The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
You have to hit till the blood runs clear: Sci-fi television.
Posts
As mentioned earlier, Cowboy Bebop is all but a prerequisite for not only anime, but sci-fi as well. It's still the onyl show I've ever seen that mixed science fiction and jazz, and did it so well that both subjects came off the better for it.
In terms of big robot stuff besides Gundam, if you're more into the sci-fi aspect, Neon Genesis Evangelion, whilst terribly depressing and mostly nonsensical, is considered to be very good. I'd recommend watching Big O rather than Eva, as Big O's plot makes more sense and there's just as many great characters.
I liked Buffy more but I've watched both multiple times
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
I would argue about Big O's plot making sense, but I don't really feel like it right now. >_>
Big O does sport a pretty awesome cast, though, no debate there. Roger Smith and Dorothy make an amusing duo, and I love Schwartzvald (Spelling?) like none other.
Stargate Atlantis - I was a little hesitant at first, but I downloaded the pilot episode a few weeks after it aired and I was sold immediately. It was different from SG-1 in that there was no one character who was kind of the central character. I mean when you think SG-1 most people think of RDA and Jack O'Neill but with Atlantis all of the characters are strong, especially in the second season when they brought in Ronon. If nothing else it is worth it to watch the show for Rodney (David Hewlett) who does an amazing job in the show.
Babylon 5 - Need I say more. Personally I would love to see JMS go through and re-do all of the CGI work in the show with current CGI from a company like Atmosphere (Battlestar Galactica). Not that the CGI doesn't look great already especially during the last few seasons with the Shadow war and the Earth Civil war but it would be cool to see those scenes redone using modern CGI.
Space: Above and Beyond - Judging from the rest of this thread I am probably one of the few people who actually enjoyed this show. The CGI may have been dated and it was a little to much of a Marines recruitment ad at some points but it had some really good storylines and some really strong characters like the Colonel and the Admiral.
If you liked the film, you'll probably like the television series (Stand-Alone Complex was the first season, 2nd Gig was the second season, Solid State Society is a film that takes place after the second season) and the sequel to the Ghost in the Shell theatrical film, Innocence.
Innocence is stunningly beautiful, but in my opinion the television series did a much better job of presenting the philosophical issues of the world setting and balancing it with the character development and action.
Essentially all the voice actors are the same in all forms of the GitS media, which is pretty awesome.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
There just aren't any movies on the subject, not really.
Chaplain: "Colonel McQueen! Perhaps you should make peace with your maker."
Lt. Colonel Tyrus Cassius "TC" McQueen: "My maker was some geek with a petri dish and a lab coat. What do I need to make peace with him for?"
Chaplain: "In times like this, we should all make peace with our maker."
Lt. Colonel Tyrus Cassius "TC" McQueen: "Well, I don't think our maker wants to hear from me right now. Because He knows I'm going to go out in this plane and I'm going to remove one of His creations from His universe. And when I get back, I'm going to drink a bottle of scotch as if it was Chiggy von Richthofen's blood and celebrate his death."
Chaplain: "Amen"
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html
Example from the Mind War episode-
"As he leaves, Bester gives Sinclair an odd salute - a circle of thumb and forefinger at the forehead - and says, "Be seeing you, commander." This is tribute paid to one of jms's favorite shows, "The Prisoner," in which the line was identical but the hand-motion framed the eye instead. An appropriate twist for a telepath salute!"
also if you guys didn't know, Number Six in Battlestar Galactica (hot blonde) is named NUMBER SIX. It's a direct reference to the Prisoner and I do not know why no one believes me about this, despite Ron Moore confirming it. Argh.
Yes absolutely yes, as everyone has said you just need to make it to Signs and Portents and then its all good. You could skip right to season two if that doesn't bother you.
What little I've seen of the Prisoner was good stuff.
Phobos: Yes, it gets better. Much better. It's not The Best Thing Ever, but it's very enjoyable when the big plot starts coming together. Of those episodes, did you see 'Infection'? Wherein a doctor comes aboard with biotech? There's a repeated line in there that makes a lot more sense when you see the whole picture.
For further differences between Star Trek and B5:
I seem to recall mention of a DS9 episode (though the Lurker's Guide is calling it a novel now) dealing with a dying child. The parents won't let the doctor operate, and Sisko tells him not to; he does anyway and everyone goes home happy. It might be interesting to compare that to B5's Believers.
Yakul, but then he won't understand Londo's lament about Delenn. Something about pursuing alternate career paths?
Doesn't really matter, they're pretty much catering to an immature boobies crowd.
Dammit you fucking nerd. I should have caught that. I need to watch The Prisoner again now.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
It's not pretty, but it's my kind of not pretty.
I used to check the Lurker's Guide every day for new info from JMS.
