daves@ios.UUCP (David B. Schnepper) (05/04/84)
There's been no "net.tv.drwho" traffic for close to a week now, so
here's a topic to discuss:
Why is Dr. Who popular?
Subtopics:
- Why popular in the States?
- Why popular in Britain?
- etc, etc, etc
My own theory:
Dr Who is entertaining! In my opinion, the vast majority of CBS/NBC/ABC
television is garbage. My mental image of network TV is a sitcom where
the star makes a prat-fall with the studio audience howling with laughter.
This is entertainment? I don't recall ever hearing a laugh track or
canned applause on Dr. Who. But there are numerous times when I myself
have just howled. (Remember the Dr being caught in a time loop, doomed
to "forever" say three lines and trip over his scarf?)
Other ideas:
- it is a well-made show, technically as well as "plot-wise".
- it links itself together, it's not a series of 1 week shows
where it doesn't matter what order the shows are aired.
- it takes itself seriously,
- it never gets stale, fresh people, ideas, are always entering
the cast. How many other shows could survive the lead actor
changing 5 times?
- It doesn't always try to be "happy". The death of Adric for
instance was (for me) a sad part of the show. I know many
net readers didn't like Adric, but I thought he was OK. Just
two nights ago Sara Jane left (on the local PBS station). I found
myself mentally saying "goodbye" and missing her already.
Enough for now, why do YOU like Dr Who?
Dave Schnepper
ios!davesbarry@ames-lm.UUCP (05/07/84)
[]
Let me suggest three possible reasons for the quality and popularity
of the "Dr. Who" series.
1) It has a great premise. Giving the Doctor total freedom of
movement in time and space allows an immense variety of plot, background,
character, etc. Too many TV shows are based on ideas that are mined out
after a season or two (hell, some are used up before the first episode).
Similarly, the Time Lord's power to regenerate allows replacement of the
actors without loss of continuity. It is instructive to note that
another SF series that refuses to die, "Star Trek", has a similarly loose
premise ("Its 5 year mission..."), allowing great variety in the episodes.
2) It's British, and British TV has different rules than American
TV. Most American TV ends up being written by committee; the original
script gets reworked by the Programming Practices people (censors) who
remove anything that could conceivably offend anyone; the producers get
rid of anything they don't like or don't understand, on the shaky
assumption that the taste and intelligence of TV producers is similar to
that of the average viewer (it isn't, usually; most TV producers, like
Glenn Larson, are artistic cretins). By contrast, the British will
normally use the writer's script pretty much as written. This results in
a greater range of quality (horrible to excellent), and more of a unified
vision in the final product.
3) American TV is a sudden-death operation. If a show doesn't look
good in the ratings after a couple of episodes, it's gone; The Doctor would
probably never have made it past the first season had it been an American
production. The Brits are more patient.
By the way, I used to work at Universal Studios, and I must admit
that, even there, there were some producers with taste and talent. But The
System makes it hard even for them to accomplish anything worthwhile.
Kenn Barry
NASA-Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA
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Electric Avenue: {dual,hao,menlo70,hplabs}!ames-lm!barryfish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/07/84)
One of the reasons I like the sow is that, in my opinion, it does
*not* take itself too seriously. The "Leela" series of episodes
has much tongue-in-cheek dialogue, for example. However, the show
does try to keep to intelligent plot lines, even when it blatantly
steals plots from other sources (e.g., a Romana # 2 episode adapted
from "The Prisoner of Zenda").
If you contrast this with almost all other "science fiction" series
that have been on American TV, there are obvious differences. While
many "Star Treks" were well written, every other series of that
genre has relied on gee-whiz technology, special effects, and action
for their appeal, which is decidedly juvenile. Bear in mind that
I consider TV shows to be in the "science fiction" (quotes deliberate)
genre if their premise is based on some implausible or nonexistent
technological achievement. This includes shows like "The $6,000,000
Man," and the show that gets my vote for one of 1984's top ten stinkers,
"Knight Rider." True science fiction, even when it's been handled
badly, has rarely made it to American TV. The best attempt of the
last decade or so might have been "Battlestar Galactica," which ran
out of premise and gave in to the kiddie market.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fishbstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (05/09/84)
Doctor Who takes itself seriously?????
