Author Topic: SF TV Series you've felt postive emotions for  (Read 52457 times)

DKT

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Reply #50 on: February 21, 2007, 10:13:20 PM
Geez, you guys have almost convinced me to watch the Warp 10 episode just because it's soooooooo bad.  ;D


ClintMemo

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Reply #51 on: February 21, 2007, 10:55:48 PM
Geez, you guys have almost convinced me to watch the Warp 10 episode just because it's soooooooo bad.  ;D

I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

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ClintMemo

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Reply #52 on: February 21, 2007, 11:01:16 PM
Odo wasn't a copy exactly, it was just another version of the same thing. He wasn't emotionless but he was a loner - at first anyway.  His job was to show us what it was to be human by becoming more human.  I confess that I didn;t see all of DS9, not because I didn;t like it, but because my local station moved it all over the frickin' place. I did see the finale and I had the exact opposite response that I did from voyager's (Wow! I wish I had seen the whole series!)
Also, TOS wasn't about the characters. It was about telling a story that you couldn't get away with telling without changing the context to something otherworldly.  Sorry, I can't remember the names of individual episodes, but the episode with the men who were black one side and white on the other was about racism, for example.  Every week, they went to a new planet, had a new adventure and we were all wiser because of it.   The other series did less of that, but I doubt that would fly today anyway.

I can see what you're saying. I think that particular archetype goes beyond sci fi though.. the alienated individual who slowly becomes more human, etc, etc. And its a popular construct. People like it when that happens. I know I do.

And I know what you mean about TOS, im figuring that out for myself as I watch it (im about 2/3rds the way through season 1). The acting is iffy and of course the effects and makeup are laughable, but the plots frequently touch on all kinds of issues that are still relevant today. Good stuff.


So am I correct in concluding that you are watching Star Trek the original series for the first time?
Wow.
I envy you.

I haven't watched that on a regular basis in probably 15 years and even now, when I see an episode, I can still recite half the dialog.
For years, one of the local stations played reruns of it on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. I have heard it referred to as "Space Church"

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slic

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Reply #53 on: February 21, 2007, 11:36:44 PM
(although I'm currently working my way through TOS and liking it too)
I warn you that the episode "Spock's Brain" (season 3)  is as bad as Voyager's "Warp 10".

Quote from: ClintMemo
Also, TOS wasn't about the characters.
That's not true - yes, there were episodes like Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (half black/half white) but there were also shows like Shore Leave, the aforementioned Amok Time.  It's the relationship between the Big Three that is a good part behind the longevity of the series.



Heradel

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Reply #54 on: February 21, 2007, 11:54:51 PM
And I know what you mean about TOS, im figuring that out for myself as I watch it (im about 2/3rds the way through season 1). The acting is iffy and of course the effects and makeup are laughable, but the plots frequently touch on all kinds of issues that are still relevant today. Good stuff.
I'm guessing you've never seen a lot of the old Doctor Who's. Oh overturned trash can with a plunger, how I feared ye.

The Scifi channel had it from 4-6 every week day from when I was in 5th grade to about 7th. Though I'll never admit it to my parents, it was probably the biggest reason that I stopped playing the violin (the lessons were every Tuesday/Thursday from 3:30-5:20). I don't remember getting around to watching TNG (Good, so long as you threw out most the first season), Voyager(middling, some good episodes, but the Journalism/Warp 10 episodes... sigh) or DS:9 (Better than anything but TOS, especially the one about early SF mags) until early high school. I'm currently giving Enterprise a shot because Scifi is airing it in a four hour block Mondays, and so I'm withholding judgment until I see more.

Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I talked my dad into getting me the VHS box set of the Star Wars trilogy (the original versions) because they shared the same first word.

Well, and the space ships shooting lasers on the cover.

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Talia

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Reply #55 on: February 22, 2007, 12:23:14 AM
So am I correct in concluding that you are watching Star Trek the original series for the first time?
Wow.
I envy you.


Sure am. Itd just never had the opportunity before, and now that i have the whole first season readily at hand it makes it easier than tracking down reruns on tv :P

I'm guessing you've never seen a lot of the old Doctor Who's. Oh overturned trash can with a plunger, how I feared ye.


Nope, thats another show i've seen absolutely nothing of. :P Cheesy special effects i'm familiar with tho

/Red Dwarf and HHGTTG, anyone? ;)




ClintMemo

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Reply #56 on: February 22, 2007, 12:41:40 AM
(although I'm currently working my way through TOS and liking it too)
I warn you that the episode "Spock's Brain" (season 3)  is as bad as Voyager's "Warp 10".

Quote from: ClintMemo
Also, TOS wasn't about the characters.
That's not true - yes, there were episodes like Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (half black/half white) but there were also shows like Shore Leave, the aforementioned Amok Time.  It's the relationship between the Big Three that is a good part behind the longevity of the series.

