Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

quartertothree.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 86 posts

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

#71

Post by krylon »

wingerlang wrote: post #34
krylon wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, there is a third season of Twin Peaks currently running (well, it's almost over... the finale will air on Sunday). I think it appeals to David Lynch fans more than Twin Peaks fans, but so far I loved every single episode.

I was pretty glad when I heard they made a third season, but I remember not even finishing S2 due to the mystery of S1 being sold. Do I need to watch S2 to enjoy S3? Or maybe I should even give S2 another chance now that it's been a few years.

The second half of season 2 was kind of a letdown. The finale, however, was spectacular, and without knowing how season 2 ended, season 3 won't make much sense.

If you don't feel like watching it, you can read the summary on Wikipedia, though, that should give enough information to make sense of season 3 - to the degree that's possible, at least, we are talking about David Lynch here, after all. ;-)

Just be aware that the third season has a much stronger Lynch-ean flavor to it. Which is great if you're fan of his work (I know I am), but it might not be for everyone.

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

#72

Post by TravelTechGuy »

I watched The Sandbaggers twice now. While the sets, props and circumstances are dated, the main ideas and principles still hold, imho.

For a more up-to-date take, read Greg Rucka's excellent Queen and Country comics (the main, and mini series). Not only is it "inspired" by Sandbaggers, but it sometimes borrows actual plots and plays them out. I had fun time at a comics convention talking to Rucka about it, and he is a Sandbaggers fan :).

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

#74

Post by graphitezepp »

open-source-ux wrote: post #58
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Complex series with ongoing storylines can be great but they also get a bit exhausting after a while. There is a definite limit to how many Game of Thrones or Lost plotlines and character backstories one can keep in one's head when you just want to sit down and watch some TV. It's fine that there are TV shows that are basically crafted for uber-fans who want to carefully watch every episode multiple times but these s…

I disliked Lost and always felt it had a fake (and dishonest) complexity. So many details were introduced, but later forgotten and never resolved. From the very first episodes, the way they started slowly cycling through each character's backstory, I realised this was going to be a really long drawn-out series that was clearly going to be stretched (and milked) to maximum running length. I'll credit it for it's gloss…

I loved lost and hate it in hindsight. Fake/dishonest complexity is a great description of what was wrong with it, I just didn't realize that was the case until halfway through the final season.

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

#75

Post by stevekemp »

triplesec wrote: post #43
cerealbad wrote: post #16

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, Farg…

Is there a place here for Blake's Seven, (esp the early episodes) and of course Tom Baker's Dr Who incarnation? Incidentally, for those who didn't know, Douglas Adams wrote some classic episodes and was script editor (head writer) on Dr Who for at least a season or so. And I think Dad's Army remains a classic, about the Home Guard in WWII, with some of the finest comic actors. There's even a case to be made for The S…

I feel compelled to add "Yes Minister" to your list, if only because of the excellent writing and characterisation of Sir Humphrey & Jim Hacker.

(There was a recent remake; it is not worth watching.)

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

#76

Post by mst »

triplesec wrote: post #43
cerealbad wrote: post #16

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, Farg…

Is there a place here for Blake's Seven, (esp the early episodes) and of course Tom Baker's Dr Who incarnation? Incidentally, for those who didn't know, Douglas Adams wrote some classic episodes and was script editor (head writer) on Dr Who for at least a season or so. And I think Dad's Army remains a classic, about the Home Guard in WWII, with some of the finest comic actors. There's even a case to be made for The S…

And I'd make a case for The Saint though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_(TV_series) informs me that it was actually shot during the 60s.

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

#77

Post by random_comment »

triplesec wrote: post #43
cerealbad wrote: post #16

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, Farg…

Is there a place here for Blake's Seven, (esp the early episodes) and of course Tom Baker's Dr Who incarnation? Incidentally, for those who didn't know, Douglas Adams wrote some classic episodes and was script editor (head writer) on Dr Who for at least a season or so. And I think Dad's Army remains a classic, about the Home Guard in WWII, with some of the finest comic actors. There's even a case to be made for The S…

To anyone who loves Star Trek, Firefly, BSG etc: I want to highlight Blake's Seven for you as a really great series that's well worth a watch:

Imagine a gritty British version of the original Star Trek.

