Catching up

[auntiemeesh]

I've been watching the first few episodes of Babylon 5, season one. Lordy, lordy it's bad. The acting, the plots, the effects, it's All Just Bad. Sometimes so bad it's entertaining, sometimes just bad. I've been told that season two is much better, but that you have to watch season one to understand season two. It remains to be seen if I'll make it that far.

I've also been watching season one of MacGyver. It's holding up remarkably well, for the most part, despite the bad hair and silly clothes in some of the episodes.

Meanwhile, I'm hungry. It may be time for a snack.

Comments

[dreamflower]

I enjoyed Babylon 5 very much--but, yeah, Season 1 was mostly a set-up for the following, and much better, seasons. By Seasons 3 and 4 it was really hitting its stride. It got much, much better with the advent of Bruce Boxleitner.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

The guy that's in charge in season one (Sinclair?) reminds me of Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest or someone like that. It's like the actor is playing a character who's playing (poorly) the role of a sci-fi space station commander. I'll probably stick with it though, through lack of anything better to do, if nothing else. :)

[dreamflower]

One of the really fun things to do as you watch it is to see how many LotR references you can spot in the show! They were put in there deliberately--some of them are pretty blatant, some are more subtle...

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I'll have to keep my eyes and ears primed for that - haven't noticed any so far, but possibly because I wasn't looking. :)

[shirebound]

Yes, I agree! They were fun to spot.

[wishkey.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, season two is where it picks up. There is a major cast change, and all of a sudden a bunch of stuff falls into place in unexpected ways. JMS is a rather stiff writer, though, and after watching Farscape and Firefly it's sometimes difficult to watch tightly scripted stuff like B5.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

after watching Farscape and Firefly it's sometimes difficult to watch tightly scripted stuff like B5.

Yeah, I think that's a big part of it. The dialog doesn't feel real to me, and it's often delivered with a very melodramatic, radio-serial air that works okay on radio serials but not (at least for me) on sci-fi programs.

[ansostuff.livejournal.com]

Actually, season 1 is the best of MacGyver I think. And perhaps season 2. After that it gets repetitous and the really good eps are far in between. But I've not watched everything so I might mislead you here, lol.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree that the early seasons of MacGyver were definitely the best. Over the past five years or so, I've caught the odd episode and most of them were late seasons. Some of them were painfully bad, making me wonder what I'd ever liked about the show. I was happy to watch the earlier shows and remember why I liked it. :)

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Oh I loved Season 1, perhaps I love Sinclair a lot and compared to modern shows these days, back then B5 was groundbreaking. Later as you watch on (do watch on), you'll appreciate season 1 all the more. Trust me on that!

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'll take your word for it, for now, and see how it goes. :)

[shirebound]

MacGyver... *happy sigh* So much lovely h/c. :)

I enjoyed the "middle" seasons of Babylon 5, not so much the first or the last. The way the show was pre-written, so that clues to future events were sprinkled throughout the episodes (like the Harry Potter series), was fascinating, and I try to write fic using that format.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'll have to pay more attention when I'm watching it - I tend to either play spider solitaire or do an online crossword puzzle while watching dvds and tv, so sometimes I miss those little nuances and references.

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

As I recall, we've had this discussion before (in a bar, I believe), so I won't get into how awesome Richard Dean Anderson is. Enjoy!
=D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I definitely will. :)

[valderys.livejournal.com]

Isn't that weird? I love season 1 of B5, and don't regard it as bad at all. I still think season 2 and 3 are better though, but I liked a lot of season 1. But the only episodes of McGuyver I've seen (randomly on various channels) have all been so appallingly bad and boring, that I've never been able to make myself watch to the end of even one...

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Most of the MacGyver episodes that get aired seem to be the later seasons, and they got pretty bad. Mac's solutions to problems became less and less believable as time went on, and the situations he was resolving with gum and hot air were more and more dire and ridiculous. But in the first couple of seasons, it was a bit more reasonable and enjoyable.

[obeliamedusa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought the first season of B5 was pretty boring too. 2 through 4 blew me away though. Awesome show.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I'm trying really hard to not let these first few episodes turn me off completely, because a lot of people I trust have said it gets better. So I'll just keep trucking along with it. :)

[arthurfrdent.livejournal.com]

this is why I don't tend to rewatch stuff I loved a long time ago... the memory is better than the truth sometimes. I actually stopped watching B5 after the first season because I can't stand Boxleitner, but then that was a long time ago...

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

The only thing I've really seen Bruce Boxleitner on was Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which I loved back in the day and haven't rewatched ever. So I don't really have an opinion on him. It will be interesting to see if he makes a better or worse commander on B5.

this is why I don't tend to rewatch stuff I loved a long time ago

Hell, sometimes I can't rewatch stuff that I loved just a year or two ago. The mind, she is fickle.