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Dr Strangelove
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Oh well, what does it matter? By the end of Spetember they should have pretty much run through the existant episodes of Firefly then the movie will have its run then that's it. It will be over.
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-Jrabbit
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of the Electronic Egyptians
Feb 2002
time: 23:37
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Sava, Firefly aired in 2002. Eleven episodes aired, and the DVD set has three more. It got no promotion and died a quick death. Joss Whedon is still committed to the idea, and there are hopes the concept turns into a movie franchise.
The concept was "a classic western, with outer space as the frontier" which is why you've got anomalies like guns and cattle. In the outer reaches of the galaxy, things are pretty primitive, so it's of course not all the phasers-on-stun and gleaming Emerald City palaces that you apparently want in your future vision. It's also why the spaceships aren't all shiny and antiseptic. I like the fact that they need a mechanic instead of a screen-tapping "engineer" like Geordi. The fact that Firefly uses an actual contemporary gun is actually a pretty picayune complaint on your part.
If you compare the plotting and dialog to classic Westerns (the vibe Joss was going for), you would see that it's very true to the vision. (Which, of course, does not require you to like it.) And the Western genre is famed for its obvious dialog. The cool thing Whedon does is to remove the white/black hats to depict a world of convenient morals based on personal code and survival in a hostile environment.
I agree that the doctor character sucks, but name me a (non-virtual) one in a sci-fi series who didn't. The River character was supposed to be a long-term plot development, very unsatisfying in the original because they never got to explain much about her before the show was cancelled.
The crew reflects classic Whedon ensemble casting. Mal (the captain) is a scifi standard, Jayne is the no-brains muscleman (Spike). Oh, and if you don't think the black chick is hot, I worry about you. The savant-mechanic is a great touch. In addition to the actual crew, you've got a preacher and a "companion" (high-class prostitute) to address social issues that don't get addressed in the world of merchant-survival that the captain lives in. The women on this show are all useful and empowered (except River who is basically a passenger), yet all you see is whether they meet your standard of hot. Kinda sad.
Sava, you seem to have watched one episode (about the 5th) and dismissed the show's concept. And Westerns aren't for everyone, so that's cool. But for those of us who saw it from the beginning, believe me, this show works.
I can't wait for the movie.
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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:37
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4400 had a decent concept, kinda like Odyssey 5 told from the viewpoint of the non-returnees, but Season 2 has largely been unimpressive--why? Because it's resorted to a "Freak-of-the-Week" pattern. Season 1 was all right, but I'd've liked it if they'd kept the mystery going a bit longer; knowing that they were sent back from the future to save the world that early, well... was disappointing. Admittedly, since 4400 was originally a 5-episode miniseries, it's understandable, but I was hoping for them to not fall into the rut they did.
B5 had a good story arc, but unless you watch in sequence, it's easy to get dislodged.
Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are, at best, mediocre. The stories are not compelling, the dialogue is so-so, and the show isn't "fun".
Wonderfalls is indeed a well-done show. I enjoyed it a lot, far more than Joan of Arcadia. I came to it after finding out it was produced by Brian Fuller, who also did Dead Like Me, which I enjoyed, even if it didn't really go that far.
Arrested Development was better in the first season, though I do enjoy the second season a lot; I hope third season falls closer to first in terms of writing.
Battlestar Galactica: It's a great re-imagining; however, I'll say that I didn't like the oversexualization in the mini-series, and I don't find Tricia Helfer (Six) attractive with curly/wavy hair. (She looks much better, imho, with the ponytail seen in Home, Part 2.) While it's tightly written, it's also a somewhat draining show: the body count's high, and too few episodes are triumphant--there's always the feeling they just barely squeak by--meaning you can't watch too many at once.
One good thing about BSG is that it does borrow, refer, and allude to a lot of other previous works--for instance, in episode 205, The Farm, there's a reference to Dune's Axolotl tanks (used by the Bene Tleilax); Tigh's wife makes for an excellent Lady MacBeth.
My only issue with BSG and a similar fantastic show, Lost, is that they're both very charged--neither show should go past three or four seasons, in my opinion. Doing that would make it far more likely for themj to jump the shark and lose all the tension and energy they have, something I wouldn't want to see happen--something which has happened to Alias (I stopped watching the first season, once I found out how they bastardized Jack Bristow in S4).
