I hate to say it, but the quality of selection in this draft is quite WOOF. Just for starters, the dearth of female characters in the picks is pretty sad. I could take six now to beat all but a couple drafters easily.
I think it may be a mixture of a few things: 1) Wanting to get a link between the characters being chosen can lead to picks that may be seen as weaker by outsiders. 2) Some picks can be personal and obviously won't mean the same to everybody 3) Not wanting to be predictable and boring. Personally, I haven't picked all of my best ever 7, because I had an end game that they don't all fit into.
It tough - there just aren't that many good female characters. Characters are usually defined by unique characteristics that counterbalance or amplify their primary identity. So House is a doctor... who happens to be a curmudgeon. Homer is a typical family man... who happens to be a blinding idiot. But in Hollywood, that last part is often "... who happens to be a woman". So the twist is that they are competent. That doesn't make for a memorable character. And about 40% of current television characters are women (and it used to be much worse), so you also have fewer to pick from.
Oh, come now. So far, there's been three female characters out of like 50 picks. I just thought of four seemingly obvious ones off the top of my head in about 10 seconds that make some of these picks look droll. I can't wait until the draft is done. There will be much to say then.
I am not sure what WOOF means but I think it has been a good draft of the selections I know. There just arent that many strong female characters but I might please you with my final selection. I went through and made selections from all my personal favorite shows instead of just picking what I thought was the overall best. Some of them are also personal because I feel some parallels with them either through me or people close to me.
My 7th and Final Pick: Patty Hewes - Damages Patty Hewes played by Glenn Close is a ruthless, cutthroat litigation attorney which takes on multi-million dollar class action lawsuits and is willing to do anything to win. She's sharp, brilliant, manipulative, and the kind of person you do not want to cross under any circumstances. Patty will betray all those around here including her own son to get exactly what she wants. Glenn Close played this role masterfully well and is one of the best female leads I have ever seen in television.
I was going to pick someone else, but just to confuse afgrijselijkheid I'm picking a character of no sex at all. It's not like anyone's going to vote for my bizarre list anyway. Besides, a last pick is the perfect time to go meta. Roger from American Dad Murderer. Rapist. Arsonist. Drug pusher and user. Thief. Embezzler. Con-man. Vandal. Corrupter of youth. Destroyer of lives. Mooch. Loser. Failure. Untrustworthy. Unrepentant. Unremorseful. Complete sociopath. Utterly charming. I mean, that's what sociopaths do. They see everyone as targets of manipulation. And we fall for it. We can't help it. We're human. It doesn't even matter if we know what he is. Because manipulators are what all TV characters are. There's nothing real about any of them. They are all purposefully created to pull our emotional strings. Roger is those string pullers saying "Lets see how vile we can make a character and still have him be likeable". The answer is really, really vile. Disturbingly vile. And I thank them for it.
There are plenty of great female characters who have not been chosen. I could do 2 or 3 more drafts made only of great female characters who weren't chosen. I of course toyed with the idea of choosing only women, or only a certain type of female character (e.g. women with superpowers, or women who could kick your ass). In the end I went with a different theme, and it's worth noting that very few female characters fit in with my theme. Because girls on TV don't get to be scientists. It's also worth noting that many great, memorable, iconic, beloved TV characters of both genders have not been picked. People have clearly chosen their personal favorites, not the "biggest" characters. It will be easy, when the draft is done, to list several characters who were left on the board despite being some of the most beloved and well-remembered TV characters of all time.
Agreed. We didnt have that many people involved. If you didnt participate, why complain about the choices. If you feel that strongly about it why didnt you stand up and make choices.
I did not participate because I did not see the draft until I posted. As for complaining... you may as well ask why anyone offers praise. Offering commentary is kinda the point here. Besides, nobody directly criticized your picks, so climb down from that high horse.
i didn't notice that there was such a draft until a couple of days ago. i've participated in two or three drafts before. this one would have been fun.
Here's the thing about drafts. They are designed to allocate scarce resources and the competition for those resources are what makes following the draft so interesting. What seems to be going on here is that most contestants seem to have a theme for their draft, which means that the drafts are more idiosyncratic. And maybe fun for the drafters, but less interesting for the peanut gallery. I get the sense that most of you could just as easily have created your "team" and all posted simultaneously, and there would have been relatively little overlap. I like drafts, I've been in as many as I could, and I've followed this one closely. This thread has been viewed some 1900 times, and I account for probably 75 of those views. And there's been very little drama and some head-scratching picks. I'm even striking out with guessing the themes -- really thought Matrim was going all bartendery on us -- so the only interest will be when you explain your choices as a collective. And I am looking forward to that....
If it matters, I absolutely, positively love this pick and support it 50,000%. This is a round 7 steal.
My theme was I picked those very few characters I actually recognized as characters. As people that follow the movie thread know, I like to analyze movies I watch. I ponder their meaning and their emotional affect on me, no matter how simple or bad the movie is. But I never do that to TV shows. To me, a TV show is me watching the lives of people I know. Grading an episode is like grading a day in your life. You just don't do it unless it is in some way absolutely remarkable. The very concept of The Simpsons getting worse or Battlestar Galactica tailing off or some Buffy seasons being better than others is just alien. So for me to recognize a character as a character, they have to really be out there. They have to have an outstanding, unusual personality and they have to go through monumental, eventful change. I don't mean simple redemption or rags-to-riches, I mean to hell and back and hell and back and "Oh I forgot my wallet in hell we have to go back again".
With my final pick I select another fake newsman. First I went with Colbert, next I go with this guy here seen in one of his greatest moments: That's right, Kermit the Frog of both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show fame. You may have a milquetoast vision of Kermit, but he could be remarkably unpredictable, as Vincent Price memorably learned: And he knows his politics, even if he doesn't let on very often: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-co...14-2012/march-14--2012---pt--3?xrs=share_copy {Okay, having trouble embedding this clip from The Colbert Report, which is a shame since it ties picks one and seven together so well. It's a few minutes long is all, and worth the watch!}
I think I can agree with both at the same time that 1- Female characters just aren't well written many times (as spejic said just being female is often one of their dimensions) but 2- There are certainly more than 3 out of 50. I considered many female characters at one point but I also wanted a theme and could not think of many for that theme. In the end I was happy with my selections and how they fit my theme but two of what I felt would've been huge parts of an ideal "line-up" (yes I did treat it a bit like a team) were swiped earlier than I expected. That's part of the fun of the draft. I would've been thrilled to get 7/7 "first" picks but I would've been stunned too if that had happened. I had to travel on short notice and will be back home tomorrow so hopefully I'll catch up on blurbs for every pick and a short description of the team soon. Probably team first, blurbs if the momentum is still there.
Final pick: Woodhouse Archer Woodhouse is a man of exceptional skills, and even more exceptional patience. He's handy with a gun, a mop, and/or a syringe. He survived World War I, winning commendations for his bravery in extraordinary circumstances. He's also survived every kind of assassin you can name, "coarse" sandpaper rubs, and learning the difference between dark black, and an even darker shade of black. There's a good chance he'll also win a million dollar tontine. Still needs work on properly poaching an egg. Once owned a bar somewhere exotic. My Team: Al Swearengen (Deadwood) Sam Malone (Cheers) Moe Syzlak (The Simpsons) Guinan (Star Trek: TNG) Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) Butchie (The Wire) Woodhouse (Archer)