jayes_musings | Entries tagged with 30 days of meme

Well, making that other post has reminded me of how very long it's been since I've updated this journal and continued this meme...which I WILL finish!

( Day 14. Favorite male character )

Questions are here

Day 13. Favorite childhood show

You expect me to pick just one?

From when I was really small, there were these:

The Clangers

The Wombles

and Roobarb and Custard

Then as I got a bit older, there was, of course:

Grange Hill. Of course, there was Blue Peter ("Get Down, Shep!"> which I think every kid in the UK watched at some point....it's been on since 1958!

And then there was The Adventures of Black Beauty

The longest childhood favourite, has to be Doctor Who. Jon Pertwee was my first Doctor, and I watched all the way through my childhood until it was cancelled with Sylvestor McCoy. Of course, I picked it up again with the new series, but my affection for Classic Who is enduring. My favourite Doctor, who happened to come along during my impressionable teen years was Peter Davidson.

It was as a teen my fannish self blossomed, though I knew nothing about fandom back then. Just that my friends and I would examine every angle of a new episode the next day at school. Some of those shows are still favourites today Blakes 7, Robin of Sherwood, Dick Turpin, and The Professionals.

So, yes, it's kind of impossible to pick single a favourite.

Questions are here.

So after a very nice vacation to Italy, including a few days wandering around one of my favourite cities, Rome and home to England I've needed to get my writing kickstarted again. This continuing meme has helped in the past so hopefully it will again do the trick.

Day 12. An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times

( Read more... )

Questions are here.

Day 11. A show that disappointed you

Well, there's been a lot of those over the years, and for the most part, if a show is disappointing, I'll just stop watching and never get into it. Of course, there are those shows that start out with such promise, that for the first few seasons are a tremendous ride, but that then lose their way.

I've given up on Arrow this season because the last was so disappointing, although now that it will be coming to an end soon, and the fact that Adrian Paul is a villain for some of this season, then I might just go ahead and catch up when I have the time.

The seventh (and final) season of Once Upon a Time was a resounding disappointment. The sixth season finale was a perfect way to end things, and the fact that they lost most of the regular cast and took the story out of Storybrooke with the three cast members that did stay having very little resemblance to their characters made it so very much NOT the show it had been. I did stick with it, and there was the occasional good episode, including the series finale, but instead of leaving me wanting more of a show I loved, it left me with a bitter taste of what could (and should) have been.

Questions are here

Wow! It's been a while since I did this!

Day 10. A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

It's one of my favourite current shows. When I first saw it advertised I thought how stupid, how on earth will this ever work, and they really are taking the cop procedural/detective and civilian consultant genre too far now. Then I learnt it was basely, very loosely, on a graphic novel series which I admittedly hadn't read but I was familiar with and based on Neil Gaiman's characters. That still didn't convince me this would be a good basis for a TV show. Then I found out that Tom Ellis played the lead.

Oh...hello! I might just have to give this a look, just for the eye candy as I loved him as Gary in "Miranda" (but then I love "Miranda" and Miranda Hart and it might just have been her comedy that made him appealing).

So, somewhere in the midst of Season 1, I watched my first episode and...I was hooked! Nope still not a huge fan of cop procedurals, but the Celestial elements just tick all my ticky boxes so I can put the procedural part aside for the most part. Not only is Tom Ellis perfect as Lucifer, and still shows what great comic timing he has, and is as sexy as Hell. But from the first time I saw Mazikeen, I was in love, not only is Lesley-Ann Brandt incredibly beautiful and sexy, she plays Maze brilliantly. In fact, the entire cast work so well together. The only weak spot is Chloe Decker, which is a shame as Lauren German is a very talented actor with a great sense of humour, but Chloe is the 'straight foil' for Lucifer's shenanigans, but it makes her mostly a dull character.

Season 3 was definitely the low point of the series as many of the celestial/supernatural aspects were put aside for 'murder of the week' and with the writers giving Lucifer and Maze different personalities each week, depending on that week's theme -- as well as the awful 'love triangle' between Lucifer, Chloe, and Pierce/Cain, and I don't even ship Lucifer and Chloe, but it was just so contrived. Hopefully with Netflix picking up Season 4 things will improve now that the showrunners won't be as tied to the procedural side of things.

