I’m some sort of sick genius.
Once in a while, I like to write things on my blog that will make a certain number of people decide they hate me or that I have serious emotional issues. It usually involves television shows; for example, we are all familiar with the controversy surrounding my decision to not only watch but to also blog about American Idol.
Well here’s another one: I watch Stargate Atlantis on the Sci-Fi channel. Like a crackhead. I love it so much, and I hate myself for loving it, and I love myself for loving to hate it and myself. Err, something like that. Hopechange.
Anyway, it’s extremely lame. It doesn’t even toy with being dark or realistic; it’s sort of like Sci-Fi Disney.
All last week and weekend, as you know, I spent many hours lying on the sofa with an ice pack and drugs, praying for sweet sweet merciful death, and I found myself wishing there were some Stargate Atlantis reruns for me to watch, but there weren’t, so I settled for the last 20 minutes of Battlestar Galactica (the new version of course), which I’d never seen before. Do not ask me how for I do not know. I’ve seen hundreds of ads for it during all my compulsive Atlantis-viewing but my TV-show-obsession plate was always full and I didn’t feel like adding a new one.
(You know what’s really weird? I’ve seen every episode of the Atlantis spin-off of SG-1, but I’ve never watched SG-1 itself. How stupid is that?)
Aaaanyway. The last 20 minutes of some random Galactica episode. Well, they were 20 awesome minutes. I had absolutely no clue who anyone was, what their problem was, what the hell they were talking about, where they were, or who I should hate or root for, but it didn’t matter. I knew almost instantly that I had to see every single episode of that show ever made. And what better time to do it that when virtually chained to the sofa wishing for death?
I willed myself off the sofa, put down the icepack, and went to Blockbuster and rented the whole first season. I’ve only gotten through the intro miniseries and half of the first episode, and I love it so much that it hurts me in my head. It’s nothing like that goofy Atlantis; it’s dark and moody and the people have actual sex and actual dirt on them and it’s remarkably un-lame.
In any case, it’s simply fabulous and I get to absorb it in great gorging quantities all at once. I’ve done this several times, ignoring a show I hear raves about, for years on end sometimes, then suddenly deciding to give it a chance, realizing it is as good as people say, and subsequently watching several years’ worth of episodes for the first time, all in a few weeks. It’s brilliant. No waiting a week between episodes, or between seasons. Cliffhangers only torturing you for the few seconds it takes to navigate to the next episode. I did this with Lost, the Sopranos, and some other great ones, too, and it’s terribly fun. Shit, I did this with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Never saw any of them until the last one came out on DVD, then I watched all three at once. Band of Brothers, too. It’s a bona fide binge, and it feels so good.
I wasn’t going to blog about this because it’s so nerdy (and likely boring as hell to anyone who doesn’t watch TV or that show), but I was just trolling through my blogroll to find out what all those turkeys were writing about today, and lo and behold, my future Vice President of Porke Affaires, David Colborne, just posted about Galactica yesterday. I was so proud because a week ago, I would have had no “fracking” idea what the title to his post meant because who the hell is Gaius Baltar? But today, I did know what the title meant. I do know who Gaius is and why he is a tool. It doesn’t take much to make me feel like a champ.
So I decided to post about it, because I know some of you nerds watch that show and maybe sometimes you want a nice, safe place to go to where you can talk about Cylons and Lords of Kobol and frack and how intriguingly sexy President Roslin is. So here you go. You’re welcome.
UPDATE: I can’t believe I forgot to mention this, but guess what is driving me completely fucking bonkers? Check it out. About a year ago, I watched one episode of Firefly. Loved it, then got busy. At birthday time last week, I remembered it and how bad I NEED to see the whole series (one season! it’s a travesty!) and the Serenity movie, so I put them both on my Amazon Wish List. Both were bought (thank you, givers - you will be getting a personal card in the mail), and the Serenity disc has arrived, but not the Firefly disc!
Do you see my agonizing dilemma? It takes ALL MY WILL not to go ahead and watch the Serenity movie just to get my fill of Nathan Fillion and Summer Glau and Jewel Staite (I have serious borderline lesbionic crushes on those last two). But I know it will be better if I wait and watch Firefly first. So I am waiting, and it hurts. Hurts so bad.
Best show on TV.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:55 pmBattlestar Galactica is probably one of the finest shows on television today. Just be prepared- there was some serious drift in the middle of seasons 2 and 3, but I think watching it the way you are will probably make it less obvious.
Welcome to the collective… wait, that’s another nerdy sci-fi show…
April 28th, 2008 at 4:57 pmI did that too, with things like Northern Exposure. My all time favorite though is Babylon 5, where things get really interesting. Sometimes, it’s good to wallow in the sleaze a bit.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pmThat’s very much like my experience with Alias and my love affair with Jennifer Gardner. My current catch-up show is NCIS; I haven’t caught on to Battalstar Galactica as yet, though my brother raved about it at least a couple years ago. It seems I’m always a few years behind like that.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pmit should be a crime that you haven’t seen any SG1 eps. The last few seasons were the best IMO.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:03 pmI recently got into BSG when I found out there wouldn’t be any more seasons produced. All I can say is wow. I can’t believe how much I like it!
Frack it! I may have to re-open my Netflix account to rent the show from the beginning.
For you non battlestar people out there, maybe wait another year. The show is a few episodes into what is designed to be its last season (going out with quality, on their terms, gotta admire it).
I enjoy Atlantis too. It is just plain fun. It isn’t deep, it isn’t existential, it doesn’t try to serve as allegory or parable, it is unbridled youthful adventure. It is fairly innocent too, which makes for a nice change to modern TV. Thinking on it some, it reminds me of Star Trek. The Original Series, mind you, not the stuff from the past 21-years. I love the new BSG (Battlestar Galactica to the uninitiated) but I wouldn’t be comfortable letting my (hypothetical) 10-year old watch it.
Geek out Rachel, and try picking up SG-1 next time you are couch-ridden. Better yet, listen to Teri Pittman, and embrace Babylon 5 (it ties as my all-time favortie show, with Farscape, so I’m a geek, “you wanna fight about it?”). It isn’t as dark as BSG by any means, but it is still (for the most part) quite grown up.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:09 pmBattlestar Galactica is THE best! I’m so nerdy about it, that I want to put a Roslin ‘08 bumper sticker on my car next to my W ‘04 bumper sticker (and then add McCain and NRA stickers, just for good measure). Except I hate bumper stickers and the only reason I have the W ‘04 sticker is because I bought the car off my company’s big boss and he put the sticker on it.
I did the Battlestar Binge about a year ago when one of my boss convinced me I ought to see it (I’d never heard of it before because I’m too cheap for cable). It’s a wonderful feeling.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:13 pmThe new BSG is, indeed, the Best Damn Show On TV. The dark is what makes it good, and the most flawed characters are also the most interesting ones. You’ll end up liking even (and especially) the “bad” guys, because they’re complex and interesting.
And it’s “frak”…it’s a four-letter word, intentionally. (Note to self: check with NH DMV if the vanity plates “FRAK” or “FRAKKER” are taken already.)
