Masters of Science FIction on ABC

[F5]

I saw a promo for this last night, for the first time. They've got some interesting casting going on, too. Terry O'Quinn is in one of the eps, and the guy that played Cigarette Smoking Man in X-Files. The production values looked a little campy on some of the shots, but not all of them, so it will probably be very different in tone from week to week.

No mention of it being hosted/narrated by Stephen hawking, though. I'm looking forward to that, personally, but I can see it coming across as pretty cheesy as well.

I'm kinda psyched for this one. I want to see what mainstream network TV does with/to these stories. It may bomb, but at least it's not another Survivor-clone, so they get points just for the attempt, in my book.

 

[Pyrex]

And there are quite a few people in the entertainment biz that I like who are publicly known for being chumps as you say. Russell Crowe is a prime example. And then there's Tom Baker, who despite being the iconic Doctor (and a fave of mine), is well known for being an ass.

Generally I'd use more, uh, lets say evocative adjectives, but I chose to err on the side of grandma-friendliness.

 

[KaosDevice]

I'll maintain a cautious optimis and see how it turns out. There was a lot of Masters of Horror that I really enjoyed.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I saw the first episode last night and was not impressed. Good psycological sci-fi, but not to my taste. Next week's looks more interesting.

 

[Crothian]

It was well done and good actors but shows like this just over do that type of story. It was interesting entertaining but I was hoping for something more different.

 

[trancejeremy]

I think I would have prefered a "Masters of Space Opera" show. Aliens, robots, spaceships, hot chicks in spandex, lasers, explosions. That sort of thing. This seemed more like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.

 

[Rackhir]

I think I would have prefered a "Masters of Space Opera" show. Aliens, robots, spaceships, hot chicks in spandex, lasers, explosions. That sort of thing.

Flash Gordon starts on the Sci-Fi Chanel on the 10th.

This seemed more like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.

Well one is considered one of the best things ever on TV and while I've never seen the old outer limits, I really enjoyed the new OL that they did on Showtime a couple of years back. So it's not like either is exactly a bad thing.

 

[bodhi]

I think I would have prefered a "Masters of Space Opera" show. Aliens, robots, spaceships, hot chicks in spandex, lasers, explosions.

Then you want Stephen Colbert's Alpha Squad 7: Lady Nocturne: A Tek Jansen Adventure.

 

[trancejeremy]

Flash Gordon starts on the Sci-Fi Chanel on the 10th.

Oh yeah, but I would love to see an anthology show that put to film a lot of the old space opera stories. Some of the stuff was a bit silly, but good fun. And I would love to see some of Asimov's or Clarke's stories. Or to the 60s-70s, Philip K Dick or Larry Niven. Or my personal favorite, H. Beam Piper. He wrote a number of short stories that would work well on TV, I think.

Well one is considered one of the best things ever on TV and while I've never seen the old outer limits, I really enjoyed the new OL that they did on Showtime a couple of years back. So it's not like either is exactly a bad thing.

Oh yeah, but I also think they've basically covered that same ground. Over and over and over. It would be nice to have less either "gotcha" or "message" stories, but more "adventure" ones.

 

[Rackhir]

Oh yeah, but I would love to see an anthology show that put to film a lot of the old space opera stories...

Oh yeah, but I also think they've basically covered that same ground. Over and over and over. It would be nice to have less either "gotcha" or "message" stories, but more "adventure" ones.

Well SF has tended to be "Message" for a simple reason. Money.

The first episode of MoSF had basically one set and about 4 actors who got any screen time.

If you want a fleet of thousands of ships, vast armies and dozens of worlds... Well either SFX are going to have to get a LOT cheaper or it's going to have to be something with the money for that and weekly TV just isn't that medium.