Out of Pod Experience

I'm looking for a good series in no particular genre. I've tried walking dead and breaking bad, but toward the front of the second season they've both become very daytime drama. what keeps me from enjoying them are irrational characters who move the story forward. in walking dead, it was the wife mostly, and in breaking bad it was the wife, mostly. could it be that most of the television audience is hungry for daytime drama, and that's all there is to find?

examples of small victories and low drama would be shorter shows like McGuyver, Quantum Leap... and anime like naruto. samurai champloo. but even anime is guilty of being heavy on the drama sometimes, like gundam seed...

any suggestions? preferably several seasons in, finished is even better. no drama, win protagonist, high production value. rational characters, not like walt's wife or jesse pinkman. I've seen enough of the bitchy wife act (trust me), and I try to avoid people like jesse who can't express urgent thoughts without popping blood vessels in their head & neck.

oh OH also. this deserves its own line: jesse's parents are my parents

next on my list is dexter. is that heavy in drama? I like the premise, a serial-killer killer. but I thought the zombie premise would be good, too. and the chem teacher gone bad. but they were both ruined with drama

+1 for Fringe, I liked it. Season 3 kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to force myself to stop watching it and pace myself.

Babylon 5 (Really thats all you need..on a loop), Farscape, Stargate (the original series, with McGyver \O/), Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Revolution (first season is kinda eh, but it gets better), Black sheep Squadron (a blast from the past, but still damn good)...and give Walking Dead another chance, all the annoying idiots (Sean, the wife, and that dippy Mary Antonette-wanna-be blonde are finally dead, so it's an awesome show now!

Take the Wayback Machine to 1968 and the surrealistic 13-episode series "The Prisoner", created and written by Patrick McGoohan.

You will not be disappointed.

"Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama."

"The series follows a British former secret agent who is held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job. Although sold as a thriller in the mould of the previous series starring McGoohan, Danger Man (1960–68), the show's combination of 1960s countercultural themes and surreal setting had a far-reaching effect on science fiction/fantasy programming, and on popular culture in general."

It had a huge influence on people who went on to make other "unusual" series like X-files and Lost and many many others. There is nothing else like it before or since.

Oh, and it has absolutely ZERO SOAP.

(Do NOT watch the short HBO remake from a few years ago with Ian McKellan. Do not, do not, do not. It sucked really badly)



"Who is the Prisoner? It could be the viewer himself. The Prisoner of the title has no name. He has become simply a number - Number 6 - in this strange but lovely village in which he has been held captive. Where and by whom? The answers are open to various interpretations. The village can symbolise the prison that is man's own mind, just as the unseen "Number One", the man ruling the village, can be the symbol of every man's desire to be the top dog - an evil which must be removed if we are to be free." http://www.retroweb.com/prisoner.html

wow guys, nightcrawler, KI, thanks for the suggestions and all the typing you did. damn.

nightcrawler I'll give those a downl... a look. what scares me about Dr Who is ... what if I catch the bug?

Eevee... Spartacus is the one with the boobies, right?

also...wtf at this related/suggested video to the one you posted.

this is downright sadistic. lol. I've had nightmares about stuff like this. i literally watched this video in terror! somewhere between the 2 and 3 minute mark I would totally have lost control of my bladder functions hahaha. I don't really like my feet touched. especially to be tickled.

ah i heard about that. he died irl right?

i'm starting with fringe, and spartacus. yeah that's a start. I hope the supernatural premise of the fringe is enough to keep the drama away. a show like that has to know better than not deliver on the supernatural happenings..... right?

yes. the original Spartacus, andy whitfield, had lymphoma. non Hodgkin's I think. sadly, he did pass away. they did a short season "prequel" during his illness that depicted even at the gladiator school before Spartacus hoping he would recover or go into remission. but it became clear that it was unlikely, at least in the time frame required for the season. so andy withdrew from his contract and they recast the lead to liam Macintyre.

it took a few episodes for me to really start appreciating liam as Spartacus but eventually he won me over with his grim sort of charm and perseverance.

alright lemme aim this cannon nice and good... ok there:

I don't watch war shows or movies because it's fake. wanna know how I know? I just want some simple entertainment, with levelheaded characters, maybe make-believe is ok. it's just the drama--if I wanted it, I could get a job at McDonalds and have it all day while being paid to experience it, knawmeen?