S10: Critique & Contemplation

[the dancer of spaz]

ECW stands for some kind of wrestling ?
What does it do on Sci-fi ?

$$$$ <--- It brings in more of that than any other show on SciFi, if I'm not mistaken. And on the sister network, USA, the same pretty much goes for the Smackdown series.

My younger brother and sister are really into it (as much as it pains to me to publicly admit that - pray for my sanity), and apparently it's a worldwide cash cow phenomenon. Imagine my bemusement when I realized it wasn't just dumb American entertainment.

[the dancer of spaz]

I was only referring to the performance of reruns of their originals, not the performance of first runs. SciFi doesn't show BSG's and Eureka's either. The poor performance of reruns was the topic of a recent article in Variety and it is bigger than a SciFi problem. Those failed shows do get higher ratings than reruns do.

I see. Yeah, I guess it makes sense that the cancelled series would do better, since there's a greater chance that most people haven't seen them in the first place.

Heh. Remember when Passions came on in the mornings/afternoons on SciFi a while back? And when they had a Law and Order: SVU marathon? Never before had I said "WTF?!" so loudly.

I believe if you calculated a 12-month average from April '06 to March '07, you'd get: (and this is only for original series, not including repeats)

1. Eureka
2. ECW
3. Atlantis & SG-1 (virtual tie)
4. BSG
5. Dresden Files
6. Ghost Hunters
7. Who Wants to Be a Superhero
8. Dr. Who

Ah, I see. I didn't realize Eureka was doing so well. I'm also surprised by the BSG ratings, though the genius scheduling change may have something to do with that.

Has SciFi gotten the syndication rights (or whatever) for Kyle XY, and will they be the dropping-off point for reruns of USA's 4400 this summer? I don't think I've seen any 4400 episodes on SciFi.

[Skydiver]

When Coop stated he wanted to bring the team back to the way it was in the begining of the series--his solution to the technology problem was to get more technology and an enemy so huge that all our little toys didn't effect the enemy very much.

I think the best way to "get back to the begining" would be to have us lose everything we gained. Lose the ships and the ship making ability. I would avoid another enemy that thinks it's god. Greed and power is always the root to a good enemy. There were a number of dropped aliens in the series. They had plenty to draw from. Plotholes and unfinshed plotlines.

The ascension was more of a loophole to begin with. Cooper trying to explain how the Ori got thier power was an eye opener. He struggled to explain it becuase he didn't know. I can't remember the exact line but he did say something like, "Somehow get thier power from the people that pray to them."

The word, "Somehow" stuck out for me. My only thought was that he has developed an enemy he knows nothing about. No real motive behind gaining that power.

Gaining the power to the point where the few Ori could wipe out the ascended in the milkyway would make no sense because the Ori had no idea we were here to begin with. So, that would go back to motive. If they were feeding on prayers to gain more power and not know about any of the other ascended...then why gain more power?

He wanted an enemy to be different from the Goa'uld and et exactly the same. Can't do both Coop. Have to have different or the same.

you know...ok, what has been the asgard's fatal weakness all along? what's got them so weak? their dependance on tech. that's how the reps nearly creamed them, cause they were in an endless arms race for better tech.

and that's how the tau'ri could help them, we didn't rely on tech, we thought on our own and did hte low tech approach, which the reps couldn't fathom

now what is sg1 doing???

they're in an endless arms race for the newest and next deus ex machina to beat the next bigger, badder villian.

coop has turned th tau'ri into the asgard.

which flies totally in the face of the long standing message of the show...using your brain and thinking your way out.

[LaCroix]

ECW stands for some kind of wrestling ?
What does it do on Sci-fi ?

I had to use search in order to find out what ECW is. It's called Extreme Championship Wrestling. The only extreme that I can find is it's Chairman Vince McMahon.

And I go along with dancer's assessment, $$$. This type of entertainment has been around and shown on TV since the 1950's. But as I remember as a kid on the UHF channels (pre-cable/sat, I'm old ) . But since Skiffy sees money, it'll stay as long as it's making $$$ for the channel.

[Jackie]

you know...ok, what has been the asgard's fatal weakness all along? what's got them so weak? their dependance on tech. that's how the reps nearly creamed them, cause they were in an endless arms race for better tech.

and that's how the tau'ri could help them, we didn't rely on tech, we thought on our own and did hte low tech approach, which the reps couldn't fathom

now what is sg1 doing???

they're in an endless arms race for the newest and next deus ex machina to beat the next bigger, badder villian.

coop has turned th tau'ri into the asgard.

which flies totally in the face of the long standing message of the show...using your brain and thinking your way out.

