MovieChat Forums > Earth 2 (1994) Discussion > And the winner is...

And the winner is...

posted 8 years ago by madp
17 replies | jump to latest

So... In order to break the tie between "Twin Peaks" and "The Dresden Files," you guys decided we should watch...

UFO

I didn't see that coming. That's what I call a major curve ball!

So be it.

This is how the voting went. Converting your votes to Olympic medals, this is what we have:

SHOW..............GOLD..........SILVER..........BRONZE..........TOTAL..........POINTS

UFO.................3.............0...............0...............3...............9
The Dresden Files...1.............1...............1...............3...............6
Twin Peaks..........1.............1...............0...............2...............5
Better Off Ted......0.............1...............2...............3...............4
Who Pays the
Ferryman?...........0.............2...............0...............2...............4
Life on Mars........0.............0...............1...............1...............1
American Gothic.....0.............0...............1...............1...............1
Undeclared..........0.............0...............0...............0...............0

Well, "UFO" is on Youtube, so availability won't bean issue. We should start next Friday, June 3rd. This Sunday I'll let the "UFO" board know we're coming.

So, that's it. See you on the 3rd!

[–] brimfin 8 years ago

So... In order to break the tie between "Twin Peaks" and "The Dresden Files," you guys decided we should watch...

UFO

I didn't see that coming. That's what I call a major curve ball! (madp)

Not really. UFO, Twin Peaks, and The Dresden File each had 6 points - a three way tie. Plus, both UFO and Twin Peaks each had two gold medals, while Dresden Files had a gold, silver and bronze. So by the first tie-breaker, it would have been between UFO and Twin Peaks. I boosted Dresden to 8 points when I changed my votes around, then JohnQ picked UFO as gold, giving it 8 points as well, making it a tie between those two which I broke by switching my votes back. So, at no point was it just a tie between Twin Peaks and Dresden Files and UFO did not just come out of nowhere.

Just sayin...

[–] madp 8 years ago

by brimfin » I boosted Dresden to 8 points when I changed my votes around,

Exactly! And at this point I assumed UFO was out because, I thought, "brimfin has made a decision, and when he makes a decision..." Well, well.

then JohnQ picked UFO as gold (...) and UFO did not just come out of nowhere.

Precisely what it was. That's a big curve ball I didn't see coming. He showed genuine interest in "Twin Peaks" and made a compelling case for the show.

Before John's change of mind, with UFO out, the dispute left was between "Dresden" and "Peaks." And "Dresden" depended on my second-place vote, which I was considering changing.

And then... All of a sudden everybody chose UFO. Go figure.

But it's OK. It's precisely this kind of flip-flopping that makes the voting process fun. I guess I have to be more of a player next round.

[–] brimfin 8 years ago

OK. I see the points you are making. I was looking at it from a numbers perspective. You were looking at it beyond the numbers.

Interestingly enough, when I boosted DRESDEN to #1, I left UFO at #2 so that if someone else showed an interest in UFO they would still have enough leverage to keep it in the race. When JohnQ voted for it that could have been just a countermove to mine. But when he said he wished he'd taken you up on your offer to run UFO right after we finished THE PRISONER, I knew he was serious. So that persuaded me to go with it as well.

[–] madp 8 years ago

by brimfin » OK. I see the points you are making. I was looking at it from a numbers perspective.

After all, you're our "by the numbers" guy!

But when he said he wished he'd taken you up on your offer to run UFO right after we finished THE PRISONER, I knew he was serious. So that persuaded me to go with it as well.

Well, UFO was already due for a while anyway, so let it come! I can't help but think about our friend who said the two shows he would never watch were "The Prisoner" and "UFO"...

[–] JohnQ1127 8 years ago

then JohnQ picked UFO as gold (...) and UFO did not just come out of nowhere.
Precisely what it was. That's a big curve ball I didn't see coming. He showed genuine interest in "Twin Peaks" and made a compelling case for the show.

Before John's change of mind, with UFO out, the dispute left was between "Dresden" and "Peaks." And "Dresden" depended on my second-place vote, which I was considering changing.

