Does TV still rot your brain?

Much happiness due to the growth in number of character driven plots. Great pain, when studio heads have zero patience with story arcs unfolding over several years, thus needing interesting characters and not just great CGI/SFX.

Though… (Feb 2017) the past years it has felt, as if most chances taken are with content topics, and not really with story and character development. Can’t really think of a series that really really touched me. Drama tear-jerking, sure. Believable HUMAN characters like in Sense8 or conflicts like Dark Matter and politicising conquest of near space in the Expanse. But any real depth to the whole of the series? No, sadly, no. Its all just story developing, which – when it’s okay – has simply avoided the most obvious of dramatic clichés and pitfalls. Finding the right bell to ring within the audience seems more important than telling a real story, so… often a steady and predictable decline from season 2. Do you disagree?

Titles in red are shows with time travel elements, which are of particular interest to me; embedded links here lead to wikipedia pages. At the page bottom is a list of series, I have yet to see, among these more than a few time travelling pieces 🙂

Visit CancelledSciFi to see if your favourite is sinking or swimming…

• 12 Monkeys (2015, TV version of the Terry Gilliam movie Twelve Monkeys)(The problem with remakes is you can only do SO much – OR deviate totally from the story and ending. And the ending of the movie was very bleak. As of 2017 the TV-series is still going. (Apart from money) I wonder how come? There is not much of the the quirkiness of the movie here, just a “save the universe by travelling to the past and discovering what the layman’s version of free will really means”.) (3 seasons, good production value, medium fare.)
• 3rd Rock from the Sun [Aliens visiting Earth, bumbling around. Likable characters, but in all its zany soapness mostly a pointer to normalcy][many, many seasons, forgot how many]
• 5ive days to midnight (time travel mini-series)(fine)
• Aftermath (2016, Supernatural apocalypse. As if human struggle isn’t relevant enough without “a common enemy to all”.)
• Airlock (web-series) (bob-bob)
• Alcatraz (Trying to capitalise on Lost, eh?! You lost that one, you did!)
• Alien Nation (Series from the movie. Police partnership btw. Aliens and Humans, racial comment, Sunday fare)
• Almost Human (Human cops teaming up with android partner (white and black…)(S01 Nov. 2013 – not holding my breath)(I let go of my breath – hero/sidekick white/black killed it for me]
• Alphas (another super-ability series. Let’s see if they can find the story (July 2011).)(Cancelled due to lack of direction or stupidity)(Then picked up again, and now showing promise, even if lacking in emotive ability)(Then someone dropped the ball again)
• Altered Carbon (2018. Convergent future, just more lavish for the rich and more shitty for all the rest. But you can store memories and swop bodies – if you can afford it. I read the book. Guy hired as dick to investigate mega-rich man’s murder. Cool combi of noir and japanese – constantly reminded that the Thomas Jane (the Expanse)/Dolph Lundgreen clone and Updated Dick in New Skin really houses a japanese mercenary holding serious grudges.)(Team’s really worked on the ambience, with more than a sideways glance to the original Bladerunner, but upgraded by way of CGI and the soon obvious consequences of class division on immortality and what ever consequences it has to swap bodies)(Unfortunately the Dick/Warrior person is way too much in control and thus only has opinions and skills to show for; not so much to empathise with. But 10 for mood. Most def!)(S01E02)(The grandmother scene in E03 is both hilarious and touching). (series ending: Could it have been just a tad less emotional! Well, I  would not have had to FF at the ending of an otherwise quite brilliant story! Sad.)
• American Gods [I Found the book strained. Liked s01, but cannot remember a single thing. Ah, wait. A man shrinking between a sexual goddess’ legs to be absorbed back into the dark…)
• Andromeda [5 seasons. At season 2 I wondered why they kept on going. Then I stopped wondering, having found a satisfactory answer: Gene Roddenberry never did get the concept of human development, yeah, that thing, you know.] (Onwards, Ever Onwards, intellectually fuelled pioneers swinging the blunt but great human drive and self-righteous ethics with which to judge and understand everything. And Kevin Sorbo didn’t help One Itty Bit. Talk about stiff. As in “what the heck am I still doing here?!”)
• Ark (TT, 2009, 9 eps, cancelled)(strangers from 2 time periods wake aboard a space ship)
• Arrow (Semi-super hero with a bow and unrealisticly learned skills of parkour and martial arts, and Super predictable. A kind of modern Bruce Wayne. Watching S1, as there is nothing else at the moment.)(S2 just begun – March 2013)(Oh, how I hate avenging so-called heroes. “[Such and such person] failed this city. He/She must pay!” My god, how stupid and small their universe. Even if an allegory of a Fox-world consisting entirely of gun-toting republicans!)(Oh, vigilante-something-for-everyone.)
• Ascension (mini-series, fine)(Large distance space travel, murder, suspense in closes room environment. Should it have a sequel? You Decide.)
• Ash vs. Evil Dead (Ash lives and is as stupid, selfish and resourceful as ever, and now his desire for pussy has unleashed EVIL onto the earth again – albeit in a somewhat different form than usual.)(Charming in an Ash kind of way, if you get my drift.) (1 cool season, so far). (Good chainsaw-loving, blood-spurting, gut-ripping, fun-having, plus that special brand of cowardice, Ash’erdice, in just the right dosage). (S02 continues the search for max primetime splatter, all in good fun and keeping the hilarity down to a manageable 30 minutes)(S3 spells the end for Ash. I wonder whom now will guard Humanity against reason and empathic conduct?)
• Awake (Loved the concept of the main character always being awake, but in two very different realities.) Cancelled due to I don’t know what – but it was quite obvious the police chief’s nefarious conduct initially was heading in a different direction from the one apparently needed to conclude the series, once it was cancelled. Too bad. Brilliant concept.)
• Beau Séjour aka Hotel Beau Séjour  (Belgian/Flemish 2017. You’re dead, but 5 people can see and touch you. When you open a door and walk through, only these 5 can see it. When you steal and drive a motorcycle, that motorcycle is still in the garage, where you stole it. Food you eat is still where you took it. Maybe you will vanish, once you discover who killed you, but you MUST know.) (10 cool eps, and then in the last 10 minutes the scriptwriters/producers listened to the wrong suggestions about the general level of intelligence in the average watcher and just all-around betrayed all the cool up parallel death/alive world shit, that was SUCH a refreshingly new idea (perfect overlay of everything in the two dimensions, cup whole in one, in the other it was dropped on the floor and broke. Perfect.)
• Being Human (stay away from US version!)(World populated by the creatures of darkness trying to live ordinary lives. Season 1 and 2 are shiningly brilliant)
• Believe (Very much like Touch, except with a girl visionary with other super powers, whom everybody wants to get hold of to experiment on. A tad predictable.)
• Best friends whenever (2015. Teen time travel)(Too Disney. There IS such a thing).
• Black Mirror (Brilliant mini-series 3 eps)(New eps coming – 2013)(hm…)(Saw a btw seasons special that completely turned me off. The self absorbed promotion of something so fictitious… gah! Have never returned – even if people say I should. Same feeling as mr. Robot; people say I should, and my gut says ‘s gotta be somethin’ else! ] [Saw S4 (2017-18) – quite an improvement.)(Still, the brevity of the format feels a bit strange. One full universe in one short morality tale, while also trying to avoid the pitfall of cardboard characters and predictable ending in the vein of Twilight Zone – delicate balance. But I DID feel some satisfaction.)(Now on S05, and seems to have run its course. )
• Blake’s 7 (British TV-scifi was always about people and production value secondary. I believe it was a form of arrogance coupled with many-to-please/low budget, but they have pulled off many a series and film on attention to content. This is one.)
• Braindead (Decent Aussie combo of politics and creapy invasion – but it kinda smells of “politicians can’t be helped”…)(But a good laugh)
• BSG (Battlestar Galactica) (2000s) (Very dead-on, though old-school “sci-fi’ish” re-awakening of series from the 80’s – updated with central characters having changed gender. Basic premise: Earth is destroyed by Cylons, an artificial intelligence entity in several parts, and the remaining humans are running for their lives in all available spaceships. Among several existential questions series explores life in space with limited resources and the fractions into unity that ultimately occurs, when keeping contact to the other living humans entails crossing merciless vaccuum.) (What nailed it for me was how Admiral Adama, the chief of fleet tactics, turned off the water faucet immediately after wetting his tooth brush) (Loved the series. But @ series end fans had compiled a two meter long list of plot holes they wished resolved, which of course was impossible. Many do not agree, but I say this: Have a good friend, who doesn’t care for BSG, watch the last episode and tell you what happens!!!)
• Caprica (will it continue, will it be cancelled due to stupidity?) (Cancelled due to lack of courage)
• Carnivale (Amazing!) (a stretch to call it science fiction, but still…) (cancelled due to stupidity)(Oh, god, if we had seen the whole of the planned 3 parts rather than just the one! SO… so…!)(The word I was looking for 4-5 years ago was UNFAIR!)
• Charlie Jade (See our own universe with parallel universe eyes) (okay)
• Childhood’s end (I know I read it some 30 years ago, but can’t remember what it was about or how it ends.) (2 eps so far – not exactly mind boggling with the concept of the alien look-a-like; it reeks of short story expanded into novel – or mini-series) (But the general concept of bringing up Baby, I mean Humanity, is pure Clarke essence. Civilisation was his thing, really. Possibly it was a projection?) (Okay, Clarke did say that one culture’s technology is another’s magic, but this is preposterous).