Don’t be surprised if you find yourself adopting “frak” into your vocabulary by the time you’re halfway through Season One.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pmNo Need to rent it! Check out Hulu.
I’ve been sucked in to the Firefly series myself. That show rocks! The entire season is available online at Hulu (yes, it’s legal). Wave of the future! Shiny.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:18 pmOld joke from the original Battlestar Galactica Days:
Q: Why can’t the Cylons ever hit anything?
April 28th, 2008 at 5:27 pmA: Hey, you try targeting with just one eye that keeps bouncing back and forth!
I became a fan of “Dead Like Me” after watching midnight Saturday broadcasts of it after SNL. And looking up post-apocalyptic sci-fi on Wikipedia somehow led me into reading about the various Babylon 5 related subjects, and now I’m midway through season 1 and finding myself enjoying it enthusiastically.
Hope your jaw is feeling better.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:32 pmNext to “Friday Night Lights,” BSG is the best show on television. If you put “FNL” on your wish list I’d be happy to introduce you to it.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:35 pmWith all of us geeks here, I’ll bet the majority have seen that old line “There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don’t.” Love, love, LOVE Galactica. And Firefly. And Babylon 5. And even Farscape, though that one needs to be taken in small doses. Anyhow, welcome to the frakkin universe, Rachel. Don’t let people talking about the current season spoil your enjoyment as you catch up with us.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pmI took a chance and figured you didn’t have enough Bullshit! so look for Bullshit! in your mailbox in 3-5 days. If you want the fourth year of Bullshit! just say so.
If you’re already full of Bullshit! then send it back to me.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pmWelcome to the league of Battlestar Galactica addicts.
When the show was first advertised, I did like all the other sci-fi nerds did — “Whadday mean, Starbuck’s a girl?!”
It’s simply the best show ever. Dirty, gritty, loose ends all over the place, people shifting alliances between sentences… It’s great.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm“I found myself wishing there were some Stargate Atlantis reruns for me to watch…”
OK, let me reiterate: look into Usenet!
1. Get a “newsreader” (no, not an RSS reader). There are some that cost money, but the freebie XNews works fine for me.
2. Try it out.
Your ISP may offer a link for free, if not there are some free sites. Either is usually limited to about a one-gigabyte download per day (roughly two episodes of a TV program, or possibly one movie - lots of music, classical/jazz/blues) and to stuff less than a month old.
Download the “Group[s]” list.
“Subscribe” (this is free, think of it like “registering” to post comments at a blog) to `alt.binaries.multimedia.scifi`.
Double-click (or whatever) to open the group and download “headers” (sort of table of contents).
Select (in Xnews, single-click in the “Q” or “Queue” column) the stuff you want - but be careful of that download limit.
Download those entries into a folder.
When downloaded, click on the “*.rar” entry, if there is one, to automatically start WinRAR (or 7Zip, or whatever). If there is not (or if there are error messages) you should look for a “*.PAR2″ and click that to start the error-recovery and/or combine-numeric-extensions program.
Watch the show! (uh, if *.MP4, you probably should install the VLC Media Player. And if *.MKV, probably forget it).
Maybe try another group for stuff not even on your cable channel - alt.binaries.british.drama, alt.binaries.tv,aus for example.
- - -
Now that you’re hooked, get linked up with a better server farm. I use GigaNews with four-month-old (or longer) entries available and unlimited download capacity, circa $22/month.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:43 pmI’ve been a SG1 fan since it started and loved Atlantis since that started,same goes for BSG(though I took a small break from that until it sucked me back in) Farscape is another awesome show to get addicted to and Firefly is pretty kickass too.
When I saw SG1 on your wishlist..I shed a tear and thought “bout friggin time”:) sadly I saw it too late after already buying something but still..SG1..it just rocks.
Aaaand I would love to see you posting about this kind of stuff!
~Oh and by the way..Frell is sooooo much better than Frak^_^
*John Crichton:Master of the Universe*
April 28th, 2008 at 5:46 pmOkay…NOW you’re getting it!! I, too, have seen ads for it on TV but never watched it…probably was on the same time as Idol all those years back…but ANYWAY….I was surfing the channels one day and SAW that Sci-Fi was having a BSG Marathon….so the ENTIRE next day I sat my happy ass on the couch, ate popcorn and got hooked after the 1st episode!!!
I saw them too at Block Buster and am going to get all the ones I didn’t see because my daughter came home from school and dinner and soccer blahblahblah so I missed quite a bit!
Good for you Rachel!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pmI was a big fan of BSG until the last couple of episodes of the previous season.
Then they jumped the shark.
I’ve tried watching the first couple of episodes of the current season, but it’s dead to me now.
There’s a spinoff coming called BSG Caprica, which is supposed to be about the resistance on Caprica.
If you’re into this sort of genre I’ve heard that Morgan Freeman is signed onto the Rendezvous with Rama project.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:51 pmI love Stargate.
All of it! I don’t care that it isn’t dark or scary. And I don’t mind telling anybody that I love it.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:57 pmI did the same thing with Firefly. According to my friends, I am currently doing the same thing with Breaking Bad.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:59 pmMichellecag, I agree.
I’ve used frell for years. I grew up with the original BSG, and Frak was there too (though I think it may have been a hard q, as in fraq), along with feldicarb. Those never entered my vocabulary, no really, but I say “frelling computers” when I’m watching my tongue.
I also use dren, yotz, farbot, and occasionally hezmanah.
I drive a “white death pod”
(I’ll stop geeking out now, sorry everyone
)
April 28th, 2008 at 6:15 pmI would say “welcome to the dark side” but if you were already watching Stargate Atlantis, you are way darker than I’ve ever been.
Welcome to the gray side?
April 28th, 2008 at 6:21 pmOne more thing I want to say for BSG, military terminology, they haz it.
I have some close ties to Naval Aviation (not through active duty, but I know several pilots) and I love the little details “Flying CAP” “The CAG” just little details like that make it go along way toward feeling real (then they “spool up the FTL” and it loses a bit of that, but I can deal)
April 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pmAs some of the other posters has recommended, Firefly is definitely worth taking a look at. Everyone I’ve introduced to the series has made an effort to watch all 15 episodes+movie within a single weekend. It’s addicting, and I really hope Whedon decides to make a sequel to the movie.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:23 pmWow. Geek Central.
I did the same as Rachel, with two series - where you ignore the show for years, despite people raving about it.
But then, during one long bout with the flu I rented the first two seasons of 24. Great stuff. I watched through season 4, I think…then got off track because….
I got hooked on LOST. Which I still am hooked on. It’s amazing, the best TV ever. (I used to be an anti-TV snob, but for good reason - most shows were mind-numbingly stupid - think “Three’s Company”). Anyway, with LOST you get time travel/teleportation/fate, great characters, plot twists, good v. evil, etc., but all still in a very earthbound setting - which makes LOST the best show on TV.
I challenge all you Battlestar geeks to a rumble with us LOST nerds. It’ll be a slaughter!
