Stargate SG-1: "True Science" before season premiere tonight

[bananas]

This show is supposed to be about the science in the Stargate tv series.
Airs tonight on the sci-fi channel, before the season premiere.

[adarling]

1. I use to watch this show then stopped

whatever happened to Richard Dean Anderson, i loved his character and the other three on there.

[bananas]

3. Yeah, it jumped the shark for me too

I also gave up on Atlantis.
Battlestar Galactica is really good, though.

[enlightenment]

10. If it's any consolation -

Anderson is supposed to guest on 5 or 6 episodes this season . . .

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Yeah, this show tanked big time.

I blame the rubes in charge of the Sci-fi Network.

[Ian David]

4. You're either with SG-1 or you're with The Priors.

If we stop watching, then The Ori win!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I have no idea what the Priors are.

Probably some dumb alien race the show added after it tanked.

[bananas]

6. The Priors are like an Ori cookie

Human on the outside, Ori on the inside.

[qazplm]

9. actually

its a very compelling storyline about freedom of religion, versus religious zealotry.

Think Spanish Inquisition, only instead of having 1600s tech, having 2600 tech...basically, thus far, unstoppable and zealous.

[datadiva]

7. Well, I still watch it

Three of the main characters are still there, although I do miss Anderson. The previews of the new season look promising. We can only hope. I hope they do something with Atlantis though, that one I lost interest in. Battlestar Gallactica Rocks!

[Peace Patriot]

8. I like Battlestar Gallactica (a lot), the R Dean Stargates, and almost all

the Star Treks, but I see propaganda in them for the militarization of our society and for choosing the military way as best. The stories often seem manipulated--as much of Hollywood TV and Movies are--to make violence the only option. Only the Gene Rodderberry/Picard Star Treks (first five years) fought against this trend; even that context, however, was military and promulgated military life as the finest ideal (as opposed to civilians, scientific researchers, aliens and others, who were often ethically confused and not up to par as sentient beings). I admire good drama and challenging ideas--and I like science fiction in general--and I certainly wouldn't want any good story compromised by imposed political notions. But I think we ARE getting political notions imposed, often in subtle ways, in these scripts.

[Nevernose]

12. Violence is entertaining

The Iliad and The Odyssey?
Gawain and the Green Knight?
Henry V?
Huckleberry Finn?
As I Lay Dying?

I'm not saying that violence is the ONLY thing entertaining, of course. For me the appeal of SG-1, even the newer episodes, is the appeal of logic and reason over simple brute force -- even if it des ultimately come down to a kick-ass display of half-naked warrior-women with swords that sever heads and shoot laser beams at people, all before making really big-sounding explosions in space.

And I don't se anything wrong with that. Ultimately we're just hyper-developed monkeys, a lot closer to the good ol' days of sex and violence than we are to higher-level, "cerebral" functions. If something can make me think (a little bit, anyway) as well as blow stuff up, I'm all for it.

As far as the idea of political notions being imposed, well, that's just what art and literature do. Usually, IMO, it's accidental. Shakespeare wasn't trying to make any grand themes evident to the masses; he was trying to sell tickets. Violence isn't the final option because of some dark political motives; it sells tickets because it's a bigger bang and appeals to our baser instincts. I think the most successful literature/film/TV/art/whatever (scifi or otherwise) is what appeals to our base instincts as well as our need for a higher level of cognition. We are fortunate in that the more creative types are also usally better educated and more liberal.

Really, what hits you at the emotional level more?

"Yahoo, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!"
or
"Oh, look! I just solved pi to the eightieth decimal place using nothing but an abacus!"

(I admit that Star Wars as referenced isn't scifi but fantasy)

[JitterbugPerfume]

11. Yippeeee

I love me some Stargate!!


but the best sci-fi ever shown on tv was Babylon 5 (in my humble opinion)

[qazplm]

13. eh, depends on the season or even the episode

when it was good, it was REALLY good, season 4 was outstanding, season 3 was close to outstanding.

But IMHO, seasons 1,2, & 4 were mediocre or worse.

It was just an uneven series to me. Good overall, but stargate, DS9, TNG and so far BSG seem to have more sustained goodness with fewer clunker eppys or seasons.