Topic: The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon

[DJ Doena]

Yeah but it's not the dead mother arc that makes this show, it's the interaction of Rick & Kate on their cases.

Oh, yeah, I agree whole heartedly. I enjoyed season 1 a lot and was my unwatched pile smaller I'd probably get season 2 and beyond quickly.

Just, that mother thing was so strong at the end of season 1 that I can only wonder what eventually became of that.

As I said the story of the mother is usually one for the last/first episode of the season and not every season as well. It had an heavy impact on the season 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6 cliffhanger but that's about it.

If you already have season 3 in your collection, just watch the first episode, it's a great example of what the show is really about. Or you watch the season 2 episode with Alyssa Milano, that was great as well.

[Achim]

I only have season 1

There is already 6 seasons...?

[Dragonfire]

I swear I posted in this thread last night about this.  Who knows where the heck the post went.  Sucked off into another dimension..with the socks that vanish from the wash perhaps.   

[DJ Doena]

There is already 6 seasons...?

Sorry, meant 1/2, 3/4 and 4/5, not 5/6.

The show is in its 5th season.

[DJ Doena]

The Sarah Jane Adventures

What's the show about?
It's the third show in the Whoniverse (after Doctor Who and Torchwood). In the UK Doctor Who itself is aimed at (older) children ("The story and the monsters for the kids, the Doctor for the mums and the companion for the dads" as the saying goes) but The Sarah Jane Adventures is aimed at young children (and those who stayed young ). Sarah Jane used to be a companion to the Third and Fourth Doctor in the 70s and she had a few adventures with the Tenth Doctor. Now she has adventures of her own with her adopted son and his friends and the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor visited her on her own show.

"Invasion of the Bane"
The kids of the neighbourhood start to notice that something weird is going on in Miss Smith's backyard because she's visited by what looks like fairies. Sarah Jane - she is a newspaper reporter by day - on the other hand investigates a factory that gives away free soft drinks to all the children that visit the factory. When she discovers that there's a young boy who appears to have been created in that factory, she knows that something otherworldly is going on.

My Opinion
I enjoyed the show. It took existing aliens from the Whoniverse and adapted them for the show (e.g. where the Doctor has to deal with adult Slitheen, Sarah Jane gets to deal with their offspring). But it also invented their own races and told stories about them.


Sadly the show came to an end when Elisabeth Sladen died from cancer a few years ago.

[DJ Doena]

Spuk unterm Riesenrad
(lit. "Spook under the Ferris Wheel")

What's the show about?
This is a children's show from East Germany. It was the first in the "Spuk" series. During the summer three kids spent their days on the fair grounds and mostly in the haunted house their grandparents run. Three of the life-size puppets come to life and cause havoc in East Berlin and later the Harz mountains.

"Die Ausreißer"
(lit. "The Fugitives")
One day a group of kids accidentally get three life-size puppets dirty: the witch, the giant and Rumpelstiltskin. When they secretly try to clean them in the river Spree the puppets come to life and escape. Their first mission is to get a broom so that they can fly away from this strange town they've woken up in, so they visit the next shopping mall and steal the next best thing to a broom: a vacuum cleaner.

My Opinion
When I was a kid I enjoyed this seven-part show. So when it became available on DVD I bought it purely for sentimental reasons. But if you're having small children, it's still a great story.

[DJ Doena]

Spuk im Hochhaus
(lit. "Spook in the High Rise")

What's the show about?
This is a children's show from East Germany. It was the second in the "Spuk" series. 200 years ago an inkeeper and his wife used to rob rich travelers until a police officer stops them. He curses them to do seven good deeds or else they won't rest in piece.

"Feuer und Wasser"
(lit. "Fire and Water")
After they've accidentally killed a police officer who tried to stop them robbing their customers both the innkeeper and his wife die when the inn burns to the ground. But since they had been cursed they don't stay dead. Now - 200 years later - they awake again and can only find piece when they do seven good deeds. But where their tavern used to be is now an apartment complex (in East Berlin) and a strange new world.

My Opinion
I can only repeat what I've said before: When I was a kid I enjoyed this seven-part show. So when it became available on DVD I bought it purely for sentimental reasons. But if you're having small children, it's still a great story.

[DJ Doena]

Spuk von draußen
(lit. "Spook from Out There")

What's the show about?
This is a children's show from East Germany. It was the third in the "Spuk" series. In the dark ages three aliens from the planet Obskura built a vacation home in the Erzgebirge mountains and only left a robot (disguised as "grandpa" Rodenwald) to guard it. Now a family from East Berlin has moved in and starts to notice the odd things going on in it. To make matters more complicated the three aliens have returned because they have to bring back the house (they actually stole the building materials from their home planet) and a filming team has arrived to shoot a movie about the tales from the dark ages surrounding the house.

"Das alte Haus"
(lit. "The Old House")
Originally the family Habermann had only planned to have a nice, quiet vacation in the small town of Bärenbach. But soon they really feel at home and decide to move into a house that the villagers claim is haunted. The only permanent resident is the old Rodenwald, everyone else quickly moves out again. And indeed, some strange things happen in that house and Rodenwald is a person cloaked in mystery.

My Opinion
And for the third and last time: When I was a kid I enjoyed this nine-part show. So when it became available on DVD I bought it purely for sentimental reasons. But if you're having small children, it's still a great story.