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    New York Times: Atlantis Mystery Is Solved; Now, About the Wormhole

    From the New York Times:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/ar...ner=ALTAVISTA1


    NYTimes.com > Arts > Television

    TV REVIEW | 'STARGATE ATLANTIS'

    Atlantis Mystery Is Solved; Now, About the Wormhole
    By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

    Published: July 16, 2004


    In the time of the ancient Greeks, it turns out, human beings pervaded the universe, exploring distant galaxies until they encountered some evil beings who drove them back to a final redoubt, the lost city of Atlantis.

    Cornered in Atlantis, the ancient humans left a single wormhole in space and time, or whatever, that would allow them passage back to Earth. In the present day the hole has been discovered by people who pass through it to loot technology from Atlantis, which is in a galaxy called Pegasus and, as the travelers soon discover, about to collapse because the force field that keeps the ocean around it at bay will soon give way. What's worse, some vampiric enemies, the Wraiths, who threaten the kindly Atlantis natives, seem to want to get their hands on the humans — now!

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    If such brainy counterfactuals, coupled with dialogue like "Do we have an identification code?" appeal to you, you may be vulnerable to the charms of "Stargate Atlantis," a densely produced series that starts tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel.

    "Stargate Atlantis" is billed as a companion series to the channel's venerable "Stargate SG-1," which started its eighth season last week. "Companion series" sounds perilously like spinoff, but "Stargate" terminology is to be respected. Whatever the case, the new show focuses on the old show's Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson); other characters, like Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett), also cross over.

    Tonight's two-hour season opener is tedious. The interiors — an Antarctica set and the Atlantis set — are heavy on Art Deco game-show décor, and the shadowless tableaus make even the live-action sequences look computer-generated. Ms. Higginson, who appears at ease on "Stargate SG-1," is unaccountably wooden, even drawn-looking, on "Stargate Atlantis."

    The joshing in Atlantis is not funny, and the ragtag locals, one of whom looks like Jennifer Lopez, are inscrutable, though maybe they'll become more expressive. The relationship between proper Dr. Weir and her maverick partner, Maj. John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), creaks under a heavy cliché that suggests the captain and McBain on "The Simpsons." (Captain: "In this department we go by the book." McBain: "Bye, book.")

    It's possible, however, that the show's lavish special effects, along with its privileged place as part of the "Stargate" franchise, will win the show some instant fans tonight. And if those fans support the show as it develops, and sci-fi fans typically do, "Stargate Atlantis," too, will one day enter season eight, and its dull pilot episode will be a nothing more than a relic of our own unenlightened time.

    STARGATE ATLANTIS
    Rising

    Sci-Fi Channel, tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.

    Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, executive producers and writers; N. John Smith, co-executive producer; Martin Wood, co-producer and director; Andy Mikita, Peter DeLuise, Mario Azzopardi, Brad Turner, David Warry-Smith, David Winning and Holly Dale, directors; Michael Blundell and Breton Spencer, directors of photography.

    WITH: Joe Flanigan (Maj. John Sheppard), Torri Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir), David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay), Rachel Luttrell (Teyla), Rainbow Sun Francks (Lt. Aiden Ford), Paul McGillion (Dr. Beckett), Craig Veroni (Peter Grodin), Richard Dean Anderson (Gen. Jack O'Neill) and Robert Patrick (Col. Marshall Sumner).



    |*|(*)|*|(*)|*|

    Morjana

    SG1-Spoilergate
    http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/SG1-Spoilergate/

    Richard Dean Anderson Fans
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    SG1/SGA/SGU - Saving Earth/Atlantis/?, one mission at a time!
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    #2
    New York News = Lots of Lies.
    It’s the show that doesn’t end, it goes on and on my friends, some people started watching not knowing what it was, but they will be watching forever just because it’s the show that doesn’t end…..

