It's the Button on the Top: The Sci-Fi Thread

I have a question for the SGA peeps, which is to say that I have a question for Ranee. Since I'm kind of new to the SGA fandom, I haven't really been keeping up with news about the show. I've been too busy trying to watch all the episodes. But I stumbled across a mention that TPTB are bringing back -->Larrin in S5.<--- :( Have you heard anything about that? I absolutely hated that character. The whole episode drove me nuts. I didn't buy that she would be able to trick Sheppard so easily. And I also read that TPTB are -->bringing back Nancy<-- I'm always eager to find out more about Sheppard's past. I think that Outcast sort of failed in that regard. It did show that he obviously likes to avoid talking about family issues. But based on everything else we've learned about Sheppard so far, I don't think we needed another episode to tell us that. We need new information about his past, IMO. On the plus (and shallow) side though, Ronon looked gorgeous in his civvies. I've finally started watching S1. It's interesting to see what Ford was like before he was hopped up on Wraith goofballs. I think RSF does a good job with what little they've given him so far (I'm up to The Eye). I love his facial reactions to McKay's blathering. Teyla also seems to have much more...uh...pizazz? I like Teyla and I'm always eager to see strong women kicking ass. But I feel like her character flattened out in the later seasons. I have turned into an unabashed fangirl when it comes to Sheppard and Joe Flanigan. His performance at the beginning of S1 seems so subdued. And JF looks so much younger in Rising --like a newly minted penny!

Hi, sautomne, re SGA spoilers -> yes, Nancy & Larrin are supposedly back in s5, but only briefly (one ep each). I haven't heard any details beyond that; also Mark Sheppard will not be putting in an appearance, but Kate Hewlett (Jeannie) will (in Shrine of Talus). Sheppard suffers from an extreme case of Chase-itus - he's even more phobic about talking about his past, so I wouldn't hold out much hope we'll learn a lot more about Sheppard ever, even via Nancy, but I'd love for McKay to meet her & start being nosy, you just know he will LOL. If this helps spoiler-wise, ep 3 is always "the Ronon ep" & supposedly there's a couple of really nice Ronon/Shep moments in the next one. Also, Tracker ep 8 is a Ronon/McKay focused ep.<-end spoilers. Re Larrin, Sheppard is a major idiot when it comes to women getting the better of him - witness Harmony ;D and s1 spoiler -> in Sanctuary, if you haven't seen it yet, Chaya. He's extremely consistent in this respect, so Larrin's not a surprise & neither is Rodney's reaction to Sheppard about her (cf how he goes completely ballistic over Sheppard's relationship with Chaya; and Chaya BTW looks like a taller version of Nancy).<- end spoiler Re Teyla, IMO the s4 tone down for her had a lot to do with Rachel Luttrel's RL pregnancy, it was just tough for her physically, plus Teyla in particular goes through a lot of loss (Weir, Heightmeyer, Carson, Kanan, the Athosians) which impacts the character. ETA - & since we all like pretty, pretty men, check this out if you haven't seen it linky thing. JFlan is the first photo in Portfolio 3. And you know why I like this show? The showrunners actually talk to the fans & tells us what is going on.

So did anyone else watch "The Sarah Jane Adventures" besides me? Sure it was silly in the way of the old Who, but since the third doctor was my first doctor, I loved seeing Sarah Jane back in action. (And the photos of both the Brigadier and Harry Sullivan in her attic -- along with the fact that her first suggestions for "Luke's" name were Harry and Alistair made me smile.)

The Third Doctor is my favorite Classic Who Doctor*, and you can't beat Sarah Jane. I did watch it, with my parents of all things who really enjoyed it. My mom never gets into non-news shows, and she watched the entire thing, asking all along what was going to happen next. And my dad rewatched it when it aired later that night. As for myself, I think I like it better than Torchwood. Yes, it's kind of hokey, and aimed at a younger audience, but it's fast-paced and well-written enough to keep almost anyone's attention. And, to me at least, the characters aren't too off the wall, even Luke (who has been criticized for being a Marty Sue else where on the 'net). *okay, so I really like Paul McGann's hair, but it's very similar to John Pertwee's, just a different color and looser perm.

I have to say watching Doctor Who is like watching a mini movie, this is a wonderful wonderful show and IMO very well done DT is a joy to watch!. I hope this is not a spoiler but the part of having all of London leaving the city due to what happens on Christmas was fresh and a hoot :lol:

David Tennant is scheduled to be the guest on Top Gear's "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car" shown in BBC America on Monday. (At 8 p.m., so before "House.") Of course, since his segment originally aired in December in the UK, it's available elsewhere already, which is especially good since "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" is often cut from the U.S. airing. Dangit. D.T. in reference to Billie Piper's charms: "We all know that it butters many parsnips."

D.T. in reference to Billie Piper's charms: You know, sometimes I wonder if I can ever love him more and then, boom! something else comes along. :-)

D.T. in reference to Billie Piper's charms: You know, sometimes I wonder if I can ever love him more and then, boom! something else comes along. :-) Well, I have to admit that I haven't followed his career enough to know anything about him, so I'm finding it endearing upon hearing on the "Top Gear" interview that 1) Tennant is not his real first name and 2) he stole it from Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys because he was 16 and thought that looking in NME was a perfectly sane place to look for a stage name.

I love it when fandoms collide! House and SGA! Whoo-Hoo! OMG! I've been trying to figure out why the woman who played the wife in No More Mr. Nice Guy looked so familiar. She's an Unascended Ancient! She played Teer in Epiphany (Stargate Atlantis S2). IMDb

This just in: Stargate Atlantis will end this season. I know I'm probably the only one around here that watches this show, but I just thought that I'd share my total dismay.

