Pitch Your TV Show - AKA You're Favourite Dramatic Scenes

[Hugo Rune]

Thanks to the glory and wonder of t'internet I have found, watched, marvelled at and ruminated over TV shows which I never would have taken a second of my time to watch if I simply read the synopsis in a TV Guide.

It can be hard to sell a TV show. We are fickle creatures with too little time and too many entertainment options. And yet a single scene, a few entrancing minutes, can capture your imagination and leave you thankful that TV actually exists.

I appreciate that 99% of programming isn't worth the advertising they cram within it, but we all get hooked somewhere.

Admittedly, mine is from a very recent show, but I have screened the below scene to three friends with very different tastes and every one of them wants to watch the show now.

The theme of the Thread is also a touch fitting given my choice, from the Season 1 finale of Mad Men...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bLNkCqpuY

So, pitch your show. Show off a favourite dramatic scene. Preferrably with YouTube clips if they are available. You never know, you might make a sale.


Hugo - clearly run out of TV to watch...

 

[auntiehill]

Dexter. It's very hard to find just ONE great scene. Every scene is good in that it links so smoothly to the next. One of my favorites is the opening of the first episode and another is when he goes to NA to talk about his "addiction." It's a great speech.

Pilot
Dark Passenger Speech

 

[Hugo Rune]

Dark Passenger Speech

This is actually the moment where the show went from "Excellent TV" to "Just Pure Genius" for me

I remember having to pause the tape and take a minute to wrap my head around its brilliance.


Hugo - You can't be a killer and a hero. It doesn't work that way!

 

[mimic]

The Wire - there are a lot of scenes to choose from, but this one contains no spoilers and has the benefit of being one of the best explanations of chess I've ever seen.

The show itself unfolds like a novel, following a police detail assigned to bring down Avon Barksdale, a Baltimore drug dealer. The entire season focuses on this one case, so you get a lot of moments like the above scene and really get to know both sides of the war on drugs. It's slower paced than most shows and demands a lot of attention, but after a few episodes you're completely drawn in and realize you're watching something special. Also, the acting - Andre Royo, Michael K. Williams and Idris Elba in particular - is outstanding.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toYzUtZdYUk

Dark Passenger Speech

Chilling!

 

[auntiehill]

^Isn't it, though?

That's why Dexter is still one of the few shows that I really get excited about. It's great drama---period. He's one of the most fascinating characters I have ever seen.

 

[ToddPence]

The only "Route 66" clip I've posted to Youtube so far has been a short clip from the Shatner episode - this in response to a request from a Shat fan. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHRC6YlmqPw

I'll try to post more representative clips of the show. If you're a fan of 1960's television who hasn't seen an episode of "Route 66", it's like being a fan of Elizabethean theatre who has never seen a Shakespeare play.

Of course you can watch complete episodes on GUBA. Take an hour of your life to watch "A Month of Sundays" or "The Mud Nest" or "Birdcage on My Foot" with Robert Duvall or "Welcome to the Wedding" with Rod Steiger. You'll be glad you did, and it will make you want to rent the series on Netflix or whatever net video rental service you use. Here's a GUBA link which includes the dozen or so episodes available:

http://www.guba.com/general/search?query=route+66&set=5&x=22&y=10

And here's a pretty good introductory video to the series, by another Youtube user:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_he4v8EIAg

 

[Temis the Vorta]

This one's hard to beat: the Frozen Donkey Wheel sequence from Lost.

And I wish I could find a few favorite sequences on YouTube but I guess I'm not searching right:

Dexter: Doakes discovers Dexter at the Swamp Shack.

Dexter: Dexter imagines Deb's reactions to his confession.

Heroes: Sylar shows Peter why telekinesis trumps invisibility.

Heroes: Claude throws Peter off a building to see if he'll fly.

 

[auntiehill]

^I loved Claude. I keep hoping he'll suddenly reappear at just the right moment.

 

[darthraidr]

Best show I've ever seen is "Deadwood"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Q7YRDL90E&feature=related

another amazing show that gets far too little credit is "Friday Night Lights"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOnhVRu6soA&feature=related

if you havent seen it, "Band of Brothers" is an amazing mini-series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ehwsOL04og&feature=related

of the three shows i listed, i purposely didnt put the "most dramatic" scenes in... out of context they probably wouldnt make much sense, and it would lessen the impact if you knew it was going to happen.

