Small Screen Surfin
Created | Updated Jul 7, 2004
Isn't scheduling wonderful? I hope no-one was drastically seeking out Comedy Connections,
because it wasn't on. But it should be back this Monday looking at Father Ted.
So onto this week. Sci-fi. You either love it or you hate it. Well, not so because I love Red
Dwarf (big surprise) but will usually scream in horror at TV sci-fi. I think I have a serious
problem with science fiction that takes itself seriously by which I mean that the characters in it
don't find these aliens and time travel things happening all the time a teensy bit weird. I
personally can't stand Star Trek. It's amazing how a supposedly advanced human race just
happens to be right all the time. It's the Human Way or no way and we have flash laser
weapons to prove it. You? Have a different way of life? No! If it's not resolved by the end of this
episode you're an enemy pal.
There's cheapness of it all. Sci-fi is expensive but almost always looks cheap. I've tried liking
Doctor Who, I really have but when Tom Baker is being attacked by the evil green painted
bubble-wrap slug it would be laughable if I wasn't so upsetting. Arrogant? I hope not, I can watch
Red Dwarf's crew be attacked by the evil puppet even if they don't have shadows while on the
screen at the same time.
I like Quantum Leap's basic outline but I like the whole history thing. But most Sci-fi these
days are the same THING!!! The sci-fi genre is supposed to be the second most pliable genre to do
anything that it wants1 to. So we could we have a
checklist of 'events'?
Time Travel, Parallel Universes, Aliens, Killer-Robots, Alternate Dimensions,
Faster-Than-Light-Speed.
Red Dwarf has used all of these except aliens at least three times over throughout it's eight
series run! But that's what sci-fi is! I hear you cry. Is it? Is it really so hard to have a future which
is 'normal'? Neither Super-clean or Post-apocalyptic? Every planet that isn't similar to Earth is
themed. A forest world, a rock world, a fire world, a desert world, a desolate world etc. You
should not be able to look at an alien world in TV Sci-fi and sum it up it two words. It isn't
believable. Sci-fi movies like Back to the Future (part II) and Alien are great
at convincing you that although you're only seeing this small group of characters, the universe is still
going on unlike Waterworld or Mad Max which effectively get put in front of the
actors. Wanna bet that these nasty Sea/Road Gangs are in the netherealm until they're needed?
Sounds like a stupid question, because it is but the believability needs a part. Star Wars has
the advantage in which it has a bigger universe because of books, TV, comics, games... it's amazing
what you can create in your mind as long as extras aren't just THERE but living their lives.
Did this rant have a point? Well not really but you'll have to agree it's something to scrape the
barrel with when needing to escape the comedy/history influx SSS has had this past weeks...
Keep Surfin'!
