OT - Good sci fi TV shows? [Archive]

gregebowman

February 13th, 2003, 04:53 AM

Originally posted by Ragnarok:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />
Taken - Never seen it
I must comment on this one. I would strongly recommend seeing this miniseries. It was a awesome show and very well written. What do you expect from Spielburge though. It was only 5 or 6 shows but everyone of them were great.<hr /></blockquote>I just didn't have time or opportunity to watch the mini-series. I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD.

Now for some of my favorite shows, I can't believe no has mentioned Britain's contribution to sci-fi shows. Let's not forget a little show called Doctor Who, which has run longer than all of the Star Trek shows put together. And there's also Red Dwarf. Now who says the Brits don't have a sense of humor? This has to be one of the funniest shows of all time, and it's sci-fi.

Of all of the sci-fi shows I can remember seeing, either in prime time or once they were in re-runs, here's what I would call my best

1. Star Trek
2. St: TNG
3. Voyager
4. DS9
5. Enterprise
6. 6 Million Dollar Man
7. Dr. Who
8. Red Dwarf
9. The Time Tunnel
10. Star Blazers

Some of these shows may have started out slow, like ST: TNG, but got better as they went along, and some others started out good and then devolved, like the 6 Million Dollar Man.

Most of the modern shows that are on Sci-fi channel I just don't get the chance to watch, so I can't rate them. Or they're on Showtime, which I don't get.

javaslinger

February 13th, 2003, 05:29 AM

What's that god awful series wehre people crash land on some planet. There some kind of underground race there called diggers?

It's a recent show.

It's kind of strange when you think about it just how many relatively new Sci-fi shows there have been. And so few any good. I think the networks are giving up on them so it's hard to get the money to put together a good one.

On another genre and speaking of british shows, I just saw a comedy series called Blacks Books or something. Funny as ****!

On the comedy channel one night but can't find it anymore.

Ken

orev_saara

February 13th, 2003, 05:52 AM

Well, Farscape was the best show on television, but I'm afraid you missed the boat on that one. So did a lot of people, which was the problem really. Produced by Jim Henson's creature company, the show had outstanding production values. The stuff didn't have that sleek, expensive look you expect from any recent ST shows, but it was very imaginative. Picture "The Dark Crystal" as a sci-fi TV show.

Sadly, Farscape was too good for it's own good. It had strong plot development throughout the entire four-year run, and intricate character arcs. So anyone who hadn't been watching couldn't just jump in and have any idea what was going on. And since Sci-Fi, like any good network, doesn't care as much about the quality of a show as the quantity of its viewers, it got cancelled. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif Sometimes I blame Stargate, but that's just petty, I know.

I can't believe, though, that several people have rated the best sci-fi of all time and forgotten the best TV show ever, "The Prisoner"! This show was great! Psychological philosophy disguised as entertainment! And darned entertaining too! If any of you haven't seen the show in its entirety, I command you to rent it or buy it immediately and go mend!

Omega_Prime

February 13th, 2003, 07:00 AM

I not only have the complete Prisoner series on tape, but several McGuin interviews and the Gurps Prisoner RGP.

I don't think of it as sci-fi though. You never know if it is a dream, aliens, his government, another government. Instead of a sci-fi mythos, it builds psychological tension using fantasy/action elements, sometimes in the guise of science. I think that is a different animal, but it is one of my all-time Favorites.

Battlestar Galactica was canceled not because of a lack of interest, or return on capital invested, but because George Lucas kept suing the production.

He claimed he owned "capsule shaped laser fire", sound in space, the design for the viper, etc, etc. He litigated one of the best Sci-fi series ever, off the air.

He is a hack at best, and the best of the Star Wars universe was written by other people than himself. Jealous of real talent, he went after Galactica with every tool at his disposal.

I wish him well on his new project. To make himself look like a Death-Star. It is coming along nicely. Soon he will not be able to leave his own home, and will spend his days playing his level 60 necro on EverQuest.

[ February 13, 2003, 05:00: Message edited by: Omega_Prime ]

Grandpa Kim

February 13th, 2003, 09:01 AM

Originally posted by DavidG:
IMO if you want good Sci-Fi forget the TV, get a book or even better, a magazine like AnalogAbsolutely!! Hollywood is at least 50 years behind what is being written for book publication. Do you think anyone in Hollywood has the guts to produce "Stranger in a Strange Land" for the motion picture audience? And that was published in 1962!

Kim

Cheeze

February 13th, 2003, 09:26 AM

Maybe I'm getting my shows mixed up, but Taken was a 10-episode miniseries. It had its good points, but with a great deal of interesting build-up and mystery I felt kind of disappointed by the wrap-up and ending. It seemed to fall short.

I had a similar reaction to the conclusion of Babylon 5's Shadow wars saga. Not necessarily the entire series, but that significant part ended on an odd and somewhat underwhelming note. And much as I liked the show, the story seemed to lose punch without that focus, but it did find interesting ways to recover. Much as I liked the 'rangers' concept, you didn't think that one human would have pointed out that the name of this elite covert Minbari group came from an ancient Earth novel? I might have liked that better if they were named the Rangers by some humans and had kept some other Minbari name.

Stargate becomes more enjoyable the more I watch it, and Farscape is awesome....but some of those wacky episodes from the previous new episode release Last year were far out there. I was lucky, I caught up with Farscape during a two-week period where they seemed to play every most-exciting and pivotal episode, so I think I caught up on the action just as they went into a new season. And I still have some season 1 stuff I'm sure I haven't seen yet.

Andromeda is fun, but a little too silly sometimes. I'll keep watching it. Earth: Final Conflict had me hooked, but somewhere in the end of the Taelons I just didn't keep up. Enterprise is one of the few shows I consistently watch.

I can't get enough of the Star Treks, although I miss much of Voyager. As much criticism as Roddenberry's vision gets, I rather like the idea that in the future we haven't just progressed in technology but that humanity has become better. That kind of optimism is rare in entertainment and current sci-fi, and it is refreshing.

Atrocities

February 13th, 2003, 10:21 AM

I wish him well on his new project. To make himself look like a Death-Star. It is coming along nicely. Soon he will not be able to leave his own home, and will spend his days playing his level 60 necro on EverQuest.
"No Luck, The Force is not with you! Do not attempt to penatrate this new Death Stars exhoust hole!"

10. Star BlazersGood cartoon but like almost all Jap Cartoons, hooky in many ways.

VOYAGER = bad tv. I command you to stop putting it on your top 10 lists! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

[ February 13, 2003, 08:26: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

QuarianRex

February 13th, 2003, 11:00 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by javaslinger:
What's that god awful series wehre people crash land on some planet. There some kind of underground race there called diggers?
[QUOTE]

Are you talking about Earth2? IIRC the premise of the show was that a small group of volunteers were sent to colonize a virtually earthlike world. The aliens were a mix of gaia-loving druid meets Swamp Thing who would stad around and do some choral moaning before dropping back into the ground. It got a little wierd/sappy when the kids who were 'techno-sick' got better by communing with nature and walking through the dirt themselves.

Another show I liked was Earth: Above and Beyond. A large part of it was actually a war story but it had some good backstory. And the final episode was pretty interesting when you found out the real reason for the war with the 'chiggs'. I always wondered where they would have gone with that.

I was also fond of Invasion America. A surprisingly good american cartoon (or perhaps not so surprisingly since it was done by Spielberg).

As far as books go, I have to say that Dan Simmons Hyperion series is one of the best I have ever read. If it was ever to be made into a movie, and made right, I would crap an eggroll in joy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ February 13, 2003, 09:01: Message edited by: QuarianRex ]

gregebowman

February 13th, 2003, 04:12 PM

After I posted Last night, I remembered a couple of more good shows that I enjoyed and haven't seen mentioned: X-Files and Quantam Leap. Can't forget these shows.

