Donna Jack: A Lady of Infinite Jest

I simultaneously cannot believe it's been 30 days and that I've actually written 30 substantive answers to these 30 different television series-oriented questions. So, hurrah! Behold the master compilation of my 30 Days of Television meme:

30 Days of TV
Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled.
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching.
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season).
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever.
Day 05 - A show you hate.
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show.
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show.
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch.
Day 09 - Best scene ever.
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving.
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you.
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times.
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show.
Day 14 - Favorite male character.
Day 15 - Favorite female character.
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show.
Day 17 - Favorite mini series.
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence.
Day 19 - Best TV show cast.
Day 20 - Favorite kiss.
Day 21 - Favorite 'ship.
Day 22 - Favorite series finale.
Day 23 - Most annoying character.
Day 24 - Best quote.
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new).
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale.
Day 27 - Best pilot episode.
Day 28 - First TV show obsession.
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession.
Day 30 - Saddest character death.

Day 29 - Current TV show obsession

Quixote and I share an answer on this one: Doctor Who.

I don't have near enough memorabilia to my liking, but I expect that'll be remedied in time. Right now, I have my iPhone kitted out DW-style, with TARDIS wallpaper and Nine's theme as my ringtone. I wanted to make the TARDIS landing sound my text-receipt signal, but the iPhone apparently won't let you change that (at least not in the same manner as the ringtones). I'm also plotting to get a blue police box-skin and a clear case to complete the conceit. ;)

Quixote and I are rewatching the series now, starting with the excellent Mr. Hartnell and going on. This is quite an undertaking, plagued with horrendous trials such as missing episodes. But we mean to triumph as much as possible!

I should also append here that my secondary obsession is currently The Big Bang Theory: I only began watching the show in March, but I already own S1 on DVD, have hunted down and watched the original pilot, joined a challenge community for the show, made a ridiculous number of graphics for it, purchased a Lizard-Spock expansion shirt, and even written fanfic (thus breaking a ten-year fanfic dryspell). I've also probably read more Penny/Sheldon fanfic than is strictly healthy, but I don't regret a thing!

Short answer on this, our penultimate 30 Days of TV meme, I know. Thing is, though, that I have to be up at 3:55 AM to work from 4-8, so I'd best be getting some sleep.

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 27 - Best pilot episode

In October of 2004, I was living in Japan. I'd just started a new job teaching English; at my branch, I met and became fast friends with B, who invited me over to her place and promised a show that had to be seen to be believed.

After working, going out to dinner, and then making our way back to Ikuta, we settled in for the pilot of a show called Lost. I'd seen some references to the show around Livejournal, but nothing much more. Her mother was taping the show and mailing them to her once she'd gotten a few recorded.

An eye opened and then SHIT GOT REAL. The pilot was heart-pounding and disorienting and wholly absorbing. We eagerly watched everything her mother had sent and spent hours talking about it when we should've been sleeping for work the next day. (Luckily, we were both scheduled to work the afternoon shift.)

Lost has literally one of the most arresting pilots I have ever seen. I've been gung-ho on many shows from the first episode, but I've never been as floored and swept away as I have been by Lost.

I was responsible for Quixote's conversion; he'd vaguely wanted to watch Lost for a while, but never really managed to start. When I returned from Japan, we borrowed the first season of Lost from an associate of his and another fan was born.

Or, in Quixote's words: "After watching the pilot of Lost, you didn't just feel the desire to watch the next episode, you almost felt the need. And that continues throughout the entirety of the first season."

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)

At any given time, my husband and I tend to have several television plans in the pipeline: last year, these watching projects involved all of The X-Files, all of Supernatural (which I'd enjoyed, but Quixote had never seen), Pushing Daisies, The Tudors, and a ton of Penn & Teller's Bullshit.

Here's what Quixote and I have lined up for the rest of the year:

Star Trek - We're watching TOS now (me for the first time) and entertaining thoughts of carrying it over into a rewatch of TNG and then to Deep Space 9.