• Chocky (3 short BBC children series, aliens, mind talk, very dated)
• Class (teenagers in time. Not holding my breath, but giving it a shot. Brit teen-angst, here I come)(2016, 1 season, cancelled?)(Coal Hill School/Acadamy, where it all takes place, is a spin-off from Doctor Who)(Well, it’s very BBC YA-like, with recognisable YA identificators such as bullying, masturbation, homosexuality etc. Similar in style to Wizards vs Aliens, but probably owing more to the narrow minds of British YA TV altogether than the mind of former Doctor Who writer, Russel T. Davies, whose idea that was.)(Hmmm, kind of liking the street-freshness – but then again, Russel T.. Davies always was better at the dark things than whats-his-name, who fucked up the good Doctor the last few years)
• Cleverman (A bit slow, but horribly fouled up version of the Aussie concept of “the Cleverman”, turning the main character into a super hero and avatar of the suppressed, which in no way is what it was.)(But kinda decent as is,)
• Cold Lazarus (Dennis Potter [of Singing Detective-fame] is always interesting) (Cryogenics, with a twist)
• Colony (2016 Earth occupied. I got bored after 2 eps. Rating is high. Maybe if I’m ever in the mood for the American Family Struggling to Take ON the Enemy As One) (It was renewed for S03 2018. Good for you.)
• Continuum (Corporate, fascist regime in the future, and our heroine travels back in time to defend just that. Seriously.)(Okay, maybe she WILL realize her mistake and become a good person…)(She did.)
• Counterpart (Parallel dimensions. S01E01, J.K. Simmons incredible as the double agent, so to speak, and the whole idea is crazy in a good way. Completely changed my mind after the first ep. Just get it up, you people!) (Diplomacy across dimensions is such a fucking cool concept! And I love that it takes place in Germany!)[E05 – J.K. Simmons, you ROCK!]
• Crime Traveller (a bit dated, even in 1998, but good time travel concept)
• Dark (German, children vanishing, S01E02 so far interesting)(Concept with the nuclear plant as part of the villany is a bit… predictable. Simple drama technique: Show the gun, use the gun) (10 eps in S01 – okay, you got me!)(Absolutely Fucking Brilliant seasonal ending!) (S2 now belongs to Netflix and it’s been synchronised into English. Really. Is that what we want? Eradicate cultural differences?!)(S2E1 nothing spectacular, not holding my breath)
• Dark Season (BBC, children, 6 eps)(What happens when you try to bribe children with computers… well, it worked in 1991)
• Danger 5 (Spy spoof, very entertaining)
• Dark Matter (Take a scientific concept as title for a series and have a bunch of people wake up without memories and come to understand they were really bad people before whatever wiped their minds, and now that they don’t remember anything all is fine. Not.)(Well, there’s nothing really at the moment, so I gave it another chance. And though its not riveting, there is a slow build-up to cohesion between the very Firefly-like dissimilar characters. But a bit too well polished to really engage, But I still have one and a half season left, so…) (2 seasons/2016) (Okay, Im sold.)(Hooked)……………. They CANCELLED S03!) (Why is it that… No, never fucking mind. These people have no clue.]
• Dark Skies (UFO-confidential, “they are here”, Roswell) (It was in the wake of X-files. WAS it over-shadowed? I’ll let you know in 15 episodes) (Main character’s front-boss went to greater fame in X-files)(Man, is there a version without voice-over?!) (Now I remember. There’s nothing straight cut about this. Ultra Paranoia).)
• Day 5 (2016, Sleep, and you die!) (It feels as if there is no hope; very real. I need something else at present, so am giving it a miss at ep. 4)
• DC’s Legends of tomorrow (Hard not to try to follow this shallow actors-must-hate-it piece of crap story writing about sailing the time stream… Yeah, how often does a time travel series swing by?! I haven’t read the comics, but I assume its on the same level of stereotyping – intelligent, but psycho, dumb, but psycho, brilliant, but psycho, but can learn empathy, loving, and loving, and brainy, but nerdy, but handsome… oh, god, and nothing is saved by brilliant CGI and violent and sloppy fights.) (1s/2016)(S02 did not improve)(And no one misses the guy with the hapless diction, overplaying psychopath, macho freak. He’s just gone.)(Oh, and Suddenly it was named DC’s Legends of… rather than just Legends of… – taking on Marvel on the nam egiving level. This present increase in Super Hero series and movies is wearing thin.)
• Dead Set (The Ultimate in no-hope zombie land! Mini-series) (Brilliant! And be warned: Any reading about is a spoiler.)
• Defiance (I do love aliens with a personality, but why do they always have to be more evil or more nice that humans?! And why do alien names follow suit – bad=Names begin with K or Z with lots of r’s. Nice=lots of vocal and air blown through H-names…)(It must be really hard to be a TV-executive…)
• Defying Gravity (loved the slow buildup, and hated the feeling that the writers were being pushed to speed it up, thus signing their own death certificate)
• Dimension 404 [the Dimension of error 404 is the notorious Dead End of the internet-link. And I think it will remain so.] [2017, s01]
• Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016, so now they are trying once more to put Dirk Gently into moving images. I suppose they will get it right one day. This one exemplifies what happens, when something distinctly British is translated into US dramatic terminology. And how US rights’ owners make square pegs go into the round holes of the US marked) (Seems to be renewed for 2017 S02, but the year now having too few months left to show it may be similar to the sofa impossibly stuck on the landing outside of DG’s office for the whole of book one, we shall see. Or not, maybe.)(S02 Ho-kay… That is INSANE! Someone made a brainfart and it is good and it is strong and it is crazy in a whole new direction, and I am VERY amused! (Douglas Adams is probably not turning in his grave.))(Stupidly, but not surprisingly cancelled at end of S02)(Dumbells!)
• Doctor Who (the resurrected Doctor, seasons 1, 5 and 6 are excellent in my eyes, David Tennant playing the Doctor in s.2,3 og 4 I find less interesting, even if the arcs here are better than anything before and after. The last doctors (S07-09) are straight out boring, and only for the die-hards, who cannot get enough. The Who-Universe is being emptied out. Nothing new is coming is. The companions are life-less and un-threatening. I have stopped caring.)(The series is actually being killed by incompetence masked as good story writing. There is an utter fear of women present – for lack of initiative to have the doctor grow up, as he was on his way to in the first eps. Steven Moffat is terrible! A brilliant populist w/o anything on heart, sadly.)(Now, 2o18, the long awaited female incarnation of the doctor. The writing is much better, so far (e06), but it’s now become sightseeing historical events and meeting Real Historical Characters, the most boring way to spend Time. Giving the writers time to land it differently, but not holding my breath. Actually not much difference in the character – the quirky peace loving childishness is still there. Which in a way is a good thing. So, why am I bored?)
• Doll House (cancelled, due to boredom, I guess)
• Doom patrol (I did see the first ep, can’t recall a thing)
• Earth: Final Conflict (Invasion, 5 seasons, no great loss)
• El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Time Ministerie) (Spanish, 2S, still going (2017), have seen e1 and 2, and I am not holding my breath.)(3 people from 3 ages brought together to prevent changes to the Spanish History. Refreshing that other nations than USA matter!)[It is packed with cryptic references to the history of Spain, none are explained, everyone are expected to know them.]
• Eureka (contrived and without emotional substance, but they really work at making it balance between far out silly and good fun)(Final eps descending into pure Eureka silliness. I finally get it: It’s a hi-teck babble for people with low attention span or with a real need to disengage, and nothing wrong with that. The science if pure nonsense; it could just as well have been magic.)(Ended)
• Extant (2014, july ep.1.) (Female astronaut returns to Earth pregnant after 1 year alone in space)(May result in a season 2, thus adding to the pile of Wasted Effort In Spite of Good Intentions – due to production intentionally safeguarding the actor’s reputation as a good person; I won’t mention her name; as she also produces, she doesn’t deserve it, despite some good acting and cleavage) (Warning: Did result in a Season 2)
• Falling skies (Just into S02. Last humans + aliens plot. May yet pick up energy, but stalling from need to credibly oppose the oppressors. Same problem as “V”)(Entered into last season. Still boring. Too much form, too little human intent to really matter)
• Falling Water (Making absolutely sure in the intro that the premise is unmissable. Kinda like saying that all prizes on the top shelf are worth less that in would cost you to win one.) (S01e01 2 minutes in and it is very missable. Sorry.)(Some say it’s improved. Waiting for a rainy day. [Sorry])
• Farscape 4 seasons/88 episodes + 2 double episodes “The peacekeeper War” (A looong way from home, and Sci-fi TV’s greatest villean!) (Cancelled due to stupidity and adult darkness, then rounded off with a miniseries). (How ever fantastic and mold-breaking Farscape was, it still was not allowed to become really painful. “Don’t tamper with a well-proven formula” and all that… But viewers also grow up, the world around changes. Darkness is nuanced. There were the slightest hints at that – and then “goodbye”.) (Fear kills many good things.)
