Lurker > scarletspeed7

Corrik7 posted...

Seems to me you are confusing tragedies with great love stories.

Even the most keen minds will notice that romeo and juliet is moreso of young kids with first love doing stupid things in regards to it. It's hardly a great love story. Its considering a tragedy for a reason.

A walk to remember isn't amazing because of the bleak ending. It is amazing because of Jamie achieving her ambition and how she did it.

Love without tragedy is tapioca. There is no value to a love without hardship that catalyzes its greatness.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I mean, even Love Story is a better love story. But of course, writing quality goes to Romeo and Juliet which is a staple for a reason. Orpheus and Eurydice is probably the absolute greatest love story because its tragic elements are phenomenally well-presented through a mythological lens, and I can't think of a greater emotional beat than dragging your loved one through the gates of hell itself. Something about Walk is rather pedantic and small-stakes in comparison.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Yes, that's the only way and not the fact that Vinny Chase turned the Walk set into an absolute shitshow which was reflected on the big screen.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

It's honestly necessary.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

You love to see it?

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

swordz9 posted...

I dont even remember Fandral

I mean he was Shazam!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Fandral and Red Skull were recast as well.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Man all we can hope for now is Xavier to pass Kofi.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Poor Ariel.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_with_fraudulent_diplomas

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I should be good to pick this up tonight.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

HanOfTheNekos posted...

I never finished Galaxy. Sunshine is just a better made game than 64, although it has elements people don't enjoy..

64 only tops lists due to nostalgia and stubbornness. Camera isn't great, controls have some lingering issues, jumping is harder to accomplish in this game than any other Mario.

I've heard Galaxy 2 is the best 3D Mario.

Galaxy 2 isn't quite as magical as Galaxy 1 in terms of sheer imaginative ingenuity, but is a smoother play and it expands on the Galaxy 1 mechanics in the best possible way, so they are pretty much on equal footing in my book.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

MWC is back?

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

That's the next major crossover. Go.

The Good Assassin's Wife's Creed

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

after nintendo made assassin's creed into a zelda game it is only fair for ubisoft to bring it full circle

It's like pottery

Which also comes full circle since Ancient Greece

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

And yeah, Impact is supposed to be fine now. I think someone in this topic still watches it I think.

I could understand NWA working with AEW to ape off their women's division, but I don't know that Impact can offer much to AEW.

I watch it!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I had a computer breakdown that really threw things off. I still fully intend to complete this.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Saw this on Twitter a couple hours ago. Right on.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

By tomorrow I meant Monday.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Next two tomorrow!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Fastbreak posted...

The president doesn't actually have the power to pardon a turkey

I will be leading the children in song, for I am the press secretary.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

#106 - Rebecca Bunch
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW; 2015-2019)
62 Episodes (First Appearance: "Josh Just Happens to Live Here!", October 12th, 2015)

The facts are these: Rebecca Bunch is a little bit crazy. But the word "crazy" in and of itself is a pejorative that show explores with a great deal of nuance. When Crazy Ex-Girlfriend begins, we witness a straight-laced Ivy League graduate who appears to have had very little agency in her entire life become unraveled when she starts to loosen those laces. Rebecca has a certain amount of predisposition for romanticizing the world around her, and what better way to illuminate that characterization than through music? Her daydream musical interludes demonstrate Rebecca's reliance on her own mental distress as she constantly throws caution to the one, turning sharply away from what the world would believe as rational in a quixotic quest to find love and agency.

Rebecca is often rather cunning in her attempts to find love, specifically in the arms of Josh (and Greg), and especially by the end of season two, it's easy to finally deconstruct this character in her entirety. Rebecca can be generous and empathetic, but at the same time many of her choices (healthy and unhealthy) are grounded in a neurosis that few characters on the show actually attempt to address (including Rebecca). In many ways, the show is a tragicomedy, as we watch someone spiral through fantasies brought on by mental illness. Yet, as a viewer, we find pathos as those around Rebecca become just as terrible as her (but lacking the excuse for their behavior). Our sympathies allow us to forgive her behavior, or at least treat it more favorably than the other characters of the show, and I find that fascinating. Just like Frank Underwood on House of Cards (who did not score a place on this list), audiences can forgive a bad action if there's an ounce of understanding involved.

