dramatic thoughts

[swan_tower]

Re-watching some season two Sandbaggers tonight, I figured out Yet Another Reason why drama more often floats my boat than comedy does.

(The first set of reasons, btw, involved me figuring out which kinds of humour I do and do not find funny -- the latter category mapping with unfortunate closeness to the kinds of humour generally seen in modern American comedies.)

I really like watching characters do the thing they do well. I like competence. Whether it's Burnside planning a mission or House diagnosing an illness or whatever, I can be happy just watching the clockwork go. Some of my favorite X-Files episodes were the ones where Mulder -- who, after all, came out of the Behavioral Science Unit -- dusted off his profiling skills to figure out what the bad guy was doing. Massive character drama is good, too, of course, but competence can be fun to watch.

And TV is a particularly good venue for it, since the episodic structure allows for repeated demonstrations of competence, instead of just the one big sequence a movie might have. But this, as I said, gives me another reason I don't like sitcoms: they're more likely to focus on the characters' incompetence. I can find that fun, too, but only as a flavoring, not a main dish.

Should read about Mesoamerica tonight. Wanna watch more Sandbaggers. Whine whine whine.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I really like watching characters do the thing they do well. I like competence. Whether it's Burnside planning a mission or House diagnosing an illness or whatever, I can be happy just watching the clockwork go.

Yes. Exactly that. It's why House works, when it really shouldn't.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

What is Sandbaggers about?

[greybar.livejournal.com]

Sandbaggers is an amazing BBC cold-war drama set in a special operations group. The chief (Burnside) is a complete bastard, and you learn to love and hate him at the same time. Oh, the cold cold things he does for his work...

And this is special ops not in the James Bond sense, but more like "if you think you'll need a gun you're already screwed and should start the planning over again."

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ooooh.

[carbonel]

I have Sandbaggers DVDs if you wish to know more.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

If I seem likely to see you before I get them some other way, I will keep this in mind. Thanks.

[carbonel]

I see they're now available on Netflix as well. Which is gratifying but interesting, since when I bought my copies (admittedly, several years ago), the only place I could find Region 1 copies was an obscure Canadian distributor.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

You would probably adore the show. The production values are, well, BBC circa 1978-1980, but the scripts are chock-full of awesome and the acting is fantastic. And, as greybar said, it isn't James-Bond style spying; it's much more about the planning and the politicking necessary to make the plans happen.

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

OMG! You've heard of Sandbaggers? That makes, like, you and altariel and mraltariel on my flist!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Heard of? Love madly.

[danielmc.livejournal.com]

yes. and i blame you and gollumgollum for my love of Sandbaggers as well.

well...not blame i guess.

[carbonel]

I started watching Sandbaggers because it dovetailed so well with The Professionals. (Can you imagine Cowley as a colleague of Burnside?) But in a way it's the TV equivalent of Leonard Cohen -- TV to slit your wrists by.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I actually don't know The Professionals.

[carbonel]

The Professionals was a British TV show from 1977 to 1983. It was about a fictional department called CI5 that handled internal threats to national security.

It wasn't as edgy as Sandbaggers, but there were a couple of episodes that made it clear that agents were expendable.

It also had a great slash pairing, which is why (along with interesting plotting and good characterization) I've devoted way too much of my life to it.

[latvianchick.livejournal.com]

I completely agree. I also love watching competent people do their thing; it makes me think of a world as a better place.

[danielmc.livejournal.com]

"I really like watching characters do the thing they do well. I like competence."

this sums up why i like the shows i do so much.
speaking of which, i never have asked you if you have watched the West Wing?

if you have not, I find it to be much as you say. i love characters doing what they do well.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I've seen scattered episodes, but politics as a premise does not float my boat enough to put it ahead of all the other shows I want to watch.

[danielmc.livejournal.com]

not much for politics either. the writing and characters MADE me interested.

i put the character journey of CJ Cregg up there with Londo and G'Kar. but then, i also love Allison Janney.

and John Rees as Lord John Marbury. wow. fun stuff.

good thing there is enough good stories to watch out there.