• Final Space (Animation, comedy)(Sounds solidly crazy)(Not bad, but not crazy in the Rick&Morty sense of the word. Decently crazy.)
• Firefly (Cowboys in space – probably the greatest loss to Science Fiction TV, apart from Stargate Universe. Infectious good spirits!) (14 eps, ended with a movie, Serenity, worthy and decent, but still sad. Cancelled due to Incompetence and Stupidity!)
• First Wave (Invasion, 3 seasons, missable)(Actually not – it was cancelled after just 3 seasons due to stupidity. But those were the days (1999-2003) of Hits Asunder = “Nielsen rating below xxx, no advertising money, die”, never mind good script, production value, acting etc (you know, the boring stuff)
• Flash Forward (cancelled due to studio stupidity!)
• Forever (2014, Nope)
• Fringe (how it suddenly picked up in S03 and now is running with the Torch of relevant scifi!) (Now ended, on a satisfying, if predicable note) (My vote for most heart portraying actress ever! Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham)
• Futurama (killed by the studio and revived years later, now on S07. Good, light entertainment 1000 years in the future. This how of “continuously being for sale without learning anything” could only have come from the creator of the Simpsons, Matt Groening! Lovely!)
• Future Man (I should be excited. It’s a Time Travel series!) (But, like I said 10 years ago, the TT as central trope AND simple plot device is now coming into play far and wide, and there are A LOT of tropes involved in a TT optional universe – and I say that, because we have seen them. So. Come.Up.With.Something.New! to do with TT! Or just rarely seen. Like Dark, f.ex)
• Game of Thrones (Good soap violence. Good scripts. Good Arc! Strictly speaking Medieval Fantasy) (Okay, I strung it out to the middle of s02 – then I let them have their bloodletting to themselves).
• Goodnight Sweetheart (British retro-fix, “the old days were better”)
• Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left (Australian 1993, 2S28E, fine children’s show)
• Hard Sun (Got a script, but friends and producers… say Its Just Too Normal And Why Not Make It Scifi, For Example About The World Ending!) (Some interesting characters, but really, guys: You wrote yourself into a corner. If this is the end of the world, you have to go through with it. You know: Show the gun, use the gun!) (Hashtag #ScriptWriterSuicide) (6 eps. 2018)
• Harsh Realm (simulation reality) (cancelled at no big loss).(Military messiah in a simulated reality)(Charlton Heston with a terrier)
• Helix (2014. 1 Season. Virus research in Antarctica. Totally unbelievable tech and architecture-in-ice. Kinda silly storyline descending into very stupid. Don’t bother with renewing it for further episodes.) (Oh, god. Some exec didn’t see s01 before renewing!)
• H.G.Wells’ The Invisible Man (Early superhero series…)
• Holmes and Yoyo (1976, policeman and android partner)(Saw it in my 20’s. Good, clean, Family entertainment re. how to live your live as a good (US-American) person.)
• Humans (One should think that History teaches, but naturally that only goes if you know your history. As no one would suspect an expensive TV-series of being part of national education about the abolition of slavery, right, and an owner’s alleged right over hisher property? …)
• Hunters (Terrorists are kinda aliens! Or aliens are terrorist? Symbolism is a bit thick here.) (1S/2016)
• Hyperdrive (Occasionally funny BBC spaceship series with toe-cringing characters, who set new (relevant) standards for use of normal people on TV)
• I am Frankie. [Android Teenager having the upper hand at high school, hero avatar teen god, protector against all vile bullying, while showing the joys af learning, haha] [Please let me know if fast-forwarding through S01, while assuming absence of remarkable relevance, could simply fatten up already well chewed tropes.]
• Impulse (2018. Ep01 the first 5 minutes pulled me in like the cow splitting in “Under the dome” ep01, but even so the singular deal-with-rape in a budding recognition of teleportation powers-story with both international and local side story persecution is maybe wisely only given 10 eps, and how they will resolve even that in the last 4 eps is beyond me.)(What absolute CRUD! Worst piece of story arc and incomprehensible approval by story excecs since Andromeda – and that was even understandably bad. It MUST have been sold on the teletransportation effects ALONE, and then all of the studio excecs left for holiday for the duration of shooting and came back to this!)(coming of age as different)
• Invasion (Something in the water) (Cancelled due to Studio exec incompetence)(Watch it anyway)
• IQ-145 (web-series)
• It’s about time (animation, dated, travel to past, bring back pre-historic cave people)
• Jake 2.0 16 eps. (Unfortunately upgraded, then hunted teen-looking NSA computer technician adult) (Cancelled, thank you. I mean: Nanomites!?)
• Jekyll (a modern Jekyll/Hyde. Brilliantly dark, amazing acting!) (6 eps.)
• Jeremiah (post-apocalyptic) (okay)
• Jericho (because of the mood) (cancelled due to stupidity)
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel (Threw me off in ep1, as did the book on page 40, 3 times)
• Journeyman 1 season/13 episodes (Cancelled due to stupidity)
• Just add magic [I’m too old for obvious lessons in morality, but when it comes to daytimeTV programming kids with dos and donts I have an urge to smash something][2 seasons, possibly in hiatus (oct.17) but who really cares?] [The ratings must be from Christian US citizens or people in general, who reluctantly must raise their children without nannies!]
• Killjoys (“Music-video” scifi series with the depth of a supermarket plastic bag.) (Count me out)
• Kinvig (The Brits have a knack for normalising scifi – its an acquired taste, but I like it)
• Legion (2017) (S01ep04 is next for me, and I am THRILLED! I normally take a long time to warm to hero series, but the Marvel universe does merit credit for memorable storylines and characters. This mind fuck series goes a bit further and is showing gooood promise. April 17][Never thought they could go to S02, but they are now trying very hard to surpass all the crazyness. I am positive a joint on this side of the set would work equally well.] [now renewed for a s3! Strange how some executives cancel what does not look like the rest, while some cancel if it does. But all no matter what the viewers have to say!]
• Les Revenant (French, brilliant series! 8 eps)(The US version is… okay)(The dead come back).
• Life on Mars (the UK-version) (US-version sucks big time!) (A stretch to call its time travel trope relevant)
• Limitless (Using one’s full potential… through a drug…) (Continues on from the movie by the same name. Has potential, but verges on comedy with the big-boy-character raking in all attention) (S01 2015)
• Lloyd in Space (animation, children)
• LOST (Plane crashes on island, and survivors must deal with internal strife, creatures of the night, deadly conspiracies and human experimentation, a lunatic dicator, plus love, treason and every other conceivable human emotion x 100 before realising that… Ah, that would be telling. DO NOT read up on this, if you don’t know the ending. It is a BRILLIANT series, when it comes to writer’s abuse of characters and throwing every conceivable TV trope as spanners into the works, every time something seems to begin to function. Very nasty, that!) (Also, LOST is a model for how to round off a TV-series, even if there were more plot holes than plot points.)
• Lost in space (Some of the CGI-drama was stunningly breathtaking! How normal the CGI department has become as player in today’s scifi, but never among the prime credits. Can’t recall what else it was about. A decent update of the old series as far as Im concerned, and fittingly only 10 eps. But then again I did’t grow up with daytime TV.)(Renewed for S2. I might have a glance)
• Making History [2017, Why is it that when money is sunk into Time Travel, the show easily becomes a history lesson, singularly about US history? When Any time is just A time!] [S01 is 9 episodes, and a Time Traveler has to independently support Time Travel, which is an interesting concept] [AND there’s a bland human interest story in there too, if you like that kind of filler.]
• Maniac (2018, miniseries)(could have been great acid fun – Jonah Hill/Emma Stone – two naturally wild humans, but if you WANT something to be crazy, to rival eg Jekyll or Legion, its bound to go meeh. And it did go meeh. But of course if Maniac was the first ever “crazy show” you watched and it blew your top off, I envy you! So much great stuff UNSEEN!)
• Manifest (2018) (Plane in air moves people 5 years into the future of their relatives’ bereavement and relief 🙂 We’ll see if the use of time travel is just yet another bad pretext for a catalog of soap TV tropes. If the trailer is any indication, that may be the case.)(trailer)
• Mars [2016, docu-kinda-scifi] [mini-series] [What CAN possibly go wrong, naturally intending for the mission to go right!]
• Marvel’s Agent Carter (Decent, no, really tight, good fun)(Retro) (I hope it resumes, but fat luck on that!)(It did not. Damn!)(2 seasons)
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Avengers Movies’ spin-off, light entertainment in the same vein)(2013) (How it picked up in 2014. Quite entertaining, and interesting mix-in with cinematic movies on the same timeline and arc!) (Good tale of betrayal and how to deal with hurt feelings) (Still rolling, 2016, but I care less for the storyline now, as changed behavior of major characters deviate unrealistically from their previously presented (though stereo-typed) personality.)(MAN! 2017 season going off-world is sucking me in, in a fully good way, CGI, story and all. Even if it feels like a re-boot, “now that we have this cool concept and cool characters that we don’t want to let go of”) (I admit: Cannot be bothered to see if it checks with the paper canon)(Renewed for s6. Can’t say I’m trilled – the cast begins to seem a little worse for wear.)(Innocence gone, Quake is intolerable, but the convergence of alternate timelines is… well, I guess the Unused Trope Box was empty.)
