Andromeda

Cloud

Any fans here?

I quite like it - it has improved loads at the end of season 1 and now in season 2, a bit darker.

John.
--

Gambler

HeHe, I have to say, I am really please with the way this series is shaping up. The Last serious was good, but lacked any real direction in the story, having the World-ship come along is perfect and will (hopefully) lead to some really big involvment of other planets and species. TBH, we haven't really seen that much of the Andromeda universe beyond the Magog and Neechien's (/me can speel goode)

Would love to see a few more species getting an airing and the odd galactic battle scene never goes astray really, does it!

Gamb

Pepe LeFrits

I watched the first few episodes of it and thought it fell into the typical 'great pilot, crap series' grouping. I liked the first episode but thought the follow-ups were absolute tripe. Maybe its improved since then, might give it another chance

Supercell

Looks like its beiginning to come together, like Gambler has said the Magog earth-ship with the scary shadow guy (the devil?) looks like something that could be expanded on.

IMHO every good scifi series needs an all powerfull enemy that is nasty and all powerfull..examples that spring to mind are the Borg, the founders and the shadows.

That said i lament the "pc" generation of scifi. Nothing has recently come close to Babylon 5 in terms of kick ass fight scenes, damn impressive heros and a plotline that doesnt neatly fit into each episode, ie it grows and expands every show.

Hopefully the Andromeda Asendant will go forth and do battle, frequently, anyhow the ships AI is worth a drool or two in the meantime

(nb please turn img on!!)

azezil

Originally posted by Longfield
IMHO every good scifi series needs an all powerfull enemy that is nasty and all powerfull..examples that spring to mind are the Borg, the founders and the shadows.

Absolutely but the borg have been a bit too ... "humanised" recently for my likeing, i.e. introduction of species 8472 or what ever their called, kickin the borg around, deals being made with the borg! don't get me wrong i really enjoyed the episodes but ah i don't know they're just not as scarey/intimidateing anymore

p.s. ya andromeda's cool

Manach

And I thought I was the only fan.

Basically it is a relaxing 1 hour's viewing after work that does not tax the mind. The Nietzchian character, Tyr, is well realised and adds some tension given that his motivations are his own and not necessarily that of the Captain.

Gambler

Originally posted by Manach
And I thought I was the only fan.

Basically it is a relaxing 1 hour's viewing after work that does not tax the mind. The Nietzchian character, Tyr, is well realised and adds some tension given that his motivations are his own and not necessarily that of the Captain.

Couldn't agree more! The character of Tyr and the whole mummified remains story-line that keeps coming back to bit Dylan in the Ass has so much potential, I really hope they don't Fumble it. They hinted in the episode where they were stranded on the planet with Tyr's old Buddies (;)) that being the posessor of the remains made him rather powerfull in the Nietzchian society (at least in the sense that he was the "keeper" I don't think it would REALLY stop any of the Nietzchian's from killing him if they thought they would benefit from it) and hopefully they will use that when the final battle against the World-ship comes about

R. Daneel Olivaw

Definitely the new series is a big improvement. And they aren't *that* pc with the mass FPS-style Magog massacre on the Andromeda. No attempts at negotiation.

The whole "Commonwealth" universe is a great idea, the whole thing seems to be a bit more gritty than ultra-smooth Star Trek. Plus, the actress who plays Andromeda is really hot, so that helps lot.

I thought the world-ship thing was incredible, really original which I hadn't seen in sci-fi before (except maybe that old original Trek episode that Scotty came back for in the later TNG episode).

Andromeda is looking good, but I am a bit pissed that they changed the title track. The weird one was a cooler to begin with, especially as after the episode it then has the march of the high guard or whatever.

Shinji

IMHO every good scifi series needs an all powerfull enemy that is nasty and all powerfull..examples that spring to mind are the Borg, the founders and the shadows.

The Borg was Star Trek's really good idea - they were simply fantastic in the original TNG episodes which introduced them, on a level with Giger's Alien in terms of sheer shivers-down-spine inhumanness.

