Mauve watches tv shows she should have seen years ago

[mauve]

I have a tendency to hoard money and then binge spend it on random crap. I don't have the internet speed necessary for Netflix. I don't watch much tv since I used to work a night shift and didn't have any digital recording services until this year. I recently discovered a store that sells tons of dvds for super cheap. How are these facts related?

I have now spent an unhealthy amount of money buying tv shows on dvd in an attempt to fill the voids in my pop cultural education. The following is a list of shows I have recently purchased and started watching. Feel free to scoff at the list of shows I had never seen before up until this point.

The Venture Brothers, Seasons One and Two: I've actually seen most of these before via YouTube, but it's nice to have the full collection and watch them in order.

Firefly, the Complete Series. I have never seen Firefly in my life. I felt I needed to rectify this. Except every time I try to watch it I get interrupted by family wanting to watch one of my other shows and wanting me to join them.

Columbo: The show I end up watching instead of Firefly. To be fair, it is an incredibly fun show and Peter Falk is great in it. I highly recommend it: They're fun detective stories wherein the detective spends most of his time actively trolling his suspects just to mess with them. Not fiendishly outwitting them, not backing them into a logical corner to press a confession out of them, just straight up trolling because he already knows whodunnit and he wants them to know he's on to them. It is glorious.

Arrow, Season Two: Never seen Arrow before this. I'm on the fence about it so far. The episodes I've seen are decent, but they seem to suffer from a severe lack of not-Batman-plotlines and not-Batman-villains. But then, I don't know much about Green Arrow other than the character in the JLU cartoon, so maybe I'm mistaken. It's not bad though. I'll probably go back to it and finish the season.

Justice League Unlimited seasons one and two: I am a huge sucker for 90's - early 00's DC cartoons. We'll see if these are as good as I remember them being.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season One. Never seen Buffy before and supposedly that is a crime? The pilot kind of sucked, but I try not to judge a show by its pilot. Haven't felt like watching any more past the pilot yet but like Arrow I'll probably give it another try.

30 Rock, Season One: Never seen it before. I'm enjoying it so far, for the most part. Some episodes are too cringey for me, but a few have made me legitimately laugh out loud. Coming from a live tv background, several elements of the show are very relatable.

Futurama: Never seen it before this. Season One was surprisingly good, Season two a bit less so. I'm just starting on Season Three.



So that's what I have been up to. That's also where most of my money has gone. Once I put a dent in this stack of shows, I'm considering going for Stargate SG-1 and/or Farscape. I remember seeing a few episodes of Farscape back when it was on tv, but I've never seen Stargate. Opinions on these?

I'm also set on grabbing Gravity Falls if a copy ever shows up in the cheap dvd store-- I have seen a few episodes, but I want to see the whole series.

Boy howdy it'll sure be awesome when my house is able to get internet speeds capable of supporting hulu or netflix.

What other shows, current or older, should I look into? If it's not Sherlock, Person of Interest, Rick and Morty, or The Night Manager, just assume I haven't watched it before.

[pochercoaster]

Have you seen avatar the last airbender? Dunno if that counts as old.

[Arcanum]

Arrow, Season Two: Never seen Arrow before this. I'm on the fence about it so far. The episodes I've seen are decent, but they seem to suffer from a severe lack of not-Batman-plotlines and not-Batman-villains. But then, I don't know much about Green Arrow other than the character in the JLU cartoon, so maybe I'm mistaken. It's not bad though. I'll probably go back to it and finish the season.

You're probably better off not going back to Arrow. Season 3 is even more batman plot, with Ra's al Ghul wanting Green Arrow to become the new leader of the League of Assassins. It's also filled with characters making the dumbest decisions ever, and failing to learn from the mistakes they made in the past two seasons. Season 4 is even worse, and I stopped watching the show a couple of episodes into it.

If you want live action DC heroes, check out Flash. It can be super campy/cheesy at times (which can be good or bad depending on your preferences), but overall it's pretty good and I'm excited for the next season to air.

Justice League Unlimited seasons one and two: I am a huge sucker for 90's - early 00's DC cartoons. We'll see if these are as good as I remember them being.

