THE INVADERS

SyFy had a marathon of the old classic The Invaders the other day. Forgot what a terrific show that was. Tight story, good guest stars, knew what it set out to do.

HEROES - GAAHHH ... RETROVISION.TV

Yikes, I write a post in praise of a really well-written Heroes ep a couple weeks back only to have the 2 follow-up episodes kinda suck ... well, the most recent ep really sucked. So, no more posts about Heroes [but I must mention that Heroes actress Ali Larter is a doll, met her again tonight]. I did find this great site that has lots of old sci-fi gems: Godzilla movies, original Outer Limits eps (not available in all countries) most look terrific, no commercials, just click on the tag cloud at right for your category ... awesomeness! RETROVISION.TV

ZE PLAN, ZE PLAN

Okay, I finally saw Battlestar Galactica: The Plan tonight on its SyFy airdate and was pleasantly surprised. It is about the best cut-and-paste I've ever seen. Making Cavil the focus and the brilliance of actor Dean Stockwell is was gave it heft. My troubles with the overall story - particularly Ellen as the 5th hidden Cylon and the entire Oedipal nonsense to the Cavil-Ellen relationship (oh, and let's not forget model 7, the unseen Daniel) are well-documented on this site in post after post, but The Plan could not address those - being locked in as it was by the previous episodes.

This would have made a wonderful side-story during one of the long let's-sell-DVDs-to-the-scifi-nerds endlessly long hiatuses USA/SciFi exec Bonnie Hammer imposed upon BSG fans. Certainly it was miles better than the dumb and useless Razor miniseries. I was disappointed, however, that in The Plan there was no Roslin (oh, an extra's leg in one shot), no DeAnna (okay file footage in one shot), and that again it was so gritty and literal. Thankfully Ellen was hardly a presence. I knew I'd end up watching it eventually, and think the editors deserve awards for poring over all that footage of earlier eps to get their paste clips. Olmos did a terrific job with the direction - lot's of good reaction shots - especially when Cavil knifes the little boy. The whole idea that love is his real enemy was, er, not so good. Certainly there were problems - Cavil has his own little area of the Galactica complete with Hooker-Six and they regularly have little coffee klatches with a Simon, Doral and a Leoben ... hmmm

THE SNARK AT io9

Now it's perfectly normal for there to be a difference of opinion about art - a painting, a film, a television show. But a couple of posts over at io9 have made me realize that what I really like about that site is its Gawker media design layout and images, and the writing much less. Rarely is there an article I actually want to read. Also, the clear Gen-X, Gen-Y and 00 age-range of the writers reveals itself too often - especially with their lame lists of bests and worsts (their age shows through their lack of inclusion of many superior or inferior works to which they've clearly never been exposed - true enthusiasts would seek them out regardless of age ... but I digress). Two recent posts over there trash the latest ep of Heroes, which I really liked. They don't get it. Lots of speculation about what should have been done in terms of offing this character or that, or which direction the story should take. What they don't understand, clearly, is how good writing tends to be either a journey or a full circle. The most illuminating and deep writing seems to follow the Hero's Journey archetype as delineated by scholar Joseph Campbell: the protagonist must step outside the circle of community/conformity and take literal and/or figurative journey of discovery and returns to his/her community and changed and enlightened individual. Hence, the story arc of Heroes Season 4 is returning the story to its roots, and the elements that put it on the map in the first place. All the pretentious snark in the world doesn't change the fact that the io9 trashing of Heroes Let It Bleed are simply wrong. From my own experience, there were at least 3 or 4 times I would do posts here on Galactica Variants while Battlestar Galactica was on air only to see a particular writer lift parts of my posts. Lazy writing, unimaginative writing, and, er, borrowed writing are the result when you're under a mandate to produce content I guess. Heroes is an uneven show, no doubt about it, but it has found its essence again (we'll see if that lasts) and the io9 snarks don't get it.

WELL-WRITTEN HEROES EP

The mid-season premiere (Season 4, ep. 13, Let It Bleed) was extremely well-written by series creator Tim Kring . I loved it. Over the course of this 4th season the show has steadily veered back to where it began and it's exactly what I wanted: the evil Sylar, persecuted and misunderstood mutants, and the cheerleader as the fulcrum of all their fates.

