Hooked from the Beginning

[Faith.Man]

Some TV shows hook you from the very, first scene, before the credits roll. Maybe it's the theme song, whatever. Deadwood was like that for me and so is Justified. What shows have hooked you from the beginning? Lost? ER? Here's a little taste of Justified.

Justified (TV Series) Trailer - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8WolBuO_c0&feature=related

 

[CelticGrace]

Castle
Game of Thrones
Red Dwarf
Star Trek: TNG

 

[Faith.Man]

Castle
Game of Thrones
Red Dwarf
Star Trek: TNG

I was definitely hooked from the first scene of Game of Thrones. Very much looking forward to season 2. Red Dwarf I started from episode 2 but was nonetheless hooked. I love the British sense of humor. As for Castle, my wife and I are big Nathan Fillion fans. So we were automatically hooked after seeing him in Firefly and Drive. For me, Star Trek: TNG got better as the seasons continued. So, I became hooked later on. Again for me, the two spin-offs, Star Trek: DS9 and Star Trek: Voyager did not hold my interest at all.

Great choices CelticGrace.

 

[TheProject]

For me, it was both Fringe and Supernatural. From Episode 1, I knew I would be watching the shows regularly.

 

[Faith.Man]

For me, it was both Fringe and Supernatural. From Episode 1, I knew I would be watching the shows regularly.

I was hooked on both from the beginning, but lost interest somewhere in season 4 or 5. I think they've run out of ideas.

 

[desmalia]

LOST & ER definitely (though I stopped watching ER when everyone else did, many seasons before it finally ended, lol). Castle. Firefly. Big Bang Theory.

I was hooked on both from the beginning, but lost interest somewhere in season 4 or 5. I think they've run out of ideas.

Fringe started to wane a couple of years go, but this season is one of the best so far, IMO. Too bad it's probably the last season. Too little too late, I guess. Ratings are way down.

 

[Faith.Man]

LOST & ER definitely (though I stopped watching ER when everyone else did, many seasons before it finally ended, lol). Castle. Firefly. Big Bang Theory.

Fringe started to wane a couple of years go, but this season is one of the best so far, IMO. Too bad it's probably the last season. Too little too late, I guess. Ratings are way down.

This is a very good year, story-wise for Fringe. It's been must see TV for me since the beginning. Supernatural started getting weird for me with all the angels, and going to Hell, and getting out of Hell, that I just gave up.

We will definitely be adding Lost, Fringe and Big Bang Theory (already started) to our DVD collection. I've already added everything Babylon 5, Stargate and Firefly, and a little known program starring Bruce Greenwood called Nowhere Man. I'd also like to add The Pacific (terrific mini-series) and Game of Thrones.

AMC has some series' that have hooked me from the beginning: Breaking Bad, Rubicon, Hell on Wheels, Walking Dead and The Killing. Some may wonder why not Mad Men? I don't know, it's just a little slow for me. Rubicon was slow too but I found the story and acting superb.

 

[desmalia]

This is a very good year, story-wise for Fringe. It's been must see TV for me since the beginning. Supernatural started getting weird for me with all the angels, and going to Hell, and getting out of Hell, that I just gave up.

Ah. I never bothered with that one even though my nephew was in one of the episodes. I don't care for the occult stuff.

... I've already added everything Babylon 5, Stargate and Firefly, ...

 

[Faith.Man]

Ah. I never bothered with that one even though my nephew was in one of the episodes. I don't care for the occult stuff.

[/color]

I have nothing Star Trek, any generation, on DVD. Gene Roddenberry is kind of an interesting person. Early in his career, he was writing for shows like Paladin. (I pay attention to writing credits). Every show he wrote for Paladin (at least that I remember) had a positive, Christian perspective. In fact, one he wrote, at least I think he was the writer, had me in tears because Paladin was representing a Black women who only wanted to bury her dead husband, lynched I believe. She was a Christian woman. There was another one about about a priest who was trying to save the life of an escaped convict. The convict eventually kills the priest, but Paladin lets him go, the priest's dying wish. Fast forward to Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, and there were definitely, but less often, positive Christian messages. By the time Next Generation arrives, the message is definitely Secular Humanist in tone, no debate about it. I wonder what happened to Mr. Roddenberry that would change his world view from apparently Christian to Secular Humanist? I'm not inclined to research it, just curious.