They are.

And after you're done with those try to get a hold of Young Justice. It's even more DC goodness, but focuses on the younger heroes/sidekicks. First season focuses on a team made of Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Super Boy, Miss Martian, and Artemis. Second season has things going off the rails and it's fantastic. Sadly there are only two seasons, and while both seasons wrap up their respective plot lines nicely, they do set some things up for a third season that we will never see resolved.

Have you seen avatar the last airbender? Dunno if that counts as old.

Seconding this. Also the sequel series, Legend of Korra.

[mauve]

I saw a handful of episodes in the very first season, but not many!

[Solid Snake]

Mauve, you are committing blasphemy by refusing to watch Firefly in the year 2016. Just thought you should know that.

I remember years back when NPF was a slightly more popular place to chill a group of us were considering doing a watch-athon of Last Airbender together, and it fell through, for reasons I don't quite remember. I still haven't watched an episode. So, maybe I'm committing blasphemy too? We can all be blasphemous together.

[pochercoaster]

You both must watch the entirety of the last airbender. It's fantastic. I just finished marathoning it for the third time, and it's still highly entertaining.

If you have amazon prime, it's available on there, btw.

[Gregness]

You both must watch the entirety of the last airbender. It's fantastic. I just finished marathoning it for the third time, and it's still highly entertaining.

If you have amazon prime, it's available on there, btw.

Ooh, I always had amazon prime just to get free shipping on textbooks, but I keep discovering neat little bonuses like this. Thanks!

Also, Legend of Korra was pretty boss too, so check it out after you finish the first series.

[mauve]

Mauve, you are committing blasphemy by refusing to watch Firefly in the year 2016. I'm not refusing! I own it and I really want to watch it! But I keep getting thwarted by people wanting to borrow my Columbo dvds and simultaneously spend time with me, for some reason!

And after you're done with those try to get a hold of Young Justice. It's even more DC goodness, but focuses on the younger heroes/sidekicks. First season focuses on a team made of Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Super Boy, Miss Martian, and Artemis. Second season has things going off the rails and it's fantastic. Sadly there are only two seasons, and while both seasons wrap up their respective plot lines nicely, they do set some things up for a third season that we will never see resolved. I've heard lots of good things about Young Justice! They actually had Season One at the cheap dvd place, but I went with JLU instead. I might pick it up if it's still there the next time I go in!

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Firefly, the Complete Series. I have never seen Firefly in my life. I felt I needed to rectify this. Except every time I try to watch it I get interrupted by family wanting to watch one of my other shows and wanting me to join them.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season One. Never seen Buffy before and supposedly that is a crime? The pilot kind of sucked, but I try not to judge a show by its pilot. Haven't felt like watching any more past the pilot yet but like Arrow I'll probably give it another try.


So that's what I have been up to. That's also where most of my money has gone. Once I put a dent in this stack of shows, I'm considering going for Stargate SG-1 and/or Farscape. I remember seeing a few episodes of Farscape back when it was on tv, but I've never seen Stargate. Opinions on these?

Good god woman, what have you been doing with your life?! Just... how.. why??:confused:

Sorry, these are just some of my all time favourite shows. I've watched these things like 4-5 times each, if not more. Just, go, watch them, enjoy them. Also don't forget Angel and Stargate Atlantis too. You may however skip Stargate Universe.

EDIT; Wait, you haven't seen Young Justice either?:crying:
Oh Mauve, poor, poor Mauve...

[mauve]

I originally skipped Young Justice because I mistakenly assumed it was a Teen Titans clone. I never much cared for Teen Titans.

As for Buffy, is Season One a good place for me to start, or is it one of those shows that really starts getting good in later seasons?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

I originally skipped Young Justice because I mistakenly assumed it was a Teen Titans clone. I never much cared for Teen Titans.

HERESY!

As for Buffy, is Season One a good place for me to start, or is it one of those shows that really starts getting good in later seasons?

