Trollheart

If there's one thing I really enjoy it's a good anthology show. Series like The Twilight Zone (already featured here), The Outer Limits, Tales from the Crypt, Black Mirror, Monsters... can't get enough of them. But some are without question better than others, and almost every one of these series has its bad episodes. So which is better? Which is the best? Well, there's really only one way to find out, isn't there?

So I've undertaken to watch selected episodes from, so far, twenty different anthology series and compare them against each other. Series range from science fiction, speculative fiction and fantasy to horror, and everything in between. Some of them I had never even heard about, never mind seen, before I began this journal. Over the course of the project so far I've come across some absolute gems whose existence I was entirely unaware of, as well as some with so many turkeys they could probably supply the whole eastern seaboard for Thanksgiving.

Episodes are taken at random, using a random number generator, so even the series seen as being the best - the likes of your Twilight Zones, Outer Limits, Black Mirrors etc - may stumble at times if I happen to select a bad episode. This will make it fairer and more equitable, as otherwise I could just go straight to the best episodes of each that I know will score high, and tip the balance unfairly in their favour.

The format? Glad you asked. Oh, you didn't ask? Well I'm going to tell you anyway.

There will be three separate section, with the third one broken into two parts. Why you ask? Wait till I tell you, I answer. Don't be so impatient. Section one is called "The Classics", for obvious reasons, and will feature the shows I, and probably you, know best; the ones already established in this era and the ones that I can, hopefully, reasonably expect to reward me the most with more good than bad episodes.

Section 2 is called "Ye Lesser Mortals " (shut up) and features shows I know of, or have seen the odd episode of, which have been running for some time and can be seen in one way to be nearly the descendants of the classics. Sort of.

Section 3 is "New Kids on the Block" and covers all the other shows, mostly the newer ones, ones which only began in the twenty-first century. Because I have more shows of this type than in the other sections, I've split this into two separate parts, as I mentioned above (see? I told you I'd explain it if you just waited).

Each section will feature fairly detailed synopses of an episode from each show, with my own comments and a rating. At the end of the round the shows will be ranked and then fit into a chart, which will show which of the series impresses me the most, which is at the top, and over the course of a few rounds it will be interesting to see if the positions are maintained or not.

Comment as usual is invited, but not that much expected. At worst, it should hopefully provide an entertaining read, and might bring back memories of certain shows to some of you. For others, it may encourage you to try out some of the shows here, and for still others, give you a reason to roll your eyes and stick on your headphones and shake your head in a "he's at it again, for the love of all that's holy, when will he stop?" kind of way. Spoiler: answer is - never.

Okay then, I can't resist using an obvious pun so
Let's get this show on the road.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018