Come on lads, give Andromeda a chance

[bastaard777]

I’m a bit behind, but being a big fan of Sci-Fi and a frequent poster in Sci-Fi communities, I feel most people have either never watched Andromeda or have seen 2 eps and made a snap judgement without giving it any time. Most shows don’t flower until a few seasons in (ST: TNG, etc.).

I feel Andromeda has done quite well, keeping decent story arcs, developing a cast more than most shows (Sorbo/Dylan is NOT always the focus).

I’m still at the tail end of Season 3, but come on they had Michael Shanks as an AI fighting Christopher Judge (also an AI). Oh yeah, that’s Daniel Jackson and Teal’c from SG-1 respectively. That’s pretty cool.

See I’ve never gotten into Farscape, but I don’t make snap calls and I honestly see the quality in the show. I think Andromeda is at least a poor-man’s Farscape, and given time could grow to something more. But the constant naysayers or sheep-like haters will always hurt the show’s future.

Give it a chance and stop acting like it’s cool to hate Kevin Sorbo.

[Anonymous]

I don’t hate Kevin Sorbo, it’s Captain Hercules that really gets on my nerves. 😉 (joke)

It’s not a bad show; guess I should give it another chance. Most shows take a while to grow on me.

BTW, welcome to the forums! 😀

[Jhevz]

Welcome to the Forums here at Sadgeezer, bastaard777,
I don’t hate Kevin Sorbo either; in fact, I really like the whole cast, even if at times, you feel like ringing someone’s neck. When I started watching it, it was at a decent time when I could watch it on a regular basis; but now, it’s on at a time when I can’t, even though I could tape it, that’s just another show & tape I have to watch.
I really like the show, the characters & such, because it’s another concept to consider. I hope you get a chance & watch the 1st season, you’ll get a kick out of it & how the show started in the 1st place.
Welcome again to the forums & post as much as you can; there’s also plenty of good reading here as well.

Andromedans Unite,
Jhevz 😉

[Anonymous]

bastaard777 wrote:

Most shows don’t flower until a few seasons in (ST: TNG, etc.).

I feel Andromeda has done quite well, keeping decent story arcs, developing a cast more than most shows (Sorbo/Dylan is NOT always the focus).

I haven’t watched enough Andromeda to have much of an opinion of it, but you raise a point that interests me. Sorry it’s a little Andromeda off-topic…

From my experience, most shows that take time to flower are American shows due to expectedly long-runs. For instance, many British shows have relatively few episodes and so, like a movie, they must pretty much start off great. The Prisoner, for instance, was I believe at some time supposed to be fewer episodes than what they ultimately came out with – they came out with 17 episodes, and some of those were considered to be filler. Lexx, a Canada/Germany/UK co-production certainly had some filler episodes because the producers wanted to get X many episodes for a season.

I also like shows that have coherent story arcs, and they do work best when it’s planned out from the beginning. I like a beginning, middle, and an end with a minimum of filler. In some of the best-structured shows, every episode is necessary, and so is everything that’s included in an episode

I’ve always liked economy when it comes to episodes (and even posts though you could hardly guess it from this :P) – enjoy mini-series – and think that by the time many shows end they have pretty much fizzled out – it’s been exhausted, been milked for all it’s worth…. So often the end comes because they are cancelled due to lack of interest (the audience or producers) rather than it being because the story has been told and that’s where they wanted to end it all along. It’s so much better when the show ends on a high note. There’s an old saying in show biz, always keep them wanting more. Of course the die-hard fans always do want more, but… There’s often a time when a long-running series “jumps the shark” (see Frostgeezer’s topic HERE (click)

Yep, way too often shows are stretched out beyond their expiration date. Sad, too, that some shows are cancelled before they even have a chance to really conclude the show in a satisfactory way. I generally like it when they logically and with tactical precision build up to a big finale (but if there’s a twist even better). Much as one needs to meet audience expectations in some ways, without the element of surprise it becomes boring (keep em guessing). Star Trek Voyager’s finale was a total letdown… boring. I wanna be amazed and surprised. But I digress… 😉

I personally felt Star Trek TNG went downhill somewhat, became too space soap operaish – it always had those qualities. And did the useless talky-talky filler pseudo-tech talk get even heavier towards the end? Now Star Trek TOS; there was a good show, and started off very strong (either with the first Kirk episode, or with the Captain Pike pilot The Cage)! After that I can’t help but feel it was all-downhill for the Star Trek series’s franchise.

