Stargate Universe

[Mrbloodworth]

Haha suckers! I like the go back to earth bits. I'm sending of letters to the producers imploring them to include more as we speak!

/stab

[Quinton]

Haha suckers! I like the go back to earth bits. I'm sending of letters to the producers imploring them to include more as we speak!

You bastard!

At least we know who to blame now.

[lac]

Has this been cancelled? I see their US viewers went from 2.3mil first episode to 1.3mil for the last one and the airing date for the next episode hasn't been announced yet.

[Reg]

It's just on hiatus until next spring.

[lac]

Oh, just when it was getting good.

[Johny Cee]

It's just on hiatus until next spring.

And this has been picked up for season 2.

[Johny Cee]

I wasn't aware of this before, but scifi author and Hugo favorite John Scalzi (Old Man's War, The Lost Colony) is the creative consultant for the show.

[Reg]

Hmm, I'd have thought it'd be better then.

[Quinton]

Scalzi answers a bunch of questions about his role in SGU production:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/09/30/on-being-the-stargate-universe-creative-consultant-answers/

[Reg]

Interesting that he's involved in TV. I think a series based on Old Man's War would actually work really well - though you'd probably have to sacrifice the soldiers green skin to save time and money.

Anyway, it doesn't look like the creative consultant job is powerful enough to be responsible for the shows many annoyances.

[ahoythematey]

So all this talent on the show and it still fucking sucks?  Awful.

[Sky]

I'm catching up on Atlantis right now, Time Warner swapped out the channel it was playing on in the middle of season two and messed up my DVR programming and SciFi (SYFY  ) was picked up in season three, so I just stopped watching it live.

Anyway, it's shocking how much better Atlantis is at being a Stargate show and really highlights how bad Universe is. And Atlantis is just light MotW stuff, trying to move beyond that and be dark drama was a huge mistake because a) BSG already did it and b) they're not doing it well. And of course the entire premise of being stranded across the universe being completely destroyed by the communication stones.

If the first episode is about how the communication stones no longer work, then a second season might work.

[lac]

Episode 11 aired yesterday. Even if you thought the first half of the season was pretty meh you might want to check out this episode.

[Quinton]

I feel like it was a big rushed, but that's a common failing with this show -- their need to do a whole big setup and resolution in a 45 minute episode.  Still, enjoyable enough.

[Reg]

[Vaiti]

We can only hope.

[Quinton]

Indeed.  The communication stones are an annoying gimmick and handled badly.  The best episodes so far have been the ones with little or no contact with Earth.

[lac]

Had this been an episode of friends it would have been called 'the one where Rush chokes a bitch'.

[Sky]

After last season, I was debating deleting this episode, we're tight on space on the DVR. So glad I didn't! That was a fun episode, I hope they've learned their lesson.

[Draegan]

The chick with the enormous tits had a strange turn of character.  When she blurted out how she had the hots for some random dude and then started crying at the end was strange.

[Sky]

Yeah, at times I really wish it was an HBO or SHO joint.

[Mrbloodworth]

The chick with the enormous tits had a strange turn of character.  When she blurted out how she had the hots for some random dude and then started crying at the end was strange.

I vaguely recall her being involved with someone early in the show.

[Vaiti]

Latest episode was great. Then the last 10 minutes had to ruin everything.

[Quinton]

Very solid.   Pacing felt a lot better than some of the earlier episodes.  They could have resolved the final thing in a follow-on episode (hell, even as a B-story while something else is going on in the foreground) though.

[Tebonas]

I would like the latest episodes. Except I can't shake the feeling that I am supposed to side with Young and the military in this whole conflict. Which I can't do because Young is a sleazebag and and asshole.

[Reg]

What's so bad about Young? He seems a lot more trustworthy than Rush or that psycho woman.

[Tebonas]

You mean apart from the shit he pulls with his ex-wife, the taking-away of Stonetime from other people so that he can pull this aforementioned shit, the sneaking up and suckerpunching of another officer under guide of another person, the sex with his subordinate, trying to kill Rush because he is a pain in the ass and doing so in a both sadistic and spineless way (we are not talking a relatively humane bullet to the head here but starvation on a strange planet)?

Not much, he is kind of a dick and a military supremacist.

Rush is a dick and feels intellectually superior to those halfwits. I can relate to that better 

[Arthur_Parker]

They still don't know what they want to do with this show, Rush missed zero episodes after supposedly being stranded, completely pointless.  The only likeable characters are the younger ones that don't even pretend to know what the fuck and Rush.  Camile Wray has only has one purpose, get control, boring, Young is a dick, kill both them off and gate in some hot aliens already.  Also how about repairing the ship so we don't constantly get the "shields are failing we are going to die, oh wait, it's ok, lets go back to arguing" plot every few episodes.

[Soln]

Agreed.  This show won't last another season with this kind of writing.  They need an enemy, a threat, something to make the characters grow and push the narrative along.  These aliens may work.  But no more Dr.Phil/90201 Earth episodes.

BSG worked on people mostly because there was a continuous threat motivating change and sparking drama/conflict.  Running out of food/water/energy in a Real-World meets ST:Voyager will work only if they can do the same because the audience needs to see a story arc.  Right now, I can't see anything happening.  I don't see why I need to watch next week.  Will blondie run out of hair gel this episode?  Will Angry Black Man finally get to kill many people?  Will Ming Na just fuck off?  Will Robert Carlisle finally leave the show for real work?  I just want to murder several characters, which isn't a great feeling for a franchise.

[Reg]

Even being a dick Young is still better than the people you'd have replace him. Rush has no interest in getting people home, almost got everyone killed several times, manipulated that poor scientist into putting on the Ancient Helmet of Knowledge and Face Melting and just in his spare time framed Young for murder. The only thing Young did wrong was strand him on that planet instead of just shooting him in the face.

[Tebonas]

Thats why this series doesn't work. All the sides are led by unlikeable people. You kinda root for the aliens to probe them all to death.

But you didn't read my posting if you thing that's all this person did wrong during this series. He is at about three lifetimes of jail time right now if you count in all the insubordinations.

[Prospero]

Why do you have to like the characters to enjoy the show?

[Tebonas]

Because in this show the plot itself certainly isn't entertaining enough to carry most episodes either.

[Arthur_Parker]

Even being a dick Young is still better than the people you'd have replace him.

Yeah, I think they need a new actor to join.

[Reg]

I don't care about the insubordinations. That's a star gate tradition. Refusing to follow orders from clueless Earth authorities is standard procedure. And that guy he punched out for sleeping with his wife deserved to get punched out for sleeping with his wife.

I don't even like all of the young characters really. Eli is about the only one who isn't a tool and maybe the medic.

Heh, why am I even watching this show?