Well I had voted UFO #1 back when it was against Prisoner '09 so there was some precedent. In retrospect I should have gone along with your compromise solution to watch The Prisoner & UFO back to back.

Here was my thinking:

I had UFO ranked about 3-5 on this current ballot. I really wanted to see Peaks or Ted. I had it: Peaks, Ted, Undeclared/UFO/Mars. Dresden was 7th on my ballot I think I would have rather watched Ferryman because it's only 7 episodes, it has high IMDB ratings and it's on youtube. Mars is a bit of a pain in the neck now because it's no longer on HULU so I would have had to gone to the library 3 towns over to take out Mars.

*I gave Peaks the #1 vote because that created a 3 way tie. So I was planning on voting: Peaks-UFO-Dresden. I didn't give UFO a 3rd place vote because that would have given it the top sport over Peaks.

*I was surprised that you included Dresden in your ballot, creating a tie if you really wanted to watch Peaks? It would have been better to leave Dresden off your ballot completely thus creating a Peaks/UFO run off and having Lorkus as the tie breaker. Brimfin couldn't have changed his UFO/Dresden vote because it would have actually given Peaks the top spot.

*Brimfin threw the first curve after the 3 way tie, and changed his vote to give Dresden 8 points and the top spot and downgraded UFO to 5 points.

*Dresden was my 7th choice and UFO was my 3 or 4. Undeclared was already out of it. Peaks had only 2 person support and you had already given it a #1 so there wasn't going to be any movement on that. Ted didn't have any #1 votes and I was the only person who gave it #2 so I could only move it up to 5 points. You could have taken Dresden off of your ballot after the Brimfin move, creating a Peaks/Dresden tie with M.Stevenson as the tiebreaker but I couldn't count on that and I didn't see any movement. The only option I had was to go after Dresden and to give UFO a #1 and make 2 way tie.

*Things were also getting confusing because of the TTT questions.

*The Brimfin threw the 3rd curve and switched his UFO vote back thus giving it the win.

I think this voting was a bit odd and confusing because of the TTT questions.

This is also another endorsement for the 5 show ballot because UFO would have been 4th-5th and not seen as a complete curve.

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

Perhaps a simpler solution would be to change the scoring system. A show gets 4 pts for two Silver placings and 3 for one Gold.
Gold should have greater reward in comparison to silver.
4 for Gold 2 for Silver and 1 for bronze would properly reward 1st place nominations and make it harder to dislodge by a show with just 2nd's
No doubt someone will work out what difference it would have made this time , probably made UFO's victory easier ,but with 3 out of 5 Golds that seems only right.

[–] madp 8 years ago

by JohnQ1127 » I was surprised that you included Dresden in your ballot, creating a tie if you really wanted to watch Peaks? It would have been better to leave Dresden off your ballot completely thus creating a Peaks/UFO run off and having Lorkus as the tie breaker.
(...)

You could have taken Dresden off of your ballot after the Brimfin move,

...which is exactly what I was thinking about doing. If only you had talked to me... The difference is that I only change my votes after careful consideration, and while I was considering my considerations, you guys were allover the place, back and forth.

I think this voting was a bit odd and confusing because of the TTT questions.

There's always a lot of side talk in the voting thread. This is why I insist on the votes being in green, so I can tell them apart, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find anything.

[–] JohnQ1127 8 years ago

...which is exactly what I was thinking about doing. If only you had talked to me... The difference is that I only change my votes after careful consideration, and while I was considering my considerations, you guys were allover the place, back and forth.

Well I didn't want to get into any kind of collusion vote with another member. I wasn't sure about the ethics of it.

[–] madp 8 years ago

Of course. Officially I cannot endorse that.  Now seriously, it's nice you thought that. I guess there can be sometimes some sort of resentment if collusion is perceived.