• Marvel’s Jessica Jones (Really good first season. She’s a drunk, fed up with a lot of stuff and she IS a hero, no matter how much she denies it. Brilliant villain in S01)(Can they do it again with s02?)(HAVE peeked at S2, but was not pulled in. Will give it a chance at a binge-fest.)(peaked slightly at S2, not impressed, but S3 was decent, if unfulfilled and caused the character of JJ seem even more uncompromisingly inescapable righteous.THAT taints it a bit, and the appearance of another of Marvels characters (Luke Cage) in the last, slightly unnecessary ep seemed little more than a commercial.)
• Minority report (You know its about money, when it’s been a decade since the movie. Come on, guys! You’re lazy. Why don’t you do some world building instead – take a gander at the consequences of living in a world like that?)
• Missions (Fully dislikable French billionaire buys his way to Mars alongside a host of equally dislikable crew members, and crashes in the most unbelievable lack of back-up systems without means to escape the planet. And then weird things begin to happen. As if everything wasn’t already totally fucked to begin with.)(Bad acting, bad script, and too many close-ups of faces speak of a very tight budget. Maybe just a trickle more on script development?)(10 eps., 2017, French)(But there IS tension. Will give it 2 more 25 min eps, before fully gouging it).
• Mork & Mindy (not that much sci-fi comedy around and Robin Williams was fresh from the creativity vat!)
• Mr. Robot (When the pilot came out, it was seemingly much anticipated. And, well, up until halfway through I was duly WOW’ed, but then in the Ferris Wheel I realised this is JUST a story, the scriptwriters never lived this, it was just research on hackers and hacking well done, for once! And since the show is about what to do with the increasing corpocracy and power mindfucks played on all, that just killed it for me. Real solutions are needed. Not putting people to sleep over this too!) [People are telling me to get back to it, but I lost it.] [Well, I finally gave in. Now its my most anticipated series, cant wait to find the time to binge again!] [And then somehow I lost it again. What’s with that thing?!]
• My favorite martian (it worked a lot of the time – seeing US with outside eyes)
• My own worst enemy (cancelled due to stupidity)(Really!)(Man, that was potential!)
• Now and Again (1999) (I want my body back, brain transplant)(Body-dead has brain implanted in younger body)(Series with a heart, for once) (Cancelled due to stupidity!)
• Oasis (Interesting pilot. Mining a new planet, no one is there, or…?(Pilot April 2017. Will there be more?)
• Orphan Black (Very strong 1st season. S02 running – less will-to-watch, can’t figure out what’s different?)(Accidentally saw a promo-show with the star of Orphan Black. THAT killed it for me. The arrogance!)(People praising S02. Once the memory of that promo-show wears off, I may give it another shot)
• Other Space (British space soap)(Killed due to producer-cowardice)(Series ended nicely)
• Outcast [Some Spooky black shit] [Gets better in a steady curve] [2 seasons, 2017, written by Kirkman, who wrote both Zombies and humans to hell with the Walking Dead]
• Outcasts (British future soap)(Improves a bit in time.)
• Over the Garden Wall [DELIGHTFULL animated all too brief series]
• Paradox (2009, data from the future) (Okay) (Cancelled due to lack of imagination)
• Penny Dreadful (S01 2014)(Every modern monster myth, both litterary and historical, thrown together to form a diabolically delightful and raw series with Amazing Eva Green and Strong and cunning Timothy Dalton at the edge of darkness!)(Maintaining the standard)
• People of Earth (2016, Abductions and sharing circles, aliens are homosexual and reptilian, bug-eyed and angelic like, and the series is funny and serious too. Crazy, if it wasn’t so… normal like.] [Bring on the next!][Then renewed for a 3rd season, hoorayy!][Then inexsplicably cancelled with S2 as the last. Due to stupidity and ignorance of all the lame brain fodder executives out there.]
• Person of Interest (Almost not sci-fi) (Into its 2nd season. Fumbling about for something to make emotionally relevant, and will probably not be renewed for a 3rd season.)(GOT renewed and is an okay show about surveillance)(Has actually managed to stay consistent over 4 seasons, with very little shift in arc-direction or scope. I mean: AI running surveillance or the whole Earth, no big difference) (I mourned the unexpected departure of a lead role. But I suppose it was inevitable. As the plot descended into battling the AI directly, she had less and less human interaction material to work with.)
• Persons Unknown (kind of LOST/Prisoner-like, but evolving)(Cancelled due to lack of direction)
• Phil of the Future (future family go back 15 years, ho-ho-ho)
• Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams [Anthology series] [I wonder how many on this production line have actually bothered to read the body of work of PKD. That’s where the message is. Not in individual stories of paranoia inducing absence of control over fate and reality]
• Pioneer One (Spaceship crashing on Earth) (Kickstarter series)
• Powers (2015, The superhero concept in general need complex humans to give purpose and opposition to the powers that separate them from others, often burdening the endowed with unwanted responsibility, as well as providing profitable attention. This is one such show. Stealing the idea of transferable/stealable powers from the original Heroes, it goes deeper, trying to depict the hunger for the power fix and the ennui of being alone in a world constantly craving one’s help and attention.
• Preacher (Everyone wants me to love this). (Now renewed for s03!)
• Prey (1998) (Having replaced the previous civilisation 40.000 years ago, now humans are the prey)
• Primevil (Dinosaurs breaking through from 100-65 million years ago so regularly that a show could be filmed every week.)(Cancelled from exhaustion. Just bad writing without ways to go, and make it interesting).
• Primevil, New World (The new world referred to is USA. Dinosaurs still breaking through regularly)(Not bad, actually, and 2013 seems to be on the way to a sizable story arc).
• Quatermass (British 1979, 4 eps. – good quality)
• Quantum Leap (No real story arc, but thumbs up for its social conscience)(Like Sundays in the rain with ice cream) (Visiting various historical times in time to do good by overtaking the mind of a person not locally regarded as competent to solve the present conflict, mostly leaving a local hero behind, while our real conflict solver skips to a new mind.) (When did he ever sleep?)
• Rabbids Invasion (May correctly portray the fictional (very low) IQ of rabbits evolutionarily in possession of minimal self awareness, or may be the found videos of an entirely alien species, their limited number indicating the were probably left on Earth by casually visiting or casualty stricken alien spaceship)(Or maybe not. Rabbids get in anywhere! WAA WAA WAAAAAAHHHHHH!)
• Raumpatrouille – Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion (German b/w star trek-like series, just 7 eps)
• ReGenesis 4 seasons (Germ scientists – strictly speaking not science fiction, but on the edge. Brilliant lead character)
• Rick and Morty (Ab-so-lu-te and all stops out-BRILLIANT!)(S02 2015)(For un-likeability the characters beat every animated series out there.)(The way they resolved the cliff-hanger from end of S01… I shake my head in admiration. Then S0202… Scriptwriter Dan Harmon is a serious threat to depression everywhere!) [Rick and Morty is a drug. I spoke like them for 3 hours straight after first 2 eps of s03, driving the GF crazy. Took effort to make it burn out. It’s THAT good!][Now renewed for a whopping 40 more episodes! Can scripters Dan Harmon & Justin Roland stay insane long enough for the series to poke that hole into a seriously fucked up, but more reasonably so (than the present, which for all intents and purposes keeps on resembling a very badly written, though unpredictably changing arc) alternative universe for everyone to escape to, thus avoiding the pitiful pitfalls of the present “real” universe?! I will be observing, hopefully participating, soon, soon!]
• Robin Cook’s Invasion (Invasion by infection)
• Salvation [Astroid is coming for Earth. The powers squabble away everyone’s time with power games]. [Actually not so bad, even if gaining that Americanism progressively and strongly ep by ep. Probably wont be renewed, but that’s okay. It’s played out its mission of waylaying Russia in the modern day, while still playing the BEST nations. That’s all right, you may.] [Surpriiise! It got renewed! Now, go play that ball!][Well. The ball got dropped in S02E01. Maybe they should have told the president-actor to tone down her serious, compassionate demeanour a bit, maybe not pant so much – except it’s possibly not her fault, but an in-bred opinion with some producers – that such a “disaster” series, in order to “function with the audience”, must give off a controlled, panicky vibe by all in power, while the rest (of us) have to panic (the man on the street, the electrician, the simple folks, right!?] [Serious waste of time; all characters, the fraud, the betrayals, the undercover emotion, the genius promoted to cheerleader, the Astroid threat – all is seen before. And less boringly so.]
• Sanctuary (Protecting the odd ones out. Always.) (59 eps, Amanda Tapping “reaching her comfort zone” as a reviewer called it. Not my kind of show, even if I agree with the pretext).
• Saving Hope (Hospital series with doctor (Daniel Jackson of SG-1) seeing the dead. Strictly speaking just supernatural, but very charming – and the being dead-concept strikes a chord.)(S03 coming 2014)
• Scorpion (tech-series with lots of holes. Not holding my breath. s01e10)(Light Sunday fare. Okay).