I'm all for reading books. I think I spend more time in a week reading than I do watching TV (mostly because the wife has her hand on the remote control!!!). I read mostly sci-fi, but I'm hooked on Stephen King, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler books also. Unfortunately, due to the costs of even paperbooks, there are a lot of sci-books I haven't had the chance to read, and probably never will. Like the Hyperion series just mentioned. I have to work on teh weekends, so I don't have the chance to go to flea markets and garage sales, which used to be a major source of my book collecting in the past.

dogscoff

February 13th, 2003, 04:46 PM

Anyone else remember Alien:Nation? There was a bunch of refugee aliens living in some American city, and the story follwed a Tenktonese cop teamed up with an initially xenophobic human.

There were a few films of it, but the series was best. The best bits were the explorations of Tentonese culture - they got drunk on sour milk and had all these strange biological functions only ever hinted at.

Omega_Prime

February 13th, 2003, 05:01 PM

Originally posted by Atrocities:
VOYAGER = bad tv. I command you to stop putting it on your top 10 lists! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif Oh I agree. "The Janeway Gambit" never failed to piss me off.

She would do something retarded and it would be just the trick. She could defeat the borg at will, and repeatably. I mean, she would not flinch at sidling Voyager up to a borg ship. (The fact that her ship's name is too appropriate for the thin premise of the show was bad enough by its self.)

They TALKED an advanced borg into being "good". They destroyed the "borg nexus". (The idea of a borg nexus, really should have begged the question, "Why is there still a Federation?")

The show was an exorcise in mis-use and abuse of plot device. A black-eye on the face of sci-fi, if it can even be called that.

Of course, the borg can travel through time too. In fact they are so powerful, they never won a battle.

It's a wonder sci-fi has survived that drivel.

Rodenbery has done worse though.
Earth: Final Crap-fest.

Jesus Rodham Christ. This show was more "Trekie" than TREK! It didn't just ignore past seasons, it could actually ignore the very Last episode, change its history at will, and cycle through main characters as fast as bad Japanimation.

Alternate twin universe, evil twin, new tech mentioned just in time to be used for today's story, mumbo-jumbo in the guise of sci-fi...this has Rodenbery stink all over it.

UPDATE: Let me just add, though, that the first season of EFC was pretty watchable, if not on the edge of entertaining.

[ February 13, 2003, 15:11: Message edited by: Omega_Prime ]

Omega_Prime

February 13th, 2003, 05:52 PM

10 most awful sci-fi TV shows ever.

1. Earth: Final Conflict
2. Voyager
3. Farscape (After it started sucking)
4. Cleopatra 2525 (watchable on mute)
5. Lost in Space
6. Andromeda
7. Highlander: Raven
8. Enterprise (is there a petition to kill this?}
9. Greatest American Hero
10. Manamal

ten best:

1. Stargate SG1
2. B5 (Though very dry chemistry wise)
3. Sliders (first season at least)
4. Battlestar galactica
5. X-files (early on)
6. Night Stalker (horror/mystery/scifi)
7. Twilight Zone
8. 6 million dollar man
9. Farscape (Before it started sucking)
10. Outer Limits

I didn't mention shows like Scorpian/Nightman/Manta because they are pretty much the same bad show, with different actors.

orev_saara

February 13th, 2003, 07:26 PM

Did somebody claim that Stranger in a Strange Land was a good book? Maybe I am a stranger in a strange land, but it seemed to me that Heinlein was just indulging in some of his odd fetishes a little too much in that book. Don't believe me? Read Glory Road or Job: A Comedy of Justice. Good writing occasionally, but the man had issues. If you're looking to read good sci-fi, I recommend Asimov or Cherryh. Or Zelazny, for something a little wierder. Or Card. And Saberhagen sci-fi ain't bad.

Baron Munchausen

February 13th, 2003, 07:47 PM

Omega Prime, you missed the 'revival' Galactical 1980 on that list of the worst SciFi of all time. It belongs at the TOP of the list, too! The Buck Rogers series follows closely behind it.

Orev Saara wrote:

Did somebody claim that Stranger in a Strange Land was a good book? Maybe I am a stranger in a strange land, but it seemed to me that Heinlein was just indulging in some of his odd fetishes a little too much in that book. Don't believe me? Read Glory Road or Job: A Comedy of Justice. Good writing occasionally, but the man had issues. If you're looking to read good sci-fi, I recommend Asimov or Cherryh. Or Zelazny, for something a little wierder. Or Card. And Saberhagen sci-fi ain't bad.
Yes, Heinlein re-wrote the same book(s) many times over. Stranger in a Strange Land is nearly identical with Friday, for example. Too bad he didn't know when to quit.

[ February 13, 2003, 17:48: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Omega_Prime

February 13th, 2003, 07:52 PM

Job: A comedy of justice. If that sucked any harder I would accuse it of being a colaberation between Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, and Tim Burton. It was that bad. Good thing they never made a move together. It would be three hours of muppets and midgets commiting suicide via auto-erotic-asphyxiation. (Or would that be a dream sequence?)

Tim Burton can rape a story like nobody else...except maybe Disney. (Treasure Planet? Tarzan? I hope Disney never starts doing Bible Stories...Jesus and the cross singing, Jesus surfs on it.)

Legend of Sleepy Hollow was okay...it just had nothing to do with the story of the same name.
It should have been called, "Sherlock Holms and the case of the Headless Swordsman"

But together? Together they form VOLTRON.

LOL

[ February 13, 2003, 17:54: Message edited by: Omega_Prime ]

Omega_Prime

February 13th, 2003, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
Omega Prime, you missed the 'revival' Galactical 1980 on that list of the worst SciFi of all time. It belongs at the TOP of the list, too! The Buck Rogers series follows closely behind it.

I considered Galactica 1980, but it was a kid's show. Chips from space, almost. I also didn't include Knight Rider, Team Knight Rider (yeah there was a spin-off!) Captain Marvel/Isis, Electrowoman/DynaGirl, and a host of other unwatchables. It's not really fair to include kids shows as bad scifi...or else I would have a super long list...highlander the animated series.....the new Stargate cartoon....Trek Animated.....

The only reason 6 million dollar man made it, was because of the original premise (borrowed from the story Cyborg). A cyborg secret agent. Not new now with cyber-punk, but ground-breaking in its day. It started off, I might add better than it ended. It was a comic-book on TV by the end. Bigfoot, aliens...more than one race of aliens....complete androids....but in the 70s people wanted crap, so that is what they eventually got from this show too.

gregebowman

February 13th, 2003, 08:20 PM

Hey, I loved Steve Austin back then. Like I mentioned earlier, the series did start out good, but by the end it was terrible. Bigfoot and aliens? Sheesh, I didn't want that kind of junk even back then.

As far as Heinlein goes, I was thoroughly enjoying all of his books when I was growing up until I read Stranger In A Strange Land and Glory Road. I was in my early to mid teens, and it was quite a shocker for me to read all of that adult content. It took me about 10 years before I finally picked up another of his books, which I think was either Friday or Job. If he had just stayed with the format I was enjoying that he used for Have Spacesuit Will Travel and all of the others like that, I would have kept on reading his works.

Grandpa Kim

February 14th, 2003, 06:42 AM

Originally posted by orev_saara:
Did somebody claim that Stranger in a Strange Land was a good book? Maybe I am a stranger in a strange land, but it seemed to me that Heinlein was just indulging in some of his odd fetishes a little too much in that book. Don't believe me? Read Glory Road or Job: A Comedy of Justice. Good writing occasionally, but the man had issues. If you're looking to read good sci-fi, I recommend Asimov or Cherryh. Or Zelazny, for something a little wierder. Or Card. And Saberhagen sci-fi ain't bad.We must agree to disagree. The crap I read is much better than the crap you read. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif But let us have limits: Cherryh?! Yuck!