Hint for #105: An enduring British icon.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

#107 - Rodrigo de Souza
Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon; 2014-2018)
40 Episodes (First Appearance: "Pilot", February 6th, 2014)

You know what you don't run into a lot these days? Television shows that focus entirely on the inner dynamics of a symphony orchestra. That maybe why Mozart in the Jungle shocked me and drew me in so completely. There are a number of factors complicit in the effort to steal away your imagination - the backbiting between strings and woodwinds can be hilarious and at the same time entirely surprising, and there's no dearth to the amount of backstage politicking that makes an orchestra tick - but the focal point of the show is actually a brand new conductor to the symphony. At first, Rodrigo de Souza seems pompous and arrogant, but as you dig into the character over the course of four seasons, you find that he is a true passionate advocate for the show's focal point: the failing New York Symphony. Gael Garcia Bernal, perhaps best known for his work in The Motorcycle Diaries as well as Pixar's Coco, knocks it out of the park as this rising star in the classical musical world.

I love characters that force me to re-evaluate them and their actions over the course of a series, and as Rodrigo is fleshed out more and more over the course of the show, he stops being this narcissistic prick that the series wants us to believe he is. He starts becoming a man who is demonstrating a veneer of heavy bravado to mask his own misgivings. As the orchestra grows and fights its way tooth and nail back into relevancy, Rodrigo is revealed to be less of a towering, self-centered mess and more nuanced.

Much like a real-life orchestra, Mozart in the Jungle succeeds predominantly because of the focal point - a director sets the tone, the pace and the conducts a symphony in the way that Rodrigo does the same for the series.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

#108 - Jack Rudolph
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC; 2006-2007)
22 Episodes (First Appearance: "Pilot", September 18th, 2006)

An embattled and embittered network executive, Jack is presented from the outset as the Studio 60's primary antagonist. In a world of idealistic optimists, as courtesy of Aaron Sorkin at his most Sorkinian, what Jack amounts to is the obstacle that must be overcome. Or, at least, that's how the show presents him at the start. But in a slow, subtle turn of perspective, the more of Jack we witness, the more it becomes clear that Jack is tired, haggard thanks to the unending diatribe of advertisers and shareholders he must keep happy while he tries to play interference for naive writers and stars who only see his actions as confrontational. No wonder he drinks in the middle of the day and starts conversations with non sequiturs. In Jack's mind, he's nothing but a sturdy linebacker, trying to provide the glancing blows necessary to divert the angry waters of a tidal river of opinion from flooding the pristine landscape of Studio 60 (the show in the show, not Studio 60, the show itself).

Something about a character being unapologetic in their unpopular decisions appeals to me, and what's more, once you recognize that Jack is begrudgingly on the side of the cast makes his more difficult decisions more sympathetic. It actually turns Matthew Perry's character, Matt Albie, into something of an anti-hero, a cloudy shade of gray who is just as much to blame for the problems of Studio 60 as anyone else. Bringing the rest of the cast and their flaws into stark contrast, Jack suddenly is this unlikely heroic figure that, by the end of the show, earns my respect. It surprised me.

Studio 60, of course, is the least popular Sorkin show by a mile, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention a host of other great characters on the show. The cast was filled with a murderer's row of talent: Harriet Hayes was played by Sarah Paulson, who has gone on to play about a hundred great characters across all sorts of American Blank Stories, Amanda Peet played new TV exec Jordan McDeere (a delightfully charming character), Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford starred together as the pairing of Danny and Matt, and all sorts of minor characters got the star treatment from everyone from Timothy Busfield to D.L. Hughley to Nate Corddry. Hell, even cameos from Sting and Allison Janney filled out this excellent little one season wonder.

Hint for #107: The star of a classic music/television hybrid.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

It's almost time.... Hint for #108: We're starting out in the sunset years of Aaron Sorkin's television foray.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

NFUN posted...

was that the shuttle plotline? it's been a while

Yes. I'll talk about it more on the list though!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

NFUN posted...

toby is so cool he counts 11 times

Season 7 eliminates 11 of those counts.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Johnbobb posted...

my prediction stands

don't expect me to read things

West Wing has two representatives.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Johnbobb posted...

predicting like 15 characters from The West Wing

scarletspeed7 posted...

86 shows are represented on this list, with 18 receiving two or more spots. Only two shows landed three or more characters on the list, and one of those shows sits head and shoulders above the rest with a massive five representatives.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

NFUN posted...

yeah it has a lot of significance in Buddhism. It's like if some game popularized the number "613" and or even "666" and people forgot where it came from

I'm aware of its significance to Buddhism, but it's only tangentially relevant to the reason I chose the number!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Inviso posted...

Ben was an anti-hero.

Don't be the person to take a joke post seriously

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Crazy Bus

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

TotallyNotMI posted...

Wow giving Suikoden credit for 108 and not LOST.

LOST stole everything from Suikoden. Luca Blight? Main bad guy? LB? Reverse that - BL. Ben Linus.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Xeybozn posted...

I'm pretty sure Scarlet's taste in TV shows is almost the exact opposite of mine, but I'm tagging anyway because he always has such good write-ups.

You watch Pawn Stars and hunting shows?

Edit: Or Real Housewives

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

NBIceman posted...