• Sense8 (I can pick holes in this mini-series with a tweezer, but there is only one way to characterise it: It is full of love!)(10 eps. Not sure I want a 2nd season)(X-mas episode a jubilant advocation of sexuality translating into We Are All Connected By Being Human. BRAVO!)(Now I’m looking forward to S02 and willing to forgive everything)(2017, I forgave everything. Even if s02 not so intense as S01, and an ending reeking of premature cancellation – it is still the TV-show about human love that came before anyone was ready, but right in time to be the first to celebrate Universal Love, the unafraidness of loving and accepting humans rather than how they look (no fat people, though)). (Thank you).
• Seven days (Go back 7 days to fix big calamities)(Okay, but formulaic)(3 seasons)
• Skyward [2017, good teenagers stuck in suspension of disbelief-dimension, where technology awareness excludes calling authorities or posting on social media, once the three stereotypes hunt and catch an actual alien.]
• Sliders (great 1st season, then 4 not so amazing, but I did love the concept of alternate worlds – 1 new pr episode!)(Kind of did for travelling between dimension what Quantum Leap did for time travelling in minds)
• Space 1999 (2 seasons, mid-70s) (British 1st take on the Star Trek formula) (The moon slips out of orbit and spins into the Universe, taking the space station Moonbase Alpha and its crew with it, who must deal with food shortages, everyday conflicts and philosophical existential explorations in this very British TV show.) (One imdb-commenter called S01 very serious: “like seeing 24 mini-movies”. I concur. S02 descended into campy silliness, though, possibly from pressure from above.)
• Space Island One (story and character driven Brit show) (2 seasons)
• Stan Lee’s Lucky Man (2016, If you could be lucky in anything you did, from falling from up hight to placing a bet with lousy odds, what would you choose to do with that luck? Would it change you?)(Okay. Favorite actor, James Nesbitt. If EVER he played Doctor Who, THAT would lift to heights above Christopher Eccleston re-boot era!)
• Star-Crossed (Alien boy and Earth girl, and political implications reminiscent of terrorism and freedom-fighting. Kinda lame, but may appease teenagers?)(2014) (Cancelled after 1 season – negative reviewers chiding the network (WB) for continually talking down to their teen audience.)
• Stargate Atlantis (Wasn’t for me. The aliens from an alternative universe – because the kinda “spent” all room in ours for new development – felt contrived. Boring)(5 seasons)
• Stargate Origins (2018)(WHAT could almost be better than a new SG-adventure! But who would have expected something with SO low production value, over-acting, bad script, lack of tension!?)(3×10 min. as “pilot” – which is another way of saying “proof of concept”. But Hellooo! 200+ episodes should be more than enough to prove concept. Just get out there and hire good scriptwriters and make some good stories, and you’ll re-open the franchise to millions of dedicated fans! What could be more obvious!)(Ninnigans!)
• Stargate SG-1 (I was staying away for the longest time, due to accidental perusals of a few minutes of a few eps. But then I needed something and got the whole 10 seasons together – 214 episodes… – and began from one end. (8 seasons in and I have NEVER seen so high production value in a scifi series as the first 5 seasons. And, frankly – even if the acting is sometimes lousy, and I feel the synopsises appear lame and predictable, I always leave an ep with a feeling of MORE than good scriptwriting. Exalted, enthusiastic scriptwriting, inside a potentially never-ending arc – but soon, they will HAVE to involve the citizens of earth. No matter the budget… It’s not gonna happen, I know.)(A few time travel eps here and there).(Yeah, it IS military rainy-Sunday-TV)(All 214 episodes of it, plus 5 seasons of Stargate Atlantis plus 2 of Stargate Universe plus 3 TV-movies).
• Stargate Universe (My all-time favorite universe-dreamer series. I mean: A Stargate and a Starship travelling to the beginning of time, all in one! What more could you want?!) (Now cancelled due to GREAT GREAT STUPIDITY) (If SG-1 became all about fighting bad guys wanting to take Earth out, Atlantis  a perpetuation of that a long way from home plus more money coming in, then Universe was the beam of hope in the murky waters of existence, the human joy of real exploration with all the darkness of near-death and exhaustion and betrayal included to try and discover “why are we here?”. Fucking brilliant. What a sad person – the one who killed it.)
• Starman (15 years after the movie).
• Star Trek – Enterprise (I never thought I’d find Star Trek interesting enough to follow, but beginning 2001 its actually quite charming – even if some things have changed over the years, when it comes to acceptance of what humans are allowed to do simply because they descend from John Wayne. Scott Bakula is a charming captain, and all other characters get to flesh out their characters.) (Nice touch with a female Vulcan/Spock. With very hard nipples in the first episode. That cannot be incidental, and I cannot ever forgive, sorry.) (4 seasons, 90 episodes)
• Star Trek Discovery [2017, Prison story has much in its wake, feels dark and good, though not in the way of Star Gate Universe – just allowing darkness.] [S01, 3 eps][Kinda skipping stones here, going into silliness to try to make a new villain – and the GhostIntoTheMachine turnabout of lead character was totally unacceptable!] (Renewed for S02 – you arrogant assholes thinking fans will eat up your shit, no matter what!] [Yes, they do. Now renewed for S3. People, there is ZERO nourishment here. NONE. It is devoid of originality, as it circles way inside the parameters of political correctness. Puke inducing!] [Even if I’m crazy about a few of the really awkward characters.]
• Star Trek Short Treks (2018) (Discovery Personennel having single experiences)
• Stitchers (Promising)(2015)(Entering a dead person’s last thoughts, but very formulaic. How do you fuck up such an idea to make for interesting drama? You need someone who can abuse this tech. And the game is on…) (In love with their idea and being good guys, they were too late with an arc, and it felt glued on and you could see it on the actors. Quiet death, goodbye.)
• Stranger Things (mini-series made out of all the Spielberg movies never made. Really! But I liked it.)(To watch with likeminded friend and ice cream) [renewed for s02][which was… okay, but as it is now renewed for S03 the interesting thing to see will be Eleven growing older on TV. I have no high hopes for the storyline in itself. Its kinda spent; can’t really grow. The script must enter deeper into the darkness of real humans, and I believe they don’t dare do that] [Renewed for S3. Maybe another series in which the child actors grow up. Sorry, child actors lose their attractiveness, when they become too self aware, both of being in the spotlight, but worse the awareness of acting methods children should not be aware about, yet.]
• Surface (Cancelled due to stupidity, I mean: That LAST image paved the way to a whole new world!) (It’s actually becoming relevant in a realistic kind of way! Maybe they should serialise Stephen Baxter’s 2 adjoining novels on the same topic?)
• Survivors (British Post Apocalyptic series from the 70’s – Very BLEAK) (38 eps)(AMAZING, when I was a young person. The horror of being alone and at the mercy of the political, greedy, violent people, which stable society has ways to deal with, and post-apocalyptic scenarios cause to expand in every direction without regard for the concept of LIFE.]
• Taken (UFO, abductions, Spielberg, don’t worry, no one gets hurt for real.)(Mini series, 10 eps.)
• Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Not bad, actually. A bit formulaic, but… there IS something there.)(Yes, there is. Summer Glau is spectacular)
• The 100 (Get rid of the young – not because it makes sense to kill all the young, but because it’s an easy way of giving primetime another Lord of the Flies on Alien Planet)(Some say it’s decent – I lasted 4 eps and saw nothing but LOST in space). [Now it’s all grown up to s6 – my, my, how time did fly, while I had my back turned.]
• the 4400 (4400 abductees arrive back on Earth, most endowed with both scary and beneficial new talents.) (4 seasons. I’d say the first 2 seasons were brilliant, in that they explored new territory later picked up by series like Heroes and all later (but then-only-on-paper-heroes) Marvel-series: Normal people being endowed with “super powers”, and how that changes them, for better or worse.
• The Aliens (have landed and they need to be managed in special compounds, and the police is not to bright either and maybe not what they pretend)(I stuck around for just 2 eps, so I suppose they are still in there)
• The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff (Strictly speaking not science fiction, but reminiscent of Neil Gaiman and Terry Gilliam! Promising (jan. 2012))
• The Booth at the End (Everybody wants something, and here you get to give something in return. Brilliant!!) (10 eps.)
• The Crossing (Refugees from a war in the future)(S01, 12 eps)(april 2018)(Premise is formulaic and (halfways) becomes a joining of legal representatives in order to stay true to both present day humans and alien (in actuality, as they ARE different due to different demands)  future humans, while debating the human element in an advanced human, represented by the need to nurse and attend to a child. I can almost hear the pitch – but I believe they were disallowed too radical a show. Too bad. Already cancelled, possibly because of demands to prove worthy in just 12 eps).
• The Cul de Sac (2016) (so far 2 seasons, which I managed to not hear one word about?)(Children transported to alternate universe, where technology doesn’t work!! Well, that should get the pre-, recently post- and present teens gasping in horror… We shall see.)(only 21 min episodes… Does not bode well. Is it a… gasp… web-series!!!!!?)(Lord of the flies, young dictator, fascism, white supremacy, hapless school children, the magic terror of crazy clouds, rolling thunder and CGI wave of energy vaporising people but architecture is impenetrable, humans causing armageddon through incessant need for energy, adults turning into light sensitive monster hunting youth…! There must be some tropes, they missed touching upon?!)
• The Event (When will the event take place…!?)(Cancelled due to lack of combustible direction).
