-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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I don't believe there's anything solid about a Star Wars TV show. Maybe they would try to emulate the new Battlestar Galactica and the poles would reverse and water run uphill.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Also nobody seems to acknowledge the fact that when TNG was around it had no competition from similar types of series!! Even DS9 - but that's when the dilution happened.
TNG only ever had competition from alike series such as Time Trax. That was about it. LOL!
There was also Quantum Leap. Twin Peaks too, but they are very varied and didn't really overlap.
Then along came the brilliant DS9 - but it's audience began to be watered down...
Babylon 5 (I like this show so I'm not bagging it) THEN another Trek - Voyager, Earth 2, SeaQuest DSV, Sliders, Space: Above and Beyond. Then there were some major players like The X-Files for instance. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess began a new trend that took Audiences away from Trek. More and more 1 hour dramas that worked on the basic 1 hour Drama/sci-fi concept. Dark Skies, American Gothic, The Pretender, Mellenium in the X-files arena. Stargate SG1, Earth: Final Conflict, Andromeda, Farscape etc. We've now got the 'strong chick action shows' basically stemming from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Angel (Buffy spin off - not stong chick), Dark Angel, Tru Calling, Alias.
There's "The Dead Zone" - which I can't work out why that's still going and crap like "Mutant X". Then there's now another variation/combination with shows like The 4400 and Lost. There is still of course the brilliant Stargate-SG1 and Stargate Atlantis.
That's only scratching the surface (Think of all the short-running shows like, I don't know... The Lone Gunman, Harsh Realm and Birds of Prey) I know - but then there's Enterprise and it's left with a very small percentage of the market - especially being broadcast on the UPN! There is also the ever growing thret of craptacular reality TV which giving into is NOT a good idea. It's surprising so many shows that essentially stem from the "ST:TNG" formula are continually being churned out! It's a wonder the audience for them hasn't imploded way earlier. The Animated half-hour-comedy fad imploded way quicker.
I have grown to love Enterprise - Trek hasn't been this consistent since either season 1 of Voyager or the end of DS9. WHY then did they even BEGIN this show... why hook viewers and pull them into stories - why didn't they just let Trek lay fallow after the end of Voyager?
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
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Just a point of clarification: At it's height TNG was the most popular hour long syndicated show on TV. It wasn't the most popular syndicated show period. If you put it up against Wheel of Fortune, Wheel kicked it's heiney.
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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I wouldn't know, only seeing parts of a handful of Andromeda episodes. But I'll say that BSG is, in my opinion, better than Deep Space Nine. I think that if Sci-Fi/Sky One keep it to the 13 episode a season format that most cable networks seem to prefer, it'll stay strong across the board and continue to improve.
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Snay is officially ready for a straight-jacket.
Andrew, that "Mutant X" series was cancelled last season- there's just it's syndication now.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Hey, BSG is great, and its off to a stronger start than DS9 had. It has many of the same elements that made DS9 great - arc storylines, character driven plots, and a large cast of regular and irregular characters to give the feel of a "real world" environment. Watching the first season in its entirety, I only found one episode to be sub-par, and that's next week's The Drumhead-rip. Compare that to DS9's first season, which had maybe five episodes of this caliber.
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DS9 at least established unique cultures with diverse perspectives in it's first season.
All I saw in the BSG miniseries was a JAG rubberstamp of american military knock offs and some terminators that hate humans with zero motivation.
Plus, I really want to see Adama say "We wont live....but who does?", irrational as that may be.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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"DS9 at least established unique cultures with diverse perspectives in it's first season."
Oh please, you are reaching, and you know it.
The vast majority of DS9's first season episodes were awful - Progress, Duet, and In the Hands of the Prophets being the exception.
And - uh, the miniseries? So you admit you aren't even watching BSG The Series but just dismissing it out of hand? That is just as bad as someone who watched "Broken Bow", didn't like it, then derided Enterprise for four years without keeping up with it.
BSG has nothing in common with JAG, at least except for the fact that they both take place in a military structure - sort of like, hmmm, Star Trek? Also, BSG has better writers, better storylines, and compelling characters.
In fact, as we learn with the Helo/Boomer mk2, not all of the Cylons hate humans - some love them, and seek their approval.
Don't get me wrong - I love Deep Space Nine. And Ron Moore took the lessons he learned writing for that show, and BSG is doing great as a result, I'm sure, of his guiding hand. If you're not watching it because you think of it as "JAG on a ship with terminator robots", then that's your loss.
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Actually, I'm not watching BSG for the same reason I missed almost all of this season of Enterprise: the show is on a crappy schedule and I dont have a VCR just now.
Really, how did they expect to reach a greater audience when anyone with a life goes out of Friday nights (ratings dont consider those that tape it).
As to DS9, at least I liked their characters from the start (except Dax- in season one she was lame) while I genuinely disliked everyone on BSG except Tigh. I think he has the most development potential. Hell, it's be cool to see him become an inspirational leader (assuming the series lasts a couple of years to work it in slowly).
I can only speak on the miniseries (which was supposed to get me intrested enough to watch the series each week) but in four hours, they failed to get my attention the first time and then only made me wince the second viewing (Starbuck in particular is wholly unlikable). In a miniseries/ movie, when the writers fail to provide any motivaion for the villian(s) it's a pretty sad affair.
There's really no sci-fi on TV just now (Enterprise notwithstanding) that's worth my time (even Stargate/Atlantis has lost much of it's luster for me).
Y'never know though- BSG may find it's feet and become something original. Hope springs eternal.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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