I hated Believers, mostly because it was that brand of first season no-main-story-arc terrible that made me originally quit the series before being drawn back, but it does illustrate how even bad B5 can be better than other shows. JMS has pretty much said that any cute kid, special animal, or sentient robot in his show will die within one episode, and has pretty much stuck to that. Not exactly something that Trek could aspire to, is it?
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
They're diametrically opposite in terms of narrative structure.
In B5, the characters serve the plot.
In Farscape, the plot serves the characters.
They both work.
True, although without this forum I might have ditched B5 before I had a chance to let it sink in. With Farscape, I was literally smiling and laughing from the get go.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
When I purcahsed B5 on DVD to rewatch I just got season 2-4 and gave my girlfriend a brief synopsis of season 1 before we started watching them. All the enjoyment, none of the crap.
I *HEART* Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas. Two fine stage actors just going at it, playing off each other, attacking the scene without a care in the world. What Katsulas could do with just his eyes alone was magical.
I appreciate that a lot of the dialogue in B5 is clunky, clunky to the max. JMS was definitely better at writing stories rather than the details, but, it all had a delivery that had such conviction and buy-in from the actors that made it believable and solid. The prime example of this is the lines:
"I was, I'm better now"
They are delivered gloriously dead panned. There's no nod-nod wink-wink camping it up that some shows might do with that dialogue, nor does the actor wince at the line he is delivering. And so a line that would otherwise be palpably awful in another show has the solid ring of authenticity, it is indeed the words that that character would say in that situation. It's not very clever, it's fairly cliched but it is honest and truthful.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
The first season of Twin Peaks is, stupendously good.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
That's pretty much how we get someone up to speed when one of my friends starts dating someone new or a new friend comes into the circle. Well, more like we give them the abbreviated 1st season episode list that I posted above to get the gist of it, then hit the rest of the series full-tilt boogie.
Two words: Elevator scene.
Bruce Boxleitner fucking sells every line he says in B5; I think it's because he comes across as having such a good humor about things that it soothes any clunky language over. He simply loves and relates to the character; that's evident from his interviews on "The Lost Tales."
Andreas Katsulas was much more handsome as G'Kar than he was in real life. Must have been why he was so much at ease in the makeup.
damn, beat'd. Couldn't remember the movie's name.
I do wonder if the B5 fans here have been picking up the Cafepress releases of "The Scripts of JMS". Here's the site.
I bought the first 3 volumes a couple of years back, but lacked the funds to continue purchasing them. Have they gotten better/worse?
the freaking muppets put everyone off at first.
Work the damn races in one at a damn time, and save the muppet for last. Freakish, meet that one that looks like a person first, find out she can't sweat. That's an episode. Meet the guy with the tongue in the next one, then work in the blue chick in the episode following....
"naw. fuck convention, let's introduce them all in one go. People won't freak out at all."
Put everyone off? People freaking out?
What the hell?
Expensive DVD sets?
Clearly I'm talking about the common trend for people not to take Farscape seriously, until they give it about 10 episodes.
For them to get past all the mildly distractingly visuals and notice there is a decent show. There is no graceful transition to that, and it 'put a lot of people off'. noted by rather poor viewership, that declined rapidly for the first few episodes. noted by the number of people who have come into this thread saying as much.
Freaked people out as in caused them to initially dislike the show, cause of fucking mupets, It's a damn re occurring theme in this thread. It's only 10 pages long.
From a writing/directing stand point, things could have been thought out a little better, the show might have done better and maybe then the tv series wouldn't end with lead characters being vaporized. The initial reaction for a lot of people is very poor, they show pilots and shit to test audiences.
Sorry but the show wasn't canceled because of people being freaked out by puppets.
re: Puppets Freaking people out, to put it bluntly I have no sympathy for people who got turned off by the simple fact that the show used puppets.
The whole introduction of one race/character per episode is a very Trek-like method, and it's obvious that Farscape completely eschews that method (it's rare or never that the central conflict on the show is technological, it's almost always a character conflict).
Regardless, those that are comfortable with muppet actors really don't think twice about it... I think that Gen X, many of whom grew up with The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, had an easier time in this regard, which is why fans in their 30's now were the ones to initially make the show a success.
Farscape did not do poorly... it was Sci Fi's highest rated show until the day it was cancelled. And then some.
DNA Mad Scientist also freaked me the fuck out.
It could have been a great show, with a slightly diffrent first few episodes, and also been more popular.
How so? There was sexual tension with Aeryn Sun, because they were fucking in love from the start, and there was sexual tension with Chiana, because she was a freaking nymphomaniac, but I don't really recall any sexual tension with Zhaan except insofar as she had a different attitude about sex than most clergy John knew.
Sexual tension on Farscape wasn't a bug. It was a feature.