Sure, but the characters in TOS never evolved after the first few episodes.  You could watch the show in pretty much any order and it would make perfect sense - not true in TNG and beyond.  At the end of any episode, everythign is as it was.  That used to be required in TV shows since reruns were so important.
My theory about Spock's Brain is that it was that bad on purpose.

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ClintMemo

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Reply #57 on: February 22, 2007, 12:45:44 AM


Nope, thats another show i've seen absolutely nothing of. :P Cheesy special effects i'm familiar with tho

/Red Dwarf and HHGTTG, anyone? ;)



Would you like some toast? :P

I've never seen the HHGTTG TV show, but somewhere I have the BBC radio version mp3.
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Heradel

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Reply #58 on: February 22, 2007, 05:55:49 AM
As for the other Vulcans, yeah, but I guess how different can Vulcans get from eachother? :P

Monolithic alien cultures is a major flaw in the Trek universe.  Where are the Vulcan jocks and Klingon interior decorators?

While there have as yet been no reported cases of Vulcan jockism, I am happy to report there is a thriving colony of Klingon interior designers on Kappa Omega III, though it is in a disturbingly bright pink and gold palette. It is situated about ten light-years from the Klingon home planet, just far enough away to escape the (translated roughly from the original Klingon) "[expletive] grays and greens with a few sharp things thrown on the walls because they all [expletive] think that someone's gonna break through the door and attack when they're on the pot. Personally, I would soOOOo rather redecorate than decapitate, but they all think that some [expletive] color and light will detract from their [expletive] (speaker uses air quotes here) warrior image. Honestly, I think they find a paintbrush on their doorstep more frightening than a Romulan Bird of Prey."

While the colony is not discussed on the Klingon home planet, vauge references in the historical records indicated that it was created over a half-millennium ago when the then-emperors' son was discovered repainting his room a mixture of pastel green and deep purple and using his bat'leth as a coat-hanger. Despite numerous attempts to rectify the situation and, it seems his death was faked, along with at least three hundred other Klingons of both sexes from the higher echelons of society.

In the centuries since, the term ghoSta' DoH, or sending away [for warrior training] has become synonymous with the often voluntary permanent exile to the colony. Several years ago a Federation shipping vessel made accidental contact with the colony and brought back a small contingent of Klingon interior decorators to Earth, where they have slowly been making a name for themselves and the... unique design traditions of their colony. Unfortunately that name is kitS' ch.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2007, 07:39:15 AM by Heradel »

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ClintMemo

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Reply #59 on: February 22, 2007, 12:33:49 PM
Now that's funny!

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Mfitz

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Reply #60 on: February 22, 2007, 01:15:12 PM
 :)

I getting flashes of a Klingon version of "Queer Eye for the Straigh Guy".



madjo

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Reply #61 on: February 22, 2007, 02:28:15 PM
My unofficial official barrier for entry is that they have to have finished their first season. Which is why Eureka's there and Heros isn't.
Then what is Firefly doing there on the list? ;)
*runs and hides*



Talia

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Reply #62 on: February 22, 2007, 02:40:07 PM
:)

I getting flashes of a Klingon version of "Queer Eye for the Straigh Guy".

That's _exactly_ what I was thinking :D Someone needs to do that and put it up on youtube :P




Mfitz

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Reply #63 on: February 22, 2007, 02:52:17 PM
This is going out on a limb, but I'm going to say that Stargate is my pick for the best TV SF show.

-Dunks and hides-

Please note I didn't say it was the best SF ever produced, just that it was the best SF TV show.  I look to TV for entertainment and I think Stargate had the most consistant entertainment value.  The production values were good, without ever having SPFX over power other areas of the show. The the cannon plotline is convoluted to the extreme and often downright silly if you stopped to think about it, but the writing was clever, and the writers were obviously confortable and familiar with the characters (Unlike say, Enterprise where the writers seemed they had never heard of the Trek Universe).  The show has the right balance of humor and seriousness, but never takes it's self too seriously. There was great on screen cast chemistry, (something that just happens and can't be forced), and good casting of small character parts (I think second only to X-files in the genre).
 
All this makes great entertainment, it's just fun to watch the show, and it does what I want a TV show to do; take me away from the 9-5 grind of the real world.  



slic

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Reply #64 on: February 22, 2007, 03:34:48 PM
My unofficial official barrier for entry is that they have to have finished their first season. Which is why Eureka's there and Heros isn't.
Then what is Firefly doing there on the list? ;)
*runs and hides*
Technically, Firefly did finish the first season - being cancelled pretty much finishes the season.



slic

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Reply #65 on: February 22, 2007, 03:39:29 PM
Quote from: Mfitz
This is going out on a limb, but I'm going to say that Stargate is my pick for the best TV SF show....
I'm not sure I would go that far, but it a good show and with the addition of Ben and Claudia (from Farscape) it became quite fun and enjoyable.



