It Was A Time Of Ancient Gods, Warlords, & Kings...

[redbrunja]

mollivanders asked me about my favorite shows growing up and if I could go back and rewatch them.

The two shows I'd mention here are Xena and Star Trek (of various series, I watched Star Trek from Next Gen through to Voyager). Star Trek... honestly, I don't know how that would hold up on rewatch, partially because it's a fucking HUGE amount of television. I'd imagine some episodes would be good, some would be bad, the special effects would be dated but mostly believably enough. But there sheer volume of episodes (and the fact that I rewatched the beginning of DS9 recently and had not desire to continue) means I'll likely never rewatch it.

Xena is a show that I actually really want to rewatch. I've seen the first couple of episodes, which were campy as hell, but definitely showed potential towards the kind of storytelling I remember Xena pulling off. (And I love LOTS, which shares a lot of spiritual and literal DNA with Xena (in literally every way but specifically) with regards to campy storytelling but with some great emotional beats.

As a side note, my mother and I quite watching Xena in its later seasons, and I was checking out an episode guide to see how much tv I'd be committing to with a rewatch and where I'd likely stop watching - definitely when Gabrielle as short hair, but also likely when the baby malarky starts up. In fact, Xena may be where I developed my intense allergy to fictional babies.

Lastly, the Xena theme? Is pretty much imprinted on my soul. The first time I heard it after not hearing it in literally, a decade, I knew it word for word and exactly which images where going to show up.

Comments

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

I did a big Xena rewatch a few years ago and the baby crap is where I had to stop too. The quality of the show went downhill so fast!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Fictional babies. They'd the bringers of ill-writing, pretty much always.

[errant-shadows.livejournal.com]

Watching Xena lay a beat down on Ares was one of the highlights of my childhood.

Was it campy? Yes. Ridiculous stories? Absolutely. Too many scantily clad women? Unfortunately, also yes.

But on the flipside... Incredible badass female warrior chicks? Hell freaking yes!

And that reason alone is enough to ensure that I will always remember the show with fondness.

On another note, try playing "spot the similarities" between Hercules/Xena and LotS. Same actors, same scenery - it's hilarious.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

One thing that Xena is sadly pretty unique is the way that ladies played so many vital and so many different kinds of roles on that show.

On another note, try playing "spot the similarities" between Hercules/Xena and LotS. Same actors, same scenery - it's hilarious.

It's hilarious.

[thatfangirl]

Yeah, I have a "Xena without the crap bits" episode list for re-watching, and it skips season 5 entirely.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

HA!

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

DS9 has the worst pilot ep of anything I've ever seen. They try to give way too much information up front instead of giving us little bits about the characters to start so that we want to know more before they actually give us an info dump. I've been watching Voyager for the first time and am in season three now and I love it. There have only been a few boring episodes for me.

I tried rewatching Xena and didn't remember anything from the pilot until the fight music started haha. Only watched the first four eps and haven't felt like continuing.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

DS9 has the worst pilot ep of anything I've ever seen. They try to give way too much information up front instead of giving us little bits about the characters to start so that we want to know more before they actually give us an info dump. I've been watching Voyager for the first time and am in season three now and I love it. There have only been a few boring episodes for me.

Okay, I will keep that in mind, if I decide to go back to DS9. And yeah, I know that Voyager gets talked about with a lot of disrespect, but I love SO MANY of the characters.

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

Xena is a show that I have found it very easy to go back to. The opening! The campy episodes! Xena and Gabrielle! I love it all, even when they're my not-favorite episodes. It can be pretty rough at times (mid S3 in particular) but god, just so well done. And yes on the LOTS comparison. That's one of the reasons I enjoyed LOTS so much.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

The opening! The campy episodes! Xena and Gabrielle! I love it all, even when they're my not-favorite episodes. It can be pretty rough at times (mid S3 in particular) but god, just so well done. And yes on the LOTS comparison. That's one of the reasons I enjoyed LOTS so much.

*nods* I'm going to take another crack at Xena, see if I get sucked into rewatching.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

UGH THE BABY PLOT. Though, you know, it's hilarious how closely that storyline on Xena resembled the baby plot on Angel. Oh, genre TV.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Seriously, just stay away from babies. For all our sakes.