Then, as is Star Trek's wont, they made them rubbish. The whole goddamned POINT of the Borg is that you couldn't deal with them on a human level; individual drones don't think. You communicate with a god like voice which comes from nowhere and considers you less substantial than a fly. They were great... And then they decided to introduce the queen, who was basically a human spokesperson for them and who acted like a human. That, frankly, was the end of the Borg being scary - they just became another alien race like the Klingons or the Ferengi, and when was the last time that the Klingons were scary, eh?

Star Trek does this again and again - píss-poor storytelling ruins good ideas. Species 8472 were all-powerful and very nasty, and then what do they do? They put a wounded one on Voyager for Janeway to treat like her personal pet for an episode. Christ.

The Jem'hadar are the same - terrifying religious fanatic warriors, great concept... then, oh look, they're controlled by Odo's auntie who is quite a nice old bird but has some funny ideas about self-preservation, bless.

Someone take this lot out and shoot them. In Babylon 5, the Shadows were just downright implacable bástards and you didn't negotiate with them. President Clark was mad and evil. The Vorlons once they turned nasty and fundamentalist, were nasty. None of them were controlled by my granny and you never saw wounded Shadows discovering the true meaning of love. Thank f*ck for that, eh?

obAndromeda - great series with huge potential. First series of it was fun, but very lightweight. Now that the characters are settling in and lengthy storytelling with genuine plot arc development is promised, this could be a real winner... Especially since the promise displayed by the first episode of Enterprise has essentially dissolved as we all discover that actually, it's just more of the same tired old Star Trek rubbish. Yawn.

Inspector Gadget

If you've been keeping up with Andromeda, you'll know about the Magog (the Rev. Bem character is a member of that species - the rest of them aren't quite as curteous :eek: )

Then there's this "world ship" - that's a bit of a problem too, I'd wager.

It seems to be looking up as a series - the heroes aren't quite the "shiny happy people" they were in series 1...

Gadget

Fidelis

Oh dear God.

I can tell that you Andromeda fans are the types that loved Earth: Final Conflict

I've yet to hear of anyone actually liking SAAB or Crusader so much more than Earth: Final Conflict, Babylon5, Andromeda or even *shriek* SG-1.

The acting/writing in Andromeda is a major put-off in my opinion. Makes it incredibly hard to watch. Extremely dumbed down in comparison to the Star Treks.

Ah well, I guess I'll have to wait for Enterprise to cheer me up

Shinji

Well of that lot, I really liked B5, SG1, SAAB, Crusade and Andromeda... In that order. Couldn't stand Earth Final Conflict.

Describing anything as "dumbed down in comparison to Star Trek" puts it in roughly the same bracket as "Ann And Barry Go To The Shop", surely?

GoneShootin

URGH !!
i hate that show

i mean, its that guy from the ZENAesqe HERCULESE series.

from ads on sky i thought " hmm, that ship doesnt strike me as altogether fearsome "

nope, for me its ST, SG-1 and other ESTABLISHED series

Fidelis

Yes, warp coils, worm-holes, transporters, phase inducers, moleculer dispersion reactors, photonic weapons, tachyon beams, sub-space conduits, nano-technology, time travel, universal translators, úber-l33t Omega molecules, in-depth history on countrless ancient civilisations & bald captains.

I can see how it's dumbed down in comparison to "oh my god, get the gun and fire it at the aliens like you didn't do in Hercules" Andromeda :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Shinji
Ann And Barry Go To The Shop

I remember staying up all night revising for that one

Shinji

Yes, warp coils, worm-holes, transporters, phase inducers, moleculer dispersion reactors, photonic weapons, tachyon beams, sub-space conduits, nano-technology, time travel, universal translators, úber-l33t Omega molecules, in-depth history on countrless ancient civilisations & bald captains.

You are aware, I presume, that most things on the list you just made were created by sticking 2-3 words from a random list devised just before the original Tx of Encounter at Farpoint with the express purpose of having "Star Trek sounding" devices or sciences which could be used to dig the plot out of any particular hole at any given point?

