Not that long ago, this very MS-QOTD inquired as to whether or not Faithful Spoilerites would be disappointed if the upcoming Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special featured only the two announced Doctors, rather than all 11 or even just the surviving 8 Sons of Gallifrey. The more I think about it, the more I know that there would be no way to balance nearly a DOZEN protagonists and still have the special work as a narrative, but there is still a part of me that is emotionally and nebulously upset about the situation. Historically, the multi-doctor tale has always been a cluster-schmozz (Due to illness, ‘The Three Doctors’ was almost entirely about TWO Doctors, while ‘The Five Doctors’ technically features only three, plus one stand-in and some stock footage) but I still feel like the BBC has walked away from a sterling opportunity for greatness (as well as a way to show a little appreciation to Messrs. Baker, Davison, Baker, McCoy and McGann for their contributions to the show’s longevity and success.) Of course, the worlds of fiction are crammed to the gills with what-a-shames and lost chances, which, in turn, begs a query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is still heart-broken that it’s too late for a cinematic meeting of Captains Kirk and Solo, asking: What do you consider to be the most tragically missed opportunity in all of pop-culture?
12 Comments
Season 2 of Firefly.
What comes to mind at the moment is that they never got to finish the storyline of Jericho on television. I think they did some stuff with comics and books or whatever, but I wanted to see it play out with those actors in the medium I was enjoying it in.
Tron: Legacy.
The movie itself was ok. Felt more like a rehash of the original movie with a fresh coat of snazzy soundtrack and effects.
The big missed opportunity would have been a post-credits stinger with Flynn and Tron walking away from the wreckage.
Tron says: “What do we do now”
Flynn replies all awesome-like: “What else? Try it again and make it better.”
Movies: Star Wars prequels
TV: Firefly Season 2
Comics: Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Star Trek: Generations, a once-in-a-franchise opportunity to have the TOS and TNG casts do something really interesting together was utterly wasted in a pretty forgettable movie. Even the meeting of the legendary captains, which should have been awesome upon awesome, was anti-climactic.
The really sad thing is the novels that Shatner co-wrote were more epic than that movie. The Kirk/Picard team-ups in those were a lot more fulfilling, and the eventual inclusion of the Mirror Universe to boot was icing on the cake.
And I’m not even a fan of Star Trek novels, so that is saying something.
The more I re-watch The Hobbit the more I feel this is a real missed opportunity. I’m starting to hate myself for watching it again and again. It’s like I keep thinking: “this time, this time it will get better.” I like the movie but I want to love it.
The Bay Transformers movies. While they are full of things going bang, they just don’t have the soul of that 80’s cartoon. Sure it was meant to sell toys but there was something much like GI Joe that still calls to us. The modern films just don’t have that.
I agree, both on the count of Transformers as well as GI Joe. Both could have been more than what they were.
I think the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary should have at least included ONE Doctor from the old series, or two if you want to split things further and make it old series, TV Movie and new series. While it was great seeing that little montage of Doctors in “The Name of The Doctor”, it wasn’t quite the same as seeing a new adventure with past Doctors, and they’ve dealt with the age difference of past Doctors before so that shouldn’t have been a problem.
I think the Green Lantern movie really missed the chance to live up to it’s potential. I can’t even begin to list what I think they should have done, but I think they had the chance to make a great sci-fi story and it turned out rather lacking.
The Transformer movies really make me sad since they seemed to throw away plot and story for explosions. There has been a rich lore built up over the years that they could have tapped, but instead they felt really simplistic by focusing on things going boom.
Calling Iron Man 3, The Man of Iron, and opening it this weekend.
I honestly have massive mixed feelings for Christopher Eccleston to have only had one season as Doctor Who. Mixed only because I also love David Tennant who followed and if Eccleston got another season or two we probably would not have had Tennant.
I really think Eccleston is seriously underrated as the Doctor. He played up the fact that he was the only survivor of the Time War perfectly. He was mostly quiet about it until triggered and he would go into a manic craze that looked very PTSD. The episode “Dalek” is a perfect example of this. Also his absolute elation at the end of “The Doctor Dances” as he declares “…just this once, everybody lives!”
I would have loved to have seen the 9th Doctor develop further and see where Eccleston would have taken it, I’m sure it would have been fantastic!