| |
 The
X-Files has a lot to answer for. Time was, you were lucky if you
could find a single science fiction show on TV all week. But now,
thanks to Chris Carter, there is something on every single night.
Could it be that we are living in a Golden Age?
There is now more original sci-fi on TV than at any time in the
past. Even ignoring the fact that there's a whole cable channel
dedicated to the stuff, between network and syndicated programming
we are positively awash in alternate universes, speculative fiction,
and the supernatural.
But which are classics-to-be and which are just clueless wannabes?
Fear not, The Mediadrome is here to sort things out with our very
own day-by-day guide to sci-fi and fantasy. Network, cable and syndication
— it's all here. And yes, we've watched them all.
Monday
9:00 pm - Angel - The WB - A sterling example of a successful
spin-off. Angel, the vampire-with-a-soul from Buffy moves
to LA and opens a detective agency. This show is more gritty and
grim than it's parent, but manages to maintain its wit and freshness.
Beautifully shot, with an ever-expanding pantheon of nasties, it
has successfully created its own mythology. Just as well, as now
that Buffy has taken it on the lam to UPN, crossover episodes
are no longer on the cards.
 Tuesday
8:00 pm - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - UPN - After a bumpy
start to it's sixth season, Buffy is starting to find its
feet again. Were those opening episodes depressing, or what? Still,
the show has lost much of its raison d'etre. The Buffy concept
was built around the idea that a slightly built rather ditzy teenage
girl was the least likely person to be able to defeat vampires and
demons. So now that she's a couple of years out of high school,
and much bigger, what's the point? The over-loaded cast isn't helping
either: there are far too many people involved. And giving Willow
magical powers was a Bad Idea, Buffy worked best when she was the
only "special" one. If you don't believe me, check out the earlier
seasons running nightly on FX.
9:00 pm - Roswell - UPN - While they were swiping Buffy
away from the WB, UPN decided to take Roswell too. Roswell
had been unceremoniously dumped by the frog after two lackluster
seasons. It was a shame as it had started well: a show set in alien-magnet
Roswell, NM seemed like a great idea and the first few episodes
were great — clever and witty in the right proportions, but
it soon collapsed into some sort of Dawsons Creek meets X-Files
soap opera and ratings plummeted. UPN were going to haul it
back from the brink and bring in some much-needed edge. Did they?
Nope. It's still a turgid piece of TV. It's core teenage audience
love it, but that might not be enough, particularly given the fact
that it's competing with the WB's new powerhouse: Smallville.
 9:00
pm - Smallville - The WB - Another entry in the teens-with-special-powers
sub-genre, Smallville tells the story of Clark Kent in his
pre-Metropolis pre-Superman days. The premiere beat all records
for a WB series, and it shows every sign of carrying on the tradition
of clever fantasy programming begun by Buffy. Casting is
great, writing is sharp and the look of the town appropriately echoes
the artwork in the original DC comics. It's hugely entertaining
to see Clark Kent, Lex Luthor and Lana Lang as they begin their
well-known journeys, making the show appealing not just to teenage
auds, but to older demos who grew up with the Man of Steel.
Wednesday
8:00 pm - Enterprise - UPN - Zzzzzzzzzz. Hm? What? Oh, sorry!
This latest entry in the Star Trek franchise was supposed
to be a fresh, new take on the concept. The story of the first ship
and the first crew, working with the familiar technology for the
first time. It sounded great. We were assured that the show would
also mark a return to the rather swashbuckling camaraderie of the
original series, and the casting of Scott Bakula as the captain
seemed like a good start. Wrong. The problem is that the production
team and the writers are the same bunch that brought us every other
Star Trek-inspired show, so we're getting exactly the same
stories rehashed for the nine-hundredth time. Add to that Captain
Archer's suspicion of Vulcans which instead of making his character
seem buccaneering a la Kirk, makes him look like some kind of racist.
Attempts at humor are deadly, coming as they do from writers who
seem to confuse mean-spirited sarcasm for wit. Still, Trek's
fans don't seem to mind. One fan site noted the similarity of the
storylines and commented that this was okay, because "there are
only so many science fiction stories." He/she was wrong. Science
fiction is merely a setting in which any story can be told. The
repetitions are merely a sign that maybe Star Trek should
go and Rick Berman et al should get real jobs.
 9:00
pm - Special Unit 2 - UPN - Interesting pairing, n'est ce pas?
SU2 would probably be better off following Buffy.
I don't mean that. Then I'd have to choose between this and Smallville.
A mid-season replacement last year, SU2 has its tongue firmly
in cheek as it recounts the adventures of a secret unit of the Chicago
PD that pursues what it calls "links," those mythological creatures
that are all too real. If only ordinary people knew… There's none
of that "we must preserve these creatures so we can learn from them"
politically correct nonsense here. SU2 goes after links with
great big weird-looking guns, and Michael Landes's Detective O'Malley
isn't averse to firing them into crowds of bystanders either. Special
Unit 2 is ridiculous, hokey, clichéd…and really great fun.
