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Where have all the Aliens gone?

Discussion in 'Sensorium' started by Kitrax, Nov 23, 2005.

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  1. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Remove all ads!
    I have no idea what Three's Company is, but yes, SG-1 is still running. Last I heard it's been renewed for a 10th season... or was that the 11th already? In any event, there's so single SF series in history that's lasted that long. I can't recall any that ran more than 8 seasons, even.

    I've seen about half of TOS by now, and trust me, most people seeing it for the first time today would cringe, or worse. And, as people have mentioned here, it's about as subtle as a train wreck most of the time.

    Considering the original show has been running for over 10 seasons already, and the fact that a companion series is already at season 2, I think you're selling Stargate short here. Nothing gets made for 10 seasons and the concept exported to a companion series unless it has a significantly large viewer base. If it's not even advertised much it's even more remarkable that it gets ratings that warrant its phenomenally long run, don't you think?
     
    Taluntain, Nov 30, 2005
    #41

  2. Arendil Gems: 6/31
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    Ehm...because they have too much free time on their hands ?... ;) ...
     
    Arendil, Nov 30, 2005
    #42
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    The size and relative uniformity of America, for example. And good news coverage.
     
    Taluntain, Nov 30, 2005
    #43
  4. Colthrun

    Colthrun Walk first in the forest and last in the bog Veteran

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    I disagree. Good SF is about good guys kicking backside with futuristic weapons, weird-looking starships, ugly enemies, and at least one hot chick in revealing or very tight clothing. Stargate SG-1 is missing the chick on tight clothing, hence the reason why is not as popular. :p


    Whatever happened to "a meteor is going to strike the Earth" hysteria of a couple of years back? The reason why people don't talk that much about aliens now is because the little green men (or are they tall and gray?) are not fashionable at the moment. War and conspiracies about terrorism and the middle east are more in vogue...
     
    Colthrun, Dec 1, 2005
    #44
  5. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    No, no, what you describe is "Space Opera", not "good SF" ;)
     
    Blackthorne TA, Dec 1, 2005
    #45
  6. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    So why aren't people reporting sightings of Osama in their backyard? :shake:
     
    Taluntain, Dec 1, 2005
    #46

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    Good SF can be confused with enjoyable SF. I like the chicks in tight clothes as much as the next fellow, but that in and of itself does not make it good writing or storytelling. The 2 CAN go together, though.

    And Tal, maybe people aren't seeing Osama, but many people ARE seeing terrorists where none exist (Cat Stevens, for example.) That whole fiasco held just as much entertainment value for me as any redneck's story about being gang probed.
     
    LKD, Dec 1, 2005
    #47
  8. Morgoroth

    Morgoroth Just because I happen to have tentacles, it doesn'

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    If you ask me (nobody actually did but I'll say it anyway) all SF is equally crappy, X-Files was the only one that I've bothered to watch so far but Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate and other similar series I can't stand. As for the aliens, I do remember that there were some talks about circles on fields even in here ten years ago or so. Personally I think the trend just got old and people moved on to new things.

    Quite a hit under the belt that one, eh? :shake: :lol:
     
    Morgoroth, Dec 2, 2005
    #48

  9. JSBB Gems: 31/31
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    I finally realized what was bothering me so much about this statement - Stargate will have to stay on the air for one hell of a lot longer to match the original Doctor Who's 26 year run.
     
    JSBB, Dec 2, 2005
    #49

  10. AMaster Gems: 26/31
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    They are. I recall a front page photo of a submarine in a tabloid which had the helpful headline, "Iraqi submarine spotted in great lakes" back before the war.
     
    AMaster, Dec 2, 2005
    #50
  11. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    JSBB, right you are... They never showed Doctor Who here (or anywhere near here), and with such an incredibly long run, I don't know if it's been shown in its entirety anywhere but on BBC's own channels... So I'm not sure how far Doctor Who counts. Sure, nothing's going to break its run record any time soon, but when BBC is the only place where all of it has been shown, it severely limits its reach. The series I was comparing Stargate to were such that I know they get syndicated whole around the world (not everywhere and always, but still).
     
    Taluntain, Dec 2, 2005
    #51
  12. Aldeth the Foppish Idiot

    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot Armed with My Mallet O' Thinking Veteran

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    Dr. Who was on synication here in the states since I was a kid - in other words - long before BBC America became a television program. In fact for years it was on PBS, which you don't even need cable to get.
     
    Aldeth the Foppish Idiot, Dec 2, 2005
    #52

  13. JSBB Gems: 31/31
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    Same here. Doctor Who was a staple of the North American public televison networks when I was growing up. It was on around 4 PM on week-days so I watched it every day after I came home from school.
     
    JSBB, Dec 2, 2005
    #53
  14. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I know that it was also shown in America besides the UK (and Americanized to an extent), but from what I've read, all of it was never shown in the US... how many episodes are there anyway? It'd have taken a few years to show all that, even if a new episode was showing every week-day.
     
    Taluntain, Dec 3, 2005
    #54

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    I did a little research and there were apparently 703 episodes. That works out to 140.6 weeks to air the entire series or 2.7 years.
     
    JSBB, Dec 3, 2005
    #55
  16. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    So, how much of it have you seen?
     
    Taluntain, Dec 3, 2005
    #56

  17. JSBB Gems: 31/31
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    I believe that I saw pretty much all of the episodes (most of them at least a couple times) from the point the show went to colour in 1970 up until the series ended.

    Unfortunately, the station I watched didn't air the black and white episodes from the 1963-1970 period. I imagine that they thought that viewers would be turned off by black and white.
     
    JSBB, Dec 4, 2005
    #57
  18. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Hmm, interesting... any other single SF series you know of besides Dr. Who that ran remotely as long?
     
    Taluntain, Dec 4, 2005
    #58
  19. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    What about Red Dwarf? Isn't that still going? If not, I'm sure it went for ages.
     
    Harbourboy, Dec 4, 2005
    #59
  20. DarkStrider

    DarkStrider I've seen the future and it has seen me Distinguished Member

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    Red Dwarf had 8 series in total
     
    DarkStrider, Dec 4, 2005
    #60
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