April 28th, 2008 at 6:25 pmI kinda did the same thing with Star Trek: The Next Generation. A local independent TV station got the broadcast rights, showing two episodes a night, five nights a week. All the two-parters were shown in their entirety, so to get through the season-ending cliffhangers (as well as several other two-parters made in the middle of seasons), all I had to do was sit through several commercials. Heh.
Now I own them all on DVD.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:29 pmDork.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pmBsG is TEH HOTNESS.
Sorry, my lame attempt at fitting in with the geekiest of them all.
SG1 is also totally awesome. You should rent Season 1 of SG1 after you’ve feasted on all the BsG ones. Yes, it’s much more “lite,” but I love that they just don’t take themselves too seriously and even make fun of themselves regularly in the scripts.
–Proud of my Nerdiness
April 28th, 2008 at 6:41 pmI love Babylon 5 and BSG, too.
I think the coolest ships in sci-fi history are the Shadow Ships in B5 (just ahead of Imperial Star Destroyers), but I love the fact that in BSG battles are conducted with kinetic weapons and missiles, etc. rather than the usual multicoloured laser beams and energy shields.
I’m not a nerd by the way, although my fiance’s mother would probably dispute that *ahem*.
BSG is dark, gritty and morally ambiguous - who are the bad guys really, the humans or the cylons? Both? Neither?
There isn’t a character, human or cylon, I can’t dislike one episode but then sympathise with the next. And that’s another thing I love about it.
Also, they don’t have that irritating child genius with the glasses that I remember from the 70s/80s series. That’s got to be a plus.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:45 pmWOO-HOO! Rachel has joined us BSG nerds! I feel totally validated now.
When BSG was on long hiatus (between seasons 2 and 3), our BSG-watching friends brought over Firefly to get us over the hump. We loved it so much that we then bought it ourselves, and Serenity, too.
We can’t let our kids see too much stuff, but we are raising them to be good little nerds and have started them off with the classics - Star Trek Original Series and the entire Star Wars saga. Oh, and the A-Team. Because we’re good parents.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pmOh-my.
I guess I have to start watching this season at some point now.
Laura Roslin is indeed the frackin’ bomb.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:51 pmI never checked out the recent Battlestar Galactica because I remember the original series from 1978. God, did that ever suck.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:59 pmIt is the Wachel posts such as this that are placed there by an easily amused God to test global Christianity’s capacity for forgiveness.
In time, they shall wear away even that immense mountain.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:01 pmWelcome to the fleet, Rachel. For what it’s worth, you have my vote as President of the Colonies.
I love Babylon 5 - it’s the next series I’m going to start loading up on once I’m done with BSG. My dad swears by Firefly, though he pointed out that you have to tough out the first season to really enjoy it. I used to watch SG-1 from time to time; one of the nice things about it was that it wasn’t particularly serialized, meaning you could jump in and out a little without too much difficulty. Sure, it had some recurring plot themes from time to time, but missing an episode or two wouldn’t kill you. I’d rather not try to pull similar stunts with BSG - it’s not quite as unforgiving as Deep Space 9 in the later seasons, but it’s pretty close.
Hulu is Linux-compatible… good to know once I get up to Season 4. Unfortunately, they only have one episode of Season 3, so I’m just going to have to grin and bear it in the meantime.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:17 pmOther great site to find TV etc… Surfthechannel.com is the best my darling wife can find, and she’s one to know. AllUC.org also comes highly recommended by the darling one.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pmI haven’t watched a TV show in about 5 years, simply due to TV on DVD. The Sopranos was my intro to DVD TV, and it ruined me. I caught the first season of Lost on DVD & tried to watch the second season and could not stand the commercials & waiting a week for… more commercials. Since then I haven’t bothered but wat for the DVD.
Until this season of BSG.
After the end of Season 3, I simply couldn’t wait & have been watching SciFi so far, but I’m getting impatient! It’s a testament to the show’s quality that I’ll even try.
And Firefly? The best damn show Fox has ever aired. What an insult that they canceled that in favor of Fast Lane.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pmFor those that are put off by the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica because of the original 70’s series: simmer down. This is NOT, I repeat, NOT the BSG of our youth. As her highness, Ms. Lucas, put it:
So say we all…
April 28th, 2008 at 7:26 pmI taped all of Babylon 5 on VHS in the 90s and I can’t believe that I went to all that effort when I can just stream it online now (and without the bad ‘long play’ quality).
I do the same with BSG but I feel vaguely guilty for enjoying it so much without paying for it (although we Brits have to pay for our TV licence whether we watch it or not (and I don’t, generally) - and the latest episodes of BSG would end up on UK terrestrial TV eventually). So maybe it all works out in the end.
I’ll probably end up doing what I do with films eventually - I’ll watch them online first but if I really like them, I’ll buy the DVD.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:50 pmI actually just finished up SG1, and I’m sad that it’s over. It was an interesting run… I’m honestly surprised it ever made it out of the first season, but it built up to an epic end by Season 7. Season 8 was a letdown, with the exception of a few episodes. But Seasons 9 & 10 were good again. I still need to give Atlantis a go.
I haven’t seen any BSG yet, but I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about it. Also, I will most definitely agree with the other folks who spoke well of Babylon 5: that show rocks. That’s another one where the first season was kind of iffy, but it just kept getting better as it went.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:56 pmWell, crap - what on earth have I been missing?! There’s NO. TIME. for me to catch up! I’m so missing out I can’t stand my own vanilla existence.
damn.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:57 pmEh, BSG was good, but quite bit of the psychodrama between the characters, and the inconsistencies in the characters themselves, bugs the hell out of me. Of course, this is the same reason that I get pissed off at horror movies, but still. The best thing about the show was the Firefly class ship flying in the background near the start of the pilot after the soon to be president is at the doctors.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pmYes, BSG rocks! Glad you like/love it. There are five TV series every SF fan must watch (in no particular order):
Star Trek (original)
Babylon 5
Battlestar Galactica (2005 version)
Firefly
Farscape
My personal favorite is Babylon 5, if you have not done so already please rent and watch it. It’s unique in that it was written to only last 5 seasons, it’s a novel for television(much like Battlestar Galactica seems to have been). The first season of B5 can be difficult for some people to get thru but it sets up a lot of what is to come later. The writer was brilliant in dropping clues in early episodes that gave AH-HA! moments 20 or 30 episodes later. Great characters too, I think you would especially like B5’s second in command Susan Ivanova who’s best quote of the series is “…and just one more thing, on your trip back I want you to take the time to learn the Babylon 5 mantra. Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova’s recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out!”
April 28th, 2008 at 8:19 pmDoesn’t that sound like something Rachel would say?
I for one can’t wait for Rachel’s rant re: the fact that a show as brilliant as Firefly got axed after one season.
As good as BSG is, Firefly was better.
Oh, and Rachel, DO NOT WATCH SERENITY BEFORE YOU WATCH FIREFLY!
April 28th, 2008 at 8:20 pmYou will love “Firefly.”
I had never heard of it (well, I had *heard* the name, but made no connection that it was a TV show.
