Some of the examples in the Wikipedia page don't make sense to me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competency_porn

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[–] 67 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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  • [–] 14 points 8 months ago (4 children)

    Ah yes, the TV show where every second episode is "captain, we fucked something up, and now everything's fucked".

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  • [–] 26 points 8 months ago* (2 children)

    The thing about true competency isn't that fuck-ups never happen, it's how you deal with fuck-ups when they do.

    In TNG the crew are generally capable, professional, and most importantly pull in the same direction. When a problem happens they put their heads together and solve it without ego.

    Compare to other (also good) space shows like Battlestar Galactica, where almost the entire plot is driven by secret identities, hidden agendas, backstabbing, and personal drama.

    TNG is competency porn because while Individuals are flawed, the crew as a whole are together brilliantly capable.

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  • [–] 4 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    TNG is a show about a utopian human society, where the individuals and society are moral and upstanding. It's a reflection of the best parts of our idealized selves. The characters are friendly, forgiving, and well trained. There is no substance abuse, and resources are unlimited.

    BSG is about how our hubris led to the downfall of civilization and how we're wasting away, hopelessly trying to avoid extinction in the face of resource starvation, and constantly being on the brink of annihilation. The characters are the best of what's left, whatever that means, and it's only through cleverness and luck that they can persevere.

    I honestly think BSG characters show competence better than TNG, because in BSG the deck is stacked AGAINST the characters, but they still pull through due to incredible talent. In TNG it's deus ex machina almost every episode as they "recalibrate the diteron maximizers and send more foonbahs to the replicar inverters"

    I love both, but IMO BSG is a much better reflection of actual competence and realistic human personalities, complete with skeletons in closet, bad attitudes, drunkenness, arrogance, etc.

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  • [–] 28 points 8 months ago

    Bob Ross’ Joy of Painting should definitely be in there

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  • [–] 26 points 8 months ago (2 children)
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    [–] 21 points 8 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    West Wing is in my opinion the best example of competency porn.

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  • [–] 14 points 8 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 12 points 8 months ago

    Alone

    This is going to be a bit random, but it's what came to mind: from the show Dead Like Me, the character Rube. Just him, not the whole show. I always loved him for it.

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  • [–] 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    I recently watched Dept. Q and was struck by how well all of the characters did their jobs.

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  • [–] 4 points 8 months ago

    Great detective show.

    It doesn't fall into the trap of making people too perfect. Most of the main cast have personal problems (some of them pretty fucking major) but when it comes to solving the crime they pull in the same direction.

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  • [–] 10 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    I agree with you about some of the Wiki examples not making sense. I can understand it for Oceans 11 but not Pluribus.

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  • [+] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)
  • [–] 7 points 8 months ago

    I'm a weeb, so Ghost in the Shell, ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept., Planetes

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  • [–] 6 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    The newsroom w/ Jeff Daniels

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  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago

    The Bureau - (Bureau of Legends) amazing French spy tv show. They make some mistakes but most of the show is them working and being pretty competent.

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  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Burn Notice was great for most of its run

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago
    [–] 2 points 8 months ago

    Restaurant Impossible?

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

    Veep

    edit I could not resist the chaos answer

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