• The Expanse (1st season, 3 eps in and looking good!) (Solar system politics) (Best at present)(only 10 eps in s01. Too brief!)(S02 e01 Not as strong, and the Alien virus or whatever feels kinda lame on top of the political conflict btw Mars, Earth, Belters and independant financial contractors. Not sufficiently fleshed out – even if production value never ceases to amaze. THIS is the stuff of our future – if we survive to leave the Earth, that is). (Has been renewed by Amazon, following the cancellation by SyFy after S3. A lot of people crossing their fingers for this. But to my mind its veering into lala-land of fighting aliens, rather than sticking to internal politics – even if “what better way to describe humanity’s ability to work together, when the Earth is no longer the only space politically to defend and control, than to squabble over minor shit and then be hit with demands of cooperation, while OldEarth politicians still hang on to their old ways, and Mars colonists defend their new one, and the Belters mostly just fight for their individual lives, frontier style?”
• The Fades (6 episodes series, which ends kind of bleak, due to happenings to likeable characters) (2010)
• The Future Is Wild [unintentionally politically incorrect animated series of youths traveling to the future to find a new place for humanity] [1 season]
• The Girl from tomorrow (2 independant childrens series, trapped in the past) (dated)
• The Good Place [2016 So you wake up dead. In The Good Place. Except you should have been, you know, in the Bad Place.] (FUN) [S02 in progress. Very different from S01. You’ll see.] [Very uniquely a comedy with a long arch, which has potential to equip the main characters for much greater things and drama involving all (after)life – but I don’t believe the studio dares] [Well, it got renewed – thats a beginning]
• The Handmaid’s Tale [2017, from the novel by Margareth Arwood) (Watch how easily women are stripped of rights, and turned into birth mother slaves)(The first 3 episodes had me out on the edge of the seat, and the whole “what if” playing out as an allegory of fascism and complete takeover by the white male, is most brilliant. I rather hope there will be no continuation, as the ending was very literary and un-TV-like. Thank you for that.) (Apart from that it is an anachronism dating back to the time before cloning and women selling their womb and child. If such present day methods of dealing with childlessness had been hinted at in the TV-version, the act of slavery and subjugation would not just have been the story of the Old Testament white male supremacist, but an unnecessary act of cruelty rivalling Nazi death camps, making it a completely different story. But as such, it is still a vital story of lack of empathy.) (S02 Never thought they could top S01, but they did. THIS is the most unpleasant and realistic take on religious dystopia and how people are bound by their individual fear, religious fervour, and amoral rationale. Totally nail-bitingly so! And regarding the option of cloning: There is a religious answer to everything. THIS is the shits! Total subversion. The epitome of false entitlement!] [Now s3. Go Get Them!]
• The Invisible man (2000s, 2 seasons of 26 eps each) (Fun, due to infectious mood)
• The Last Man on Earth (I almost cannot watch it for its particular brand of embarrasment comedy about the few survivors of the End Days. But on my good days, it IS good and a perfect portrayal of going insane from not being wanted, and from trying not to cringe away from the very few others to pick from for human company) (Uses a swimming pool to defecate in, as there is no more running water. And then proceeds to live right next to it.) (Totally toes-cringing look at end-of-the-world depression populated by narcissists of all sexes, kinda similar to now) (Kinda good.) (s02 2015) (Man, I hate both leads! Insane responses to an insane situation – being almost alone in the world)(But I hate the normals even more, which make the insane reactions the new normal. Neo-crazies?)Watch it with someone you love!) (2S/2016) (WILL get back to this) (Very conflicted about this)(haven’t yet managed to get back to it. Maybe one day. S04 now…)(Now cancelled. With the weather going into Red Hot there may not BE winters long enough to justify this, paradoxically.)
• The Last Ship (2014, Viruses, military, yeah, that kind)(Renewed) (Now incredibly into S04)
• The Last Train (British post-apocalypsis)
• The Leftovers [2% of humanity vanishes. Who or what are you, if you are left behind? Some go into religious explanations, others seek to science for answers, and yet others just go quietly or not so quietly insane – but society falls apart] [Good examination of the loss of the unconscious assumption of meaning and purpose, brilliant cast, brilliant writing] [2017 S03 8 eps. Satisfactorily resolved]
• The Librarians (2014, Yes, I know, we all miss Indiana Jones, but Noah Wyle is alleviating symptoms of withdrawal for anyone still missing Warehouse 13). [2017 3 Seasons, alledgedly renewed for 2018] [kinda still there, but failing to grow the universe IN or OUT]
• The Lost Room (great premise for a mini-series, 6 eps.)(Actually, really great!)
• The Magicians (2015, Magic academy. Hmmm) (Got to like the chaotic dissonance of light and dark, and the reasons for seeking one or the other as human and character logical, rather than politically correct.) [2 seasons, I would want more) (Renewed for 2018, yey!)
• The Man In The High Castle (So far just the pilot, and I am not impressed, sorry. Please hook up PKD to a generator – I believe he is rotating in his grave.)(Some like it. So, I’m waiting for a day of cats and dogs).
• The Middleman (really fun stuff! – cancelled due to stupidity)
• The Neighbours (Brilliant first season, a gated community of golf playing aliens, then descended into lack of direction in s02. Sad)
• The Nine Lives of Chloe King (Cancelled after 1 season)
• The OA (8 episodes working from a 7 episode level plain achieved by an outstanding pilot to a (steep decline of Hollywood teen fare from a) dramatical POV quite ass-licking conclusion)(1 season, and they can keep it for all I care!)(Betraying the whole of the premise of saving one’s soul along with everything else in a fell swoop)(Go suck eggs!)(Even if the prisoner/prisoner’s was interesting, the Stockholm syndrome is a one-on-one-thing and as such totally misrepresented) [Okay, I have now forgotten the basis for my loathing and disappointment and will simply warn everyone that they may not like the ending, or that it’s debatable.](Surprisingly renewed for S02) (S2 totally forgettable, I already did.)
• The Orville [2017, Seth MacFarlane Star Trek spoof is actually not funny in a funny way. But COULD find its feet; presently its just ep5] [Conscious stereotyping/spoofing is dangerous, and it does wobble a bit here, trying to walk the spoof (anti) and the philosophical (pro) way at the same time. We’ll see][Well, never quite found it – but it gets a second chance with renewal] [I get it now. S2]
• The Outlander (She is transported from our day to the Scottish past to fall in love and be confused about who to love.)(Everything for love – even abuse of the time travel trope!)(Now renewed for s5 and s6. Say what?!It must be the romance doing it.)
• The Prisoner (orig. 17 ep. series – elegant, British, mysterious, philosophical!)(Avoid the 2009 remake like the plague).
• The Rain (2018, Danish dystopic miniseries about a killer rain. Yes, a killer rain… Which is only dangerous, when falling over Denmark, and always preceeded by thunder. SO preposterous that one could think it an Asylum production!)
• The Six Million Dollar Man [Lee Majors as the cybernetically enhanced astronaut turned agent. I saw all the episodes I could in the 6 weeks I spent in L.A. in 1977. It was a novelty, but somewhat lame with this incredulous superman masked as a boring adult.)
• the Sparticle Mystery (World without adults, All adults have vanished) (39 eps)
• The Star Lost (Harlan Ellison’s idea)(Generation ship after the death of Earth)(Only watched a few eps. Kinda dated, even if I love the idea.)
• The Strain (Benito del Torro producing. Ep. 1 tonight. lets see.)(E10 Still haven’t lost me) (The scope and mythology is intriguing. Biology or evil from another realm?) (I got lost in S01. May return, but I’m basically more on the production value and imagery than into the Vampire/succubus/domination/possession/Alien changing from within-theme) (2017 S04)
• The Strangerers (Crazy English mini-series, 9 eps. Very funny. Aliens landing, who have studied 50’s mannerisms)(Yes, it is spelled that way)
• the Refugees (Kinda like the basic idea: 3 billion people escape from the future, but none can talk about what they know. Reeeeaallly! It’s like when the world is going under in a show, but what the script really means is that USA is hit with disaster, and who cares about the rest of the world!? Total lack of perspective and understanding of everything outside of dramatic practicality. It’s called “lazy writers” and narrow minded producers.)(Still remains popular for its character development – in a sense The Handmainden’s Tale must have learned from this – but for me it’s lost what ever charm it had].
• the Returned (see Les Revenant)
• the Thundermans (family of superheroes, live-action soap)
• The Time Tunnel (30 episodes of 2 scientists time skipping)(Nice 60’s aestetics, but quite predictable)
• the Tripods (BBC children, from John Christopher’s trilogy) (Okay)
• The Walking Dead (incredibly violent, not better than the comic, just more explicit)(Man, where’s the dialogue?!)(Shaping up in S04 – 2013)(I never returned – but then again I also did read all of the comics).
