...Can be found right here. There we have it, Sorbo all but saying "Screw it! I'm doing Herc in Space and ain't no one telling me otherwise!".
Man, I used to really like that show... But one can only watch a car crash in slo motion for so long. I've already resolved not to watch the third season - and catching bits of the season opener and some episode about a ship full of retarded people, it felt like the right choice. With this article, it's sealed.
Goodbye, Andromeda. May you continue to make "Enterprise" look like platinum instead of just shiny gold.
Mark
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
*ponders on what that last bit means, as he stares at his platinum and shiny gold wedding ring*
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
There will be no ring staring on my watch.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Oo-er.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I'm quickly joining your club, Mark. I watched all of the season premiere, "If the Wheel is Fixed," and my opinion is that it was junk. There were plotholes big enough to drive a couple 18-wheelers through, and there were some elements that just made me want to scream "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"
I really hate that Andromeda is going in this direction. The whole point of the show was a lone High Guard ship and captain trying to restore peace in a universe of chaos. That was fun to watch; that's the Andromeda I enjoyed watching. Then they brought in the big bad Magog threat in the second season. I was all right with that, but then that idea seems to have fallen by the wayside in the latter half of season two. Now it looks like Hunt is going to be bumping heads with the Commonwealth he helped restore.
I'll probably keep watching, but I don't know how long that'll last. Some of the most interesting characters are either gone or radically changed. Rev Bem is out of the picture, Trance is magical dominatrix, and Tyr is a sensitive crybaby. Dylan appears to be taking lessons from the Kathryn Janeway School of Command Decisions. Only Beka, Harper, and Rommie still seem to be normal.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
No offense, but anyone who didn't realize that Andromeda was the worst show since AfterMASH after watching the pilot has vision problems.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
None taken, but I disagree regardless. The first season was fairly strong IMO, and the characters all managed to shine in some respect in spite of (or perhaps because of) the low budget of the show. There are many proponents that argue against it, but I fully believe that had RHW been allowed to stay, the show would have been able to stay on track and kept on with the original story. No, I wasn't expecting Hamlet in this show, but better an attempt at a serious show than the tripe it has become.
The irony of all this is that the show is now visually quite superior to the way it was in its first two seasons - in what I saw of this season's pilot, there seemed to be more new VFX sequences than a good fraction of the whole last season! Yes, they're apparently of lower quality than before, but they're not much more cheezy than the first ones anyway, as as such quantity would make up for the lack of quality. Still does't save the show, but it'd have been great to see what the show would have been like with those VFX sequences and the original story. Damn.
Mark
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
In my defense, I didn't start watching Andromeda until the episode "Star-Crossed." That was about the middle-to-end of the first season. I blame Topher for getting me started on it.
Andromeda has had some very good episodes. Andromeda has also had some very bad episodes. These days, it seems as if the bad are more frequent than the good, but I'll continue watching for a while longer.
When I saw the pilot, I honestly didn't think it was bad. It wasn't the best couple hours of television entertainment ever produced, but I think it was pretty good. It got the series off to a solid step. However, my friend Stephen agrees with you, Sol System. He thinks the pilot was the worse thing since "Encounter at Farpoint."
Posted by capt ussintrepid (Member # 807) on :
Having just watched the season three opener last night, I have to agree. Hunt has to be the single dumbest starship commander in the history of science fiction.
And Sorbo just doesn't have a clue. It's a pity too, since the show's premise had potential. Sorbo says the show didn't resemble what was pitched to him. Funny how he doesn't understand how irritiating the changes are, since it doesn't resemble the show Robert Hewitt Wolfe promised us originally at all. I really can't beleive how bad this show has gotten. But the, Sorbo is the same doofus who said that Andromeda has no references to other Trek ships since it's so far in the future. Urm, did nobody tell him it isn't a Star Trek show?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"While the change in direction coincided with the departure of executive producer and writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe..."
He "departed", eh? I suppose that's one way to put it. Another way might be to say he was fired. Another way might be to say he was fired by Sorbo. And yet another way might be to say he was fired by Sorbo for the purpose of the "direction change".
Saying the events "coincided" is like saying the end of WW2 coincided w/ the surrender of the Japanese.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I've had this sinking feeling about "Andromeda" for about a year now, ever since the mindless-shoot-em-up motif came to the forefront in that stupid episode set in a bar with aliens in rubber masks and Ray-Bans went charging in to be slaughtered like ducks in a pond.
Sorbo is an idiot. The executives at Tribune think that explosions equal ratings. The remaining writers think that the viewers are too stupid to follow multi-episode story arcs.