I think I remember you being a big Boston Legal fan. Maybe Friends as well? I'd be inclined to guess both of those for multiple reps, with maybe an outside chance at Firefly sneaking in there as well since I'm pretty sure I remember you at least like Jayne a lot.

Really looking forward to this!

I do like a significant portion of that cast, but I've soured on Whedon shows recently, so they aren't as prevalent as they once would have been.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

It's strange that I became such a passionate devotee to the medium of television given that I began my life by-and-large committed to reading. Somewhere along the way, reading became this anchor in school, and the joy of it became a chore, and I guess in late high school, I began to find myself escaping away into the small screen and video games more and more often. In college, I spent most of my free time watching movies; however, at this stage of my life, television is my favorite hobby. I think we're just now exiting a golden age of television. For years and years, networks have been raising the bar and upping the ante when it comes to excellent, serialized storytelling. The bubble seems to be bursting as a glut of streaming services are desperate to convert existing properties into evergreen material for themselves, and as such, the pool is diluted with too much, and the quality across the board suffers.

Still, the history of television has churned out a host of excellent characters over time. In fact, this list really won't do the medium justice in the slightest. Really, this is a conglomeration of my personal favorite characters and nothing else. You'll see major names omitted, for example. Be prepared for a lack of Walter White and George Costanza, neither of which have ever really resonated with me (and in Costanza's case, was topped by a better version of the character a few years after the final episode of Seinfeld). Be prepared for bizarre niche picks that no one knows about, much less cares about. This list is indicative of only one thing, and that is what my personal viewing habits look like.

As to why we're ranking 108, the reason is simple: Suikoden taught me to believe that a list isn't complete without that auspicious 108th entry. So there we go. Blame Steiner, who gave me the idea.

Another minor note: this list does not include any animated shows. I feel like that could be another list, at another time, but for now, my focus is on live-action television.

In any event, before we get started tomorrow with the big list, here is a little bit of trivia. 86 shows are represented on this list, with 18 receiving two or more spots. Only two shows landed three or more characters on the list, and one of those shows sits head and shoulders above the rest with a massive five representatives. Feel free to make your guesses as to which shows are the multi-reps! I'll give you a hint: Big Bang Theory was snubbed.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Leonhart4 posted...

Put them all in a gauntlet and narrow them down that way

I always do a bracket, actually, then put VOID in the winners' slot and fill the empty matches that result from that until I have a full list. The field is complete! Incoming topic.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

In my mind, it's less stressful to make a list that's too short and try to come up with the things I've forgotten than to provide an overestimate that can be whittled down. It also helps create tighter criteria the further I go.

I'm at 165 right now!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

All right, I've got a shortlist of 775! Time to start the painful elimination process.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I actually like that idea! I'll do my Top 108 Television Characters next, and I'll follow it with ranking the Suikoden II characters just because there were certainly more interested parties than I expected.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Underleveled posted...

How about media (TV shows, movies, games, comics, etc) that you thought were bad or at best mediocre but you think had potential to be good and what changes you would have liked to see implemented to possibly reach that potential.

An interesting idea, but I'm not sure I would have the passion to complete it.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I'll let this go through the night, but it looks like this is going to be a Top 100 TV characters as of right now.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Leonhart4 posted...

Users nominate comic book characters and you create a non-superhero TV show storyline they would be suited for

On a pre-existing show?

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Anagram posted...

Users suggest a DC vs Marvel character fight and you analyze it

Sounds interesting

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I didn't. As to your question, the only real DC topics I've done have been sort-of open-sourced topics where people made their own teams, etc.

And I ranked Batman villains once!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Wow, Suikoden back in it with a 4-3-3, DC/TV/Suiko

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Currently 4-3 in favor of DC characters.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

It's definitely coming down to TV vs. DC, I can tell.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

TV Characters might get more activity, and DC characters could be pretty exhaustive. Suikoden would be unique, but I think it's pretty niche even for Board 8.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I've been a little absent as of late, I admit. But I'd like to get back into the swing of things with something fresh-ish. I have a couple of ideas for projects, but I think I'll throw it out to the board for some feedback. Right now I'm mulling the following:

~Ranking Every Character with a Portrait in Suikoden II
~ Ranking User-Nominated User-Nominated DC Comics Characters (Criteria to be Determined)
~Scarlet Ranks The Game of Thrones Episodes
~Scarlet Ranks His Top 100 TV Characters

Those are what I'm considering, but I'm open to other ideas! For sure, for sure, if you can think of an interesting project, I'll definitely consider it. Although I'm not up for ranking episodes of TV shows I haven't watched. It's just not going to happen in this day and age, sorry. I know those were two of my more popular projects, but my free time is more limited than it used to be.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful