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Random thoughts (updated whenever I get the
urge)
Dec. 14th, 2002
The Death of Science Fiction
Where
do we go from here? So much water under the bridge and
the state of sci-fi is atrocious. There was a day when
science fiction, whether good or bad, was rather rare in
this world. When something new came along, it was
generally eaten up by starving fans of the genre.
Mainstream media always treated it as a passing fad.
Now in 2002/2003, sci-fi has proliferated to an
astounding level, it's a viable industry, and like most
industries, it's a major polluter. This is most visible
in the status of network television. Just this past week,
a few major events took place. Number one is the release
of the much anticipated Star Trek film NEMESIS. It's a
bit up in the air as far as I can tell if this will be
the last we'll hear from Star Trek for a while. I haven't
seen the film yet as I'm writing this on December14th,
from what I've heard and read from my friends, this film
is okay, but not stellar. I'm so disillusioned with Star
Trek at the moment that I find it hard to believe that it
has much of a future at this point without the infusion
of some new blood and a rethinking of the approach taken.
My personal preference would be to do an animated series
geared toward a nighttime audience. That would take a
small revolution in digital animation though, as the
plastic nature of the 3-D images in films like FINAL
FANTASY and tv shows like REBOOT or TRANSFORMERS just
won't hold my attention. Something 2-D would be
acceptable if they can do it with the kind of nearly
flawless execution of a top notch anime film.
The second event of the week was the announcement that
FIREFLY has been shelved, which has translated into being
cancelled. How sad. This show was rethinking the concept
of the weekly science fiction tv show the way Star Trek
did in the '60s. FOX is so concerned with nothing but the
highest ratings that they won't give a show a chance if
there isn't some insane number of viewers watching it.
However, I am thankful they didn't try to prop it up with
sad attempts at drawing in viewers with the tactics they
used on DARK ANGEL.
And thirdly, the dismal hobbling show that is ENTERPRISE
is just a love/hate affair. I keep watching because I see
so much promise, and sometimes I think I see something
that indicates that the show is going to be great, only
to be surprised by another silly mistake. How can a show
like this exist when there are so many vocal fans who
know exactly what's wrong with the show. I mean, the fans
don't always all agree all the time, but the consensus
generally is that the show suffers from bad writing,
wooden acting, poor planning, liberties being taken with
commonly accepted canon and ingenuous and artificial
sensuality. There have been a few sparkling gems on
ENTERPRISE, but they stand in stark contrast to the
coalbed that is the rest of what has been offered.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is being re-imagined and it sounds
very interesting, I'll have to wait to see it before I
judge it, but what I've heard of it has me very curious.
One plus is that the cheesy 1980's styling of the show
will be traded for a more of a realistic approach and
hopefully lose some of the Star Wars for TV element. I'm
expecting a stylistic approach something like ALIEN
NATION.
Science Fiction needs to go through some serious changes.
It needs to find itself again. It needs to redefine
itself, because personally I think the idea of the
military style ship exploring space and meeting aliens
who are really just actors with some kind of forehead or
nose modification is getting rather old. Can we get
something new or at least something from a new approach
please?
Nov. 24, 2002
Searching for signs of intelligent life on
television...
Star Trek: Enterprise? No, no, it's just
called Enterprise. You know, I need to start watching
less television anyway. I've been a fan of Star Trek for
so long, it's not even funny. No, I'm not a geek, not a
normal geek anyway. Unless you're used to seeing geeks
with tattoos and who can kick your ass! Okay, I'm a Star
Trek geek, but I don't speak Klingon and I don't own a
Starfleet uniform. But I did shake Gene Roddenberry's
hand at a Star Trek convention in 1973. That was an
awesome day. I got a model of the Enterprise 1701 and
watched blooper reels. Seeing Spock walk into a door that
didn't open on time was very funny to me back then, and
it still is.
Well, I've been watching the franchise for at least that
long if not longer. I was part of the group that laid the
foundation for the long term survival of the franchise. I
rolled with the punches and I went with the flow. I'm
tired of the bullshit.
Enter Enterprise. Okay, I expected something a lot
different. What we got was the same crappy approach we
saw toward the end of Star Trek:Voyager. You'd think that
people involved with the franchise would be able to
provide something a little better than THIS! What a half
assed effort season one was. I liked some of what they
did, but then they brought in the Ferengi. Stupid move.
Meanwhile, Bermaga brought in a whole bunch of elements
that really defy logic, even in a timeline that has been
altered by the presence of the Suliban. And we have a cat
and mouse game with the Romulans...WHY? It's stupid! So
here I was, expecting to walk away from Star Trek
forever, and in comes John Shiban.
Is he the savior of TREK? I would like to think so, I
already notice a vast change in the show. ENTERPRISE will
never be like any other TREK show, that much is certain,
but I do think it can be a lot more entertaining than it
was last year. Already I notice the photography is much
more calculated in an effort to invoke suspense, the
pacing of the stories has improved, and they've added
some of the sounds from the original Star Trek, that is
to say, the bridge's beeps, bells and whistles.
Enterprise is probably going to essentially be an
"X-Files" in space. That's fine with me, as
long as it remains Star Trek and doesn't become "The
X-Files". Shiban's effect has been clear to me, I'm
surprised that many people don't see it yet. I do, and I
think that they actually have a shot at making it very
highly rated as long as they don't screw up. I liked
Chris Carter's deep thinking behind the huge arc behind
the X-Files, and I hope that Shiban can bring some of
that to this show.
.
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