oh god read less need more much more TV pls kthxbai

[sab]

So, based on your knowledge of Sab and television; sell me on:

Demons
Sanctuary
Lie to Me
Trust Me
Lark Rise to Candleford
Sophie
Being Human
Primeval
United States of Tara
Skins

(eta (tuesday): Okay, so thanks to all y'all beautiful people, I will try Sanctuary, Being Human and United States of Tara expecting boatloads of promise, and Primeval expecting boatloads of crack. Will give all the rest a pass and will report back on my findings after executing the experiments. My LORD THANK YOU.)

I haven't seen a single ep of any of these except Skins, of which I've seen a few and actually quite liked, despite my bias against teenager-based shows. Still I haven't seen anything in order and don't remember much; plus I think the cast is all different now?

Anyway; if you're watching, have watched, are loving, have loved, tried and hated, or are ambivalent about any of the above, let me know? And if you ARE loving, or even liking one of the above, pimp it to me, will you? Picspam is always nice but not necessary (eta: because with a handful of very particular exceptions, hot people are not enough to sell me on a show, especially those tiresome young hot people *sigh*). Funny quotes or clever plot references are good! Fic recs too!

ALSO if you're out there and curious about one of these shows, go ahead and comment and second the request and maybe some nice soul will answer us?

LOVE,
SAB

Comments

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

I think I'm coming down with something and also it's late, so because I'm both lazy and tired I'm not going to be a very good pimp, but: I'm enjoying United States of Tara a LOT. I love Toni Collette, and I like the plots so far, and the tone, and the way it oscillates between comedy and drama without being heavy on the angst. I find it quite clever. Thumbs up!

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Does it feel like a Tracey Ullman show? From the ads it looks just like Tracey Ullman -- and I LIKE Tracey Ullman -- but I'm curious if Toni Collette brings something different to her characters. Your pimping has inspired me to download one and give it a try!

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

I don't know what a Tracey Ullman show is like! You're overestimating my familiarity with American TV on this one, I think. *g* Sorry about that!

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Tracey Ullman's British! Though she's done a lot of her variety shows over here and might even be a citizen now.

And you're still French. *g*

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

.... *hides*

yes, yes I am! And possibly know even less about UK TV than about US shows, what with the American cultural imperialism being what it is. :D

okay, time for bed now. I hope your post will serve to pimp new stuff to me, so I'll come back!

[evil_plotbunny]

The only one of those I've seen is Demons and it's in the "so bad it's enjoyable" category. There is a semi-active comm called demonisers which embraces the crack, and you might want to skim that to see if it's the sort of thing you'd like.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Now two of you have mentioned that Demons is absurdly cracktastic. I figure I will have to traverse that on my own and see if I can handle it...

Thank you for the comm rec too, I m going to mosey on over there right now and try and get a feel for what's what. Very helpful! Awes! Thanks!

[evil_plotbunny]

I think I'm more in love with the comm than I am with the absurdity of the show. ;)

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

It's cracky and fun, and only 6 eps long, so go for it :D

[beerbad.livejournal.com]

I've been watching United States of Tara since it premiered and completely LOVE IT. Toni Collette is freaking amazing in it, the subject matter is handled well, all of the characters seem like real people, it's funny and touching... and I actually look forward to new episodes of it each week more than any other show currently airing, with the possible exception of BSG. So I think that's saying a lot. :)

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Okay, between you and anatsuno I'm totally sold. Thanks!

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

I love it too!

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Primeval is a bit special. The premisse is slightly ridiculous (wormhole type things release dinosaurs and other creatures from different eras of our past - and future - into the English country side) but the characters are terribly fun, and there's a healthy slash couple of best friends turned rivals. Plus, adorable sidekicks. I really like it a lot. There are consequences to the occasional time travel/messing with the past and a fair bit of pure crack.

Being Human is also something I enjoy. Don't start with the unaired pilot, even though that was a thing of utter brilliance. The show isn't as good, but by episode 4 it has completely charmed itself into my heart. The basic premisse is a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost being roommates and the best moments are exactly that - the three "monsters" trying to fit in with the neighborhood. I love the three main characters and there is good potential for slash and OT3.