"Tech-ing" Stargate also dumbs down the writer. No longer do they actually have to write for the show. Just open the magic genie bottle for technology and make a wish.

So now that TPTB don't have to use all of their thought process to write the episodes...they are free to come up with big and clever wording in their titles. Like; "Droppelganger" or double ganger--supposed ghost or wraith of a living person. (webster dictionary, 1953.)

One of my pet peeves is people who try to outwit people with big words.

The Asgard was the race that should what too much technology could do. Then they brought in the replicators. The few races that were more nature related, like the Nox, are hardly touched.

[Skydiver]

it's star trek all over again.

who needs people, let's just tech our way out of every situation

we're nothing more than treasure hunters, searching for the next plot device

[ParadoxRealities]

i think that's probably the saddest thing, had thier contempt for the 'baggage of hte past' been a little less, they could have taken the show on a new route and made it work. cam and vala could have been added, so could have the ori and it woujld have worked

but it's like coop deliberately went out of his way to diss 8 years of history and back story in his quest to put forth his own creation.

after reading this, i have decided to present a new (at least to my ears) theory on the stunning failure that is seasons nine and ten.
while i agree whole-heartedly that TPTB threw out any and all inclination to stick canon, i believe there was also a baby in Coop's proverbial bathwater. that sad and lonely baby, i believe is his experience. in all that i've read about the new!and!improved! show, i've gotten the sense that Coop (and the crew) were bored. they wanted to get bigger! and badder! and have more fun. i propose that this could be done without ruining the show. the universe, certainly, but not the show. in this case, i define the show as the style by which TPTB previously portrayed the action of the stargate universe. many of the things we've mentioned fall more under this category than the former. this is the way i see it.

Bathwater:
scrap the goa'uld/jaffa story (in with the Ori)
scrap the responsible CO (in with the fanboi CO)
scrap the serious three person team (in with the wacky alien)
scrap the old Daniel (in with the snarky!action! sidekick)
scrap the seriousness of the old team (treat everything more like a game)

Baby:
loss of team dynamic
loss of plaster for plot holes
loss of any sort of logic
loss of exploration or simplicity

while it would have been hard to keep the baby without the bathwater (hey, that's what you get when you fix something 'til it's broken), i contend that it was possible. the fanboi, the wacky alien, the sidekick, sam, and teal'c, still could have had that "tight-knit family, all important and all unique" thing. they still could have had that silent communication. they still could have demonstrated their abilities instead of Coop treating us to a two-season show-and-tell presentation. they still could have had tight and meaningful plots, and reasons for characters it act the way they do. they still could have kept the unknown, random, planet exploration. they still could have kept the tech off the silver platter and on the 'oh, **** one'.

so, in conclusion, i pose that Coop & Co. could have had their grand reset plan, and even had it work, if they'd managed to hold on to that slippery baby. and that, i promise, is my last idiom for a very long time.

now, what this theory means in the grand scheme of...anything is anyone's guess but mine.

coop has turned th tau'ri into the asgard.

which flies totally in the face of the long standing message of the show...using your brain and thinking your way out.

it is kinda a full circle moment, though, isn't it? oh my god, Coop's a replicator!
seriously though, i would have loved (LOVED) to see sam/daniel/teal'c agruing against the use/creation of some new technology. bringing up the replicators, between sam's experience with thor and daniel's historical knowledge, and teal'c's philosophy. damn, that would have been so cool!



RoX: i have the same editing problem. five people have usually said what i wanted to by the time i'm ready to post. i do not, however, talk to wallpaper. really.

[AscendedAbydonian]

Here's a Big complaint I have about Season 10: Pop Culture Referrences. They're not cool or funny, and distract the veiwer from suspending their disbelief, which is very important to do when writing a Science Fiction Show. I don't know what the writers were thinking adding these references into every show. WTF?!

[jckfan55]

It's one thing if they are few and far between and not referencing *current* things. But they shouldn't pull us out of the show's "reality" and back into our own.

[Mandysg1]

Here's a Big complaint I have about Season 10: Pop Culture Referrences. They're not cool or funny, and distract the veiwer from suspending their disbelief, which is very important to do when writing a Science Fiction Show. I don't know what the writers were thinking adding these references into every show. WTF?!