Current Mood: awake

Day 09. Best scene ever

My favourite hasn't really changed from my original answer. Those two scenes from Highlander are seared into my memory.

But there is another, from Blake's 7 that had such an impact on me from the moment I saw it, and it's probably a major reason why I do enjoy unresolved, shock endings so much. In the series finale, Having found their long-lost leader, Blake, our heroes get surrounded by the enemy Federation. Believing Blake has betrayed them, Avon kills him and stands motionless over his body. The others, Vila, Dayna, Tarrant, and Soolin come under fire from the Federation troopers and one-by-one they go down. The troopers surround Avon, he looks up and raises his blaster, and....

Roll credits (to the sound of blaster fire).

The BBC first broadcast this episode about a week before Christmas, and there was a much larger than normal spike in suicides that Christmas, and the bleak, hopeless ending where the heroes lose was pointed to as a major contributing factor.

Other favourite scenes from my some of my favourite shows are:

Black Sails There are many wonderful, powerful scenes in throughout the series. It took me a while to get into it though for one reason or another. But at the end of the first season Captain Flint kills his quartermaster, Gates, in a wonderfully acted confrontation. Given that the reason I started watching Black Sails in the first place was because Mark Ryan (Nasir in Robin of Sherwood) played Gates, it's rather odd that his death really got me hooked, but again it was because it showed they weren't reticent about doing the unexpected -- which they went on to prove several times -- although it did take me several more seasons before I warmed up to Flint even a little bit.

Speaking of Robin of Sherwood, there are two scenes that are breath-taking, both are from the episode "The Greatest Enemy". The first features Nasir. Several of the Merries have been captured by Gisburne. Nasir steals into the village where they are being held to rescue them. He kills at least ten of the Sheriff's men before he's even discovered, and once he is, kills several more. He is only stopped when he finds the guards have the Merries at swordpoint and, by this time, surrounded by the guards and completely outnumbered, and from a signal from (I think) Will Scarlett he very reluctantly surrenders. It was a brilliant showcase of Nasir's skills and the loyalty that he'd developed for his friends. The second is Robin's death, which is an iconic scene from the series. Standing on a hill with Marian, surrounded by the Sheriff and his men, and down to his last arrow. The Sheriff, fearing a trap has his men ready as Robin fires into the air before being cut down.

ne last one, and for a change of pace, no death in this one! There are so many best scenes and/or wongs in Galavant that it's hard to narrow down to just a few, let alone one. But one of my top ones, just for the sheer novelty value is "Love Makes the World Brand New" sung by Gareth and what makes that astounding is that Gareth is played by Vinnie Jones, noted hardman, always the prone-to-violence brute even before he turned to acting...there was a very good reason he was called Vinnie "The Psycho" Jones when he played football. So, Vinnie singing a love song is just the funniest thing ever!!

Haven't done this in a while, so here's the next one, and maybe I can do this more regularly again! Maybe.

Day 08. A show everyone should watch

Usually I don't mind what people watch, or rather if I want them to get hooked on a show I like. However there are two shows that, yes, I feel everyone should watch and if they try them, I feel -- or at least hope -- they will enjoy them just as much as me.

And it should come to no surprise that I've mentioned both in this meme before.

( Galavant )
( LoT )

Current Mood: tired

Day 07. Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Well, nothing has changed from my original answers, and as with the favourite episode question I don't recall particular episodes as bad, rather there are parts or ideas that might carry over a few episodes that are weak or don't work for me.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The entire first season was awful. The big bad, Vandal Savage, was for all the build up, very underwhelming, and the less said about the Hawk couple the better. The only three things that saved it at all for me was Captain Cold's and Heatwave's grouchy snarkiness and, on the bad guy side, Damien Darhk who turned out to be a lot funner since his time on "Arrow". Thankfully, the show saw where the cast's talents lay and lightened up, taking a much more crack approach to the stories in following seasons. Now, it's a fun, sometimes silly, but always entertaining.

