Comments on: Bionic

By: mollishka

mollishka — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:40:55 +0000

So annoyed Season 3 of BSG hasn’t been released on DVD yet.

By: stevem

stevem — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:57:44 +0000

“Then, he had nothing left for season 5.”

I think he should have done something centred on the fall of the Psi Corps and Bester rather than the disappointing and shark-jumping last season, which I gave up on after a few episodes. The B5 spinoff “Crusade” I thought was pretty good but it got cancelled after about 10 episodes with no satisfactory conclusion. Even a couple more episodes and some kind of reasonable conclusion would have been satisfactory. Sci Fi on tv has a long history of this sort of thing though, probably more than other genres, but such shows tend to end up as cult classics years later.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:16:44 +0000

But overall…. you’re right in that they’ve got their work cut out for them if they are to get to the level of writing and overall freshness of BSG. Does not look likely.

-cvj

By: Clifford

Clifford — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:15:41 +0000

Yes… I do know. Well it was good enough for me that the first four seasons were so great.

I watched BW. I think I’ll give it another chance or two before making a decision. It’s hard for them to do much beyond the formulaic in the 45 or so minutes that they had…. There’s some promise there. I like the sister relationship, for example. And I find the bionic tricks just as charmingly cheesy as the old 70s shows. It amuses me a bit. So I’ll give it a chance until it is clearly a waste of time or just a slap in the face.

Cheers,

-cvj

By: Mark Srednicki

Mark Srednicki — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:47:11 +0000

Yes, Clifford, but as you know, B5 creater JMS was not told whether or not he would get a 5th season until late into season 4, so he was forced to complete the show’s arc by the end of season 4. Then, he had nothing left for season 5.

Caught the beginning of BW tonight. Seemed pretty formulaic … what did you think?

By: Clifford

Clifford — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:58:34 +0000

Baltar just got better and better as the actor (forgot his name) marvellously improvised his way fully into the skin of the character. Slimy and loveable at the same time. Hard to do well.

Problem with sci-fi shows is that they get cancelled without reaching a satisfactory conclusion.

Of course, this is partly self-fulfilling… On the other hand, it it not really just confined to that genre.

I myself rather like a lot of shorter projects. Things that drag on too long and lose their way and betray the original structure and integrity of the show offend me much more. I wish the final season of Babylon 5 never happened, for example.

-cvj

By: stevem

stevem — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:49:39 +0000

Got the pilot of the new BG about 2 years ago and while it was good never felt like watching it again. I don’t really like the dodgy “scientist” character Baltar but I guess you are not meant to. Like Mark, I will probably get it all on dvd and watch it at my leisure sometime. Problem with sci-fi shows is that they get cancelled without reaching a satisfactory conclusion. There are lots of shows like this from the 70s that got cancelled but now have a cult following and only have about 12 to 20 episodes. (For example, Logan’s Run, UFO.) The old BG while cheesy and camp is still fun. Loved the Six Million Dollar Man as a kid but never watched the original Bionic Woman. There is some wonderful bad physics in the SMDM like when a helicopter is about 6 feet off the ground and he reaches up and grasps it with his bionic arm thus preventing it from fully taking off!

By: Mark Srednicki

Mark Srednicki — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:24:38 +0000

Oh, I thought I missed it (BW, that is). I may be able to watch it.

By: Clifford

Clifford — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:10:24 +0000

Yes, that is a concern, but the details of the journey are rather splendidly written. I’d get the miniseries and the two first seasons and watch those. They’re a pleasure to watch (in plot and character development especially), even without an ending. In fact, I expect that it will begin to degrade pretty soon, so I’m just savouring the early seasons…

I think that BW premieres tonight. I (and maybe others?) will report.

Cheers,

-cvj

By: Mark Srednicki

Mark Srednicki — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:06:26 +0000

So, how was it??

I’ve never gotten into BG, only seen a couple of episodes. I’m going to wait until it’s all finished, then get the DVDs.

I’m worried that, unlike B5, the writers don’t have an ending in mind …

By: Clifford

Clifford — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:09:41 +0000

Hmm… ok…. got me on that one….

-cvj

By: anon.

anon. — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:49:31 +0000

Try to ignore the Sci-Fi stigma and just treat it as what is it - well-written human drama. [Emphasis added.]

Geez, Clifford, are you trying to offend the Cylon readers of your blog?