True, and are the aliens they interact with, supposed to know these references

[AGateFan]

True, and are the aliens they interact with, supposed to know these references

Yes its not necessarily the references, O'Neill had used them for years, it's that ALIENS are using them. So instead of the human character using it as an subtle ironic statement about the absurdity of the situation, it just becomes a REALLY absurd situation.

[MediaSavant]

Heh. Remember when Passions came on in the mornings/afternoons on SciFi a while back? And when they had a Law and Order: SVU marathon? Never before had I said "WTF?!" so loudly.

Passions didn't work, and, thus, disappeared. The Law & Order thing actually got decent ratings, but, maybe not good enough.

>>Ah, I see. I didn't realize Eureka was doing so well. I'm also surprised by the BSG ratings, though the genius scheduling change may have something to do with that. <<

Nay, BSG was fading before it moved.

Has SciFi gotten the syndication rights (or whatever) for Kyle XY, and will they be the dropping-off point for reruns of USA's 4400 this summer? I don't think I've seen any 4400 episodes on SciFi.

I don't think the Kyle XY syndie rights are for sale yet. It's still an active series on ABC Family. I vaguely remember 4400 may go into broadcast syndication rather than cable syndication. The Dead Zone begins in broadcast syndication in September.

[Jackie]

Here's a Big complaint I have about Season 10: Pop Culture Referrences. They're not cool or funny, and distract the veiwer from suspending their disbelief, which is very important to do when writing a Science Fiction Show. I don't know what the writers were thinking adding these references into every show. WTF?!

It's one thing if they are few and far between and not referencing *current* things. But they shouldn't pull us out of the show's "reality" and back into our own.

I find that when using pop culture refrences...it must be done in a sublte way. It also must have a link to the current situation that is being written about. Lately, SG-1 and SGA have been doing the pop culture too much. A few subtle ones at first. But now, it's part of the shows running joke.

I find it is easier to make a sublte pop culture refrence when your story is set in the past. That way the refrence becomes a little joke from writter to veiwer without taking anything away from the story. I also like to make my reader think so I will drop clues in the story to a pop culture refrence. If the reader doesn't catch on...it okay. Example, I recently used Ann Landers and Dear Abby's real names in a story. It was subtle and flowed in with a character needing advise. If the reader didn't get the refrence. It would just come across as someone dropping a name of someone they know.

I do find that when writting fanfics that I keep away from the pop culture because Stargate has limited room for it. So, too much would certainly annoy the reader or viewer.

However, in one fan fic. I had a little girl come through the quantum mirror. Yes, one of those knock offs. But the girl was Daniel's adoptive daughter in another reality. I had to have the little girl take Daniel to Build a Bear Workshop with Sam. In thr scene I have Daniel looking at his recipt and commenting on how he spent a hundred dollars on teddy bears with clothing. Sam and Anna (the girl) each had thier own big white box and Sam naturally had to get the bear with the Air Force uniform and a pair of sunglasses for it.

[Skydiver]

True, and are the aliens they interact with, supposed to know these references

it's even more fun whern the aliens know earth slang.

it struck me in quest 2 when adria was looking for 'addresses'

addresses is a HUMAN term and stems from teh parallel of the postal system. i don't imagine that they have postal systems out in the universe, thus adria shouldn't be using a term like 'address'...she should have referred to the 'address' on the dhd as destination or location or series of glyphs or combination or some such generic word

i find it sloppy writing and kin to teal'c using 'd'uh'

[Skydiver]

However, in one fan fic. I had a little girl come through the quantum mirror. Yes, one of those knock offs. But the girl was Daniel's adoptive daughter in another reality. I had to have the little girl take Daniel to Build a Bear Workshop with Sam. In thr scene I have Daniel looking at his recipt and commenting on how he spent a hundred dollars on teddy bears with clothing. Sam and Anna (the girl) each had thier own big white box and Sam naturally had to get the bear with the Air Force uniform and a pair of sunglasses for it.

you nkow, it's one thing to do that. if it fits within the story. to me it fits into the 'realism' of the show or fic to have them doing normal stuff.

but yeah, when aliens know and use earth slang it's off putting. the endless homages are off putting. come on guys, can't you come up with something that isn't a blatant rip off of someone elese's work?

the key to a 'good' homage is knowing when to stop and how to make it discreet. ripping off whole lines and series of lines isn't discreet.

and when it's almsot every episode it only accentuates how much it's being done