Once Upon a Time: At one point I would have said the arc with Ursula and Cruella de Ville was the worst of the show as really it did nothing for the show in general, but then along came Season 7 and that was atrocious. Not only did it get rid of many of the characters I'd loved from previous seasons and completely change the three that they did keep, who just happen to be my three favourites, but with only a few exceptions, the new characters were weak and in a couple of instances by even weaker actors. They should not have been renewed for that final season and left it on a high.

Lucifer: There were a few weak episodes in Season 3, when the fact that it was a show about the Lord of Hell seemed to take a back seat to being a police procedural and Lucifer just not doing much. A lot of it felt like filler episodes. And of course, there was the ridiculous attempt at a love triangle between Lucifer, Chloe, and Cain. Plus not enough Maze! That said, the finale blew it out of the park! And if Netflix hadn't picked it up, just the fact that it is such a cliffhanger, I would probably name that as my least favourite episode despite that it is likely to become a favourite.

Current Mood: tired

Day 06. Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

In all honesty nothing much has changed from my original anwswers

.
I do wish that I could pick some from my current favourite shows, and while I do have favourites, it's also hard to pick out particular episodes. At least not to the same extent as the ones I originally listed.

Day 05. A show you hate

My answers haven't changed a whole bunch from my previous answer.

I still hate reality competition shows like, well now, The Voice, and other talent shows of similar ilk just annoy me for a whole host reasons, and also the so-called "scripted" reality shows with wannabe celebrities. I always make a point of avoiding the various reality shows that you can find on Discovery or History Channels of people living, hunting, building stuff in Alaska or swamps, or pretty much anywhere I wouldn't want to live anyway. I'm thankful that I lived overseas while Duck Dynasty was at its zenith and missed the most of those horrible people. I live with enough rednecks around me, I don't need to watch them on TV either. Another reason for staying away from a lot of reality shows, is that I know I can get sucked into them so easily, and they do tend to be good background noise when I'm doing something else -- HGTV was a favourite channel when I still had satellite TV.

Then there is a show I used to love, and while I wouldn't say I don't hate Arrow quite yet it has becoming increasingly annoying over the past couple of seasons, to the point that I really don't care to watch it at all (especially given what I've heard about some things that are happening this season). With Oliver in prison and the most lackluster big bad they've had returning from last season, and they don't even have the flashbacks -- not that they were perfect all the time, but I definitely missed them last season where they replaced them by focusing on characters I didn't care about.

Day 04. Your favorite show ever

I'll refer you back to my original answer as nothing really has changed. Blakes 7 and Highlander: The Series will probably always be my favourite TV shows. B7 because it was the first show I got really fannish over, long before I knew what fandom was. And Highlander has influenced so much of my writing and roleplaying that I think it will always be central to what ever I write, whether it be about Immortals or inspired by them.

However, I will add another show to these. A new one to add to the list. Now I could have added a few different shows from recent years that have really captured my imagination (Once Upon a Time, Lucifer, Vikings to name three), but for one reason or another, while I still enjoy them, by the box sets, once they're off the air I don't get that thrill of deep love.

But a short-lived show that ended in 2016, still makes me smile and laugh, and I always want to go back and rewatch episodes, or the entire series, or play the soundtrack. I've already mentioned it in these 30 Days of TV Meme entries, and no doubt I will again. And I will try and sell it to who ever is willing to listen (and yet, strangely, I don't write or RP any of the characters).

( Attend the Tale of Ga-la-vant! )

Day 03. Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)

I usually come a season or two late to a show, and unless I've heard a lot of buzz about it before hand (ex: Black Sails) or I'm familiar with the story (ex: Game of Thrones), I usually don't watch new, new shows.

