michelel72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
michelel72) wrote2007-08-06 12:43 am
michelel72) wrote2007-08-06 12:43 am
Flash! aah ... aah?
So, all you fans of television sci-fi out there ... what's the word on the new "Flash Gordon"? Should I check it out?
Some elements that may be important to the answer:
- I've never seen or read any version of "Flash Gordon" before; I've barely even heard the Queen song. So there's no nostalgia factor, for or against.
- I never watched the original "Battlestar Galactica", but I really liked the new version. (At least, I liked it before they decided to go all soap-opera in their popularity push this most recent season, and before I learned the show creator has little respect for plot continuity or ... science fiction.)
- I watched and enjoyed "Doctor Who" when I was a kid, but I'm a little scared to go back and watch the old ones again. I didn't know it was coming back until about a week before the US Sci-Fi broadcast started, and I took a flyer on it because TWoP's Jacob saw depth to it, and I've liked it. (Excepting the past three episodes, anyway.) It has its moments of cheesiness, but a lot of it appeals to me anyway. I will admit that I might only have given it as much leeway as I did at first because of the mythic arcs Jacob saw in it, but he had a point. And, um ... David Tennant is really pretty.
- If it isn't clear, I have very little tolerance for unadulterated cheese. I'm also not exactly whiling away a surfeit of free time over here. There has to be something worth my time and investment -- strong characters, smart stories, intelligent humor, depth, David Tennant in a suit and tie ... something.
- Bad science pisses me off. The science on "Doctor Who" is clearly fake, and I'm okay with that; I like enough about the "Stargate" shows (including the way they at least try with much of their science) to content myself with rolling my eyes at their scientific missteps; but the minute "Eureka" trotted out that old "most people use only 10% of their brains" canard in, like, the first episode, or maybe even just a trailer, I was out of there and never went back. (Which is a shame, because their commercials lately have been very funny and clever, but ... they had their chance. Bonus question: Should I give "Eureka" another chance? The memory-wiper episode wasn't bad.)
- Commitment: Once I've committed to a narrative, I generally stick with it unless it's awful or pointless. Given that, I really don't want to regret it. I'll generally give a new show a few episodes to settle down before I commit, but it does have to grab me -- and not actively annoy me -- somewhere in there. I bailed on the "Revelations" miniseries (Bill Pullman) after two of six episodes; I gritted my teeth for four whole episodes of "Wonderfalls" before running screaming; I wish I had bailed on "Hex", but noooo, I took on faith there was a point to watching the entire thing. I'll generally commit to a series run, but I'm not going to go track down ancillary publications (audiobooks, comics, web-only episodes), so they had better not be necessary to the televised narrative.
- I don't want to get invested in a show that doesn't respect (or whose creators don't respect) its fans. The show and I should be able to respect each other the next morning.
So -- who's planning to watch it, and who thinks I should check it out? Any and all discussion of the show welcome here.
Some elements that may be important to the answer:
- I've never seen or read any version of "Flash Gordon" before; I've barely even heard the Queen song. So there's no nostalgia factor, for or against.
- I never watched the original "Battlestar Galactica", but I really liked the new version. (At least, I liked it before they decided to go all soap-opera in their popularity push this most recent season, and before I learned the show creator has little respect for plot continuity or ... science fiction.)
- I watched and enjoyed "Doctor Who" when I was a kid, but I'm a little scared to go back and watch the old ones again. I didn't know it was coming back until about a week before the US Sci-Fi broadcast started, and I took a flyer on it because TWoP's Jacob saw depth to it, and I've liked it. (Excepting the past three episodes, anyway.) It has its moments of cheesiness, but a lot of it appeals to me anyway. I will admit that I might only have given it as much leeway as I did at first because of the mythic arcs Jacob saw in it, but he had a point. And, um ... David Tennant is really pretty.
- If it isn't clear, I have very little tolerance for unadulterated cheese. I'm also not exactly whiling away a surfeit of free time over here. There has to be something worth my time and investment -- strong characters, smart stories, intelligent humor, depth, David Tennant in a suit and tie ... something.
- Bad science pisses me off. The science on "Doctor Who" is clearly fake, and I'm okay with that; I like enough about the "Stargate" shows (including the way they at least try with much of their science) to content myself with rolling my eyes at their scientific missteps; but the minute "Eureka" trotted out that old "most people use only 10% of their brains" canard in, like, the first episode, or maybe even just a trailer, I was out of there and never went back. (Which is a shame, because their commercials lately have been very funny and clever, but ... they had their chance. Bonus question: Should I give "Eureka" another chance? The memory-wiper episode wasn't bad.)
- Commitment: Once I've committed to a narrative, I generally stick with it unless it's awful or pointless. Given that, I really don't want to regret it. I'll generally give a new show a few episodes to settle down before I commit, but it does have to grab me -- and not actively annoy me -- somewhere in there. I bailed on the "Revelations" miniseries (Bill Pullman) after two of six episodes; I gritted my teeth for four whole episodes of "Wonderfalls" before running screaming; I wish I had bailed on "Hex", but noooo, I took on faith there was a point to watching the entire thing. I'll generally commit to a series run, but I'm not going to go track down ancillary publications (audiobooks, comics, web-only episodes), so they had better not be necessary to the televised narrative.
- I don't want to get invested in a show that doesn't respect (or whose creators don't respect) its fans. The show and I should be able to respect each other the next morning.
So -- who's planning to watch it, and who thinks I should check it out? Any and all discussion of the show welcome here.
no subject
I really can't comment as to rest, since I literally know almost nothing about it.
no subject