A Guest Post
Words and graphics by: Benjamin Taggart
Whether it’s to find order in a day marred by chaos or to snuggle with a loved one in the glow of shared movies and TV series, screen time is important. Unfortunately, when most of us look at lists of media online, we usually do it in the same way, i.e., skimming past the explanatory prose in order to just get to the list. But creating a well-rounded watchlist is an act of media meditation, providing an opportunity to revisit old memories and an excuse to consider new ideas. And if you read this article in full, you’ll know how to start turning passive screen time into interactive by designing watchlists that can surprise you. It only takes a basic template to get started, so here it is…
As my old chef used to say, “Variety is the spice of life-” and the rainbow-colored column on the left-hand side of the above image shows an excellent variety of time slots that combine to complete an ideal formula. The rainbow color scheme is in no way symbolic, meaning violet doesn’t represent one slot any better than red (or orange or yellow), but, for the record, I think rainbows are cool, and, for those of you who think that the text in the above image might be too small to read, here’s an expanded list describing the formula in fine detail…
01. KIDS’: Typically something animated, but it can easily be a live-action show like Land Of The Lost, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, or Creeped Out.
02. EDUCATIONAL: Usually a documentary series like Connections or Spy In The Ocean, but what makes the time slot educational is an absence of fiction, so its definition can be stretched to include news, sports, and even reality shows like Naked And Afraid.
03. MOVIE: Any feature-length film.
04. HALF HOUR №1: Generally a sitcom, but it can include more dramatic shows like M*A*S*H, The Wonder Years, or After Life.
05. HALF HOUR №2: Again, generally a sitcom, but it can easily include drama, and it’s entirely up to you to decide whether you want to include just one or both half-hour time slots in your TV-viewing day.
06. DRAMA: Typically something that doesn’t prioritize special effects, i.e., shows in which plots are driven forward by character interactions and human drama. But, as we’ll see in future watchlists, the category’s final definition is up to you.
07. SCI-FI: Usually programs in which the underlying theme is science fiction, i.e., a divergence from reality meant to explore the more fantastic themes of science.
08. FANTASY & HORROR: If science fiction diverges from reality for the purpose of scientific speculation, then fantasy and horror explore the supernatural. The genre can include gore, but gore-friendly shows like Dexter, Hannibal, and Bates Motel don’t necessarily include the supernatural element and are therefore considered thrillers, probably better suited for the drama category.
09. LATE NIGHT: Late-night programming is rarely included on other people’s lists. I only discovered the category by accident (years ago) after recording a few days of perfect television on VHS. An old VHS tape can hold about six hours, and filling the other time slots always seemed to leave room for a little bit extra, so the half-hour late-night category has always been a little something extra on my watchlists. Great examples of this category include shows like the original Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories, or even Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. My late nights usually only run about a half-hour or less, but yours can be as long as Elvira’s Movie Macabre, MST3K, Svengoolie, or anything else you want. The time slot can be filled with drama, sci-fi, horror, or even comedy, but, regardless of the specific genre you choose, the binding theme for the slot is generally something dark, or, at the very least, something weird.
That having been said, or, in this case, written, here’s an example of a steampunk-themed watchlist that fills all nine slots…
02. Victorian Farm
03. Movie
04. Up The Women
07. Nautilus
08. Penny Dreadful
09. A Young Doctor’s Notebook & Other Stories
If a successful watchlist includes variety, then the success of a steampunk watchlist depends on a person’s ability to broaden their personal definition of the genre. And although most people might limit that definition to gadgets and gears from the Victorian era, a more open-minded interpretation should include any appropriately period-themed media that excites the imagination and/or celebrates the spirit of invention. A show like American Primeval doesn’t specifically focus on gadgetry, but it’s period-appropriate and can definitely excite the imagination. You can follow the above hypertext links to find more specific information on each of the list’s nine items, but this article will only discuss three, beginning with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal…
Created by Genndy Tartakovsky (the mind behind Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Primal), Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is actually a series for grownups that originally aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. It’s about a team of heroes (including a steam-powered robot) who battle evil in the 19th century, but it’s only rated PG, and since the watchlist’s basic formula is nothing if not flexible, and because I’ve recently spent six weeks immersed in nothing but steampunk media (and have already become familiar with Sherlock Hound), I put this series in the KIDS’ slot to feed my enthusiasm for animation. You might consider other (actual) kids’ programs like The Baker Street Boys, A Little Princess, Five Children And It, or even The World Of Peter Rabbit And Friends (based on the works of Beatrix Potter).