Sanctuary I've watched and was pretty meh about, but others have loved it a lot.

Demons is... the most trashy trash that ever trashed, but I hear with alcohol it's terribly fun. Like a completely cracked-out male version of Buffy, with a ridiculous dialog and Phil Glenister doing an American accent.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

This is so helpful! I think Primeval might be worth a go because DINOSAURS and WORMHOLES are two things I enjoy without fail.

Where should I start with Being Human? It did look interesting from the premise but I wasn't sure about the execution. I am not a completist and am happy to start anywhere and I figure I get the gist. Just tell me it's better than Hex?

[suaine.livejournal.com]

You should start watching with episode one. The pilot is usually marked pilot or "ep 00" or something similar. It's brilliant but does not gel with the series for all the changes in cast and script they made.

And I have to admit my ignorance, for I have never gotten around to watching Hex ;)

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

chiming in with Primeval enjoyment. terribly silly but good characters, and, DINOSAURS!!!

there's really good writing potential in the show, i also agree....het, gen, slash, team....it's all there just waiting for your pen. :D

and have i mentioned the dinosaurs?

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

I love prPrimeval - hubby and I at first thought it ws cheesy, then were surprised to find ourselves getting invested in characters. And yeah, dinosaurs, weird animals, etc, YAY. (tiny flying lizard which is OMG so cute!)

Being Human is good. Me likey! Angst and pretty prenatural types. Brits.

Skins is like Gossip Girl, but British and therefore more cracky and weird. Of course.

[fialka.livejournal.com]

Sanctuary
Lie to Me
United States of Tara

I'm in the weird love for Sanctuary camp. I watched it as webisodes so it was very cool to see it writ larger (some of the webisode footage has been incorporated, but not quite in the same order). You have to get used to the games graphics -- almost all of it is CG except for the actors and the practicals -- but it gives the show a rather unique super-sharp look that reminds me in an odd way of Farscape (not sure why since FS was softer, and a golden palate -- Sanctuary, in my head, looks rather blue). Oh, and Amanda Tapping's British accent is HORRENDOUS, bless her cotton socks. That apart, the characters are generally interesting, the stories reasonably intriguing and the dialogue is at least Stargate-standard. I'd say give it a go, I think it's a love it or leave it sort of thing, but since you loved Bab5 a bit of bad accent shouldn't throw you too far out of the picture :)

I think maybe United States of Tara is also a love it or leave it -- I left it halfway through the pilot. Dunno, something about the basic premise just didn't work for me.

Lie to Me I just started watching, since I seem to be in a weird phase of Special Snowflake Procedurals (yes, I who'd watch maybe one a season am now watching Bones, Life, The Mentalist, Fringe, 11th Hour and Lie to me. I need to get out more and NOT to the library, srsly.) I'm liking Lie to Me though. It's probably about as true to, well, anything, as CSI (and deah gott, if I start watching that, please text La M to come up and shoot me), but it has a fine dry wit about it and you can't get bored watching Tim Roth.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

her accent hasn't improved? *sigh* bless her, it truly is deeply, deeply awful.

[fialka.livejournal.com]

It got better, yes. (Or maybe I just got used to it?) But still pretty frelling awful. I'm not sure why they made that choice -- the character doesn't particularly need to be English, or could have lost her accent over the centuries(handwaveAngelhandwave). Though I thought it was pretty damn funny when they cast Jim Byrnes as her father and his accent was even worse!

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

right? they couldn't have just made them immigrants TO the UK??
oi.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I'm no judge of accents (I have NO ear for them) so I can't tell if Helen's accent is that bad in Sanctuary or not but...considering AT was born in England and thus, probably grew up with parents and family who had British accents, I'm highly amused that hers is apparently bad.

Doesn't make me love her any less :)

[fialka.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know she was born in England. Clearly she has no ear for accents either :) Unless her parents were Canadian expats?

Doesn't make me love her any less either. Hell, I love Claudia Black too, but whenever she tries to do American my ears start to bleed.