My god, when the show starts doing that, I'll stop watching it.
Doctor Who is great for exactly the opposite. They take it lightly. They
know they effects and plots are hokey, but they have a good time with them.
They love to have people play the dead serious SF character and have the
Doctor make fun of them. That's what the show is all about.
Nobody can claim the show is good SF on a regular basis. While some shows,
such as "The Invasion of Time" may qualify, in general the show has silly
plots and absolutely no consistency. That's because they change script
editors so often.
But all that's GOOD. Because you can forget about it. The show makes
no pretenses about it, except when a stupid director takes over. They
soon learn.
Anybody can make a good light show, though, so the staying power of
Doctor Who can only be attributed to it's truly astoundingly good premise.
1) A show dominated by a single, powerful actor. The actor can
compensate for all that is bad in other parts of the show.
2) The ability to add and delete a small cadre of regular characters
to counterpoint the Doctor. But nobody else is regular.
3) Serials instead of short episodes. This allows the introduction of
short lived characters that can be developed properly and given to
good character actors. On top of that, you get suspense, and a
chance to deal with far more interesting plots.
4) Time/Space/Reality travel. Almost no restrictions on writers and
sets, except budget.
5) Humour. Who else travels the universe in a craft shaped like an
antique English police telephone box?
6) The central character is alien, but loveable.
Sometimes I think I would like to see Doctor Who made as real light SF
with a big budget. But I fear it might end up taking itself too seriously
unless you took great care.jmike@uokvax.UUCP (05/11/84)
#R:ios:-12200:uokvax:18800005:000:147 uokvax!jmike May 11 08:25:00 1984 . well i liked Adrick but i wouldn't mind seeing them get rid of Teegan. I have no patience for her sort. jmike ..ctvax!uokvax!jmike
5863mp11@sjuvax.UUCP (mccann) (07/02/84)
I dont agree with the assumption that many people enjoy Dr. Who becaouse it gives them a senses of belonging to some secret society, but rather because they watched one or two episodes, liked what they saw, and continued to watch. When I began to watch Dr. Who about 4 years ago, I had no idea that there were Dr. Who fan clubs and the like, and I don't think most people find out that there are until they are already a fan. The reason I have continued to watch, after all this time, is that the show is well written, the actors are usually very good, and they don't try to bowl you over with special effects.
cbspt002@abnjh.UUCP (Marc E. Kenig ) (07/02/84)
<exterminate! extermina******* Not to get to socio-psychological or anything, but I think another less obvious reason for Dr. Who's popularity might be it's totally optimistic uplifiting view of the world. Even alien worlds. In a country with a depressed economy, not to mention incredible unemployment (England, I mean), an outlook that is as bright as is portrayed by the series (good guys *British*, always win,etc.) may be a good reason for people to watch. Other kiddie British sci-fi is indicative of this as well. Take 'The Tomorrow People', shown on the 'Nickelodeon' network, as an extreme example. It provides a view of the future and of science which is particularly healthy, while teaching young kids to use their heads and be clever, to work out problems. Sure beats the view of the world as protrayed in 'Rubik the Magic Cube' or most other Saturday morning trash. But then I like it because of it's high camp and dry humor. M. Kenig ..abnjh!cbspt002
features@ihuxf.UUCP (M.A. Zeszutko) (07/04/84)
In discussing the subject of Dr. Who popularity among the friends who *made* me watch it, we came to the conclusion that we like it because it is so obviously not written with an eye to the ratings. By that I mean that the Who writers aren't inundated by network market studies which they have to follow to get the right formula to get the audience. We respond to the great good time the Doctor and his companions have, and wish we could be among them. Mary Ann Zeszutko AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxf!features