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Entry tags:
Television... Sci-Fi, .and Doctor Who
1. EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR WHO STORY RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST for the DW fans on my reading list.
Reading through it, I was reminded of why I found the series far too scary to watch when I was eight in the 1970s. It also reminds me a great deal of two sci-fi anthology US programs in the 1960s and 70s, which were reprised briefly, Outer Limits and Twilight Zone. I liked Twilight Zone better -- it was psychological horror, while Outer Limits was basically monsters came to eat you from outer space.
The 1950s in the US seemed to spawn a lot of scary sci-fi movies. I think most if not all of them were allegories of the fear people had of the Other, or Communism. We'd just come off of a brutal war, where no one was necessarily a good guy. (If you disagree, go google the Battle of Dresden and read Slaughter-House Five. Also google the US internment camps for Japanese Americans, and what happened with the two atomic bombs.) Anyhow, WWII spawned US and Japanese sci-fi horror films. Our fear of nuclear warfare, communism, nazism, fascism...all show up in those, along with Doctor Who.
Anyhow, it's hard for me to quibble with the rankings, I only saw a smattering of the episodes. Agree with Blink, Midnight, Listen, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, Day of the Doctor, The Doctor's Wife...have never really understood the appeal of the Vincent Van Gough episode and the Girl in the Fire Place, but that's just me. Personally I preferred The Impossible Astronaut and A Good Man Goes to War, along with Family of Blood and The Human Condition.
2. Television Shows to Binge Watch.
Please name a television show that you recommend binge watching this summer, list the channel and where to find it. I'm looking for recommendations.
Right now considering Orange is the New Black, Fortitude, Bosch, Big Little Lies,
American Gods.
3. What are the Best Television Adaptations of Books?
Hmmm...the best one that I've seen, and actually read the book, was A&E's adaptation of Pride & Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. It seemed to be the closest to the book, with a few interesting tweaks here and there. Such as Darcy taking a dip in his estate's lake only to find himself running into Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle.
I didn't like Poldark take 2 that much. But that may be a mood thing. And I didn't read the book.
The Expanse did a rather decent job with Leviathan Wakes, the first in that series. I haven't read the others yet.
I think it is hard to do a decent book adaptation. I liked The Night Manager, but again have not read the book. Le Carr gives me a headache, I can only watch the adaptations of his work. His books...feel a bit like trudging through quicksand.
(I admit I was more of a Ludlum and Fleming fan, and Helen McInnes, who were less realistic but more fun.)
The Thorn Birds was a good adaptation of that book, I must admit. Collen McCullough's Australian epic actually was my favorite of that specific genre.
Oh, and the best horror novel adaptation was Harvest Home (by Tom Tyron) which was adapted in the 1970s.
4. Brings me to my next question which books would you like to see adapted into a television series?
I can tell you this much, none that are currently being adapted. The one's I want adapted aren't popular enough, apparently, to be adapted.
Would love to see all the Shakespearean plays adapted. That would be cool. Do modern adaptations!
Also love to see His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman adapted into a television series. I think it would work better for television than film.
And The Chronicles of Lymond by Dorothy Dunnett starring Tom Hiddleston in the lead role.
Would not mind it if they adapted the Vicky Bliss mysteries.
Other books? The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Sparrow/Children of God by Maria Doria Russell. The Kim Harrison - Rachel Morgan series, about a bounty hunter who discovers she's a demon. Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.
Sci-Fi series? Hmmm....they don't tend to do a good job with sci-fi book adaptations.
Although I haven't seen Man in the High Castle. I did not like what they did with Dune or the Wizard of Earthsea.
See? Too off the beaten path. They'd never do them.
5. Any reboots?
Can't think of any. They always reboot shows that really don't need to be rebooted.
What they should do is continue series that left us with a cliff-hanger. Sort of a wrap-up of that series. Or something.
Reading through it, I was reminded of why I found the series far too scary to watch when I was eight in the 1970s. It also reminds me a great deal of two sci-fi anthology US programs in the 1960s and 70s, which were reprised briefly, Outer Limits and Twilight Zone. I liked Twilight Zone better -- it was psychological horror, while Outer Limits was basically monsters came to eat you from outer space.
The 1950s in the US seemed to spawn a lot of scary sci-fi movies. I think most if not all of them were allegories of the fear people had of the Other, or Communism. We'd just come off of a brutal war, where no one was necessarily a good guy. (If you disagree, go google the Battle of Dresden and read Slaughter-House Five. Also google the US internment camps for Japanese Americans, and what happened with the two atomic bombs.) Anyhow, WWII spawned US and Japanese sci-fi horror films. Our fear of nuclear warfare, communism, nazism, fascism...all show up in those, along with Doctor Who.
Anyhow, it's hard for me to quibble with the rankings, I only saw a smattering of the episodes. Agree with Blink, Midnight, Listen, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, Day of the Doctor, The Doctor's Wife...have never really understood the appeal of the Vincent Van Gough episode and the Girl in the Fire Place, but that's just me. Personally I preferred The Impossible Astronaut and A Good Man Goes to War, along with Family of Blood and The Human Condition.
2. Television Shows to Binge Watch.
Please name a television show that you recommend binge watching this summer, list the channel and where to find it. I'm looking for recommendations.
Right now considering Orange is the New Black, Fortitude, Bosch, Big Little Lies,
American Gods.
3. What are the Best Television Adaptations of Books?
Hmmm...the best one that I've seen, and actually read the book, was A&E's adaptation of Pride & Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. It seemed to be the closest to the book, with a few interesting tweaks here and there. Such as Darcy taking a dip in his estate's lake only to find himself running into Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle.
I didn't like Poldark take 2 that much. But that may be a mood thing. And I didn't read the book.
The Expanse did a rather decent job with Leviathan Wakes, the first in that series. I haven't read the others yet.
I think it is hard to do a decent book adaptation. I liked The Night Manager, but again have not read the book. Le Carr gives me a headache, I can only watch the adaptations of his work. His books...feel a bit like trudging through quicksand.
(I admit I was more of a Ludlum and Fleming fan, and Helen McInnes, who were less realistic but more fun.)
The Thorn Birds was a good adaptation of that book, I must admit. Collen McCullough's Australian epic actually was my favorite of that specific genre.
Oh, and the best horror novel adaptation was Harvest Home (by Tom Tyron) which was adapted in the 1970s.
4. Brings me to my next question which books would you like to see adapted into a television series?
I can tell you this much, none that are currently being adapted. The one's I want adapted aren't popular enough, apparently, to be adapted.
Would love to see all the Shakespearean plays adapted. That would be cool. Do modern adaptations!
Also love to see His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman adapted into a television series. I think it would work better for television than film.
And The Chronicles of Lymond by Dorothy Dunnett starring Tom Hiddleston in the lead role.
Would not mind it if they adapted the Vicky Bliss mysteries.
Other books? The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Sparrow/Children of God by Maria Doria Russell. The Kim Harrison - Rachel Morgan series, about a bounty hunter who discovers she's a demon. Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.
Sci-Fi series? Hmmm....they don't tend to do a good job with sci-fi book adaptations.
Although I haven't seen Man in the High Castle. I did not like what they did with Dune or the Wizard of Earthsea.
See? Too off the beaten path. They'd never do them.
5. Any reboots?
Can't think of any. They always reboot shows that really don't need to be rebooted.
What they should do is continue series that left us with a cliff-hanger. Sort of a wrap-up of that series. Or something.