Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
SF Shows With GOOD First Seasons
- Thread starter Mr Light
- Start date
I love the X-Files I'm just saying the first season had a lot of dogs. As I recall it didn't do very well in the ratings either and barely got renewed, and then became popular in the second season. And then became REALLY popular when it moved to Sunday in the fourth season.
Carnivale, MillenniuM and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
I really didn't care for S1 of Red Dwarf. They didn't do anything!They just sat in the ship and bickered with each other about nothing.
Yeah. The Rimmer/Lister bickering was the best part about the entire show. That's why I like the undiluted Series I.
Sadly, David Greenwalt was competing against himself. He was the head writer on Jake 2.0, which aired on UPN opposite Angel on the WB, which Greenwalt co-created.
Sorry, no can do.P.S. Nobody list Firefly it was a one hit wonder and that's all!
Whenever I pull out a Firefly DVD, thinking to watch an episode or two, I always wind up watching the entire run again.
Ah yes, thanks for reminding me about Millennium. A truly excellent first season.
What, the first season of TOS? Really? For me, it's by far the greatest and most impressive all time opening season of any show! The sustained overall quality is truly magnificent to behold!
To anyone who doesn't like the 1st Season of Angel, "I'm going to thrash you within an inch of your life... AND THEN I'M GONNA TAKE THAT INCH!"
LOL!
Funny! I love Wes.
ST:TOS S1 would be the best season of that. I never think of that show when I think of Star Trek, I think of the new ones. // Millennium S1, aside from a couple great episodes, was just unbearably awful. Unrelentingly dark, depressing, bland serial killer stories week after week? Ugh.
First thought... some postings seem to be more 'Series which were never much good, but were better in their first season' (for instance, Space 1999. Which I love, but even the first season only has 8 episodes which are great, plus 8 which are OK, and 8 which are awful. But the good episodes were like water in the desert in the 1970s) rather than 'Series which were good in season one'.
So, series that were good in season one...
Doctor Who, new and old, but particularly the original - the 1963/4 season is still very impressive most of the time (so long, of course, that black and white Tv produec on video doesn't put you off).
Blake's 7 - seasons two and three were better overall, but due to better highs that made up for lower lows. Season one is a great SF adventure week on week.
Babylon 5: The first few episodes didn't live up to jms's hype.. but from maybe episode 8 onwards, most episodes only seem weak in comparison with the next couple of seasons (and far better than season five).
Star Trek: First 16 episodes are flawed and variable, but ambitious and often successful. Then Gene Coon takes charge and everything later producers were trying to emulate cuts in for the rest of the first run.
Twilight Zone: incredibly lyrical right from the start, and less prone to episodes which relied purely on the twist ending than in later years.
X-Files: If season one hadn't been good, it wouldn't have got season two. seaQuest and Lois and Clark were the series that everyone expected to be hits that year...
And... speaking of which: Lois and Clark. The first season is a perfectly pitched Moonlighting-style 'will-they-won't-they?' detective series, in which one of the leads happens to be Superman. From season two, it's a soap opera with unconvincing supervillains.
So, series that were good in season one...
Doctor Who, new and old, but particularly the original - the 1963/4 season is still very impressive most of the time (so long, of course, that black and white Tv produec on video doesn't put you off).
Blake's 7 - seasons two and three were better overall, but due to better highs that made up for lower lows. Season one is a great SF adventure week on week.
Babylon 5: The first few episodes didn't live up to jms's hype.. but from maybe episode 8 onwards, most episodes only seem weak in comparison with the next couple of seasons (and far better than season five).
Star Trek: First 16 episodes are flawed and variable, but ambitious and often successful. Then Gene Coon takes charge and everything later producers were trying to emulate cuts in for the rest of the first run.
Twilight Zone: incredibly lyrical right from the start, and less prone to episodes which relied purely on the twist ending than in later years.
X-Files: If season one hadn't been good, it wouldn't have got season two. seaQuest and Lois and Clark were the series that everyone expected to be hits that year...
And... speaking of which: Lois and Clark. The first season is a perfectly pitched Moonlighting-style 'will-they-won't-they?' detective series, in which one of the leads happens to be Superman. From season two, it's a soap opera with unconvincing supervillains.
Mr Light is right when he calls this "unrelentingly dark." It's very hard to watch more than a couple of episodes in one sitting for this reason. It's still the best season of the series, though. If I had any critique to make, it's that the first season isn't really science fiction. Most of those elements wouldn't be introduced until the disastrous second season.
Certainly the original Susan/Ian/Barbara unit is the best combination of companions during the William Hartnell years. Vicki was a pale imitation of Susan. I can't even imaging Hartnell without Ian & Barbara.
Season one of L&C is the only season I own on DVD. It's a shame that the series went in such a different direction in season two, which was still somewhat watchable. Season 3 and 4 are a complete waste.
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