Does This Show Really Redefine SciFi?

[HighWiredSith]

I got the first season on DVD a couple of months ago and just got around to watching the special features on disc 5. Oh my how the producers, writers, and actors feel like they've got something earthshatteringly, genre redefining here. It's almost like watching little George Lucas's inflate the cultural significance of their body of work. I particularly like they way they insist that they've redefined Science Fiction as a whole and how they fully expect future SF writers and producers to embrace their methodology and ideas, this so-called new concept of character driven scifi. It really made me think less of the series. Here are obviously a group of artists who have little to no clue what's really out there in terms of character driven science fiction and as a result totally overinflate their own signficance in the realm of both SciFi and dramatic television.

And it has apparently become kosher with SF insiders to contrast onesself with Star Trek - pretty much what Joss Whedon did with Firefly - Here is how we are the anti-Trek... I stopped counting how many times the producers, prop makers, designers, etc. kept saying this is how we are different from Star Trek.

Ultimately, this show owes much to the likes of Firefly, Star Trek and of course the original Battlestar Galactica. And frankly, making male characters into female characters is not going to change the course of history like these producers think it will. I get so sick of hearing how "brave" they are for weathering the storms if irrate fandom to make "bold" new changes. Seriously, how many fans of the original series could there have been? 20? 30 maybe?

Get real, this show is good, enjoyable scifi with some great effects and decent characterizations that more often get in the way of the series than allow it to evolve. As I move toward the end of Season Two, it's clear they've learned this and have started to drop most of this so-called "human drama," like Desperate Houswives meet Star Trek nonsense, for a more straight perspective.

[HighWiredSith]

Oh, an by the way - pretty sure the word "dark" was used to describe this series at least a dozen times.

And what's with the guy who plays Apollo!!! Not only his name Jamie Bamber but he's got this ridiculously sissy Brit accent! And no, not all Brit accents are sissy - the guy who plays Baltar is very cool in fact. But this guy has that pinky in the air tea and cucumber sandwhiches kind of accent. If I were he, I would use the American accent all the time (kind of like Mel Gibson did), unless of course he is actually gay, then he should be fine.

[mack]

I've always surmised that the guy who plays Apollo is gay in RL, simply because is so, so pristine in appearance. Almost painstakingly. Follow? I started liking him a lot less when I realized they probably picked him to play part because he appeals to a cross-gender audience. Eh.

And how....(i hate to say it) ....whipped is Starbuck's husband? *raises eyebrow* Who in their right mind would put up with her bossing him around?

So you can see that I only just finished Season 2.5, and let me tell you - I was less impressed than I wanted to be. You're right HWS - they spent entirely to much time on flashbacks and sappy character building (not that I mind sappy - just let it be for a legitimate story-building reason).

The season made you feel like the writers were kind of bored, not sure where to take the story (lost in space - we cant take them home yet because then the series will be over!), and focused on, for lack of a better word, writing "fluff" episodes.

i.e.
1) Gina. I was sick of Gina when I first saw her after she shot the Commander. What's with the having sex with Gauis when you dont want to? Yes, we know she was mentally messed up, but that whole scenario was illogical. Give Gauis what he wants, because you love him so much, then hurt him? Not helping, honey.

2) Number 6. Can this one make up her mind? With the cylons, or against them? Im sick of the writers wasting my time - I know some people struggle with conflicting desires, but never in my life have I seen someone so confused. Dangerously confused. If I were a Cylon, I'd kill her. If I were a human, Id kill her. She's a help to no one, and a danger to everyone.

3) Sharon. Im sick of this one too. At least they could write Sharon to be consistent in her philospophy, but no. Even she is dangerously conflicted. Humans should have blind trust in her, and she's mad if they dont - oh but, yeah, I forgot to tell you about the other Cylons, and Im not gonna. Put her down.

4) Gaius. This whole angle is starting to become slightly insulting to the brilliant minds out there. The only kernel of reality I can see in this character is how he is wholly amoral when it comes down to his instant gratification versus the good of mankind. Mankind can die so he can get laid? That's insulting. It is a weakness too obvious to have survived this long - at his advanced age someone would have already capitalized on such an obvious failing.

[SF_not_Sci-Fi]

Originally Posted by HighWiredSith

Seriously, how many fans of the original series could there have been? 20? 30 maybe?

29 I think. That one kid offed himself.

[biggusdickus]

Originally Posted by HighWiredSith

If I were he, I would use the American accent all the time (kind of like Mel Gibson did), unless of course he is actually gay, then he should be fine.

Not quite sure what you mean here by "all the time," High -- are you referring to the bogus Australian accent Mr. Gibson affected in his early roles, or his native "Drunken Yankee Bigot" dialect of more recent years? That is, are you advising that La Bamber should (A) adopt a fulltime phony accent in hopes of sounding more butch, or (B) revert to his native tongue but upgrade it with a blanket of slurred demographic slurs (e.g., "shweet tits" et al) in imitation of manly Melvin?

[Lt_Johnny_Rico]

Originally Posted by HighWiredSith

Oh, an by the way - pretty sure the word "dark" was used to describe this series at least a dozen times.

Didn't you get the memo? Using "dark" to describe things is like the hip thing to do now, yo. Some friends of mine made me watch Temple of Doom with them, and then the special features, and George Lucas kept using the word "dark" or better yet, saying that it is "DARKER" (oh, no, say it ain't so, Mr. Lucas!) than Raiders of the Lost Ark. Over and over again, to the point where I was on the verge of yelling at the screen, "Say 'dark' again, motherf-cker! I dare you! I double dare you, etc, etc." I'm pretty sure GL said the same about Revenge of the Sith.