Then my wife got me “Serenity” for some holiday last year, and I was blown away. I had to watch it several times, and it was fascinating each time. I still didn’t connect “Firefly” to “Serenity.” But then I found out that there was a backstory to the movie - the “Firefly” series. So I got that for Christmas, and we watched every single episode in the week I took off for vacation.
Blown away again.
Why did that series go away, and the series American Idol: the Presidency just goes on and on and on, and the same two final candidates never seem to be able to close the deal? How fair is that?
April 28th, 2008 at 8:20 pmLate again.
I do believe I will slavishly watch any Joss Whedon product. I got hooked with Buffy and made the transition to Firefly with the same need as a junkie searching for smack.
And IMDO yes, BSG is currently the best drama on the tube. Sometimes the writing is less than I’ve come to expect but the acting, direction, pacing and effects are the best TV I’ve seen. Even Heroes, while it is a guilty pleasure, doesn’t match up. and it’s not coming back till the Fall anyway.
Speaking of missing favorites, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls were way too strange and good to accumulate an audience. DLM was gravely humorous (coming into oneself after you die?) and Wonderfalls was weird funny (lick the light switch!). Both had terrific casts and writers. They just couldn’t pull in enough eyes.
On the other hand, thanks to your earlier posts, I am currently working my way through Dog Whisperer. Awesome. Ahem, a wonderful source for management techniques…for dogs, for dogs.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:23 pmPlay through the pain. Do not watch Serenity first.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:40 pmOh by the way, if you occasionally like your sf light and campy, check out another SciFi Channel show, Eureka. Assuming they bring it back, the writers do a pretty good job with funny dialogue. Not as clever as Whedon’s stuff was, but amusing nonetheless.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:48 pmEureka did get renewed.
Caprica is on the way, but it isn’t about the resistance, it is set during the first Cylon war. (according to the news on Scifi.com/scifiwire)
April 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pmRachl - I cannot believe that you haven’t seen Firefly yet! You are going to love it. I promise you will become an obsessed Firefly dork and you will catch yourself saying “Shiny!” and then want to smack yourself but I am looking forward to you blogging about it so much.
(two other series you might enjoy: Rome and Deadwood)
April 28th, 2008 at 9:14 pmI once knew a young woman who was as competent as hell. She always reminded me of Kaylee Fry ( Jewel Staite on Firefly). She was tier1 tech support and I was tier2, her escalation point. Invariably when she had to escalate an issue, she had already provided THE. EXACT. STEPS. TO. RESOLVE. THE. PROBLEM. but of course some nimrod wouldn’t believe her and insist the problem get escalated. Boy… would that tee me off.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:40 pmAnyways… last I heard she started up her own consultancy firm. Of course I still have to deal with the idjits.
I love a television binge. It’s becoming the only way to watch tv shows. No ads, no waiting for the next ep.
My only pet peeve about it is when you go to the video store to rent an entire series for the week and some idiot has taken out Disc 1 of a 4 disc set, rendering the rest of the available discs useless.
Rachel, when you take over the world see that your your first act as overlord is to outlaw this practice. It will make the world a better place.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:44 pmRachl Lukis, when you get to season three, don’t worry. It dips a lot in the middle, but the beginning and ending of that season are great, and season four has been frakkin’ awesome.
Firefly is wicked cool. When you’re done with that, watch ALIAS.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:05 pmAbout halfway through reading the post I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, if she likes sci fi she has GOT to see Firefly!”
Then I got to the part where you said you want to watch the whole series.
You’re cool.
Seriously, though, the only single bad thing about Firefly is that it ends. Everything else about the series kicks ass in so many ways.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:07 pmThat’s so funny, Rachel. I do the very same thing with TV shows that are popular and I didn’t catch any of them when the were running. However, my shame takes the form of That 70s Show, 24, and X-Files. I’ve nearly overdosed on multiple seasons all at once!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:18 pmNice to see “Northern Exposure” and “Farscape” mentioned above. Excellent writing in both.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:39 pmOh your nerdiness doesn’t even compare. TV sucks unless you can get all the episodes at once and go for total overload. Best way to get over any ailment. Feel better soon
April 28th, 2008 at 10:39 pmI order you to WAIT for the Firefly set. Oh, I can pull rank, sure.
I hosted a final episode party for all the Atlanta Firefly nerds.
I was old enough to be their mother. All 12 of them.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:46 pmBSG is great, Firefly is the best, you must watch! And try and check out SG1. The later seasons aren’t bad, but the first five are awesome! I have much Jack O’Neill love
April 28th, 2008 at 10:54 pmThis is to cool. So many friends. 55 posts on the silly scifi that I love. I recall waiting for repeat episodes of Babylon 5 to come out so I could figure what the hey was going on. When we had cable I loved Farscape & Firefly. Wasn’t there a second season of Firefly? I am in agreement on doing this stuff on DVD. I like to read those trilogy and series in books all at once too. Last fall I read almost all of Patrick O’Brian’s Master & Commander series in order over about 10 weeks. Total immersion is so satisfying.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:08 pmChris_RC,I use Frell all the time..usually when I’m tryin not to cuss,when I stub my toe or “frelling computer”< -- that one all the time heh.
What I use most would be ‘gorram‘ just can’t help it heh and no one ever knows wtf I’m saying(added bonus)
Rachel as everyone already said ‘watch the series first’ I like the first 2 eps a lot..I lovvvve Mal(got a thing for smart asses heh)
And I really really really hope you will check out Farscape(my all time favorite show).
April 28th, 2008 at 11:22 pmAfter the show ended the two stars of Farscape ‘Ben Browder’ and ‘Claudia Black’ went to SG1,eventually and they rocked:) it’s so so sooooo nice to know your taste in televison doesnt end with American Idol and Lost.(though I remember you mentioning 24 awhile back)anyhoo the thought of you watching great tv*cough*for a change>_> warms my heart:)
Hang on - italics problem…
April 28th, 2008 at 11:32 pmSadly, no. However, there is a comic book series that apparently is considered canon in the Firefly universe, and explains a handful of events between the end of the series and the beginning of the movie Serenity. For those non-graphic novel people among us, the Wikipedia pages on the Firefly series recap these events, so no need to go and hunt down a comic book.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:34 pmBest episode ever: Season 3, “Exodus Part 2″. It’ll make your head explode.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:10 amHey Rachel,
As someone above mentioned:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
You did see the TV series right? RIGHT????
And, umm, “lesbionic crushes”…
That’s Hot!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 12:12 amI never knew there were so many SciFi nerds among Rachel’s commentors - makes me feel a lot less alone here..
Faves: Babylon 5, StarTrek NG, StarTrek Voyager, Farscape (yep we Aussies can get it right now and then), BsG. Funny, I never got into the StarGate series despite enjoying the original film. I’ll have to check them out, now.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:27 amYep “lesbonic” crushes…….HOT! I volunteer to sit on the sofa next to you and watch the entire Firefly series!! (don’t tell Rupert)
My CINC House loves BSG, I got turned off so much by the Starbuck “chic” that I can’t watch a single episode through. She is suppossed to be sexy…hello, she has cankles….not sexy.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:28 amAs a huge, long-time fan of Firefly, it’s worth the wait. I promise. And I really like SG-1 more than Atlantis, never really been able to explain why though. Just like the characters more I suppose.
