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Benidorm (2007)
First 3 series were the best
Benidorm is two different shows.
Series 1-3 - it's a realistic, politically incorrect adult comedy about very British guests on holiday. The dialogue is razor sharp, the jokes are dirty and the show pokes fun at or rather celebrates the working class and LGBTQ+ communities. It's mostly the same cast, who grow and evolve during this time.
Series 5-10 - by this point, it's a very different kind of show. The focus is on the staff rather than the guests, which has become a kind Fawlty Towers in the sun. It's cartoonish and theatrical. The comedy is absurd and the dialogue is less sophisticated and repetitive.
What remains consistent throughout Benidorm is the strong, fun characters, the wonderful location shots, the cheerful sunny sets and the warm optimistic music that plays throughout.
The Brittas Empire (1991)
Series 1-5... EXCELLENT... Series 6-7 avoid at all costs
The first 5 series of The Brittas Empire were clever, fun and skilfully written, portraying Gordon Brittas as an annoying but well intentioned leisure centre manager. There was always a gentle sprinkling of absurdity - not too much that it was ridiculous, but just enough to make an episode fun and unpredictable, portraying Brittas as hilariously freakish and underlining his complete failure as a manager and flawed human being.
The staff could be a little over the top theatrical at times (Colin and Carol) or perhaps a little too wooden and one-dimensional (Gavin, Tim and Linda), but it was always balanced out by the realistic characters (Laura, Julie, Angie and Helen (to an extent) and every guest character. As the first 5 series progressed, the show evolved and so did the characters, reaching its natural conclusion in the finale episodes The Last Day and In the Beginning...
The show really shined when one of the realistic characters, Laura, tried to understand Mr Brittas. Laura and Brittas develop a complex relationship that became more and more interesting as the show developed, especially with the wife, Helen, being in the middle. Brittas and Colin became a hilarious double-act as the show progressed, although I felt that this was never fully utilised as well as it could have been. The on-going joke about Brittas not getting Tim and Gavin being gay, or Colin's permanently infected hand or when publishers deliberately misprinted badges to make them sound silly was repetitive but always fun. My favourite was Colin bursting into Brittas's office and then knocking on the door. Carol's babies being kept in a cupboard was always funny as well.
So, along comes Series 6 and 7 and the this wonderfully balanced, loveable and fine tuned TV show fell to pieces. The new writers generally had absolutely no idea what this show was about. The sets were the same, the characters dressed and sounded the same - it looked like the same show, but it wasn't. The characters changed into completely different people, Gavin, Tim and Linda were given a depth they never had, Laura was gone, the writing was no longer deep or clever and formally subtle jokes from the first 5 series were brought out into the open by characters and killed stone dead. The absurdity was all over the place and no longer originated from Brittas - it was just a crazy universe. The absolute worst episode in my opinion is called At The Double, which is enough to make you hate this show.
It's such a shame that the last two series were made. It sours what was probably one of the greatest British sitcoms ever made.
Red Dwarf: Tikka to Ride (1997)
The worst Red Dwarf episode
My least favourite Red Dwarf episode. From the very start, the jokes are noticeably weak or heavily recycled and the characters feel off. The wit and comic timing from Series 1-6 is gone, although it does return (in a way) from the next episode onwards. The canned laughter is played over not-very-funny jokes, which is jarring.
It makes no sense that they're able to go back to Earth. In the previous episode, they even made a joke about only being able to go back in time to medieval deep space. Now suddenly, they're able to return to Earth from deep space? So why didn't they go back to 22nd century Earth? Or even present day Earth just 1 week in the past? Does Lister like being stuck 3 million years in future deep space? They didn't seem shocked at all when arriving on Earth. In fact, it all seemed like run-of-the-mill stuff.
Red Dwarf has always been very silly and that's why I love it so much. In every episode though, it's silly, but there's an intelligent backdrop. This episode just throws all that out the window and is pure silly - to the point it might as well be a cartoon. Why would they appear at the exact moment the gunman's shooting JFK? Why is it Lister that knocks the gunman out the window?
The scenes in this episode seem longer and more drawn out than others. There are moments where I found my attention wondering and had to keep going back to rewatch scenes because they were so uninteresting.