You might also consider any number of excellent movies…
Pictured above are scenes from the 2012 movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on the novel of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith and co-produced by Tim Burton. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a good movie with a self-explanatory title, but (excluding the obvious League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Wild Wild West, The Time Machine, etc.) here are a few other titles to consider…
01. The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)
02. The Road To Wellville (1994)
03. The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002)
04. The Prestige (2006)
05. From Hell (2001)
06. April And The Extraordinary World (2015)
07. Hysteria (2011)
08. Little Women (2019)
09. Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
10. I Sell The Dead (2008)
But those movies are relatively new, so (excluding the obvious 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, First Men In The Moon, The Time Machine, etc.) here’s a quick list of steampunk movies for fans who want to look further back…
01. The Assassination Bureau (1969)
02. The Great Race (1965)
03. Doctor Dolittle (1967)
04. Island At The Top Of The World (1974)
05. At The Earth’s Core (1976)
06. Mary Poppins (1964)
07. Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (1965)
08. Hello, Dolly! (1969)
09. Master Of The World (1961)
10. Island Of The Fishmen (1979)
Again, there aren’t any steam-powered giant spiders in Mary Poppins or Doctor Dolittle, but creating a successful watchlist means exploring the difference between a world of pure fantasy versus a healthy alternate. A fantasy contains no perspective other than your own, but a well-rounded alternate can shock, challenge, and even inspire you. In other words, it’s world-building via the magic of television, and you make the televised reality complete by adding the unexpected.
Which brings me to the example list’s late-night series, A Young Doctor’s Notebook & Other Stories…
Taking place somewhere around the time of the February Revolution, and inspired by the short stories of the then-contemporary author Mikhail Bulgakov, the series might be better suited for a dieselpunk list. It’s also a kind of comedy, which means it might also work for one of the prime-time half-hour slots. But because it’s set in bleakest Russia and contains a generous amount of blood, guts, and drugs, it has that dark/weird quality that’s perfect for late-night television. And, more importantly, I’ve never seen it. So, since the above list is something that I look forward to watching, I made sure to include the unpredictable, and I wasn’t overly strict about the traditionally historic time period in which the steampunk genre is most often set. Year Of The Rabbit is also dark and weird, but you might want to consider other late-night alternatives like Quacks, The Nightmare Worlds Of H. G. Wells, or even the 1984 series, The Invisible Man (a faithful adaptation of the H. G. Wells story of the same name).
In any case, sitting down for six or more hours a day to enjoy the full watchlist may not be practical for every viewer. And, even if it were, not all of the above series have the same number of episodes, which means that although you could watch all of them some of the time, you couldn’t watch all of them 100% of the time. And that’s why you’ll need a TV viewing schedule or timetable, and that’s something I’ll discuss further in my next article, which will focus on atompunk…
Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, or at least found it helpful… and thanks for reading!
Benjamin Taggart has been an author and illustrator since he was old enough to hold a crayon. His illustrations have appeared on countless posters for bands and special events, his three picture books have been enjoyed by at least three people, and his journalistic endeavors can be seen in The Monarch Review, NOW Toronto, and Gonzo Today.
He lives on Earth but is open to other possibilities and is currently considering a small patch of land in the vicinity of Epsilon Indi.
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