OT - Good sci fi TV shows?

Ruatha · #1 February 15th, 2003, 08:40 AM

SG the movie was ok, but the series really stink. It's a McGyver goes Extraterrestial and stops making gadgets.
It's the same childish plot and bad actors.

Admittedly Andromeda has a bad plot too but the good filming makes it worthwhile to see.

IMO nothing comes close to Babylon 5.

Omega_Prime · #2 February 15th, 2003, 12:19 PM

Ruatha

I respect your opinion, but let me take a snip from the show.

Te'alc: I have read of female warriors doing battle in an arena of Jello.

O'Niel: (Cocks his head, taken a little aback, then nods) I'll call Daniel.

If there is another sci-fi show written at the maturity level of Boston Public, or even a scifi show with that kind of warm humor and chemistry between the cast members, I am just missing it.

At best, I have seen scifi have one, or the other. B5 certainly had the maturity of good drama, but no warm humor. STNG tried to have the warm humor (Q puts the crew in the role of Robinhood type bandits and Worf spits out, "I am not a merry man!") but never had mature writing.

Case in point, the crew:
Worf, the only Klingon in the Federation, on the bridge, an empath...on the bridge, an android...also on the bridge, a guy so "blind" he can see more than we can....started on the bridge, akido master Tasha Yarr...yep...bridge, Wesly the boy-god...16..on the bridge...DRIVING, and the tactical genius that came up with the "Picard Manuever" as the captain, and in the bar...a bartender that makes Q nervous. It was the X-Men in space! One "special person" is enough for good scifi. Deep Space..same thing. Shapechanger, simbiotic crewperson, a messiah, a being of pure data in the computer core...

Most of today's interplanetary scifi goes that rout. A crew of SuperBeings in space, with super toys, and a mysterious member "from parts unknown". It is so over-done, it has a set format. You can plug almost everyone of the above into Andromeda and find the counterpart.

Not so with SG1. It is people that bleed, love, and laugh. The closest they have to a cliche is Te'alk. (That one special person)

Also, I think the Jack O'Neil character is the complete reverse of McGyver.

1. McGyver would never pick up a gun. O'Neil will never put his down.

2. McGyver was brains. O'Neil is brawn.

3. McGyver was the problem solver. O'Neil has never been the one to figure something out.

4. McGyver - Hippy. O'Neil - Military.

I will say that Richard Dean Anderson has political views that border on socialist, and the better actor on the show by FAR is Christopher Judge.

DavidG · #3 February 15th, 2003, 03:34 PM

Mmm I don't think anyone has mentioned one of the best TV show of all time:

The Outer Limits. (new series)

The best part is that since each show is different the ending is always unpredictable. I love the one were that little twerp from Next Generation accidentally blows up the Earth

[ February 15, 2003, 13:35: Message edited by: DavidG ]

DavidG · #4 February 15th, 2003, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Omega_Prime:
It was the X-Men in space!

Brilliant!!!!

One of the key reasons I could never get into TNG.

oleg · #5 February 15th, 2003, 06:35 PM

Yeah, SG-1 rocks ! Some episodes have weak or even silly plots, but what show produced 100+ outstanding episodes? Even Bab5 had few very silly moments.

Ruatha · #6 February 15th, 2003, 07:31 PM

OK, I'm not saying you are wrong (or am I?). You are fully entitled to your opinion.
But I haven't smiled once wathcing SG1. Maybe I haven't given it a reasonable chance,. Only seen about 5 episodes.

Yes, Andromeda suffers from the unbeatable syndrome aswell with superheroes, but i think there is something funny in almost all episodes.
Perhaps I have a strange sense of humour or it might be I'm not native speaking english

SG1 to me really shouts, Hey, look what we high scool students can make! (I e low budget and bad plot and actors).
I liked mcGyver though, that might be one of the reasons I don't like SG1.
I always thought it very funny how he could build a nuke from a lighbulb and sugar or whatever; (Everything contains atoms, right? If I just can get them to split...)

Yes, Bab 5 also has it's downs but the story was great. Interweaven plot through several seasons. Not very much paradoxes and "unbelivable" stuff.
I always though a Sci Fi story needs "credability" within it's own context.

My favorite Sci Fi ever is Asimovs Foundation Series!

[ February 15, 2003, 17:33: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

oleg · #7 February 15th, 2003, 10:06 PM

The first time I watched Andromeda I almost died laughing. You see, that morning I was watchng Hercules:Legendary Jorney and when switched on TV later I thought it is simply a new humorous episod

The storyline about saving a girl named Andromeda fits quite well. I especially liked blue Aphrodites with tail. Imagine my disappointment when I learned truth.