[sloganeer.livejournal.com]

I would object to Sophie only on the grounds that I really don't want to encourage the CBC down this original programming path it's been on. I just wish they would try a little less hard.

[calligrafiti.livejournal.com]

I've come late to the Sanctuary love, mostly because of the secondary characters. The actors who play two of The Five (a group that will be explained in the show, if you decide to give it a shot) are actors I've enjoyed in other shows. When I went back I found some episodes I enjoyed for the plots and dialog. Henry, the IT guy, is becoming a very interesting character and they seem willing to let him grow. I'm looking forward to his character arc.

While I was originally thinking Dr. Magus was Sam Carter with dark hair and a different accent, Tapping's doing some interesting things with the character. And, of course, the special effects and supernatural creatures are fun. As is playing "spot the Canadian scifi actor."

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

I've only seen a few episodes of Tara bit Toni Collette could drag me into anything. And John Corbett (that is John Corbett, right? Whatshisname, the radio personality from Northern Exposure?) Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Sanctuary is my current crack, just as SG-1 one was for so long.
A) you get your weekly dose of Canuckistan actors! What more is there to love!?! It could (and probably does) have its own drinking game for that aspect alone!

B) I like Amanda Tapping in her not-Sam Carter role... everyone else gets to save the day, she just tells them where to go and what to do! And she can be kickass in not-sensible shoes!

C) I really like how it's filmed; the CGI is another character in and of itself, really.

D) While the story lines can be hit or miss, I like the concept behind some of them, bringing classical Victorian characters (real and imagined)- for example - to life. Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes (well, sorta), Nigel Griffin. But then again, I loved the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels and the movie with Sean Connery. I am hoping they continue with this and since most of the major characters have been introduced and we have a handle on their backgrounds, the stories can now focus on moving the story forward rather than dropping little tidbits.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about your taste (beyond that I seem to have wandered into several fandoms as you were wandering out) but I'm LOVING Sanctuary.

I wasn't intrigued by the premise when I first heard about it, but I thought I'd watch a few episodes for Amanda Tapping's sake, and got surprisingly hooked. The story-lines and plotting isn't the best (which, well, they got Kindler from Stargate and most of his Stargate scripts erred on the side of really interesting idea not thought all the way through) but the idea is fun and the characters are just a whole ton of fun.

I've enjoyed pretty much all the characters (even the ones I feel should drive me nuts) - they feel real and 3-dimensional and their relationships work for me. I especially love the mother-daughter relationship between Helen and Ashley - it feels real in a partly antagonistic and yet full of love and respect sort of way. And Will and Henry are AWESOME (especially Henry, oh man) and the Five are increasingly interesting (TESLA WINS) and, well, someone on my flist said she watches Sanctuary and imagines AT saying "That's right, the middle-aged woman is the producer now, and my show ROCKS" and mostly I feel like the people involved with the show are really putting their all into making something they're proud of.

Um. I have no idea if that was useful pimping. But if you fall for it you HAVE to help me convince Leigh to watch it already.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Sold! I'll give it a try posthaste, and if I'm on board I'm sure the two of us can wrangle Leigh. *g*

Knowing that the characters are interesting and funny is enough of a sale for me, and I'm willing to forgive a lot of bad sci-fi plots as long as the characters themselves aren't annoying or boring.

Thank you!

[mydwynter.livejournal.com]

The interesting characters and the humour are what hooked me, too. At first I wasn't really sure; between AT's accent, the effects, and slightly-scattered plots of the first ep or two, it seemed a little amateurish. But I really wanted it to succeed. And then somehow I got COMPLETELY sucked in. Of course, that may well be because I love me a game of "spot the Canuck", and have an overwhelming crush of Christopher Heyerdal. But let's say it's because of the show, shall we?

Plus, I like the way they treat the idea of "abnormals"; they're only a threat if they actually behave like a threat, otherwise they're generally treated with respect.

Which brings me to Demons. In Demons, it's exactly the opposite; anything different from a normal human is *always* evil. At least, that's the way it was in the first four or five episodes which I watched. I sort of philosophically take issue with that stance, but in spite of that flaw (as well as all the others that have already been mentioned) I'm still watching it and giving it a chance. Of course, that may well be because I love teh cracktastic makeup/dialogue/plot, or perhaps it's because have a massive crush on Philip Glenister.

