9/21/09 SGU

[Frosting]

I bought SG-1 season 1.... I told you I shouldn't start big series -.- damnit. Last friday they had a marathon of fan favs from SG-1 -.- Guess who watched it. Annnnnyway I was out and about and they had season 1 for only 15$ so I bought it... And I know I'm going to get suckered into buying them all, eventually. Or I'll splurge or something and buy the complete series collection. I hate this about me. I have a very addictive personality combined with a necessity to collect, it drains my cash faster than light. (That's the reason half my check goes directly to savings and I don't allow myself to look into it unless absolutely necessary...) Grrr... but I'm loving the series lol.

[Myobi]

ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

(btw, watch the commentaries if you're bored - they usually rock)

[adciv]

Mind, wasn't there a show with the same premise called "Lost in Space"?

See this, it's at 2:55 but I recommend watching from the beginning.

[Arc Orion]

What is it with the Voltaire kick? As it so happens, of your posts that I've seen, you've linked to two of perhaps five of his songs that are worth listening to. You have good taste in Voltaire songs, it seems.

[adciv]

That is my ringtone for my sci-fi club contacts. He's good. I forget who introduced me to him, but i like the comedy and I am a fairly big Star Trek fan. I also happen to agree with most of what he says in there. Also, for the other one, I came across it when looking for one of the other USS make shit up slide shows but posted that one instead.

[lastcallcomic]

Was anyone else as disappointed with SGU as I was? And was that sex scene really necessary?

[Tuitsuro]

Was anyone else as disappointed with SGU as I was? And was that sex scene really necessary?

It reminded me of part of that 200th SG1 episode where they parodied being a tv show with a bunch of sexed up teenagers instead of with MacGuyver.

I'll say this much though, SGU was different from from Lost in Space, Voyager, and Battlestar Galactica in three key points; One, It's not their ship, so they're flying through the universe on a tincan trying to figure out how it works 'on the go' which is somewhat different from the Jupiter II, Voyager, and Galactica. Two, regardless how far they are from Earth, they still can retain some basic form of communication with it, so they're not completely on their own and Three, they have a way home, it's just through a stargate that they have no idea how to dial or power.

I thought the first part of the 2 hour special was disjointed for no good reason other than to look artsy. There was no rhyme or reason to why we'd jump back and forth to before and after the incident. Then the character interactions themselves seemed forced; and frankly this was one of the reason's I can't stand Lost; because everyone's in some sort of conspiracy with everyone else. Frankly, Lost is probably the best comparison of a TV show like SGU; because after an accident (well, calling a planet blowing up an accident) a bunch of people get stranded in the armpit of the universe with little provisions, no idea what they're doing, few affiliations with each other, who're going to start forming tribes and allegiances, none of whom trust each other, all with somewhat different goals in mind, who ultimately want to just go home.

Yay I ranted!

[Arc Orion]

So you'd say it's more like Space Cases? I loved that show when I was a kid!

[Durgan]

If you liked BSG, you'll probably like Stargate: Galac-er, Universe. It's for that reason that I don't.

-Shaky, feaux "real human perspective" camera that gives me a headache? Check.
-Washed-out color with the contrast and brightness turned down, for a "darker, grittier" feel? Check.
-99.999% dark emo drama, with 0.001% humor (of any kind)? Check.
-Unpredictable Dr. Baltar character? Good god, check.

If I had missed the first ~15 minutes, and there wasn't any explicit mention of "the gate" during the rest, I would've assumed that I was watching a BSG spin-off (the hilariously awful gratuitous sex scene and use of "FTL drive" didn't help, either). Siffy was worried about losing BSG once it came to its natural end, and were (allegedly) tired of writing SGA, so they bastardized the two into SGU, in an attempt to satisfy everyone. Sad to say it, but this'll just have to be an "it's not canon" show for me.

Oh, and props to the person who pointed-out the connection to that hilarious SG1 (200) episode.. i totally forgot about the "young and beautiful cast" skit from that. Hee! It's funny because it's true!

[Jirin]

I thought the SGU premiere was weak.

The premise has a lot of promise. Huge ancient ship to explore, falling apart, with mysterious motives. But the entire episode was predictable and the only character who didn't come off as horribly miscast was Eli. Almost everything that happened the entire episode was obvious half an hour in advance, and the writing was rife with scifi cliches. It's got all the problems of Atlantis without the likable cast and campy charm.

It's like they're trying to be dark and survivalist like Galactica but don't have nearly the chops to do it. All the characters are photocopies of characters from other scifi shows. And of all the characters to photocopy, why would you pick Wesley Crusher?

[Mae Dean]

-Shaky, feaux "real human perspective" camera that gives me a headache? Check.

Right, 'cause feeling like you're actually there in the action is a BAD thing. And be honest, it's FAR less shaky-cam than BSG ever was.

-Washed-out color with the contrast and brightness turned down, for a "darker, grittier" feel? Check.

Nooo... not washed-out at all. I thought it was colorful as hell... the difference is that the set is lit so as to be more realistic, rather than having a shit-ton of lights overhead in order to shoot a scene. The set is basically a stage that the actors are able to move around on realistically, so things don't have to be so forced.

-99.999% dark emo drama, with 0.001% humor (of any kind)? Check.