I mean, the first season ain't great tbh, but there's some ok episodes and you get to know the characters which is one of the biggest draws of the show, at least for me. And season 1 is only like 13 episodes anyway. Middle of season 2 is where the show got really great with the episodes Surprise and Innocence, before hitting its peak in season 3. Season 6 is the low point but by that point you're probably pretty invested anyway.

[mauve]

HERESY About what? Assuming YJ was the same as Teen Titans, or not liking Teen Titans? XD

[Tev]

Both actually.

[mauve]

Eh, I dunno, some of the original Teen Titans was okay I guess, but it tried too hard to be anime. Avatar did that too, to a degree, but somehow it actually WORKED in Avatar. Teen Titans seemed more like it was just pandering or being gimmicky.

But again, neither of those shows are things I watched with any regularity, so maybe I just happened to catch episodes of Teen Titans that were particularly bad.

[mauve]

So I caught the Centipeetle and Bismuth episodes of Steven Universe (oh, and also the It's Over, Isn't It? song, because you honestly can't visit youtube without being bombarded with It's Over, Isn't It? videos) and I am now reminded that I also need to catch up on Steven Universe. Just... damn, Steven Universe, why are you so good sometimes???

I also really like Bismuth's character design. She's cool lookin'.

[mauve]

Ok. Progress report #1: Managed to watch the first two episodes of Firefly. Holy shit this show is fun. The "companion" thing is a little annoying (Why do we have to stop scenes with character interaction and cool stuff for a bathing scene? I literally do not care about this. Go back to the plastic dinosaurs and crazy frozen chick and the near-dead quirky engineer and captive Alliance agent) but she's still an ok character so I can deal.

Honestly the worst part about Firefly is that I know it was cancelled early so I know it's going to end abruptly with no real conclusion. Guess I'll be looking into the Serenity movie after that.

[Tev]

The Serenity movie does not do the series justice and will most likely leave you with a bad taste in your mouth with the ending. I would instead look to the Firefly comics line they put out to hash out more of the story beyond the series.

[Steel Shadow]

Serenity has a lot of problems, but does at least tie the series closed. It's more than we usually get, as sad as it is.

... Also yeah, the shameless fanservice is just annoying. They did the best they could with it, but.

[POS Industries]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season One. Never seen Buffy before and supposedly that is a crime? The pilot kind of sucked, but I try not to judge a show by its pilot. Haven't felt like watching any more past the pilot yet but like Arrow I'll probably give it another try.
It hits its stride in the second season. The first is okay and is kind of necessary in terms of worldbuilding and character introduction, but it's a smidge flat otherwise and represents the show at its most 90s teen state.

Basically, once Spike shows up, the show finally starts figuring out what it wants to be.

[mauve]

@Tev, Steel: Good to know, thanks! Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll probably get Serenity when I finish Firefly, but it's good to know up front that it has its flaws and that there are comics to make up for that.

@POS: Hmmm, guess I'll have to give Season One another chance so I can get to the better seasons!

Update #2: Rather than going through my significant backlog of shows like a smart person, I made the mistake of watching the Gravity Falls pilot. Why was it a mistake, you ask? Because now that's all I want to watch. Just Gravity Falls and Firefly, while this huge stack of other shows just sits here and silently judges me.

[Tev]

Oh, on Buffy; it as well started up a comic line for at least two more "seasons" after the series officially came to a close.

[RickZarber]

Update #2: Rather than going through my significant backlog of shows like a smart person, I made the mistake of watching the Gravity Falls pilot. Why was it a mistake, you ask? Because now that's all I want to watch. Just Gravity Falls and Firefly, while this huge stack of other shows just sits here and silently judges me.

1) I don't see how this is a problem?

B) You're welcome.

[mauve]

1) I don't see how this is a problem?

B) You're welcome.I blame you entirely.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Oh, on Buffy; it as well started up a comic line for at least two more "seasons" after the series officially came to a close.

I believe they're actually up to a third now, season 10. Kinda lost track of it all myself though, some of season 8 was ok and most of Angel; After the Fall (ie Angel season 6 onwards), but then it kinda gets bloated down with too many spin offs and mini-series for a bunch of different characters.