 

[desmalia]

I have nothing Star Trek, any generation, on DVD. Gene Roddenberry is kind of an interesting person. Early in his career, he was writing for shows like Paladin. (I pay attention to writing credits). Every show he wrote for Paladin (at least that I remember) had a positive, Christian perspective. In fact, one he wrote, at least I think he was the writer, had me in tears because Paladin was representing a Black women who only wanted to bury her dead husband, lynched I believe. She was a Christian woman. There was another one about about a priest who was trying to save the life of an escaped convict. The convict eventually kills the priest, but Paladin lets him go, the priest's dying wish. Fast forward to Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, and there were definitely, but less often, positive Christian messages. By the time Next Generation arrives, the message is definitely Secular Humanist in tone, no debate about it. I wonder what happened to Mr. Roddenberry that would change his world view from apparently Christian to Secular Humanist? I'm not inclined to research it, just curious.

Well I just learned something! lol
I had no idea Roddenberry every wrote anything that had Christian overtones. His most popular work is definitely very secular humanist, I agree. Too bad too, because I actually enjoyed much of the Star Trek stuff in its day, despite that. Never heard of Paladin. Sounds interesting. My guess is he was simply hired to write from a particular perspective and he did his best to accommodate. When he wrote his own stories, his personal beliefs shone through.

 

[Faith.Man]

Well I just learned something! lol
I had no idea Roddenberry every wrote anything that had Christian overtones. His most popular work is definitely very secular humanist, I agree. Too bad too, because I actually enjoyed much of the Star Trek stuff in its day, despite that. Never heard of Paladin. Sounds interesting. My guess is he was simply hired to write from a particular perspective and he did his best to accommodate. When he wrote his own stories, his personal beliefs shone through.

Paladin (main character played by Richard Boone) was a 50's-60's western with reruns on the Encore Western Channel. Paladin's business card said "Have Gun, Will Travel", which was the title of the long running series. As best as I can remember from watching the reruns within the last two years, about the only "Christian" type shows were the ones Gene Roddenberry wrote. What you say maybe true, I don't know what went on behind the scenes. I also remember a Christmas episode, with a young women given birth to a child in the back room of a very rough bar. Sound familiar?

Gene Roddenberry's Religious views (from Wikipedia)


Although Roddenberry was raised as a Southern Baptist, he instead considered himself a humanist and agnostic. He saw religion as the cause of many wars and human suffering.[22] Brannon Braga has said that Roddenberry made it known to the writers of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation that religion and mystical thinking were not to be included, and that in Roddenberry's vision of Earth's future, everyone was an atheist and better for it.[23] However, Roddenberry was clearly not punctilious in this regard, and some religious references exist in various episodes of both series under his watch. The original series episodes "Bread and Circuses", "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and "The Ultimate Computer", and the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Data's Day" and "Where Silence Has Lease" are examples. On the other hand, "Metamorphosis", "The Empath", "Who Watches the Watchers", and several others reflect his agnostic views.

 

[desmalia]

Paladin (main character played by Richard Boone) was a 50's-60's western with reruns on the Encore Western Channel. Paladin's business card said "Have Gun, Will Travel", which was the title of the long running series. As best as I can remember from watching the reruns within the last two years, about the only "Christian" type shows were the ones Gene Roddenberry wrote. What you say maybe true, I don't know what went on behind the scenes. I also remember a Christmas episode, with a young women given birth to a child in the back room of a very rough bar. Sound familiar?

Ah, that explains it. Definitely before my time. And we don't get that channel up here... and I've never been into westerns (unless you count Firefly, but that was despite the western feel ).

 

[Faith.Man]

Ah, that explains it. Definitely before my time. And we don't get that channel up here... and I've never been into westerns (unless you count Firefly, but that was despite the western feel ).

I only like good westerns. Not every episode of Have Gun Will Travel was good, but were, and the stories were not like other westerns. Paladin stayed in a plush hotel in San Francisco between jobs, enjoy opera, played chess, had a fondness for women of any ethnicity, and would do anything for the Chinese employee known only as Hey Boy at the hotel. There was little gun fire on the show, Paladin preferring to settle things without using his gun. I grew up watching it with my father, I guess that's why I liked it so much and enjoyed seeing episodes again the last couple of years. If my father were alive, I know he would have enjoyed them too, swearing they must be new because he couldn't remember them. The actor who played Paladin was Richard Boone, who had an interesting off screen life. One thing Richard Boone and Gene Roddenberry had in common was Shakespeare. I'm sorry, I'm just running on.