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03-29-2005, 10:00 AM
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| | | Is there a hierarchy for sci fi shows?
I was just looking through Stargate at tvtome.com and saw Claudia Black on there... so I was just wondering if actors or people ever go "man, this isn't Star Trek" and if so, what do you think the penultimate/legendary shows are and what do you think the bottom barrel are?
I guess you could make the same argument for sci fi movies. Do you think Star Wars is number one? I'd just like someone to step forward and say no they think Star Trek or something else is better, and explain why.  |
03-29-2005, 10:08 AM
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| | | Star Trek made sci fi popular. I would say specifically TNG. They did it for everybody. They helped increase popularity in the genre so that other Roddenbury shows also good got attention. Then Babylon 5 also got it. Now we have Battlestar Galatica which is doing well.
Some shows such like Star Gate. I don't like it. Andromeda is good but they spin stuff to far away for my taste.
If there is a hierarchy, the entire Star Trek Universe takes the top five slots. Except for Enterprise. Those idiots messed so much with the history its pathetic.
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03-29-2005, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by stormcloud I'd just like someone to step forward and say no they think Star Trek or something else is better, and explain why. | no, you're looking to start a fight. I'd start, but I must admit to a certain love of bad sci-fi, and my opinions are probably best ignored... 
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03-29-2005, 11:07 AM
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| | | [quote=CM]Star Trek made sci fi popular. I would say specifically TNG.[quote]
I would say that the Battlestar Galactica / Star Trek combination really paved the road. That was the time Sci-fi took off... even though the original Start Trek didn't always do very well.
What do you by sayng that Battlestar Galatica which is doing well? Is there a new show? (though I do know of talk of a new movie IIRC)
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03-29-2005, 11:40 AM
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| | | Those two originals did it in the 1970s. But then TNG made it gold in the late 80s and 90s and then you have spin offs and other Roddenbury material like Earth Final Conflict and Andromeda. There were i think 4 tv shows created by Gene Roddenbury on tv during the 90s.
Battle is now on the Sci Fi channel. They have started a new series and stuff. Pretty good. Very popular from what i have seen.
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For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? - Khalil Gibran
"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" - Winston Churchill
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03-29-2005, 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted by CM Battle is now on the Sci Fi channel. They have started a new series and stuff. Pretty good. Very popular from what i have seen. | Cool, I didn't know of it yet.
BTW, you think Andromeda is good?
I've watched it and find it of terrible quality... a Farscape spinoff but poorly. Horrible actors (Hercules? ) and an awfull setting.
Now Farscape, that's a good show!
Took some getting used to though.
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03-29-2005, 12:15 PM
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| | | Andromeda is bad. Good idea very bad implementation. Though the girl Andromeda is hot.
Farscape is good if you know whats going on. I liked the first season after that i missed 2 or 3 seasons and now i am completely lost. Very difficult story to follow. But good story once you get it.
I would personally suggest for Farscape that people start with season 1 ep 1 and then do it in order to figure out what is going on.
I know Stilgar is a big sci fi fan. Ask him if it comes on tv in Holland.
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For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? - Khalil Gibran
"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" - Winston Churchill
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03-29-2005, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by CM
I know Stilgar is a big sci fi fan. Ask him if it comes on tv in Holland.
| Not anymore unfortunately, I used to watch it.
I saw most episodes.
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03-29-2005, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Rob-hin BTW, you think Andromeda is good?
I've watched it and find it of terrible quality... a Farscape spinoff but poorly. Horrible actors (Hercules? ) and an awfull setting. | it's rubbish. I love it. although I used to watch in black and white, and I became certain the ship should be yellow. and yes, the lead used to be Hercules in the TV series, as well as appearing in some really poor fantasy films. and CM is right - very hot android.
