Battlestar Stargate Voyager

I’ve long liked the Stargate TV series (both incarnations, though SG-1 kicked Atlantis’ ass). Not a rabid fan, but I have enjoyed it… and damn, the original series ran for an incredible length of time. As someone noted, it’s sort of the U.S. “Doctor Who” in that regard. It never took itself too seriously, but neither did it go all slapstick… and I think that worked pretty well.

Stargate Universe, as noted previously, is the new series in the Stargate universe. The pilot 3-parter left me with a really positive impression. It’s darker than the previous series, and I get a definite Battlestar Galactica vibe from it at times. It’s not quite that grim, but it’s a lot more moody than the predecessors. It’s also a bit slower paced and focuses a lot on the characters. I personally love that. The basic setup is of course close to the old Star Trek Voyager… but thankfully that’s the only similarity to that piece of crap. This series has those “actor” things, and something called “plot”.

Well, last night I watched the latest episode, “Light”, and… wow. Ok, now I’m officially impressed. That was good. Very good. So far, I think this is my favorite Stargate series – though that is only based on five episodes. We’ll see how it develops.

It’s a different show from the earlier ones, with a very different feel. I hope it keeps that up.

Supernatural considered kick-ass

“You’re sorry you started Armageddon?”

Ok, I still have a metric crapton of tv episodes sitting on my server, waiting for me to grab enough time to watch them. I’ve watched some of them, some are still in the pipeline. Some observations follow.

Supernatural continues to kick ass. Seriously. Sure, the first season was a bit hit and miss, and based on a “monster of the week” idea… but the writers soon realized that they had something a lot cooler in their hands and started working on a bigger plot, using the (somewhat unexpected) talents of the lead actors. Last season (the 4th) was… pretty awesome, not to mince words. This new 5th season looks to be just as good.

Last season they had angels. And not some wimpy “play harps on clouds” versions. No, the “smite it from orbit with extreme prejudice” kind. The kind that’s not interested in justice, or anything “good” (necessarily). This season, they have… well, something worse. Much worse.

From a “sort of fun” show, this has risen to be one of my current favorites (from what’s currently active). Muchos recommended. Supernatural is the best “World of Darkness” version on TV, without being “WoD” in any licensed sense.

Apart from that, my “worth watching” list now includes Stargate Universe. I’ve always liked the Stargate series… it’s good entertainment, and does not take itself too seriously. This new series seems to be better than “Stargate Atlantis”, at least. The characters are interesting, and the setup is pretty cool… if not totally original. It’s a mishmash of Star Trek Voyager and Stargate… but unlike Voyager, the script is (at least so far) not written by drunk baboons and the acting is at least decent. The three-part series pilot was pretty cool, waiting to see where this one goes.

Suprisingly, Fringe has taken off and become quite fascinating. I almost gave up on it… sure, it had some nice moments, but it was just so corny and filled with pseudo-science and technobabble. The background “metaplot” was pretty cool, though, what little of it we saw. This second season, they seem to have dumped most of the crap and concentrated on the big plot. And it works. At best, it reaches the level of X-Files (before it turned into crap). Not sure where this one will go, but I’ll be watching. For now, at least.

A side “hooray” must also be given to Burn Notice. It (also) seems to have found its stride, and is damn funny and entertaining. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which always helps.

Other that that, nothing has impressed much so far. On the other hand, I have lots of stuff still on the waiting list: Dexter seasons 3 and 4, Californication seasons 2 and 3, True Blood season 2. I expect most of those (at least) to rock.