9/21/09 SGU

[Tuitsuro]

You have to admit there's a comparison between Rush and Baltar, especially early Baltar, before we find out his full involvement with the Cylons. Both of them were morally ambiguous characters who valued their research above the safety of the people around them.

This is not to say I don't *like* the show, but I think it suffers a bit from the amount of buildup it had before it premiered, and it looks like it's borrowing quite a bit from other sci-fi shows. Hopefully, given time, it'll come into it's own, and not end up like Stargate Atlantis did; which effectively was what Voyager did, which by itself sucked massive borg balls.

[lastcallcomic]

This show, at its core, goes back to what made Stargate awesome in the first place: EXPLORATION. About goddamn time.

Well, you do have a point there. Probably why I enjoyed SG-1 so much: always exploring other planets.

...I guess my main beef with SGU is that in my opinion, the "formula" of the Stargate franchise worked for all these years (good group chemistry, witty humor, pop culture references, etc.), so why try to change it? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I appreciate the fact that they tried to go in a new direction, but to me, it just didn't work. I probably shouldn't say that until I see a few more episodes, but that's my standpoint for the moment.

It's also a little lonely without Richard Dean Anderson; he added such wit and humor to SG-1, and I miss him terribly. The one-liners between him, Daniel, and Teal'c really made that show.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad they are continuing the SG franchise, but I feel like instead of this dark drama they are trying to pull off, it would have been great to see a tie-in series with the upcoming MMO, Stargate Worlds.

[Mae Dean]

...I guess my main beef with SGU is that in my opinion, the "formula" of the Stargate franchise worked for all these years (good group chemistry, witty humor, pop culture references, etc.), so why try to change it? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Because it WAS broke. I'm sorry, but even though I adored the characters on SG:A, that series devolved into "Which contagion is going to kill us this week?" They hardly left the goddamn SET. The first season of SG:A was great, but it slowly got kind of dull, to be honest. There were some good episodes, but I, for one, REALLY like serialized storytelling. I like it when everything that has come before affects everything in the present directly. I think it's awesome. So I'm super excited to see that taking shape here.

[Winterbay]

This show, at its core, goes back to what made Stargate awesome in the first place: EXPLORATION. About goddamn time.

Well, you do have a point there. Probably why I enjoyed SG-1 so much: always exploring other planets.

...I guess my main beef with SGU is that in my opinion, the "formula" of the Stargate franchise worked for all these years (good group chemistry, witty humor, pop culture references, etc.), so why try to change it? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I appreciate the fact that they tried to go in a new direction, but to me, it just didn't work. I probably shouldn't say that until I see a few more episodes, but that's my standpoint for the moment.

It's also a little lonely without Richard Dean Anderson; he added such wit and humor to SG-1, and I miss him terribly. The one-liners between him, Daniel, and Teal'c really made that show.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad they are continuing the SG franchise, but I feel like instead of this dark drama they are trying to pull off, it would have been great to see a tie-in series with the upcoming MMO, Stargate Worlds.

Anything gets better when you add MacGuiver to it

[Durgan]

You have to admit there's a comparison between Rush and Baltar, especially early Baltar, before we find out his full involvement with the Cylons. Both of them were morally ambiguous characters who valued their research above the safety of the people around them.

This.

I should've stated in my comparison, however, that I only stuck with BSG ~1/3 into S2, so my idea of Baltar is incomplete compared to someone who watched the whole thing. Also, I didn't hate BSG as a whole. I actually loved the mini-series and S1, it just took a dive in my opinion, so it's easy to use it as a negative point of comparison.

That being said, I couldn't help but think of Baltar when I was watching Rush. I don't know how he can be "a good guy and a bad guy" at all, when he's a complete dick. I have no idea where Greg's concept of "good guy Rush who really does care about everyone" is coming from, were we watching the same show?
1.)He's a snotty little brat when he's proven wrong.
2.)He DID in fact create the situation they are in - he could've gated anywhere else, if he was worried about irradiating Earth, or whatever, but he CHOSE to go to the unknown world due to his selfish and arrogant impulses.
3.)He's lying to people already (O'Neil put him in charge, HAH!), and seemed to refuse to allow anyone else to contact Earth.
4.)He pleads with Srgt Fury and Lt Baby Face to let him "push the button" to fix the life support, making this grand case about how he knows he's right, but when nothing at all happens he just walks away. No "woops", no "Oh, sorry", just blows them off.

I think the point about the ship magically finding gates/worlds that have what they need is valid, as well, because how could it not be? The season-long antagonist can't be emo-drama, there has to be SOME element of "problem of the week", or else it's just going to burn everyone out on drama and lose what few viewers it has. Yes, i know it had a big premiere, but premieres are always bigger than regular viewership, and if SGA was cancelled with ~1.5M viewers (with Siffy claiming "The best season of Stargate, ever!"), then this ~2.5M premiere doesn't exactly inspire hope.

Oh, and i am most certainly not from Gateworld. That group of sycophants usually defend anything and everything Stargate (Ark of Truth? I mean, really?) with the same zeal that the Lucas-worshippers defend the new trilogy. I do lurk around the Television Without Pity boards, but even there some people loved it.

I gave the series premiere a shot, and found myself bouncing between mind-numbing boredom and actively hating on the characters. Still, I'll be fair and give episode 2 a shot, but it'll a download or hulu viewing. I'm not wasting an hour of my friday night on it.

