Query!

[m_mcgregor]

Anyone out there watching Flash Forward, and if so, can you tell me if I should risk watching it? I'm pretty desperate for a good sci-fi show these days. Heroes is less painfully awful now that Jeph Loeb is out of the picture (I don't know if you know this, but I've a bit of a distaste for that fellow), but it's still not great, Fringe was just

Comments

[wittgens]

Um, Dollhouse? It's better as a creepy as hell meditation on humanity and exploitation than as a sci fi show, but it's still kind of science fictiony. I mean, like any Whedon show, it is not without its issues. I still feel it's pretty good.

[m_mcgregor]

I'm watching it, but I can say it's easily Whedon's worst attempt at a show so far. I like many of the elements and supporting actors/characters, but unfortunately it seems that Eliza Dushku cannot pull off the role in any way that makes me care about her. I think the show would benefit tremendously if it was a pure ensemble show and Echo was not a main character, but that's never going to happen.

I watch it, but it's not satisfying my sci-fi craving for a quality show. It may get better (this season is already much better than the previous one) but for now it's not cutting the mustard.

[wittgens]

I can definitely see that. Personally, I think Eliza Dushku's performance wouldn't be such a drag if it weren't for how incredible most of the other actors are. Victor especially is just so obviously better that I feel it makes Eliza look even worse.

Sorry I can't think of anything else that's currently airing. Maybe this anime called Planets? I haven't seen it yet, but it's supposed to be fantastic. It's about a future where space junk has accumulated to the point that there is a class of people who have to clean it up. To me, the most promising thing about it is that the creator of the show made all his animators take a course in orbital mechanics so they could draw things more accurately.

[waddis]

I'd echo (aha!) the suggestion of sticking with Dollhouse, but I care so little about Echo's story arc and the character of Ballard that I almost feel guilty about it.

Any episode that has Topher in it for longer than five minutes is usually pretty good. The writers are definitely giving him a lot more to work with, moving him from awkwardly sociopathic to awkwardly morally confused.

I don't watch Joss Whedon's shows because I feel like I owe him my loyalty or anything. He's pulled one too many fuck-ups for that. I like his shows because he knows some good people, and nearly every actor he casts is well-cast for the part. Although Eliza Dushku does need to get her feet under the character.

[d_tepes]

Skip Flash Forward. I mean, it's a good show it's tightly constructed and it's interesting. And it tries a little too hard to let you know this. I started it, I liked it, I enjoyed it and I stopped watching it with the thought "I'll probably wish I kept watching this but..." The best way I can describe my thoughts on this. When I was watching the show I liked and enjoyed it. If it wasn't on screen in front of me I couldn't muster up the urge to watch it. I had to struggle and force myself to. I tried to get my tv schedule down to just shows that when I wasn't watching them I really wanted to do so (well, that or they have three hot witches and Paul Freakin' Gross in it).

Big Bang Theory? I like it, but then I saw the original pre-air pilot first instead of the recut aired one, and it's where I got to liking it. You saw the first singular episode? Try two more, use it to fill the space that would have been Flash Forward. The show is a Chuck Lorre show and his shows aren't for everyone but they can be funny and this one is

[m_mcgregor]

The way you feel about Flash Forward is kind of how I was about Dollhouse for the first season. I kind of enjoyed it when I was watching, but otherwise I had to really force myself to actually sit down and watch it

[d_tepes]

I can still watch the Dollhouse because hot chick quotient overpowers the, um, brain. Yeah. And FF is good and all but didn't have the hot chick quotient (well, they're not, but the Ogle/Goods-On-Display variable) that works for Dollhouse

[nistelle]

And FF is good and all but didn't have the hot [person] quotient (well, they're not, but the Ogle/Goods-On-Display variable) that works for Dollhouse.

For straight men, perhaps. :3

... are the women in FF hot? All I can think of is the religious freak babysitter. I guess Doctor Wife is okay, but she's a bit older.

OH, Gabrielle Union, I almost forgot. She was naked for a while! Along with the Choverlord! It was brilliant television.

[skarman]

I started watching Lost when it came out here (same day as in the US, I believe, they were so sure about it) but after a few eps, I just lost interest. I never went back to it. Heck, I recently cancelled my cable subscription, since most shows I like, aren't shown here (yet) and the rest is crap, like reality-based crap. Now, I just download the stuff I want to watch.

Flash Forward is one of those shows. Is it Sci-Fi? I don't know, if I'd call it that. I do know, that unlike Lost, it grabbed my from the first episode onward. It's gritty at times. It is serious most of the time. And as you go further, you still don't know if what the people saw in their flash forward, is real, or isn't. To me, it's like Heroes' first season. You were rooting for the guys, wondering what's going to happen next. Will it keep its momentum? I don't know. I'd say, give it a shot.

[m_mcgregor]

Heck, I recently cancelled my cable subscription, since most shows I like, aren't shown here (yet) and the rest is crap, like reality-based crap. Now, I just download the stuff I want to watch.

I can neither confirm nor deny rumors that I haven't had any TV service for several years now. Cough cough.

As for Lost one thing about that show is that I never watched it week-to-week. I got the first season on DVD shortly after it first aired, and watched it all over the course of a few days. When I tried to watch Season 2 as it aired, I could not keep up my interest. The show moves too slowly and has too many unanswered questions to really keep me involved at that point. I was also afraid it was going to have a lot of weird stuff happen and never ever explain anything, but in the last season or two a fair amount has had at least some explanation. Granted, there's a lot of unanswered questions, but some big questions got answered

[hjcallipygian]

It's meh. Harold from Harold and Kumar is interesting to me. But... not everyone else is all that interesting to me so far. But then again, I really enjoy Fringe, so I can't predict how you'll like it by how I like it. *shrugs* I don't think it'll make you want to punch me in the brain, though, either way.

[m_mcgregor]

No no, I'd punch you in the mind, not the brain. Important distinction, that. I would never try to punch you in the brain: after all, I would have a 90% chance of hitting a portion we humans don't use.

[hjcallipygian]

Hahaha. Good point. Important distinction, indeed.

But you should watch out with that ten-percent-of-the-brain stuff. There's this really cranky jerk on my friends list who goes ape-shit crazy when he sees stuff like that. =)

[anonymous]

i liked the 2 eps of flash forward i watched,but then,i have never once watched a 1st run series evah.and i liked Stargate sg1 so i know far as
tv goes we are no where near similar on tastes.but i'd recommend you watch a ep or 6 of flash forward and decide for your self.

[m_mcgregor]

I guess that'll be what I wind up doing, but I hate to lend even a nebulous psychic support to something Brannon Braga has created.