Topic 4: imagine the best TV show ever
daasgrrl asked: What combination of things would make for the Best TV Show Ever?
It will be a drama.
Above all, it will need to pass the litmus test of a character being able to say, "When I died..." The possibility of surviving death is what draws me to most of the books and shows I've loved. It works for vampires, devils and sci fi technology, among other things. Maybe medical dramas, too, if the docs are really good. :) So that helps establish the genre.
Excellent writing is important. It'll have smart, witty dialogue, but not the smug-quippy one-liner stuff that tries to pass for witty on shows like CSI. And it'll be well written on a larger scale, too -- episodes make sense, arcs build, and the production team pays attention to continuity.
There will be many women characters, and they will be written like people and not like stereotypes.
MINIMAL SMIRKING.
It will star some impossible combination of favorite actors/actresses. Not picky about who gets picked from the long list!
Characters will not spend the whole show bickering or undermining one another. Chosen family is lovely, although not a requirement (I think), but I don't like what developed on shows like House where there were no support networks for anyone and bad stuff kept happening.
It will air on HBO or Showtime or Netflix, because that means (1) episodes can be up to 60 minutes long and not have the roller coaster of mini dramatic arcs demanded by commercial breaks, (2) the production values will be incredible, and (3) sex! Including nontraditional sex.
Which brings me to the last item on the wish list: There will be many characters among whom relationships are possible. Sort of like how on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Vampire Diaries or True Blood or even SGA, you could point to evidence supporting an argument for a relationship between/among any two or three or four characters in a given season, including villains, only this time it would be on screen. So you never know when sexual tension will turn into something more. M/F, M/M, F/F, M/M/F, F/F/M, OT4, whatever. NO MORE of this "heroine must choose between two men" stuff that lasts year after year - on cable TV, she shouldn't have to choose! Cut through the drama leftover from decades of conservative network control! Let's focus on a different plot. Oh, and an asexual character would be nice, too. Sigh.
Well, and I guess the last thing is that fandom friends would get into the show and have fun either writing commentary about it or playing in it.
.
What are your litmus tests, by the way? I seem to recall ellen_fremedon's has something to do with robots, for example.
.
(Still accepting topics, btw.)
It will be a drama.
Above all, it will need to pass the litmus test of a character being able to say, "When I died..." The possibility of surviving death is what draws me to most of the books and shows I've loved. It works for vampires, devils and sci fi technology, among other things. Maybe medical dramas, too, if the docs are really good. :) So that helps establish the genre.
Excellent writing is important. It'll have smart, witty dialogue, but not the smug-quippy one-liner stuff that tries to pass for witty on shows like CSI. And it'll be well written on a larger scale, too -- episodes make sense, arcs build, and the production team pays attention to continuity.
There will be many women characters, and they will be written like people and not like stereotypes.
MINIMAL SMIRKING.
It will star some impossible combination of favorite actors/actresses. Not picky about who gets picked from the long list!
Characters will not spend the whole show bickering or undermining one another. Chosen family is lovely, although not a requirement (I think), but I don't like what developed on shows like House where there were no support networks for anyone and bad stuff kept happening.
It will air on HBO or Showtime or Netflix, because that means (1) episodes can be up to 60 minutes long and not have the roller coaster of mini dramatic arcs demanded by commercial breaks, (2) the production values will be incredible, and (3) sex! Including nontraditional sex.
Which brings me to the last item on the wish list: There will be many characters among whom relationships are possible. Sort of like how on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Vampire Diaries or True Blood or even SGA, you could point to evidence supporting an argument for a relationship between/among any two or three or four characters in a given season, including villains, only this time it would be on screen. So you never know when sexual tension will turn into something more. M/F, M/M, F/F, M/M/F, F/F/M, OT4, whatever. NO MORE of this "heroine must choose between two men" stuff that lasts year after year - on cable TV, she shouldn't have to choose! Cut through the drama leftover from decades of conservative network control! Let's focus on a different plot. Oh, and an asexual character would be nice, too. Sigh.
Well, and I guess the last thing is that fandom friends would get into the show and have fun either writing commentary about it or playing in it.
.
What are your litmus tests, by the way? I seem to recall ellen_fremedon's has something to do with robots, for example.
.
(Still accepting topics, btw.)