Of Firefly and StarTrek

POSTED BY: ScottishBrownCoat
UPDATED: Saturday, June 12, 2004 19:52
VIEWED: 7240
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ANTHONYT

Saturday, June 12, 2004 12:10 AM

THE EVOLUTION OF SCI-FI

There was Lost In Space and The Time Tunnel. They were abysmal shows. Poorly written, very campy. Super formulaic. No character development.

Star Trek The Original Series wasn't necessarily a great show, but it was the very best show in the Sci-Fi genre out at the time. It eclipsed all other Sci-Fi, and managed to be pretty good.

Star Trek continued to be the best Sci-Fi for many years. Battlestar Galactica didn't dent it, nor did Space: 1999, nor Buck Rogers, nor anything, really. The movies (Especially 2, 3, 4, and 6.) really developed the characters and universe nicely.

The Next Generation was abysmal during the first season, for the most part. But it was the best NEW Sci-Fi show of the time, and so we watched it. And it got better. And it eventually got to be good, though it was never great.

Babylon 5... that surprised me. The first pilot episode was fairly boring and odd. Most of the first season, in fact, was boring and odd. But it grew in quality much more quickly than TNG had. Seasons 2-4 were on a continuous path to greatness. Babylon 5 is still, in my opinion, the second best Sci-Fi ever. Truly amazing stuff.

Deep Space 9 was better than much of TNG. It strayed from the Trek Formula established by Roddenberry. Lots of fans complained about that, but it was a grittier, more real universe than TNG presented. The people were human, despite their foam appliances. Well, as human as Trek could hope to portray them. DS9 wasn't quite as good as Babylon 5, but it was much better than any previous Trek. Unfortunately, its final episode was a let-down, but that is often true of final episodes.

Voyager was sad. It was a continuous decline of the franchise. It wasn't quite as good as TOS, and that says something. The TNG movies helped to speed that decline along.

I never got into Farscape. I can't say why. I'll avoid commenting on it.

Firefly was just fantastic. Bloody fantastic. Fantastic in a way I hadn't seen since Babylon 5. The only thing I wish Firefly had more of was 'deadly serious moments.' Moments that aren't tempered by hilarity or cuteness. I love hilarity and cuteness, just not in every scene. Even so, Firefly is what I consider to be the epitome of Sci-Fi evolution thus far. The Science is the setting, not the show. The show is people, and that is as it should be.

So, despite degenerates and mutant offspring (Enterprise (Just horrible.) and Crusade (who PICKED that music? Shoot him.) We have seen a continual refinement of the Sci-Fi genre.

Firefly is very good, and it is GREAT in comparison to everything else right now. I often wonder how much further the Sci-Fi genre can evolve. I am contented, though, by the knowledge that Firefly itself is still growing and evolving, and may yet become better than itself.

--Anthony

"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner

TEELABROWN

Saturday, June 12, 2004 12:54 AM

Quote:
That should be our slogan,

"Browncoats, come feel the love."

*feels the love* Ahhh...

_____________
"Freedom is the Freedom to say that 2 plus 2 make 4. If that is granted, all else follows"-Winston, 1984
Teela Brown, keeper of bad typing.
"No one reads these things any way."- Bart on Blackboard

CCT

Saturday, June 12, 2004 1:48 AM

WOW, has Trek been an influence on my life. BUT I wouldn't portray myself as a latex-eared trekkie- only been to one convention, don't own a bunch of trekkie stuff, etc. I have to explain a bit...

I was born in '64, probably a bit older than the average here. In a small town in the Ozarks, with all of 3 TV stations at my disposal. My world was VERY small... what little I knew of the world was from TV, either news or entertainment. I was barely aware there were any problems in the world- no marching about Vietnam, no race issues (cause there weren't any other races represented!). A very conservative, racist, close minded world. My dad was a good man, but ex-construction, ex-military, and he had a very definite view of the world.

BUT, from what I saw on the news there was more to the world- I couldn't understand it all but I could see there were some serious discrepancies from " 'round here" and elsewhere. And there was StarTrek, which caught my attention. I realized even then that some of the shows were verging on silly! But it encouraged me to think.. the ideals and concepts were very much in contrast to what was being presented to me in my little world, and I decided to shut my mouth, keep my eyes and ears open, and reserve judgment until I had a bit more data on the true nature of things. So many of my friends couldn't make that leap... from "it's different, let's smash it!" to "it's different- let's look it over and figure it out, and not do any damage along the way".

I was SO lucky to have Trek. And parents that actually weren't too bad. For instance, I can remember watching coverage of the Apollo missions, watching men walking on the moon! I was totally caught up in that- I'd be glued to the TV after breakfast and my mom would wave the school bus on, and take me into school late so I could watch. How cool is that?!?!

Now, I have to be honest, I often feel a bit cheated. We were being promised a lot back then- the US was kicking ass and when we grew up there were going to be space stations, and moon bases, and all sorts stuff that didn't happen. BUT on the other hand we didn't turn the world into a swirling sphere of radioactive dust either, so it could be worse.

Oh, and "Johnny Quest" wasn't too bad either. Saturday mornings were pretty cool then! And the second season of Buck Rogers, when Wilma was wearing those tight jumpsuits... oh my. Them was the days!

Chris in KC

CYBERSNARK

Saturday, June 12, 2004 7:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by cct:
My dad was a good man, but ex-construction, ex-military, and he had a very definite view of the world.

I empathize (a word I learned from Star Trek, ironically). My folks were/are (dad died years ago, mom's still around) good people, but very. . . small. Very religious for one thing. Dad wanted to be a priest, mom wanted to be a nun/teacher (y'know, the private-school, scary, smack-you-with-a-ruler type nun). They met, fell in love, got married, and had me. Mom became a normal public-school teacher, dad became a (firmly average --neither brilliant nor incompetent) mechanic.

Quote:
the ideals and concepts were very much in contrast to what was being presented to me in my little world, and I decided to shut my mouth, keep my eyes and ears open, and reserve judgment until I had a bit more data on the true nature of things. So many of my friends couldn't make that leap... from "it's different, let's smash it!" to "it's different- let's look it over and figure it out, and not do any damage along the way".

I was SO lucky to have Trek.

I was in the same boat with TNG. I was a wierdo growing up, so I've always had a special affection for the wierd, strange, Outsider-type characters. Trek was the first time I was confronted with the idea that i didn't have to lie and pretend to be just like everybody else; that even with my nerdyness and tendency to think things that others didn't, I could provide something of value.

One of my favourite traditions in Star Trek is the Outsider Character. Imagine your worst nightmare; the monster that can't be reasoned with, can't be trusted, has nothing in common with you, and can only be useful when its dead. . . Now, meet your new best friend.

Spock, the emotionless alien genius. Worf, the "bloodthirsty klingon." Data, the inhuman android. Kira, the fanatical ex-terrorist. Garak, the Cardassian spy. Quark, the rapacious Ferengi. Bashir, the genetically-engineered superman. Dax, the alien parasite. Odo, the Changeling. Seven of Nine, the Borg drone (okay, so that one didn't work out).

And even now, in the post-DS9 novels, with my absolute favourite Trek character of any generation: First Taran'Atar, the Jem'Hadar "ambassador" to DS9.

Quote:
We were being promised a lot back then- the US was kicking ass and when we grew up there were going to be space stations, and moon bases, and all sorts stuff that didn't happen.

Quote:
And flying cars. I always wanted a flying car.

--Angel

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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