[barawn]

Because it WAS broke. I'm sorry, but even though I adored the characters on SG:A, that series devolved into "Which contagion is going to kill us this week?" They hardly left the goddamn SET.

I'd say "How are we going to surprisingly *nearly* avoid total destruction or save one of our own from impending doom this week?" If you look through the last season, virtually *every one* involved something nearly taking over Atlantis (in a race against time, Smart Guy of the Week saves the day with Star Trek-like technobabble!) or someone nearly dying.

I think SG:A wrote themselves into a corner - it started off allowing them to explore, but then by sticking them in a situation where they were essentially screwed, it kinda forced the show into a constant impending-doom mode. Eventually the writers just started to run with it as the situations grew increasingly worse.

What needed to be done on SG:A is that Atlantis needed to start getting the upper hand, or at least somehow stabilize the situation. Then you could've allowed them to start exploring more. All the solutions they came up with ("run and hide!" "fake our deaths and hide!") didn't change the fact that they were screwed.

The episode where Midway blows up is a great example of this. There's a relatively innocuous beginning, it could be a relatively low-key episode dealing with where Ronon's loyalties are and how he interacts with humans, but instead, OMG, bad guys infiltrate Midway and Earth, threaten to destroy the human race and end up blowing up a strategic advantage that Atlantis had! It's like they constantly felt they had to up the amount of risk involved. I had to crack up for the one episode where McKay and his sister try to create 'free energy' and risk *destroying the universe!* Geez.

There were some good episodes, but I, for one, REALLY like serialized storytelling.

I don't think SG:A really lacked there - by Season 5 virtually every episode required a crazy amount of backstory. I think really the big problem was the fact that the plots were stale. Everyone was trying to kill them, they had no allies, things were always horrible, et cetera.

SG:U could fall into that trap if they're not careful, but I don't think the general idea of the show forces them into that. I mean, SG-1 could've fallen into that trap, but they didn't.

[barawn]

and it looks like it's borrowing quite a bit from other sci-fi shows.

ALL newer sci-fi shows borrow quite a bit from other sci-fi shows. I think they're trying to make sci-fi fans feel comfortable with a new show by presenting them with similar situations and characters. I mean, Token Non-Human Who Is Attempting To Integrate Into Human Culture is so prevalent that I'm really surprised that SG:U doesn't have one. I mean, how are they going to have a character with quirky speech patterns now?!

[Dante Tier]

I mean, Token Non-Human Who Is Attempting To Integrate Into Human Culture is so prevalent that I'm really surprised that SG:U doesn't have one.

Yet...


I'm really kinda "...eh" about the premier. The only thing really funny about it was the supergenius kid, but other than that, kinda a downer, which can be fine. It'll just take some getting used to. I think all of the Stargate series' have done that for me... takes about half a season to get me really drawn into it. However, like Greg says, I have faith that the producers we love can recreate the magic I miss watching.


And I was going to make a comment about how I was pissed they killed Joe Piscapo, but the congressman wasn't Joe Piscapo. Why the hell have I spent the last 4 days thinking that it was Joe Piscapo? I'm retarded.

[lastcallcomic]

That being said, I couldn't help but think of Baltar when I was watching Rush.

Same with me, but I think the hair had something to do with it. Very similar.

[Tuitsuro]

Token Non-Human Who Is Attempting To Integrate Into Human Culture is so prevalent that I'm really surprised that SG:U doesn't have one.

I will place the blame squarely on your head when we discover our new alien friend on Friday's episode.

(spoilers: It turns out it's Jar Jar)

[Frosting]

(spoilers: It turns out it's Jar Jar)

I won't watch it if that is so -.- lol. But there is definitely the possibility we'll be getting an alien character sometime soon.

[Mae Dean]

POSSIBLE, but they have said that any "aliens" (by which I think they mean non-humans) will be CGI, non-english speakers. No rubber mask aliens in this show.

[Tuitsuro]

Oh god, please not the alien pet. For the love of god please not the Alien Pet!!

[Frosting]

Blarp was frickin cute. I don't care what you say :p

[zuke]

(spoilers: It turns out it's Jar Jar)

"Hey, how's the air pressure in the other shuttle? Seemed to be a good way to get rid of a senator . . . "

I liked Eli; he seemed to act exactly as any normal geek would act after only being exposed to the world of Stargate for about two days.
I liked Rush; you're supposed to dislike him, and in that aspect he did very well. You REALLY don't like him. He's not out to get them, but feels he's going to be slowed by them.
I LOVED the feel of the ship; with the camera constantly tracking them from BEHIND the props, you really got the feeling that something might be watching them. Really helped give you the sense that the ship really isn't all that warm and cuddly (like Atlantis turned into).

Did not like the need to introduce a young cast. Half way through watching, my friend turned to me and said, "How much do you want to bet that by the end of the show they've found a way to kill off ALL the old people?" It really seemed like they were trying to add as many "young folks" as possible for no other reason than to compete with 90210.

Did not like that it felt like Enterprise in the set design department. We have 15 years of established backstory here, so why throw it out the window just for the sake of a few props? The ship looks nothing like any other ancient technology, the gate is entirely different than any other gate we've seen, they aren't in hyperspace for no reason other than . . . to be different. Just seems that if they wanted the show to be cannon, they would have stuck a LITTLE more to the established storyline. I know they want to make it more accessible to new fans, but you can do that with better writing much faster than by redesigning everything about how it looks.