I should probably try and get back into them at some point

[mauve]

Welp, it's happened once again. Behold, an actual conversation from today:

Dad: Hey, are you watching Serenity?

Me: Nope, Firefly.

Dad: Oh. You should see the movie. It's pretty good.

Me: Yeah, I'll check it out after I finish the series.

Dad: The movie's really different from the TV show. The crazy girl kicks a lot of ass: She goes into a trance and starts doing karate all over the place. It's really cool.

Me: Ah.

Dad: *He points at my favorite character onscreen* That guy dies in the movie.

Me: ..............why do you do this.

[Krylo]

Aww, you like Wash.

[POS Industries]

Aww, you like [redacted].
If her favorite character is Book, you probably just made it worse.

[Krylo]

Well I've never made anything better in my life. Also I can't imagine him being anyone's favorite but I GUESS I'll spoil just in case.

[mauve]

@krylo: Yep. I'm only on episode five, but Wash is fantastic so far and nobody can tell me otherwise. I mean, everyone else is fantastic too, but he's my favorite so far, followed by Jayne and Zoe. And Kaylee. And Mal. And... ok, everybody else. Book and Inara are a little boring so far though.

@POS: ...does this mean there are multiple character deathsWAIT NO DON'T ANSWER THAT

[Solid Snake]

You guys are terrible.
Also: I like to pretend that Serenity isn't canon.

[rpgdemon]

There's no way Serenity is canon.

I refuse to believe it.

Honestly, Serenity existing makes me glad they don't get renewed for a new season.

[Krylo]

@krylo: Yep. I'm only on episode five, but Wash is fantastic so far and nobody can tell me otherwise.

He was but a leaf on the wind.

[Solid Snake]

Honestly, Serenity existing makes me glad they don't get renewed for a new season.

I actually disagree with this particular sentiment because I think a couple more seasons of Firefly might've lessened the blow of losing said character. Serenity felt like they were trying to rush several seasons worth of character development and storylines into a single movie, it might not have felt like such a failure in that endeavor if we spent several more seasons getting to know the characters before all hell broke loose. As is, we only spent one season with the Crew, so it felt way too soon to start killing folks off.

[Steel Shadow]

Actually, Whedon has flat out said that if he'd been able to tell the story in a tv series then said character wouldn't have died. That was a movie thing. A movie thing that broke all our hearts.

Also Serenity's main sin isn't really trying to cram in character arcs, it's pushing aside actual characterisation and stuff that had already been established to make it easier for someone who hadn't seen the movie to understand. Like the stuff between Mal and Simon at the start was all way off. I just finished a firefly/serenity marathon with some friends and I was surprised just how different the movie felt. I'm glad we got some closure, but wow it would have been so much better on tv.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Well if there's one good thing to come out of this thread (and on the subject of shows that were cancelled way too soon), Mauves heresy on not watching Young Justice made me want to go back watch that again over the weekend.

...

And now I am sad all over again Mauve why did you make me do this??!!

[mauve]

And now I am sad all over again Mauve why did you make me do this??!! Hey man, if I have to suffer in a world without Wash, then everyone can suffer.

[RickZarber]

Damn it. I mean, while I figured the odds of totally avoiding spoilers for a fourteen-year-old series were pretty low, I was really hoping you could make it though the show at least without your experience being tinted by the movie. :/

[rpgdemon]

I actually disagree with this particular sentiment because I think a couple more seasons of Firefly might've lessened the blow of losing said character. Serenity felt like they were trying to rush several seasons worth of character development and storylines into a single movie, it might not have felt like such a failure in that endeavor if we spent several more seasons getting to know the characters before all hell broke loose. As is, we only spent one season with the Crew, so it felt way too soon to start killing folks off.

That's what I mean though - Because the movie exists, they squandered all of the possible interesting material. It sucked the show dry, in a completely unsatisfying way.

Also Young Justice is amazing why haven't you watched it yet?

That goes double for Snake to whom I recommended it awhile ago.

