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Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

quartertothree.com

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Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#11

Post by timthorn »

shirro wrote: post #8
flukus wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the link, I've tried searching for torrents of the show before but only ever found those other avengers.

I love older uk shows and finding legitimate streaming content is endlessly frustrating. It might be a niche market but the promise of the Internet was it was supposed to address the long tail. So much is sitting on the shelves due to lazy rights holders or only has limited geographical distribution.

That presupposes the originals still exist, which in too many cases isn't true - the BBC erased many tapes to reuse, not expecting ever to retransmit.

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#12

Post by keithpeter »

Taniwha wrote: post #7
Jun8 wrote: post #3

I had never heard of this show, but speaking about wacky British 70s series that still hold up, I think The Avengers should be up there, for similar reasons: great acting, out of this world plots, mixed with a quaint British attitude. The Emma Peel era was the best, you can check out all the episodes here: http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel.htm . Almost all episodes are gold, but my favorites are The Cybernauts and H…

Sandbaggers is not wacky in the Avengers sense, deadly serious, when you're done watching sandbaggers check out Callan

Callan was darkly cynical. I remember when the various series were screened on actual telly we used it as a vehicle for discussing the morality of spy stuff. Probably safer than discussing the 'emergency' we then had (Northern Ireland).

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#13

Post by falsedan »

jimjimjim wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just that people only remember the good tv shows/films/music/things from those years and ignore the boring chaff. Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. but in my opinion the vast majority of current tv shows/films/music/webcontent is utter undiluted mind numbing banal drivel and there isn't a circle of hell worthy enough to hold those responsible.

> Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days.

Check out Top of the Lake, it's well-written, well-acted, & doesn't overstay its welcome. Season two just came out!

I think modern shows are dominated by 'must-see' spectacles or sensationalist attention-grabbers, because people watch them in droves and advertises will pay for slots. Weirdly, the modern BBC only makes shows like this, even though they don't rely on advertising.

Part of the charm of The Sandbaggers is that they clearly made it for pennies, so they had to make the characters and dialogue interesting to fill in for car chases + stunts + exotic locations + top-shelf actors (i.e. the complement of Bond films).

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#14

Post by falsedan »

Jun8 wrote: post #3

I had never heard of this show, but speaking about wacky British 70s series that still hold up, I think The Avengers should be up there, for similar reasons: great acting, out of this world plots, mixed with a quaint British attitude. The Emma Peel era was the best, you can check out all the episodes here: http://theavengers.tv/forever/peel.htm . Almost all episodes are gold, but my favorites are The Cybernauts and H…

I have heard of this show, and speaking of gritty late-Cold-War-era series that still hold up, I think Edge of Darkness should be up there. It was remade into a terrible action film in 2010, but the original TV series from 1985 is a masterpiece of plotting and pacing, and non-verbal storytelling.

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#15

Post by jimjimjim »

falsedan wrote: post #13
jimjimjim wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just that people only remember the good tv shows/films/music/things from those years and ignore the boring chaff. Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. but in my opinion the vast majority of current tv shows/films/music/webcontent is utter undiluted mind numbing banal drivel and there isn't a circle of hell worthy enough to hold those responsible.

> Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. Check out Top of the Lake , it's well-written, well-acted, & doesn't overstay its welcome. Season two just came out! I think modern shows are dominated by 'must-see' spectacles or sensationalist attention-grabbers, because people watch them in droves and advertises will pay for slots. Weirdly, the modern BBC only makes shows like this, even though they don't re…

yep top of the lake is good, thanks.

i suspect my comments were a wee bit too strong but it was after cycling through every channel twice and finding nothing.

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#16

Post by cerealbad »

The Prisoner (1967-1968) is mesmerising.

Le Voyage dans la lune - Georges Méliès 1902 (link provided) holds up after 115 years. Don't be so surprised! Timeless storytelling and design transcends it's delivery medium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FrdVdKlxUk

To the people questioning whether good television is still being made, yes of course it is, it might just take you a few years to find it. True Detective, Fargo, Utopia are all great. A la carte streaming (eg select any 10 shows, 10 movies, $10/month) is the future for media consumption. Which platform will deliver this first only time will tell. At the moment original content is the model and there are some evident growth pains.

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#17

Post by tchalla »

jimjimjim wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just that people only remember the good tv shows/films/music/things from those years and ignore the boring chaff. Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. but in my opinion the vast majority of current tv shows/films/music/webcontent is utter undiluted mind numbing banal drivel and there isn't a circle of hell worthy enough to hold those responsible.

Survivorship Bias

https://xkcd.com/1827/

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#18

Post by thenomad »

jimjimjim wrote: post #15
falsedan wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. Check out Top of the Lake , it's well-written, well-acted, & doesn't overstay its welcome. Season two just came out! I think modern shows are dominated by 'must-see' spectacles or sensationalist attention-grabbers, because people watch them in droves and advertises will pay for slots. Weirdly, the modern BBC only makes shows like this, even though they don't re…

yep top of the lake is good, thanks. i suspect my comments were a wee bit too strong but it was after cycling through every channel twice and finding nothing.

Honestly, it does feel like the current crop of TV is somewhat weaker than it has been for a while. (I'd argue that Top Of The Lake, which is 4 years old now, doesn't fit in "current crop".)

That might just be a taste thing on my part, or it might be a response to the tremendous commercial pressures that were forcing execs to look anywhere, everywhere for a story a couple of years ago.

Re: Tinker, tailor, soldier, sandbagger: sometimes TV from the 70s holds up

#19

Post by Retric »

jimjimjim wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just that people only remember the good tv shows/films/music/things from those years and ignore the boring chaff. Maybe there are just as many good tv shows these days. but in my opinion the vast majority of current tv shows/films/music/webcontent is utter undiluted mind numbing banal drivel and there isn't a circle of hell worthy enough to hold those responsible.

The changes to the media landscape make great shows less likely. Companies simply stopped aiming for mass appeal in the same way.

If you're really into say magic, then you will forgive more about a show with wizards etc. So, with smaller overall audiences shows simply don't need to be as good.

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