I've seen every episode Red Dwarf, but this is the only one I really struggle with. How it has a good rating I have no idea.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
3 seasons, then 4 more
Voyager feels like two shows.
Seasons 1-3 feels like an extension of The Next Generation universe. It's very science-driven and Roddenberry inspired. Voyager is a peaceful, moralistic exploratory ship, Kes is their Councillor Troi and Janeway is uptight and similar to Picard in terms of her dedication to duty, her leadership style and mannerisms. The bad guys are the Kazon, the villain is Seska and there's a sense of wonder about the ship, its technology and everything taking place in the future.
Seasons 3-7 has a different vibe. The bad guys now are the Borg, Species 8472 and the Hirogen. The characters act more relaxed and familiar around each other, the writing feels lazier, with wackier episodes linked to time travel, holodecks and computer malfunctions. Seven has taken on the Star Trek tradition of always having somebody learning about humanity (Spock, Data, Odo etc.). At some point, the writers discovered that Seven and the Doctor are the most popular characters and so, they've become the show's protagonists in a way, with Janeway and the rest of the crew taking on more supportive - usually trying to teach Seven some lesson or another.
Unfortunately, Voyager lost its heart as the show developed. The emotion of being so far away from home was originally a big part of the show. As the writers ran out of ideas, viewers were teased with homecoming episodes all the time - until when they did actually get home, all the emotion was lost. So the last episode is very disappointing. But that doesn't change the fact that Voyager is an outstanding show and well worth watching.
The Orville: Twice in a Lifetime (2022)
Unoriginal, slow but entertaining
I watched this long, drawn out and humourless episode with the knowledge that nothing original was going to happen. The plot was good, but the dialogue and execution were very boring. It was a bit Picard Season 3, a bit Discovery, a bit Terminator 2 and a little bit Future's End and Time's Arrow. The idea of travelling back to the future the natural way was the highlight of the episode for me and I enjoyed the special effects as they were travelling.
One thing that puzzled me - didn't Lamarr say at the start of the episode that a new universe is created every time there's a paradox? That would mean that Gordon's kids are just fine and he's continuing to live his life just fine in some alternate universe that was created. So why are they pretending that they ceased to exist? Did the writers watch DS9's Children of Time after TNG's Parallels or something?
The Orville: Shadow Realms (2022)
Outstanding
Another fantastic episode, although it was once again lacking The Orville's trademark humour. I get that they're trying to make it as TNG-like as possible, which was also lacking humour for the most part. However, that was one of TNG's weaknesses in my opinion and one of The Orville's strengths. Even the great Patrick Stewart once said that he wished there was more humour in TNG (after seeing Red Dwarf for the first time). I would like to think that by the 25th century, everyone is laughing and having fun. This should be a world everyone would want to live in. That said, I can understand why Seth MacFarlane would want to distance this show from Family Guy.
I think The Orville are trying to create an enemy similar to The Borg. So far, every race has a Borg trait to some extent - the Krill in their dominance , the Dakeeli in their arrogance, the Kaylon being machines and now whatever race that gets called in today's episode. I just hope they don't end up becoming similar to that race in the TNG episode Conspiracy.
One other thing I have to comment on - the movement of those aliens Talla was fighting. The low frame rate as they went flying was very Terminator 1. Not sure what happened there.
Star Trek: Picard: Watcher (2022)
No research
Picard and Guinan's entire friendship is based on their unusual meeting up on Earth in San Francisco 1893.
Picard saved Guinan's life, choosing to stay with her in the cavern and take care of her instead of escaping to the future with his crew. While taking care of Guinan, they bonded. At the end of the episode, Guinan tearfully says "I'll see you in 500 years Picard", to which he replies "and I'll see you in a few minutes". The episode ends with Picard and Guinan giving each other a knowing look back on the Enterprise in 2368, in a way that only friends who have shared a great experience will give each other.
In this episode, a re-cast Guinan (was that really necessary? Whoopi Goldberg looks great for her age) has no idea who Picard is. This is the prime timeline with an undisturbed history, which means the events of 1893 have still happened. Even in 2024, they would both remember what happened and Data's head would still theoretically be in that cavern.
Time's Arrow was TNG's Season 6 finale and one of the top rated TNG episodes. I'm very disappointed that they have completely disregarded one of my favourite episodes and damaged up the Picard/Guinan friendship.