Tone

[una]

What is your favorite tone for a show? Do you like lighthearted, humorous shows or darker and mature shows? Or maybe a combination of both?

What shows do you think benefit for a lighter or darker tone?


Me? I seemed to lean towards lighthearted shows than darker ones. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy darker shows. I just take them in small amounts. XD Heck, I much prefer shows that have both like maybe a show has very quirky characters and mature themes are things you have to search or interpret yourself or a mature show that has breaks for lighthearted banter and humor to go along with it.

Edit: I'm going to add movies to the mix. I forgot to include that. XD My bad.

[Alak]

I like a combination of both. Shows that have a team of mixed characters are usually my favorite, especially when some members are humorous while others are solemn. Light-hearted episodes have more replayability for me, but the darker ones stick in your head for a long time. Add them all together, and you have yourself a really good tv show

[Beastbot]

My favorite tend to have somewhat dark undertones, but there's still good guys who eventually win. I understand not wanting to make everything black and white, but blurring the lines so much where EVERYONE seems like a bad guy bothers me.

I also rather like dark humor (see: Deadpool, or the current More Than Meets The Eye TF comic series).

[Blackrosefencer]

I usually like detective shows like NCIS and Bones. I also like shows with doctors. I also like Stargate, Farscape, Firefly, and Ghost Whisperer.

I like when once in a while shows go out of their "comfort zone," so to speak, and experiment with other things. One of my favorite episodes of Stargate is called "Window of Opportunity." Basically two of the characters get stuck in a time loop, but they're the only ones who can remember it. It was a light-hearted and comical episode. Not to say that there are never any funny moments in Stargate SG-1 (cuz RDA's character is really amusing), but there aren't many episodes in the series that are laugh out loud funny. So it was neat to have an episode that was meant to be light-hearted and entertaining.

So I like when serious shows once in a while do some funny episodes and the reverse...when funny shows do some serious episodes. M*A*S*H for instance is another favorite of mine. Some of my favorite episodes are ones that are more serious than their normal tone.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I like a show that piques my interest by exploring all kinds of genres and tones. I don't generally like shows that have the same tone every time you watch it. I am not a big fan, for example, of Everybody Loves Raymond for that reason. Frank Barone is the only reason I tolerate the show. He's a riot! But the show itself is so linear. They are always have the same arguments, the same discussions, and the same problems. There is also very little character development and the characters are always yelling and insulting each other. I don't mind that kind of tone occasionally, but I like variety.

[una]

Yes, I love a combination of both. I can take dark shows or movies only if in the middle of intense suspense, violence, and/or action, there is a break from them.

I love to have some humor or moments where the heroes can kick back and rest.

In a show, I love it to have some quirkiness. Like, for example, Beast Wars or an example as a video game, Phoenix Wright. In the Phoenix Wright series, you deal with alot of stuff: violent, brutal deaths, kidnapping, psychopaths, suicide and etc.. trust me, this series can get very dark in implications of different themes as well, but despite of this darkness, the series has almost every character have a quirkness or charm to them even the suspects. Many are humorous as well as their designs. Lighthearted moments of the protagionist talking with his friends or his friends joking with him. XD

Another reason why I like Transformers Animated. The designs are quirky and funny, but that show can get pretty serious in a minute.

[Razor One]

I'm generally not so much fussed about tone as I am about execution.

Lighthearted, dark and mature, and all that lies in between are things I can enjoy as long as they are done well.

A show that takes its tone and does well with it is something that'll stick with me. Reversing that tone can also work, as can changing things up. Farscape comes most prominently to mind when I think of this as that show ran the gamut between psychotic happiness and bitter sweet despair and just plain nailed the execution every time.

What tends to make me try to forget a show is when it tries something and utterly fails at it. A few notorious episodes of Star Trek have the dubious honour of earning my scorn on this basis. Enterprise's "Dear Doctor" was a case in point of how to make your heroes seem like genocidal douche bags (and, incidentally, the point at which its ratings tanked), while Stargate Universe suffered from an inability to find the proper tone (other than grimderp) until about the halfway point of Season 2 where the Twin Destinies and Beserker Arcs were in play... too late to save the show, but enough to redeem it in part.

Tonal shifts aren't bad either as long as they're done well. Steins;Gate comes to mind here. The tonal shift at about the halfway point was every bit as shocking as it could be... but was executed well since they'd laid in hints that things could get Very Serious earlier on.

So, yeah. Tone doesn't matter for me. Execution of that tone, does.