• the Whispers (Children’s invisible alien invader friends or something.)(S01, 5 eps in so far okay, but not many calories.) (E10: semi-fast progressing into retirement – they are trying to walk the path between fast drama and real life, and its just too shaky; wasted opportunities for dealing with shame and reproach and fearing your own children and hating yourself, but no. They can’t pull it off). (Cancelled)
• They Came From Somewhere Else (Wacky British scifi-comedy, possibly an acquired taste, but is there really such a thing as too wacky !) (6 eps)
• This Is Not My Life [2010, New Zeeland] [Aliens, take-over etc. Okay. 13 eps, killed mid-stream by stupidity and greed]
• Three Moons over Milford (the series was just finding its feet, and then it was cancelled!) (8 eps)
• Threshold (Invasion scheme altering human DNA to change us into aliens.) (Always us and them. WE are the aliens.) (Well, anyway. Brilliant show cancelled due to stupidity)
• Tidsrejsen (the Time Journey), DR’s julekalender 2014 (Danish christmas calendar series for children i 24 episodes)(Not too bad, though very formulaic)
• Time Travelling Bong (Mini series for dopers.. Very fan’ish, but budget does well.)
• Timeless (2016, Protection of time)(s01 striking many false notes making my teeth jarr. Comedy, political criticism, soap, historical correct, do they know?)(Seems up for cancellation) (Nope, renewed for 2018)
• Timeslip (Complex children’s series from the 70’s, 26 eps)
• Tom’s Midnight Garden (children’s series from 1974 and again 1989)
• Tomorrow when the world began (2016, Aussie global devastation series for young people)
• Torchwood (spin-off of Doctor Who. 1st TV-series with explicitly gay immortal, Captain Jack Harkness and Welsh super(sensitive)female 😀 – seasons 2-4 are captivating).
• Touch (Yet another stereotype save the world-piece, but still entertaining. Killed due to lack of grandeur, I believe. Even if the characters could have grown stronger, if f.ex. forced on the run) (The series was revived, and that was exactly, what happened. Maybe because producer and lead is the same RL-person?)
• Travelers (Time Travel by way of taking over bodies at (future determined) time-of-death) (Not a bad idea, and ripe with evolving paradoxes due to meddling with circumstance, but formulaic to the point of regressing to soapy relationships in order to hide lack of content and keep production costs down. SO transparent) (S01 kinda decent, but I do not hold my breath for S02) (Renewed for S02) (Yet another example of studios needing light, unchallenging fare for those generally imbibing TV as substitute for social interaction).
• Tripped (Dimensional travelling dudes fast losing their other-dimensional counterparts, and being long-time stoners makes for less than instantaneous comprehension of WTF to do about it! Fun.)
• True Blood (Could be more serious – they avoid exploiting the potential real darkness of the soul. Too bad. And sad.) (But crazy-wild first few seasons, before descending into easy nudity.)
• Twilight Zone (Anthology of moral tales, set in magic, fantasy and scifi-scenarios. Has a format spawned a lot of similar
• the Twilight Zone (2019)
• Under the Dome (Stephen King serialisation, more than half-decent)(S01 okay, S02 I gave up on. Now the Dome can do anything – and that’s boring. The Dome as metaphor for a non-caring God? Boring.)
• Undermind (ITV series from 1965, alien invasion, brainwashing, subversive acts, sabotage, danger)
• V (2010) (For every episode it struggled back to a promise of something new in the coming episode, until it ran out of excuses to try.) (The original series is equally irrelevant).
• Voyagers (A bit dated, and for youngster, but fun) (time travel)
• Warehouse 13 (They are obviously having fun, and everyone love the Pandora’s Box trope) (Okay finish with S05)
• Wayward Pines (Oddland looking much like Normalland, but it’s not. So, it has ferocious monsters outside the door and nobody speaks about anything to the trapped newcomers, who have to figure everything out at the same pace as the viewer, who, however, is way ahead into Boredomland, where nothing surprising is sure to ever happen). (Mysteriously renewed for 2nd season).
• Welcome to Paradox (Anthology series in the vein of Twilight Zone) (13 eps)
• Westworld (2016. Modern take on the Yul Brunner movie from the 70’s)(1 season. Most likely no more.)(In my mind the aspiration to or imbuement with omnipotence makes for un-nourishing fare. From super heroes to robots with adjustable parameters for independence and “free will”. For me science fiction is a case of HUmans against (their own lust for) technology. Acquiring it makes it Fantasy and magic.)(Memorable characters, though). (Renewed for s02, 2018)(And SO far – s02E02 – upping the ante! But I fear what the restriction of the (dramatic) locale (surrounded by the real world) can do to hamper the coming-to-consciousness of the robots – but VERY interesting IF they will beat us humans at our own devious game and enter into the real world, bringing their own, dawning terms! Yes, very exciting, if they do!)(Renewed for S3. I suppose it’s both violent and intelligent enough to satisfy across a broad spectrum, including (robot)females on the path of vengeance with the worst case of un-sentimentality towards a lesser species seen outside of “a Handmaid’s Tale”).
• What lives Inside (Brilliant proof of concept-animation, and worst case of commercialism ever seen. Talk about product placement! Fuck off, [insert correct IT-mogul]. Web series)
• Wild Palms (Mini-series. Brilliant for its day.)
• Will vs. the Future (2017, Pilot. Future warrior tells teenager that he will grow up to destroy the world) (Story can go anywhere, even into complex Hero’s Journey (remember Darth Vader growing up), but usually youth TV series never do)
• Wizards vs. Aliens (Russel T. Davies retirement series after Doctor Who. Okay, but at ep 10, s01 still hasn’t found its real voice) (I think he misses Doctor Who).(And we miss him at the story-helm!)
• Yonderland (8 eps. 2013. Not holding my breath for a season 2. Housewife gets sucked into alternate world populated by nitwit dummies with long noses. Yawn. Though some love it.)
• You, me and the Apocalypse (Very fresh take on end-of-the-word trope. Good acting, corny characters, delicate antagonist, some religious people we would prefer over those we know, and an ending worthy of humanity’s puny existence. If indeed it IS puny.) (1 season, can’t imagine there will be another).(Watch it!)
• X-files (Well, you know – everyone in power covers up everything to do with aliens and strange phenomenon, which apparently riddles everyone and his neighbour. Yes… It’s so hard to feel alone.) (From worst to best episode – but why not do them again sequentially, if you have a lie-in due to broken brain, knees or relationship with yourself, the ex or trust in general?) (2016 – new series – let’s see, what they are up to) (No need to see the reboot. Sorry. But you did well to create a new genre to boost self-esteem of conspiracy nuts everywhere.)
• Z Nation (More zombies. As symbols of mind control, unbridled consumerism, and loosing touch with oneself through abdication of impulse control, okay, relevant comment, but otherwise… I am bored.)

I apologize for those series I have either forgotten – due to too much TV – or missed – due to too much TV. But hey, DO tell me about it \|/

Yet to watch…

• • 3%
  • A step into the past (Hong Kong historical time travel)(not seen yet, but will) (13 eps)
  • A.I.SHA – My virtual girlfriend (2016)
  • Adventure Time (animation, looks great)
  • Afterworld (130 eps, dystopia, animation) (Ended)
  • Alice (2013)
  • Alien Isolation, The Digital Series (2019, Animation) (Ripley’s daughter and her story)
  • Alien Surf Girl/Lightning Point  (2012, alien student)
  • Ark II (1976, Post- Apocalpic)
  • Ashes to ashes
  • Atropa (2018)
  • Automata (2017, mennesker og robotter skal nu arbejde sammen igen
  • Babylon 5 (I know people say: “Get past the first season…” So, this I will do one day)
  • Ballmastrz: 9000 (animation, sport)
  • Better Than Us (2018, near-present day Moscow, on the first murder committed by a machine)
  • Bill and Teds excellent adventures (1992, TT, animated)
  • Black Lightning
  • Blame The Hero (TT, 2019, save the world from Armageddon in the past)
  • Bloom (min-series) (restore youth)
  • Burning Zone (1996, viruses)
  • Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949, Guardians of the safety of the World)
  • Castle rock
  • Century City (2004, law firm in 2030 tacling (imagined) future cases)
  • Cheat (2017) (game)
  • Circle (2017, dual, concurrent timelines (“time streams”)
  • Code Name Eternity (2000, Alien landing on Earth with the intent to find bro, then make Earth habitable for more bros, no matter what.)
  • CoinCoin and the Extra Humans (alien invasion)
  • Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1955, children)
  • Cowboy Bebob
  • Critters, a new binge (the name alone reeks of exploitation) (2019)
  • Crunch Time (2016, mini-series, accidental creation of a black hole)
  • Crusade (Babylon 5 spin-off)(Find a cure or every human is dead in 5 years)
  • Cul-de-sac (2016) (no power, no adults, no internet)(post-apocalyptic)
  • Curfew
  • Dark Angel
  • Dark Oracle (TT 2004, children, mix animation/live action)
  • Darna (2009, Phillipine superheroine)
  • Dans une galaxie près de chez vous (1999, Go look for another planet, this one’s all used up!)