Having just done a mental inventory of my shows, none of them were new this season even if a couple of them were new to me. In fact, now that I've given up satellite TV and I'm streaming a lot of things, I'm catching up with a lot of shows that have been around a couple of years. And honestly, I don't have the time to start a new show...which is good as none of the new shows I've seen advertised have really sparked my interest yet. That said, I am looking forward to the adaptation of Good Omens that is being made and hope so much that it lives up to the book. And while it's far from a new show, I am very much looking forward to the new season of Doctor Who as in my book, new regeneration makes it new...especially when the Doctor will finally be a woman!

Day 02. A show that you wish more people were watching

There are two shows right now that I will always recommend to someone if given the chance, one is Lucifer. I came late to this show, towards the end of the first season, and I admit the premise can be a hard sell, it certainly put me off for a while. Then I heard that Tom Ellis was playing the Devil himself, and then it was "please and thank you, very much!" (to quote the wonderful Miranda, where he first caught my attention). From the first episode, I was then hooked. I didn't see how celestial beings helping out the LAPD could possibly work...but it does! Yes, the procedural, murder of the week stories really aren't my cup of tea, but the cast and characters are brilliant, the writing is great, and well, it can be so funny! I did love Season 2 where the focus landed more on Lucifer and his family as they dealt with Mum. Season 3 did admittedly drag where the Cain story didn't really work (and it could have!) because of the attempt at setting up a love triangle for Chloe. But the Season Finale....one of the best! And I'm so looking forward to it on Netflix for Season 4, and have great hopes that many of the problems will be fixed with a shorter season.

The other show is iZombie. Again, who would think a Zombie working with the Seattle PD and later a full on Zombie outbreak would ever work? It does! Again it's the characters that make it, including the pun on names (Liv Moore, Major Lilywhite, Filmore Graves). It's fun, and Rose McIver who plays Liv gets to be lots of different characters (some that work better than others) due to the fact that a zombie takes on the personality of whoever's brain they've eaten. The perennial bad guys, led by the always great David Anders (as Blaine) are so very good at doing bad stuff (basically brain dealers to the zombie world) and that the same time being very relatable. It's fun, it's suspenseful, and it's a shame that the upcoming season will be its last.

Now, there is one show, above even these, that was cancelled a couple of years ago, that I wish so hard that more people had seen, because it was FAN-bloody-TASTIC! I got both my sons to watch it, even though they don't like "musical extravaganzas" and I tried my best to get

gmnoonie to watch it before she became too ill..because I KNOW she would have LOVED it. (And yes, this show deserves RANDOM caplitalization!). It was GALAVANT. A medieval, musical, parody, self-aware, all-around-fun show).

It was about Sir Galavant whose "true love" Madalena is kidnapped by the evil King Richard and forced to marry him. Galavant storms the castle to prevent the wedding (a la "Princess Bride") only to discover that Madalena prefers the wealth and privilege of becoming queen to being Gal's wife. To impress his new wife, Richard invades the Kingdom of Valencia and forces Princess Isabella (by holding her parents hostage) to trick Galavant to try to save Madalena so he can kill him (as Madalena keeps reminding him how much better Galavant is than him). Meanwhile Madalena is banging most of the castle, including the Jester, except for Richard. From there ensues several adventures for everyone...including landlocked pirates, the Monks of Perpetual Refrain, a magician called Xanax...to name a few. And that's just the first season! Again an excellent cast, especially Timothy Omundson as King Richard, Vinnie Jones as Gareth, and Karen David as Isabella and a host of guest stars like Hugh Bonneville, Ricky Gervais, and Rutger Hauer. There's even more in Season 2, including a real, live dragon!

You can find it on Netflix! You're welcome *g*

The List

Day 01. A show that should have never been canceled

My answer to this hasn't really changed much from the original. By and large, I'm satisfied that a show has come to the end of its run when it's cancelled. And all too often, it's gone a way past its best or jumped the shark before the end.

Of course, there are always exceptions. The most notable is, of course, "Firefly" which I believe had it come a few years later (and on a different network), could have lasted several seasons and should have.

