Question of the day

[ebonlock]

Scott over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money asks what folks think is the most overrated tv show, and gets one comment that nearly made me snarf Vitamin Water:

Babylon Five. Revered by a large subset of SF nerds, despite the fact that it had a terrible cast, the characters all spoke in the author's (speechifying) voice, most of the plot and setting elements were shamelessly borrowed (the series' big order-versus-chaos metaplot climax was stolen directly from the alignment section of the Advanced D&D Dungeon Master's Guide), and roughly half of the episodes featured the characters marking time while the overall metaplot advanced a couple of ticks. And the spinoff shows were even worse. Beloved by people who think Star Trek wasn't preachy enough. Not only does the new BSG shit on it from a great height, but the old one does, too.
FMguru

Then Matt T. dismantles Firefly, ending with this phrase which I think summarizes the show rather well: "Though is it just me, or does it totally rip off the "Wing Commander" game series?"

Since he did all the work for me I just added: "Firefly was quite possibly the most horrendous excuse for a sci-fi series not created and produced by the SciFi channel. I would happily sit through an entire day of back to back showings of "Mansquito" than watch a single episode of Firefly ever, ever again."

I disagree with those slagging on XFiles, of course, unless they're referring to post season 7, in which case I'd merrily join them. I'd also add all series with the letters CSI attached to them, pretty much all current and recent sitcoms, Lost (which perfected the art of shark jumping ages ago), and absolutely 24 (which has about as much plot as your average Half-Life game).

Comments are open, which series would you add?

Comments

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I've never played 'Wing Commander'. Was it really that good?

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

No, it really wasn't, although I quite liked Mark Hamill in it :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

My problem with making meaningful contributions to this thread is that before I get to the 'this is overrated' part I've stopped watching. So I can have a general impression that something is overrated but have no facts to back it up.
Although I'd put money on 'American Idol' being overrated despite not having seen it.
(I am also amused by the number of posts that start with "Of course, I don't actually watch any television myself...")

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

LOL, I especially liked the one that started with "I've never had cable and I don't watch much tv, but..." And I'd agree with American Idol, and raise you a Survivor as well. I don't think you're required to watch said overhyped series to bitch about it here. I promise not to deduct points so long as you admit to owning and occasionally using a tv.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I love my television! It is the source of all things Stewart (aside from uTube).
And is overrated the same as overhyped?

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I think for all intents and purposes you can interchange the two terms for the sake of this blog post.

[moonlightnrain.livejournal.com]

Seinfeld. Without a doubt. I would rather pull my own tongue out of my head than watch another episode of that hideous show.

I should be asleep but the neighbors are having a loud dinner party. *sigh*

[elenderel.livejournal.com]

Heh. you know me: sure, I own and occasionally use a TV ... that said, I don't have (much) cable, just the first 14 channels, "that 24-hour news channel" (CNN perhaps? I can't remember its name: the one with Glen Beck) and Spike (but only if we go through the VCR). I've never heard of Firefly or (gratefully so, I guess) Mansquito, never caught an episode of the new Dr. Who, BSG or 24 (although at least I've heard of them), etc. I've seen one or two CSI shows, some Stargate (but never from the beginning), etc.

Having said that - just on the basis of having caught part of one episode of Sex and the City, I would add that series. I've seen part of American Idol (once) and Survivor (once), and I just didn't get the hoopla with those, either. I saw 1/4 of a Lost episode and, well, I felt as though I'd mistakenly walked into a mens' room somewhere: I didn't belong there, trying to make sense of a freaky soap opera that never ends. So I changed the channel to Public Access and watched a stuffed animal perform questionable acts upon a statue/holy relic for half an hour while packing orders for the biz. Gotta love Public Access.

On a related note: At work, I sit between two Survivor nuts. Last year I agreed to be part of the online Fantasy Survivor team that Nut #1 was part of so I could serve as a sort of control subject in a grand experiment: Does one need to actually watch the show in order to score well and make the best picks? End result: No, you don't. I made my picks according to that day's fluctuations in the Force and ended up somewhere in the top five out of 12 or so players. Nut #1 was slightly outraged because she'd faithfully watched it every week.

It's fun to listen to Nuts 1 and 2 have mini hissy-fits over whose picks were better and who's ranked higher ...