Other TV: Can it Compare to Supernatural?
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I love Supernatural more than any other show, but it's not the only show I love. My favorites tend to have humor, adventure, mind-bendingly serialized plots, and characters I fall for on day 1.
None of them measure up completely. SPN is the only show that's appointment TV for me. But if you take all the good stuff from each of my other current favorites, it might come closer:
1. Rick Castle's wisecracking (Castle)
2. Reaper's bad guys from hell
3. Prison Break's brothers who would do anything for each other--except right now.
4. The "where the hell are we going?" factor from Lost
5. The fake ID element in Dollhouse
6. The young buck asserting his power and a beguiling young woman who's probably untrustworthy (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
7. Intense co-star chemistry (Bones and, in a totally different way, Big Bang Theory)
All of those shows are ones I'd miss, but somehow, the synergy that is Supernatural is the only one I'd cry over. In my bed. With the covers over my head. For a week.
There's only been one other show my entire life that I've watched over and over and over, and carry on my iPod. Firefly had humor ("I'll be in my bunk") and depth (brother who would do anything to save his sister, captain who would do anything for his crew) and complex interpersonal relationships. If it had been allowed to continue for five seasons, I'm guessing it would trump SPN on my all-time list. As it happens, it wasn't. So I'm going to have to put them neck and neck with humor, adventure, drama, and characterization.
But there's only one show that has ripped my heart out, asked me to stuff it back in, and ripped it out again. Then stomped on it. And had me beg for more.
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Since this week is sure to do that again, let me end on a lighter note. Thanks to AuthorM for the vid!
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What elements do your other favorite shows share with Supernatural? Which show does it better? Weigh in with a comment, and remember that commenting enters you in the contest for a bag stuffed with goodies!
20 comments:
I was just about to ask you what your other favorite show was that you described above...then it hit me, Firefly! I am now smacking my forehead in embarrassment and shame. It's one of my all time favorite shows that I still miss. (Dark Angel is another.) I do enjoy watching Nathan Fillion in Castle, though. :0)
Loved the YouTube video! LOL!
I still haven't seen Firefly. *hangs head in shame*
Supernatural is my all time favorite show. Nothing comes close for me, except Dark Angel, and I didn't get hooked on that until not too long ago.
Love the video. I could watch it all day long.
V.
Oh gosh! I'm not sure. I really enjoy GhostHunters - so I find the GhostFacers hilarious.
For the brotherly relationship - I could look at Numb3rs - since the brothers are so different and what binds them together sometimes is their father - something that I feel that Supernatural shares with it. Plus there is a common goal there - unlike Two and A Half Men.
Most of the other shows that I watch don't have the paranormal element of Supernatural - so I can't compare there.
But I believe that the biggest strengths of the show is the relationship of Sam and Dean and how it runs so deep.
Nothing I watch now compares to SPN, but two old faves do -- Buffy and Roswell. Loved them! Still miss them too.
LOL, Dawn! I'm sorry, that was an editing error. I originally named the show, but changed the sentence at the beginning and just realized I deleted it. I'll fix it. Thanks!
Vicki, we have to rectify that. *makes note*
Sarah, I love Numb3rs, too, for the same reason. I didn't include it on my list mainly because I already had a brothers item, and partly because it's a show I love to watch, but I can let three pile up before getting to it.
Terri, I liked both of those, too! Not while they were on, though, not until recently, and the DVD experience is a lot different from the live-watching experience.
Oh, how I mourn that Firefly only got the partial season. It was fabulous.
LOL on the vid. Hee hee.
In addition to the shows you mentioned, I also like Fringe. And it has that nice combination of monster of the week plus an overarching menace that the main characters are trying to figure out and combat.
Terri, no surprise that I'm a big Buffy and Roswell fan too. And like Natalie, I watched them on DVD after they originally aired.
Every week Thursday night is Supernatural night at my house. I have a group of friends who come over and we all watch the episode together. Can't believe the finale is this week. I also own all the seasons on DVD.
Supernatural has been the only show I've been a fan of/obsessed with to an unhealthy level lol. I was a fan of various other shows but it reached a whole new level with Supernatural. The chemistry (on and off screen), the actors, the personal relationship we all feel with the BTS writers and creators, and the fact that I've been to my first convention for it, makes Supernatural unique in everyway.
Firefly was great and I wish Fox would have given it a chance.
I've really started liking Castle too. What can I say, Nathan Fillion has amazing charisma. I'd love for him to guest star on Supernatural!
