tv series that influenced you in the hobby

[duhamel]

Following this interesting topic to another post, I launch it here according to you which tv series has influenced you the most in the hobby?

so I start I had to make a choice but I think it's this one

Thunderbirds

broadcast in France between 1976 and 1980

[has.been]

Most definitely Callan with Edward Woodward in the title role.
The first time I saw a character who was a wargamer.
When they made the film Peter Guilder provided the scenery & figures, Mr Woodward had it written into
his contract that he got the lot after the filming was done. I was green with envy.

[Doug ex-em4]

It must be be my age but there were no TV series that influenced me. At the start, the really important external influence was, of course, Donald Featherstone.

Doug

[duhamel]

there was also an episode the avengers but I do not know which one

[Belisarius]

Robin Hood with Richard Greene and Ivanhoe with Roger Moore . 😁

[fusilierdan]

Shows I gamed or got me interested in a period.

The Rat Patrol.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060018/

Boarwalk Empire.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979432/?ref_=nv_sr_2

The Time Tunnel
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060036/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Show where a lead charachter played wargames.

Scarecrow and Mrs. King
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085088/?ref_=nv_sr_2

[Daeothar]

Obviously, everything we see, read or otherwise experience will influence us at some level.

But I think you mean influencing to a level where elements of TV series are brought to the tabletop.

I'm sure I won't have to mention Crooked Dice's 7TV; it's completely built up out of TV (and film) tropes. So that one system alone will scratch any TV itch.

But on a personal level, there is a very specific example I can mention: Gerry Anderson's UFO.

I'm absolutely in love with that series, and am in the process of converting and building both miniatures and vehicles in 28mm to play in that setting.

That is the only TV series that I'm translating to the tabletop directly though, although there have been some smaller influences like Dr Who, Sharpe, Transformers (G1) and Space:Above and Beyond.
But there have been many other sources that have had a small or larger influence on my miniature collection and games. Interestingly enough though, most of those have been either books or films, and not TV series. In that category, there are Star Wars (of course ), Battletech, Lord of the Rings, the Alien franchise, Mad Max and many more.

I think that's because it's not that easy (or affordable) for TV series to depict large skirmishes or battles, which obviously form the bread and butter of miniature wargames. Instead, TV series, due to the limited format, are much more suited for translation to RPG or small skirmish games.

My UFO game will also fall into the small skirmish category, probably with a limited RPG element. The series simply never depicted actual pitched battles, and the largest force seen on screen must have existed out of a maximum of 10 men. And I think that goes for most TV series, the exceptions I can think of, being Game of Thrones and Rome (obviously due to their huge budgets)...

[Cubs]

I was always more influenced by what my brothers played, books I'd read or maybe films than TV. But one TV series does stand out as being almost single-handedly responsible for my interest in Napoleonics (or rather, the Peninsular War) and that's Sharpe. Crappy and under-budgeted as it was, with company-sized battalions, it was amazing for its time and a real game-changer (literally).

[Keith]

Yep, Sharpe is an obvious one for me.
I'd add Hornblower as ITVs attempt to get into the genre was actually pretty good too - probabaly why I own so many Perry shore-party figures if I'm honest.

[jon_1066]

I can't think of any.

The main influence when young was D&D (the game not the awful TV series), 2000 AD, novels, etc and we were always sorely disappointed in whatever TV offerings tried to shoe horn fantasy onto the screen.  Dare I say it when younger I though He-Man was a pile of garbage.

Perhaps more influenced by films eg Longest Day, Bridge Too Far, Kelly's Heroes, etc with regards wargaming.

[Harry Faversham]

Yep, Callan back in the sixties. In one episode a baddie found Callan's toy soldiers while searching his flat. The baddie broke the head of one of his soldiers... I knew he was a dead man walking after doing that!

 

[Sbloom141]

For me, it will have been Knightmare that kicked off a while interest in fantasy / sci fi things, though primarily because those books always had the best covers! Wargaming came much later but the settings always reminded me of Knightmare (plus I’m lucky enough to live near a few castles).