Spinoffs that beat the original?

[Tom Riley]

Yahoo TV recently published a list of TV show spinoffs that were better than their predecessors. http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/ten-tv-spinoffs-that-were-better-than-the-original-shows--664

Torchwood made that list. While I agree that Torchwood is a great show, (I even liked the first two seasons) I wouldn't say it was a better show than Doctor Who...

What does everyone else think?

 

[Bacl]

Bullocks.

 

[wamdue]

that is crazy, whilst T:CoE is brilliant and beats nearly all of Doctor Who in terms of sheer drama, you just can not forget about all the history of Doctor Who

Not to mention the fact that not all of Torchwood is anything like CoE.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I think it's hyperbole to say that Torchwood (as a whole) surpasses Doctor Who (as a whole).

However, I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Torchwood: Children of Earth will outstrip any other Doctor Who story told this year. And yes, I'm counting the regeneration, which won't be until January.

 

[wamdue]

I think it's hyperbole to say that Torchwood (as a whole) surpasses Doctor Who (as a whole).

However, I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Torchwood: Children of Earth will outstrip any other Doctor Who story told this year. And yes, I'm counting the regeneration, which won't be until January.

lets be honest Torchowood: CoE is better than 95% of RTDs Doctor Who, however Doctor Who is not just limited to the RTDs era. Unless that is what the article is saying, that Torchwood is better than new series Who? rather than Classic series Who.

 

[bigdaddy]

Yahoo TV is garbage.

However I thought they just named Doctor Who the best cult show ever.

 

[Starbreaker]

That's a random list... even though L&O:SVU is better than the original... or it was. They're both pretty bad right now.

 

[Cutter John]

I suspect to them ratings = quality.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

That's complete and utter bullshit. While Children of Earth was fantstic, three seasons of Torchwood (one mostly bad, one mostly good, and one fantastic) doesn't beat 30 seasons of mostly good.

 

[Sci]

I don't think it's fair to say that Children of Earth is better than any given season of Doctor Who. They're completely different types of stories predicated on completely different creative conceits. Children of Earth is an adult-oriented exploration of human evil; Doctor Who is a family-oriented exploration of the joys of life.

It's apples and oranges. Trying to compare the two is like trying to compare The Last King of Scotland to WALL-E, or The Silence of the Lambs to Beauty and the Beast, or The Queen to The Princess Diaries.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well, I'm assuming this list is from an American perspective so a couple of things.

I don't think you can look at Doctor Who in its multi-decade entirety. For one thing, I think most in the US will know Who from it's most recent incarnation. Also, Torchwood is definitely a spin-off from nuWho, in the same sense one wouldn't think of Caprica a spin off of BSG '78.

I've said before that I think Torchwood has a potentially greater appeal to Americans in particular over Doctor Who because it feels much more like "our" shows typically do. The way it's filmed, the characters, the tone, and so on. Doctor Who sometimes slips into goofiness which doesn't always appeal to this side of the pond and there's also a provinicial quality that might be offputting. I wouldn't be surprised to find Americans who think Torchwood surpasses Doctor Who.

 

[bigdaddy]

Well, I'm assuming this list is from an American perspective so a couple of things.

I don't think you can look at Doctor Who in its multi-decade entirety. For one thing, I think most in the US will know Who from it's most recent incarnation.

Honestly I don't think so, only very few nerds I know know of the show now and almost everyone else went "That old 70s show" because more people remember it from their childhood years ago than watch it today.

 

[The]

Honestly I don't think so, only very few nerds I know know of the show now and almost everyone else went "That old 70s show" because more people remember it from their childhood years ago than watch it today.

Completely agree. Doctor Who's modern era has made no real sweep across pop cultural boundaries in the US, unlike the UK. I'm sure it has attracted a new generation of audience. But, ask any average American "Ever heard of Doctor Who?" and their response is going to be limited to one of these :

• "...Doctor what?"

• "Oh yeah, the guy with the curly hair and long scarf? He had a robot dog, didn't he?"

• "Isn't it that show with the gay army guy, and they fight monsters on BBCAmerica?"

• "No, but I've heard of Doctor Spock..."

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I guess I was thinking someone who has managed to watch Torchwood would at least be aware of the new Doctor Who especially since it airs in the same time slots on the same station (thinking BBC Amercia though I heard some HD specialty channel show episodes as well).

Classic Doctor Who is going to be relegated only to the PBS stations that have carried it which I figured would be at least as nichey as Syfy and BBC America and also was in the past.

Either way, it sounds like we all agree that Doctor Who isn't exactly held in high regard by the majority in the US.

 

[Blamo]

Hahahahaha, Torchwood, better then Doctor Who? TW:COE was great yes, but there were two seasons of drivel. The second being passable drivel certainly, but the first season was perhaps the worst tv show I've ever seen.

Wait a sec, I might be overstating that without thinking. Smallville, Robin Hood, Voyager, Enterprise, Galactica 1980, seven days. Nope I was right, Torchwood series 1 is worst then all of those easily.

 

[Cutter John]

Either way, it sounds like we all agree that Doctor Who isn't exactly held in high regard by the majority in the US.

So basically nothings really changed since 1980 when I first discovered the show.
To be honest, don't care. Its like any other SF fandom theres something nioce about being part of a small, close knit fandom.
The US can go hang just as long as its stays popular in the UK.

 

[Starkers]

CoE was utterly brilliant, but to become better thah Who Torchwood would need to develop consistency. As others have said, one brilliant season, one good but flawed season and one terrible season against decades of Who?

It is difficult to compare them as well, RTD and co had potentially a lot more freedom storywise with CoE to push the envelope in a way Who can't. That said Who has infinitely more potential to tell stories than Torchwood does.

If S4 of TW is anywhere near as good as CoE then maybe I'll reconsider, but somehow I doubt it will be. That's not to be negative, it's just that CoE will be a hell of a hard act to follow!

 

[bigdaddy]

Classic Doctor Who is going to be relegated only to the PBS stations that have carried it which I figured would be at least as nichey as Syfy and BBC America and also was in the past.

I'm not sure when PBS started but ALL households got it, and SyFy only has like 100 million households or people who can view it.

PBS was also one of only a few stations when now we have a freaking Golf channel!!!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Classic Doctor Who is going to be relegated only to the PBS stations that have carried it which I figured would be at least as nichey as Syfy and BBC America and also was in the past.

I'm not sure when PBS started but ALL households got it, and SyFy only has like 100 million households or people who can view it.

PBS was also one of only a few stations when now we have a freaking Golf channel!!!

But I don't know that all PBS stations got Doctor Who, it certainly wasn't in my area for much of my life.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Doctor Who's modern era has made no real sweep across pop cultural boundaries in the US, unlike the UK.

Which is really weird because Americans are usually so fond of foreign TV shows.