As for BSG… I just recently got into it myself after hearing about it for years from my friends. Watched the miniseries, first 3 seasons, and Razor just in time for episode 1 of the new season. Man, I’m on the edge of my seat every Friday night.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:55 amI’ll second JohnD’s recommendation of Wonderfalls, another awesome show Fox strangled to death. It also features Miss Jewel Staite.
Also you have to check out Pushing Daisies. I want to marry every character on that show. It’s very surreal Tim Burtonesque. And the costume designer for this show should be the only one allowed to design women’s fashions.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:47 amThat show is one of my favorites and I consider it a travesty that it was ever canceled. Especially since it started getting really good at the end of season two. Rachel, when you have the chance, seriously, you should pick it up. Put it in your queue and I’ll spring for the first season. You can consider it a late B-day gift:D
BSG - Love it.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:01 amSG-1 - Love it.
Atlantis - Haven’t really seen it, but I know I’d love it
Firefly - damn Fox and their inability to see a good thing when they have it
DearRachel,
I really liked BSG from the pilot episode, in large part because it is VERY realistic in its portrayal of life onboard an aircraft carrier (although one in space). Pay attention some time to the background noise and events; it is clear that someone involved in the production spent some time on a carrier. They use the correct terminology and make a bunch of the routine “housekeeping” announcements. (my favorite, from the pilot, was “Onboard GALACTICA. There are men working EVA GALACTICA. Do not rotate or radiate any electronic equipment while men are working EVA GALACTICA.” This is a classic)
I lost interest mid season two when they got into the relligion thing, but I have come back.
v/r
April 29th, 2008 at 7:28 ammike
Yeah, Galactica is the only show that can soothe the ache I have for more Firefly/Serenity - and the fourth (and final) season of Galactica that’s currently on the air is awesome.
What really impressed me about the show is how they deal with political issues without making the show hokey - like the right to peaceably assemble, for example. I
April 29th, 2008 at 8:33 amYet another raging nerd girl checking in here.
B5 is my all-time favorite, hands down, bar none, War Without End, amen. It’s one of those stories that when you get into it, it gets into you. And it does so with a level of detail that sometimes, you can only truly appreciate after the 3rd or 4th trip through. And with great characterization and dialogue. Another goodie by Ivanova (speaking of a woman who’s making sexual advances toward Sheridan): “Congratulations, Captain. I see you’re about to go where *everyone’s* gone before”.
Runner up: Farscape. Love the dialogue. Love Crichton. Swoon at alpha-male astronautical engineer who can turn a good wisecrack… *sigh* Sorry, personal thought on company time.
Never seen the new BSG; my two best (female) friends were raging fangirls of the first series, and consider it a complete betrayal of their entire childhoods that the new series was ever made. I disagree, but since I room with one of them and would like to keep living there… we’ll just call it a respect thing. But sooner or later, curiosity will get the better of me, I suppose…
April 29th, 2008 at 8:37 amOk, so all of your readers have been raiding my DVD collection… and unlike Blockbuster and Netflix, I have not made one cent off these rentals. I’ve been robbed. As many have recommended before, try SG-1 the series - get past the first season and you will love it more than Atlantis (although it has a special place in my heart..)
Let’s not to also give mister Adam Baldwin some serious props as an most excellent Jayne from Firefly.
Buffy and Angel, Babylon 5 and Farscape, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls - they are all excellent…
With Babylon 5 - just get past the first season as well there - it really picks up the pace season 2. I had a girl-crush on Ivanova and missed her desperately in season 5.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:38 amFor some odd reason it wouldn’t allow me to edit my comment… &^%# (so here are my edits…wwmmaahhahahaha)
Let’s not to also give mister Adam Baldwin some serious props as an most excellent Jayne from Firefly. Although, Nathan Fillon is all sorts of really freakin’ hot. (He was really incredible in the last season of Buffy as the bad guy - whoo…)
Since I know you are waiting with baited breath for my recommendations - here you go:
April 29th, 2008 at 8:45 amBuffy the Vampire Slayer - more than just a cheesy name
Angel- a spin off that is as fabulous as the original
Babylon 5 - the most underappreciated TV show of all time
Farscape - you’ll never look at muppets the same way again
Dead Like Me - two seasons were not enough
Wonderfalls - another excellent show that was hacked to a very short life on Fox (Friday death slot)…
they are all excellent…
Rachel … I tried to persuade my brother NOT to watch Serenity before watching the series … and, as usual, he agreed with me AFTER he ignored me.
My wife doesn’t like SF, and does a major eye-roll whenever Doctor Who comes on … but actually enjoyed Firefly … we blew away an entire weekend doing nothing but watching the series. I’ll echo the others and say you’ll enjoy Serenity more after you binge on Firefly.
I enjoyed the movie StarGate, the series not so much; watched half of an SG:Atlantis episode and filed that one under “better things to do”. I will have to get the B5 series on DVD, however, since I saw very few episodes. Those of us far enough out in the boonies miss a lot of the interesting shows since Fox and the other non-big-three networks hide in the cities.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:52 amLet me state for the record that I have decidedly unlesbionic crushes on Summer and Jewel.
You will enjoy Serenity much more if you watch Firefly first. And you’re really gonna love watching the series.
As for BSG: Be sure to download and watch the webisodes that spanned the gap between seasons 2 and 3.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:55 amWow. I knew there were a lot of geeks around here but this is too cool. We will be revisiting this subject regularly now that I know this.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:59 amLot of comments to read ‘em all when all I really ever read is what Rachel says…but Rachel, every single episode of Firefly is on Hulu.com. I’ve been binging on it, myself, having never seen it, just Serenity. It rules. Better than BSG.
I’ve watched all of BSG with the exception of the first half of last season. It’s consistently awesome.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:01 amRachl Lukis, you’re a fracking genius!!!
BSG is teh hott, and Firefly is hands down one of the best series ever made. Its demise makes the baby jesus cry.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:01 amJust for kicks, please allow me to recommend — for good TV-on-DVD binges, Highlander: The Series.
::stands back to watch the scrum::
M
April 29th, 2008 at 9:20 amRachel, I think you would like SG-1. It’s pro-military and a big hit with servicemen. I personally NEVER watched series TV until I ran across some SG-1 last summer during a marathon on Sci-Fi. Then I became truly obsessed. Obsessed enough to get an account on Gateworld (revealing the true uber-geek in me). If you liked Atlantis because it isn’t dark and dramatic you really need to get the series box set of SG-1. It’s more fun and less repetitive. And a much higher hotness factor IMHO. I tried to watch Atlantis this year, but it just didn’t click for me, even though I have an unlesbionic (is that a word?) crush on Samantha Carter.
