Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Science Fiction Discussion => Topic started by: Zathras on October 09, 2008, 06:16:37 PM
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First off, I worship at the altar that is B5.
I really enjoyed Firefly.
Recently, I was provided every episode of Farscape. I haven't seen a single episode yet. Is it worth my time? I also have a chance to watch the new Battle Star Gallactica. My problem with new shows is that I am on the road about 300 days per year, so having access to new episodes can be a pain.
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BSG is pretty good. Lots of people like Farscape, but I never really got into it.
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I've enjoyed the few episodes of Farscape I've seen.
A few years ago I was at a con where Andreas Katsulas, Jason Carter and Richard Biggs did a panel together. They were very very very funny. Now two of the three are gone, very young. A real bummer.
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I've enjoyed the few episodes of Farscape I've seen.
A few years ago I was at a con where Andreas Katsulas, Jason Carter and Richard Biggs did a panel together. They were very very very funny. Now two of the three are gone, very young. A real bummer.
Especially if The Lost Tales goes where it's supposed to. They acknowledged Biggs and Katsulas in the 1st Lost Tales, in an isider sort of way.
The actor that portrayed Dr Benjamin Kyle passed away, too. And, as mentioned in my signature, Tim Choate.
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Right, I thought I recalled a recent third one, but couldn't remember who it was and couldn't find it on imdb.
That cast's been pretty ill fated it seems.
I haven't actually seen but a handful of B5 episodes. Just one of those things that never really happened. Liked what I saw though. And I had the pleasure of seeing Claudia Christiansen play Captain Janeway in a sketch at a con a couple years back.
She nailed it perfectly :p
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On B5: See it in order. They had a great five season arc idea and really kept to it for seasons 1-3. They then thought there was no way they were getting renewed for season 5, so they crammed the last two seasons together into season 4. Then they did get renewed and spent season five trying to cover some of the stuff they skipped.
On Farscape: I just never liked anything that I saw of it.
On BSG: I think they took the original idea and looked at it through B5 glasses. I haven't seen anything after season 2, but up to then it was great.
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I guess I'll give Farscape a shot.
If anyone is interested, I have all 5 years of B5 on vhs from Columbia House. I had 2 tapes left to buy when WB started releasing the dvds. >:(
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I guess I'll give Farscape a shot.
I strongly recommend considering the penultimate season 3 episode, "Into the Lion's Den, Part 2", as the series finale. From "Dog With Two Bones" onward it just plummets.
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http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=449
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That poll was from before I even saw Firefly.
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I also loved B5 and Firefly. I'm caught up on BSG and I think it is really good. I started getting a little weird in the last season but I think it is still pretty good. I also liked the first season of Sarah Conner Chronicles; the second season just started but haven't seen any of it yet.
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That poll was from before I even saw Firefly.
Still a perfectly good reference though, even 1,564 threads later.
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That poll was from before I even saw Firefly.
Still a perfectly good reference though, even 1,564 threads later.
I would just like to be able to change my vote and add Firefly.
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I'm enjoying No Heroics (http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/comedy/NoHeroics/default.html) which is on a tiny channel in the UK, similar in starting concept to Mur Lafferty's 'Playing for Keeps' in that it's mostly set in a bar for superheroes. There's Excelsior, the ultra-smug and punchable Superman-analogue who lords it up over all the other heroes because he's the most popular and recognised superhero with the general public, The Hotness who has fairly rubbish heat-generating powers and desperately wants to be recognised by the public, Electroclash who controls machines and mainly uses her power to score free cigarettes, but I think my favourite is Thunder Monkey, who can summon monkeys to do his bidding, only they're in a zoo and it takes them about two hours to get to him.
Think 'Spaced' crossed with 'The Handbook of the Marvel Universe'.
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A late note about Farscape: a very good series, but by the time it's over, you will be practically screaming at the screen to shut up about wormholes. See, even now, my flesh crawls just typing the word.
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A late note about Farscape: a very good series, but by the time it's over, you will be practically screaming at the screen to shut up about wormholes. See, even now, my flesh crawls just typing the word.
It's easier if you just follow my advice and consider the series ended with the "Into the Lion's Den" two-parter. No cliffhanger ending, no crappy 4th season, and best of all, no Peacekeeper Wars miniseries.
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I suppose this should go over at Podcastle, but this thread is handier.
The Legend of the Seeker is based on Wizard's First Rule. Anyone heard anything about this new TV show? I'm gonna do a search on it, but figured someone here alread knows a lot.
