After Sci-Fi cancelled Farscape, I promised myself that I wouldn’t bother with the channel anymore anyway, even with the interest I have in Battlestar Galactica.

Sci-Fi series, with the exception of Farscape
(greatest sci-fi television show ever), are awful as a general rule. The last season of premeires, all of which I believe have been cancelled, were an unfortunate, atrocious lot. I mean, c’mon, who makes a series out of Tremors?

Babylon 5 was best-ever.

Stargate-SG1 rocks, too.

Me, I’ll give this a try.

Even though I’m pissed at SciFi’s decision to cancel Farscape (but keep Stargate SG-1!?), I’m interested enough to check out what the new Galactica is like.

It’ll prolly be great, and they’ll not make a series, or make one and cancel it.

Neither Babylon 5 or Stargate SG-1 are Sci-Fi shows. Bab-5 began its life in syndication. Stargate SG-1 was produced by Showtime. Sci-Fi began buying episodes of SG-1 two seasons ago.

Sci-Fi can also mean Science Fiction, not the channel.

Sci-Fi cancelled Farscape? Fuck thaaat!!!

(Charon bangs head on desk in frustration)

It’s a sad symptom of television society when someone does NOT know that Sci-fi means Science Fiction . . . Jules Verne would roll over . . .

And if you don’t know who Jules Verne is, go to the library and look him up.

Anyway, as to the Battlestar Galactica remake . . .

I distinctly remember Sunday night being my night for television, and though I was 14, if I didn’t get to watch at least BSG that night (Hardy boys came on before it at 7:00), there was heck for my Mom to pay all night, and most of the next day.

BSG (in my own inimitably unhumble opinion) was not completely about the ships, the explosions, and whatnot (any dummy who was paying attention could tell they used the same shots over and over again, so if that’s what they watched the show for, then they were severely dissapointed).  It was about Humans running from destruction and the ‘evil’ robots out to annihilate their entire Race. It was about Betrayal.  It was about Hope.  It was about Belief.

It was about Characters.

What I mean by this is that the Humans were the focus of the show (until they brought in Lucifer at any rate, and then he was really cool).  Hence, since the show was about the Humans,and since they were the ones who appeared most often, it was essentially about the individual characters and how they interacted,reacted,and how they ‘grew’ in the face of devastation and overcame most of the odds, even though everything was stacked completely against them.

That is what the made the show interesting, and what kept me coming back week after week, year after year, and what made my hopes soar when I heard they were going to try said show again.

So far, what I’ve heard and what I’ve read, the new version has very little to do with the original, except for the name and the VERY basic plot concept.

So, for me, it’s a no go on the show.  As an Original,literally almost lifetime fan, I’ll stick to my videos and my conventions and completely give this new show a wide berth.

And as for the Sci-fi Channel itself, what started (in theory) as a great homage to Sci-fi and its fans everywhere, has become nothing more than yet another media channel out to nab as many dollars as they can, while disguising their greed as entertainment catering to a certain audience.

Charon said: “It’s a sad symptom of television society when someone does NOT know that Sci-fi means Science Fiction . . . Jules Verne would roll over . . .“

Actually, it’s an even sadder symptom of Science Fiction becoming mainstream when you realize that one used to call science fiction SF for short, NEVER “Sci-Fi” if you were a true fan. So in effect, Jules Verne is rolling over! Anyway, you have a point about BG and most good SF not being about 20 minute space battles. They were about the characters. Today, they’ve overcompensated on this angle by cramming as much character angst,T&A,scheming and backstabbing, whining and “whose sleepin’ with who” pseudodrama into SF and you feel like you’re watching a daytime soap that happens to be in outerspace or the future. They can say were old school but SF television in trying to appeal to the mainstream, has undermined what was so special about it. It was escapist entertainment that appealed especially for the ones who saw themselves as misfits in the real world. Many of us used to Perhaps dreamed that we could exist in these fictional worlds. And that we could meet characters like these. But with the emphasis on making the characters edgier, more hip, and what the producers see as more sexy, they are simply falling back on the same vapid schtick that makes shows like 90210 and Buffy so popular.

I consider myself an expert on judging science fiction programming.  If you remake the twilight zone you, you stick to tight shots, askew camera angles, and a basic plot (that exists in abstract bizarroland) line that always ends with a nonpreachy bit of advice pertaining to the human condition and its vulnerabilities. (first remake above average, second upn average at best) Redo x-files, you center on male/female tension (opposites attracting that learn to work together as a unit) and a somber plot structure that doesn’t explain how or why, but how ordinary everyday life might feel if these dark things slowly began to seep in OUR reality.  It’ll be fun to watch X-files 2 as it centers on a fieldcase as opposed to a government conspiracy.  Finally, if you remake Battlestar Galactica, and you desire success—a word of mouth kind of success, (1) establish an on the go can’t stop or might die universe (2)no where to securely exist outside of little homebase Galactica where unity solidarity are the most valuable commodities. (3)the enemy is an intelligent entity that abides to a hierarchy we as humans can’t conceive of. 

These things we can’t conceive are cylons-AND THEY ARE: the cybernetic warrior recreation of an extinct reptilian race of warlord aliens (but you slowly find this out throughout the course of the mini-series program-whatever).  1. we know little about how they govern themselves—IMPERIOUS LEADING and BY YOUR COMMAND provide the only window into the cylon mind.  What the hell is the Imperious Leader from the pilot/movie?  One of those ancient reptiles?  The cylons just looked cool—even their leather/spandex pants looked good.  What was with the gold centurions—they were neat.  the daggit was a cool. concept.  The fleet’s uniforms looked cool.  Hell, I’d buy one of those leather jackets if they sold ‘em.  Lucifer was a a bastard.  Baltar
was maniacal and took out his emotions on the cylons.  cylon base was cool. 

Now, i’ve pretty much established the notion that the Sci-Fi channel spent all of their money in the Dune projects.  Can they not afford to create costumes.  Don’t give me that “they’ve evolved crap”.  People watched that fucking show initially because of the ships in space and robot factor. and now they look like humans.  Translation: We don’t have they money for this and it doesn’t matter because we’ve locked up the advertising.  The viper, the title namesake, and a couple character names are all that have survived. Maybe the program Galactica 2005 (get it haha - don’t throw eggs at me) will go back to the basics with its new cast.