  • Day Break (2006, TT, reliving the day, Groundhog Day)
  • Dead at 21 (1994, 1 year to removed intelligence enhancing implant)
  • Delete (2013, Sentient AI defending itself)
  • Duel (2017, clones)
  • Dr. Shrinker (Mad doctor shrinking a bunch of kids)
  • Drop Dead Weird (2017, zombie parents…)
  • Earth 2 (Remnants of humanity seeking a new world)
  • Eerie Indiana, the Other Dimension (1998, children, very entertaining)
  • Electric city (20 short animations exploring modern dilemmas and challenges)(Tom Hanks-project…)
  • Erased (2016, TT, anim) TT to prevent death (12 eps, ended)
  • Erased (2017, TT, live action)  TT to prevent death (12 eps, ended)
  • Extinct (2017, 400 years after the extinction of the humans species, Aliens help the survivors)
  • Far Out Space Nuts (1975, children)
  • First Born (1988, genetics, animal/human hybrid)
  • Forbidden Science (2009, anthology of scifi and erotic programming)
  • Freakish (2016) Fallout victims/Infected diseased vs. the uninfected
  • Frequency (2016, Changing time by communicating with the past)(talking to her dead father living 23 years in the past
  • Future Girl (2016)
  • Future Sex (2018, anthology, sex of the future…)
  • FutureStates (2010, anthology of future USA)
  • Gemini Division (2008, synthetic life forms)
  • Gemini Man (1976) (Invisibility)
  • gen:LOCK (2019, animation) (global war, last humans, weaponized robots)
  • Ghost Adventures
  • Glitch
  • Gotham
  • Gravity Falls
  • Guardian (2018, Chinese, 10.000 years of peace btw. humans…)
  • H+ (2012) High-tech data access and its drawback
  • Hard Time on Planet Earth (1989) Alien visiting
  • If I hadn’t met you (TT, 2018) (Travels to parallel universe to seek af better fate for his  wife)
  • Incorporated (kinda feels like a normal money/greed soap in SciFi hide. Not exactly scrambling to watch)(Well, the ratings seem to want to scramble!)
  • Invasion Earth (1998)
  • iZombie (Sorry, haven’t and will not bother – but now renewed for S5)(Zombies and I have this uneasy relationship, where they agree to stay out of my backyard, symbolic vengeance of over-bloated consumerism and all, and I agree to keep passing open windows. So, there.)
  • Jeff & Some Aliens (2017, aliens deciding to or not to destroy Earth based on Jeffs actions (the most average guy in the world))
  • Jinn (2019)
  • Legend of Korra
  • Leila
  • Life After People (Population:0)(Docu, scifi)
  • Love, Death & Robots (Anthology series. WHAT was the rave about? Was I asleep?)
  • Made in Abyss (2019, animation)
  • Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger
  • Marvel’s Daredevil
  • Marvel’s Inhumans
  • Marvel’s Iron fist
  • Marvel’s Luke Cage
  • Marvel’s Runaways
  • Marvel’s The Defenders [2017 Have yet to watch, but I LOVED Jessica Jones as character!]
  • Median (2016, Quatar’s first excursion into scifi) (And the crowd goes WILD… well, probably not)
  • Memories of Alhambre 2018) AR and love
  • Men into Space (1959)
  • Mirror Mirror (TT, Children 100 years apart communicate via mirror) (20 eps) (australian link)
  • Miss 2059 (2016, representing Earth in Alien tournament just with beauty box, wits and a healthy white girl moral)
  • Mr Mercedes
  • Nightflyers
  • Nude (2018, France of the future, satire, zeitgeist comment)
  • Objectif: Nul (French space comedy in the vein of Red Dwarf)
  • Odyssey 5 (TT Earth goes boom! and a group goes 5 years back to try and prevent it)
  • On Children (2018, Taiwanese anthology, miniseries/five 90min independant films on the theme)(Described as dark, and mainly focusing on the mother/child relationship, which apparently is a very hush-hush topic in Asia.)
  • One-punch man
  • Origin (2018)
  • Osmosis (2019) dating mating
  • Otherworld (1985) Other world and get home
  • Out of the Unknown (BBC scifi twilight zone look-alike)
  • Perversions of Science (1997, anthology)
  • Phineas and Ferb
  • Photon (1986, children)
  • Plan B (TT 2017)
  • Project Blue Book
  • Proof (2015, reincarnation)
  • Q.E.D.  (1982, BBC, Jules Verne-like explorer in an alternate pre-WWI England)
  • Quantum Break (TT, the end of Time) (Game tie-in)
  • Quark (1978) (Spoof, intergalactic garbage truck adventures)
  • REBOOT The Guardian Code (2018) youth saves everything)
  • Regular Show
  • RePlay (comedy series in Wish-I-could-Do-Over fashion)
  • Revolution (2012, loss of power stops civilisation and then what)
  • Ring of Fire (2012, oops, accidentally set the atmosphere in fire!)
  • Riftworld Chronicles (2015, rift btw. dimensions, fantastic foes coming through)
  • Room 404 [hotel room where various, serious shit happens]
  • Salvage 1 (1979) going to the moon on a shoestring
  • Santa Clarita Diet [More zombies, starring Drew Barrymore. I think not. But renewed for s3.][Commenters share my pain, “… watching her stumble and bumble through the crisply written scenes”. Yeah, that about sums her up for me. But otherwise SCD appears to be a blast.]
  • Second chance (2016) (Haven’t given it the first, yet.)
  • Section Zero (2016) (in the future cops with integrity are losing to new violent militias)
  • Shazam (1974) Captain Marvel
  • Shield of tomorrow (2017)
  • Signal (TT 2016, dectives talking over time
  • Silent Eye (2018, 4 eps)
  • Silversun (2004, children, generation ship)
  • Sleepwalkers (1997, entering the minds of people)
  • Something Is Out There (1988, alien prisoner stranded on Earth)
  • Somewhere Between (TT, forewarning of death)
  • Space – above and beyond (Earth vs. Aliens, Marines to the rescue)
  • Space Academy (1977, children)
  • Space precinct (1994, Earthlings and Aliens co-habitat)
  • Spellbinder (1995, alternate world, going home)
  • SS-GB (2017, mini series) (Alternative universe, where Nazi Germany won WWII)
  • Star Cops (1987, BBC)
  • Survivors (2008)
  • Svengoolie on Me-TV (anthology presentaion of old scifi and horror)
  • Syn (2017)
  • Tatau (2015, Maori fantasy/scifi)
  • TekWar (William Shatner’s “masterpiece” of VR-enhanced criminals…)
  • Terra Nova
  • the Adventures of Brisco County, jr. (27 eps) (yet to be seen)
  • the Boy From Space (1971, terrifying kids-show)
  • The Changes (1975, BBC, yet another Post-Apocalyptic show to brainwash British kids into model citizens (machines turn agains people))
  • The City & The City (2018, rumoured city existing in the spaces btw. 2 other cities)
  • The Day After (2013, Polish, attempting selective eugenics kills indiscriminately)
  • The Deep (2010)
  • The Fantastic Journey (1977) time- and dimensional travel to find their way home
  • The Fire Next Time (1993, mini-series, world ending in 2017 as the climate wrecks havoc)
  • The First (2018 colonisation of Mars)
  • The Gifted
  • The Head (1994, animation, alien living in a human’s head)
  • The Hollow (strangers forced together to work out why)
  • The Hot zone
  • The Immortal (TT, 1969) Immortal being hunted for his (mortal) blood
  • The Immortal (TT, 2000) Warrior hunts demons
  • The InBetween
  • The Martian Chronicles (from Ray Bradbury) (Have yet to see)
  • The Max headroom Show (1985, post-apocalyptic TV-presenter)
  • The Mercury Men(retro web-series, 10 eps)
  • The New Tomorrow (2005, Totally clean children survive in a post apocalyptic world)
  • The Phoenix (TT, 1982) Visitor from another world
  • The Powerless (2017, Insurance against super heroes and villains)
  • The Promised Neverland
  • The Protector
  • The Purge
  • The Quatermass Experiment (1953, by Nigel Kneale!)
  • The resistance (2010)
  • The Shivering truth (2019)
  • The Society
  • The Triangle 2005 (mini series)
  • the Umbrella academy
  • The Vault (2018, webseries)
  • the Visitor (TT, 1997)
  • the Visitor from the Future (4 seasons, French, on youtube) (Wanna see – hope it’s subtitled).
  • Time after Time (2017)
  • Time Belt (yet to see) (A product of a monthly contest “Channel 101” founded by Dan Harmon…)
  • Time Cop (yet to see)
  • Time Riders (yet to see) (4 eps)
  • Time Slip (26 ep. not quite children’s series of two teens projecting themselves into past and future, tackling serious topics like cloning, laser tracking and global warming (this was in 1970…))
  • Time Squad (yet to see) (animation)
  • Time Trackers (yet to see)
  • Time Trax (1993, TT, lawman from the future looking to go home) yet to see
  • Tomorrow when the war began(yet to see) (technically speaking not sci-fi, and a reality for many, but for “westerners” it’s still in the future)
  • Total Recall 2070 (1999)
  • Tracker (2001, 200 alien criminals on the run in Chicago)
  • Transfer (2017) mind-transfer on the run
  • Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987, treasure island in the year 2300)
  • Trepalium (2016) in the future employed and the unemployed are kept apart by a wall
  • Trigun (comes recommended due to excellent storytelling. Must see)
  • Ultra Q (1966, the beginning of the Ultraman franchise)
  • Ultraman (2019) super powers
  • Utopia (2013)
  • Visible Man (2017, Turkish, Everyone else is invisible…)
  • VR.5 (1995, VR-access to another’s subconscious)
  • WHOOPS, Apocalypse (1982, BBC, John Cleese as a terrorist)
  • World on a Wire (1973), simulated reality
  • World’s end (2015)