Farscape or SG-1
POSTED BY: JenDandy
UPDATED: Friday, November 5, 2004 05:21
VIEWED: 18548
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Stargate is great, well produced, good characters, lots of humour specially more recently and never, well very rarely are there any bad episodes. It got a good mythology around it too. Oh and Atlantis is looking good too even after only 10 or so episodes, its got a slightly faster pace than SG1 at the moment.
Farscape is ....well...it rocks, but you do have to pay attention and watch the episodes in order too otherwise you'll get lost. Great arcs, great acting, great special effects and they were never afraid to take risks. There's a great episode in a cartoon format, road runner -ish, which is just hilarous!! Scorpious is fantastic too. Of recent years this is definatly one of the better scifi shows.
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if you mention the cartoon EP we'd also have to mention the 'cut like a music video' EP. I don't know how to describe it. it was originally a normal EP and they shot it and cut it and someone said it didn't work. so they remixed it and let John tell the whole thing to Pilot over a drink (only John was drinking, I don't think Pilot does eat and drink). the story isn't all that great in this EP. rather silly and full of plotholes really but that's exactly why it works and Pilot doesn't believe John while he's telling it and it's all one big wild ride. they must have been on drugs while remixing it ;o)
it's also in S3 and it's called "Scratch 'n Sniff"
or somthing like that.
Idefix
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I already posted above, but reading through the other posts, I've noticed a trend that I'd like to try to summarize briefly, if possible:
Stargate is a great show that you could really like a lot.
Farscape is a great show that you could really LOVE.
In some interviews, Joss has talked about "emotional resonance" in his shows. Farscape has "emotional resonance". That's the difference between the two shows that I get from reading the above posts.
Apathy on the Rise. No One Cares.
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I disagree. I think that Stargate SG-1 is definitely a show that is easy to love...I am, in fact, obsessed with it, and I don't think I've met anyone who has actually watched several episodes and not liked it to a fairly large degree (not to say people aren't out there who don't like it, I'm just citing my experience).
Now I've only seen one episode of Farscape, so I'm not going to say don't try it and that it's a bad show. But, personally, I absolutely hated it and have no interest in trying it again and here's why:
Stargate SG-1 definitely has problems. The earlier sets can get very cheesy and some of the overarching enemies I find very cliche. A lot of the mythology is simply horrendous (Ancient Egyptian mythology being my main hobby) and a few of the episodes (a minority over the eight seasons so far, but still) are boring.
And I still refuse to watch most of season six. :D
But here's why I think it's one of the best shows out there: the characters. First, the actors are great. Richard Dean Anderson is simply a great actor and Michael Shanks plays my favorite character (Daniel Jackson) perfectly. The show tied into the movie from the very beginning and kept to that theme (as someone put as not taking risks) and developed the characters with the continuity that the plots of shows like Babylon 5 and Farscape supposedly have. Overarching storylines are all well and good, but there's a very big risk with TV that other things, like movies or books, don't have as hard a time with (with a movie, a story can make a good character and with a book there's time for everything, lol) and that is if the audience cares about the characters. I don't care about the characters of Farscape or Babylon 5 (which I've seen more of then Farscape and hate even more, lol). And if I don't care about the characters, it really doesn't matter to me how great the stories are.
You will care about the characters in Stargate. You might not care about all of them - hence, why I, for example, find the episodes about Jaffa boring - but you will identify with at least one and that will drive you to watch every episode just for a glimpse of the recurring personality from that one character. You will care what's happening to your favorite characters and that's what makes you love the stories, even if they aren't as complex and overarching as a great novel.
Anyway, that's my justification for leaving the room when my friends turn on Farscape or B5. :D
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Quote:I'm a fan of all sci-fi or fantasy all the time. Even if it's bad or personally unsavory (Lexx, ew!), I'm glad to see it on the schedule, because any network that manages to produce a sci-fi show and stick to it (NOT gorram fox) sets an example for those who come after. Some raise the bar, some lower it, but at least they keep trying.
Originally posted by JenDandy:
I'm a Joss Whedon fan with little to no interest in other shows in the sci-fi or fantasy genre.
As to the title of this thread, my answer would be - YES! to both, but for different reasons.
FarScape was all twisty-turny with its weekly episodes, you never knew where it was going to go next. And it has John Crichton whose quote from the pilot pretty much set the tone for the entire show.
"Close Encounters? Spielberg had it all wrong."
~John Crichton
SG-1 is about saving the 'verse over and over and over... and over again. But they do it with a lot of humor and intelligent writing. This is the show you can watch with the folks who can't quite get their brain around the strangeness of FarScape.