I've really liked the new storyline with the cult-leader semi-villain Samuel as the device to bring focus to the mess the story had become in Seasons 2 and 3. The actor portraying Samuel, Robert Knepper, is terrific, as are many of the new secondary characters in the disjointed in space-and-time Twilight-Zoneish carnival in which they live/hide. There has definitely been a reboot to the show and I'm guessing that Mark Verheiden of Battlestar fame has been a guiding hand in this story-focusing and writing-honing process. The show once again has clarity, depth, humanity and menace. It feels much more adult than the past two seasons and never was that more clear than in the writing in Let It Bleed.

I could just gush and gush about bits of dialog and especially how again and again the dialog and situations took sharp turns from what appeared to be a straight walk into cliche. We saw archetypal situations throughout the 2-hour episode and were not only surprised at what people said and did but a bit astonished at the sophistication of the writing. Truly adult and in some cases very wise words. The cheerleader has now shown us how she's earned her stripes as the voice-of-conscience among this motley crew. This episode marks the restoration of Heroes and I certainly hope it portends to more like it. If you haven't seen it, you should watch it above on the Hulu embed. Visually, I've enjoyed the color-saturation and soft-focus and the tighter framing of shots - it has a more surreal feel this season.

THE STAR TREK LIST

I re-watched the new JJ Abrams Star Trek film recently for the 2nd time and was not as happy with it as I was the first time I saw it [my IMDB review is here scroll down to bottom of page] ... which got me thinking about making a list of the best Star Trek - in all its forms. Now Star Trek was the first television I ever remember seeing. I was 3 when it first hit the airwaves and I am a purist for the original series. I remember I thought Spock was cool before I knew what cool was. And Kirk was dynamism personified. What made the show great, and a classic for the ages are the moral core to every strong storyline, the bold and vivid production design and colors, the great sound effects, the creative and progressive ideas about a potential future and how it would look and feel, the thoughtfulness of these archetypal characters, and the strength of the relationships among the crew of the USS Enterprise. Every iteration since the original has been a step down (or several).

So here is the list of the best:
1. The Original Television Series
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
3. Galaxyquest [absolutely it deserves a place]
4. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
6. Star Trek (2009)
7. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
8. Star Trek: First Contact
9. Voyager (the final 2 seasons)
10. Deep Space Nine (the final story arc)
11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
12. The Animated Series

Meh:
Star Trek: Generations


Here is the list of the worst:
1. Nemesis
2. Insurrection
3. Enterprise Series
4. The Next Generation Series
5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Over time I will flesh out this post

THE PRISONER - EXPLAINED

Many reviews were quite negative and a lot of people seemed to not understand the story. I thought it was terrific - a finely worked piece of art. Here is the explanation of the story for those who didn't get it:

Six (James Caviezel) in the real world was determined to figure out what he had been working on for the secret mega-corp headed by the Two character (Ian McKellen) - it turns out Two is an eccentric rich fellow who wants to fix broken people and constructed a Matrix-like Village in which these peoples' minds could live and prosper within the confines of the construct and its rules. Another person held the construct in their mind - the wife at the beginning and the doctor/love interest later ... and this person had to be asleep or the construct began to unravel (the holes). The whole point of the story was that Two wanted to replace himself and he cultivated Six because of his strong moral compass. The trials and tribulations Six went through were to test his mettle and by the end he proved himself and Two was able to move on. Six indeed became a prisoner, but a willing prisoner - bound by love.

IN HINDSIGHT, SO TRUE

Click for >> Clip #2 ... 1:10 to 1:30 ... priceless

HEROES FINALLY WORTH WATCHING AGAIN

I enjoyed Season 1 of Heroes but it just became incomprehensible and downright ridiculous as Seasons 2 and 3 unfolded ... there were so many new characters, time switch-backs, subplots, secret organizations and double-crosses that it just became laughable. After most episodes you found yourself going "who cares!?" Thankfully the powers-that-be seemed to find the edit button and have pared Season 4 down to size and returned the focus back to the original story (using a time-travel plot device and an interesting new Baltar-like hero/villain) ... and the show holds your interest again with Sylar the dark villain once more. If they would only write Claire's father's character out of the show! [And if they could move the scenes along more quickly - gads between commercials very little seems to happen]

V Returns Tonight on ABC

The campy 80s sci-fi series V returns tonight on ABC. Sci-Fi Channel has been airing the old series in saturation and you can see why sci-fi wasn't taken very seriously for a long time there - when you only spend $12 on your special effects, sets and costumes you get shlock. Early word is the reboot is good.

