how are the ratings so far?
----- Original Message -----
From: "C.W. Badie" <astromancer2...@yahoo.com>
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 3:06:12 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [RE][scifinoir2] "Defying Gravity" on ABC now
I liked it, but it's rather loose storytelling, the type of looseness the leads
to cancellation...
From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker...@lycos..com>
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2009 8:24:50 AM
Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] "Defying Gravity" on ABC now
Keith, I almost missed it, stumbling across it two minutes before it
bbegan. I
I enjoyed it overall, though the pacing was a bit leaden at times. (Maybe on
purpose?) The mysterious nature of the real mission has me hooked, without
saying. Can't wait until the MC ventures into Pod 4 to find out what's really
up.
As for the incidental music, I really don't take notice of it as I watch a TV
show or movie, unless it's a song near and dear to my heart.
---------[ Received Mail Content ]----------
Subject : [scifinoir2] "Defying Gravity" on ABC now
Date : Mon, 3 Aug 2009 02:13:45 +0000 (UTC)
>From : Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ comcast..net >
To : scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
Anyone watching ABC's entry into the "Big Brother in Outer Space by way of
BSG-style drama"? It deals with a seven-year mission in the year 2052 that
sends eight astronauts to visit six planets in the Solar System. Very quickly
into the show, we're made aware there's some kind of secret involved. The two
most experienced astronauts in the program (one of whom is played by Malik
Yoba) are initially left off the mission aboard the spaceship "Antares". Later,
when some kind of heart problem keeps cropping up among the crew--evidently
tied to the "secret"--the two astronauts are blasted into space to join the
mission. One comment I overheard makes me think some kind of sentient race has
been encountered by humanity--perhaps on a previous tragic mission to Mars in
which one of the current astronauts had to leave three of his fellows behind.
Perhaps this sentient race is controlling the mission somehow? Not sure.
Also not sure yet if I'll like the show. It has some decent actors and decent
lines. But just when I'm starting to get into the mission and the scifi aspect
of it, I'm distracted by overpowering music that attempts to heighten a scene,
the lead astronaut's self-reflective monologue, too much of the newly-hot
camera work (a la BSG and Star Trek) with a shaky cam to convey reality. Or I'm
watching two astronauts make nekkid love in zero g and feeling vaguely
manipulated at an attempt to make me feel awestruck or something. There's a lot
of flashbacks and flashforwards that make following the story a bit confusing
at times. "Lost" this ain't. There's also a odd flow: a mix of serious drama,
melodrama, camp soap opera type moments, silly humour supported by "Desperate
Housewives" type music, and a lot of titillation. It makes it hard for one to
get a feeling of the overall nature of the show. Is it a drama, a reality-type
show like "Virtuality" , a mystery? Don't know, but I ! found myself losing
interest a lot, then picking it back up, then losing it again as the standard
nighttime soap feel comes back in the mix.
Lots of TV veterans, including the blonde lady from "The 4400" (the one who
feel inlove with a black man), and Cristina Cox "Blood Ties", who's been a
guest in more series than Michael Michelle. They're all okay, but again, the
uneven pacing, writing, and flashbacks undermine their acting. The constant
shift from a high-tech spaceshp to mundane scenes on Earth are abrupt and
off-putting.
Like "Virtuality" , this show seems to be another clone that tries to copy the
delicate balance of reality-type drama mixed with scifi that BSG (mostly) did
right. and like "Virtuality" , it bores me as much as it intrigues--somethin g
that BSG didn't do in the main.
Not sure if the show's even being picked up, but if it is, not sure I'll keep
watching.
Anyone else's thought's?
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=JQdwk8Yntds
