TV Tuesday: Loving Genres

[yourlibrarian]

If forced to, would you choose to only watch TV shows in your favorite genre, or would you choose only one TV show each from a wide variety of genres?

Comments

[mxcatmoon]

Ooh, tough question! I don't necessarily have a favorite genre... but on the other hand, I wouldn't want to be limited to only one show from each. I guess if I had to choose, I'd take the latter. I'm so picky though. LOL.

If pressed, I'd have to say I lean towards shows that combine fantasy and reality. For example, Good Omens, which is mostly set in our world but is about celestial beings in our world, or Moonlight, a crime drama about a private eye who happens to be a vampire. I'm not sure what that's called, though.

[yourlibrarian]

Magical realism maybe?

[mxcatmoon]

Yes, that's probably it. Out of my six major fandoms, 3 are definitely that, and could argue that 2 more might also be considered in that genre.

Thanks for helping me figure out that I do have a preferred genre. I never considered it before now.

[dickinsons]

Honestly? I'd probably choose the former. I love sci-fi, and there are plenty of sci-fi shows out there, many of them with maaaany episodes. Maybe I might get bored at some point, but I could simply take a break since I don't watch TV shows all the time anyway. I think I'd be fine!

[yourlibrarian]

These days there really are. I'd say that half my Apple+ watchlist is currently fantasy/scifi

[corvidology]

I'd take all the mysteries/detective shows, please and thank you.

[yourlibrarian]

Yeah, it would be a tough choice for me between mysteries and scifi. Of course I find mystery books usually more satisfying than scifi books, so...

[corvidology]

It's funny to say this when you're a fan of something where someone, usually several someones *g* gets murdered but as science fiction has become more and more dominated by dystopia I've lost my interest in a lot of it.

[yourlibrarian]

True -- I'd say for both mysteries and scifi, I'm not interested in the dark side of them.

[delphi]

Man, that's a tough one. Given that I'd be missing out on something either way, if pressed I think I'd go for only watching TV shows in my favourite genre, which is panel shows (or, more broadly, the "get a bunch of entertainers together playing some sort of game" genre). I feel like I could conceivably get my fill of all my other favourite genres through books, movies, comics, etc., but I'm never not in the mood to watch a panel show, and TV's one of the few mediums they exist in.

[yourlibrarian]

That is true! Plus the nature of the show means that while the framework may be the same from episode to episode it's also rather improv.

[delphi]

Exactly! It's kind of like how, for a long time, QI has been my pick for shows I'd take to a desert island. That's because it's going to be over 400 episodes by the time it's done, and while the premise is the same across all the series ("funny people talk about interesting facts"), every episode's substantially different based on who's on it and what the topic is, you can watch in almost any order, and you never entirely know what a new one is going to contain.

[caramarie]

Time to only watch crime dramas forever and always!

[china_shop]

I'd probably go for cracky Kdrama romances, but after a while I'd chafe against the limitation and watch less TV. ;-p

[goldentunes]

Ooh! Any cracky kdramas to recommend?? I'd love to watch some more!

[china_shop]

:D Which ones have you seen? My gateway drug was You're Beautiful, in which a nun goes undercover as her twin brother in a boyband. Chief Kim, while not technically a romance, is an excellent redemption and found-family story that eventually ends up very slashy (more cracky in tone than content). While You Were Sleeping, about three people who have prophetic dreams, is one of my tiny fandoms. Hwayugi: a Korean Odyssey is hilarious and ridiculous and great. Wok of Love is about some gangsters running a restaurant, and the legit chef who ends up thwacking them into shape. Goblin is epic and adorable and angsty (helps if you don't mind age gaps). And if you haven't seen it, Healer is less at the cracky end of things but is the epitome of excellence, imo.

I have an annotated list here, which is only a few months out of date. (Note to self: update it!)

[goldentunes]

What a beautiful icon of JHI!!! 😍

Chief Kim!!!!! Oh my I loved that one. That scriptwriter is a favourite of mine, I’ve seen and loved everything and am excited for Fiery Priest 2!

Goblin and Healer are both favourites!!! Healer I agree is much tighter, Goblin had its issues but main leading lady aside I loved every thing else.

I haven’t seen You’re Beautiful - adding it to the list!

Ahh. While You Were Sleeping I actually deliberately avoided for reasons, but seeing you say that you liked Male Lead 2 in your annotated list makes me curious! Will give it a go!

Your list is so long yippee! I shall make my way through it slowly. Thank you for the recs!!! 🩵

[china_shop]

What a beautiful icon of JHI!!! 😍

Thanks! That's actually from While You Were Sleeping, as is this one -- he plays the second lead, my beloved cinnamon roll.

I started Fiery Priest last year or the year before but got distracted. I really should give it another go. Anything else you'd rec me?

You're Beautiful is by the Hong sisters, who've written a LOT of crack classics, imo. Some of their back-catalogue is a bit dated now, but a lot of it is amazing. (Most recently, they wrote Hotel del Luna and Alchemy of Souls, both of which I bounced off, so this is a qualified rec. :-)

I hope you like WYWS! Neither of the leads are actors I usually seek out, but I loved them in this.

<3 <3 <3

[goldentunes]

Gasp. JHI is MLTwoooooo??? I guess that makes sense. Everyone starts near the “bottom” don’t they, but it’s mind-boggling to think of him as not the male lead haha! I didn’t realise he was in it, so will definitely be checking it out! I like the OST though - I listen to it all the time even though I never watched the show.