In this story, the federation are evil, and the crew aren't all that nice either, and basically just want to survive having lucked out on finding a ship at the right moment. They're forced into cooperation by necessity.

It's not about exploration or Tribbles, it's about a bunch of people just trying to stay alive and eventually organise a rebellion.

The primary antagonist (Servalan) is a) female b) fairly competent at her job

Two of the characters in the series are artificial intelligences.

The ending of the show is excellent.

There are audiobooks that tell further stories in the Blake-i-verse. Amazon has most/all of them. There seem to be quite a few episodes on Youtube (Blakes7Movies) if you're curious to watch.

If you like the genre of 'space warship crew on the run', you may also enjoy LEXX and The Expanse.

It's hard to believe that B7 hasn't been rebooted.

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

#78

Post by soundwave106 »

Retric wrote: post #36
coldtea wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The changes to the media landscape make great shows less likely. Companies simply stopped aiming for mass appeal in the same way. Hmmm? The mass appeal shows were not great by any stretch of the imagination precisely because of aiming for "lowest denominator" mass appeal. At best they could be good despite going for mass appeal, but aiming for the more tame and universal themes. By going for smaller audiences the c…

Game of Thrones for example is somewhat popular, but IMO that's mostly because of how bad the average TV show is not how great it is. It's closest 70's show would probably be Dallas which had 350 million people worldwide watch an episode. That's a well done hook even if they could not show nudes etc. As to offending people, M A S*H had men in drag show up regularly which really would offend people. Yet, apparently 60…

Hmmm...

When I pull up a random television network schedule from the 1970s -- let's pull up 1976-1977. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_United_States_...) I see some shows generally recognized as quality television.

And, er, some television that isn't. No surprise.

At least, I certainly don't think the variety shows count as "great" by most people's scope, of which 1970s television had a lot of. At least, I'm not aware of modern demand for the Tony and Dawn Rainbow Hour, Donny & Marie, the Shields and Yarnell show, or the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Maybe I'm wrong.

In the scripted department, there's several single-season or less programs. I presume weren't that great. Shows like Holmes and Yo-Yo, Nashville 99, Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected, and Gemini Man, were they that great? (A "TV movie" -- Riding With Death -- from the last one was used as fodder for MST3K. So, probably not.)

The one thing I think is notable in older TV listings is just how strongly several formats dominate. Namely, in addition to the variety shows, sitcoms and crime / medical dramas seem to dominate. (If you are looking for fantasy / horror / sci-fi, to give a few other genre examples, your pickings are slim.)

"Good" is by nature subjective. But one thing I can say is that none of these genres are typically noted for multilayered messaging. To give two examples from the sitcom side, here are two 1976 shows that are generally reviewed as "good": "Three's Company" and "Good Times". One is basically a farce often criticized as "jiggle television". One basically became a platform for the wacky antics of JJ. Not sure I'd describe either of these shows as very "deep". :)

Today, in the era of DVRs and on-demand streaming, I do think it's easier for writers to "risk" multi-episode plotlines.

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

#80

Post by CM30 »

A lot of classic British TV shows from the 70s and 80s hold up really well today. After all, Fawlty Towers was a 1975 and 1979 series, with other greats from the era including Dad's Army (1968-1977) and Steptoe and Son (1968-1972). Blackadder and Only Fools and Horses were good in the next decade as well, and that's only counting some of the comedy ones.

As for whether TV now is better or worse... well, probably the same to be honest. Sturgeon's Law reigns supreme where any fiction is concerned, so every generation will have about 90% utterly forgettable crap and 10% amazing classics. The crap just gets filtered out over time as people choose to preserve the stuff that truly matters.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NostalgiaFilter

Either way, there's really not any one era where 'no TV shows' or 'all TV shows' hold up well.

Post reply on HN