Cheeze

February 14th, 2003, 07:22 AM

One enjoyable new sci-fi show is The Dead Zone. Anthony Michael Hall is great in the lead, and the episode stories work well and mesh with the overarching plotlines. The vision sequences are fun, and often done just right to give a little mystery to the show.

gregebowman...Steve Austin?? I love that guy! I'm excited that he's coming back at the next PPV and I just know Stone Cold is gonna be hittin' everyone around with the stunner...oh darn...wrong Steve Austin..oops...hehe http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Bigfoot was one of the coolest recurring characters on Six Million Dollar Man, and he was played by the late great Andre the Giant!!!

For reading, Zelazny's Lords of Light is very cool. As the book flashes back and forth between its present and past, it could take a couple reads to catch everything and put it in perspective. It's also good to have some sense of Hinduism/Buddhism. Also Charles(?) DeLint's Svaha is an interesting mix of cyberpunk, Native American and Far Eastern mysticism and just some good action.

I still love Heinlein for Starship Troopers. I'll never forget how I read chapter 1 as a kid, went to sleep and immediately had a vivid dream of being on that first drop. And my brain did a better job than that "Space 90210" movie called Starship Troopers some 20 years later!!!

[ February 14, 2003, 05:42: Message edited by: Cheeze ]

Ruatha

February 14th, 2003, 09:44 AM

Cheeze - What do you think of the computer graphics Version series of Starship Troopers?

[ February 14, 2003, 07:45: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

dogscoff

February 14th, 2003, 01:22 PM

B5 (Though very dry chemistry wise)
I'll admit most of the chemistry was bad,
but the relationship between G'kar and Londo, and also the unrequited love bit between Ivonova and Marcus were just excellent. Also Londo's relationship with Vir. There was chemistry in B5, just not with the Captain & the Minbari.

I think B5's biggest flaw was that most of its voyages into mysticism (that immortal "first one" in the Last series, the captain from the first series coming back as some kind of Messiah- HA!, the Minbari in general, that psychic woman who worked for the vorlons) just ended up looking sappy and cliched. The most notable exceptions to this would be G'kar's redemption and the Vorlons, who I think were genuinely mysterious.

Oh, and Starship Troopers= Beverly hills 90210 in space? Are you sure? I think Troopers was a lot deeper than that. The way I see it, all the protaganists being young and beautiful was deliberate, because the whole thing is shot like a bit of fascist propaganda from the future state the film is about. When you think about it in that light, the aesthetic and heroic tone of the film becomes quite dark and disturbing. IMO.

[ February 14, 2003, 11:37: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

thorfrog

February 14th, 2003, 05:25 PM

Well here is my top 10 sci-fi shows:
10. Buck Rogers in 25th Century season 1 (bu, Buck)
9. Dr. Who (all time classic pbs show)
8. Six Million Dollar Man
7. B5 Crusade (awesome start. Why cancel??)
6. Star Trek Next Gen
5. Enterprise (It's coming along)
4. Star Trek DS9 (Dominion war saved this one)
3. Battlestar Galactica season 1
2. Star Trek TOS (just great!)
1. Babylon 5 (the ultimate story line)

The top 10 worst Sci-fi shows:
10. Andromeda (Need I say more?)
9. Babylon5: Legend of the Rangers (We want Crusade)
8. Lost in Space (danger, danger!!)
7. Star Trek Voyager (pushover Borg)
6. Earth 2 (I think I saw this drunk once)
5. Sliders (good start, what happened?)
4. SeaQuest (trek underwater)
3. Buck Roger in the 25th Century season 2 (total crap, space midgets stripping Wilma was cool!)
2. Battlestar Galactica 1980 (Yikes?!)
1. Earth: Final Conflict (Does anyone know what this was about?)

Growltigger

February 14th, 2003, 06:19 PM

I dont think Starship Troopers can really be described as being deep and profound. If I know Paul Verhoeven's movies, he probably picked beautiful people to emphasise the fact that the bugs were ripping them limb from limb......

I remember the midgets stripping Wilma Deering, pity is you didn't see anything other than a brief shot of her blouse being undone... bugger

javaslinger

February 14th, 2003, 07:05 PM

Anyone ever heard of Starhunter??? I saw it like at 2am on a monday. Pretty bad.

Also, wasn't there supposed to be some new series starting with some acclaimed director or something. It was gonna be like a cross western/space pirates or something. I remember it was being pretty hyped up a couple months ago.

Maybe the pilot bombed.

capnq

February 14th, 2003, 08:56 PM

wasn't there supposed to be some new series starting with some acclaimed director or something. It was gonna be like a cross western/space pirates or something. You're thinking of Joss (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Whedon's Firefly.

It was cancelled, mainly because the Fox network execs didn't understand its potential.

Omega_Prime

February 14th, 2003, 09:18 PM

Fox is the kiss of death to Sci-Fi. LOL

I heard that they are going to be the host of the new Battlestar Galactica. I also heard that they "re-imagined" the story, and Starbuck is a girl.

That would tend to sound like the kind of story-rape that Fox would buy.

David E. Gervais

February 14th, 2003, 10:15 PM

How's this for a strange (and a bit obscure) list of Sci-Fi TV shows...

1) Logan's run
2) Planet Earth (Based on Genisis by Rodenbery!)
3) U.F.O.
4) V
5) Time Tunnel
6) Lost in space
7) My favorite martian
8) Red Dwarf
9) Tekwar
10) Earth 2 (I thought this one had potential!)
11) 7 Days
12) Earth:Final Conflict
13) Robocop
14) The Martian Cronicles
15) Mork and Mindy

..I also seem to remember a short lived TV series based on the planet of the apes, but I might be getting it confused with the original movies!

More recently, I have been watching..

1) Andromeda (Great!)
2) Stargate SG1 (Fantastic!)
3) Enterprise (Getting better!)
4) Total Recall: 2070 (Just plain fun!)
5)..and many show in re-runs.. ST:TOS, ST:TNG, ST:DS9, etc.

Cheers!

thorfrog

February 14th, 2003, 10:24 PM

How about the Top 11 best scifi movies
11 Stargate
10 Starship Troopers
9 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8 Predator
7 The 5th Element
6 Terminator 2
5 The Matrix
4 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
3 Return of the Jedi
2 Empire Strikes Back
1. Star Wars

[ February 14, 2003, 20:41: Message edited by: atomannj ]

thorfrog

February 14th, 2003, 10:37 PM

Now my top 10 worst scifi movies:
10 Star Wars: Episode 1
9 Ice Pirates of the Phantom Zone
8 Alien: Resurrection
7 Highlander II: The Quickening
6 Star Trek Insurrection
5 Batman Returns
4 Batman & Robin
3 Men in Black 2
2 Star Trek V
1 Battlefield: Earth

StormcloudCreations

February 14th, 2003, 11:47 PM

I loved the original Star Wars movies, the 70's stuff (6 million dollar man!) and I still watch the Incredible Hulk episodes occasionally (the Bill Bixby one; is this considered sci-fi?). The Hulk show from the 70's brings back great memories from when I was a kid and stayed up every Friday night to watch it.

javaslinger

February 15th, 2003, 12:18 AM

So what' in store for the future of Sci-fi TV? I'm asking mainly about ones in space and the future.

Anything being worked on with potential? It seems to be a dying genre on television.

Ken

Omega_Prime

February 15th, 2003, 02:18 AM

A "re-imagined" Battlestar Galactica starts filming next month. I think there is a glut of Star Trek out there, so hopefully they will cut it out.