Doctor Who - We're re-watching all of Classic Who at an extremely casual pace, and I don't expect us to finish before next year. We'll probably carry it through to a New Series rewatch as well.

Deadwood - We keep hearing good things about this show, so it's our summer project now that we're out of new Doctor Who episodes and all of our other shows are on hiatus except for True Blood and Burn Notice.

And my independent project:

House - I'm watching this one slowly on my own, although Quixote tends to be in the room when I do watch them (but painting or gaming or something like). House amuses me, and I've always found the errant episode incredibly absorbing.

I'm also toying with the idea of Madmen and How I Met Your Mother, but we'll see what I feel like after I've got a season or two of House under my belt.


( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 23 - Most annoying character



When someone asks me about television and most annoying characters, young Wesley Crusher immediately springs to mind. (Sorry, Wil Wheaton.) He's just a kid, yet he knows everything, but the adults never listen to him even though he's so often proven correct (at first)! ...and it's all really just Mary Sue Goes to Starfleet.

Quixote concurs!

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 21 - Favorite 'ship

Without reservation, I give you:



Is there a 'ship so pure as Supernatural's Dean and the Impala? ;) I think not!

There are a couple others that I favor, such as Sookie/Eric (True Blood) and and the potentially controversial Ned/Olive (Pushing Daisies). However, my second favorite 'ship on television is also not romantic at all:

( I ship snarky/platonic! )

Again, Quixote says he has no answer to this question... but he's also willing to concur with my primary answer.

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 19 - Best TV show cast

I should probably stop observing how difficult some of these questions are to answer, eh? Ah well. This one was also difficult to answer: do you define "best" in relation to the overall quality of the acting or by how well the actors are subsumed into their roles? Arguably, I suppose the two should be one and the same; in practice, however, you get to know many fine actors as one character first and, when they go on to something else, their skill level doesn't necessarily diminish. Their ability to sink into later roles and become indistinguishable from the character does.

For example, Adam Baldwin is pretty good at what he does. However, he is Jayne Cobb. I've seen him play a Lawyer from Hell (Angel) and snatches of him as a super-spy (Chuck), but I just can't see him as Marcus Hamilton or John Casey. Of course, that also hinges on which role you see them in first, and may be a handicap of the viewing mind rather than the actor's later abilities to become a character.

Well, anyway. When judging best cast, you must also consider how they all work together. Great actors can be great separately and just never manage to jive in the established narrative. So, after taking all that into consideration...

I essentially can't decide between Battlestar Galactica and Carnivale.

Both casts are top-knotch, full of excellent actors who integrated seamlessly. Battlestar Galactica is consistently better on a greater scale, and Quixote agrees - especially considering the cast had more episodes to perform and, perhaps, with less lead-time.

Quixote adds that another aspect of "best cast" should be defined by how relatable the cast is as a whole: how well can the viewer empathize with all those assembled? Answering his own question, he suggests that Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation fits this bill for him, with TNG being more in the lead because of the schism undercurrent between the Big 3 on TOS (Kirk, Spock, McCoy) and all the rest.

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 17 - Favorite mini series

For this question, I found it necessary to define miniseries for myself as a television show comprised of more than two parts. This allowed me to exclude the Discworld miniseries, which is rather necessary to give any other shows a fighting chance. (Somewhat joking on the fighting chance bit, but I really love the Discworld and the adaptations have been quite well done.¹)

This being said, I still found myself with more than one favorite (as usual). In this case, at least, just two.

Band of Brothers

This series is one of the most brilliant I've ever seen, featuring an excellent complement of actors, good attention to historical detail, and marvelous production values. I found it difficult to watch on more than one occasion, because of its faithful depiction of the horror of war. As rewarding as I found the viewing experience, it'll be a while before I feel the desire to watch it again. Indeed, though, it'll remain one of my favorite ever miniseries.