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03-29-2005, 04:21 PM
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| | | I'm really surprised that no one besides Stormcloud has mentioned Star Wars. I have enjoyed science fiction ever since I was a little kid, so I've always been aware of science fiction movies and TV series. The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and movies like Forbidden Planet were popular long before Star Trek came along. But if you want to make a case about which franchise really brought sci-fi to the mainstream and revolutionized the way that science fiction is made, it has to be Star Wars. People tuned into Battlestar Galactica because they couldn't get enough of Star Wars. The older kind of science fiction (which didn't have the big budgets or the technology for really great special effects) relied upon interesting concepts and characters rather than lots of action and simple conflicts between good and evil. Star Wars took the premise of a western, added a bunch of goofy characters, and made it into a WWII-type movie. Every new Star Wars film follows the same pattern as the original, and they're all as popular as ever. But it's nice to see that other franchises like Stargate, Alien, etc. and movies like Blade Runner have remained sophisticated even while most science fiction has been "dumbed down" for mass consumption.
I don't really want to get into a discussion about Star Trek: The Next Generation, except to say that the only reason I ever watched it was because it was called "Star Trek". It contains some of the same visions that Gene Roddenberry had for the original Star Trek series, but otherwise, there's no way to compare them side by side. The old series took place in a world that was always on the brink of war, while the new series took place in a world where conflict did not exist. Since you can't have a plot without some sort of conflict, the scriptwriters did their best to invent some, usually along the lines of "the Holodeck is malfunctioning so we actually have a problem to solve now" or "Data doesn't know how to deal with human emotions". I can't believe they came up with seven years of that stuff and I can't believe that people actually watched it, but obviously, it possessed some sort of appeal.
When it comes to plot, I prefer the plots of any of the old Star Trek episodes or even the plots of any of the Star Wars movies, not to mention the plot of almost any episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. But if you want a hierarchy of science fiction, it will always be based on personal taste. Do you prefer Ursula LeGuin or Larry Niven? They're so different, I don't know how you'd compare them.
Last edited by VonDondu; 07-01-2007 at 08:47 PM.
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03-29-2005, 05:51 PM
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| | | I have to agree with VonDondu. Star Wars did pave the way. A modern example is when Episode 1 came out. You had people sleeping on the ground in front of the ticket booth for days before the opening. I didn't see that with Star Trek: First Contact. Granted, it probably has something to do with the fact that there is a Star Trek TV show that people can watch to satisfy their craving, but, IMO, it still doesn't compare with Star Wars. Also, SW has far reaching effects into the "normal" world. Everyone knows where "use the force" and "Luke, I am your father" came from. Granted, most people do know where "Beam me up, Scotty" is from too. But Star Wars has been much more influencial in mainstream culture than anything else, IMHO. |
03-29-2005, 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Godslayer Everyone knows where "use the force" and "Luke, I am your father" came from. Granted, most people do know where "Beam me up, Scotty" is from too... | IBM named one of their commercial operating systems OS/2 "Warp". Warp? What the heck does that mean? Is it bent or something? |
03-30-2005, 12:14 PM
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| | | Von i agree with you. Personally i like Dr. Who as well. But i rank star wars as a movie series and different from the TV shows. I don't think the two can be compared. Plus honestly the current star wars hype is because nobody had seen a new star wars movie for what 10 years? That builds up expectations and popularity.
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For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? - Khalil Gibran
"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" - Winston Churchill
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03-31-2005, 10:58 AM
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| | I have rather unpopular ideas about sci-fi, but I suppose that's what this is for.
I liked original Star Trek, but I don't think it was at all high quality. The concept of the commanding officer going down to fight aliens himself is rediculous. The plots were all the same. The acting cheesey. I still liked it, but I'm a nerd.  I also think that there was nothing revolutionary about Star Wars except the effects and the pulp content. It's not really a sci-fi flick IMO, it's action. Plus, I subscribe to the theory that Star Wars is a blatant rip-off of Dune. Now there's a good sci-fi. The book is a bilion times better than any of the movies could be though.
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03-31-2005, 11:16 AM
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Dune. Now there's a good sci-fi. The book is a bilion times better than any of the movies could be though.
| While I've never been into sci-fi, I have to admit to being a big fan of Dune I've read all 6 books and loved them; the prequels, however, I don't dare touch.
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