No, I'm not joking. That's how bad the scriptwriting gets.

I mean come on, look at some of this crap. Warp coils, fine, they're the engines. Every now and then we get bored and we shout about how a breach in one is imminent. This can be caused by anything from the wrong butterfly flapping its wings in Tokyo to a Cardassian farting on Bejor after a particularly nasty curry.

Worm holes, a staple of sci-fi for decades.

Transporters, another sci-fi staple and conveniently capable of going offline just when your plot demands it. For no apparent reason.

"Photonic weapons" is a fancy way of saying "lasers". No seriously. Think about it.

Nano-technology. They didn't exactly make that up, now did they? They didn't exactly comprehend how it works either, for that matter. "Borg nanoprobes! They, uh, do Bad Stuff!" Nice!

Time travel - but don't mention the space-time continuum or temporal paradoxes. Our writers would get headaches. First rule of time travel in Star Trek - it's a get out of jail clause. Please don't do anything innovative with it. You do get to dress Tuvok up as a hippy though.

Universal Translators - so those will be babelfish then. Saves us having to work out the plot implications of different languages and stuff. And sometimes the crew can LOSE them, and then much hilarity will ensue as they run around and try and work out what everyone is saying!

"In-depth history on countless alien civilisations".... Oh---kay. You must have been watching a different Star Trek to the one I saw. "Hackneyed, cliched plots surrounding alien civilisations with twists you could see coming a mile off and sod all background" was in the various series of it I've watched. Which one has the in-depth histories? Are you sure you weren't watching SG-1 or B5 by accident?

As to Andromeda - it's interesting. It's got characters who actually develop as the series goes on, it's got quite a neat concept (I'm pretty sure that Roddenberry originally intended for it to fit into the Star Trek timeline, with the Enterprise running around 300 years after the fall of the Federation...) and it's got great scriptwriting - the dialogue really crackles and it doesn't take itself too seriously. The running plotline involving the Magog is only a few episodes old, and already shows more promise than the only running plot arc Star Trek ever managed to pull off - namely the píss poor one in the final seasons of DS9...

Cloud

I dunno about your theory Fidelis, like Shinji I like SAAB, Androm, Crusade and B5 - but not SG1 or EFC.

John.
--

Fidelis

You people must work with me, with me

It seems my theory is indeed unfounded. But if it's okay with you guys, I'm gonna call you names from underneath my ST bed covers

Shinji

Coo, can I get in underneath them with you? I'll bring my selection of cuddly B5 character dolls![1]


[1] Note: I don't own any cuddly B5 character dolls, although I'm keeping an eye out for a Londo Mollari one because I think it'd make a wicked toilet brush...

Inspector Gadget

I had a bit of a thought about this whole "what the hell is the guy from Hercules doing in an SF series?" debate, and I'd like to gauge some opinions on it for interest's sake.

Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules" - seems to be physically large enough to fit the bill, yes?) isn't the first actor who's landed in a role like this (even if we're specific enough to limit things to the role of captain) - did you all kick up so much of a stink about the others?

Two cases spring to mind from Babylon 5 - firstly, Bruce Boxleitner (who played John Sheridan) - anyone whose memories of nappies (i.e. remember back as far as 1983) are sufficiently distant may remember that he was busy doing a TV show called "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" amongst other things - if you're too young to remember, well, good for you - wish I was :rolleyes:

Secondly, also from the B5 universe, was Gary ...erm... Cole, that's it, as Capt. Matthew (?) Gideon - his credits go on for a bit... does anyone remember "American Gothic"?

If we dip into less central characters, well, the list goes on... but there's no reason to thrash the guy just because you have him "pigeon-holed" into a specific time period...

Thoughts? (Apart from "why doesn't the "preview post" button on the editor page do what it says on the tin?)

Domhnall.

Ping Chow Chi

The guy who played sisco played some super cool PI called Hawk in a trashy American detective show I use to watch. He had his goatie and bald head in that - not the andy peters look he started off DS9 with.