I’m still going through your extremely comprehensive list!! I see a couple of titles I adored that you put further down (Vincenzo, Forest of Secrets, Prison Playbook) so I am not sure you will like what I rec 😂 but here we go. If it’s cracky you’re after, have you seen Welcome to Waikiki? It’s hilarious. Very, very dumb, but gosh I adored it.

I see you also tried Reply 1988. What about 1997 and 1994? The cast are different, and the stories are different, so you might like one or even both of them. 1997 the episodes are half length so it’s a much faster watch. The references are funnier too, in my opinion.

My final rec which I don’t see on your list is Miss Hammurabi. It’s based on a book - the screenplay adaptation was done by the author himself - and it’s absolutely fantastic. There are so many lines in it I will take to my grave. It’s not crack, it’s criticism of a very unequal society, but gosh I loved it!!!!! The soundtrack is amazing too.

Okay final thought before this gets too long: did you watching Moving? If you did I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts! I was hooked for the first half, I enjoyed it immensely, and then dropped it very quickly. I wonder if this is just a me problem or if other people felt this way too.

[china_shop]

but it’s mind-boggling to think of him as not the male lead haha!

I know! He completely steals the show, too. :D (I'd love to hear what you think of WYWS, if you do watch it.)

I loved Vincenzo until the final episode or two, and then had such major issues with the ending that it ended up not-a-fav after all; but there was so much about it to love. And Forest of Secrets is so good -- that really should be higher up.

I haven't tried any of your recs, nor Moving. Awesome! I'll see how I go with them. :D

ETA: Other ones that aren't on my list yet that I really enjoyed: The King Loves (historical, very twisty and political, from the writer of Healer), and Sell My Haunted House. Just ftr. :-)

[goldentunes]

!!!!! Yes he does steal every scene (and show) doesn’t he!

On that note, did you watch DP? I… don’t know whether I liked season one or not. It was so depressing 😭😭😭 and I felt even worse after talking to friends and hearing about how accurate it portrays time in the military… I haven’t had the courage to watch season two yet. But I hear it’s not exactly the same.

From the writer of Healer!!! Gosh I need 742764 hours in a day now to watch all of these haha! Thank you again!!

[china_shop]

Yeah, I watched season 1 of DP with my partner. It was pretty traumatic, wasn't it? I haven't braved season 2 either.

From the writer of Healer, but very very different. I found it pleasingly twisty -- it's about three people who love each other a lot, who keep getting backed into corners where they have to choose between the others, or self-sacrifice to protect them, etc, etc. It's like watching an amazingly dramatic game of palace-politics chess. (I'm not usually super into palace politics, so I was surprised how much I liked it.)

[goldentunes]

Omg! I forgot one! Have you seen Beyond Evil? The Korean name is 괴물. Again it’s not funny, not even in the slightest, and it’s kinda (okay maybe very) creepy at points, but it’s so so well written, and so so sooo well acted. (That was the year I wanted Vincenzo to snag all the baeksangs but I think most things went to this drama instead.)

[china_shop]

I haven't! I think I was put off by the name. I don't watch a lot of horror (The Guest being a notable exception; Master's Sun doesn't count)... but I'll add it to my list. :D (Uh, jsyk, I watch super-slowly. I've been trying to get into Pasta (2010) for a couple of weeks now, and I'm still on the second episode. I don't know where all my Kdrama-watching time went!)

[goldentunes]

Yeah… it’s. Hmm. It’s not horror but…… it’s scary. And as someone who cannot watch horror At All, I really struggled. I’d say it’s worth it though because the story is just so well written? Maybe only watch it in daylight if possible so it’s less scary 🤣

No worries! I am a super slow watcher too because I dabble in one thousand hobbies and am constantly watching a hundred shows at the same time. But WYWS I’m moving to the top of the list!

[goldentunes]

I dabble in a whole bunch of different genres, so I guess I like variety. But given that I'm now on a Revenge and Scathing Criticisms of Society kick, this will completely depress me if I could only watch this genre till the end of eternity haha! So I pick one show from a wide variety!

[yourlibrarian]

Yup, that does seem a safer bet!

[china_shop]

Hee!

[ella_rose88]

This is a tough question! But if I have to choose I’d pick one show from a variety of genres because I’d get sick of watching shows from one genre, more than the other.

Also, I have a fair few different genres I enjoy - fantasy, crime, drama, comedy, period dramas etc that I’d be sad to miss out on.

[yourlibrarian]

Of course the other plus is that lots of shows these days fit into more than one genre so that definitely allows more shows 😉

[ella_rose88]

That’s true! I didn’t even think of that :)

[feurioo]

Definitely one show each from a large variety of genres. I tend to watch horror when I'm happy and rom-coms when I'm depressed. When life's just normal, I watch both and many more genres in-between. No way that only one genre would suit me long-term.

[yourlibrarian]

Shows to fit the mood (or holidays!) makes a lot of sense.

[tinny]

If I only get one show from my favorite genre, that's waaaaay too little. So the former, then.

Thinking about it, I don't even have exactly one favorite genre. There are at least three. (fantasy, scifi, and bl).

I guess I'm lucky it's not a real thing, because I really don't want to limit myself. :D

[yourlibrarian]

More is definitely better, regardless of genre 🙂