Thursday
9:00 pm - Charmed - The WB - The sole Thursday offering,
Charmed was the subject of frantic fan hand-wringing following
the departure of Shannen Doherty as the eldest of the three Halliwell
sisters. The concern was justified, largely because the whole premise
of the show is built around the idea that the world has been waiting
for three witches who are sisters. These good witches together can
marshal the "power of three" magnifying their ability to save the
world from the demons and nasties that threaten it. So you can see
that killing off one of them could be problematic, particularly
if the introduction of the long-lost fourth sister isn't done well.
They needn't have worried. The casting of Rose McGowan as the missing
sister was inspired, and the character has breathed new life into
the series. Still, when it comes right down to it, this Spelling
entry in the genre is sort of "Buffy Lite." The writing doesn't
have the intelligence or wit of the Slayer's, and the whole thing
is a little warm and fuzzy for my liking.
Friday
8:00 pm - The Invisible Man - SciFi - Speaking of witty,
the SciFi Channel's original actioner The Invisible Man is
a lot of fun. Self-referential and deliberately harking back to
the style of 70s cop dramas, the show takes a rather amiable convicted
murderer (he didn't do it, of course) and gives him the chance to
become a guinea pig in return for a modicum of freedom. A mysterious
government lab based at the Department of Fish and Game (!) promptly
implants a gland that can make him become invisible, but also has
nasty side-effects if he doesn't get a regular antidote. With a
cast of characters that runs counter to the usual beautiful-people
clones of network TV, The Invisible Man has a look and style
all its own. The writing is reliably top-notch, though the photography
leaves a little to be desired — the desire for that 70s feel
extends to a little too much of the overlit flatness of the classic
shows. It's
currently on hiatus and showing reruns in the slot, but as most
people didn't watch it first time around you can just sit back and
enjoy.
8:00
pm - Dark Angel - Fox - You have to question the wisdom of networks
programming shows that have exactly the same viewer base at the
same time. Of course, Fox doesn't think of SciFi as competition,
and sadly they are probably right. Anyway, Dark Angel. Hum.
Well, guys just love Jessica Alba, the acting-impaired star. The
premise, by James Cameron, is hopelessly derivative and the writing
is dreadful. Other than that it's great. Take a chance and go with
The Invisible Man. Your brain will thank you.
 9:00
pm - Farscape - SciFi - This show is also on hiatus and returns
in April 2002, but for those of you who missed it first time around,
SciFi is showing reruns Monday thru Thursday at 8:00 pm. I have
to admit that when Farscape debuted I had a hard time with
it. Chiefly because…well, because of the Henson aliens. I felt like
I was watching a really dark episode of The Muppet Show.
Not any more. Farscape has gone from strength to strength
with a really fresh take on what had (thanks to the Star Trek
franchise) become a pretty tired genre. Of course, the idea of a
ship of mis-matched crewmates with little in common but their enemy
owes a lot to the old BBC series Blake's 7, but Farscape
brings a bit more to the party…like, say, production values. The
aliens actually look like aliens and not just people with weird
foreheads, and the disagreements of the crew manage to come across
as genuine and not merely surly (Enterprise, take note).
Again, the whole thing is leavened with actual wit, clever writing
and engaging characters. If you've never seen it, you really have
a treat in store.
Saturday
& Sunday
The weekend is all about first-run syndicated shows. These are made
by a variety of production companies, and usually co-financed by
a foreign distributor (often German or Canadian) which means that
the quality can vary drastically. In most markets they air some
time on Saturday with repeat runs on Sundays. You'll have to check
local listings as these babies take a bit more effort to hunt down
than standard network fare. Some of them are worth the trouble,
others are worth it just for the sheer pleasure of watching really
bad TV.
Andromeda - (Fireworks) - Based on a Gene Roddenberry idea
and starring Kevin Sorbo, Andromeda had a very rocky start.
The ship looked great, but the make-up and costuming was terrible
and the writing was…well, the less said the better. It picked
up as the season progressed, however, with the result that it was
given a major spruce-up for Season 2. (The alien make-up is still
pretty bad, though.) Andromeda is fairly entertaining, but
it sabotages itself with the incredibly lame names that things have.
The bad guys are called Nietzscheans. Yes, just like the philosopher.
The galactic perfect world that Captain Hunt is trying to rebuild
is called the Commonwealth. Yes, just like the remnants of the British
Empire. The resident alien is a Magog. Yes, as in Gog and Magog
(though they pronounce it differently). And speaking of Rev Bem,
who has some of the worst make-up this side of public access, the
character is supposed to be a follower of a religion called "The
Way." Followers are called "Wayists," and episodes begin with
quotes supposedly from the founder/holy book/whatever of this religion.
Uh huh. Apparently "The Way" was founded by superannuated galactic
hippies with all the philosophical insight of 15-year old potheads.
Roddenberry was obviously having a bad day when he came up with
this one, but it has a certain charm and the characters are likeable.