Besides the ones previously mentioned, X-Files obviously comes close to mind for the partner relationship.
Chuck is another love and I think the humor is kinda similar with the one-liners and Casey's looks remind me of Dean's sometimes.
One of the things that amazes me about Supernatural is its endurance. The first season of Veronica Mars I thought was brilliant--loved it. Second season was pretty good, but not as, and the third season? And I loved Firefly, but it only had 13 eps (which is a crime). No way to know how it would have played out. I trust that Joss would not have done the "will they/won't they?" dance into the ground with Inara and Mal the way some other shows did (or the annoying on again/off again). But we're almost to the end of four seasons and to me, it's just as compelling. Arguably darker and more twisted, but just as compelling (and earlier in this season, there were episodes that made me laugh my butt off).
Speaking of ROFLMAO, great vid! That totally made my day.
OMG, loved the vid!
Count me in with the lovers of Firefly. I own the DVDs of the show and the movie Serenity. I hoped the movie might pave the way for a return...
It's tough to find a show I love enough to make it "appointment" TV (love that phrase!). Often they get cancelled before they get a foothold. I loved "Raines" with Jeff Goldblum. Love "Dollhouse" (Tahmoh Penikett is currently the wallpaper on my computer). Love Fringe, but haven't formed the habit yet. Oh, and Flashpoint, about a police tactical unit with a different volatile hostage type situation each week -- great cast, especially Hugh Dillon.
I completely forgot about Veronica Mars! (Well - except this weekend when I told people they needed to watch the first season.) I guess I'm only in current TV mode.
I guess in many ways Supernatural does have ties to X-files (monster of the week) - but unlike X-files - I think we are seeing a story arc each season. With the x-files - I don't think there was - well - it has been a long time since I watched it.
Welcome to the blog, tetewa! I own all the DVDs, too, AND some of the shows from iTunes, in case I have the urge to watch on my iPod.
Kaybee, I'd love to get Nathan Fillion on SPN, too!
Tanya, excellent points about endurance. I've heard some people say season 3 wasn't very good, but I don't agree. Even with the shortened season, I found it just as compelling as all the others.
They definitely can't be accused of letting their characters and storylines stagnate! :)
Norah, I haven't tried Flashpoint, though the previews have caught my attention from time to time.
Okay, since X-Files was mentioned more than once, and since our show is often compared to it, I have to admit...not only did I never watch it, the one time I tried, I got three episodes in and had to stop because my eyerolling was starting to give me a headache. :) *ducks*
>>>I'd love to get Nathan Fillion on SPN
I like seeing Nathan as a good guy (heck, I like seeing Nathan period *g*) but if you caught his short stint in the final Buffy episodes, you know he has no problem playing dark, creepy and demonically possessed!
Yeah, I was impressed, and I can definitely see him as a baddy. Also as a hunter whose wisecracking rivals Dean's, though. :)
I love Supernatural and I really think that the biggest draws for me are the family aspect of the show and the humor.
I am a fan of Castle and I loved Buffy! For Castle, the humor is a big plus and Buffy was just great!
The only other show that's really appointment TV for me right now (scripted, anyway) is Fringe. Oh, and House! Neither of them come close to delivering what Supernatural does (although Hugh Laurie and Joshua Jackson also = Very Nice to Look At Indeed).
Fringe does have the family dynamic going for it, though, with Walter and Peter, and House brings the angst, as well as the snark -- I've actually imagined a snark-off between House and Dean, if he wound up at that hospital, and it's endlessly amusing.
But nothing compares to Supernatural for me, right now. I don't get truly fannish often or easily, and this is one of those shows that will rank up there with Buffy, Angel, and Firefly for me.
WHich show does it better then Supernatural? I can't honestly think of one. If the Ghosfacers had their own show I would probably love that but there's no show on right now that has what this show does. Brothers, scary stories and a classic 1967 Impala!
Lori, the humor is definitely what puts the show over the top for me.
Amy, my favorite part of Fringe was the dynamic between Peter and Walter, too. Unfortunately, for some reason, the show just didn't grab me, and when we had to drop something on Tuesdays, that was it.
Interesting (but not surprising!) how many SPN fans also claim Buffy, Firefly, and Angel as faves. :)
Winter, how could I forget the Impala?! NO show has a car that compares.
The only shows that consistently impresses me as much as this are Friday Night Lights and Burn Notice. I love Castle, and watch LOST and Heroes and Grey's Anatomy, but not all are as consistently good as SPN, with the chemistry and the emotion and the humor and the twists.
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