    Comment


      #3
      Yawn. How does one get to be a TV critic if one can't even pay attention to what one is supposed to review? 'Ancient greeks'? 'Ancient humans left a single wormhole in space and time'? Maybe she was asleep during all the scenes the stargate is featured in, if she really found it that boring...
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        #4
        Originally posted by morjana
        From the New York Times:

        TV REVIEW | 'STARGATE ATLANTIS'

        Atlantis Mystery Is Solved; Now, About the Wormhole
        By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

        Tonight's two-hour season opener is tedious. The interiors — an Antarctica set and the Atlantis set — are heavy on Art Deco game-show décor, and the shadowless tableaus make even the live-action sequences look computer-generated. Ms. Higginson, who appears at ease on "Stargate SG-1," is unaccountably wooden, even drawn-looking, on "Stargate Atlantis."
        Heffernan is a real fan, isn't she.
        Slainte
        "There are many forms of power, my dear. Some more subtle than others." Linea to Captain Carter, Prisoners, S2.

        Comment


          #5
          Yes HER vast knowledge really shows off.
          Last edited by aAnubiSs; 16 July 2004, 08:06 AM.

          Comment


            #6
            My four-yearold cousin could have written a better article. That was so unstructured. These people need to go back to grade school.

            It was a little one sided. It was also very harsh. I guess because its not a reality show about drunken hicks or drunken teens having sexy with eachother under the same roof, the NYT automatically thinks scripted SciFi shows are trash. Well...F-them.

            I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
            [Revelations 22:13]

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              #7
              Originally posted by Slainte
              Heffernan is a real fan, isn't she.
              Heffernan doesn't have to be a fan. She's paid to be a TV Critic... apparently not a very observant or objective one.
              Urgo: I wanna live, I wanna experience the universe and I wanna eat pie!
              O'Neill: Who doesn't?
              - Urgo, Stargate: SG-1, Episode 3.16

              "Let's be real here. It should be fun. We're not saving lives, we're entertaining them."
              - RDA, Stargate SG-1: The Lowdown



              some assembly required, batteries not included, action figures sold seperately
              once done, cannot be undone...
              brought to you by Anthro Girl, Grand Pooh-Bah of the SFA

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                #8
                Well,despite some less than informed (or positive) reviews,I think Atlantis should do very well !
                I'm hoping some of these reviewers may change their tone once the Premiere goes out.
                Good luck "SG Atlantis" and ALL who star in it !
                The place to "Gate" to during Outages for updates and info:

                Comment


                  #9
                  The more negative reviews it gets before airing = the better it is.

                  That always works.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm sorry, is she talking about the same Stargate Atlantis that i watch?!?!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by morjana
                      The relationship between proper Dr. Weir and her maverick partner, Maj. John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), creaks under a heavy cliché that suggests the captain and McBain on "The Simpsons." (Captain: "In this department we go by the book." McBain: "Bye, book.")
                      Heh heh...that's actually fairly apt...I could seriously picture Sheppard doing that...

                      Seriously though, I want to know what this person was watching, cos it obviously wasn't SGA...

                      ~*Beanie*~ | No mountain too high, no gutter too low... | Ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid uilig...
                      "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Obviously that so called reviewer was wrong... Stargate Atlantis is a major succes!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Osiris
                          Obviously that so called reviewer was wrong... Stargate Atlantis is a major succes!

                          The review was written July 15th, 2004 -- 18 episodes later, Stargate Atlantis is on more firm footing.

                          Morjana

                          SG1/SGA/SGU - Saving Earth/Atlantis/?, one mission at a time!
                          SG1-Spoilergate Richard Dean Anderson Fans Abydos Gate Morjana
                          Morjana's Blog Twitter

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I never pay attention to any reviews from the New york Times. Mostly because the reviews they write tend to be quite off the mark. In this case, the Atlantis review seems amiss because Atlantis is one of the highest rated shows on Sci-Fi right now. So how can such a highly rated show generate the review the Times wrote?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I dont think we should bash her. I didnt like Rising either, it felt like they stole the plot from the movie and CotG. The banter between Wier and Sheppard was circumlocutive. It was the whole of season 1 that made me love SGA.

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