I almost completely gave up on the show after the execrable "Ourobouros" last year, but occasionally sat down to watch some of the good ones (based on online reviews), like the starship AIs that were treated as prisoners of war.
I thought that last season's finale was bad. There was absolutely no point in bringing in this random new uber-menace other than to have more explosions. (As if the Nietzscheans, the Kalderans, the Magog, the Knights of Genetic Purity, and other random planets weren't enough bad guys to create action!)
The premiere was even worse. Not only were Hunt and the others acting like absolutely clueless idiots... not only was it painfully obvious that Tyr and Beka had been possessed by the aliens... not only was there absolutely no logic to the "now it's there, now it's not" Magic Wormhole...
Then the aliens possessing Tyr and Beka started kissing. I got up, turned off the TV, and didn't look back.
The End.
"Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" is gone. Long live...
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
A lot of the problems this season seems to be that the writing staff was shaken up once season two ended. I don't think many first season writers are still there (if any at all).
MinutiaeMan, you left out some other problems with the season premiere. Like the kitten. Like Tyr and Beka tesseracting. Like Tyr hacking into Andromeda's AI network. Like Rommie not noticing the electronic scrambler Tyr had in hand. Like Hunt simply blowing Beka almost destroying them by trying to slipstream when still stuck near the dimensional portal. Like the sudden disappearance of the entire Commonwealth Fleet between the finale and premiere. Like sudden repairs of the Eureka Maru. Like the illogical of having a maintenance mode that floods the ship with lethal gas. Like no one noticing until the end that Tyr was missing his bone blades. I think the writers forgot to watch "The Tunnel at the End of the Light" before writing "If the Wheel is Fixed."
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
To be fair, I've never seen AfterMASH.
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
AfterMASH? What is this?
Posted by O Captain Mike Captain (Member # 709) on :
my god! its got a lot of fan pages! try google.. apparently they tried continuing MASH after the last episode, with Klinger, Mulcahy and Col Potter at home in the mid-50s. Radar guest starred once.
its a scary thing.
BTW, in that interview, Sorbo sounds like a huge dick. hes gloating about getting rid of everybody that wanted to do the show to its premise, now he's got free reign to screw it up. whatta re-re
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Please, Mike, you must explain to me what a "re-re" is.
In the article, Kevin Sorbo really does come off as, well, a jerk. I would say that he's relishing the idea of changing Andromeda to fit his vision, but I've never read any other interviews of him. He may just be one of those individuals who isn't really tactful.
I also find it disappointing that Lexa Doig says she was bored during season two. She had a couple good episodes that really expanded on her characters -- "All Too Human" and "The Knight, Death and the Devil." She also had some excellent parts in "The Widening Gyre," "Bunker Hill," and "Belly of the Beast." I'm also wary of this attitude of "be mocked or mock ourselves." What's up with that?
Posted by O Captain Mike Captain (Member # 709) on :
a 're-re' is short for retard. take the first syllable and say it twice. synonomous with 'mo-mo' except i have no idea where that term comes from.
but rest assured, Sorbo is a dick and both a re-re and a mo-mo.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I was inspired by the previous comments to go and find some of the classic Sorbo commentary about "Andromeda" from SlipstreamWeb. I think the quotes speak for themselves...
quote:The producer thinks that Andromeda is exactly what viewers want to see on television. "People want escapism," he said. "They want to see the good guy beat the bad guy. We want to see triumphs that are good over evil, not see people talk about, 'Oh, she's such a bitch.' Oh god, so boring. It's amazing to me, Temptation Island III, whatever." Published November 28, 2001 - http://www.slipstreamnews.com/news/281101_02.shtml
quote:In a short news item, Sorbo confirmed the reasons for the split. "Robert is a genius, but was developing stories that were too complicated and too clever for the rest of us to understand," he told the magazine. Published November 23, 2001 - http://www.slipstreamnews.com/news/231101_01.shtml
quote:"I'm not a good writer, but I certainly can look at a script and say, 'This doesn't make any sense,' ... I don't like treating the audience like they're idiots and I get tired of the fact, especially in television writing - well, it's movies too - that you have to point arrows. If I'm walking down the street, why do I have to say I'm walking down the street? They can see me walking." Published December 22, 2001 - http://www.slipstreamnews.com/news/221201_01.shtml
quote:Asked to pick his favourite episode, Sorbo selected 'Ouroboros,' which aired late last month. "'Ouroboros' is probably my favourite episode of the year," he said (via AndromedaTV.com). "I have a few other favourites, but this was probably one of the funnest episodes we did all year. It's got not only a lot of action in it, because this one moves non-stop from the beginning to the end, but there's a huge transformation for one of our characters - Trance. [...] Very very fast-paced and high-energy episode." Published February 23, 2002 - http://www.slipstreamnews.com/news/230202_03.shtml
quote:The show is going from strength to strength with changes bought in for season three. "We're going to get away from the Commonwealth," the actor explained. "We've kind of said, 'The hell with it.' Dylan's got to come to the point where he realises that he can't save the universe on his own by restoring it to where it was, with a million member worlds. So he pretty much decides that, 'You know what? We've got this ship and a pretty good crew. Let's just go out there and help people who need our help.'"