So now that SG-1 is over except for the new movies, I checked out BSG. Uh oh. Another private marathon going on right now- I even mentioned it in my comments about having kids the other day. Thank God I don’t have to watch 214 episodes like I did with SG-1 (well, I didn’t watch all of season 9 & 10). BSG is incredible. Nothing like SG but the acting is superb, the CGI is first rate, the storyline is inspired. My family doesn’t like it as much because it’s not as funny, but it’s hard to laugh when the human race is down to 39675 people. (Yes, I do keep track of the count just like Roslin).
I’m pretty sure I can get “Frak” on my license plate. But, that might not look so good when I’m picking up the kiddies from school. So maybe I’ll stick with “Tauri”. And in the middle of my SG-1 frenzy I bought Firefly and Serenity. Ah yes, there’s never been a better time to be a geek.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:36 amAh, Firefly! Now Rachel you are becoming a true Brownshirt(Firefly Fan). FYI, the reason for the cancellation and the production of only one film(Serenity) had nothing to do with the economics of the business. Whedon could easily raise the money, but petty personal animosity drives far too many of the decisions in the entertainment business.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:39 amBarsinister:
That’s brown coat. COAT.
Hate it when that happens.
M
April 29th, 2008 at 9:47 amRachel, you’re so gonna love Firefly. Best TV series ever made.
Tyler
April 29th, 2008 at 10:17 amYeah, you should go around calling Rachel a brownshirt, that has far different connotations.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:18 amAll of the Firefly episodes are available on hulu.com. Watch them on your laptop.
I never saw Firefly when it was on TV and noticed it on hulu.com one night when I couldn’t sleep. I said, “What the heck, I’ll watch one.” Four freaking hours later I realized the sun was coming up and I better get some sleep. Luckily, it was a weekend!
(Sorry if this has been mentioned before. I scanned the comments and didn’t see hulu.com and Firefly together.)
April 29th, 2008 at 10:38 amand damn, just re-read, I meant to say “shouldn’t” not should. Damn.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:40 amWell, now that you have the Firefly update, I must demand you revisit THAT topic as often as possible.
As you can see in my Dear Liberals post, I find it to be a very libertarian and agreeable series. Same with the movie.
LOVE IT LOVE IT. Then we can talk about Lost and BSG.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:03 amI’d bet someone somewhere has called Rachel a brownshirt and meant it. But I don’t think she even owns a Glock, for cryin’ out loud!
As an aside, has anyone noticed how close the Ruger and BSG emblems are? That can’t be a coincidence.
Anyway, I also loved Firefly. So much that it kind of ruined Atlantis for me when a certain Firefly cast member became Dr. Keller (trying not to spoil things for Rachel, here) I just couldn’t picture it. Of course, when I see number 5 I still call him Kane even though his name is Doral, but somehow that switch didn’t bother me.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:11 amOh yay! I love BSG, it’s the best thing on television. My husband isn’t a big TV watcher (which is fine with me, as that means I get to control the remote AND the Tivo!), but we watch this show together every week. Isn’t that romantic?
Rachel, did you ever see Rome? I thought about that when you went to Italy. The husband is also a big history buff, so I got that one from Netflix, and we couldn’t get the DVDs fast enough. From what I know of Roman history, it was pretty authentic, and just really fascinating to watch. As a costume history buff, the costumes and sets alone were worth watching, but I loved the acting too. Ciaran Hinds was an excellent Caeser, and his death scene was pretty incredible. Just like I remember from the Shakespeare play :o)
April 29th, 2008 at 11:28 amMark Alger, I agree with you wholeheartedly about Highlander: The Series, which is not to be confused with the execrable Highlander: The Raven.
Rachel, is it possible that you didn’t realize the high quality geekery that loiters and comments around your site? I exempt myself from that particular group because my geekery is of a more lowly and pathetic sort.
Bender: So it’s sorta social, demented and sad, but social. Right?
April 29th, 2008 at 11:30 amWhat do you mean “the pace [of B5] picks up after season 1″? I’m midway through season 1 right now and I’m definately enjoying it.
I feel I may have cheated myself by reading a bunch of articles on it at Wikipedia. Somehow I ended up reading B5 material when I was looking for post-apocalyptic novels to read. I know who’s who and what’s what and who wins before I’ve even started watching the series.
Is watching the B5 pilot worth the time?
April 29th, 2008 at 11:32 amJust for kicks, please allow me to recommend — for good TV-on-DVD binges, Highlander: The Series.
100% agreement! I am a huge Methos fan and am still involved in the fandom. My blog is current events, my Live Journal is heavily fandom oriented.
While I’m here, the new ‘Sara Connor Chronicles’ is excellent.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:45 amWhile I’m here, the new ‘Sara Connor Chronicles’ is excellent.
I believe that the series is called “Summer Glau In a Short Skirt”, but I could be wrong. Whatever it’s called, it’s very good. I’m glad that it was renewed for next season.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:58 amWelcome to the party Rachel. I agree that you should check out Babylon 5. A bit dated on effects but brilliant…
April 29th, 2008 at 12:03 pmThe show I’ve been getting into recently is Torchwood. I stumbled onto it on BBC America and it’s pretty cool. It’s kind of a spin-off of Dr. Who, which is one of my favorites of all time.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:31 pmJust wait till you get to season 2 and you will understand what I mean - season 1 seems slow in comparison. Hmmm… Watching the pilot is worth the time because you do get some added back story for most of the characters - including a Teep that disappears and then shows up again. Also, to check out the makeup changes they made to the characters…
Ok, hate to disagree with Ken, but - well, yeah. Torchwood. I only have enjoyed the episodes of season 2 with Martha in them and after (except the creepy yet boring Night Carnivale). I was extremely disappointed with the way Season 2 ended. They really should have killed off Gwen instead. Why Jack puts up with her crap… well… yeah… I just don’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Doctor Who… personal opinion is all.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pmdfwmtx:
Watch the pilot. It sets up what is to come later with Lyta, and some excellent Sinclair/Battle of the line war memories.
I watch Dr. Who and Torchwood. I download them from the Brits. Come to think of it, Saturday’s episode should be up by this evening.
I’ll second recommendations for Dead Like Me and Wonder Falls (which only aired 3-episodes out of the season), they are bot great fun, if more than a little off-beat.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:47 pmYeah, Torchwood’s kinda corny, but because of the time it was on it was about the only thing I’d get a chance to watch at home (the wife and kid keep me pretty busy) so it’s been a nice little escape for me. I’m not sure if I’ll stick with watching Robin Hood or not, but it seems OK.
I also couldn’t believe that a thread about sci-fi series went on this long without any mention of Dr. Who. and felt a need to remedy that.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:55 pmKen, I’m a pretty staunch Who fan. But is far more campy than anything else discussed, and even amongst other geeks it is often deemed “just too weird” (probably meaning too British) for them to enjoy. If some one who isn’t a geek, find themselves enjoy BSG and SG-1 or SG-A, that’s one thing, but I wouldn’t recommend Dr. Who based on that.
I endorse the program though, I enjoy it immensely.
Alonsy
April 29th, 2008 at 1:08 pmOh I love Doctor Who heh David Tennant is doing a pretty good job imo and it can be pretty good sometimes(the end of ‘the last of the time lords’ was freakin great)
And Torchwood can be ok..its just so..well they just have to push every limit,pretty much every character has been with the same sex at least once.