So really, if a show doesn’t come out strong from the gates, I can’t generally be bothered with it. If it’s not good at the beginning, well that’s just sloppy (sloppy conception, writing etc.). If you can tell a complex story in an hour and a half with a movie, and make it riveting… Hell, I’ve seen 15 minute shorts that could do that. To think it takes some shows 3 seasons… Do you really need many episodes to set up the character and situation before you can get to the good stuff? And you shouldn’t need to find your way, the idea should be fully thought out before getting into production in my opinion.

By the way, Lexx’s I Worship His Shadow, the first Lexx episode (or made for TV serial movie — whatever) remains my favourite, and I felt it went a little downhill after Season 2, but that’s just my taste and just one example.

Incidentally, I’m sure Dylan isn’t always the focus. The impression from a little of what I saw was that he was just some guy, a character merely there to help move along the action/plot.

[Anonymous]

bastaard777 wrote:

Give it a chance and stop acting like it’s cool to hate Kevin Sorbo.

I know what you mean, at the least many people act like it’s hip to hate Sorbo. To me cool is relaxed, cool is chillin’ out, cool is a near comatose lounge singer in an igloo. Aint nothin’ “cool” in that sense about hating anything.

But, it certainly seems that in pop culture it’s far from cool to like Sorbo — all his Entertainment Tonite appearances may not have helped in some ways. Many think the show Hercules was kinda nerdy, but why should his character there determine how we feel about his Andromeda character? Why can’t people divorce Hercules from Captain Dylan Hunt?

Maybe people don’t like him because he’s pretty. Now if it was Fabio at the helm I’m sure no one would be complaining. 😉

[Anonymous]

I got quite into the series and the story arc for a while, even enough to write reviews and set up a section on this site. But I have to say that I am one of the ‘it’s cool to hate Kevin SOrbo’ peeps.

From what I’ve read and picked up on the net he’s a pretty nasty character (in real life). Getting rid of the lead writer was bloody awful! The geezer had some of the most innovative Sci Fi ideas and alleviated the show from being just another STNG ripoff to being something unique or at least innovative.

Unfortunately, the Hercules in Space attitude of Sorbo and his sycophantic entourage wound me up so much that I just wanted to throw my beer can at the screen every time he hammed his way through an episode.

I know that all sounds pretty negative, there are some good points, but these were in the first series.

[Anonymous]

Well that pretty much answers it… I’ve also heard that Sorbo (or Sore Bone as some people like to call him) was a prima donna and a control freak.

Anyway, yep, obviously Andromeda was given a chance as evidenced by the past success of this forum and the guide, but…

Should people give it another chance?

[A -DM]

I have too say that Sorbo is not the problem with Andromeda, I liked him in Herc, but as a captain he doesn’t come across as a strong leader, the tough guy image doesn’t work with him, it worked with herc because he was a hero for the people and needed to show a gentler side and it worked.
But that is only one point in the this tedious show, truth be told I would imagine that a lot of the shows fans originated from Herc.
The show just hasn’t improved, at times it’s shown it’s picking itself up and showing promise and then does something in another ep to throw itself back in the gutter.
It’s one of those shows that it’s hard to put your finger as too why it’s not appealing, I think it’s a combination of many small things that most times go undetected but when they all come together in one ep then you’re left with the feeling of a poor show.
I think the cons outweigh the pros in Andromeda’s case, some of the actor’s feel like rejects from bit part shows of the past, they’ve shown up here and there in minor roles and that’s all they’ve ever done. Look’s and character play a big part in this show’s downfall, Sorbo we’ve already discussed, Harper is the very depiction of annoying little man who is just not funny, Beka Valentine has the face of a trout giving birth, Trance Gemini (that is such a crap and corny name), she’s cute, but like Harper she get’s annoying and she now looks like a rastafarian version of Xev, Rev Bem looked like a big teddy with claws and had female genitila for a nose.
The only two characters of note was Tyr and Rommie, Tyr because he had character and a dark side, the guy played the part well, and Rommie because I’m a big fan of Lexa Doig and she is beautiful beyond belief, shame she’s wasting her time with this.
Don’t get me wrong I have watched every ep of Andromeda from day one, I watched through lack of anything else to do, and there has been good times, but the first two seasons were abysmal, it now stands on a precipice, and in my opinion it does not warrant further existence as while the latter seasons have improved, they haven’t improved enough.
To me Andromeda smacks of a show that tries too hard, when it simply has no idea on how too make itself good or improve it’s ratings, the episodes are erratic and it’s difficult to know what goals this story now has. Just when it looks like Hunt is nearer his goal of creating a new commonwealth, the writers in their infinte wisdom decide let’s destroy the whole thing and start again, each season is Andromeda trying a new way to express itself and ultimately failing miserably every time.

ADM

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