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points by yoyohello13 7 hours ago | 0 comments

The new age term is "Competence Porn" and man I love it so much.

There's been a resurgence of that in contemporary big budget SF. The Martian. Project Hail Mary. For All Mankind and The Expanse on TV.

[–] wolvoleo 5 hours ago

For all mankind and the expanse I wouldn't really put in that category really. Both are more soap operas in space and science is just a prop (though at least the expanse was fairly thought out)

[–] LilBytes 3 hours ago

Yeah I agree with you, I wouldn't put For All Mankind in the same bucket. It's a great show though! But not competence porn IMO.

I'd put the Expanse there though.

[–] jrootabega 2 hours ago

Mike Ehrmantraut

[–] solyin 7 hours ago

The West Wing exemplifies that category.

[–] romanhn 6 hours ago

Indeed! The presidential candidates from both parties on the show were competent, respectable individuals. Truly a utopia, not unlike TNG.

[–] shagie 6 hours ago

West Wing is so great and disappointing when you watch it now. Competence porn is... yea, that's the right word.

The clips that the channel puts out... are... let's say interestingly timed.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheWestWing

For example, https://youtu.be/LwNtZgLPCpg was posted 13 days ago (October 16th).

[–] troupo 5 hours ago

A very tangential/orthogonal/left field. It's insane that the only other TV series that managed to consistently pull of this fast pace of walking and talking is ... The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. At least that I can think of.

[–] shagie 5 hours ago

I'll refer you to Sports Night.

https://youtu.be/qYWBBFJKlPM

https://youtu.be/NMcLXG6PXto

Also from Andrew Sorkin...

    • Joshua Malina: Jeremy Goodwin (Sports Night) / Will Bailey (The West Wing)
    • Janel Moloney: Monica (Sports Night) / Donna Moss (The West Wing)
    • Felicity Huffman: Dana Whitaker (Sports Night) / Ann Stark (The West Wing)
    • Clark Gregg: Calvin Trager (Sports Night) / Mike Casper (The West Wing)
    • Timothy Busfield: Director (Sports Night) / Danny Concannon (The West Wing)

[–] troupo 5 hours ago

Ah. I should've said "other than shows where Aaron Sorkin was involved" :)

[–] opello 3 hours ago

What about ER? I thought that Tommy Schlamme was a big part of the creation of the walk and talk?

[–] rbanffy 4 hours ago

> Competence Porn

Don’t get me started on their engineering that causes a matter-antimatter runaway reaction if their fuel tanks ever lose power. And routing discharge-prone HV power lines behind the bridge consoles, or placing the bridge on the outer hull.

I love it, and I know this is all in the service of the story, but I will not give Starfleet a pass for that kind of irresponsible engineering.

[–] Brendinooo 3 hours ago

There was a bunch of tumblr content awhile back that explored the premise that humans are collectively wild and irresponsible and also tremendously innovative, it's a great head-canon explanation for your gripe. I won't spoil it trying to quote it, just check it out;

https://cheezburger.com/13685509/tumblr-thread-the-staggerin...

[–] outworlder 4 hours ago

Don't forget all the rocks in the bridge.

[–] rbanffy 3 hours ago

It’s all about the story.

[–] runamuck 5 hours ago

Top Gun: Maverick - great class on leading a high performing team.

[–] dcl 5 hours ago

Yes, Jon Hamm's character certainly did get the job done. lol