Space: Above and Beyond

Oct 11 21:08 UTC 1995

Has anyone seen the new FOX show "SPace: Above and Beyond" ?
This is gonna be a hit. Good quality Sci-Fi.  I think what I like the most
about it is that it shows what life might be like on Earth in the future.
Most shows only deal with life in outer space.  I also like how they have
taken our military(here in the U.S.) and transformed each section into a space
outfit. If you havent seen this show check it out on Sunday evenings at 7 on
FOX

response 2 of 41:

Oct 12 05:42 UTC 1995

Guys? 

As for science, this is the worst -- not even a nod to the idea that these
are in space -- they have created a monster: a modern military show
transplanted into space by the simple dodge of changing the names.  Do they
hint that there is more than one protaginist country aside from the USA? No.
Do they alter the tactics or dialogue to even nod at the idea that the show
isn't taking place inside a gravity well, surrounded by oxygen?  Nope.  Is
this show going to fly?  Depends on what "keep your nose up" means when there's
nor "up" or even a horizon.

response 4 of 41:

Oct 12 14:54 UTC 1995

I had hopes for -Space- when it first came out, but my hopes have been
declined after the most recent episode. So far the characters have 
been very 2-dimensional, and the plot is a bit hazy. I wont stop
watching it yet, I think we need more good science fiction on TV.
I just hope this show can become a good show.

response 6 of 41:

Oct 14 01:39 UTC 1995

Very weak, very unimaginative.

response 8 of 41:

Oct 14 08:07 UTC 1995

Here's a major quibble: They've made a big point of modeling the structure
of "our heros" on the current Marine Corp. Well, currently, and I think it's
*reasonable* to assume that it will be the same in the time period of
this show, when you train someone to be a fighter pilot, that's what they
are, a fighter pilot. All the time. When they arn't fighting, they should
still be flying patrols to keep their skills honed. You don't have them
flying missions one week, and then doing ground assult, "grunt" type duty
the next week. People are trained for specialties and then that's what they
do.

Current air force pilots, Naval and Marine aviators, fly *every* day when
they are on duty. Even in peace time. It's such a demanding skill that it
has to be practiced every day or you quickly become rusty. Espescially
carrier pilots.

Another problem: Their renditions of their carriers are still modeled on
naval vessels.(They even vaguely look like the ships from Star Wars.) They
still can't shake the concept of an "UP" and a "DOWN". They have this big
complicated nifty looking structure up on top for the bridge. They might
as well put a big sign their that  says: "Command staff here. SHOOT HERE."

This is the same mistake Star Trek made. The reason that naval vessels
have their bridge up high is so that they can see to pilot the vessel,
and in the times before radar, so they could see the enemy. Curve of the
earth and all that. The higher up you are, the farther you can see.
But there's no reason to do this on a starship. Since you're not actually
looking out, there are no windows, and all your outside views are due to
remote sensing anyways, you should put your C&C under as much physical
shielding as possible. The Enterprise's bridge should have been buried
in the dead center of the saucer section, not right up on top where the
crew can be easily wiped out, or suffer the most radiation.

response 10 of 41:

Oct 15 02:50 UTC 1995

  Cant's see Space: A&B very well on my TV.  I saw the commercials which
dcid little to impress me, and reminded me of the Channel/Fireball combo
in Magic (cheese), but after viewing an episode of the show, the plot
seemed to be half decent.

response 12 of 41:

Nov 5 15:41 UTC 1995

Somebody on this show reeeaaly likes Johnny Cash.

response 14 of 41:

Nov 15 22:57 UTC 1995

Hopefully by the time we have Air craft(er space craft) carriers in space.

response 16 of 41:

Dec 15 04:40 UTC 1995

The Sci-fi channel definitely owns the rights to Battlestar Galactica,
because it was played incessantly, every night at 8, for the entire first
year that the channel was on the air (and there are only 18 episodes!)

response 18 of 41:

Dec 15 13:45 UTC 1995

Has Space: A&B gotten any better yet ? I gave up on it over a month
ago and haven't heard anything about it since.

response 20 of 41:

Dec 15 23:10 UTC 1995

18 episodes of original Galactica sounds about right. It's actually less, I
think, with several two-parters each counting as one episode. I don't know
the exact count off hand.

Space A&B has gotten worse. The Marine pilots aren't even flying, 'cept that
one time they flew an enemy aircraft back to the enemy homeworld.

response 22 of 41:

Dec 16 13:29 UTC 1995

I remember hearing the number 18 episodes for Galactica, but that was
counting the two-parters as one.  So I think it's a little more than 18
hours of tape.

response 24 of 41:

Dec 16 20:42 UTC 1995

The next season was the "We don't have the big bucks anymore for all the big
sets and all the space battle FX, so we're just going to drop them in 
present day california with their flying motorcycles." right?

Your comment to number #5 above: "This one never made sense", could very
well serve as the *theme* of BG. The one with the ship on fire: "Put on
your helmets and open the hatches you *Morons*!". All sorts of contrived
plot complications becuase they depicted space as if it were an interstate
highway system, rather than a 3 dimensional volume with travel in any
direction possible.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, and dumber.