The sucking black hole of fandom claims another victim!

[sholio]

Well, Leverage is on temporary hold right now, because Being Human ate my soul. OMG, f'list! Is anyone watching this? Because you all have to run out and get hold of it right now! It's a British series, apparently very obscure (I think there's one(?) person on my f'list who posts about it); its first series (6 episodes) just finished up, and apparently there's a second series coming next year. Only six episodes! It's not much of a viewing commitment!

And omg omg omg, this show ...! Okay, it has its WTF moments and one particularly awful special effect that makes me cringe every time they do it (maybe they'll have enough budget next year to do it better, because it utterly breaks the mood when they're trying for serious and angsty and then bring out the impossibly cheesy f/x) -- but all in all, I give it five out of five pineapples on the Psych scale of total character adorability. XD I was only going to watch episode 3 this morning, but ended up spending the whole day mainlining the rest of the series. I couldn't stop!

The basic premise is that a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf rent an apartment in Bristol together. (Well, the vampire and the werewolf rent the apartment; the ghost was already haunting it when they moved in.) It sounds like the pilot for a truly awful sitcom, but instead it's done with a wonderful mixture of humor and angst and compelling character arcs for all three characters -- in just six episodes! I kept having to pause playback so that I could squee and flail (or, as greyias says, "squail") -- I believe there was literal flailing at some points. This show mashes all my buttons for "found family" and dorkily adorable characters and broken people finding comfort in each other and (mostly) platonic boy/girl BFFs -- plus a fairly complex overall story arc (though it feels a bit rushed or oddly paced at times, as there are only 6 episodes).

(FYI, if you do go looking for it, there is a sort of "episode 0" -- the original pilot -- which has an almost completely different cast. Do not watch this first, because they change most of the actors and it's really, really disconcerting. There's nothing in it that you have to see in order to understand the rest of the show; you can pick up just fine with 1x01 and carry on from there. I haven't actually watched "episode 0" all the way through yet; I started with 1x01, then went back and tried to watch it, and having other actors in the roles instead of my adorable dorks was too weird.)

Comments

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Am I that one person? I totally love love love this show. OMG.

Have you seen all six episodes yet?

George! Annie! Mitchell! EEEEE! ::squails::

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was you! I know there was someone who posted about it and I skipped past it because I hadn't seen the show yet. I shall go look for your post ... and I'll be back shortly with a spoilery squee post because I don't really want to get too spoilery in the comments to the rec-post, but ... just ... like you said! George! Annie! Mitchell! (And not to forget Nita! Or Gilbert! Or the neighbor with the kid, or the dancer ex-girlfriend, or even Lauren ...) *squails back at you*

Is there any good fic for this show? I've already discovered beinghuman_news and am starting to look through it, to see what's out there. It seems to be a very tiny fandom, though.

[jaekayelle.livejournal.com]

I saw Pilot 0 and loved it to bits. Did they recast George? Please tell me they didn't... You can lie if you have to. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

No, George is the only one they didn't recast. I love the new Mitchell and Annie to itty bitty bits, and seeing the other actors in the roles just throws me totally. But the rest of it is completely awesome too! You should watch it!

[jaekayelle.livejournal.com]

Yay! Wasn't wild about the old Mitchell anyway. It's such a neat premise, and I also love "found family" stories. Off to go find it... :-)

[klostes.livejournal.com]

torrenting as I write. *g*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Hee! I hope you like it. :)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Another friend raves about that show, alas, it sucks to not have the channel that carries it.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

There are, um, other ways. *g* I'm sure it'll be out on DVD soon, too -- it seems like the BBC has been pretty good about making Region 1 releases of their shows, at least for more popular stuff.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

You may not have heard m,uch about it, because I think a lot of people watched 1x00 and fell in love with it last year and the first new ep not only changes the characters but also the narrative structure (I felt for worse). Otoh, I do think that it gets better as the series continues. (I still miss the original Annie and her amazingly cute accent, though :)