Alasdair5000

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Reply #66 on: February 22, 2007, 03:42:36 PM
This is going out on a limb, but I'm going to say that Stargate is my pick for the best TV SF show.

-Dunks and hides-

Please note I didn't say it was the best SF ever produced, just that it was the best SF TV show.  I look to TV for entertainment and I think Stargate had the most consistant entertainment value.  The production values were good, without ever having SPFX over power other areas of the show. The the cannon plotline is convoluted to the extreme and often downright silly if you stopped to think about it, but the writing was clever, and the writers were obviously confortable and familiar with the characters (Unlike say, Enterprise where the writers seemed they had never heard of the Trek Universe).  The show has the right balance of humor and seriousness, but never takes it's self too seriously. There was great on screen cast chemistry, (something that just happens and can't be forced), and good casting of small character parts (I think second only to X-files in the genre).
 
All this makes great entertainment, it's just fun to watch the show, and it does what I want a TV show to do; take me away from the 9-5 grind of the real world. 

   Damn right:)  I've got a great deal of time for STARGATE partially for the reasons you mention and partially because of the way the history accretes around the characters.  A friend of mine pointed out a little while back that the series is really about humanity's emergence as a galactic power, given that we start out as a bunch of schmucks wandering through a gate to Abydos and by the end of the 10th season we've made contact with dozens of races, are using reverse engineered alien tech, have an outpost in another GALAXY and have changed the balance of power in local space almost completely.  It's sort of the Federation element of STAR TREK mixed with the techno thriller and I really like that.

   Plus, ANY series which turns out a 200th episode quite as spectacular as STARGATE's deserves admiration:)



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Reply #67 on: February 23, 2007, 12:57:42 AM
Admiration, SG-1 deserves,
but as a TV show, I liked it until two main characters were gotten ridden of. Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Colonel O'Neil. They were great characters and good actors (O'Neil is Richard Dean Aderson's character).

That's one of two primary ways to kill off a TV show:

Get rid of the favorite characters Or,
Too much cliff-hanging.



Heradel

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Reply #68 on: February 23, 2007, 01:29:17 AM
Admiration, SG-1 deserves,
but as a TV show, I liked it until two main characters were gotten ridden of. Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Colonel O'Neil. They were great characters and good actors (O'Neil is Richard Dean Anderson's character).

Uh, Daniel's been back for a while now as a regular cast member, and O'Neil has been making pretty regular cameos.

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Startrekwiki

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Reply #69 on: February 23, 2007, 02:04:29 AM
Oh. Sorry... I guess they got some sense. But, I havn't seen much since O'Neil was kicked. Well, thanks for telling me. I'll start watching again, now.



Heradel

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Reply #70 on: February 23, 2007, 02:43:32 AM
Yeah, Daniel died and Ascended, then he Descended. After that he Ascended again for a little bit, but it was really more of a day-trip to bitch about ancient policy rather than dying all over again. He was kind of an a human Ascension yo-yo for a bit there.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2007, 02:51:34 AM by Heradel »

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Reply #71 on: February 23, 2007, 03:59:55 AM
That's one thing that I missed that I probably would not have enjoyed seeing.  :-\



Mfitz

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Reply #72 on: February 23, 2007, 02:14:13 PM
O'Neil didn't get kicked out Anderson wanted to pull back from the show so he had time for other projects, and his family.  Sad as that is for the fans I think it's completely understandable after ten years of the sort of brutal schedule that goes with filming a TV show and the extra time/energy he had to put in as one of the producers.




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Reply #73 on: February 23, 2007, 02:19:47 PM
I suppose that, in that light, it is quite reasonable. I would have surely done the same thing, in his place. But they convinced him to come back. Sorry. I've been fiddling with forum posting controls.



ClintMemo

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Reply #74 on: February 27, 2007, 07:59:13 PM
Someone mentioned the X-Files a while back, so I thought I'd drop this in....
During the last couple of seasons, when it became obvious that they were getting drowned in their own ongoing story arc, I think they had an opportunity to continue the show with Dogget and Reyes, but they missed the boat.  What I think they should have done was to continue the series but with no overall story arc - let that go with Scully and Mulder - and just have self contained episodes with a set formula (for lack of a better term). Reyes was the believer and Dogget was the skeptic.  Each week, they would be presented with some weird crime that looked like something paranormal was going on. Sometimes there would be, sometimes there wouldn't be and sometimes it would leave it ambiguous, but you never knew until the final scene.  With good writing, acting, etc...they could have continued this for a long time. I mean, how long has CSI been on now and then generally have two crimes per episode and never leave Las Vegas.

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