'Doctor Who' Just Isn't The Same

I love Doctor Who. Real Doctor Who. The original 20+ years. Not the new stuff.

I realized for a while now that, as much as I love sci-fi, had I not grown up with Doctor Who (real, classic) and was exposed to it for the first time in 2005 (the new stuff) I wouldn't watch. I wouldn't be a fan and I wouldn't get it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think the writing is well done (except for the plot holes they ignore in order to get done what they want to get done) and the acting is great and the special effects are good and the music is superb - but it's not my cup of tea.

They kill things in the new Doctor Who, all the time. Innocent things. Animals aren't even safe.

And when companions leave, you know it's going to be bad. Not sad like, oh, there goes Sarah Jane Smith (companion to the third and fourth Doctor) after all those years and the Doctor is really going to miss her and she's really going to miss him but they'll both be all right and move on with their lives. But like death and dying and mental breakdowns and trapped for all eternity in parallel universes.

Where the old series is fun, the new series is heavy.

Where the old series is charming, the new series is sad.

Where the old series is laughter, the new series is tears.

Where the old series is full of hope and optimism, the new series is all about loss.

The first 7 Doctors were fun to be around. (Even the 8th, I suppose, though I didn't like the movie.)

These last 3 Doctors are miserable to be around.

If a tall guy with curly brown hair and a large scarf walks up to me, I'd pack my bags in a heartbeat and run into the police box. If a guy in a black jacket, guy in a long trench coat or guy in a bow tie comes near me I will run the other way as fast as I possibly can.

The other day, my Mom asked me why we watch the current show.

"Tradition? Curiosity? A misplaced sense of loyalty? The undying hope that it'll somehow be what it once was?"

We can't be the only ones who don't care much for the new series BECAUSE of our love of the old one but try finding people who were fans of the old one. I was a fan before anyone knew what the heck Doctor Who was. I used to hide reading my Target novels in school and get blank stares when talking to the boys about sci-fi if I brought it up.

It's kind of the same nowadays except raving fans might be aware there was some show called Doctor Who decades ago, wasn't there a guy with a long scarf.

Breaks my heart. Which is ironic since watching the new show breaks my heart every other episode as yet another nice person gets whacked or betrays the world. (Old Doctor Who, bad guys would turn good. New Doctor Who, good guys turn bad. Who wants to watch that?)

Does anyone remember the guy with the scarf back when he ruled the airwaves and we didn't want it any other way?

Cut The Cable Reading Challenge (2013) - Post Your Reviews

This is for everyone to post their reviews of the books they've read for the Cut The Cable Reading Challenge.

There is a separate post for you to share your progress.

I can't wait to read your reviews and find some more books for the challenge!

Cut The Cable Reading Challenge (2013) - Update Your Progress Here

This is for everyone to post your progress of the Cut The Cable Reading Challenge.

There is a separate post for you to share your reviews.

I look forward to seeing what you're reading and how far you're getting in the challenge!

Enjoy!

Cut The Cable Reading Challenge (2013)

This is the first year I'm going to host a Reading Challenge!
You can find my post at Goodreads in the Challenge Factory group.

CUT THE CABLE READING CHALLENGE

The challenge is to read books that were made into TV shows and/or novelizations based on TV shows.

(Examples, Perry Mason, Dresden Files, Doctor Who.

The first two were books made into TV shows, the last was a TV show first.)

The challenge runs from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013.

You have to read the books in 2013.

Short stories count (example, Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Wooster)
Rereads count
Crossovers with other reading challenges count

Casual Viewer - 6 books
Couch Potato - 12 books
TV Junkie - 18 books
TV Addict - 24 books

I am going to allow non-fiction books in this challenge as long as they are written by, or are about, an actor/personality that has been on television.

Below, I've listed possible reads in different categories. You don't have to pick from the categories, I'm just using them to illustrate how diverse this challenge can be!

a) Mystery/Detective

Examples include Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Hamish Macbeth, Columbo, Psych.

b) Sci-Fi

Examples include Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Blake's 7, Torchwood, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

c) Paranormal/Fantasy

Examples include Dresden Files, The Sword of Truth series (novels) Legend of the Seeker (TV), Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Charmed, The Dead Zone.

d) Humor

Examples include Jeeves and Wooster.

e) Adventure

Examples include Burn Notice, Zorro, A-Team, 24.

f) Reality

Examples include The Garner Files: A Memoir by James Garner, Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates, David Janssen - My Fugitive by Ellie Janssen, From The Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary by Robert Clary.

Movies don't count for this challenge. The book could have been a movie but it has to have been a TV series (even if it didn't last all that long!). Buffy The Vampire Slayer was a movie, a book and a TV show and would count for this challenge. James Bond was books and then movies, I don't believe it was ever a TV show so it wouldn't count.

I hope you like this challenge and take it on and have fun with it!

If you have any questions, please e-mail me or put it in the comments. I tried to cover everything above and clearly!

I've made a post page where you can update your progress and post reviews throughout the year. That way, we can find new reads and new friends.

You can find this and other reading challenges I signed up for this year here.

Wordless Wednesday - Team Grandpa

Wordless Wednesday - Instructions Not Included