New York Times review

[ThatGuyPSU]

Check out Virgina Heffer's take on Atlantis

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/ar...on/16HEFF.html

People like her shouldn't be allowed to review Sci-Fi. She obviously doesn't get it. I think her mailbox needs flooding.

=T=

[puddlejumper747]

Could you possibly cut and paste the article to this thread?
It won't let me view it without registering, and I'm too lazy to do so.

[ThatGuyPSU]

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!

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).

[Mio]

"Cornered in Atlantis, the ancient humans left a single wormhole in space and time, or whatever, that would allow them passage back to Earth."


She should be shot.

[aAnubiSs]

She shows a great understanding of the show. She must have carefully listened to every line in the episode.

[Mio]

<staggers> too...much....sarcasm.... <dies>

[ThatGuyPSU]

I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion. To that end, I make two requests...

1) Have an EDUCATED opinion
2) Get someone that at least appreciates science fiction for fok's sake.

[Mio]

I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion. To that end, I make two requests...

1) Have an EDUCATED opinion
2) Get someone that at least appreciates science fiction for fok's sake.

Or will actually WATCH the show? I'm willing to bet that she was balancing her checkbook or something while watching it.

[IWantToBelieve]

We should write a rebuttal regarding her article. The trite cliches, the droll sense of humor...oh wait, that won't work, because I actually read her article...and I don't think she knows or watches much if any sci-fi.

[aAnubiSs]

One could think that they would do some research, IE watch stargate before writing an article. Atleast that's what serious journalists do

[puddlejumper747]

<staggers> too...much....sarcasm.... <dies>

She should be shot.

You mean AFTER we feed her to the Wraith, right??

[Mio]

Naturally

[ChopinGal]

NY Times "critics" seem to be in their own alternate universe at times - I've seen this happen before with other dramas/plays in which the critic just doesn't "get it". Funny, she looked at a fairly unknown actress and saw "Jennifer Lopez" - puhleeze - I saw an interesting and intelligent portrayal of a new character. Perhaps the NY Times should invest in some boxed DVD sets of SG-1 as a primer for their reviewers

[darman]

isn't the new york times the same paper where had that guy that was making up stories? you'd think after that scandal they would be more careful

[Manic]

I found that article more funny than offensive. Her lack of understanding amuses me. I mean, I know the story behind Atlantis (because I actually watch the episode), and her explaination lacked so much cohesion that I actually got confused. Quite sad.