But Captain Jack is cool(especially in Doctor Who)
But I agree neither show is close to anything previously recommended.
~
I saw someone recommend Angel and thought I’d second that,great show! The last season was the best imo and the series finale kicked ass.
~
As much as I love SG1 and Atlantis..and Firefly,I’m still gonna have to say Farscape above all(hands down) The writing for John is just brilliant. I could go on and on about that but I won’t heh.
~~
April 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pmAlonsy Alonso heh loved that!
My spellings probably wrong but its a great line,and I edit my D.T. doing a ‘pretty good job’ to doing a terrific job.
OH GOD. I got the Firefly disc today. Sweeeeeet.
I am also going to start on SG-1 after I finish Firefly/Serenity and BSG. I’ve seen one or two episodes of SG-1 and know I would pee my pants liking it.
Re: Rome and whether I have seen it: oh heck yes. I have both seasons’ DVDs and have watched each one at least twice. Hell, I signed up for HBO specifically for Rome when I saw ads for it on another channel. Canceled HBO after the last episode. LOVE THAT SHOW. After we went to Italy, we watched the whole series again because it was so much more awesome to have been to the places.
I like all these recommendations! Y’all are gonna keep me busy until Christmas.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:29 pmI loved Firefly, and loved Serenity even more. My favorite character of the series was in the last episode, the very odd, very hilarious, bounty hunter named Jubal Early. You are really going to enjoy this whole series (I hope!).
April 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pmI loved Jubal Early, Objects in Space is my favorite episode. Though there is something to be said for “Our Dear Mrs. Reynolds,” but that might just be because I’m partial to red-heads.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:51 pmI know this is sad, but I love SGA so much that I’ve even read the first book in the series of novels, and plan on reading the rest. They’re pretty much just the episode in writing, with a little more insight into their personalities, but I just can’t help myself. It’s like eating the most delicious piece of cake in the world, and then eating it again! Mmm, deja vu.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pmEvery series on SciFi is superb but generally too short lived. My better half and I sometimes leave the channel on all day in the office as background, e. g., Fox News. We also love the various Stargate spinoffs. At the end of the day, BSG is the best dramatic series on television.
The only show that will cause me to tape BSG is Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. Talk about addiction. I’ll warn you in advance: Don’t watch or it will happen to you.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:12 pmDani beat me to it.
One of the things that never ceased to amaze me about SG-1 was its’ straightfoward and unambiguously positive portrayal of the U.S. military. (It’s hard to find that on TV or in the movies any more.)
I’m even more amazed that it has such a large following in the UK and Europe. (I guess that’s because they may not like us, but they trust us to do a good job fighting aliens.)
Senator (and later Vice-President) Kinsey was a little to transparently “Republican” for my taste, but whatchagonnado?
I guess the Air Force likes it, since General Jumper played himself during the Goa’uld attack on Earth…
April 29th, 2008 at 2:13 pmAll I have to say is, FARSCAPE!!! Watch it! The Aussies Rock with this series! Thanks Michellecag !
April 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pmRachel, if you like Battlestar, you will probably like Farscape as well!
I’ve been following BSG since the beginning and I have a whole string of fan art to prove it! Welcome to the club!
If you’re looking for BSG desktop wallpapers or Cylon Tabloid advice columns, look no further:
http://misterhook.tripod.com/misc/index.html
I hang out on a BSG forum with some cool cats who like to discuss episodes as they air, so if you ever get caught up, check us out at Hangar Deck 5:
http://www.hangardeck5.com/forums/
Cheers! Happy viewing!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:28 pmNot any sadder than reading the B5 novels… although I never did get around to reading about the Telepath War - but that is mainly because I cheered when Byron went down. Remember Byron - in flames!!! MMMWWwwaahh ha haa ahem. Sorry…
April 29th, 2008 at 4:34 pmagain - I can’t edit my comment… and I know 45 minutes aren’t up - but here is a general PS: farscape does indeed rock incredibly hard… sigh - I miss that show. I just finished rewatching the series. I am so glad that I own that!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:36 pmThe telepath trilogy is a good read Ethne. It is interesting to get to know Bester better, and there are some nice tid-bits about the Corps.
That is good to know, the Corps is mother, the Corps is father.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:37 pmKen, I had already snuck in a reference to the good Doctor. Tennant is doing a good job, but I’m still very partial to the Doctor who really nailed the role: Tom Baker.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pmMy wife thinks I’m somewhat weird for watching it … fortunately she’s never seen an episode with William Hartnell … LOL
When I was in Best Buy today the Firefly DVD set was on sale for $24.99 so I bought it. Been meaning to get it for forever. I’ve only seen what was broadcast on FOX originally and the movie. Looking forward to seeing the unaired episodes and the whole thing again.
To any new recruits considering watching Babylon 5 the essential website to know is “The Lurkers Guide to Babylon 5″ at:
April 29th, 2008 at 5:26 pmhttp://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html
Read the episode guide for the each episode only AFTER watching the episode. The cool thing is that each guide is filled with “unanswered questions” and analysis/speculations. They were written each week after the episodes originally aired, compiled from fan discussions on the internet. There are also copious amounts of comments from J. Michael Straczynski (creator, producer, and writer of most every episode) that fill in many holes.
I watch shows the same way. Six plus years of sopranos in 6 weeks! After that much exposure I found that I was quicker to anger and cussed a lot more.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:12 pmFirefly was awesome watched back-to-back. I have started on Taxi and Dr Who. I also had never seen Dr Who and now I am hooked (started with 1963 version).
OMG Doyen I had no idea the Lurker’s Guide was still around… I was hooked on that site as much as the show… B5 is my favorite series of all time. And Firefly… omg. I binged on that show during a period of unemployment a couple years ago, and I have serious crushes on Nathan Fillion and Morena Baccarin… woo.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:06 pmLOST is, by far, the best. I’ve watched each season (out on DVD) several times and have yet to get even slightly tired of it. Not sure what I think of Season 4 yet, but I’m not going anywhere.
To further the degree of dorkiness, I also love “La Femme Nikita” and own all five seasons. Ooooh, I could go for some MICHAEL right about now! Yum, yummy!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:11 pmFirefly.
But I think this summer, when the college kid is home, we will do some serious series cramming (the kids only know about the new Dr. Who — gotta fix that!). This is not decadence — it’s good parent-child bonding, and therefore a fully justifiable and worthwhile use of our time together. (I’m going to practice that line now, until I believe it!)
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 amBSG hurts your head now, but just wait till you see the “Adama Maneuver.” It will freakin’ explode.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:20 amJamesT, was that the one used to deploy Viper’s at New Caprica? If not, that is a mind-warper too, I loved it.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:25 amChris_RC:
Thats exactly what I am talking about. I kept replaying it over and over on my DV-R.
Also in that episode there was an event that made me start yelling “Hiroshi!” at the TV….