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I suppose this should go over at Podcastle, but this thread is handier.
The Legend of the Seeker is based on Wizard's First Rule. Anyone heard anything about this new TV show? I'm gonna do a search on it, but figured someone here alread knows a lot.
Ah, I'm so confused. When I saw the billboards for that, I thought it was for the kids' movie based on the Dark is Rising series.
Anyway, yeah, I have heard of this adaptation. Here's the site (http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/). There's some previews and videos and stuff. I remember watching the first preview of it on AICN where the Seeker stabs a mountaintop. That was pretty wicked. ::)
It looks more along the lines of Hercules and Xenia to me than it does Lord of the Rings. Which, I know isn't an entirely fair comparison as one was a major motion picture and the others were...something else. But that's what i think of. If you check it out, though, let me know what you think.
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I had already found the site, but thanks. My wife is supposed to record it for me so I can watch it when I'm home. I hope they do a good job with it, the books are great.
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I'm enjoying No Heroics (http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/comedy/NoHeroics/default.html) which is on a tiny channel in the UK, similar in starting concept to Mur Lafferty's 'Playing for Keeps' in that it's mostly set in a bar for superheroes. There's Excelsior, the ultra-smug and punchable Superman-analogue who lords it up over all the other heroes because he's the most popular and recognised superhero with the general public, The Hotness who has fairly rubbish heat-generating powers and desperately wants to be recognised by the public, Electroclash who controls machines and mainly uses her power to score free cigarettes, but I think my favourite is Thunder Monkey, who can summon monkeys to do his bidding, only they're in a zoo and it takes them about two hours to get to him.
Think 'Spaced' crossed with 'The Handbook of the Marvel Universe'.
I've got the first five episodes on my iPod. Haven't had time to watch them yet; got one more True Blood to catch up on first.
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I'm enjoying No Heroics (http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/comedy/NoHeroics/default.html) which is on a tiny channel in the UK, similar in starting concept to Mur Lafferty's 'Playing for Keeps' in that it's mostly set in a bar for superheroes. There's Excelsior, the ultra-smug and punchable Superman-analogue who lords it up over all the other heroes because he's the most popular and recognised superhero with the general public, The Hotness who has fairly rubbish heat-generating powers and desperately wants to be recognised by the public, Electroclash who controls machines and mainly uses her power to score free cigarettes, but I think my favourite is Thunder Monkey, who can summon monkeys to do his bidding, only they're in a zoo and it takes them about two hours to get to him.
Think 'Spaced' crossed with 'The Handbook of the Marvel Universe'.
I've got the first five episodes on my iPod. Haven't had time to watch them yet; got one more True Blood to catch up on first.
I like it on a gag-by-gag basis, but I'm hoping that a plot starts showing up soon.
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I'm enjoying No Heroics (http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/comedy/NoHeroics/default.html) which is on a tiny channel in the UK, similar in starting concept to Mur Lafferty's 'Playing for Keeps' in that it's mostly set in a bar for superheroes. There's Excelsior, the ultra-smug and punchable Superman-analogue who lords it up over all the other heroes because he's the most popular and recognised superhero with the general public, The Hotness who has fairly rubbish heat-generating powers and desperately wants to be recognised by the public, Electroclash who controls machines and mainly uses her power to score free cigarettes, but I think my favourite is Thunder Monkey, who can summon monkeys to do his bidding, only they're in a zoo and it takes them about two hours to get to him.
Think 'Spaced' crossed with 'The Handbook of the Marvel Universe'.
I've got the first five episodes on my iPod. Haven't had time to watch them yet; got one more True Blood to catch up on first.
I like it on a gag-by-gag basis, but I'm hoping that a plot starts showing up soon.
Yeah, I caught the first two this morning. Some of the jokes go on FAR too long (like the bus thing in episode 2). I laughed, though.
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I also loved B5 and Firefly. I'm caught up on BSG and I think it is really good. I started getting a little weird in the last season but I think it is still pretty good. I also liked the first season of Sarah Conner Chronicles; the second season just started but haven't seen any of it yet.
I'm really enjoying the second season of Sarah Conner. And, unlike a lot of well-established TV series out there (cough couch BSG), you don't have whole load of seasons to wade through before you're totally caught up and you actually know what's going on. (Thanks to the writer's strike, season one is even shorter than it could be.)
