Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Major Pop Culture That I Have Missed (Part III)

Today's installment is about major TV shows in the last few years that I missed out on.

Deadwood (2004-2006)

Set in the old West, about society-building and with more profanity than The Wire, Deadwood is held up to be one of the best shows of the last ten years. And I've certainly had opportunity to watch the three-season run, but the furthest I've gotten is watching one or two episodes. It is one of the shows on my long list and one of these days I will get to it, but so far I haven't felt like I need to drop everything and consume it.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

See all of the words of high praise above and put them here too. The long-running mob drama seems to have made its impact in the culture. However, when it first started and was aired on CTV I watched the first episode. The first episode has a very grisly strangulation scene which put me off the entire show. I've never gone back and so far I don't plan to.

Terriers (2010)

There have been many single-season shows that have shown promise and even brilliance, then have been cancelled. My So Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, Rubicon, Nowhere Man, and others. Terriers is one of the most recent examples of this. It is also a show that is high up on my to-watch list, I just haven't gotten to it yet. About unlicenced private investigators in California and somewhat reminicent of The Rockford Files, the critics went crazy over this one. The only advantage of shows like this being cancelled is that it is easier to catch up with them. Though, like Rubicon, Terriers has not been released on disc yet.

Ranma 1/2 (animation, TV 1989-1992 + various sequels)

When I got into anime in my late teens, Ranma 1/2 numbered over a hundred episodes (161 of the TV show alone). It was a popular comedy-martial arts show at the time, but I had to draw the line somewhere. Watching over a hundred episodes at that time on VHS was a feat and honestly, as significant as the title was, I wasn't particularily drawn to it. I know the premise, a magical spring turns people into the last thing that was in it and that transformation happens every time they are exposed to water. Although I have since lifted by self-imposed ban on longer series (over the last several years I've made my way through Rose of Versailles and Turn A Gundam), and I plan to watch at least parts of Urusei Yatsura and One Piece, I've never felt it necessary to go back to catch up with Ranma 1/2.

1 comment:

  1. I own the first season of Deadwood (withdrawn Library copies) and still haven't watched it. I saw maybe the first episode, a few years ago, but it just didn't win me over.

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