Bull. SHIT. I laughed my ass off way more often than I expected I would. But I'm sorry, people getting stranded halfway across the universe isn't exactly a joking matter. It's important that the gravity of the situation set in for it to feel real. All reviews I've read say that the pilot is much darker than the rest of the series. Give it another shot.

-Unpredictable Dr. Baltar character? Good god, check.

Whoah, NO. Excuse me, but NO. Rush is VASTLY different than Baltar. Baltar was a coward who did everything he did to save his own ass, no matter what. There wasn't an altruistic bone in his body, and he had very few, if any, redeeming qualities. Rush, on the other hand, doesn't really seem to FEAR anything. He acts because he feels he knows the best way to solve the problems at hand, and letting other people get in the way of those decisions would just slow him down. He may disregard people's feelings, but he DOES value their lives, and he's doing his best to make sure that everyone involved continues to live. Now, granted, he's far more interested in the scientific knowledge and discovery than getting them HOME, but that doesn't mean he's a cowardly bastard who's going to just look out for himself. That's what I've been able to glean from the two hours of TV I've seen so far.

I really don't understand the overt hatred for this show I'm seeing. It's like the gateworld commenters have spilled into this forum somehow. (I checked gateworld once or twice before the premiere because I was so excited, but stopped going there because the commenters were such jackasses. Tearing the show apart before it's even AIRED? That's kind of ridiculous, and that kind of mentality is OF COURSE going to make you predisposed to hate this new series.) Also, what's with the hating on SG:U for trying for a "more realistic" approach? When has that ever been a bad thing? Why do you want a weekly "Villain-of-the-week gets trounced by our intrepid and perfect heroes" show? What's REAL about that? You KNOW, every week, that the good guys are going to win and the bad guys are going to lose. There's no suspense, there's no intellect involved. The "Good guys" are always going to prevail, so why even worry about it? That's not real. That's not the way real people work. Real people aren't "Good" or "Bad", they're just people. That's the whole concept that makes this such an interesting show. It takes the established mythos of SG and centers the story around the attempts of "real" people to try and survive. That's pretty god-damned awesome. And you have to know that hating this show and trying to make it fail isn't going to bring back the old style of stargate, right? If this fails, that's likely the end of stargate on TV, period. So why not pull the stick out of your ass and give it another shot - with fresh eyes. It's still Cooper and Wright at the helm, here. These are the SAME people that have been making the other shows. The Same. People. They've earned at list a SMIDGEN of your trust after fifteen years of successful TV, I think.

[RagingJedi]

Maybe i just watched 28 Weeks Later way too much, but I find it really hard to like David Rush. . From the tantrums in the base (throwing the marker at the dry erase board and general sulking around) and the "I've spoken to someone several billion light years away and they said I'm in charge" little speech just put Rush on a short list of people I don't like. For someone I'm supposed to give a shit about - that's a death sentence. I haven't worked through the rest of the cast just yet, but its not looking good so far.

If I recall, if you were in the Stargate program from the miltary - it was because you were a Stargate SEAL. When did they start putting in GI squibs who can barely tie their own shoes without having a superior officer around? That was what I liked about SG-1 - they didn't go crying back to Hammond every single time they got in over their heads - they dug deep, regrouped and organized.

The show feels like Star Trek Voyager - Amateur Hour. Instead of a ship they can control, they are on some sort of Ancient Space Bus that makes unannounced stops at gates scattered around the universe that will magically have something that the people on board need. No searching, just toss a spaceball through the event horizon, grab what you can and jump back on in 12 hrs.

"Next Stop - Plaxio-911b - Mind the gap!"

[Mae Dean]

That's a pretty good deal of generalization, but whatever.

But re: Rush.... you're not necessarily SUPPOSED to like him. He's kind of a jackass, and he has no regard for what anyone else cares or feels. It's immaterial to him. He is, for all intents and purposes, both the "good guy" and the "bad guy". And the fact that Eli, someone who's more or less just along for the ride, pretty much HAS to work with the guy, is pretty interesting. I'm willing to give Wright and Cooper the benefit of the doubt here and throw my hat in. I enjoyed the pilot immensely. For serious.

And as for the "SEAL" aspect of the previous shows... I dunno. I kinda like that these people are a little less experienced. I like that these are people who may or may not have any experience dealing with alien technology and whatnot. It's kind of a refreshing change of pace. Also, as for the "space bus" comment... there's a reason for this ship being what it is. Some of it has been released in interviews and commentary leading up to now, but the gates it finds don't just "magically have what they need"... the ship is the followup exploration ship to a series of automated gate-placement ships. Its job is to do recon on gates that have been placed on otherwise unexplored worlds. That's kinda fucking cool, if you ask me. This show, at its core, goes back to what made Stargate awesome in the first place: EXPLORATION. About goddamn time.

[collegestudent22]

And as for the "SEAL" aspect of the previous shows... I dunno. I kinda like that these people are a little less experienced. I like that these are people who may or may not have any experience dealing with alien technology and whatnot. It's kind of a refreshing change of pace.

Furthermore, it hearkens back to your point about realism. No matter how much experience one has in the military, with training or combat, being transitioned into a unit that puts you on another fucking planet with alien technology that is so secret you didn't even know it existed will cause you to act differently. And the man placed in charge (temporarily) is a 1st Lt - only been in the military for a few years. Of course he doesn't have the same amount of experience leading as his superiors would.

[Mae Dean]

It's a sign of the end times that I'm going to do this, but.... *hugs CS22*