Bottom line, both have the same basic element that a JW show has - CHARACTER. The secret is to build good characters first, find kick-ass actors to play them, then write stories that revolve around them. That's "character-driven" and it's the only way to go.
We have art so as not to die of truth ~ Neitzsche
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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Quote:
Originally posted by JenDandy:
I'm a Joss Whedon fan with little to no interest in other shows in the sci-fi or fantasy genre.
My top 3 shows are as follows (in order):
1. Firefly
2. Angel
3. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
...and they're all over (until next year when the movie comes, at least). Soooo...in the interest of trying something new, I've heard great things about Stargate: SG-1 and Farscape. What are your opinions of them? Which is the better show?
Also important - what are the DVDs like?
Sig Rebel
You might be like me and look for well written shows... I too put those Joss Whedon productions at the top of my list.
Farscape is a terrific production, though it's writing didn't become really terrific until the last couple of seasons. But hey, the show was so much fun who cares? If anything, this crazy thing can go off into any direction... and it does! That's why I kept comming back, to cure my confusion! Isn't it great to be confused by TV? Not a regular experience is it?
Beats SG-1, which is a goof (cheeze factor = 100%) and just rehashes old Star Trek plots but it's got a likable cast.
The new Battlestar Galactica is TERRIFIC. Right up there with Firefly. No worries. Check it!
My two creds.
Sorry but I don't have anything but the Firefly DVDs, but I hear good things about the Farscape DVDs.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:
I'm a fan of all sci-fi or fantasy all the time. Even if it's bad or personally unsavory (Lexx, ew!), ...
lol!
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Quote:Okay, that settles it. Ghoulman gets *snoogles*
Originally posted by Ghoulman:
Farscape is a terrific production, though it's writing didn't become really terrific until the last couple of seasons. But hey, the show was so much fun who cares? If anything, this crazy thing can go off into any direction... and it does! That's why I kept comming back, to cure my confusion! Isn't it great to be confused by TV? Not a regular experience is it?
The new Battlestar Galactica is TERRIFIC. Right up there with Firefly. No worries. Check it!
So long as you'll forgive me for the Star Trek genome infused in my DNA (I was brainwashed at an early age), we'll get along JUST fine.
We have art so as not to die of truth ~ Neitzsche
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kirikoli:
You will care about the characters in Stargate. You might not care about all of them - hence, why I, for example, find the episodes about Jaffa boring - but you will identify with at least one and that will drive you to watch every episode just for a glimpse of the recurring personality from that one character. You will care what's happening to your favorite characters and that's what makes you love the stories, even if they aren't as complex and overarching as a great novel.
Anyway, that's my justification for leaving the room when my friends turn on Farscape or B5. :D
Here's where we differ: My favorite character on SG-1 is also Daniel Jackson. However, when Daniel "died" on SG-1, my reaction was basically, "Oh, that's too bad. I really like that character. I wonder why Michael Shanks is leaving the show?"
Now, when Aeryn Sun "died" on Farscape, my reaction was more like, "Oh my god, NOOOO! Not Aeryn! How can they do that? That's such a tragedy."
That's what I mean by, to continue using Joss's term, the "emotional resonance" difference between the two shows.
I'm not saying that to put SG-1 down. I really like SG-1 a lot. I've watched many of the episodes in re-runs multiple times because I like them so much. I'm just saying that, as good as SG-1 is, Farscape has an additional quality that SG-1 doesn't have. That doesn't make SG-1 a bad show by any means. It's just a difference that, in my worthless opinion (and apparently the opinions of some others above), exists.
Like someone else said above, the best thing to do is buy/watch both shows.
Apathy on the Rise. No One Cares.
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I came into Stargate sometime in the 7th season and had to watch all the old episodes whenever I could get my hands on them...so I kinda found out that Daniel Jackson wasn't in the sixth season before I actually saw Meridian. But even without seeing the episode, I immediately decided to boycott the sixth seasons except for the epis where he made an appearence...lol, that was just me. But, as an ancient Egypt buff and a geek to the core, I identified with Daniel Jackson from the movie on.
So I guess people will find their own loved characters across a wide range of shows and situations. I still think though, overall, that Stargate characters have more of an instant lovable quality...mainly because I'm in college and am part of a group that basically gets together and watches all this stuff every week. B5 has become agreeable to about half the group...and Farscape...we showed it for the first time last week and it completely bombed with the people who hadn't already been watching it. But everyone enjoys the Stargate epis when I show them and I think and have been told it's because of the good actors and the good characters. *shrugs* It's good stuff. :D And Daniel Jackson rules.
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