individuals, we change along with these long-running franchises and those who forever remain inflexible over such trivial things are only harming themselves, because the shows and films will happily continue on without them. I used to be that person, and sometimes still can be. I'm proud of myself for recently making it through the second season of Star Trek: Discovery and ultimately enjoying it for what it was, even when pig-faced repair robots sprung from the hull of the Enterprise by the dozen.

Isn't the PS3 a region-free DVD player? Or am I thinking of its Blu-Ray drive?

@RogerRoger I didn't know all this about the behind the scenes of enterprise! Not sure if I felt like it was cut short at the time. Brilliant show though, I just loved all the characters in it, like all of them.

Yeah I think when X men origins Wolverine came out was the first time I just thought hmm in terms of the poor adaptation of the source material. Which similarly to continuity errors, just happened so frequently that within a few years, with the constant reboots and retcons that I just became nonplussed about it. I started enjoying films and TV for what they were and not what I expected them to be.

I think back then, ones only thought is that this is the only chance for film to get this character or story right. But as the Spiderman and even the X men franchise has proved, that is far from true.

I still haven't finished discovery S2 or started Picard, which is why I'm hesitant to move this over to the star trek thread, in case of spoilers! It's not because I didn't like discovery, I actually love it. It's because I was watching it with my mother and brother and the chances of getting us all in the same house at the same time without the dogs barking just made the schedule untenable. I've actually been thinking of watching it without them and not telling them lol. Haven't seen all of the latest season of agents of shield for the same reason.

I didn't think about ps3. Most blu rays are region free, the games were too I think, not sure about DVDs though hmmm.

@ralphdibny @RogerRoger the PS3 drive is region locked but the games are region free as are some blu-ray releases, it depends on publishers

As for the Trek thread yes there are spoilers over there, we try to make sure they are tagged but unfortunately some do make it through the cracks

@FullbringIchigo cheers, nice to know!

I'll probably waltz over there and have a gander when I get round to watching the latest episodes.

@ralphdibny Oh, no worries; I created the Trekkie topic to be a spoiler-filled safe haven anyway, so it's only logical to discuss things in broader terms here, in a broader topic. Besides, we're not just covering Star Trek and so we'd be risking a derailment over there!

It's good when a show doesn't feel like it's been curtailed, even when it has. I think Enterprise just about gets away with it, although there are signs of rushed production and a general lack of care towards the end of the fourth season (which you can never un-see once you've noticed them, so I won't point them out). The risk of it happening will often make me nervous about starting a new show, though.

Same with source material adaptation. I really enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine for the cheesy, overblown popcorn nonsense it was, not realising it was disrespecting a legacy. The more I learn, the more carefully I tread, lest there be a repeat of the atrocious Batman: The Killing Joke animated movie, which I pre-ordered with excitement and yet watched in horror. You're right; sooner or later, somebody will come along and do it properly, and there's plenty of new, original stuff to consume in the meantime.

I'm sure your family wouldn't mind you tearing through a few outstanding boxsets in the coming weeks, since we're all supposed to be self-isolating and whatnot. Hope you enjoy it whenever you do!

@RogerRoger I'll keep an eye out for it next time I get through it, which is probably Gona be a few years away anyway.

Currently we are rewatching X files and have been for the last few years (in the TV season downtime) but this time I'm inserting Millennium into the viewing order as I've never watched all of that before . obviously the lone gunmen too when we get that far as that is a brilliant spin off.

It's weird because Deadpool was my favourite marvel character before X men origins and I basically couldn't really get over Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in any form. He was pretty pony in blade 3 and the green lantern too. I didn't rate the first actual Deadpool film but Deadpool 2 was a lot better and funnier all round, probably because he has a comic foil in Cable.

I highly doubt I'll get to watch those shows with my family! It's too stressful an environment to enjoy anything. They're er...talkers. whereas I'm a pauser and talker and possible rewinder if I miss anything lol

@ralphdibny I've never given X-Files a chance, although many have told me that I should. I seem to recall stumbling across a random episode where a lot of people were tearing out their own eyes, and it was rather gruesome, so I quickly backed away!

Yeah, not knowing how mishandled Deadpool was in Wolverine, I thought he was just a pretty cool, eerie-lookin' villain who made for a semi-decent fight sequence. Shows what I knew!

Watching television (or movies, for that matter) with talkers is a nightmare. I am most definitely a silent watcher, and do most of my watching alone. Whenever we watch things together, my partner tends to watch my face more than the screen, as my reactions are apparently quite entertaining; he keeps telling me I should do reaction videos on YouTube. But he'll occasionally talk over new episodes of things (I'm far more relaxed if we're re-watching something we've seen before, or I'm showing him something I've seen, but he hasn't) and I always have to rewind.

My parents and my brother are talkers. My Dad will even talk during a film at the cinema. Argh!

@RogerRoger I'm the same with not talking much during films. My mum has a habit of trying to second guess everything and then announcing her theory to the whole room. My dad will ask a stream of questions of who the actors are and what films they have been in. My sister's boyfriend fancies himself as bit of a philosopher and asks deep and meaningful questions about everything. Shut the f up and watch the effin film.

@JohnnyShoulder Oh, you've collected the full set of reactionaries! Sorry to hear that. I've had experience with all those types of folks and they're all uniquely frustrating.

My Mum reads the TV Guide and likes to know a bit of celebrity gossip, so she'll try and comment on what certain scenes mean for the actors. Like yours, my Dad is a "Who's that, then?" kinda guy. My brother will pass comment on the socio-political subtext of things, including the ideology of the studio or channel its from, and isn't really happy with any of it (unless it's an 80s action film).

Had some university flatmates who sound a bit like your sister's boyfriend, too. Always trying to apply meaning to the most meaningless of popcorn entertainment. I mean, yeah, if you think about it afterwards and wanna debate it over a pint, then sure... just not during, damn it!

@JohnnyShoulder @RogerRoger and this is why i watch films alone now

In my purpose made cinema room

On my projector

With my surround sound headphones

Bliss

@RogerRoger I feel like X-Files is one of those 'you had to be there' sort of things.

I enjoyed it immensely in my youth, but I feel like it wouldn't have aged all that well.

I even had and rather enjoyed the PS1 fmv game. It felt incredible to play through at the time. I think I saw the film with my best mate at the time and we both bought the game soon after.

@ralphdibny did you ever play the PS1 game?

@RogerRoger @FullbringIchigo Yeah I think a lot of it has to do that I mainly watch stuff on my own. My parents used to have a budgie which i found intolerable when watching stuff. So they kindly would move it into another room when I was there!

@FullbringIchigo Yeah, that's more or less my approach now!

@KALofKRYPTON Thanks for saying that, as that's kinda why I've stopped myself whenever I've had the thought (well, that and the gross eyeball thing). Having picked up a couple other 90s shows recently, only to subsequently fizzle out halfway through, has made me wonder whether I've missed several major boats from my generation, X-Files amongst them. Stargate SG-1 is another. And even now, facing a fortnight's self-isolation, I'm not sure if I'll ever find the willpower to go back and finish Babylon 5.

I do remember reading several mixed reviews of that PSone game, though!

@JohnnyShoulder I adore dogs, but trying to watch a movie with an overexcited puppy in the room will forever remain one of my life's biggest challenges, so I feel you RE: the budgie!