He basicaly use to turn up in his posh clothes and save the good detective, kill some people and drive off in his Merc. He would always charge the good detecive with 'you owe me a new suit'. Class !!




but everytime I see that fella off andromeda - I think of hercules - I try not to, but I do

azezil

Originally posted by Shinji

Worm holes, a staple of sci-fi for decades.

Well daw! of course they have...

Transporters, another sci-fi staple and conveniently capable of going offline just when your plot demands it. For no apparent reason.

Converting matter to energy and back again is a difficult process n is prone to outside interfierence

"Photonic weapons" is a fancy way of saying "lasers". No seriously. Think about it.

"lasers" ach! there sooo 10years ago, its phasers they use :rolleyes: damn man get with the times!

Nano-technology. They didn't exactly make that up, now did they? They didn't exactly comprehend how it works either, for that matter. "Borg nanoprobes! They, uh, do Bad Stuff!" Nice!

The nano probs enter the body and assimilate cells to build preprogramed devices with allow the borg to control the recipent!

Time travel - but don't mention the space-time continuum or temporal paradoxes. Our writers would get headaches. First rule of time travel in Star Trek - it's a get out of jail clause. Please don't do anything innovative with it. You do get to dress Tuvok up as a hippy though.

and whats wrong with hippys!!!

Universal Translators - so those will be babelfish then. Saves us having to work out the plot implications of different languages and stuff. And sometimes the crew can LOSE them, and then much hilarity will ensue as they run around and try and work out what everyone is saying!

Makes more sense than having every race u encounter learn english!

"In-depth history on countless alien civilisations".... Oh---kay. You must have been watching a different Star Trek to the one I saw. "Hackneyed, cliched plots surrounding alien civilisations with twists you could see coming a mile off and sod all background" was in the various series of it I've watched. Which one has the in-depth histories? Are you sure you weren't watching SG-1 or B5 by accident?

Klingon history is fairly well documented...
Vulcan / Romulan devide
Bajorans long history there, prophets, occupation, solar ships etc.
Cardassians ... well theres some stuff about them!
Ferengi ... women goin round in the nude, greedy, money grabbers etc.
Bolians, talent for cosmetic surgery /espionage.
Katairns, make toys but sometimes toys are not what they appear n can be used for other purposes.
Nausicans, hired warriors, always at war with someone.
Bynars, talented with computers, all conected to planetary computer, when one learns something they load it onto the computer n they all learn.
Anagosians, prewarp civilisation, use 'super' soldiers in battles.
Trill, sybiotic race, the joint Trill live for many years, the symbiot remembers all that was learned and experienced from host to host. General population believe only a select few can be 'joined' however a vast majority can be 'joined'.

Need I go on... because I can!

Celt

Klingon history is fairly well documented...

Maybe in books, but not in the series.

Makes more sense than having every race u encounter learn english!

Which explains why every race has an american accent?

Vulcan / Romulan devide

There history is so well documented you can sum it up in 3 words? lol

Bajorans long history there, prophets, occupation, solar ships etc.

It tooks 7 seasons to get that? hehe

Cardassians ... well theres some stuff about them!
Ferengi ... women goin round in the nude, greedy, money grabbers etc.
Bolians, talent for cosmetic surgery /espionage.
Katairns, make toys but sometimes toys are not what they appear n can be used for other purposes.
Nausicans, hired warriors, always at war with someone.
Bynars, talented with computers, all conected to planetary computer, when one learns something they load it onto the computer n they all learn.
Anagosians, prewarp civilisation, use 'super' soldiers in battles.
Trill, sybiotic race, the joint Trill live for many years, the symbiot remembers all that was learned and experienced from host to host. General population believe only a select few can be 'joined' however a vast majority can be 'joined'.

Every one of these shallow histories that could be summed up in half an episode.

sutty

Ok I've looked at all of the first season, I've noticed one thing that stands out the most that makes me want to stop looking at Andromeda.......

THEY KEEP REUSING CG SCENES!!!!!

I mean not once but at least 3 times.