Around L.A. some trickster put up these signs on the bus stop ads (funny):

SORRY EJO, GONNA SKIP 'THE PLAN'

The review on io9 of the video release of the telefilm The Plan - the "last" installment of the Ron D Moore version of Battlestar Galactica confirms all of my worst fears. I'm going to take their recommendation and ignore it - there's no point in reheating and making a new sauce for spoiled food.

UFO

This was a fun show. The theme is great (Hawaii 5-0ish) ... supposedly UFO is being remade too and they'll screw it up for sure (unless Bowie's son [Moon] or Coppola's son [CQ] directs - they get the zeitgeist) ... I've got my own thoughts on the reality of UFOs here ... more on the original series here



... and here's a fun new lamp for alien abductee believers

io9's BSG THE PLAN TEASERS

Bah. My worst fears realized. I had hoped the last installment of Battlestar, The Plan, would redeem to some extent the gawdawful ending to the series but these new io9 teasers utterly negate that hope. Instead of getting inside the Cylons' heads and seeing things as they do it looks as if its soap-opera time and they'll merely replay scenes we've already seen (Doral blows up, Cavil tells Boomer "one shot in the head," etc.) with the priority being to connect-more-dots to flesh out the tortured, convoluted mess of Ron Moore's finale. Ellen as the Fifth - it's the Pam wakes up in Dallas of our era.

SGU REVIEW

Okay, I wound up watching the Stargate SGU 2-hour opener and it was okay. But, really, they should pay royalties to RDM and David Eick, et al. It is one thing to pay homage to good work with your own work, it's quite another to lift another work almost in its entirety. This image of the cast their equivalents sorta sums it up (glad to see that nice kid from Make Me a Supermodel got some work): we get the stereotypical edgy black guy, the Roslin character, the Helo character, Summer Glau slumming, the Baltar ripoff, Apollo, the Seth Rogan type (kill this character quickly please), and Adama.

HOW TO DO A GREAT ENDING

The best sci-fi show ever in terms of telling a cohesive tale with a very satisfying ending is Lexx. All the story threads come together rather seamlessly by the finale, and many have had their individual day in the sun. The mix of sci-fi, horror, camp, and satire was a rare gem indeed during its run.

I was fortunate to get to meet Xenia Seeberg the night before the last ep aired here in America. She's a sweetheart and as stunningly gorgeous in person as onscreen. For those of you who have not watched Lexx yet, give it a try. If intelligent satire is not your thing, or you don't understand camp - it's not for you. But it is absolutely brilliant - with lacerating insights and knowing winks that we the audience get to share. It is a celebration of science fiction, storytelling and a wink and a nudge to entertainment industry insiderness.

High points are the First Season 1st ep (Season 1 was four two-hour tv movies); Season 1, ep 4; the story arc of Mantrid in Season 2 and Lykka's end; the meditation on good/evil/heaven/hell in Season 3; and the hilarious romps through various genres in Season 4: vampires, mummies, guns, UFOs, dumb Americans, internet porn cams, Gen-Xers, right-wing US militias, Vietnam, underwear-sniffers, and evil little children (with great guest stars along for the series' run, like Britt Ekland, Rutger Hauer, Tim Curry) make it a classic.

Watch the entire thing, from beginning to end, and if you're in the business learn how to do a comprehensive story arc for your whole series with a satisfying and poignant end (er, that means you RDM).

IGNOMINIOUS END TO BSG

Yikes. Not only did Sci-Fi Channel, now SyFy (ugh) make us wait and wait and wait for BSG Season 4 then Season 4.5, now they are pushing back the telemovie The Plan to 2010, which is where they've already pushed Caprica. The Plan may even go direct-to-DVD and never air, and I've read that Caprica production has been suspended (possibly due to bad scripts). Boy, from a Peabody Award for the brilliance of the mini through Season 2.5 to this. Ron Moore really killed his Golden Goose when he checked out mentally on BSG around mid-Season 3.