Stargate: Atlantis is in the works, but may be put back since SG1 got a 7th season. Rumor has it that Atlantis will take place off-world.

Aliens was going to be done in CGI animation series, I had heard, but never saw it. I may have missed it. I certainly missed this Firefly thing.

Star Trek: Counter-Borge Command should be good.
It will feature Admiral Janeway, and Kevin Sorbo as "Captain Dunsel". Sorbo, who directed Andromeda into the toilet, will be directing and writing for the new series. Spunk, the obligatory alien on the bridge, will be a vulcan played by a 300 lb Samoan. Also, rumors have it that there will be a Q officer on the bridge, and the entire security staff will be shape-shifters. Ignoring established story lines, the series will take place in the 1700s.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Kamog

February 15th, 2003, 05:25 AM

Wow, they're making another Star Trek series? All right!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Hmm, a 300 lb vulcan officer on the bridge?... okay. Q officer? Cool, the ship is going to be invincible - but fighting the Borg might get to be kind of boring and not very exciting. Shape shifting security staff, like Odo? Wow... What, 1700's? OK, you had me fooled up to now! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Krsqk

February 15th, 2003, 06:17 AM

Cool, the ship is going to be invincible - but fighting the Borg might get to be kind of boring and not very exciting.Oh, you mean like on Voyager. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

couslee

February 15th, 2003, 06:21 AM

with Captain Lameway? (who should be instantly court marshalled upon return to the alpha quadrant)

Cheeze

February 15th, 2003, 06:39 AM

Ruatha - I only heard about the animated/cgi Version of Starship Troopers but never have seen it. I wish I would, sooner the better.

Dogscoff - That movie was such an abominable use of the book it's barely funny. On its own right, it's a dumb movie with some good action. Given how butchered the vision was of the story, it was truly ghastly. Verhoeven might have had Robocop fighting alongside the soldiers, it was the exact same world...and that's half my point. He had done that already. The understanding of the military was so completely absent it boggled the mind. My ears ache every time they called a sergeant "sir" and he didn't tear the speaker wide open, and that was just a small detail.

Do I need to bring up the "it's okay that I'm dying, because I had you" line??

On top of that, it is clear there was no effort to bring the world to life as Heinlein described. And since Troopers has been derided as some sort of fascistic vision, that wasn't too surprising, only disappointing. But no powered armor??

And I still saw the movie twice...in the theater. I'm just hopeless that way! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

BTW, thanks for the Wilma Deering memories! She wore those outfits so well. Princess Ardala was cute too, but not as much so, since she couldn't fly a space fighter. It was horrifying to see Colonel Deering playing third fiddle to Ricky Schroder and Ardala on that godawful Texas detective show...but I guess everyone has to find work, don't they?

[ February 15, 2003, 04:48: Message edited by: Cheeze ]

Sea-Monkey-Pirate

February 15th, 2003, 08:31 AM

Fox Saddles Up Mister Ed

The Fox network has given the green light to a Mister Ed pilot, an update of the classic 1960s talking-horse sitcom, which starred Alan Young, Variety reported. Twentieth Century Fox TV and Original TV will produce the pilot.

Original's Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse and Neal Moritz will executive produce the pilot. Writer Jack Handey (Saturday Night Live) is behind the Mister Ed update and will also executive produce, the trade paper reported.

The SCI FI Channel has cast the key roles of Starbuck and Apollo for its upcoming original miniseries Battlestar Galactica, based on the 1978-'80 TV series. Oregon native Katee Sackhoff (Halloween: Resurrection), 22, will play a female Starbuck in executive producer Ronald D. Moore's reimagination of the series, SCI FI announced.

Meanwhile, British actor Jamie Bamber (HBO's Band of Brothers), 29, will play Apollo. In the original series Starbuck was a male character played by Dirk Benedict, while Apollo was played by Richard Hatch.

The four-hour Galactica miniseries, from Roswell and Star Trek: The Next Generation hack Moore, is slated to debut later this year. Moore has been quoted as saying, "If you liked the god-awful sh http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif t I have put out in the past, you will LOVE this steaming pile!"

A source close to Fox Television, which produces Buffy the Vampire Slayer for UPN, has told SyFy Portal a rumor that the network won't bring the show back for an eighth season. "There is a whole different attitude at UPN right now, and it's not the same attitude that first brought Buffy to the network in the first place," the anonymous source said. Les Moonves, president of UPN parent CBS, reportedly wants Ratings winners and nothing else, the source added.

"It is believed around here that if Moonves had been running UPN two years ago, Buffy never would've been there in the first place," the source said.

Australian model Travis Fimmel will play the title role in The WB's drama pilot Tarzan, a contemporary update of Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic tale, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Warner Brothers Television and Laura Ziskin will produce the series, which will also star newcomer Sarah Wayne Callies as Jane.

The series focuses on Tarzan as a young man as he is brought from the jungle to his childhood home, New York, (New York City? I thought he was French!) by his uncle, the head of Greystoke Enterprises. In this Version, Jane is a fiery police detective, the trade paper reported.

Eric Kripke wrote the script for the pilot. Ziskin and Kripke are executive producing with David Gerber and the pilot's director, David Nutter (The X-Files). Let's hope they don't rape this property as badly as Disney...then again, nobody rapes like Disney.

[ February 15, 2003, 06:40: Message edited by: Sea-Monkey-Pirate ]

Ruatha

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

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

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 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

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

DavidG

February 15th, 2003, 03:39 PM

Originally posted by Omega_Prime:
It was the X-Men in space! Brilliant!!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif One of the key reasons I could never get into TNG.

oleg

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

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

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 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif 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. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Baron Munchausen

February 16th, 2003, 03:03 AM

Someone asked 'why' Babylon 5: Crusade was cancelled. I didn't realize that such a scandal could go unnoticed by any fan with net access, but I guess not everyone seeks out the websites and newsGroups for their favorite SciFi. The short answer is 'network stupidity' as with most SciFi shows. But the details are as bizarre as anything else already brought up here. Here's why it was cancelled:

AICN story about the infamous TNT memo: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=2060

JMS first comment on the TNT memo: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/113.html#JS.memo1

JMS second comment on the TNT memo: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/113.html#JS.memo2

They backed down for a while, but several months later it was cancelled anyway. Not enough sex and violence. Just another ton of **** to throw on your already gargantuan compost pile of network contempt. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

[ February 16, 2003, 01:07: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Grandpa Kim

February 16th, 2003, 03:54 AM

From the Baron:
Just another ton of **** to throw on your already gargantuan compost pile of network contempt. My compost pile is now a singularity. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Desdinova

February 16th, 2003, 04:29 AM

slightly ot: i just watched sttng's "all good things...". i really hate series finalies, its depressing to know that was THE Last episode. thanks to them putting out everything on dvd i get to experience this again and again and again as i watch the finalies of other series. Dr. Who (with each new regeneration), DS9, Babylon 5, voyager, space 1999, red dwarf, the prisoner, stargate sg1, cowboy bebop, etc.....

