WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON "FILLER"

author=Shmeckie link=topic=3532.msg72482#msg72482 date=1240819162

author=Mr. Y link=topic=3532.msg72403#msg72403 date=1240775674
Cowboy Bebop: Spike teaches a (throw-away) guy a bit about fighting... who ends up getting shot because he's showing off.

That... wasn't filler. Or something that happened more than once. That was one episode, with one guy, as part of one plot.

Sorry, I didn't make my point clear; I agree, that episode wasn't really filler, and I enjoyed it. But I enjoyed it because it expanded on Spike's character. If it couldn't be justified outside of itself, in the context of the whole show, as anything besides pointless (even as just being a distinct, memorable, 'good' episode in the whole series), then I would have considered it filler.

In this sense I think my definition may be different than others, because I can consider a single episode filler. In contrast, the biggest example of television filler for me would be... season seven of the TV soap Dallas, where the whole thing is revealed to be a big dream sequence with little impact on the rest of the show. Even then, however, it reveals something about the character Pam.

So, my definition is pretty weak and loose; I have very general guidelines for what I consider filler, but I usually save the word for 'boring crap that stalls the resolution of the hanging plot for no good reason.'

As I don't watch animé all that much (More of a manga person.), I don't mind fillers. The only filler that's gotten on my nerves is Naruto's. Thank gods for Shippuden.

post=70689
I like Charmed because you do not have to worry about filler; every single episode is filler and therefore it is perfect.

(I am being completely serious, by the way.)

not really, there were a few story arcs throughout the shows run, like the cole story arc through season 3 to 5. and the zankhou story arc in the season 7. There was a lot of filler in that show but i wouldn't say every episode was filler, and so the next poster, charmed wasn't crap, you're intitled to your opinion but you shouldn't call some one a terrible person jsut because they like something you think is crap. I think big brother is crap for example, that dosen't mean i hate everyone who enjoys it.

well anyway back on topic, in my opinion a filler is an episode which has little to no revelence to the main plot of the show. i'm not a big fan of fillers myself, although there are a few that are really good, I really like the episode "window of opportunity" from stargate sg-1, pure filler but one of the funniest things i've ever seen. of course doctor who is mostly filler but i still love cos the stories are just so damn good. sometimes filler cna really hurt a show the first hald of season 4 of alias for instance, a show which relied mostly on strong story arcs was mostly filler which is why i consider that to be the worst season of the show, of course it wasn't the writers fault, but rather the network demanding that make the first half of the season standalone in order to attract more viewers, i could go into a rant about networks ruining shows but that's an entirely different story. in general it's okay to have fillers here and there but you shouldn't dominate a show with them, unless they're all really good.

I don't mind filler sometimes, as long as it's entertaining (like LOST's Expose episode, for an example, which is my favorite ep from that series).

But too many fillers can get annoying, especially if they're only used to drag out a tired plotline even longer. BtVS is my favorite show, but it is loaded with fillers.