Right, let the schedule sucking begin!

[trinityvixen]

I was updating my checklist of movies and television I'd watched and I found something fairly startling: until this past Sunday, I hadn't seen a new movie--in the theater, on DVD or on TV--in about a month and a half. Given that my family has a billion movie channels at home, I have Netflix, and I borrow stuff constantly from friends, this is amazing. I even went over my LJ posts and my Netflix history to be sure, and found that this was indeed the case. Netflix history might have explained it though: for about a month and a half, all I watched was Red Dwarf, so there you are. Now that I've got two discs at a time, I've even less space for movies because I'm trying to rape the account to get through TV shows I can't watch on actual TV (no access to HBO, shows are already on second seasons, etc).

If anyone has TV show rec, I'm all ears. Currently, I've got The 4400, Carnivale, Dr. Who, Rome, and I think Prison Break (I can't help it! TWoP really liked it, and I tend to agree with that reviewer, so I'm gonna give it a chance).

*****

House was terribly cute last night, especially as House was juggling an underage stalker (ugh, why do they make him do clinic when the guy who shot him is still on the loose!?) and trying to annoy Cuddy into replacing the new carpet for the old one (because it has the blood stains still on it from when he was shot, and House is morbid as all get out). I barely remember what happened that was unrelated to either of those two stories.

But, of course, the great rescheduling--ALL HAIL BASEBALL, FUCKERS--means there will be no new House episodes until after the World Series. This? This is why I hate sports. Well, not entirely, but it's a large fucking part of it. I hate hate hate that because some asswipes being paid millions need to mostly stand around scratching their asses for three-four hours, I have to wait an entire month for new House. I'll wither without more Laurie! Come on, Fox, don't do this to me!!

*****

I had a LOST dream about Jack, Kate and Sawyer (minds out of the gutter! I know viridian went there, and I'm reasonably sure deepredbelle might be in similar peril) being beat on by the Others. So, basically, since my brain can't care about Kate, and Jack, though hot, was supplanted by Sawyer a long time ago as my favorite LOST-wubby, it was all about Sawyer (the other two were just there for some reaction shots). Very happy me. He had some information that (SEE SPOILER) wanted, and they weren't satisfied with his being a smartass about not giving it up (hey, once you've been tortured by a professional, I'm sure there's nothing that SPOILER! can do to you to scare you a whole lot).

Oh yeah, I'm ready for the new season to begin. Especially as the last season had one of the hottest shots of why Sawyer is so badass: he, Jack, and Kate are gagged and bound, but only Sawyer is at all resisting this by standing on his knees rather than sitting on his legs. So fucking hot, his absolute refusal to submit. It makes one want to dominate him all the more.... ::drools::

*****

feiran and I finished the first three episodes of...okay, I have no idea what season this is really because in the USA we call it "the first season" but it's coming thirty years after they came up with the original concept, so I'm going to go with we watched the first three episodes of the Ninth Doctor Who. If not for the Doctor being fairly hilarious in his expressions (though if he finds everything either amusing or deadly tragic for the entire series, I'll be less forgiving) and Rose not being annoying, I'd be a little less enthused. So far, it's finding its footing, but it's doing a lot of weird "we don't have enough for a full episode, so have some filler" stuff. Not like extraneous scenes but really, really, really long pauses and rethinks in each scene. Balls to that.

I asked darkling1 if they were going to explain...well, everything, seeing as this is picking up from a long history of stuff, and he basically said they weren't gonna, which means that after I get through this season, I'm going to have to look it up (no spoilers! can't abide spoilers!)

Comments

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU. Coming so late to this, I sorta expect the "ha ha, that's the point, stupid" sort of answer, but this is much more helpful (and not at all spoilery--well done!)

Really, I can accept: "No, that's not explained." It's like asking how FTL travel works--"It just does." "Okay." It's more clever, even, not explaining "the Doctor," because it calls to mind many things at once and doesn't really invalidate any of them. At the bare minimum, it grants him a modicum of respect and an assumption of intelligence he wouldn't get if he were "the President."

Aww, his and Rose's flirting is cute. I was reading the TWoP recaps, and Jacob's totally right: they just have a natural chemistry, regardless of romantic edge to it, that's very endearing and makes her tagging along as the viewer's self-insert point much less annoying. She's gonna end up with "human-ish" babies though, the rate she's going.

Are the things he forgets plot points (as in they need to tell a story and have something surprise him so he's forgotten whatever he needed to know for that not to happen) or just totally random? Or is it more an amalgam of the two--they are totally random and it just so happens that that's why there's situations about it? This is just natural consequence of the regenerations?

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

Aww, his and Rose's flirting is cute.

Honestly I found all but a few of the first season plots of middling to poor quality, BUT, the character interactions and development were superb, and ultimately that's what I care about most in a story. So I stuck with it, and there was some improvement in season two, though I think I just enjoyed it more because I liked David Tennant's Doctor so much (though I ended up liking Eccleston a lot too by the end). I think most of the chemistry is intact in season two. Rose is just a terrific character.

As far as the babies go, in the apocryphal Doctor Who movie on Fox in the nineties, they actually decided that the Doctor is half-human. I don't think that's carried through to the rest of canon, though Paul McGann did count as the 8th Doctor, despite only having been in that one film. I liked him.

Are the things he forgets plot points (as in they need to tell a story and have something surprise him so he's forgotten whatever he needed to know for that not to happen) or just totally random? Or is it more an amalgam of the two--they are totally random and it just so happens that that's why there's situations about it? This is just natural consequence of the regenerations?
It's mostly a personality thing. He remembers important things (eventually), but for all intents and purposes, he's an entirely different person. I don't think anyone's been tracking continuity so obsessively (at least officially) to avoid screwing anything up. Actors and producers of the series have felt free to reinvent the character as they saw fit, for good or for ill.

I should also point out that as much history as there is to the series, there are also a lot of episodes that are just lost. The BBC actually burned old episodes because they didn't think anyone would ever want to see them again and they needed the space. Fools.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Actors and producers of the series have felt free to reinvent the character as they saw fit, for good or for ill.
So, the Doctor isn't always goofy? That would be a shame. It's the only way to stomach his being so erratic; like, how much would we all love Baltar if he weren't out of his mind insane?

I should also point out that as much history as there is to the series, there are also a lot of episodes that are just lost. The BBC actually burned old episodes because they didn't think anyone would ever want to see them again and they needed the space. Fools.
Oh dear. THat's like Lucas supposedly taping over the originals of the Star Wars movies. I don't understand that behavior at all. Maybe someday someone will find a copy, but probably not. Doctor Who has been around long enough you'd think someone would have found them by now.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

They're still looking, and every now and then some bits turned up...old film people recorded from television, audio only clips, etc. And we have some scripts and synopses and things. There's actually a restoration team in the UK responsible for this sort of thing. http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

That's amazing. It's great that they've at least made an attempt to remedy the rotten judgment. I can't believe that there was ever this kind of mentality going on about art, but then again, I never set fire to a library (hail the conquering invaders) or tried to trash an inflammatory painting or sculpture. Never underestimate human ignorance when it sees expedience in destruction, even of that which is priceless. It all boils down to (thanks, Worth) boundless human stupidity...

[invisibledan.livejournal.com]

So.... Eugene pointed me to this thread with the hope that I'd make some Doctor Who suggestions for you. I was only too happy to oblige.

Who is one of those rare shows where the best place to start isn't with the first episode. The tone of the show changed radically during the first few seasons, so early Who isn't really representative of the style of the bulk of the show. Also, as Eugene pointed out, many 60s episodes are missing. (http://www.recons.com/recons/default.htm)

I've had many conversations with Who fans over the years about what story to start people on and most seem to agree on the 4th Doctors 2nd story, The Ark In Space. (http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=4c) It's the begining of what many think is the best era of the show, the story and the stories following are generally good and I think sum up what Doctor Who is about, and it's out on DVD. The 4th Docs' first story has many holdovers from the previous era, but Ark In Space shouldn't be confusing to newcomers at all. I think it's a good jumping on point.

Eugene's favorite story, The Pyramids of Mars, (http://www.gallifreyone.com/episode.php?id=4g) has a pretty good discussion about the Doctor's role in changing history. It's also a good stand alone story.

A lot about the Doctor is deliberately kept mysterious, like his name. (http://www.dwwa.net/dr5/Kinda/Apple.wav) The Time Lords we see on their home planet have names, but the few who leave have titles. The better to impress primitive alien cultures, I imagine.

Time Lords don't usually leave their home planet of Gallifrey, they're content to observe and never interfere. That's why the Doctor left. He wanted to see the universe. It's probably the reason why he was the only one to survive.

The whole destruction of Gallifrey thing was invented by the new showrunner as something the happened between the old show and the current one. So don't feel bad, you know as much about what happened to the Time Lords as the rest of us. In the old show, their have been cases where the Time Lords erased dangerous criminals from the time stream, making it as though they never existed. It appears that's what happened to them, somehow.

Oh, and Eugene, The US Telemovie With the Pertwee Logo is canon. Much like the last season of Gilmore Girls, we may wish that it was all a dream, but it's a part of the show, for better or worse.

Hope this helps.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Hope this helps.

Wow, you have no idea. Thank you thank you, mysterious stranger-friend of E's. I'm going to see about queuing up some of these older ones after I finish the new series. Stupid show being shown in Britain, I'm paranoid about spoilers for the 10th Doctor, so I can't readily just look this up (though, I suppose, if the entries in wherever were chronological, I should be able to). Really, I just have to stop myself from ruining the show with the 9th because it seems like it'll get really good.

As an obvious fan-in-long-standing, how do you feel about the new creators making such a huge break with the old series? Does it play out well enough to forgive them basically destroying everything that the Doctor comes from? I mean, you can't spoil me, I'm not through the first season yet, but does it work?

[invisibledan.livejournal.com]

The site I linked to with the episode descriptions, Outpost Gallifrey, is filled with info on the old series, episode review/description, and even a heavily trafficed forum. If you ever want to look up info on the old show, I'm recommend it. As long as you stay away from the 'news' section or the new show section, you should be alright.

I think it's very likely that Who has the most websites devoted to it of any TV show ever. There's A LOT out there, so if you're looking info of any sort on the show, I'd be happy to send a few links your way.

How do I feel about the off screen destruction of Gallifrey? I think it was a waste of potential. There was a lot that could have been done with the Doctor's home that no future writer will ever be able to explore now. Having said that, it should be pointed out that the Time Lords were never really a major part of the series. We didn't see Doctor's home planet until a brief scene in the final episode of season 6. It wasn't even named until season 11. So removing it from The Doctor's life doesn't really change the series as radically as you might think.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Cheers and thanks again. When I get a chance, I'll definitely peruse the sites you linked.

I've also got to move the rest of the new series up the queue at Netflix, or I'll never get through it.