In the words of one Andromeda character, this guy is a freaking genius! Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Bizarre. :-/
Posted by O Captain Mike Captain (Member # 709) on :
use of the word 'funnest'
-10 points.
basically he's dumbing down the series because he couldn't understand it, the casualties being any intelligent writers that happened to be in his way, and of course the late Roddenberry's good name.
Posted by Magnus de Pym (Member # 239) on :
mo-mo is probably "short" for moron.
Or it's what underdeveloped cows say.
Or udderdeveloped!
Posted by Free ThoughtCrime America (Member # 480) on :
*snort*!
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Robert is a genius, but was developing stories that were too complicated and too clever for the rest of us to understand."
"I don't like treating the audience like they're idiots..."
So, it's just him, then, who can't understand the scripts?
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
no one ever accused Sorbo of towering intellect.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
His ignorance doesn't excuse his crap-lousy show.
Mark
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Well guys, there may be hope that this pitiful show will be put out of our misery:
The season two finale had previously gotten the series' lowest ever first-run Nielsen rating, a 2.4. But the season three premiere managed to beat that record, coming in at only a 2.0. And that rating is simply pitiful compared to the season two premiere, which scored a 3.2 rating.
It seems that "Andromeda" is no longer the "number one action hour." And if the viewers continue to turn the show off like rats deserting a sinking ship, maybe the executives will realize what a gigantic mistake they made.
But then again, maybe not... At any rate, the thing I would like most at this point is to read about Mr. Sorbo receiving his pink slip. Not likely, but it would still be nice.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Then we'd have TYR running around the universe in a hot spaceship, using his mighty powers of angst to save his own skin week after week. He'd kill Harper and Trance for being too annoying an needlessly mysterious (respectfully), and keep Beka around for fleshy pleasures and general kickassery. I'm down with that.
More seriously, it seems that th egeneral audience really DON'T like the latest round of changes. So much for the built-in audience of Hercules... And the disturbingly optimistic posters of the Slipstream forums aside, there is basically NOWHERE left that generally posts positive about Andromeda anymore, so...
Mark
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I've often wondered how Christian, Lisa, and Caillan have managed to diligently keep up with the reports at SlipstreamNews after a whole year of discouraging news. I keep expecting Christian to give up on SlipstreamNews (though he'd probably keep the disturbingly optimistic and exuberant board active as a courtesy to the many members).
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
I'm waiting on that too. But I'm still more perturbed by some of the posters - I'm wondering if some of the posters are on the Tribune payroll... Like that Slipfighter guy! Geez, is there anything about this current season that he DOESN'T like the tiniest bit?!
Mark
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Actually, I've been lurking on Slipstream for quite a while and things have changed quite a bit. It was like a freaking love-in in most of first season, but now they have a comfortably large group of Sorbo-haters, Tribune bashers, and cynics... Yes, they still have a few outspoken oddities, but the numbers are not too unlike whats happening with Star Trek fans and Voyager lovers.
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
quote: . I don't think many first season writers are still there (if any at all).
The only writers who have left so far are Wolfe and Ethlie Ann Vare, who publicly critisized Tribune for firing Wolfe. The only good writers left, Zack Stentz and Ashley Miller, may be gone after this season. They don't toe the company line, and they got a movie script, which means they will be able to ask for more money when contract time comes in the off season.
Strangly, the people who say they still love Andromeda have been doing their best to rewrite the Wolfe story, trying to make it seem like he left, or did something other then what he promised in the begining, and Sorbo's interviews have fueled the fire.
Most of the Streamers have figured out that Sorbo interviews are like farts in the wind, they smell really bad at first but a nice breeze makes you forget about it.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
"This... all embracing... light. And then... darkness! And then... more darkness! And then..."
Come on, say it, "EVEN MORE DARKNESS!"
Maybe we could keep this new show for its MST3K possibilities?
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