At least shows that a network decides to cancel can, these days, find new life elsewhere or in a different form. "Lucifer" which FOX decided to cancel on the cliffhanger fans had been waiting for for 3 seasons, was thankfully picked up by Netflix at the last moment. And I think it will be a much better fit for it there...as they could up the rating and explore the supernatural aspects far better than on FOX, who wanted it to remain primarily a police procedural.
"Constantine" is another show that was cancelled but while the show has not been saved, the CW now has the character (still played by Matt Ryan) in their "Arrowverse" and he will be a regular in the new season of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" (my current purely 'crack' favourite). Although I do have to catch up on the original "Constantine" still.

Edit: Of course, how can I forget one show that I was really disappointed to see cancelled? "Galavant" was brilliant! An absolute riot of parody...which is really why it didn't appeal to enough people for ABC. They knew it was always on the threat of cancellation, so much that the intro song for the second season premiere is called "A New Season -- Suck It, Cancellation Bear". It ended well, stories tied up nicely, but oh how I wish there were more./Edit

Two of my other favourite shows ended or are ending, both of which I feel had run their course. In the case of "Once Upon a Time", it should have ended at the Season 6 finale. It was the perfect place with Emma and Hook getting their happily ever after. The whole Hyperion Heights story was pointless and quite unnecessary and I missed the characters I knew and loved, even the three that were there were completely different. And I would have been satisfied if "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" had been cancelled. Again it was left at a good place with Coulson in Tahiti, but I understand why they were given a final season for next year with everything else that has happened in the MCU, so we can hopefully see some of SHIELD's fallout from Thanos' snap.

On the flipside, "Arrow" is a former favourite show of mine that I really think has gone on too long. Last season was awful and boring. The big bad was not that threatening at all when compared to past seasons big bads. The whole thing with the Arrow B Team was pointless...and yes, I missed the flashbacks! I get that it's the flagship of the CW's DC shows but it's lost its fire.

Current Mood: content

Day 12. An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times

Oh, there's lots.

Highlander: Comes A Horseman/Revelation 6:8 and a few others.

Blakes 7: Orac, Star One, Rumours of Death, Terminal, Orbit, Blake and others.

Robin of Sherwood: Robin Hood and the Sorcerer, The Greatest Enemy, The Sheriff of Nottingham.

The Professionals: Mixed Doubles, No Stone, Operation Susie, Discovered in a Graveyard and others.

Current Mood: relaxed

Day 11. A show that disappointed you

One show that I tried and tried to get into, but each time it has disappointed me is Robin Hood (the recent BBC series). This despite -- or perhaps partially because of -- my love for Robin of Sherwood, and the wonderful evilness of Keith Allen as the Sheriff, Sam Troughton who I adore from HEX, and especially because of the total sexy moodiness of Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisbo[u]rne.

But it is sooooo bad that even those positives are wiped out for me!

Forget all the historic inaccuracies, of which there are many...they do bug me, but I can watch the even less accurate (and deliberately anachronistic) Merlin without being annoyed as much.

When it first aired, my mum recorded several episodes for me...I only managed to get through, probably, the first fifteen minutes of the first episode before I had to turn it off. Since then, I had only watched a few minutes here and there...mostly to catch a glimpse of Guy. Coincidentally, I did watch a full episode yesterday (where Guy and Marian are to be married)...and I spent most of it just laughing at the awfulness of it. The inaccuracies and bad writing just compound on each other and make it just about unwatchable for me.

Yes, for my Richard Armitage fill, I shall stick with Spooks/MI-5. And for my Robin and Merries, I shall definitely stick with RoS (that was far from perfect, but Kip Carpenter did it so much better).

Such a shame because I was hoping for a series that would be an updated RoS...and it falls so much below.

Current Mood: disappointed

Well, had a busy weekend with my son's Junior ROTC dinner on Friday evening, which was pretty good -- he didn't get any awards he's only just joined, but the dinner was good, and I get to see him all dressed up.

Saturday was a day trip to Ghent in Belgium, a very nice medieval city with canals, castle, and a fine arts museum, but having been to the smaller city, Brugge, before...I have to say it didn't have nearly the charm of there. (And if you want to see what Brugge is like, I highly recommend the Colin Farrell film, In Bruges (yes, it's spelt several different ways :D)).