BATTLESTARGATE

Well the dark and gloomy aesthetic of Ron Moore's version of Battlestar Galactica has spawned a copy. The Stargate franchise (which has gone on about 5 years too long already) is now set to air Stargate Universe [or SGU] and it features a crew trapped on a vessel trying to get home (kind of Voyager meets BSG 2003). It looks like it will be well-made but I think the SGU creators came a little too late to the dank-and-dreary party for the fans with taste. Probably this will be a hit among the mainstream because they are always years behind.

BATTLESTAR MOVIE - GLEN A LARSON VERSION

I say a hearty YES to this development. Singer has a sleek and refined visual sense and the core elements of the story remain strong. After Ron D. Moore's version went straight down to the gutter from the once lofty heights of the mini and 1st and 2nd seasons, I welcome a new interpretation by a fine director ... anything to get the bad taste out of my mouth from that terrible Season 4 and ridiculous and idiotic finale to the RDM version!

SORRY - I DESTROYED BATTLESTAR GALACTICA'S ENDING

The best of intentions can go terribly awry ... and I've wondered if the terrible ending to Battlestar Galactica is my fault. Hear me out - I'm not crazy. Ron Moore and David Eick are on record for saying that they intentionally would take the Battlestar story in a different direction other than what the fans wanted (since they monitored message boards and other feedback regularly) just to thwart them. They seemed to derive some kind of juvenile and perverse pleasure in crushing fan hopes and expectations.

Although not my normal type of night out I went to the 6.6.7 BSG "All Access Event" at the Hollywood CineramaDome because I thought there might be a Q&A and I wanted to assert whatever influence I could through my question. I had grown to love the show (but not Season 3 so much) and was deeply worried Moore and Eick would fuck up the ending. Often, really most of the time, stories these days have lousy endings - especially modern television and film. With the Greek God pantheon and Earth referenced in the Battlestar story it seemed obvious the only proper way to end it was at Earth prior to the advent of the Classical Age, i.e.; prior to 1000 B.C. - clearly the end of the story was going to be the beginning "All of this has happened before ..."

I got to the CineramaDome expecting a bunch of nerds and maybe some tech people and maybe one of the creators (Moore or Eick) and a few clips and then the panel. Little did I know Sci-Fi Channel would lay out top dollar for a full-on press rollout. Red Carpet, entertainment, cameras, the main stars, and both Moore and Eick - and a theatrical presentation of the big Jamie Bamber-monologue-trial episode which ended the 3rd season.

I got to the mic and asked my question/made my statement: Kudos to the cast present first, then I focused on Moore and Eick, "It seems to me you've painted yourselves into a corner: with the Greek God pantheon and the references to Earth, the only way you can properly end the story is in the eastern Mediterranean between 1500 and 1000 B.C." This provoked an intense stare from Eick (sitting in a director's chair onstage alongside Moore, Mary McDonnell, Lucy Lawless, Jamie Bamber, and Katie Sackhoff) for about 10 solid minutes (even after I returned to my seat). Moore jokingly said into the microphone he held in response to my remarks, "Security, please escort that man from the building," - to audience laughs, thankfully. I also urged Moore and Eick not to end the show with a lame time-travel device.

The writers' strike hit and the 4th Season was delayed forever it seemed and then Sci-Fi execs decided to milk DVD sales and postponed the second half, Season 4.5, even longer. Well, during that delay Ron Moore spent a little too much time in the sun and composed an entirely new ending to the story: god did it; Kara, Head-Six, Baltar are angels; Hera is mitochondreal Eve; the Colony; Ellen is the 5th; ad nauseum.

It has come out later - after the show ended - that Moore and Eick indeed planned an ending which had the characters give rise to the Classical Age Earth legends - and scuttled it. I went to that June '07 event with the heartfelt intent of steering the ending into the proper direction and it looks like it backfired royally. So to the fans, if I'm even partially responsible, I apologize. We certainly deserved better than the terrible terrible ending we got.