24--I haven't seen past the first season, but I found it to be decent, but not that compelling. They didn't invest as much as they could have in the episodes, and it shows. The conceit, however, is nice, though there are errors still in the chronology. On a related note, I'm somewhat looking forward to the upcoming show Reunion, which has the conceit that it occurs on a specific day, every year.
As far as Angel and Buffy--I'll flat out say I didn't like these. The characters were far too self-aware at times, and seemed to break character to quip certain lines, which, though funny, did not make the show that endearing.
Firefly, however, has a nice charm. I'll agree that River is a pain in the first few episodes before they start developing her, but it's a nice mash-up of Westerns and Science Fiction. The harkening to a Wild West past and a technologically advanced future does give a sort of sensation that they're modern-day people, rather than the refined futuristic men of Star Trek (Roddenberry-era) without having to go with the oversexualization (late Voyager, Enterprise, BSG Miniseries) all to common in most present Science Fiction.
There's even the choice of the captain, Malcom Reynolds, who just barely holds his own in any fight. He doesn't have the superwits of Kirk, the superdiplomacy of Picard, or the superforce of Skywalker; he's very human, and he can be--and is--defeated.
That, I believe, is part of the appeal of shows like Firefly and BSG--deliberate choices to make the future seem like the present day make the characters slightly more human--and approacheable.
Another reason why I like Firefly is this: they deal with physics as realistically as they can. There is no sound in space--and Firefly reproduces that faithfully. The only sound you will hear in space is the music. Ships and objects will continue to float and move, with inertia, rather than slowing to a stop as they do in Star Trek and Star Wars.
Of course, there's no accounting for tastes. Sava things Firefly sucks, and that's that. Bully for him.
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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:37
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As far as your comments on Lexa Doig. Yes, she's hot. No, that doesn't mean that the episodes of 4400 in which she were in were fantastic. No, that doesn't mean that if she's in Stargate, it's somehow great.
Just look at Andromeda, for chrissakes. While it had a nice universe to play it, even midway through the first season, it began to suck. The only reason the last few seasons were barely tolerable is that Kevin Sorbo began delivering his lines with a campy good sense of humor.
The one standout episode, I'd have to say, of the whole series was in the first season, The Mathematics of Tears.
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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:37
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Incidentally: It's clear that Wonderfalls, Firefly, Upright Citizens' Brigade, and Arrested Development are also in the same world: Kaylee (Firefly, Wonderfalls), Wash (Firefly, Arrested Development), Gob's wife and that doctor (UCB, Arrested). Andromeda, The 4400, and Star Trek all take place in the same universe, because of the Lexa Doig (Andromeda, 4400), Q (Andromeda, Star Trek), Robert Picardo (4400, Star Trek), Weyoun (Star Trek, 4400). Lost and Babylon 5 are in the same universe, since Delenn is that Crazy French Chick. Dead Like Me and BSG are in the same world, because of Patricia Idlette. I'll probably link those universes more later.
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Tattila the Hun
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Tornio
Oct 2002
time: 07:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Q Cubed
Incidentally: It's clear that Wonderfalls, Firefly, Upright Citizens' Brigade, and Arrested Development are also in the same world: Kaylee (Firefly, Wonderfalls), Wash (Firefly, Arrested Development), Gob's wife and that doctor (UCB, Arrested). Andromeda, The 4400, and Star Trek all take place in the same universe, because of the Lexa Doig (Andromeda, 4400), Q (Andromeda, Star Trek), Robert Picardo (4400, Star Trek), Weyoun (Star Trek, 4400). Lost and Babylon 5 are in the same universe, since Delenn is that Crazy French Chick. Dead Like Me and BSG are in the same world, because of Patricia Idlette. I'll probably link those universes more later. |
Have you seen the latest SG Atlantis episode? Did the wraith-girl look familiar to you? 
I believe I saw Weyoun in B5. 
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Q Cubed
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t3h y3ll0w p3ril
Apr 1999
time: 23:37
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Oh, Fraiser, Cheers, and that other spinoff are part of the combined ST-BSG-Andromeda-4400 Universe, since Fraiser played the part of the captain of the USS Bozeman in the pisode "Cause and Effect".
By extension, both Disney's Gargoyles and the Simpsons are merged with that universe. The former through Riker, Troi, Data, Worf, and others, and the latter through Niles and Fraiser.
Last edited by Q Cubed on 29-08-2005 at 04:43
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28-08-2005 20:09
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