Quixote agrees with me here, statingly baldy that Band of Brothers is "stupidly awesome." He goes on that the miniseries is the perfect blend of historical accuracy and good storytelling, which is quite important to him as a history teacher. He continues that it's perfectly directed, compelling, and educational and seems to think it's silly that he has to explain it that far.

(I read that previous paragraph to him and all he had to say was an absent "Indeed." ;))

The 10th Kingdom

I bought this series on a whim for my birthday last year as it came highly recommended by a couple of my dearest friends. I knew essentially nothing about it, and wound up watching it one weekend while my husband was out of town. I was completely captivated by the tale that unfolded, and so emotionally involved that I experienced a tearful catharsis in the end. (There were things about the narrative I could personally relate to.) As twee and cute as parts of it can be, the whole is something dark and light and all over beautiful. It will always be special to me.

Quixote would like me to include a note on his runners-up for the position of "best miniseries" in his opinion:

Children of Dune - This miniseries represents the best filmed version of any Dune novel, and therefore is automatically a favorite in his estimation. He acknowledges that it definitely has its flaws, but it was enoguh to satisfy him. (Frank Herbert's Dune novels are among his favorite series of all time ever.) (I agree that this is one excellent miniseries.)

V (1980s) - V was one of those formative science fiction shows of his youth: cheesy nowadays, but still a very important work for SF at large. Quite a number of TV shows and movies crib from V today. Quixote also remarks that it was a good allegory for the Holocaust at the same time. (See, history element: important!)



1. I love Hogfather a bit more than Color of Magic, but they're both fab. I still haven't had a chance to watch Going Postal.

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 15 - Favorite female character

Much like with yesterday's answer, I thought figuring this one out would be much harder than it actually turned out to be. I started by scrolling through my list of favorite television shows, compiling a list of preferred female characters: Ambassador Delenn, Lyta Alexander, Starbuck (aka Kara Thrace), George Lass, Roxie, Zoe, Lina Inverse, Dr. Girlfriend, Veronica Mars, Donna Noble, Special Agent Dana Scully, and so forth... but the search was over when I thought of her:



Yeah, my favorite female character is Buffy. Her resilience, courageousness, commitment, fieriness, capacity for love, silly one-liners, and even her massive mistakes have all combined into one amazing, kick-ass woman.

The image above was the cover illustration on the first installment of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series representing S8. Art by Jo Chen - one of my favorite illustrations of Buffy ever.

Quixote's favorite was also equally clear to him:



"In all the shows I've watched, The X-Files was the only one in which I felt that the female character could carry the show. Scully is awesome." - Quixote

And:

"Scully is smart, Scully kicks ass, and she's not mired in her own prejudices to the point where she can't admit when she's wrong. She's eminently competent." - Quixote

Damn straight, honey. (The picture used in the above motivational poster is from a wallpaper available at this post by Mer-Moonchild.)

( 30 Days of TV: The List )

Day 13 - Favorite childhood show

I missed posting this yesterday thanks to the aforementioned chronic health condition; in fact, it's kicking my ass right now. Dizzy spells, pain, and nausea != good times, by the way, but at least the Internet is a fascinating place and can provide some distraction.

Much like in my response to "favorite show ever," I can't tell you one show I watched as a lass that is inarguably my favorite ever. Instead, I'm going to list the several I favored between the ages of 4-13ish. Also, I'm interpreting this as "favorite shows as a child" rather than "favorite shows meant for children while a child":

Animaniacs
Batman: The Animated Series
Count Duckula
Darkwing Duck
Doctor Who
GI Joe: A Real American Hero
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Inspector Gadget
My Little Pony
She-Ra: Princess of Power
Silverhawks
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The A-Team
The Pirates of Dark Water
The Transformers
X-Men

Sort of in-between childhood and teenager-dom, I would add Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine as favorite programs.

I'm probably forgetting shows that should be on this list, and I'm consciously leaving off Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street because I don't remember them so well.


As for Quixote? He's spent a long time arguing among Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, The A-Team, Buck Rogers, and Doctor Who. So I've just made him list all of them. ;)



( 30 Days of TV: The List )