Desdinova

February 16th, 2003, 04:47 AM

Originally posted by Omega_Prime:
It was the X-Men in space! One "special person" is enough for good scifi.
Most of today's interplanetary scifi goes that route. A crew of SuperBeings in space, with super toys, and a mysterious member "from parts unknown".
if the show is about 1 main character i would agree with you.
but in the case of a series that has multiple characters then each one should have its own unique ability. thats what makes a good pc (for those of you who are to young to remember the old pen and paper rpg days that stands for player character not personal computer or politcally correct http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif ). there does need to be good interaction among the characters otherwise it really gets......not quite sure how to put it other than from a gaming point of view...extremely boring watching one character constantly saving the day, thus making the other characters unnecessary. example is despite shatners acting the chemistry between kirk, spock and mccoy was very good. also the characters need to grow or be replaced...in sttng councilor troy could have been replaced as she never went anywhere development wise.

edit>
Originally posted by Omega_Prime:
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)

guess i just feel contrary right now but each character on sg1 has his or her little ability.
Jack- ok so nothing special about jack.
Samantha - has the remains of a Tokra in her head and can use G'ould technology
Daniel - can read many Languages long thought dead and decipher alien Languages rather quickly.
T'ealc - has a larval G'ould in him.
new guy that replaced daniel - another alien.

[ February 16, 2003, 03:20: Message edited by: desdinova ]

Taz-in-Space

February 16th, 2003, 06:36 AM

Just for the heck of it - a few quick questions:

In B5: Did the series ever explain where the hidden base (on the planet near B5) came from?

Wasn't Vorlon or Minbari or Earth obviously.

In Stargate SG1: Why was the Daniel character written out? Real-life contract problems or what?

Looks like they are giving pretty much the same 'powers' to the new guy.

In Andromeda: can anybody explain how in one show the Andromeda ship can be damaged by a half-dozen ships and in another show can survive onslaughts of say 10,000 ships from another dimension?

Baron Munchausen

February 16th, 2003, 07:03 AM

Originally posted by Taz-in-Space:
Just for the heck of it - a few quick questions:

In B5: Did the series ever explain where the hidden base (on the planet near B5) came from?

Wasn't Vorlon or Minbari or Earth obviously.

In Stargate SG1: Why was the Daniel character written out? Real-life contract problems or what?

Looks like they are giving pretty much the same 'powers' to the new guy.

In Andromeda: can anybody explain how in one show the Andromeda ship can be damaged by a half-dozen ships and in another show can survive onslaughts of say 10,000 ships from another dimension?No, they never explained where the Great Machine came from. How is it 'obvious' that it was not a Minbari or Human construction? It's compatible with human and minbari telepaths, after all. B4 was sent through time, remember. Who's to say that humans from the future didn't create the Great machine?

They also never explained what the 'exchange of souls' between the two races was about and lots of other things...

Stargate - don't follow it, can't say.

Andromeda was created by the same guy that created STAR TREK. Have you ever noticed anything resembling continuity in STAR TREK? 'nuff said.

Graeme Dice

February 16th, 2003, 08:17 AM

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
No, they never explained where the Great Machine came from. How is it 'obvious' that it was not a Minbari or Human construction? It's compatible with human and minbari telepaths, after all. B4 was sent through time, remember. Who's to say that humans from the future didn't create the Great machine?I thought that one of the Zathras' sent itself back in time using the great machine so that it could build the great machine.

Krsqk

February 16th, 2003, 09:24 PM

In Andromeda: can anybody explain how in one show the Andromeda ship can be damaged by a half-dozen ships and in another show can survive onslaughts of say 10,000 ships from another dimension?You're assuming the other dimension is higher than ours is. Maybe they were only second dimensional beings. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Desdinova

February 17th, 2003, 12:52 AM

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
They also never explained what the 'exchange of souls' between the two races was about.they never diretly explained it but they did give several hints. commander sinclair went back in time with B4 and was changed into a membari using the triluminary and became known as valen. they used the triluminary on sinclair at the battle of the line, and it glowed thus the membari thought that human had somehow gained membari souls. also dalenn used the triluminary to changed herself, it was also rumored that she is a decendant of valen/commander sinclair. the triluminary also glowed when it was put near her.

tesco samoa

February 17th, 2003, 05:33 AM

I most likely will get trolled here... but i find most scifi shows suck....

The 44 minute show just does not work in the SCI FI world.

I dream of the day when their is a scifi show where they go... Hey we only have a core following... lets make a complicated story that the average joe will not understand throw in some really good plot twists... and not worry about the tokin 30 second ship shot ( the money shot for sci-fi shows think voyager ... ) and have a story that takes its time to unravel ( Now we do not have solve every thing... Some times a Laural Palmer is worth including in a show )... Oh well one day...

Their have been some really good ideas in tv the past two years ( 24 , Boom Town, The ITV mini about the world coming to an end .. cannot remember what it was called ) But you know it is sad when the current crop of SCI-FI shows make Dr. WHo look like Lord of the Rings on steriods....

And enough with morality.... Voyager was horrible for that .... if i wanted to see law and order i would watch it....

/*end rant...

Growltigger

February 17th, 2003, 03:39 PM

Hey, anyone remember Starfleet or Terrahawks?

Terrahawks was cool but I just loved Starfleet, if only for the riproaring Eddie Van Halen led themetoon and the fact that the battle scenes looked like a bad cross between 1920's Buck Rogers and Thunderbirds.. you could even see the strings holding up the models!!!

dogscoff

February 17th, 2003, 07:00 PM

Starship Troopers: I never read the book, so I can't really comment on how well it held up to that, but as a film in its own right I liked it for reasons already stated. Robocop was OK too, but I haven't watched that in a loooong time.

Wilma Deering: Off-think, off-think...

Terrahawks: Deserves eternal respect if only for the contribution of the venerable Windsor Davies (Sgt Major Zero). See http://tv.cream.org/ for a nostalgic overview of Terrahawks. Remember the noughts and crosses game at the end of each episode? I used to have the theme as an mp3 but I think I must have lost it...

I dream of the day when their is a scifi show where they go... Hey we only have a core following... lets make a complicated story that the average joe will not understand throw in some really good plot twists... and not worry about the tokin 30 second ship shot
This would be cool. I think the current LOTR series of films (although obviously not sci fi) is a step in this direction. When all 3 films are done and all the extra DVD footage and everything added it will be getting on for 10 hours. Although there have been certain necessary compromises toward the mainstream, I think this film represents a recognition that "core following" films are probably the way things are going to go. As mainstream culture fragments further and further into subcultures (something the internet has promoted, by allowing people to define their social circles according to interest rather than geographic constraints), different styles of film/ media will emerge, tailored to these audiences. Probably.

Basically, what I'm saying is people are starting to realise that some of us want to see entertainment that goes beyond the 45 minute tv/ 180 minute movie formats. I think Hollywood needs to look East for inspiration: In India they aren't scared of making films 5 or 6 hours long about all their religious stories and folklore=-)

The other thing is that as video cameras and editting/ rendering technology and stuff become more usable and affordable, and as bandwidth increases, you'll see more and more home-grown films being released on the web. These will probably break from conventional formats and techniques in all kind of interesting ways.

A small example: http://www.robotbastard.com - for a 40 meg download you get 15 minutes of mad retro-tech scifi mayhem from the guy who brought you "Scud: Disposible Assassin". Highly recommended.

Growltigger

February 17th, 2003, 07:44 PM

The one thing I think it is safe to say, without fear of criticism, is that "Starship Troopers - The Film" bore awfully little resemblance to "Starship Troopers - The Book".

The Bugs in the book used weapons, flew spaceships and as I recall, didnt rip people limb from limb or slaughter cows or anything...

Dizzy Flores was actually a bloke, and not the totty Caspar Van Dien gets off with. Dont know where Denise what's-her-face came into things in the book. If she did, she had a minor role

The starship troopers also wore augmented robotic suits.

The list goes on.

Dont get me wrong, I like the movie. I even bought it on DVD.

Wardad

February 17th, 2003, 10:37 PM

Here's a good scifi one...

http://www.curemode.com/tye/tyebsg2.jpg

tesco samoa

February 17th, 2003, 10:44 PM

Fav. Shows of all time.