IMHO Nothing beats FarScape when it comes to... Plot/Writing/Caruther Development/Class CG bits

Second is B5.......MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........white star

Third is Star Gate: SG1

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by Ping Chow Chi
The guy who played sisco played some super cool PI called Hawk in a trashy American detective show I use to watch. He had his goatie and bald head in that - not the andy peters look he started off DS9 with.

He basicaly use to turn up in his posh clothes and save the good detective, kill some people and drive off in his Merc. He would always charge the good detecive with 'you owe me a new suit'. Class !!



but everytime I see that fella off andromeda - I think of hercules - I try not to, but I do

Yeah - spotted it on TV last Sunday - it was "Spenser: For Hire".

Anyone see the new episode of Andromeda ("Una Salus Victus") from yesterday (19/11)? That was very good - it'll be repeated late Sunday night if you missed it.

A great quote that kinda gives the ST crew a poke in the eye (from said episode); Beka Valentine yelling at the Eureka Maru computer when it warned that her proximity mines were set to go off too close to the ship:
"...override safety protocols, Authorisation: 'Shut Up And Do What I Damn Tell You!'"

Gadget

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by sutty
Ok I've looked at all of the first season, I've noticed one thing that stands out the most that makes me want to stop looking at Andromeda.......

THEY KEEP REUSING CG SCENES!!!!!

I mean not once but at least 3 times.


IMHO Nothing beats FarScape when it comes to... Plot/Writing/Caruther Development/Class CG bits

Second is B5.......MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........white star

Third is Star Gate: SG1

Ah, they're just following an old rule-of-thumb of most sci-fi; in fact most TV; in fact, most EVERYTHING. That simple rule is: "keep it within the budget"

They all do it. I've seen the same six or seven outside close-up shots of the Enterprise-D from TNG in a couple of dozen different episodes between them... same for Voyager, DS9... not so much B5, in fairness, but the number of outside shots was kept at an absolute minimum.

However, the king of the hill when it comes to scene re-use, although considering its age I'd wager CG had little to do with it, was "Battlestar Galactica". They had a nasty habit of reusing SFX scenes a number of times within a single episode - so often, in fact, that by the end of BG's run, I'd swear the master reel was looking a bit worn in spots

Gadget

superfly

do you remember Romy used to be part of the new professionals
as for a few points that you've all made
Babylon 5 as stated earlier was a great piece of sci-fi tv and well fulfilled its 5 year arc to bring us something different than the usual reset to zero sci-fi series that was out there, and even if people did compare it to the lord of the rings it was still a well executed piece of plagarism
Andromeda is slowly starting to do something but is still the same derivative stuff out there
the only 2 series that are worth watching at the moment are Stargate and Farscape which apart from its shaky start has turned into a true masterpiece of sci-fi core cult status

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by superfly
do you remember Romy used to be part of the new professionals
as for a few points that you've all made
Babylon 5 as stated earlier was a great piece of sci-fi tv and well fulfilled its 5 year arc to bring us something different than the usual reset to zero sci-fi series that was out there, and even if people did compare it to the lord of the rings it was still a well executed piece of plagarism
Andromeda is slowly starting to do something but is still the same derivative stuff out there
the only 2 series that are worth watching at the moment are Stargate and Farscape which apart from its shaky start has turned into a true masterpiece of sci-fi core cult status

As far as Ms. Doig, the less she's in the better

Sadly, B5 suffered budget cuts towards the end and IIRC the creator of the series (Straczynsky, I think you spell it) hadn't the budget to do the ending he wanted, so some corners were cut. Which was a shame, as B5 was probably the best thing Sci-Fi to come in the last 30 years (and that's hard to admit for a die-hard Trek fan like me)

Stargate is losing Michael Shanks (the guy who plays "Daniel Jackson") at the end of this series, so there may be changes, but as they've just hit the magic 100 episodes mark (= US Syndication ad infinitum guaranteed) they will try and milk it for all it's worth, as someone I asked who should be in the know about these things estimates the value of the first runs of the series to be worth $12m or so per episode [edit]not including re-runs :eek: [/edit], based on what other series have earned in syndication. Therefore, they'll try to make it run and run for as long as they can. BTW try to get to see the 100th episode (was on Sky 1 last Wed) if you can - they pull the proverbial urine out of themselves and syndicated TV beautifully - it's very, very funny.

