Things That Go Bump on TV
I’m on a major TV fantasy kick right now. Fantasy in books goes back a long way for me, starting with Andre Norton’s Witch World books and the early McCaffrey Dragon books and Marion Zimmer Bradley . . . I’m big on butt-kicking fantasy heroines. But there wasn’t that much on TV until Buffy came along (no, I am not counting Bewitched) except for that one glorious season of Charmed when Phoebe was Queen of the Damned. Buffy, of course, is the Greatest TV Show Ever, Fantasy Division, although Dr. Who runs a very close second (I consider Angel part of the Buffy-verse). Grimm has huge potential which I wish it would get off its ass and fulfill (if Juliette wakes up from that coma with black eyes and a thirst for vengeance on that witch of a blonde that her boyfriend bit on the tongue and made powerless, I will be MUCH happier). I had a great time with the single season of Dresden Files, too. But now I’m working my way through the ninth, tenth, and eleventh Dr. Whos for the fourth time (I told Krissie who my favorite Doctor was and she said, “You’ll have to fight me for him,” so I think that tells you we’re sisters, right there), which means it’s time for new Things That Go Bump on the Screen. Come through for me, Argh People. I need fantasy TV (or movies, but I’m liking episodic series at the moment) that’s smartly written with strong women characters and a sense of humor (although not necessarily a comedy, just story that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and no I don’t mean Eureka, thanks anyway). What do you recommend?
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If you are willing to include Dr. Who under the fantasy umbrella, then I would highly recommend The Middleman.
Try "Lost Girl" on SyFy. It's in the middle of the second season and can be viewed 'on demand' I think. The first season is available on dvd from Amazon Canada. Great fantasy show!
I highly recommend two of my all-time favorites, Farscape and Firefly! Farscape in particular if you're interested in strong female characters, Aeryn Sun is fierce!
Maybe "The Tenth Kingdom"? It's old, but it's fairytale-ish, and pretty funny. Dunno about strong women, but I think so, been a while since I watched the whole thing.
The 1st season of "Lost girl" was good, but later it goes down the hill.. "Dark Angel" wasn't bad - it's a bit old though. "Sanctuary" is interesting. "Haven" - that's a good one, very mysterious and all! :D To be frank - there aren't to many fantasy dramas with a female lead. This genre is mostly populated by men >_> ..go figure..
If you like "Doctor Who" then I am sure you've seen "Torchwood" and if you like "Torchwood" then you would like Warehouse 13- awsome female characters Myka and Claudia and the mysterious Mrs. Fredrick who is kinda freaky (there are a couple other great female characters but mentioning them will give too much away). I am also a huge fan of the new "Battlestar Galatica". Starbuck and Athena, and even Six are great characters.
Finally Scify did a reimagining of the Wizard of Oz called "Tin Man" Which is just amazing. DG is whimsical, very much a little girl lost but has a lot of inner strength and gumption.
The best part is all the titles I meantioned stream play instantly on Netflix.
Game of Thrones, baby... It's Lord of the Rings with added blood, sweat, tears and nekkid male backsides (there were a few tits in there too but I didn't notice those as much!).. Lots of ancient folklore, woolly medieval posturing, confusing names, men being brave, women being braver, and Sean Bean in leather trousers.
Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, Once Upon A Time, My Babysitter's A Vampire, are all good. Also there are some cancelled series that were good: No Ordinary Family and The Nine Lives of Chloe King are just 2 of these.
Spaceyplum wrote: "I highly recommend two of my all-time favorites, Farscape and Firefly! Farscape in particular if you're interested in strong female characters, Aeryn Sun is fierce!"Couldn't agree more about Farscape. But it isn't just Aeryn who kicked butt, Chiana was clearly a force to be reckoned with as well.
Also had a soft spot for the badass Commander Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5 although she was secondary to male leads Sheridan and Garibaldi.