Hmm. I'm beginning to suspect I'm just a bit shallow...

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I gave Trust Me a chance because of a fondness for the actors, but after three episodes I think I'm going to have to stop watching. There are only two female characters of note, and while one of them has some potential if they flesh her out more, the other trips my embarrassment squick too hard. There's a lot of that whole "supposedly competent people acting incompetently" thing going on.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this; the only reason I would tune in is because I quite like both lead actors, but I have a hard time with that particular squick too so I appreciate the warning.

[rossetti.livejournal.com]

Skins = A+, watch the first two series at least.

[mandysbitch.livejournal.com]

I'm pleased to see you flist is already selling you on Sanctuary. I *love* it. It's good ol' cheesy scifi goodness. Something about their lack of budget really brings out the best in the show - the stories are more character centric than spaceships blowing up and stuff. And they seem to have chosen all the really good actors from SGA (and you can also play spot the BSG and Highlander actors - which is fun) and made really good characters out of them (I think AT's accent is fine. It doesn't grate on me at all. It's a little peculiar - but at least it's consistent. Her accent was a heck of a lot better than Jim Byrnes'). Then there's this whole crazy backstory about how Helen and her gang used to mess around with weird science experiments at Oxford and that's got some *serious* (read: awesome!) fallout (and it's possible they were all screwing - just saying). I really enjoyed watching it - and more people should appreciate that good scifi can come on a budget.

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

I watched the first eight or so eps of Sanctuary. It has a lot of potential and the cast is doing their damnedest with what they've been given, but the writing in the early scripts is truly dreadful. And they're working very hard to appeal to that treasured teenage boy demographic, so there's a lot of adolescent humor and the double entendres fly thick and fast. For instance, an entire ep playing off "nubbins" because 12-year-old boys (whatever their actual chronological ages) can never get enough breast/nipple humor. Ever.

But I do like the cast and a number of the characters. Christopher Heyerdahl rocks his recurring role -- he's awesome -- and it's nice to see Amanda Tapping and Kavan Smith et al. And as someone mentioned above, the show is a guaranteed win at Canadian Actor Bingo, every single episode.

The good news is that the second season may well be a lot better than the first, at least if you believe Damian Kindler's explanation about the sucky S1 scripts... basically that he had something like two weeks (a ridiculously short time, anyway) after the show was greenlighted to deliver and start shooting the first episode, and thus they were scrambling just to keep up for pretty much the whole first season. He promises improved scripts in S2, given the months of lead time for storyline and script development before they start filming again. We shall see.

The only other one on your list that I can comment on is Lie to Me. agentotter just pimped me into it and I've seen two eps, I think. I like it. The premise is cool -- the behavior-based science of lie (and truth) detection applied to a wide variety of people and scenarios. Fun to watch, reasonably intelligent writing, solid acting, and interesting characters. I'm not jumping up and down pimping it to everyone I know, but yeah, I'd rec it.

[infinitemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Demons is in a special place of bad. It is so fundamentally, cracktastically stupid with bad acting and nonsensical accents -- not just from Philip Glenister, the two human leads are from London and have northern accents. WTF -- that noone should be forced to watch it. Merlin is dumb but it's fun-stupid and decently acted. Demons makes it look like The Godfather.

Lark Rise To Candleford is cosy TV. It's heritage telly, set in some past where people are pleasant and jolly and say things like "bless my soul" and its plots need not detain you for five seconds. In short, it is like a BBC Little House On The Prairie or similar and the presence of several very charismatic actors in the cast need not detain you.

Being Human is superb. Do not watch the pilot. While all the present leads are good, the earlier Mitchell was one of those strange, charismatic presences that overshadows the current Mitchell, even though he is excellent. The characters are endearing, it's very dark but funny, and they've twice surprised me with how far they are willing to go. There's an arc, though I am not sure where it's going yet, and you'll have the entire series within two weeks -- it's only six weeks long.

If you want something else, give Moses Jones a try. I loved it.