Thoughts on SciFi

[rurounihime]

It's kind of funny to watch the progression of a genre. I recently purchased the entire run of Space: Above and Beyond, a series I loved up until it was cancelled - rather unexpectedly in my opinion - and of course, afterwards as well. Looking back on it now, I can see so many inspirations in it for space-based shows that came after, and it's just neat to track the genre as it develops on television.

The most ground-breaking series in the genre, in my opinion, are:

~Star Trek, of course. No way that can be denied.
~Space: Above and Beyond. Definitely a new take, not on the distant future, but on the more immediate future, which is not often attempted in the genre.
~Firefly. I mean, who else could ever come up with a space-western? It's wonderful. (And the interesting thing is, watching S:A&B, I would be willing to bet money that Whedon watched it too.)

I don't watch Battlestar Galactica, but I have a feeling that it's also making a lot of headway, from what I've heard.

Some honourable mentions:
~Stargate SG-1: by virtue of its fascinating blend of faith and science;
~Farscape: took the idea of Star Trek and just flipped it on its head, beat the crud out of it, and popped off scintillating jokes all the while... with puppets;
~LEXX: talk about your weird. Definitely worth a watch just for the utter kink.

And then of course, there's Futurama. *grins*

So I am wondering, what is your take on this genre, f-list?

Comments

[rubymiene.livejournal.com]

Absolutely love BSG, and I think it's very different than any other scifi series in how gritty it is, the way the scenes are edited, and it's hard-hitting commentary on current events. I think it's a breakthrough not just for scifi, but for television in general.

[rubymiene.livejournal.com]

Also love SG1 and SGA. Like hoshiforever said, they're *funny*. There's so many great one-liners, and the 200th eps was 100% toast to the fans. I didn't even get all of the inside jokes, there were so many.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

I love shows that can poke fun at themselves. Really gets the viewer involved.

[primeling.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. The sad thing is, I understood every single one of the inside jokes. :F

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

That's the same way I feel about Space: Above and Beyond. Right from the beginning, there was more there than in your average space show. And it features a war modeled very much on the modern warfare of the last few decades. There is a definite melding of the futuristic and the all-too-familiar, and they never left the uglier side out. Some of it is rather shocking, and the depiction of the psyche of members of the armed forces during a conflict is engrossing. Nitty gritty, to the max. Dirty and messy, and full of the darker side you'd expect, but never get to see because of political correctness nowadays. Hmm, kind of sounds weird to state it like that, but it's the truth.