Current TV Boxset Addiction

[TordelBack]

If you like to watch your 'toons with little 'uns, I'd say the original Mobile Suit Gundam is a good bet...

Isn't there a risk it might Cyberleader2000ify them?  Although admittedly my enforced viewings of ST:TOS hasn't James. T. Beared them (yet).

[James Stacey]

If you haven't seen it already, try Community.

It takes a while to find its voice, but when it shifts into gear it becomes the greatest, most ambitious and defiantly weird sitcom since Arrested Development.

Everybody should take Radiators advice. He is wise.

[Professor Bear]

Isn't there a risk it might Cyberleader2000ify them?

The original MSG is actually the most straightforward of all the giant robot 'toons I've seen, and being made before videogame logic started seeping into anime storytelling means that even its daftest conceits like the nebulous "Newtype" plot arc - where it's suggested humanity's move into space has triggered some sort of evolutionary jump in the species - just comes off as a slight riff on The Force in the background of episodes.  It is very much a show that - if characters weren't killed off in the latter portion of the series - would have been on kids' telly when we were younger and remembered fondly, and I can't see it damaging younger viewers or giving them a hankering for giant robots and/or anime.  The robot stuff is really just functional animation at best, and the old-fashioned storytelling means it doesn't really have any appeal to fans of illogical and incestuous modern anime as anything other than the starting point of later dreadful series like G Gundam or Gundam Seed: Destiny.
So no, between the slower pace, logical story progression/setup and emphasis on character over mecha porn, I don't think it could Cyberleader2000ify your nippers, which is good because he's a treasure and making more would only dilute the charm.

[TordelBack]

I don't think it could Cyberleader2000ify your nippers, which is good because he's a treasure and making more would only dilute the charm.

And cause rampant inflation on eBay.

[Hawkmumbler]

Isn't there a risk it might Cyberleader2000ify them?

The original MSG is actually the most straightforward of all the giant robot 'toons I've seen, and being made before videogame logic started seeping into anime storytelling means that even its daftest conceits like the nebulous "Newtype" plot arc - where it's suggested humanity's move into space has triggered some sort of evolutionary jump in the species - just comes off as a slight riff on The Force in the background of episodes.  It is very much a show that - if characters weren't killed off in the latter portion of the series - would have been on kids' telly when we were younger and remembered fondly, and I can't see it damaging younger viewers or giving them a hankering for giant robots and/or anime.  The robot stuff is really just functional animation at best, and the old-fashioned storytelling means it doesn't really have any appeal to fans of illogical and incestuous modern anime as anything other than the starting point of later dreadful series like G Gundam or Gundam Seed: Destiny.
So no, between the slower pace, logical story progression/setup and emphasis on character over mecha porn, I don't think it could Cyberleader2000ify your nippers, which is good because he's a treasure and making more would only dilute the charm.

No mention of Gundam Wing or Endless Waltz? As far as I'm concerned they are the best material turned out by the metaseries. Saying that I can't fault your logic that MSG is the most "straightforward" of them all.

[Professor Bear]

For me, Gundam Wing wandered off the reservation towards the end with arbitrary double-crosses, random plot twists and a bad case of "I am not going to kill you for the moment" that undermined any dramatic tension and reduced characters like Wufei and Trowa to cyphers.  Before that it just wasn't very well structured and relied entirely on its audience's familiarity with anime tropes rather than actual storytelling - a problem that later carried over into the visually-impressive but ultimately hollow 00.
Mobile Suit Gundam, Victory and War In The Pocket are the best the series have to offer, but I have a soft spot for the steampunk stylings of Turn-A, and the full-on kiddie-adventuring of Gundam X.  If you have the self control to watch only the first six episodes of Destiny and then never watch any more, you'll probably think that's pretty good, too.

[HdE]

Yeah, the original Gundam show is pretty straightforward and inoffensive. I've never been able to get along with Wing, though.

And, to Tordelback, I say this:

DEFINITELY give Cowboy Bebop a look. It's one of the more accessible shows out there, features some great action scenes, and packs a wallop in the finale.

Whoever suggested Samurai Seven is also on the right track. That's an awesome show - and also largely devoid of the big-eyed character designs that switch off most anti-anime types.

[ChickenStu]

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman - Season One

I'm actually really digging this!  Just ordered the second season from Amazon!

[ThryllSeekyr]

I just received the complete Monkey box set dvds in the mail after ordering them Ebay and have started watching them.

Born from a egg on a mountain top....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2huJqFsFDE

[HdE]

Aw, maaaan... I'm quite jealous now! Monkey is pure, unadulterated fun!

I sometimes think we could use more shows like that on TV. Everything is so overwrought and serious these days.

[Jim_Campbell]

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman - Season One

I'm actually really digging this!  Just ordered the second season from Amazon!

I'll confess to not having seen it since it was on the Beeb, but it was pretty much perfect viewing for a Saturday tea-time.

Cheers

Jim

[Dandontdare]

I just received the complete Monkey box set dvds in the mail after ordering them Ebay and have started watching them.

Born from a egg on a mountain top....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2huJqFsFDE

Monkey is pure class, I used to watch it avidly when it was first on telly in 1979.

[Professor Bear]

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman - Season One

I'm actually really digging this!  Just ordered the second season from Amazon!

THE HAIR!  THE CLOTHES!  FAX MACHINES!  COMPUTER HACKING EPISODES!
But it's brilliant to see Superman being played as Superman instead of a moping teenager or a closeted gay man, Dean Cain largely playing the role as a stuffy older brother rather than as everyone's dad.  It's interesting to see the show's take that Superman is just a role played by Clark Kent rather than the other way around, and Lex Luthor as the dark side of the American dream is a fantastic foil that harks back to the idea of Superman as a social crusader later revived by Grant Morrison in the comics to less interesting effect.  Owes a heck of a lot to the Superboy tv show, all the same.

[ChickenStu]

Dean Cain was pretty good. Interesting tidbit: Dean Cain is actually one quarter Japanese (his birth name was Dean Tanaka). His ethnic heritage explains his exotic features. It was a big factor in him getting cast as Superman because he didn't look like a typical, square jawed American. Producers thought his unusual, yet striking visage made him more believable as an alien.

So there's your bit of useless trivia for today! 

[Professor Bear]

I already knew that and demand a different bit of trivia.