Not in any order

DS9 : The one where the Rolumans are brought into the war.
STNG : Yesterday's Enterprise
BAB5: The one where the Earth Destroyer forces attacks BAB5
ST: The one where they meet the romulans for the first time
Voyager : 5 years of hell ( or how many years it was ) or the one where the doctor is in the future and must tell his side of the story

gregebowman

February 18th, 2003, 03:50 AM

I read Starship Troopers probably about 25-30 years ago, so even I don't remember the plotline of the book. Just the opening chapter is the only thing I still remember. I would have reread the book when the movie came out, but I think it's at my mom's house in Oklahoma. I didn't feel like rebuying the book when I already have a copy. But I loved the movie. Has anyone seen those animated shows based on it? I haven't, but I plan on getting them eventually.

I would like to see movies based on classics, but in that time period. Case of point: War Of The Worlds. This is the book that turned me into a hardcore sci-fi nut. I read it when I was about ten years old, and I became so enamored with it that I couldn't put it down. I would love to see a movie based on the book set in the 1890's. The movie made in the 50's was good, but sometimes the source book is much better than what Hollywood can come out with after all of the compromises that must be done to make a movie. At least Peter Jackson is trying to be faithful to the spirit of the Ring trilogy. I heard somewhere that there was going to be a War of the Worlds movie that was going to be made, but then 9-11 happened and it was put on a back burner. Then a few months ago I read that Tom Cruise might star in a WOTW movie. Although I'm not all that enamored with Tom Cruise, if his name is attached to a project, maybe it will come out. Hopefully it's set in the past, not the future. And please, no remake of that god-awful TV show.

Desdinova

February 18th, 2003, 04:24 AM

late 80's/early 90's they did a remake of war of the worlds for holloween night. they did it as if the earth was being invaded similiar to the original orson wells radio play. it had actual news people portraying themselves.
ufo enters atmosphere and is shot down. aliens respond by sending a asteroid on collision with earth. space base missiles are used to destroy asteroid at Last minute. while everyone is congratulating themselves they pan to norads space tracking screen and it shows hundreds of asteroids on collision course. turns out the aliens were friendly until we shot down the ufo. there were lots of "special reports" during the program as if they reporting on a ufo crash and the followup investigation. it was enjoyable. i would have liked it better if it was actually on multiple channels.

Krsqk

February 18th, 2003, 05:17 PM

Glenn Beck, a talk-show host, did a remake of the radio production of War of the Worlds just Last Holloween. It was actually pretty good.

Cheeze

February 18th, 2003, 08:34 PM

Battlestar Galactica is being played this entire week on Sci-Fi. Funny how some SEIV rules seen to be working there.

1)Fighters rule...apparently because point-defense isn't really very good. Which mod is that?

2)Cargo CAN carry population. (Colonial Movers "We move anywhere" ship is nothing but cargo holds)

3)Clearly Galactica is in a P&N mod...they're always picking up supplies and moving along.

4)Cylons must have dropped their aggressiveness and defensiveness traits to get the emotionless and hardy industrialists traits. They can't hit anything and get blown away in massive numbers, but apparently can build LOTS.

gregebowman

February 18th, 2003, 08:59 PM

Speaking of BG, have you heard the latest on the remake? There's supposed to be a female Starbuck. That's something I can't picture. A female Boomer maybe, but not Starbuck! Although she's probably a babe, but to play Starbuck she'd almost have to play it like a cigar-chomping butch type.

Desdinova

February 18th, 2003, 09:39 PM

Originally posted by gregebowman:
Speaking of BG, have you heard the latest on the remake? There's supposed to be a female Starbuck. That's something I can't picture. A female Boomer maybe, but not Starbuck! Although she's probably a babe, but to play Starbuck she'd almost have to play it like a cigar-chomping butch type.not necessarily, Geena Davis played a good pirate captain in CutThroat Island. a character like her would work out well.

edit: here is the description of the character.

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, in her late 20s to early 30s, is a loner, which makes her an oddity among the Galactica�s tight-knit crew of pilots. She�s tough and ballsy with a certain worldliness. She�s as undisciplined and rebellious out of the cockpit as she is calculating and precise in it. Her mouth has definitely held back her career. Not fond of Colonel Paul Tigh, the ship�s Executive Officer, she enjoys both taunting him and beating him at cards. A take-charge woman who runs around the ship in a jogging bra and shorts, who might be attracted to Lee Adama, Kara is a warrior spoiling for a fight, and she gets her chance at battle when the Cylons attack. Forced to fly an antiquated fighter, Kara soon learns that the "modern" spacecraft have been infiltrated by a Cylon computer virus, and that only older fighters can survive in combat. Lucky, smart, and tough, Kara soon finds herself the point woman in Adama�s efforts to fight back against the Cylons. But when Adama and President Roslin agree to make a run for it, Kara must use her battle-honed skills not to fight the enemy, but to defend the fragile nucleus of humanity carried aboard the Galactica to an unknown future.

soo much for the geena davis character type.

[ February 18, 2003, 19:52: Message edited by: desdinova ]

Sinapus

February 18th, 2003, 10:19 PM

Originally posted by gregebowman:
I read Starship Troopers probably about 25-30 years ago, so even I don't remember the plotline of the book. Just the opening chapter is the only thing I still remember. I would have reread the book when the movie came out, but I think it's at my mom's house in Oklahoma. Essentially, the producer ignored all the politics and important stuff. Then filled in his own impression because he didn't like Heinlein's political beliefs.

Nit: vets didn't take over the government in a coup as Micheal Ironside's character implied. Governments had collapsed around the world and in Aberdeen (earliest known case) some vets got together and formed a provisional government that eventually became worldwide.

Nit2: Sergeant Zim was a harsh taskmaster in the book, not a brutal thug like in the movie. (The scene where a recruit asks about training with knives ended in a small lecture by Zim about "there are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men" and not Zim throwing a dagger through the recruit's hand.

Trivia1: Reference to Sergeant Zim is leading me to replace him with Invader Zim. But then my mind is twisted.

I think I'll stop here.

DavidG

February 19th, 2003, 01:40 AM

Originally posted by growltigger:
The one thing I think it is safe to say, without fear of criticism, is that "Starship Troopers - The Film" bore awfully little resemblance to "Starship Troopers - The Book".

.....

The list goes on.
And on and on. I think the only thing that was the same was that humans were fighting bugs. On a realated note can anyone think of any Sci-Fi movie (or any movie) based on a book that was actually good? The only thing close that I've seen were actualy Outer Limits episodes that were based on Sci-Fi short stories. Even then they were a bit disapointing.

gregebowman

February 19th, 2003, 02:57 AM

Don't remember that one. Unless it happened from June 87 to June 88, when I was in Korea. I missed a lot of television during that year, and probably missed out on a lot of stuff I probably still don't know about.

gregebowman

February 19th, 2003, 03:28 AM

Originally posted by DavidG:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />And on and on. I think the only thing that was the same was that humans were fighting bugs. On a realated note can anyone think of any Sci-Fi movie (or any movie) based on a book that was actually good? The only thing close that I've seen were actualy Outer Limits episodes that were based on Sci-Fi short stories. Even then they were a bit disapointing.[/QB]<hr /></blockquote>well, all too true. Most movies don't resemble the books they're based on. Just look at almost any Stephen King or Tom Clancy movie. I can't understand the Hollywood mentality to think that they got to rework a best-selling book into a bomb. There are exceptions, but so few I can't think of too many. I did like the most recent Version of The Time Machine. And I prefer The Running Man movie to the book. Those are the only ones I can think of.

