TV!

[icepixie]

I know one of you people would like to take on the task of addicting me to Gilmore Girls. See, now that I've finished rewatching all the seasons of Northern Exposure that I consider my personal canon, I'm looking for shows with similar qualities. (Yes, Twin Peaks is at the top of my Netflix queue. I don't know why I didn't watch it earlier. And I tried a couple episodes of Men In Trees, which is billed as NX-meets-Sex & the City. Yeah, well, it's way more S&C than NX, and I can't stand that show. Hence being unable to make it through a complete episode of this series without rolling my eyes and changing the channel.) The TV Tropes Wiki, a fascinating site in its own right, cites both GG and NX under the category of "Quirky Town."

My question is, how quirky? And what's the show about, besides, "Single mother in small town; massive UST with some guy named Luke"? (I know nothing about this show beyond what I've gleaned from skimming y'all's posts about it over the years. Well, that and the fact that whoever plays the daughter bears a remarkable resemblance to Sasha Cohen.) I've never been able to get into a show about high school students, so I'm wary of that angle. And I get the impression that this season took the express train to hell. Should I bother if it'll all end badly?

I'm willing to try out a variety of shows in order to find one or two to fill the NX void in my life. I'm already a fan of Wonderfalls and Ballykissangel, and neither Corner Gas nor Ed are on DVD in any way that I can access them, so in absence of those particularly good candidates, I'm looking for suggestions. Broadly, the three things I'm looking for most, singularly or in combination, are:

1.) Quirky characters/quirky town
2.) Magical realism (this can include dream sequences)
3.) Stories obviously written to make English majors happy. Basically, writing that's already excellent, but also with a penchant for metaphor, symbolism, and/or quotation from and allusion to literary/philosophical/mythological works. The ability to play games like "Spot the Jungian Archetype" can only be a plus.
...4.) Okay, the UST and ensuing 'ship doesn't hurt.

...This means I should really give Buffy a fifth try, doesn't it? I don't know what my problem is with that and Angel. I don't actively dislike them; I just can't get into them. Firefly was a near thing as well.

Anyway, if you know of something I should try, let me know. Perhaps Slings and Arrows? I've heard good things about that one...

Book and movie suggestions along these lines are welcome as well!

(Okay, now that I've actually taken steps to make use of my unemployed free time, surely I will get a dozen calls offering employment, my dead-in-the-water freelancing career will take off, and I'll start racking up volunteer hours. This is the rule of the universe.)

Comments

[spleeny.livejournal.com]

I will go away from the crowd a bit in terms of one thing: while I think the show dropped off a lot last year, it was also the season that got me back into the show. I really liked the show when it started, but once Buffy moved into its time slot it was no contest. I had to watch Buffy. Then there were other things and real life and while I caught a few episodes here and there during those intervening year, I was hadn't watched it regularly for years three through five. On a whim I gave it another shot early last year and it wasn't as good as it used to be. Rory was annoying. Luke was being mishandled. But the dialogue was still very sharp, the acting was still up to par, the quirkiness was still what I remembered... Basically, I got back into the show in spite of the story because everything else still clicked. Sure, I wanted to strangle some characters here and there, but it made me care enough again to want to strangle them.

This year the characters continue to make annoying decisions, but I don't really want to see them get strangled for those decisions anymore. Except for Logan. I want him dead. But I've largely been happy this season as somebody who loved the show early on and had to come back and get caught up.

But other than that, I'm with everyone else and think that you'll love it.

[icepixie]

Basically, I got back into the show in spite of the story because everything else still clicked. Sure, I wanted to strangle some characters here and there, but it made me care enough again to want to strangle them.

Hmmm. Well, if I like it enough to watch the first four seasons, I'll give the latest ones a chance, then.

[spleeny.livejournal.com]

That's all I ask. I wouldn't want you to miss out on the good stuff that is in there just because the writers took stupid pills. :)