Yesterday was spent with more unpacking and finding homes for things while the hubby put together a grill and a desk.

So, it's Monday....still without Internet at home (Wednesday is potentially the day, but I'm not holding my breath), but I have some time to myself again. Anyway, on with the meme"

Day 10. A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

Leverage. For one, it's not my typical kind of show. Second, I had tried to watch the British version, Hu$tle and never really got into it, so I didn't think this would be much better. And third, I've never been much for Tim Hutton, and as previews showed mostly him, I didn't get to see what the other characters were like. And then, I happened to catch an episode! Hutton still doesn't do a whole lot for me, but I do like him in this...but it was the others, namely Eliot, Hardison, and especially Parker that got me hooked within minutes of seeing them interact. For me, those guys make the show...they are original characters and have great chemistry together and are written very well (and not to mention portrayed excellently by their respective actors). And now I am hooked.

There's also, to my shame, America's Next Top Model that

manda_muses got me watching...it is a very, very guilty pleasure.

Current Mood: mellow

Day 09. Best scene ever

So hard to decide between two. Both from Highlander.

In "Comes A Horseman" the Jimmy scene. It's just perfectly played by Peter Wingfield and Adrian Paul, and it was a stunning scene when I first watched it (and enjoying seeing part of the 'real' Methos) and it still is.

My second best once is in "Revelation 6:8"...and really the whole episode is worth it, but while I love the sword fight between Silas/Caspian/Duncan and Kronos/Duncan, and I love when they free Caspian from his cell, and many others...my favourite is when Kronos tells Methos he sent Silas and Caspian after Duncan. They're standing above Cassandra's cage and just the way Valentine Pelka changes from fake empathy to smugness to cold blooded really sums up why I love Kronos so much, plus at the end, you see Methos shaken, but he still covers it.

But really nearly every scene between Methos and Kronos are wonderfully acted...great chemistry.

Current Mood: hungry

Well, back again...all our furniture and stuff got delivered yesterday, and I'm still buried in boxes, so need a break.

Day 08. A show everyone should watch

I don't have one. Really, I will tell people about shows I like but I don't go around saying that everyone should watch them. If they want to watch it fine, if not, fine.

Yeah, I'm a great salesperson!

However, everyone should watch every film Gerard Butler has ever made! *ggg*

Current Mood: uncomfortable

Because hubby is working today, kid is off swimming with friends, I have a little time.

Day 07. Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

In fairness, I'll do this with the same shows I had in yesterday's post.

Blakes 7 There are a few mediocre episodes, but there's not one that I absolutely hate. A couple that I don't tend to rewatch much or at all are "Death Watch" from the third season and "Power" from the fourth (and I shows they aren't my favourites by the fact that I'm not fully sure if I have the right titles). With that said, there's nothing ZOMG! bad about them, just that they don't engage me as others do.

Robin of Sherwood Again there's usually something good in even the weakest of episodes. That said, the series finale, "Time of the Wolf", will having some good scenes, especially with the Sheriff and Guy (as always)...becomes something of a farce with the golem Robin with the funky teeth running around Sherwood. Rather than creating an atmosphere of scary and what will Robin and the Merries do, it just comes of as hilarious.

Sadly without my DVDs, I can't think of a least favourite The Professionals off hand.

Highlander Well, the first half of the first season had some pretty abysmal episodes, and aside from a couple of eps near the end, there was good reason the last season was called Season Sux. "The Zone" is a pretty atrocious episode as well...it could have been any show with any characters. But while I don't hate "Archangel" as much as many fans (mainly because, hey Kronos! and Horton), the whole Ahriman arc was a bad idea, and the last two episodes of that arc were a major disappoint after the events of "Archangel".

Current Mood: cheerful

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

Jaye's Musings

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of TV Meme

30 Days of Meme -- Day 12

30 Days of Meme -- Day 11

30 Days of Meme -- Day 10

30 Days of Meme -- Day 09

30 Days ofme -- Day 08

30 Days of Meme -- Day 07.

Profile

August 2020

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags