Or…Redbeard tries to convince Rebekah How Cool Sci-Fi is…
Redbeard: Hello, Redbeard here, hijacking Bek’s blog. I’ve had quite a bit of success in life. Wonderful healthy kids… beautiful talented wife… a determined nature to change things around me for the better…where I have continually failed though is to get Bek drawn into the science fiction genre, as opposed to trashy 80s/90s action/horror movies. So here I am today, listing out the best sci-fi has had to offer on TV is recent years and why I think it Bek should watch them.
Rebekah: I’m only sticking around for this lesson because I got a compliment in the first paragraph.
Redbeard: On to our first example. Stargate SG-1. A show of contradictions, I intensely disliked the original movie, these days I find it ‘passable’ for Daniel Jackson if nothing else.
Rebekah: I can’t believe you are dissing Snake Plissken. Kurt Russell is awesome-pants.
Redbeard: SG1 brought the fun back to the original concept. The characters were the main draw card for this show, Space MacGyver had the witty, Daniel had the witty as well but it was the nerd humor (good nerd humour… not insulting like Big Bang Theory) Teal’c was always the straight man.
Rebekah: Teal’c? Is that a Moroccan chutney?
Redbeard: So, what happened in Stargate? Standard fare… strange alien worlds, moral conundrums, the occasional really cool science episode (the one where they were stuck dialling to a black hole was a personal favourite). But this is all window dressing as the main draw was the great characters and the most important thing for me as a viewer of sci-fi… exploration and how it changes the characters over the course of the series, exploration not just in the traditional sense but also of the character and the role they play. Teal’c becoming an atheist, Daniel’s ascension, Carter’s transition into leadership and Richard Dean Anderson…. well he didn’t change too much… but when you reach maximum level you cease to evolve.
Rebekah: Hmmmm. MacGyver….
Redbeard: Now, on to Farscape. This is probably one of the more interesting and under appreciated series in recent years. Basic premise – John Crichton, genius/astronaut/king of pop culture references, has built an experiment shuttle (Farscape1) during the test flight he finds himself on the other side of the galaxy in the middle of a battle after falling into a wormhole. He’s inadvertently rescued by one of the combatants, a crew of escaped prisoners trying to escape their jailers. From there he’s on the run and trying to find a way home.
Farscape trotted out all the well worn sci-fi tropes, characters getting shrunk down to a few inches high, characters being cloned, killer aliens loose on the ship, these stories never had a traditional ending though, often there would be a dark twist in the resolution.
Usually, this gave a new perspective on one of the characters and there was always consequences that would have ongoing repercussions in the subsequent episodes… particularly the clone storyline. Nothing was neatly wrapped up, and this is what made it a difficult show to get into without investing in it from the beginning
One last point for Farscape… Claudia Black.
Rebekah: I think I’m getting a clearer picture on why you like sci-fi so much now.
Redbeard: So…how sci-fi can be the best fi? Characters don’t have to be human for us to relate to their humanity. This brings us to my last example: Babylon 5. Want a political drama about ambassadors of several different worlds, most of which had been in war or conflict with each other in recent times? How about a story of mankind’s ultimate destiny including the wars and sacrifices required for it to be realised? Why not both?
The B5 universe was set in capital ‘S’ Science fiction, the detail that went into the station functions, the starfuries (single person fighters) mechanics and the various levels of technology between the humans and alien races was unheard of in a TV show of that era (mid 90’s). Matching this technical detail is a story of four main alien races and the destinies of each of these ambassadors and their people told over a 25 year period, we see the influence this story has over an even longer period in one episode in particular.
As with Farscape for me it’s the alien characters that can represent aspects of ourselves , particularly Londo and G’Kar…
Rebekah: Say what now?
Redbeard: …are we destined to be ruled by our passions? Are we able to forgive? Sometimes the most important questions can be the simplest. ‘Who are you?, ‘What do you want?’, ‘Why are you here?’ and, ‘Where are you going?’.
So… how sci-fi can be the best? Our characters can explore not only our current understanding of humanity but what that may mean in our future.
That’s it for me, I’ve taken more room than I should. There are many more excellent shows… most versions of Trek, Fringe, Galactica (non-Lorne Greene version) but now Rebekah is wrestling the keyboard off me, so I shall retreat back into my man-cave with my replica Captain Kirk bathrobe and sonic screwdriver. Na nu Na nu
Rebekah: Plissken and I remain unconvinced on your sci-fi funny business. But we shall watch an episode of Stargate to see Space MacGyver…
Rebekah Turner 
Space MacGyver ♥♥♥
Reblogged this on Sisters of the Pen.
Hmm… I tried to leave a comment but not sure it worked. Trying again: Bek, tell Redbeard he has great taste in women and genres! I lurves me my Stargate. And Trek. And Galactica. I’m not so sure about Babylon whatsy or Farscape (tho the Aussie accents are great) But what about Firefly??? Not even a mention??? 🙂
Hello, Redbeard here. I do tend to rabbit on a bit, by the time I got to show number 3 I was over budget on my words somewhat (Rebekah is a razor with the editing). Firefly should get a mention in the ‘best of’ blurb at the bottom. In many ways it’s a disappointing show in that the run was so short and the potential wasn’t realised. The Serenity movie was good although it suffers giving adequate time to the ensemble cast (like soooo many Trek movies before it) and the compressed nature of jamming a series resolution into a movie.
Things we’d need to see:
1. Resolution to Shepard Book story, sure he’s dead but there seemed to be a rich history there. No doubt he was a bad guy that found (or escaped to) religion but this is Whedon we’re talking about, I’m sure there’s a twist.
2. Kaylee, sure she’s no Claudia Black, but she gives good humour.
3. Wash needs to be resurrected somehow… clones, alternate dimension, part robot… don’t care, just needs to be done.
Farscape had a similar problem when it was cancelled after 4 seasons with a planned 5 season run, we were lucky enough to get a miniseries to wrap up to storyline but with so many parts of the story accelerated you really miss the emotional ride that you get from episodic television. I could go on…. but Rebekah is dragging me away from the keybo
heh heh, get yer own blog, Redbeard! but yes re’ Wash! LOVE that character. LOVE that actor (Death at a Funeral!!!) All the characters are great in Firefly, ofcourse, cos it’s Whedon.