Well, my own top-ten list is not easy to compile, but here we go...
1. Doctor Who: A human-like alien who travels through time and space, in a space-time machine disguised on the outside as an old-fashioned police box, and on the inside, a virtually universe-sized craft. He can travel anywhere in the universe and anywhen in time. Of course, more often than not, he either ends up on Earth or on a planet filled with quarries, but there is a reason why Doctor Who has run for so long. Many reasons. Besides the fact that the Doctor can regenerate from mortal trauma and change into a new person in the process, the series is filled with imaginative stories and aliens.
2. Blake's 7: Star Trek is about the Federation, boldly going where no man has gone before. Blake's 7 is about a group of rebels, criminals, and terrorists on the run from a very different and very tyrannical Federation. While low-budgeted, much of Blake's 7 is surprisingly adult for its time. Where else, in the first episode of the series, would you have the main character, Roj Blake, framed for being a child molester, while everyone who supports him or believes in his innocence are murdered? Particularly noteworthy is the cynical and sardonic computer hacker Kerr Avon, played to perfection by Paul Darrow. This, Browncoats, is where Firefly came from. And it is better.
3. Death Note: The only anime series to grace this list, Death Note is an excellent supernatural psychological thriller. Light Yagami is a young high school student. He is a genius, and he is bored out of his mind, not to mention sick and tired of crime in the world. When he finds a mysterious notebook that belonged to a shinigami (or god of death, like a grim reaper) called Ryuk, he finds that he can kill anyone who he knows the real name and face of by writing their name down in the notebook. Light decides to become a vigilante, killing off the world's criminals, and once he gets rid of them, he wants to be the god of a new, crime-free world. Problem is, Interpol takes note of the criminals dropping dead at the hands of the mysterious murderer, dubbed 'Kira' by the media. And the mysterious detective known as L is determined to stop Kira at all costs. A brilliant series that has several twists and turns, and has very ambiguous morality.
4. The Quatermass serials: Nigel Kneale, the author of these ground-breaking science-fiction serials, detested science fiction. Yet he wrote some of the best examples in these science fiction thriller serials from the 1950's, as well as a fourth in the 1970's. Professor Bernard Quatermass, of the British Rocket Group, must contend with alien incursions. The first three serials established the paradigm of any alien invasion story: We go to them; They come to us; and They were always here. Of particular note is the third serial, Quatermass and the Pit, where the discovery of a bizarre object in a construction site/archaology dig leads to questions about mankind's origins...
5. Mythbusters: What do you get when you mix urban legends, pop culture, a pair of special effects technicians, and the scientific method? Oh, and explosives. Lots of explosives. You get Mythbusters. Although conceived in Australia, Mythbusters is filmed around San Francisco. Hosted by special effects technicians Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, Mythbusters sets out to debunk, or even prove, various urban legends, Hollywood myths, and various stories. And even if they can't duplicate the myth according to the parameters set, they will often try to duplicate the results. And quite often, that involves explosives, or at least destruction on a grand scale.
6. Red Dwarf: While Douglas Adams got there first, Red Dwarf is an excellent example of science-fiction comedy. Dave Lister, a vending machine repairman on the mining ship Red Dwarf, gets put into stasis as punishment for bringing a cat on board. Due to a radiation leak, however, he doesn't get released until 3 million years later. Although he is probably the last human alive, Lister is far from alone. Holly, Red Dwarf's (now senile) computer. Arnold Rimmer, a holographic simulation of Lister's anal-retentive colleague and bunkmate. And the Cat, a human-like creature that evolved from Lister's cat. Later, they are joined by neurotic android Kryten. In space, nobody can hear you scream, but they might just hear you laugh...
7. Blackadder: If you only know Rowan Atkinson from Mr Bean, then you don't know him. Blackadder is a hysterical historical comedy about the misadventures of several generations of the Blackadder family. Edmund Blackadder is ambitious. He wants to rise in the world. Problem is, his biggest help is S Baldrick, played to perfection by Tony Robinson. And, in many cases, at least, Baldrick is a simpleton. Although this dynamic was reversed in the original series (Blackadder being dumb and Baldrick being smart), there are a lot of deadpan snarkers and tortured similes that will make you laugh.
8. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams' magnum opus comes to the small screen in this six-part series. Although the special effects may not look good for noawadays, take one look at the guide entries and you'll love them. In H2G2, as it is commonly abbreviated to, Arthur Dent's house is demolished. Problem is, so is the Earth, and Arthur is rescued by Ford Prefect, a human-like alien from Betelguese, and a researcher for an intergalactic guide called The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The two, along with fugitive President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox and his human companion Tricia 'Trillian' McMillan, are on a bizarre question that will lead them to learn, amongst other things, the Answer to the Great Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything. (Clue: What's 6 X 7?)
9. The League of Gentlemen: This is very dark comedy. Unless you can tolerate South Park, don't watch this. However, it is, despite its often macabre humour, a smart, sardonic, and even scary comedy about an isolated town in the North of England, Royston Vasey. There are the inbred shopkeepers, Tubbs and Edward, whose local shop (actually on a hill overlooking the town) is for local people, and anyone who makes the mistake of saying that they're not local are never seen again. There's Hilary Briss, a sinister butcher whose Special Stuff is so wrong, and yet it is as addictive as crack cocaine. There's the hapless vet Dr Chinnery, who seems to kill more pets (by accident!) than he saves. There is the toad and cleanliness-obsessed Harvey Denton, and his wife Valerie, who makes the life of their visiting nephew Benjamin a living hell with strange rules and strange obsessions. And finally, there is the demonic blackfaced minstrel-like Papa Lazarou, ringmaster and polygamist, calling everyone Dave, and abducting women with a cry of 'You're my wife, now....' Good stuff, if you can stomach it.
10. Bottom: If you have watched The Young Ones, then this might be for you. If you want to see a series that is basically like a live-action cartoon, with cartoonish, bloody, and ridiculously over-the-top violence, then this is definitely for you. Rik Mayall is Richard 'Richie' Richard, a loser who has never had sex, although this is probably due more to the fact that, despite his high opinion of himself and his allure to women, he is actually a disgusting human being, and not because of the faults of others. Adrian Edmondson is Edward 'Eddie' Hitler, a violent drunkard with more friends and sexual success than Richie, but is still a hopeless alcoholic. They can't live with each other, but they can't live without each other. Life craps on them from a great height. After all, they're at the bottom of the heap.
There you go.
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(No longer a mod)
On sabbatical...
25 Feb 2010, 3:51 am
