Stargate: Continuum - Preview

I’ve been a fan of Stargate SG-1 since it started (MacGyver + aliens = YES PLEASE), so I jumped at the chance to get a look at the new SG-1 direct to DVD movie.

Admittedly I haven’t been keeping close tabs on the series lately, but I was truly intrigued by the previews for “Continuum”, and being a fan of how SG-1 has handled time travel issues in the past on the show, and being a science geek, I had to check it out.

Although how they deal with time travel in this movie is a far cry from their usual adherence to some level of logic, the story was actually pretty interesting. I enjoyed it, even if I did cringe a few times at their frank admittance that the story didn’t make any sense in the context of time paradoxes and such. If you’re a fan of SG-1, chances are you’ll like this flick. It’s very much just an extended episode, and includes a few fun cameos…which is always a crowd pleaser.

Here comes the spoilers now, so if you don’t want the full scoop on the story and some preview screen caps, you might want to stop reading and just wait for the movie. Read more

Where are the New Great Sci-Fi Shows?

One of the biggest disappointments for a geek like me is the large void in the television schedule where science fiction shows used to be. With great shows like Jericho cancelled, and not so great shows like Bionic Woman suffering the same fate, it feels like no science fiction show is safe from the ridiculous television networks.

I remember being able to watch half a dozen new science fiction shows in the same day, but now the schedule feels almost devoid of any decent content.

Why aren’t science fiction shows resonating with the television watching audience of today? Are the shows just not as good, or are they trying to appeal to too wide a demographic?

My thought is the latter. So many science fiction shows get caught up in working in comedy, drama, and suspense in ways that push the important science fiction elements aside, thus making the shows what I like to call “sci-fi light”.

The latest season of Stargate: Atlantis, a series that comes in after the much stronger sci-fi series Stargate, was ridiculous in that it barely dealt with the science fiction element of the world they were in. The stories were very personal in nature and this definitely felt like a push to increase interest in the show outside of the normal Stargate fans, but in doing so, it turned me off the show, and I have a feeling that if they continue down this road, they won’t have a fan base much longer.

You can’t please everyone, and so science fiction shows should enjoy the groups of people they inspire. A show like Jericho shouldn’t have been cancelled because while the audience might have been small and the ratings fairly bad, the show had a very passionate viewership, and in the emerging world of social media, Twitter, YouTube, and more, television networks should be attempting to harness the passion and learn to find ways to profit from it.

Bring us some strong science fiction shows that cater to the hardcore need of us geeks, and we will buy the DVD’s, talk to friends about which character or ship is better, and make it a part of our life.

Stop trying to bring us shows that don’t give us what we want and as such are forgotten about soon after they are cancelled. I highly doubt anyone will remember that there was a Bionic Woman remake a few years from now, and that is the fault of the creators, writers and television studios.

A female superhero with robotically enhanced muscles, and a nice body should have written itself, but instead they threw in a bunch of family issues, personal issues, and psychological issues. All I wanted to see her do was fight crime, scare the heck out of criminals and continue to improve her abilities.