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San Francisco, 4:58 PM
Sat Nov 28
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04/12/09
As in, you couldn't see what the hell was going on.
The network suits were all raving about all the $$ they spent on the pilot and it looked like they spent about 50 cents (Canadian). Seriously, it looked UGLY, worse than basic cable shows. Like they made it for Syfy and it accidentally ended up on NBC.
So I think it was dark b/c they couldn't pay the electric bill. Or any good writers.
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I'm not a hater by any means, he revitalized the show. But the tricks he loves so much (fanfare for ordinary people! and clunky foreshadowing) are becoming more and more evident.
Brit TV is best served when writers are able to move around to new projects. They tend to molder if they're in one place too long.
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Post-Donna, the Doctor is in one of his "I don't need anyone" phases and was mentally building a case against Lady Christina the whole time in case he might feel temped to ask her to come with him at the end of the adventure. The "eew dead people in my hair!" thing was a clue that she wasn't Companion material, but her kissing him was the final straw. He basically did everything he could to encourage her behavior short of initiating it himself, with the result that now he can't take her with him because he's not about to take on another Martha-like situation.
(Also, I think his ego is still a bit bruised from Donna's total lack of attraction to him and he wants to prove that he's "still got it.")
It's like Donna said, sometimes he needs someone to tell him when to stop, and Christina is definitely NOT that person. It's a sign of his character growth that he recognizes that and has moved beyond inviting every random attractive girl he meets to take a ride in his Tardis.
04/12/09
Especially since the rationalization it's replacing goes something like "We-ell, it's almost always the ladies initiating the smoochies, and let's be real here: could you spend five minutes with the Doctor without wanting to snog him silly?"
04/12/09
I do love his reaction to the inevitable snogging, though. It's never "Ick! Get off me, human!" or "I want more!" It's more like "Well, that was an interesting experience." Like he doesn't really care either way.
Why do women find him so irresistable? Because he's the perfect man: completely unattainable. Nobody can have him (not even Rose--she got a half-assed copy). Cross that line too many times, and he'll lose that quality.
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04/12/09
In short, its everything you'd expect a theoretical BSG wanabee made by a network to be: they don't understand that *most people didn't like the series because it was a remake of an old series, but because of the strong writing*
So first, they grabbed an old TV series to redo...then, they poorly copied the "dark" style of BSG and *made it utterly standalone*
Seriously, did they INTRODUCE any of the characters other than her? They didn't even introduce the "guys she's working for" that well; they mention off hand in like EPISODE THREE that they're NAME is "the Birkut Group", but they got so little intro it was confusing.
Enemies were utterly standalone one-episode apiece.
Further, Sackhoff utterly upstaged her. The problem wasn't the actors it was the writing, though.
Then making an entire episode just letting her use her normal british accent in an almost Felicity ripoff, down to the brainy science-major Asian roomate?
Further..you had the guy who was fired in disgrace from Gray's Anatomy for using homophobic slurs....so they introduced him as a stunt casting of all things? Seriously, the black guy? Armstrong or whatever? They sort of just...artlessly INSERTED him into most scenes, at the expense of even giving BASIC INTRODUCTIONS for main cast members! Then he died at the end of the 9 episode run but still....its....when Lucy Lawless sort of "overshadowed" Number Six in BSG season 3, I was annoyed but it made sense to try it. For this show it was "we haven't even introduced the main characters, but lets waste time focusing on an unpopular guest actor who eats up screentime while contributing little to the story"
THe fight scenes were just...Matrix/BSG ripoffs, and then just having BSG airing on background TV's?
This was when I realized that Ron Moore was the real brains behind BSG, and indeed...they later revealed that the whole "they have a plan" thing was Eick's idea and purely a marketing ploy, which successfully duped us all into thinking there was a planned out story we should try to figure out.
Amazing.
04/12/09
Did you hear me? STILL ON THE AIR!!!!!
04/12/09
And no one had any hopes for that to have quality.
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Though re-watching the clip above, it wasn't played quite right. Should have been more "horrified" than "inconvenienced."
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And they somehow managed to outrun some monsters which fly 100 miles in 20 minutes.
04/12/09
Though I did like Malcolm's scarf. Fashion tips from UNIT's last scientific adviser?
04/12/09
Martha: Hello? I'm standing right here with UNIT, Doctor. Pan left a little.
Doctor: Yep, I lose 'em all. Every last one.
Martha: Who d'you think gave you that mobile?
Doctor: Terrible, horrible, no-good ends.
Martha: Doctor!!
Doctor: We-ell, except for one of them. These UNIT folk probably met her once! She's doing fine.
Martha: Whew!
Doctor: Except she's baby-sitting my possibly-genocidal doppelganger, but you can't have everything.
Martha: ::cries::
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Have you seen this:
[en.wikipedia.org]!
04/12/09
Forgot it abridges:
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
04/12/09
Oh, wait, do these super cyborg monkeys swim? Because that'd be soooooo AWEsome!
(and yes, I realize technically, they're Bionic Water Monkeys, but once lawyers get involved, one expects creative compromises.)
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You can still find the unaired version of the pilot on the torrents. I'd say give it a look if you want to see more of what Ryan is talking about. It really could have been a great show.
04/12/09
Probably if they were around still, they'd be chomping at the bit to hire Chris Brown, same results.
Agree the sister was weak, and they couldn't make up what kind of show they wanted from week to week.
04/12/09
How does calling a heterosexual man a non-politically correct slang term for a homosexual make Washington a homophobe, exactly? My gay roomate called me a faggot yesterday, and I'm pretty damn sure he's not a homophobe, but the possibility is both hilarious and sad at the same time. Had Washington called that limp-wristed waste of protein T.R. Knight a faggot, well then you (and the media) might have had a point, but he didn't so you don't. Please do us a favor, and keep your ignorant hate out of these forums, thanks.
04/12/09
And, coming out of left field w/ the "ignorant hate" comment, I get the vibe that someone needs a long, luxurious anal massage to relax a bit. You're w-a-y too tense. Work on it, kay?
* See, irony! So all's forgiven, right?
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04/12/09
The rest of the cast was all "dude, shut up! we said we were gonna ignore it! but he started up again. Open mouth, insert foot, stupid is as stupid does.
So "Bionic Woman" really saved his ass, and they used him to get publicity for the show that no one was watching or cared about or talked about. Just as @Trai_Dep said.
Changing the sister was an unrelated dumbass move.
04/12/09
P.S. - Anyone else is seeing an ad for "the cougar" from the same creators of "the bachelor" on this page? talk about weird choice of advertisments in a sci-fi oriented site.
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