Reading, Listening, Watching

[purplecat]

Reading: Myth-Understandings - an anthology from NewCon Press. I picked up three of their anthologies at the Eastercon before last and this is the second I've read. The first I felt suffered from big names in SF failing to turn in their best work. I've only read the first story in this, Owl Speak by Storm Constantine which I found decidedly meh...

Listening: Fangirl Happy Hour, another podcast recommendation. I listened to an episode a few weeks back and wasn't terribly impressed (it consisted of a lot of hand-wringing about the Hugos without, I felt, really adding to the conversation) but thought I would give it another go. I'm still not sure. It seems to assume a greater interest in the presenters than the subject matter than Verity does, but the next episode will be about Captain America:Civil War so I'll give it at least until I've heard that.

Watching: Somewhat to our surprise we watched the final episode of Warehouse 13. I say surprise, since we were aware we'd only just started watching season 5. A little googling revealed that Season 5 only had 6 episodes but didn't reveal why (the only website I found said they had "run out of money" which makes no sense given what I understand about how TV show seasons are funded and commissioned). The only thing I could think of was that seasons 1-3 were each 13 episodes, but season 4 was 20 episodes, adding an extra 6 for season 5 gives them a multiple of 13 episodes in total, which I assume has some benefit in terms of packaging for repeats and resales, though what eludes me rather. It's a shame its ended though, we enjoyed it a lot. I'm wondering if The Librarians might have a similar vibe to it.

Comments

[the_rck]

If I recall correctly, SyFy only grudgingly funded season 5 of Warehouse 13 at all. I'm pretty sure they only did it to resolve the cliffhanger at the end of season 4. Since they were doing one episode, they seem to have decided to tidy up the loose ends.

[the_rck]

Oh, and I do think that The Librarians has a similar vibe as Warehouse 13. I like The Librarians a bit better, I think, but that may be because I've watched it more recently.

If you decide to watch The Librarians, the movies that precede the series are not necessary. They're not terrible, but they're backstory for one specific character, and all of the crucial setting information from them is in the first couple of episodes.

[purplecat]

If they really wanted to resolve the cliffhanger (and, I don't know maybe its because I'm a relic from the 70s and the 80s but I find it hard to imagination SyFy being particularly motivated by leaving it on a cliffhanger) then they could have easily made a TV movie and wrapped up the loose ends, such as they were (which was basically just the cliffhanger and the revelation about Claudia's sister - though that may be because I didn't think the Pete/Myka UST needed a resolution). 6 episodes is such as weird number though, I think it must have had something to do with packaging.

[purplecat]

The Librarians seems sadly lacking from streaming services, so we're going to have to decide whether we want to bite the bullet and buy the DVD on spec.

[the_rck]

I can see The Librarians on Hulu right now (just started up an episode). We have a paid account, so maybe that's the difference? Or-- I can't remember where you are-- is it that I'm in the US?

[purplecat]

Sadly we're UK based so Hulu isn't an option. We've subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and (less relevant here) Crunchy Roll though we'd probably pay for access to the remaining Buffy episodes the little one hasn't seen yet, if there were a UK based service offering them - mind you we're sort of assuming Buffy may reappear on Netflix in due course.

[a-cubed.livejournal.com]

The Librarians definitely has a lot of similarities to Warehouse 13. Warehouse 13 was almost certainly at least partly inspired by the original "The Librarian" TV movies (there are three of them). Librarian/Librarians are more family-friendly than Warehouse 13. While it's not necessary to watch the TV movies first, it helps to understand what's going on, particularly since the main character of the movies seems to start out as the main character of the TV show before retreating into special guest appearances after episode 1. However, the special effects, fight choregraphy, editing and direction of particular the first TV movie are less good than the equivalent elements of the tv show.
Have you seen any of Eureka (aka A Town Called Eureka) which was a linked show to Warehouse 13 (they did one crossover each way plus the odd further guest appearence). Worth checking out if you liked W13.

[purplecat]

Tempted by The Librarians, though disappointed it doesn't seem to be readily accessible on Netflix or Amazon Prime which means we'll need to decide whether to shell out for a DVD on spec (or, investigate alternative means, of course, but I try to avoid those since I do actually believe artists should get remuneration for their work however imperfect and indirect the system for delivering that remuneration).

I wasn't aware that Eureka was liked to W13. I think we saw an episode once several years ago and weren't particularly grabbed by it, but I'm fairly sure it was only the one episode, and a mid-season one at that and those can always be distinctly mixed affairs.

[bella-farfalla.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THE LIBRARIANS! It filled the hole that was left in my heart when Warehouse 13 ended. They definitely both have that cheesy fun vibe and are essentially the exact same concept, only one is in a warehouse, the other a library... If you like one you'll like the other, basically.

[morganfm.livejournal.com]

Warehouse 13 is one of my all time favorite shows, and I have quite enjoyed The Librarians as a supplement for my Warehouse nostalgia.
Eureka had a few little crossovers with Warehouse, mainly featuring appearances by Fargo in Warehouse season 2 and 3 with both computer trouble and once he used Beatrix Potter's teaset to make his video game more immersive (bad idea). From things said on Warehouse I think Claudia and Hugo have both made guest appearances on Eureka.

As for the shorter season 5, as I recall they found out that the show was being cancelled in between seasons 4 and 5, and were given a limited run with which to wrap up the story. Some people (myself included) were disgruntled with the choices made regarding Myka and Pete's relationship going from sibling-like to romantic (Bering and Wells forever imo), but at least they had the opportunity to give the show some sort of closure.

[purplecat]

I think we're going to buy The Librarians DVD (if only because we feel in need of a treat). We're going to check out Eureka as well which is, apparently, a sister show to W13.

[purplecat]

The Pete/Myka thing really annoyed me since I'd love their sibling-like relationship and that we had a show presenting a partnership between a man and woman that wasn't driven by UST. However, I'm choosing just to be in denial about the whole thing. They'll wake up a day or two later and be all "hey! why are we kidding ourselves we're in love just because other people keep telling us we are. What do they know?"