Wondering if anyone saw Defying Gravity on ABC last night. I LOVED it. It'll be a weekly "must-see" for me. I love "realistic" space exploration programming. It is my great escape.

 

^Not me. Jerry and I sat on my upper deck enjoying the gentle summer breeze and the lights.

 

Never heard of it before now. But I don't watch much TV. (Not any TV, really, except my dad managed to get me into watching "NCIS").

I just have no faith that any US mainstream network can do good SF. The best televised US SF in the past two decades was Babylon 5, which was done for the syndication market. Also pretty good (at least for a while) was Battlestar Galactica, which was done for cable. And the most promising of all, Firefly, was killed by Fox because they didn't understand it.

(Note, I think all the Star Treks are second rate at best.)

If you are watching this show, I suggest trying to get a copy of a British series called Star Cops (early 80s). That was an awesome near-future SF show.

BTW, I would be willing to be convinced otherwise. So how does this show compare to something like Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson?

 

Missed it, was is it well written?

 

I take exception to that. Next Generation was excellent.

I enjoyed Firefly and watched it on CD over the course of a weekend. The movie was good, but I think I liked the series better.

 

To each our own, I guess.

 

Best way to watch it. The series was painfully messed up by Fox in first run. The episodes were not run in the correct order, which really spoiled the development of the series.

 

Plus one on Firefly. A largely undiscovered gem. Had it been run on HBO it probably would have lasted more than one season.

But I disagree with your statement, Mike, that FOX didn't understand it. I suspect they "got it"...but they understood that it was only pulling 4.7 million viewers a week and was languishing in 98th place in the Nielsens. It's a shame Fox didn't let it find its audience but I can understand the business decision to cancel the show. Just glad the DVDs of the show and movie are available.

Thanks for mentioning it, though. I may have to rent the movie again this weekend. Haven't watched it in quite a while.

And, Mike, thanks for the tip on Star Cops. I'll have to hunt that one down.

 

Some of the earlier epiosodes were spotty, but once it found its pace it did a great job weaving current theory into science fiction. I think that is what I admired most about it. Even Hawkings was a fan and he appeared as himself in one episode.

But you are correct. To each his own.

 

On the other hand, hawkings "appeared" as himself in an episode of "The Simpsons."

I was never a big fan of any of the Star Trek series' but I thought NG was well made with good acting and decent stories.