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

Lets talk episode order (oh no)
The order on youtube is the production order and the series was never intended to be seen in this order.
UFO has a massive ensemble cast and not all the characters appear in every episode. In fact only Ed Bishop appears in all of them , but that's fine because the SHADO organization has many spheres of operation, moonbase , under the sea , on land , in the HQ , and various bases around the world.
So if certain characters aren't in an episode, no problem, they're working elsewhere during this story , no big deal.
The show was made in two recording blocks , 17 at Borehamwood, a studio that then closed , and several months later production recommenced at Pinewood. In the intervening months some of the cast found other work and were unavailable for the last 9 shows.
But hey! apart from Straker no-one was in all the episodes anyway, so mix these last nine episodes into the 17 earlier ones and no one notices about eight regular or semi regular characters have mysteriously left.
Now the youtube dvd order is based on production,so after 17 episodes some regulars disappear new ones come ,no reason is given within the show. Fanderson the Gerry Anderson fan club recommends this order so perhaps we should stick with that.
If you go onto the UFO board and read the thread "Episode guide anyone" you'll see seven different orders I think that someone has put up . I've contributed to that discussion too with my own order.

Changing the subject;
There's a very humorous thread titled"100 things you can learn from watching UFO" I've contributed to that as well. This thread demonstrates how fans view the show . We love it for all its faults ,and it has many, just don't take it too seriously!

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

Episode order discussion thread
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/board/threads/244948158/

[–] madp 8 years ago

by michaellevenson1 » Lets talk episode order (oh no)

Actually, it is a bit too soon to talk about that, unless we don't start with the pilot... I only like to think about what episode comes next, then the following week, we discuss the next one, and so on. We don't need to know right now which one will be the 21st episode. Let's worry about that after episode 20.

Episode order discussion thread
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/board/threads/244948158/

"Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a widely agreed-upon UFO viewing order, so I've listed several below."
Oh, no, that definitely will not work for me. In order to compare possible viewing orders, we'd have to get informed about the content of such episodes and discuss them before we even watch them, and I won't do that. I want to know as little as possible about the show, as a matter of fact and be surprised as I view it.

Since you know the show, pick an order and we follow it. Let's not make this more complicated than it has to be.

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

I will gladly pick an order and present it when you introduce us to the new board , if you're giving me the green light to do so.
Hopefully UFO fans will join us , the more the merrier, and I'll be prepared to defend my order against any complaints.
In 1970 in Britain commercial tv was fragmented and the various regional companies all showed UFO at different times with different orders, with some even refusing to show "The Long Sleep" which they banned.
I have had the whole series in my collection for 30 years so I have a good order , so fingers crossed for what should be a interesting journey.

[–] madp 8 years ago

by michaellevenson1 » I will gladly pick an order and present it when you introduce us to the new board , if you're giving me the green light to do so

No problem for me, and I don't think anybody will object. For Earth 2 I did some reading beforehand and learned a fair share of spoilers, but I don't want to do that again. And your Earth 2 DVD order was definitely useful.

some even refusing to show "The Long Sleep" which they banned.

And now I'll refrain myself from asking the inevitable "why?" about that particular episode. You can enlighten us when we get there.

I have had the whole series in my collection for 30 years so I have a good order , so fingers crossed for what should be a interesting journey.

That's great!

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

We UFO-ites love it really we just don't take it too seriously
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/board/threads/193753095/

[–] madp 8 years ago

by michaellevenson1 » There's a very humorous thread titled"100 things you can learn from watching UFO" I've contributed to that as well. This thread demonstrates how fans view the show .

We UFO-ites love it really we just don't take it too seriously
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/board/threads/193753095/

I'm sure this kind of information will be very interesting after we've seen the 26 episodes. I know it's not always possible to avoid spoilers, considering how old the show is, but I managed to get surprised by the end of "The Prisoner," let's try the same with "UFO," and start introducing these curiosities about the show little by little as we watch each episode.

[–] JohnQ1127 8 years ago

I used to love this show when I was a little kid back in the early 70's. Then for whatever reason It was never in syndication in NYC in the 80's-90's etc. I haven't seen it in 40 years so it's going to be interesting to see how I remember it.