Sauty, I'm actually getting into that show this summer (partly thanks to you). I can't believe their ending it!!!

marykir, bailey and I all commented about the American Life on Mars in the Hizzy since we have this thread, might as well use it. The original Life on Mars is in my opinion the best TV series since the Prisoner. It's perfect. There's nothing I would change. It was instantly impressive. The characters made their first onscreen appearance as fully developed (but unexplored) individuals. The mystery was genuine and unpredictable. Fantasy and reality were so tightly woven as to become indistinguishable. Every plot point and event was meaningful to the overall story. To take that series-perfectly told in 16 episodes-and bastardize it to fit American television standards is to spit in the eye of the creators and actors of the original. I'll watch the American version, but I do not expect to make it thru the first episode without turning the channel in disgust. There's no way it will hold up compared to the show to which I am so attached. bailey, since you haven't seen the original, I'd be very interested in hearing what your response to the American remake is.

The original Life on Mars is in my opinion the best TV series since the Prisoner. It's perfect. There's nothing I would change. It was instantly impressive. The characters made their first onscreen appearance as fully developed (but unexplored) individuals. The mystery was genuine and unpredictable. Fantasy and reality were so tightly woven as to become indistinguishable. Every plot point and event was meaningful to the overall story. To take that series-perfectly told in 16 episodes-and bastardize it to fit American television standards is to spit in the eye of the creators and actors of the original. I'll watch the American version, but I do not expect to make it thru the first episode without turning the channel in disgust. There's no way it will hold up compared to the show to which I am so attached. bailey, since you haven't seen the original, I'd be very interested in hearing what your response to the American remake is. I just finished watching the American version. (Mind you, I would much rather watch the UK version first but I don't have BBC America and the series doesn't appear to be available on DVD here. For such a thing, I don't mind going pirate but for now, the American series is obviously more accessible to me.) Thoughts: I can see why this show is such a winner. I like the concept very much. (Even if it does make me cringe to see such a banner year as 1973--hint, hint--treated like ancient history. Gasp!) I like not knowing whether this is a freak sci-fi event or if the character truly is in a deep coma and is solving mysteries in his subconscious or whether he's just plain crazy. I am intrigued by watching Tyler try to figure out why he's still there, despite making the link between the modern day killer and his childhood roots. The lead actor? Meh. I think this is an instance of the story and the events being far more interesting that the actor conveying them. Perhaps he'll grow on me. I can't help thinking this would be a great vehicle for someone else, though. Ditto the re-introduction of Lisa Bonet. Do not enjoy her, do not need to see her on screen, and am wondering why anyone felt the need to cast her. I have no idea how big of a role she'll play, but again, feel like there are millions of someones better (and available) for this role. Everyone else seemed solid to me, including Harvey Keitel. And Gretchen Mol. I haven't seen her in anything since....well, practically forever....but I thought she was great and can envision plenty of interesting storylines for her. If people compare the two series---and, again, I don't know anything about the UK version other than the time/place--I would imagine that the settings, despite taking place in the same year, are in fact radically different. Scrolling through some of my normal blogs this morning, I noticed that one comment comparing the show was that the US doesn't really have a counter part to Manchester in that the very name of it is evocative. Probably because there's really no other city in the world that represent the industrial revolution quite the way Manchester does, nor does any city represent the decline of an industrial power quite the way Manchester does. In the US, Detroit, maybe. Again, not knowing how storylines will play out, I have to assume that the year 1973 was chosen for a reason and 1973 in Manchester was certainly experiencing a tsunami of jobs and industry leaving. I assume that storylines deal with this in mind as a backdrop, as well as all the other politics that would come into play. Back in the US, the 1970s weren't so great for other reasons and I'm curious to see if the show picks up on all those threads as well. I assume they will, what with the references to Nixon, etc. And, call me sentimental, but I did like how they settled the main character in 1973 and having his disbelief at the transformation confirmed by his seeing the newly completed World Trade Center and saying "no way!". This strikes me as one of the first times that a movie/TV show has gone out of their way to show the towers without remorse. It seems important to me. I hope they touch upon this more as the show unveils itself; will Tyler share with the Gretchen Mol character what he knows about the future? Will the time/setting actually play an important part of the show or will it just serve as a quirky backdrop and an opportunity to make some stupid bell-bottom jokes? So, all in all, I feel more positive than negative about this show. And, for once, I could barely notice that this was a David E. Kelley production. Usually his shows just reek of a certain smarminess that wasn't present in this particular episode. I'll continue watching. But, in the meantime, I would like to get my hands on the UK version because I am, after all, both a purist and an anglophile. :-)

DEK's there in name only. He originally developed the series, but he's out and the pilot was reshot. So, I don't think we'll see his fingerprints on it at all unless I totally missed something and he's back on board again. I liked it. I liked the original, but haven't seen every episode or invested any real time in it, so I'm not one of the die hards who were/are very much against this version. I always meant to watch from start to finish, but it was just one of those shows I figured I'd eventually download and didn't bother with when BBCA aired it. But, I dug the concept, so I figured there was no harm in trying the US adaptation. And I thought they did a pretty good job. The main criticism I've seen is that the characters weren't fleshed out enough, but given that they're aiming for 22 episodes a year instead of six or eight, I think it's impractical to go in thinking that all the characters should be fully formed. I'm okay getting to know them slowly. I can't think of a single thing I've ever liked Gretchen Mol in (unless "Rounders" counts in spite of how annoying she was in it), but I do like her here. I thought she was quite good. I have, otoh, always liked Jason O'Mara in pretty much everything I've seen him in so I think it was just a given I'd like him here too. So, it was a nice, pleasant hour. I'll stick with it for as long as ABC gives it which, this season, could be days or years.

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