 

[Roger Wilco]

The Wire - there are a lot of scenes to choose from, but this one contains no spoilers and has the benefit of being one of the best explanations of chess I've ever seen.

The show itself unfolds like a novel, following a police detail assigned to bring down Avon Barksdale, a Baltimore drug dealer. The entire season focuses on this one case, so you get a lot of moments like the above scene and really get to know both sides of the war on drugs. It's slower paced than most shows and demands a lot of attention, but after a few episodes you're completely drawn in and realize you're watching something special. Also, the acting - Andre Royo, Michael K. Williams and Idris Elba in particular - is outstanding.

I miss The Wire, what a fantastic show.
Some more memorable scenes:
Omar!
Snoop goes shopping
McNulty and Bunk investigate a crime scene

 

[auntiehill]

Best show I've ever seen is "Deadwood"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Q7YRDL90E&feature=related

Deadwood is probably one of the best shows to EVER air on TV.
I really miss it.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Carnivale: Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown) stands in complete defiance of his higher-ups in a raucous, rebellious, self-important sermon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe61F9h7DQ8

Deadwood: (not work safe) Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), distressed over a personal loss, seeks sexual consolation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqMWBpwXX80

Millennium: Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) explains to Frank Black (Peter Watts), whose wife (Megan Gallagher) has been abducted, why he has three daughters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DStbFiM-dKM&feature=related

Jericho: John Goetz (D.B. Sweeney) returns to town and has a tense confrontation with Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich), somewhat mediated by Major Edward Beck (Esai Morales). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3whte9OKNug

Supernatural: Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles), the brothers Winchester, discuss the results of a case and have a heart-to-heart about The Man Upstairs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qepFQ7EKgJc

Oz: (also not work safe) In one of the series' lighter moments, prisoner Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni) provokes unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10TrPJ6Qf54&feature=related

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Speaking of Deadwood, which I'm just getting thru on DVD, one of my favorite scenes is Hearst's monologue to Odell about how mankind can be unified in the quest for "the color," as though greed is the basis for civilization and all human progress. (And are we supposed to believe Odell is Hearst's son?)

Gerald McRaney's performance as Hearst is probably my favorite in the whole series.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Speaking of Deadwood, which I'm just getting thru on DVD, one of my favorite scenes is Hearst's monologue to Odell about how mankind can be unified in the quest for "the color," as though greed is the basis for civilization and all human progress.

I'm a huge, huge fan of the scene in "Boy-The-Earth-Talks-To" between Hearst and Wolcott in Farnum's hotel where Hearst fires Wolcott for his...conduct issues. Well-written, well-acted and sublimely directed.

(And are we supposed to believe Odell is Hearst's son?)

It's definitely the implication, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. There's a wonderful scene you're about to get to that I shan't spoil for you lest its impact be ruined.

Gerald McRaney's performance as Hearst is probably my favorite in the whole series.

It's way up there, but it's so hard to pick favorites on this show. Ian McShane, William Sanderson, Jim Beaver, Ray McKinnon, Kim Dickens, Dayton Callie, Robin Weigert, Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Brian Cox...the entire cast is fantastic, really. Even the guest characters, like Kristen Bell's Flora and Gordon Clapp's Gustave are terrific.

 

[darthraidr]

(And are we supposed to believe Odell is Hearst's son?)

It's definitely the implication, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. There's a wonderful scene you're about to get to that I shan't spoil for you lest its impact be ruined.

how do you get to this conclusion? i never considered they were related for a second.

according to milch, "[Odell's] connection to the gold civilized [Hearst's] impulse towards [him]." What was Hearst's impulse? "I'd've shot or seen you [Odell] hanged without a second thought."

Hearst was all about getting the gold. to him, people were nothing more than tools to get a job done. when a tool broke down or caused problems, it was discarded.

 

[WHF]

The show I would recommend is Intelligence.

I can't find a clip to represent the show; I don't think I could even recommend a single episode. It is a show that has to be watched in its entirety to appreciate. Watching an episode or three would leave one confused. Unfortunately it was canceled after two fantastic seasons (26 episodes). The first season cliff hanger may have been the best I've ever seen on TV.

In lieu of a clip from the show here is a clip of the creator talking about his canceled masterpiece.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

how do you get to this conclusion? i never considered they were related for a second.

One of the characters refers to Odells' "high yellow" complexion. That's a 19th C term for a mulatto, implying Odell's father is white.