I agree with the somewhat odd (for us) pacing, which I don't think is just that it's UK, because other series don't feel as odd...I think it's the changing and changing again and not yet fully come into its own syndrome, but I have high hopes for series 2!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

*nods* I can see that; I only watched the first, oh, 10 minutes or so of the original pilot (plus skipping ahead a bit just to see what Annie was like *g*) because the character disjoint was just too disconcerting, but in general tone and style, it reminded me more of the last couple episodes (where I think the series really hit its stride) than the first couple episodes of the revamped series, which went for a somewhat more episodic and mainstream-commercial feeling. What you said about the recasting/restructuring throwing them off makes a lot of sense and maybe explains a little bit of the thrown-together feeling of the first couple of episodes, while the last ones were, IMHO, so tight.

On the other hand, in my case, since I first encountered the series with the new cast, I fell and fell hard for them; I find both of the original castmates disappointing compared to the new ones, but I think a lot of that has to do with what I'm used to.

I'm delighted to have a series 2 to look forward to! All of my shows right now are either cancelled or so lackluster that I have trouble getting excited about them coming back.

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Well, if it makes you squail... ;)

DLing it now, as it sounds like it'll hit my buttons too!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Whee! I do hope that you like it! I foresee squailing in your future. :D

[greyias.livejournal.com]

Damn youuuuuuuu--

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

mwahahahaha ... XD

[roving-rez.livejournal.com]

Oh no you don't, friendshipper!
I will not get into another fandom! No no no!
...
*struggles with it*
...
*Is overcome*
Buggar.
I'll go find it.
:P

Thanks for the rec :D

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

mwahahaha ... I may not be using my powers for good here. XD

[roving-rez.livejournal.com]

I just saw the pilot...
When you are right, you are right, Friendshipper.
So very cute!!!

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Yes! My shoooow! ♥

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

They are so adorable! ♥

[livrelibre.livejournal.com]

Oooh, this sounds up my alley. Thanks for the rec!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll like it! I was a little bit meh on the first episode, but I was totally gone by the end of the second; it's got my kinks nailed pretty hard. *g*

Edit: And I do plan on forging ahead with Leverage eventually; this show was actually just supposed to be a placefiller while I wait for my husband to get out from under his current workload so that he has time to watch TV again, since I'm watching Leverage with him. I wasn't expecting to get hooked on it like I did!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

It's not that obscure, it's been all over my flist this last week! (I have several Brits on it, that might be why...) Worth looking up, then? ^^

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I would say definitely! ... though it is only six episodes, which may or may not be a selling point. But they're very squeeful episodes!

[naye]

...yeah, you know how to get people to check things out! ♥

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I'm really shameless, aren't I? XD

... seriously, this show really pushes some of the same fan-buttons that you and I have in common; I think you might like it!

[parisindy.livejournal.com]

all my shows are in hiatus.. i am getting desperate

no SPN
no Merlin
no ghost hunters

my only hesitation is that it looks like a comedy and i don't like much comedy... is it really silly?

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

It's about on the SGA/SPN level, I think; it starts off with more comedy and moves towards a heavier/angstier style as the show goes on, but if you're okay with the sillier episodes of those two shows (like "Game" or "Bad Day at Black Rock") you should be okay with this.

[parisindy.livejournal.com]

hehe actually the silly episodes of spn are my least favourites. Like yellow fever has to be one of the episodes i like least of all of the spn..

but i will give this a chance.. i'll let you know

thanks

[sg-lab.livejournal.com]

Hi, tringasolitaria directed me to your LJ because I expressed interest in this show and wondered what it was about. I've seen a couple of previews for it on BBCAmerica but they were kind of vague. I'll have to check to see when it premieres on BBCAmerica, it sounds like something I would enjoy.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hope that you like it! I totally love it and I can't wait for series 2 this winter. Let me know what you think. :)

[sg-lab.livejournal.com]

I will certainly let you know what I think. :)