Farscape, for me, is a strange beast - full of promise, great characters, interesting concepts and storylines, or at least as far as a relative newbie to it like me can see. One thing I can't help noticing is that they seem to be hamstrung financially - much of the props, sets and whatever are very mundane, marquees, rooms in peoples houses, theme bars, that sort of thing. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to have these things, but if it wasn't for the fact that (most of) the characters are heavily made-up, you wouldn't really twig that it's Sci-Fi - and maybe, just maybe, that's why it works. Technobabble is kept right down, in what I see, and the crux of most of the story lines is strictly interpersonal, which most people can associate with; a bit like B5, it's more like a soap opera with energy weapons than a run-of-the-mill (I believe someone here used the term "reset-to-zero", which describes it perfectly) sci-fi that is most of what we see.

Actually, can anyone refresh my memory about this "Rockne S. O'Bannon" guy? Had he some hand in "Seaquest" as well?

Thoughts/opinions/comments?
Gadget

SydneyLosstarot

its safe to say that all scifi series reuse cg scenes, especially star trek. they just take to long to make.

As for andromeda, well its not great but its better than watching eastenders


moh!

mondeoman

Oi gadget!!!!

Go easy on Battlestar Galactica - you know that's my soft spot!!!!!

I have to say though, the re-use of CGI in Andromeda is a bit annoying in this day-and-age. I think what's even worse is their tendency to show an (on-the-bridge-captains-view) of what's going on outside. Instead of showing us the Andromeda surrounded by 100 enemy ships, all shooting the bejaysus out of poor old Rommie, they show us a cheap 1995 era computer-game representation. Pah!!!!

BTW, I love SG-1. No scientific analysis of their use of characters, technology, or science. It's just a great show. Instead of using a ship, they walk through a wall of water and onto another planet. When the need arises, they fly about in the spaceships and do pretty good shoot-em-up scenes. They show pretty exotic aliens (most with perfect English of course, but they do have to interpret the odd language every now and again). What more could you ask? It has a great mix of standard space sci-fi; Some reasonable military episodes; Some magical, mystical episodes; liberally sprinkled with smart-ass comments from Magyver.

I'm sold!!!

Oh yeah, dammit, hands off BSG. You'll have plenty more scenes when the new version comes out - albeit a "re-imagined" version, but that's another story..........

jaggeh

what did you all think of the end of series 2 of andromeda?

Rev has left on a spiritual exile
Tyr's son is the Neechian messiah
harper had the magog eggs removed but at the cost of one of the best scientists in the galaxy (apparently)
trance has switched places with a future version of herself, so she can do things right!? this time.
Beka and tyr have dissappeared

The commonwealth is starting to reform, and the magog worldship is supposed to re-appear next season.

all in all its getting better and better, the first season reminded me a lot of TNG (throwaway episodes) until the last few episodes.

hummana hummana hummana

Pepe LeFrits

I tried watching the episode with Tyre and his son being the nachos messiah but i couldn't stop laughing at virtually every second word used being made up

Venom

I have to admit that I really like Andromeda. Sure it's no B5 but then again what is. It may not be up to the harshness of the B5 universe but it still pull's much less punches than Star Trek ever will.

Farscape while a good show has the worst acting I have ever seen in a Sci Fi show and its almost as bad as the trip that was tossed around in Battlestar Galactia.

American Gothic on the other hand was a kick ass show. How many other shows have the devil as the main character

jaggeh

i agree American gothic is one of a dying breed

DrizztIE

I'm a fan of anything Sci-Fi, including Anime Sci-Fi... anyone agree with me?

=========

I think with each series any show will or should improve over time.

Drizzt

donfers

available on netflix now folks - fill your boots

OwaynOTT

donfers wrote: »

available on netflix now folks - fill your boots

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