[mauve]

Damn it. I mean, while I figured the odds of totally avoiding spoilers for a fourteen-year-old series were pretty low, I was really hoping you could make it though the show at least without your experience being tinted by the movie. :/

I would've felt more betrayed (spoilers getting spoiled by my own family, in my own house), but my dad is also the one who immediately blurted out "Oh hey, isn't that the guy who ends up being Moriarty?" the first time I watched that episode of Sherlock. So I should really be more used to this.

Also Young Justice is amazing why haven't you watched it yet? Because Gravity Falls and Firefly. They did have Young Justice at the cheap DVD place, so maybe I'll pick that up next time I'm in there.

It'll be so nice if/when I can have internet fast enough to support Netflix. Probably more budget-friendly, too.

[Arcanum]

I would've felt more betrayed (spoilers getting spoiled by my own family, in my own house), but my dad is also the one who immediately blurted out "Oh hey, isn't that the guy who ends up being Moriarty?" the first time I watched that episode of Sherlock. So I should really be more used to this.

Clearly the only answer is to get a nerf gun and if your dad ever walks in while you're watching a show you bombard him with nerf darts until he leaves without spoiling anything.

[mauve]

Update #3: Randomly picked an episode of Steven Universe to watch. Said episode ended up being Rose's Scabbard. FEEEEEEELS

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Welp I've just finished binge-watching all of Gravity Falls for the first time and now I have yet another void in my soul to fill.

Suggestions?

[mauve]

What kinds of shows are you looking for? Something similar to Gravity Falls? Something different? New shows? Old shows?

[Tev]

Have you had a chance to watch the more recent (a few years ago) reboot of Thundercats? It was actually really nice, and honestly tried to give that mess of an intellectual property a workable story-line that made sense and wasn't just an amalgamation of everything that was crazy about the late 80's and early 90's.

[mauve]

Alright, I'm bored so here's a progress update.

-The Flash: Picked up Season One and watched the first two episodes. Already MUCH more likeable than Arrow, even though it does fall prey to quite a few cliches. (Also, I've never been a fan of the "She's not technically his sister; they were just raised together since childhood, so it's totally cool if he falls in love with her" thing so that's kinda weird.) I'm still enjoying it, though, and I'll definitely be going back to watch more of it.

-Farscape: I found a two-episode dvd for like $2 so I figured I'd give it a shot. I have no idea what season they were from, but damn they were fun. I remember watching a few episodes of Farscape on SciFi way back in the day, but that must've been during a later season (or maybe just a bad season) because I remember they were just constantly running from the same villain and the plot failed to interest me back then. I'll probably go ahead and get a full season of the show because I enjoyed the few episodes I saw. The costumes and puppets were nicely done too.

-Gravity Falls: Still slowly working my way through GF and I still love it. It started out kind of slow-- to be honest, I thought the pilot and second episode were just sort of average. I wasn't sure what the big deal was, why so many people of a variety of ages loved it so much, until I started getting further into the first season. Now I get it. It's a fun, incredibly smart show that appeals to both kids and adults.

-Moonlighting: My mom raved about this show, which stars a young Bruce Willis as a down-on-his-luck detective trying to get his former-supermodel boss to keep the agency open. Honestly, I'm not enjoying it much. Most of the plots so far boil down to "loudmouthed fast-talking detective annoys his supermodel boss and is an unlikeable asshole; supermodel boss whines about wanting to be a detective and then NOT wanting to be a detective; oh and also there's a mystery that halfassedly gets solved with lots of plot holes left behind." It's... not great.

[Bum Bill Bee]

I'd definatly recommend the Canadian cartoon Detentionaire. Its pretty similar to Gravity Falls with its progressive mystery solving. Maybe start with Season 3, where the plot and action really pick up.


I'd also recommend Ruby Gloom, if you'd be interested in a show on cutesy monster kids.

[Ryong]

I'm also going to cut in and ask:

I have plans to watch Twin Peaks.

That a good idea?

[mauve]

Found the first 12 episodes of Young Justice, so I'll be giving that a shot soon.

Also, I have never seen the movie Alien. I am probably the only person my age who HASN'T seen it, so I bought that too.

I have no self control when it comes to movies.