April 30th, 2008 at 9:28 amYou lost me with “Hiroshi!” So I tried looking it up, there were several, but the only thing close to contextual (considering the geeky nature of this thread) was the Hiroshi that is credited with turning Nintendo into a video game company (from its previous incarnation as a card-game company).
April 30th, 2008 at 10:02 amBabylon 5, Episode 10, Season 3, “Severed Dreams.”
April 30th, 2008 at 10:33 amCaptain Hiroshi, of the EAS Yorktown I believe. Good call. I love severed dreams. Your exclamation of “Hiroshi!” with the Adama maneuver made my focus on Galactica, not Pegasus. Great call, excellent work, I’ve not yet met some on who could lose me with a Babylon 5 reference.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:39 amI looked it up, because I am that big of a geek, and Hiroshi was CO of Churchill, not Yorktown. I figured I’d correct myself before JamesT had to.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:56 amChris RC Since we’re doing obscure references, you probably know that Jubal Early was a Confederate war hero from whom Nathan Fillion is descended.
rocinante Then- AF Chief of Staff Ryan was on SG-1 briefly for a couple of lines, too. But he didn’t take to it like Gen. Jumper. I think they also used servicemen as extras fairly often.
Interestingly, the Navy had a nuclear sub scheduled to surface through the ice in the Arctic last year, and asked the folks behind Stargate if they would like to film it. That’s how the new movie “Continuum” got its start. Then the Oregon Air National Guard sent up some fighters as well. The Armed Forces evidently sees it as free advertising. If nothing else, the movie will have great live action shots!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:59 amI actually didn’t know that. I enjoy firefly, but I never got all geeked out about it like B5.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:04 pmI love Firefly. I want Heinlein’s multi-universe ship, the Gay Deceiver, to land in my yard and let me on board so I can dial the Firefly universe and go there.
I can’t wait to read your reviews when you get to Firefly. I know you’ll love it too.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pmWelcome to the Browncoats. If you’ve held off this long, don’t watch Serenity first. It will make much more of an impact. I literally got hooked on Firefly after seeing the trailer for Serenity…the, “How bad?” “Oh God-Oh God we’re all going to die.” exchange between Mal and Wash. Bought the disks and my wife and I spent 14 hours looking at each other saying, “How the HELL did this get taken off television?”
Our daughter and son in law then completely ruined our television expectations by loaning us the entire runs of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. Brilliant shows, both from the creator of Firefly, Josh Wedon.
BSG…great show. What makes it work is that you have realistic people going through realistic problems in an alternate reality. George Lucas once said, (although he obviously bailed on it) “It doesn’t matter how cool the effects are if their’s no story people can relate to.”
I came to the Stargate table late myself and got caught up in SG Atlantis before getting into SG1.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:33 pmanother great website for all things B5 - plus many of the other shows mentioned here is ISN. Of course, that may be just because I am partial as I am one of the moderators. Unfortunately, you need to ask me (or one of the other mods) to get membership. It’s because of all the lovely porn spambots. If you are interested - email me at ethne_ at excite dot com
there I go, pimping out message boards
April 30th, 2008 at 12:47 pmLate to the party after being early before- Don’t forget to include Razor in your BSG viewing…
April 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pmWatched Razor last night and hot damn, someone slap me. That’s some good stuff.
Okay so this is a throw back but on the off-hand chance you somehow skipped it, The X-Files is a MUST for all sci-fi geeks. David Duchovny is sex on a stick.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pmAlright, I guess now I need to come up with a really guilty pleasure: Andromeda. I refuse to admit how many Saturday afternoons I spent in my living room instead of outside in the sun. I think I probably still have a few episodes sitting around on some old VHS tapes I never threw away when I got the dvr. Not as good as the “best-of” stuff mentioned above, but more enjoyable than a lot of the crap on prime time these days.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:38 pmChris_RC Trust me, I’m not geeked out about Firefly. I’m geeked out about SG-1.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:40 pmI just knew Jubal Early was a famous southerner and couldn’t help but try to figure out the connection.
John, technically, isn’t Razor the first two episodes of Season 4? Hulu lists He that Believeth In Me as episode 3. So when they sell season 4, I’m hoping it’s in there. But what the heck, they sold season 2 and 2.5 separately. They’re good with spreading the episodes around.
Heck yes, it was awesome to see the Farscape spoof in episode 200.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:01 amSG1 was a lot of fun until R.D.Anderson started taking himself too seriously then overcompensated and made his character a little too goofball. But still overall a fun series. The first season was cable only; they had a lot of differences in writing, and I think was intended to be a little more adult (do I correctly recall nudity in some first season episodes?) I couldn’t get into Atlantis; it seemed to get too contrived too quickly.
Firefly… ahhh… brilliance and mastery, and Serenity was similarly awesome.
One of my absolute favorite series, but short lived due to the microencephalic twits at Fox was Space Above and Beyond, from around 1996. DVDs are available but they did a crappy job on the set; all double sided, minimal extras. There was so much more to tell in that universe but not enough episodes were made, so its pretty disjointed.
Dr. Who has been surprisingly fun. I didn’t expect Tennant to do a good job (I liked Eccleston, but Tom Baker was “The” Doctor. Torchwood looked like it would be interesting, but it too has delved into the freat overflowing cesspools of angst, punctuated only by who Captain Jack was going to be snogging this episode.
Eureka was also quite fun when they didn’t play too heavily and continuously on the teenage daughter’s fountains of angst and rebellion. Its nice they gave breaks between those episodes. Both of us are looking forward to its new season.
Cattlecar Barfactica? Sorry, but its the biggest pile of steaming dung on TV. I watched the pilot, and several early episodes, then tried several more times to ‘give it a chance’ because “everybody loved it”. What a stinking soap-opera-deluxe angst-fest. Whine this, I hate you that, he hates me more, they hate us, everything sucks. Its not realistic people, its not decent plot; its a cattlecar staffed by Jerry Springer hand selections to promote maximum angst. Caca. Crap. Excreta. My dog deposits better plots on the lawn every day, only she’s HAPPY when she’s done.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:18 amI am sooooo looking forward to the Firefly posts. Best line ever written in a sci-fi series: “Ain’t much a government’s good for but gettin’ in a man’s way.” Shiny.
Another cool bit (maybe can start a whole no string here) is that the evil empire soldiers are wearing uniforms and gear recycled from the Starship Troopers movie. Now that (the first one) was blow-me-away awesome for its time.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:31 amJayyyynneee….
the man they call Jayyyynnne…
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
May 1st, 2008 at 1:42 amBest line ever written in a sci-fi series? I would opt for the exchange:
“Are you out of your mind?”
“That’s between me… and my mind!”
-Firefly
May 1st, 2008 at 6:46 amLove love luuuurrrvvved the X-Files (at least for the first 6 seasons) and could not agree more about DD. He broke my heart when he married Tea Leoni… I got over it.
How about Millennium? Or Strange Luck?
May 1st, 2008 at 7:39 amMy personal favorite is: “Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.” -Mal
May 1st, 2008 at 9:06 amDani-
Razor was released as a mini-series and a stand-alone DVD set