Mark Watches Firefly

[embers_log]

 Recently I was reading Hunger Games and a friend gave me a link to Mark Reads Hunger Games, which has been huge fun to read, and THEN I discovered that Mark was watching Firefly for the first time ever, and posting about each episode as he watched (and loved) it.  He just reached the end and posted the BEST EVER review of 'Object in Space':

Comments

[wildigital]

As you rightly say, he gets the episode magnificently. I sometimes wonder if it would have been better to have Early as the villain in Serenity - obviously that would cut down on the 'little guys vs big government' feel but he was so wonderful a character and such a brilliant contrast to River.

Did you see what his next "watches" project was?

[embers_log]

Yes, he is going to start watching Doctor Who... he is going to start watching every episode from #9, but will be watching some episodes from 1-8 as well (probably stuck in randomly). Have you been to his site to recommend any of the old episodes which should not be missed?

Well I wasn't sure there was anything Joss could have added to 'Objects in Space' (and the movie wasn't an option or idea at the time he wrote that)....
and of course the movie was supposed to resolve a lot of River's madness and to explain the existence of the Reavers... so it all seemed to work. MY big disappointment was in never getting the rest of the movie trilogy! *sigh*

[wildigital]

I'm sure he's currently flooded with recommendations. It's hard because Who has fluctuated from slow paced drama in the 60s (almost half the stories were pure historicals with no sci-fi element apart from the TARDIS itself), more of an action feel set almost entirely on Earth in the early 70s, sci-fi ranging from the absurd to the comic in the later 70s, cheesy romps in the 80s and the big budget US version in 1996 (with many exceptions to the rule in each decade).

Should you recommend the fan favourites, knowing that all episodes afterwards will be worse? Mythos episodes that reveal the show's history - it did take them 6 years before it was revealed the Doctor was a Time Lord, another 7 before Gallifrey was shown and the 12 regenerations rule set. I'd probably go for a chronological introduction to the best villains, with space for City of Death, The Five Doctors and Ghost Light.

[embers_log]

I have to confess that I have never watched all the old episodes: I saw a few (very few) on TV in the old days, and after I got into Christopher Eccleston's Doctor #9 I did rent a few of the old shows (and listened to some of the Doctor 8 radio shows, and read some of the vintage comic books) but I never ran across any that I thought were as fun or as interesting as the new rebooted series....

So is there a comprehensive list somewhere of the fan favorites, some I might actually think are better than RTD's or Moffat's? I've made note of the three titles you mentioned in your last sentence (above) and I will rent those sometime next summer when I have a chance to sign up w/netflix again....