Cheeze

February 19th, 2003, 09:00 AM

desdinova - wasn't that like the story from Buck Rogers? There the most advanced Earth fighters were supposed to run by computers. Unfortunately, those computers were sold to Earth by the Draconians, who pretty much waxed the Earth forces left and right. It took Buck Rogers flying by his own skill to save the day and convince the humans they should depend on their own abilities. That and some disco dancing...egad! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

(Homer voice: mmmmmmm...Wilma Deering)

Desdinova

February 19th, 2003, 09:18 AM

cheese - i think your right. no one knew how to fly without the computer. i beleive he began teaching them how to fly by the seat of their pants. then of course he was useful as he was not in the computer records like he every one else was since birth.
of course this was nothing like the book either http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

edit: i wonder when its coming out on dvd.
edit 2: nope it was only 1 episode (EPISODE 4)that had that problem. <a href="http://www.buck-rogers.com" target="_blank">
LINK TO BUCKROGERS</a>

[ February 19, 2003, 07:37: Message edited by: desdinova ]

Growltigger

February 19th, 2003, 11:09 AM

and the fact that for some bizarre reason, all the cute galactic babes like Princess Ardala and Wilma Deering (bidda bidda bidda to that) found Buck irrestibly attractive!!

David E. Gervais

February 19th, 2003, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by DavidG:
On a realated note can anyone think of any Sci-Fi movie (or any movie) based on a book that was actually good?hmmm,.. The Thing, Planet of the Apes (original!), The Omega Man, 2001: a Space Odyssey, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Jurassic Park, Hunt for Red October, etc, etc, etc.

I could go on and on, for some reason the 'Good' ones seem to be 'memorable'. Dune comes to mind, but you'd have to clip the ending (prevent Paul from causing it to rain) over-all Dune is well done, but Dune had just a few 'major' bugs that basically raped the original book! The Mini-Series was/is a much better adaptation of the book!

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

steveh11

February 19th, 2003, 01:48 PM

I'll add another to that list of movies: James Cameron's "The Abyss".

Interesting note on "The Abyss" and "2001". In both cases the book was written at the same time as the film, and in both cases changes in the film were made because of the book, and vice versa. Whether this helped I leave to the viewer/reader!

Steve.

gregebowman

February 19th, 2003, 05:45 PM

Originally posted by steveh11:
I'll add another to that list of movies: James Cameron's "The Abyss".

Interesting note on "The Abyss" and "2001". In both cases the book was written at the same time as the film, and in both cases changes in the film were made because of the book, and vice versa. Whether this helped I leave to the viewer/reader!

Steve.There was a book based on "The Abyss"? I'm sure there was a novelization of the movie, but I can't picture James Cameron being dictated to by an author. On the other hand, I know that Stanly Kubrick worked hand to hand with Clarke to work on 2001. I don't see that book as a novelization of the movie.

Cheeze

February 20th, 2003, 09:00 AM

growltigger...gotta give Buck credit, he had his share of pretty women. But can anyone compare to Captain Kirk (as played by the One True Shatner, or OTS as Shatnerologists reverently refer to the Great One) who would entrall anything remotely female, at any time, in any place!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

raynor: (for post above this one) The midgets TK'ing Wilma Deering's clothes off have been mentioned several times already. Unless you said it, in which case, yes, we remember it...quite well!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ February 23, 2003, 15:22: Message edited by: Cheeze ]

raynor

February 23rd, 2003, 10:57 AM

Does anyone remember the Buck Rogers episode where they encounter the PK-able folks who have never seen a woman before?

Off-Think! Off-Think! Off-Think!

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

DavidG

February 23rd, 2003, 11:14 PM

Originally posted by David E. Gervais:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by DavidG:
On a realated note can anyone think of any Sci-Fi movie (or any movie) based on a book that was actually good?hmmm,.. The Thing, Planet of the Apes (original!), The Omega Man, 2001: a Space Odyssey, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Jurassic Park, Hunt for Red October, etc, etc, etc.

I could go on and on, for some reason the 'Good' ones seem to be 'memorable'. Dune comes to mind, but you'd have to clip the ending (prevent Paul from causing it to rain) over-all Dune is well done, but Dune had just a few 'major' bugs that basically raped the original book! The Mini-Series was/is a much better adaptation of the book!

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <hr /></blockquote>OMG Dune!!! Really? Guess we'll have to agree to disagree here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I think Dune is a classic example of a totally brilliant book (posibly my favourite of all time) and an unbelievable bad movie. But yea that mini series was pretty good. The only other examples you gave that I have seen the movie and read the book was Jurasic Park and I thought the book was much much better. I guess I always like the books better because you can get so much more depth in a novel than you can in a 2 hour movie. I suppose if you were to put all the chapters from a book in the movie it would be god knows how many hours!

Edit: I guess in my orginal post I should have said "better than or as good as the book" instead of just 'good'

[ February 23, 2003, 22:09: Message edited by: DavidG ]

DavidG

February 23rd, 2003, 11:17 PM

So the absoulte best Sci-Fi show of all time ( and possible the best TV show of all time) Outer Limits is now on the Space channel at 6pm EST every weekday!!1 WOOHOO http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

David E. Gervais

February 24th, 2003, 01:15 AM

Originally posted by DavidG:
I guess in my orginal post I should have said "better than or as good as the book" instead of just 'good'Easy, any Tom Clancy book made into a movie will always beat the book. IMHO all his books make for a very dry read. He always tries to cram way too much detail into his naration!

Jurassic Park was/is a better book than movie, but the movie was very well done.

I read Dune after seeing the movie and I was amazed at how much they managed to get into the film. I also imediately noticed how bad some stuff got raped. Most if not all the people I know that saw the film read the books first and all they noticed is what was missing or distorted. My having seen the film without having read the books gave me a different perspective. The reactions that my friends had prompted me to read the book to get the real story. I can't go back and say I didn't like the movie because I did like it. That would be like having a good steak diner and saying you enjoyed it very much then finding out it was bear meat and changing your mind! I don't play that game.

Also I don't agree to disagree, I prefer to say we are in agreement about dune, but have both experienced it from a different perspective. I now recognise that the film was much less than it could have been. But that could also be said of every film ever made! Hindsight is 20-20 after all!

Cheers!

Cheeze

February 25th, 2003, 06:29 AM

Just adding some information. Last week, the Sci-Fi channel played Battlestar Galactica from 11-4pm every weekday.

They are doing it again this week, but with Buck Rogers. I'm wondering if I need to set my VCR and then check back for the particularly good episodes. Oh sure, there's the "off think" one with Colonel Deerings' bumps...but how about that one with the space vampire when Wilma got turned and she started acting extra sexy? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

I noticed something in the Buck Roger's movie today. They had the same flight controls as the Vipers do. Makes that 13th tribe connection more believable...so to speak. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Update: Sci-Fi was showing the Night Stalker today. Maybe they'll show Buck Rogers every Monday or something. There's always hope.

[ February 25, 2003, 18:32: Message edited by: Cheeze ]

raynor

February 25th, 2003, 10:08 AM

Oh yeah.... the space vampire episode is one to watch. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Does anyone remember Space: 1999? They just delivered the DVD Megaset. It's 48 hours of sci-fi for about $120. I watched the first one Last night, and man, did it bring back memories. I used to have a walkie-talkie that looked like their communication devices.

I wonder if Star Trek: The Original Series DVD's will ever drop in price. It seems like they are still about $15 mail-order for every two episode disc.

Does anyone remember an old sci-fi series about an Ark? They had these stun weapons that reflect the sun, and they had a food technology that seemed like it was similar to replicators. I think maybe their uniforms were mostly white. I think maybe they had a smaller vehicle that would come down a ramp from the back of the 'ark'. The ark was just a big traveling ground vehicle. Wow. That was a LONG time ago.

