Dramas - Performances - Situation Comedies - Japanese Drama

DRAMAS

On the top of the list is Babylon 5, one of the best Sci-Fi shows ever done. The original, and still the best site dedicated to Babylon 5 is "The Lurker Guide to Babylon 5". It looks at the show from the historical point of view, at its production, at the characters, it has a list of TV stations carrying the show and airing dates for all the episodes. It also has commentaries on past episodes.

I used to watch it on KBHK 44 (Bay area cable channel 12), part of the UPN network. It has now moved to href="tnt.turner.com">TNT with daily reruns of all five seasons.

I missed the 2 hour pilot, "The gathering", so we had to buy it in Great Britain.

I have the episodes from all five seasons on tape, sorted by airing date.

THE classic Sci-Fi show. 4 series, 8 movies and 30 years later, it has become part of american (and not only) culture. The original series proved that you could produce a serious Science Fiction show: created during the cold war, it portrayed a future were Earth was finally at peace, where science helped humanity to solve its problems, and that there could be friendly aliens.

I used to watch it on KBHK 44 (Bay area cable channel 12), part of the UPN network.

I have on tape all the episodes of "The original Series", and the first 5 movies.

The first of several shows produced by Steven Bochco. It's a real shame that it cannot be seen anymore. Please let me know if you know of a station that shows re-runs. Music score by Mike Post.

The second of the Steven Bochco trilogy. The 8th and final season ended in 1995. I believe I have all the episodes on tape. To this date, the show is in reruns on "Lifetime" television. Again the score is by Mike Post. It does not seem to have a Web site, but it has a newsgroup.

The third of the Steven Bochco trilogy (but supposedly he has a fourth show under production). The first few seasons were quite good, but the following seasons were not up to par.

It also has a newsgroup.

The TV series was only loosely based on the Ellery Queen mystery novels, and introduces some new characters as comic relief, but it was nicely done and well played by the actors.
And the fan-site above is very well done -- very stylish!

A short lived series (13 episodes). It had all the potential to become another LA Law, but did not exploit it.

It was cancelled in January 1996.

Performances

• Cirque du Soleil

• Riverdance  A step dancing performance on Irish music. Shown on PBS on Dec. 1, 1996

• San Jose Taiko (Traditional Japanese Drummers)

Situation Comedies

A cult series from Great Britain.

A favourite of a ... friend of mine.

Japanese Drama

Japanese drama deserves a place of its own.

Although I don't speak japanese (only a few words and expressions), I enjoy watching the weekend shows on Bay Area's KTSF. Reading the english subtitles is not too difficult, and also improves my english :-)

Since the KTSF web page has no information about what's being shown, I decided to maintain my own schedule of Japanese programming on KTSF, with several links to the shows synopsis.

What is so special about Japanese drama ? Well, it is a lot better than american TV dramas or soap operas. Shows usually last 3 months (10 to 13 episodes) 52 episodes (for the year-long historical drama -- of the Samurai type), or many more (for shows broadcast daily in Japan, like the "Futarikko" family drama); so one can chose to follow the show that best suits ones schedule.

Next, the characters have a depth that is missing from american shows, where the good guys are absolutely good, and the villain is absolutely evil. Not so in Japanese TV: the villains always have very good reasons to act as they do, they are seldom violent and can draw some sympathy from the unbiased viewer; and the good guys often have to decide whether to favor the company's future over a relative's happiness.
Then, they open a window on a culture that we in the west think very distant from ours; but I found that I can always identify myself with some of the characters portrayed in these shows.
Finally, the actresses are incredibly pretty :-)

It's been more than a year now since I discovered Japanese Drama, and I'm still not tired of it.

The best show so far has been "L'oiseau Blue". I liked it so much that I created a tribute page. It is Japanese drama at its best!.
Other shows I liked were : "Heaven's Coins 2", "Mori Motonari", "Futarikko", "Glass Slippers", "The Ideal Boss", "Last Love" and others.

Iron Chef

Iron Chef is one of the weirdest show on TV. Although it's a cooking show (and I don't like cooking, nor eating), it is fun to watch, and the confrontation gives the viewer a chance to judge the contestants. Obviously I am biased toward Chef Kobe (italian style cooking), and I would hardly eat some of the dishes prepared with "unusual" ingredients, yet, the show is the perfect companion to my lonely saturday dinners :-)

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