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I'm enjoying No Heroics (http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/comedy/NoHeroics/default.html)
a pretty funny show. a funnow.
i'm ok with the meandering pace but it might get repetitive like Burns' man stroke woman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2rb_SGgNCg).
anybody watch anime here? i recently picked up death note (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_note) and it's been interesting so far. an exceptionally intricate & comprehensive plot. a deft touch with pacing.
i recommend it if you're looking for a surprising story with intelligent characters; it's probably best to avoid any spoilers and just let it take you for the ride. as a warning, it is a suspense series with some very dark undertones and it has that unfortunately condescending attitude towards women that anime always seems to have.
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anybody watch anime here? i recently picked up death note (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_note) and it's been interesting so far. an exceptionally intricate & comprehensive plot. a deft touch with pacing.
i recommend it if you're looking for a surprising story with intelligent characters; it's probably best to avoid any spoilers and just let it take you for the ride. as a warning, it is a suspense series with some very dark undertones and it has that unfortunately condescending attitude towards women that anime always seems to have.
I've seen the live-action films based off of it, but not the anime, so all I can say is that the films are good.
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ah, cool. i was wondering if they would be worth checking out. the anime was paced so well there may have been problems when it was converted into films.
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ah, cool. i was wondering if they would be worth checking out. the anime was paced so well there may have been problems when it was converted into films.
Big fan of Death Note, exactly the right sort of mundane/twisted balance. If you like that, it's probably worth tracking down Ergo Proxy. Very odd utopian/dystopian Cyberpunk series.
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i had a chance to watch the first death note movie. it isn't bad but it's kinda like reading a coles notes version of a classic. they did a surprisingly good job of condensing and changing the plot so that it could fit into a quarter of the time (reminiscent of the first lotr movie) and it's good to see that japan's culture as a whole isn't as misogynistic as anime.
the careful thought of the original story is lost in places though. L from the anime would have jumped all over some of the things that happens in the movie and ended it right there. Light was much more cautious originally, that was one of the things i liked best about it. you didn't have to keep telling yourself that it's just a story and excuse the super genius for not thinking of things that occur to you.
i agree that the original did a very good job of introducing a simple (but powerful) supernatural ability and then following the results. we get to watch our anti-hero make some pretty intense moral choices and go through dramatic changes but it concentrates on that contest between characters and lets you decide for yourself who's in the right.
if you have the time to watch a full series then the anime is the way to go, otherwise the movies are worth checking out in their own right.
ergo proxy sounds interesting. 'therefore a simulation'?
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It's definitely important to watch Farscape from the beginning. Oh you can drop in to an episode somewhere in the middle and follow the plot well enough to get some enjoyment out of it I suppose, but when I did that a few years back a then Farscape innocent - most of what I saw seemed really stupid and unnecessary. Having since watched it from the beginning. I love it. Or at least I loved the first two seasons.. I have yet to see the rest.
The one I still can't figure out and it may be more of the serialization issue. Got to be there from the word go for it to make any sense. Is Lexx. I have watched random episodes and it's entertaining in the same way MST is entertaining that way. I haven't the time to watch it from the start, but I am curious what my opinion of it would be if I did.
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I had already found the site, but thanks. My wife is supposed to record it for me so I can watch it when I'm home. I hope they do a good job with it, the books are great.
Apparently, the first 30 minutes or so of Legend of the Seeker will be up for free at the iTunes store.
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Did anyone catch Legend of the Seeker? I missed it.
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I have been a B5 fan from the very beginning, I even have the B5 guidebook, and have some of the novels (the triliogy of the rise and fall of Bester, and the trilogy of What happened with Moliari/how Vir became emperor).
I find some similarities of it to BSG. I found BSG to be excellent. I haven't seen any of the current season (4), and this leads to my next point. We get our shows on DVD - we are months behind the current shows, but the advantage is we watch them when we want.
When I travel (which isn't nearly as often as you), I can take a couple of discs with me or copy them to my harddrive.
You can get older series cheap (especially if they are second-hand).
I also got on the Farscape bandwagon early, but it's much more intense. I also agree with stopping at Season 4
I also recommend Stargate, but only from Season 10 on. It has Claudia Black and Ben Browder (from Farscape), and their chemistry is just great!
No help with Legend of the Seeker, sorry
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Haven't gotten around to Farscape. With all the podcasts that have been referred lately and a trip to the used book store, tv takes a back burner.
