When I think about the amount of time I poured over the "Favorite Episode" category of this challenge, the time spent on my Least Favorite episode is kind of laughable. I read the prompt, thought for approximately 2 seconds, and said "Runaway Bride."
Ah, the dreaded* Christmas Special.
And what did the Creepy Robot Santa-Mask people bring us this year?
I will just say it. I've been gone for a long time just because I'm lazy. Now I'm back in business and ready to make some progress on these days of TV.
When I first saw this Challenge, I immediately said Vincent & The Doctor from Series 5 of Dr. Who. I was completely prepared to write about this scary, sweet and sad episode about the Doctor and Amy traveling back to meet Vincent Van Goth (they pronounce it goth like the people who wear black clothes all the time. Heehee). It had one of my favorite lines "Bowties are cool," my favorite Doctor (Matt Smith, I admit it), a cameo by Bill Nighy, and just a really beautiful story.
But then Daniel and I watched David Tennant's last episode and in traditional "goodbye style" he revisited some characters from previous storylines. When he visited one character, I started crying and couldn't stop, and although it seems like a lot of my reactions to Dr. Who involve me weeping uncontrollably, I did realize that my favorite episode seems to actually be a two parter called Human Nature and Family of Blood.
Welcome to the World Adaline Mae Anderson. Born on her great grandmother Mae's birthday January 13, 2011 at 11:33 a.m. Can't wait to watch you grow up (and spoil you rotten). :-)
This is the hardest challenge yet. I cannot think of a show I do not like right now.
I can think of some shows that are not very good, and some shows that I have chosen not to watch, but is there a show that really provokes my complete and utter distaste? There are certainly some shows that make me cringe at the very thought of them (Outsourced, Wife-Swap, Undercover Boss), but since I don't watch them, I feel it would be wrong for me to judge.
Grah! What should I choose???
Okay.
I'm closing my eyes. I'm thinking back, back into my past. Back into my repressed television horror story memories....
Ah. There it is.
Oh my.
I had forgotten...
Walker, Texas Ranger.
(I like my heroes tougher than this, but it looks like I'm out of luck.)
For a good portion of my life, Walker Texas Ranger was just one of those shows that I knew was on, but had blissfully never watched. Never watched, that is, until my cousin landed a role as an extra for one of the episodes. The night it aired, the family gathered around the television and I have to confess I was not prepared for the immediate cheese that started spewing everywhere. Not only was the story not very good, but its prim "moralyness" made me feel like I was watching some sort of Focus on the Family educational video. Finally at the very end of the episode, my cousin's scene was on. He was on for aproximately 5 seconds. WTF?! I had just sat through an HOUR of hell for 5 seconds of my cousin's face? Seriously?
One year ago, my favorite show of all time was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'd watched every season multiple times, owned action figures, had autographed pictures on my walls. If someone had asked me what was the best show ever, the first season of Buffy would already have been in my hands to let them borrow.
In April though, I noticed Neil Gaiman twittering a lot about a certain program and how excited he was for it. So I asked Daniel if he might be interested in watching the new season of Doctor Who. Daniel was game, and we set our DVR to record. I didn't know it then, but I had just taken my first step in becoming a traitor.
We really knew nothing at all about the show other than the basic premise. The Doctor travels through time with his "companion," a human girl who goes on adventures with him. We had heard that this season would be a good one to start on because it was also the start of a start of a new Doctor. A new Doctor? It didn't make a ton of sense to me, but Wikipedia told us that Doctor Who had been played by eleven different actors, and that each time they were ready for a new guy to take over, the Doctor would just "regenerate into the next one." Maybe soap operas should take notice??
We watched the first episode of the new season and loved it. The new Doctor was adorable and I was totally loving his "companion" Amy. She was hilarious and really pretty too. :-) The writing and directing were great and the special effects were actually done well. I ended up watching that first episode twice because I couldn't wait for Saturday to watch the next episode. After that Saturday, waiting became almost unbearable.
That was when we discovered Netflix had instant streaming of the first 4 seasons/series.* We started watching Series 1 and met a different Doctor with a different companion, and we were just as enchanted. By the time Series 2 had ended I had laughed, screamed, and cried so much that Daniel was convinced I would run out of tears.
We started on Series 3 just about the time that Series 5 ended in real-time. Again, more tears came (more than ever, Daniel had been wrong), but more smiles too. We were both just glad to have two more series left before we were caught up. We'd have more Doctor to keep us company til December, when the "Christmas Special" would air.
Christmas Eve came, and we were more than ready for some Doctor Who. We had finished Series 4 at the end of November and it had been a long month without the Doctor. My mom totally delivered on the "Always Gets Me Exactly the Right Christmas Present," too. I happily unwrapped the 5th Season of Doctor Who; I couldn't wait till I got time to re-watch. On Christmas Day, though, we were ready for some new Who. Late that night, Daniel, his family and I watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special "A Christmas Carol." My face was a one giant smile. Watching Matt Smith bumble around everywhere, popping up in the past to convince the space-age Scrooge to save a spaceship full of people (including Amy), I suddenly thought, "This is my favorite show."
I knew it was true.
This brilliant, sweet, funny, frightening, gloriously wacky show is everything I love about television, about telling stories, about being human, and about finding the people you love and holding them close. My favorite. My show. My Doctor.
So now you know why I feel guilty. Why I've branded myself a traitor. In less than a year's time, I've fallen for someone else. I've cheated. Me! Ms. No-Sympathy-for-Cheaters Beth. But although I feel guilty, I can't go back; I don't want to. So I'd like to apologize, Buffy. I still love you and always will, I'm just not the same person I was. Now I'm someone who's met the Doctor.
-Beth.
P.S. If it's any consolation, I like this opening sequence a lot more than the actual one. ;-)
*Doctor Who has actually been around since the 60's, but after a hiatus in the 80s and 90s, they brought back the show in 2005. That was called Series 1 and moved on from there.
In April though, I noticed Neil Gaiman twittering a lot about a certain program and how excited he was for it. So I asked Daniel if he might be interested in watching the new season of Doctor Who. Daniel was game, and we set our DVR to record. I didn't know it then, but I had just taken my first step in becoming a traitor.
We watched the first episode of the new season and loved it. The new Doctor was adorable and I was totally loving his "companion" Amy. She was hilarious and really pretty too. :-) The writing and directing were great and the special effects were actually done well. I ended up watching
We started on Series 3 just about the time that Series 5 ended in real-time. Again, more tears came (more than ever, Daniel had been wrong), but more smiles too. We were both just glad to have two more series left before we were caught up. We'd have more Doctor to keep us company til December, when the "Christmas Special" would air.
