Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you WATCHING?

I've been spending the last few nights away from the computer, enjoying my new G.I. Joe Season 2 DVD. Season 2 often gets dismissed just because those lame new villains, Dr. Mindbender and Serpentor, supplanted the awesome Destro and Cobra Commander. But even so, there's a lot to like about Season 2 IMO. The ratio of good to bad episodes is about the same as Season 1, and I liked several of the new Joes, especially Sci-Fi, Cross-Country, Beachhead, Mainframe, Leatherneck, Wetsuit, and Lift-Ticket. I also adored one of the new Cobras: Zarana. And best of all, my favorite female Joe, my role model Lady Jaye, appeared in a lot more episodes than Scarlett or Cover Girl.

I never realized it at the time, but do you think the purpose of Serpentor's introduction was to try to replicate the Megatron/Starscream relationship by shifting Cobra Commander into the Starscream role?

Good point. Even more ironic, the Season 1 relationship between Cobra Commander and Destro anticipated the Galvatron/Cyclonus relationship from Transformers Season 3.

And you just reminded me that the final episode of G.I. Joe Season 2 sets the stage for a Cobra civil war that would have been a much better plot for the G.I. Joe movie than the silly Cobra-La nonsense they ended up doing.

The Darkstorm/Lexor relationship in Visionaries is yet another variant of the Megatron/Starscream relationship (with Chris Latta once again playing the treacherous lieutennant).

And Cobra-La was horrible! As questionable as much of Transformers: The Movie was in my mind, it blew the G.I. Joe movie out of the water.

Well said. While both movies suffer from the same core problem -- great animation, weak story -- the Transformers movie is still much better, although I'm deeply ambivalent about it. I hope you're still considering doing an EDE Retro Review thread for Transformers.

I hope Visionaries is released on R1 DVD someday, because it's one of the few classic 80s cartoons that I never got the chance to see.

The big difference for me is the Transformers movie actually introduced a lot of elements that I'd like to see in a contemporary version of the Transformers (the Quintessons, for example), while I can't of anything offhand from the G.I. Joe movie that wouldn't be better being completely forgotten.

And Visionaires is fantastic! I recently rewatched it on Youtube, and I was surprised at how good it was.

My brother and I used to *live* for Beachhead appearances. There was just something so damn awesome about him in his no nonsense way. Plus he was a commanding officer but one of the lowest on the totem pool before the rank & file, which is a position that always has great characters.

I totally have to rewatch the old GI Joe seasons since I haven't watched them since the 80's.

Amen to all of that, Cobie.

Beachhead is the kind of character that is harder to write than he seems. He's the ultimate hardassed military man, but unfortunately most writers don't know the difference between hardass and jackass. The writers of G.I. Joe got it right, though, maybe because the Season 2 story editor, Buzz Dixon, had Real Life military experience.

And this is a good time to get G.I. Joe DVDs -- based on Season 2, it would seem the Shout Factory DVDs have overall superior sound and picture quality to the old Rhino DVDs. Hopefully they'll stay in print for a long time, because when finances allow, I'd like to replace all my Rhino G.I. Joe DVDs.

You know... I'm starting to suspect that the Hawaii Five-O reboot starring Daniel Dae Kim may actually end up being the "Lost alumni project to watch".

Through the magic of Netflix, I've recently been revisiting a childhood favorite of mine, an English sci-fi show from the 70's called, "The Tomorrow People."

It's horribly written, badly acted, and has extremely cheesy special effects... but I'm enjoying the heck out of it.

The basic premise, if you've never heard of it, is that humanity is poised to take the next step in evolution, and the first group in which this step has manifested is a small group of teenagers.

I discovered this show a couple of years before I discovered the Legion but watching it again, it's clear that I have a "type". The Tomorrow People are a group of super-powered teenagers, with a code against killing, who travel through space and time protecting the earth from alien invasions. Hmmmm...

Season finale of Fringe = pretty awesome.

It occurs to me that there's a lot of "Alias" in this show.

Not too surprising, given its Abrams-ness. Looking forward to someday catching up with it via DVD. May make that a summer project, so I can climb back aboard in the fall. Next season without Lost sure feels like a bitch!

(odd that there's no Fringe thread)

I only watched the second half of the second season, so I've got some catching up to do as well!

Oh, I thought you'd stuck it out from the beginning! Who here was I thinking of? Don't think it was Des...

Wasn't poor USALUS, was it?

Oh, that post was a bit misleading. I watched the first season, missed the first half of the second season, then watched the second half.

Des I think has only seen the first season.

I saw the first 3-5 eps of the first season and haven't tuned in since. Didn't suck or anything but felt a little formulaic. I trust LWers, though--they're what got me to check back into Lost, after all!

As discussed earlier in this thread, it gets *a lot* better over the course of the first season.

Yeah, I read that and understand. Just reiterating my history with the show for entertainment purposes.

I've only seen season 1 so far but will def get season 2 when it's on DVD. Like Lost, it definately is great to watch in large chunks.

I've never seen an ep of Alias however. Do you guys recommend?

Recommend Alias? YES, YES, YES!!!!!

But stop after Season 4. Season 5 is an abomination.

Well I'm not quite as enthusiastic about the show as FL but I'd say it's definitely worth watching for fans of other Abrams shows (e.g. Lost and Fringe).

So, Cobie, have Eryk and I sold you on Alias? Have you watched any episodes yet? Have we sold anyone else on Alias?

I'm currently watching (via Netflix) the British version of Life on Mars. It is very well done. It is mainly a police show with bits of fantasy/sci-fi thrown in. THe basic premise is that Police Detective Sam Tyler gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. He has papers saying he is being transferred into his "old" department.

^ If you enjoy Life on Mars Quis don't forget to watch the sequel Ashes to Ashes which is different but still good IMO.

You should probably avoid the US remake though which I've never seen but have heard was terrible.

I saw the first episode of Ashes to Ashes and was not impressed.