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Saw an episode of Legend of The Seeker yesterday. Not sure how I feel about it. My in-laws taped the first episode, and I'll watch that next time I'm home. Looks to be a notch above Hercules.
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Watched the first 8 episodes of Farscape over the last few days. It's ok. My issues with it are more quirky than anything. Some of the acting is Shatner-esque. I'll finish watching up to the episode that stePH recommended.
As to Legend of the Seeker, it just seemed to be taking way to long to move through the plot. I've seen 4 (?) episodes and I'm pretty meh about it.
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Personally, I found Farscape to be hit and miss. I never really liked any of the characters except Aeryn Sun(sp?), so it was hard to get into the show.
They did get into cool plot ideas with the wormhole tech, but overall it didn't make the grade for me.
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Am I missing something? I've had friends rave about Farscape. They say it's the best sci-fi show ever. Really? I started watching it, and didn't bring anything else with me, so I'll probably keep watching, but if it were warmer, I'd rather take a walk.
I watched Durka Returns last night, and it has a lot of examples of why this show is below average, IMO.
1. The Darryl Hannah from Balde Runner impersonation.
2. Durka chops off his long, white hair with a knife, and he looks like he just left the barber shop! Oh, come on! At least mangle his hair a bit!
3. Cliches everywhere! Evil person from past "cured" then reverts to his evil ways. Prisoner who is only guilty of being what we would consider fringe.
4. This show is too formulaic. John Crighton is so good hearted and this will enable him to triumph every time.
Ugg. I really would like a Farscape fan to point out the good things that I'm obviously over looking, please.
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Am I missing something? I've had friends rave about Farscape. They say it's the best sci-fi show ever. Really? I started watching it, and didn't bring anything else with me, so I'll probably keep watching, but if it were warmer, I'd rather take a walk.
I watched Durka Returns last night, and it has a lot of examples of why this show is below average, IMO.
1. The Darryl Hannah from Balde Runner impersonation.
2. Durka chops off his long, white hair with a knife, and he looks like he just left the barber shop! Oh, come on! At least mangle his hair a bit!
3. Cliches everywhere! Evil person from past "cured" then reverts to his evil ways. Prisoner who is only guilty of being what we would consider fringe.
4. This show is too formulaic. John Crighton is so good hearted and this will enable him to triumph every time.
Ugg. I really would like a Farscape fan to point out the good things that I'm obviously over looking, please.
I never said it was Babylon 5. But I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the second and third seasons.
But (again) I never saw the appeal in Firefly so my opinions could be suspect.
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It wasn't anyone on this forum that praised it to the heavens. I'm trying to be patient and am going to reevaluate after season 2. I really need to take a look at who was producing the episodes.
Just promise me that the Shatner acting fades, please!
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It wasn't anyone on this forum that praised it to the heavens. I'm trying to be patient and am going to reevaluate after season 2. I really need to take a look at who was producing the episodes.
Just promise me that the Shatner acting fades, please!
I just really liked the story developments through the second and third season. The acting never struck me as particularly bad. But I seem to be pretty uncritical in this area -- acting has to be at Traci Lords/Stephen King levels of awful for me to really dislike it.
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Just watched episode 17 (I think the number is correct), Through the Looking Glass. This one was good. I think it's gonna be a lot like B5, the first season does a lot of set up. Even I will admit there were some crappy first season B5 eps.
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On a loosely related topic, io9.com have a really good piece up at the moment detailing five shows they argue are secretly science fiction. 24 I've heard classified this way before (I think it's season 5 that, if you take the internal timeline at face value, is taking place in 2015 and each successive year has at least a year's time gap after that) but Bones was a pleasant and valid addition too, especially for Angela's holo tank:) Worth reading, it's a fun piece.
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Took a break from Farscape, planning on picking it back up soon.
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Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning. It's getting better. Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore. It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.
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Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning. It's getting better. Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore. It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.
Chiana or Chianna. I don't think I've ever seen it written, but it's definitely a hard "CH" beginning her name.
Remember, the two-parter "Into the Lion's Den" at the end of season 3 is the peak. I wouldn't even bother watching the season 3 finale.
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Finished season 1 of Farscape this morning. It's getting better. Shiann (sp?) isn't so much of a Darryl Hannah clone anymore. It seems most of the actors gave up on stereotyping.
It's around there that the writers and Ben Browder realise the most logical reaction Crichton would have to his situation is to quietly go utterly, utterly mad. The moment they figure that out? Big fun ensues:)
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I see now why I didn't like Farscape before. They don't bother explaining anything other than how Chrichton got on board Moira. You also need to be able to suspend disbelief. There are incidents all over the place where my brain starts to point out mistakes and I have to disengage my logic pathways. It's still fun, and John is really starting to lose it.
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Farscape was one of those shows I would often watch, but I never rushed home to catch it, and so missed a lot of the story arcs. I was fun to look at, if nothing else, for the costume, creature and ship designs.
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I watched the show Lexx for a while, but originally there were a few shows on HBO or Cinimax called "Tales from an alternate Universe" that had the origins of lexx, in three or 4 longer shows (I think they were an hour or so long). Has anyone ever seen these? They were rated PG13 or R on their original release, and were weird, but entertaining in their own way.
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Watched an episode of Farscape last night after a bit of a break from it. While this is a "fun" show, it's still irking me. Are they trying to be campy? Some of the stuff in here just grates. I'm glad I'm finally watching it, and would recommend it to others, I just feel like either they are missing something or I am.
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It takes a very long time to find it's feet but has, to my mind, the best season finales of anything I've watched in the last five years. The combination of epic scale SF and small, fragile people caught in events far bigger than them is incredibly well done. Plus you have to have a certain respect for any series that uses 'We're So Screwed' as an episode title.
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I've finally figured out Farscape. It is somebody's RPG that was turned into a television series.
Just an off the cuff list:
1. Characters are thrown together due to extraordinary circumstances.
2. New characters are added as the group of gamers gets new members.
3. There are episodes that don't include all of the characters. This could have been due to players not being able to make it to game.
4. Misunderstood NPC becomes a tenuous ally instead of enemy.
5. When Chrichton is cloned, it could have been because there were split sessions, and one player was at both sessions.
6. The group is well known enough that they have a reputation, yet are not easily found by the "bad guys".
7. There are specialist characters, ex-military, vamp, exiled ruler, etc.
8. Dream sequences.
9. Bad science.
10. NPC's that had been antagonists are recruited to go against a tougher enemy.
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I've finally figured out Farscape. It is somebody's RPG that was turned into a television series.
Just an off the cuff list:
1. Characters are thrown together due to extraordinary circumstances.
2. New characters are added as the group of gamers gets new members.
3. There are episodes that don't include all of the characters. This could have been due to players not being able to make it to game.
4. Misunderstood NPC becomes a tenuous ally instead of enemy.
5. When Chrichton is cloned, it could have been because there were split sessions, and one player was at both sessions.
6. The group is well known enough that they have a reputation, yet are not easily found by the "bad guys".
7. There are specialist characters, ex-military, vamp, exiled ruler, etc.
8. Dream sequences.
9. Bad science.
10. NPC's that had been antagonists are recruited to go against a tougher enemy.
:D Somebody needs to do a "Darths & Droids" (http://www.darthsanddroids.net/) treatment of Farscape.
Mod: Link to Darths and Droids (http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=1656.0) thread
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Finished Farscape. I watched them all, ignoring stePH's advice.
I don't think the lst episodes were horrible. I did, however, watch the entire series in a relatively short time span. It will be intersting to watch them again some time, knowing where everything is heading.
I still have The Peace Keeper Wars to watch.
All in all, a fun series. The things I had problems with improved as the series went along. I have lots of issues with the show, still, but they'd be spoilerish.
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I still have The Peace Keeper Wars to watch.
Don't. Just ... don't. You watched season 4; wasn't that bad enough?
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B5. (sigh). I remember B5 when it was all new and unseen.
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The Legend of the Seeker is based on Wizard's First Rule.
"Don't make the obvious joke"?
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A few years back I was at a con where Andreas Katsulas, Jason Carter and Richard Biggs finished a board together. They were interesting. Directly two of the three are gone, young.
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There's really no doubt that Star Trek is the best. And popularity would overwhelming agree! It's great to start with the original but you can skip it if you want and start with The Next Generation and keep going in order with Deep Space 9, and Voyager. You can skip Enterprise, but it's okay.
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If you ask an average adult what an anime is, he will surely answer that these are Japanese cartoons with strange characters that look more like aliens than people. And it is partially true. But nevertheless, amine gained phenomenal popularity worldwide https://hentaisea.com. Anime has numerous fan communities in many countries. Hentai is my favorite genre. I would like to find its fans here to create a fan club.