7th Station ~TV, movies, games~

[Zunu]

Exclusives I've seen and enjoyed on Amazon Prime: The Expanse (partial), Fleabag, The Man in the High Castle (partial), The Boys, Good Omens, Babylon (partial).
Stuff that didn't impress me: Hanna (it wasn't that bad, just meh), Carnival Row (partial, couldn't get into it. I really want to like Cara Delevingne on account of her eyebrows but)

[Celedam]

I‘ll second Zunu’s recommendations of The Expanse, The Man in the High Castle, The Boys, and Good Omens, and to those I would add The Tick.

Recommendations of non-exclusives that just happen to be on Amazon Prime Video right now: Victoria, John Adams, Flight of the Conchords, Farscape, Babylon 5, Dead Like Me, Made in Abyss.

A couple of notes about those. First, Made in Abyss is not for the faint of heart. Don’t let the art style or the relatively lighthearted first few episodes fool you. But if you can see it through to the end, it is a powerful experience.

And second, Babylon 5 was notoriously cheap even when when it was first broadcast in the '90s so it looks especially dated now, but its story and dialogue are still some of the best ever.

Stuff on Amazon Prime Video that I have watched but cannot recommend to someone else: Eureka, Defiance, True Blood, Downton Abbey.

[Yattaruchan]

Babylon 5 was relatively low budget for the time, but it at least tried to do a lot with the limited budget. Loved the show.
As for looking even more dated nowadays, it's extra worse because of the completely botched handling of the VFX shots in the widescreen versions of the episodes.

The Expanse is really good. The storytelling gives me a real Babylon 5 vibe in a lot of ways. The new season (4th) could have been a bit better though.

I never hear anyone talk about Dead Like Me. That was a fun little show.

[Zunu]

I've seen quite a bit of Babylon 5 but have never really gotten into it 100% because it is a pretty heavy time investment. It was if I recall correctly one of the first if not the first SF series with the kind of "arc" storytelling that we are accustomed to today, meaning that you can't just drop in on a random episode and understand what was going on. And it has a lot of characters, a lot of backstory, sidequests, minor details that slowly coalesce, etc. So it rewards faithful viewing with a satisfying payoff, but on the other hand discourages casual viewing because you're baffled as to who is this random looking creature that looks something like a giant cyclops snake wearing its PhD doctoral gown, and not just "who" but why and how. Also, because the show was in a sense a pioneer of the arc form, it didn't have the pacing quite figured out imo. So you have to overcome those limitations to really start to enjoy the story. Yeah the effects are also weird and cheesy but I think that's a more minor aspect to its limited overall appeal. One of these days I'll make time to watch the whole thing beginning to end.

However, just to be clear that is not the Babylon I was recommending in my comment above. I was talking about the anime:

[Yattaruchan]

For American shows, it's often credited as the first, but I don't if it actuall is.
British shows like Blake's 7 did it in the 70s. And Soaps I guess too.

The show was kind of a pioneer with using not just CGI for TV, but also using virtual sets. Definitely primitive by todays standards though. To bad they cocked up the VFX When they "remastered" the show from the original 4:3 to 16:9. The show was actually originally filmed in 16:9, the show and it's effects were produced in 4:3. When they made widescreen versions for the modern era, all the shots with effects were not only cropped, by badly processed, so they literally look extra shit then they originally did. Though scenes with no effects are true widescreen.

To get back on topic. Commitment is a downside of arc shows. And I kind of despise the fact neary all shows seem to be that way now. I like my episodic stuff.

And Babylon 5's pacing was actually done pretty well. Specifically the build up.

Season 1 was mainly episodic with maybe 6 out of 22 eps dealing with the main arc.
Season 2 had a few more eps dealing with the main arc.
Then Seasons 3 went full arc, but at a good pace.
Season 4 was still a full arc, but at a bit of a faster pace. Because the creater didn't know if the series would be renewed for a 5th and final season, they crammed about 1 and a half seasons worth of story into one season.
The final season then had the rest of the main arc story, with a filler mini arc added.

And I guess I was replying to Celedam's post on B5. But noted.

[Celedam]

I never hear anyone talk about Dead Like Me. That was a fun little show.

Also, because [Babylon 5] was in a sense a pioneer of the arc form, it didn't have the pacing quite figured out imo.

Keep in mind that Babylon 5 was competing against Star Trek at the time, both TNG (in reruns) and DS9 (in first runs). So like Yattaruchan said, it started out as mostly episodic in order to attract Star Trek fans, gradually introduced the various storylines, and then went "full arc" in the later seasons.

Some people still think DS9's shift to the multi-season "Dominion War" storyline was a response to the unexpected popularity of B5.

British shows like Blake's 7 did it in the 70s.

Speaking of, the entire series is available on YouTube, believe it or not…

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAPGcD5LGrp6WZOZyH1y3dkxi2eTxXi74

[Yattaruchan]

I'm always surprised certain YT channel (like the Blake's 7) that have complete episodes, let alone full series of old shows don't get shut down.

I could be wrong, but I don't think B5 started out episodic to attract TNG fans, as I think it was just natural for it's story arc to start like that. I gradual build up what worked really well in my opinion and felt organic.

I do feel that DS9 did blatantly rip off B5 in a lot of ways though. The One/ The Emmesary, Whitestar/Defiant, both Sherriden and Sisco Jump off cliffs to sacrifice themselves. DS9's intro even added ships docking, space people repairing and even a nebula backdrop, a lot like B5. Wouldn't be surprised if the "Dominion War" is rip of the B5's "Shadow War". DS9's main Cardassian/Bajor "story" always felt like it never really went anywhere.

Also , later on, Star Trek Voyager effectively stole B5'S VFX company, Foundation Imaging (After B5's 3rd season). Star Trek clearly had more money to offer them than B5's people did.

[Celedam]

I'm always surprised certain YT channel (like the Blake's 7) that have complete episodes, let alone full series of old shows don't get shut down.

As far as I know, no one is licensing or distributing Blake's 7 right now. The estate of Terry Nation is just sitting on it (like it's just sitting on the classic Dalek stories that Nation wrote for Doctor Who). So if no one has an incentive to enforce the copyright, the copyright is not enforced.

[Yattaruchan]

Interesting if true. But you'd think the Terry Nation estate would put a stop to it. Unless they can't for some reason or just don't know or care.
I wonder why they're being so anal about the Dalek Who episodes? Money or something else I wonder.

[JonCC]

"Against all the evil that Hell can conjure, all the wickedness that mankind can produce, we will send unto them... only you."