I also remember an old sci-fi show about something like the Phoenix. It seemed like it was an Native American looking dude with a phoenix symbol on a chain that could transform or something. Hmm... okay, that is more fantasy than sci-fi.

There is another sci-fi show that was short lived called maybe Other World? It seems like a family of four was swept into this other world and was trying to get out. I remember one episode where all the people were androids because of high radiation levels. It was cute. The son fell in love with the young android girl who showed him her "light" on a master board and said it represented her "soul". I still remember having a crush on her.

raynor

February 25th, 2003, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by javaslinger:
What's that god awful series wehre people crash land on some planet. There some kind of underground race there called diggers?

It's a recent show.
I wonder if you are talking about Earth 2? They had that race of spear carrying aliens that communicated in dreams and would shoot up out of the ground and back again. They had VR gear that was pretty cool. The series was just so flat, I thought.

Cheeze

February 26th, 2003, 09:59 AM

raynor...those bring back memories. I think I needed a life even then, I watched so much television, apparently.

First, Space 1999. From the same production company that did The Muppet Show. I really liked the shapeshifter, she was really cool. That was Moonbase Alpha, and hadn't the moon been yanked away from Earth or some such thing.

Phoenix was pretty fun to watch. The same actor who played Khan's number one guy in Wrath of Khan. I liked all his special powers, and how he was constantly on the run from government agents, if I remember right.

Last, Ark 2. That was Saturday morning television, before/during/after the Kroft Supershow (H.R. Puffenstuff anyone?). Was that oriented around a family in a post-apocalypse environment? I remember the sun-powered weapons...I seem to think they used a similar sound effect as the martians in the classic War of the Worlds movie. If that doesn't bring up The Land of the Lost..and not that terrible remake. And Jason and the Star Patrol. And the Bay City Rollers Saturday Morning Special...AAAAGHH!! Someone stop me! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

David E. Gervais

February 27th, 2003, 02:05 AM

There is another sci-fi show that was short lived called maybe Other World? It seems like a family of four was swept into this other world and was trying to get out.

Was this per chance a show called 'Fantastic Journey'? At least that is what the description sounds like! I thought it was pretty good. It was playing at the same time as another show that I liked called 'Cliffhanger' with Susan Anton.

Aaaah the memories! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Cheers!

Edit: P.S. wasn't there a TV series adaptation of 'Westworld'? That seems to ring a bell too!

[ February 26, 2003, 12:07: Message edited by: David E. Gervais ]

Kamog

February 27th, 2003, 04:53 AM

Yeah, I remember Space: 1999. That was a good show... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Desdinova

February 27th, 2003, 06:41 AM

Raynor you are correct the name of the series is Otherworld and is from 1985. it was a good series.
"The Sterlings are a typical California family who visit the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. On this day there is a particular alignment of the planets which occurs once every tens of thousands of years. At that time they pass into another dimension which constitutes a whole other universe. The family journeys through this Otherworld trying to find their way back home."

too bad there is not someway to order dvds or downloads of selected series.

[ February 27, 2003, 04:42: Message edited by: desdinova ]

Desdinova

February 27th, 2003, 08:16 AM

while not really sci-fi does anybody remember the series the hitchhiker with page fletcher from either hbo or showtime. sort of a twilight zone series.

gregebowman

February 27th, 2003, 03:24 PM

I remember that show, and it was HBO. Of the episodes I saw, I say it was pretty good. Mostly I remember there being some nudity in each episode. I wonder how it could be edited and still make sense when the show finally came to late night tv? I never watched any of those shows.

SgtBigG

February 27th, 2003, 08:27 PM

Does anyone remember the Buck Rogers episode with Buster Crabbe (sp?)? It had one of the best lines in television history. All of the Earth pilots were sick and they recalled the veterans, one of whom was Crabbe. While they prepared for battle Rogers was giving some advice, Crabbe said, "son I've been doing this since before you were born", Rogers made some smart-assed comment like "you think so", to which Crabbe responded, "I know so". Maybe it's just me but I love that.

gregebowman

February 27th, 2003, 08:44 PM

Yeah, I remember Buster Crabbe being in an episode, but it's been so long since I've seen Buck Rogers I can't recall any of the details. That was a good show until they changed the format in the Last season.

Desdinova

February 27th, 2003, 09:29 PM

i remember the episode, i didnt realize that was buster crabbe. of course at that time i didnt really pay attention to such details. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif now that you have pointed that out it makes the scene completely different. at the time i remember thinking he doesnt know buck's real age.

[ February 27, 2003, 19:30: Message edited by: desdinova ]

sachmo

February 27th, 2003, 09:33 PM

Any news about whether Firefly is going to get picked up by another network?

Cheeze

February 28th, 2003, 07:00 AM

They played that Buck Rogers epsiode on Sci-Fi this past Monday. It was the episode with Jack Palance as the evil cult leader guy who was responsible for poisoning the Earth's food supply.

Pablo, backing up what you said, I have to agree I always thought the same thing...viewing that comment from the frame of reference of the characters. Having a double-meaning from the actors' perspective makes that comment even funnier.

Oved

March 5th, 2003, 11:00 PM

This is a reply to many of the Posts... Space 1999 is available on dvd on Netflixs (netflixs.com) I've been renting one every now and then, the production quality is great, but the stories tend to lack action. The company that did S1999 also did the UFO series, which is also available on Netflixs.. man what hoot that show is! It's as 'out there' as Austin Powers, only they aren't trying to be funny. Gerry Anderson, that's the guys name that produced the shows, he also did the Thunderbirds, the puppet based Scifi, which had some cool ships, make a good shipset.. The distrubution company was ITV.. they also distributed the Muppet Show. Now about FireFly.. which was my favorite new show..dang it...I looked into it a couple of months ago, they were trying to move over to UPN, which carried his other show.. Buffy T.V.S. There was a petition and a full page ad in Variety bought by fans to thank the cast for a job well done. Don't know if there has been any progress in Last few weeks. Fox was just stupid on this one, they really screwd the pooch....
Thanks for the mention of BBBBBuck Rogers...memories of Erin what's-her-name in spandex...grrrowl baby...yea!!!
Is there a shipset that is made up of a mishmash of famous scifi ships? That would be cool.

have fun kids,
oved

Oved

March 5th, 2003, 11:01 PM

oh I almost forgot.. Snake Pliskin...I thought you were Dead!!!

later
oved

SG-3

March 7th, 2003, 03:57 AM

The CGI animated Starship Troopers series is called Roughneck:The Starship Troopers Cronicles.

phaet2112

March 7th, 2003, 04:28 AM

Save Farscape!

Best ABSOLUTE best sci fi show on TV on Fridays at 8pm Eastern on SciFI. Catch it before it goes off the air, thanks to dimwitted Vivendi and USA network execs.

Owlman

March 7th, 2003, 07:10 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by phaet2112:
[QB]Save Farscape!

Amen Brother!

It is the best show on TV and both the network and the Emmys screwed them! Sorry critics, but the Shield is god awful it it is only "good" because they say **** on TV and show nudity.

Omega_Prime

October 29th, 2003, 06:17 PM

So...8 months later, Battlestar is about to come out on SCI-FI. Everything Atlantis is off the air, and Stargate SG1 is runnig strong.

Sinapus

October 29th, 2003, 07:25 PM

Originally posted by Taz-in-Space:
In Andromeda: can anybody explain how in one show the Andromeda ship can be damaged by a half-dozen ships and in another show can survive onslaughts of say 10,000 ships from another dimension? Um... the 10,000 ships were not in firing range in that episode? Plus they did have other ships from the new Commonwealth bLasting the space around them. "We're going to carpet-bomb space?!"

Something similar in the pilot movie happened. 10,000 enemy ships, but only a small percent were actually in range and firing on the ship?