Now, if they could just improve the quality of their scripts…
Relic Hunter - (Fireworks) - Tia Carrere plays a female Indiana
Jones in this globe hopping actioner. She comes equipped with a
whiny English sidekick and a ditzy blonde assistant. This show should
work but somehow doesn't. The chief problem seems to be that it's
too lightweight for its own good. There is no character development
to speak of, and the world in which they operate bears no resemblance
to anything real. Lack of actual reality is not a problem so long
as the created reality has substance, but the producers of Relic
Hunter seem to think that we should be satisfied with the sight
of Tia Carrere kicking butt. Right.
 Tracker
- (LionsGate TV) - This show is brand new, so it's hard to give
a fair assessment of its future. Of course, that's not going to
stop us. Tracker stars ex-Highlander Adrian Paul as
an alien who has come to earth in pursuit of 218 criminals who have
escaped from a prison planet. The aliens have taken over the bodies
of ordinary people, but Cole (Paul) has too many scruples for that
and has instead created a body based on an underwear ad. The result
is that he has to learn everything from scratch, from walking to
speaking to constructing complex neural interface devices. He lives
above a bar owned by the gorgeous Mel, who shares his secret. The
aim here is to combine scifi with a little romantic comedy, but
until Cole gets past the "me Tarzan you Jane" stage, it's going
to be a complete non-starter. The effect is more Brimstone meets
Rain Man than anything else. And speaking of Brimstone…the
concept is very similar, though thankfully without that shooting-people-through-the-eyes
thing. Instead Cole gets rid of the escapees with a thing that looks
like a garage door opener. Having said all of that, science fiction
shows always take between 6 to 8 episodes to really establish their
world and get things rolling, so it's to be hoped that Tracker
will pick up. Though with the exception of co-executive producers
Grant Rosenberg and Peter Lenkov, the production team is a little
light on scifi credentials, which is a little worrying. Time will
tell…
Mutant X - (Fireworks) - Based on the Marvel comic of the
same name, Mutant X was initially tied up in litigation because
Twentieth Century Fox felt it was too similar to The X-Men.
They had a point, but somehow managed to lose the case, which means
that we all get treated to yet another teens-with-special-powers
show. But this one is so lame, the fight choreography so abysmal,
the mutant powers so feeble, and the actors so incompetent that
it's hardly worthy of mention. It's not even bad enough to watch
for fun.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World - Who makes this
turkey? Undoubtedly the worst show on TV. It bears no resemblance
to the Conan Doyle tale, except for a few character names. All credits
are dreadful, but I'd have to say it's worth a look just for the
sheer jaw-dropping incompetence on display. I've never managed to
sit through a whole episode, and I can watch some prett-y bad stuff.
 The
Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - (Promark TV) - This show
debuted on the SciFi Channel earlier this year and the reruns are
currently in syndication. According to SciFi, new first-run shows
will air in October 2002. Shot entirely on HDTV, it has a sort of
disquieting fever-dream look - the hard edges of video along with
the texture and depth of film. Weird. The series is built around
the idea that Jules Verne based his fantasy novels on real-life
experiences he'd had in his youth while traveling with British ex-spy
Phileas Fogg, his valet Paspartout, and his beautiful cousin Rebecca.
Set in the 1860s the show is full of wonderful Victorian machines
that owe more to H.G. Wells than to Verne, but I quibble. The characters
are engaging and technical credits are pretty good (though some
of the blue screen work is a little ropey). Once again, it falls
down in the writing. There were so many real-life spy stories, schemes
and scandals in the 19th century that you'd think the writers would
have a bottomless pit of material to draw from, but no — we
get the same tired old retreads…again. Still, Jules Verne
has enough charm and energy to carry it through and we can but hope
that the reason for the lengthy delay before season 2 is that Promark
is out looking for some decent writers.
Earth: Final Conflict - (Tribune Entertainment) - Yet another
concept fished out of Gene Roddenberry's trash. Does it ever occurred
to anyone that there may be a reason they never got made? I know,
I know, the Roddenberry name is instant branding and a guarantee
of production…but…well… When Roddenberry was actually
involved, he gave his shows a light touch and never allowed them
to get too turgid, or take themselves too seriously. The people
left behind, carrying the master's torch, are not blessed in this
way. A sense of humor is an alien life form to them. This thing
bores me beyond belief.
And there you have it. If we've missed anything, it's not for want
of trying (or looking)! The common thread you may have noticed is
quality of writing. A show can get by with lower production values
if the writing's good, but if the scribes aren't there all the effects
in the world aren't going to help you. The tendency of the industry
to accept any scifi credit as acceptable work experience
does not help one bit. The same writers pop up everywhere, so that
it's possible to watch the teaser on most shows and accurately predict
the entire storyline.
The other tendency is for scifi to take itself too seriously. This
has always been a feature of American TV science fiction, though
the reverse is true in the UK which has brought us such classics
as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. Who and Red
Dwarf, all of which had appalling production values, but great
writing. Those shows are perpetually on the air somewhere
teaching us all (it is to be hoped) that content beats style every
time.
So…agree? Disagree? Post your opinions on The Mediadrome's scifi
board, or email us
here.
|
|
