A Farewell to SGU

It is with a heavy heart that I return to blogging. After nearly a year of absence and a posts left unfinished, I return on the day that will, at least in my mind, mark the end of great science fiction television.

It hasn't been long that I've been a Stargate fan... just a little over two years now. But Stargate filled a void that I wasn't always conscious that I had, the one for great science fiction. For the last 14 years, the Stargate franchise has been giving fans just that. Like I said, I wasn't watching 14 years ago, but in the last two years, I've managed to cram in 14 years' worth of television, and those last two years have made me a passionate fan.

Simply put, I love Stargate. I've become a diehard fan, because the Stargate franchise offers me everything I want in a TV show and everything I want in a Sci Fi show. For me, it is the epitome of awesome science fiction, and I'm not sure I can think of a better way to put that.

SGU Season 2 - Oh. My. God.

I know I said I wasn't going to talk about SGU here any more in favor of ColonelEZ.net... but OMGWTFROFLBBQ AAAAAHHHHHHH. This trailer is SO INTENSE and SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD that I simply had to share it. If you are not on board yet with SGU, WTF is wrong with you?!?!?!

Season 2 starts next Tuesday, so catch up quick! It's going to be EPIC!

Stargate Universe Season 1.5 Trailer

This might be the best trailer for anything ever! No, seriously, absolutely amazing, omgwtfbbq!!!

I. Cannot. Wait.
EDIT: Is this... Michael Shanks?



WOW! April 2nd cannot get here fast enough!

Brian J. Smith on SGU

Good evening, folks. I figured I'd take a few moments away from the work that has consumed my life for the past week and put up a blog. And, well, it's SGU - I'll always find the time for that!

I've recently become acquainted with Curt, the awesome gentleman who writes the Show Patrol blog for chicagonow.com. Yesterday, he posted a positively fantastic interview with Brian J. Smith, who plays Lt. Matthew Scott on the show. Brian weighs in on some of the "bigger issues" plaguing the show including fans' reaction to his character, fans' reaction to the show in general, some juicy little spoilers for both the second half of season one (returning in April!!) and season 2, with some bonus classical music discourse to boot! Plus, he really digs into the psychology of his character - his attitudes, the effects of his past on his present, the way he makes decisions, including some of the very same things I mentioned in my Why I Love SGU post from a few months back (including his defining moment)! Brian also goes into some detail surrounding the motives and repercussions of the very controversial scene from "Air, Part 1," an explanation that is actually very logical, and one that I hit myself for missing almost entirely!

Did I mention the interview hilarious?

And I can't wait for this mysterious episode called "Faith"... sound amazing.

You can check out the interview by clicking here (<-- click there). I highly recommend it; it's a great read.

SGU Renewed for Season 2

OK, so I should be in bed right now, but my phone has been going crazy with people telling me that Stargate Universe was renewed for a second season! Now, I've long suspected that it would be renewed. Aside from the fact that it's a great show - the best on TV currently - it pulls in some great ratings. In fact, I've seen rumors online that the strong ratings from both SGU and Sanctuary have propelled SyFy to the 4th highest rated basic cable network. Pretty impressive.

Stargate Universe - Justice

Welcome to my first ever episode writeup for Stargate Universe. I'm very excited about this, especially since this episode was so damned good. And we will get to that in a second. First and foremost, SGU is now on hiatus for a very long time. Until April-ish in fact, which is almost 5 months away. This is rather distressing, as the ending to this one definitely left me wanting - no, needing - to see what else is in store.

But, fear not, the Hiatus Project is here. For the next few months, every Friday night, we'll be meeting up for a group chat during regular SGU time (9:00 EST). Hang out with cool people, learn the SGU drinking game from the queen of the game, maybe even a few special guests. If you're interested, head over to Colonel_Ez's blog for full details.

Onto the show. I'll try to keep the spoilers to an absolute minimum.

New Episode of SGU Next Week "Justice"

Alrighty, folks. With the first part of Why I Love SGU out of the way, I'm going to dive into some previews. Like I said in that post, SGU will not be on tomorrow. :-( <-- sad panda face

Next week we pick up with the mid season finale, called "Justice." Somebody is murdered on board the ship. I'm pumped up about this episode already. Can't freaking wait. Check out SyFy's cool trailer below. Make sure you tune in next Friday on SyFy, 9/8c - this is going to be a can't miss episode.

Why I Love SGU, Part 1 - The Characters

I just finished watching "Time" the best so far of the young SGU series, a series that seems to get better and better with each passing week. I believe that at this point I anticipate Friday night SGU more than I even anticipate Mondays with Heroes and Lie to Me and House. This show is that good.

Better even than October Road? ... Yeah, I think so.

There are so very many things the show does right, it's hard to name them all. But let me try for a while here. I intend for this to be an absolute doozy of a read, so hang in there!

TV Shows in Limbo

All over the web, articles are popping up talking about suspended production on all manner of TV shows, including some shows that I happen to like a lot - funny enough, all the shows of which I think highly enough to write about in this list are all on one channel.

ABC.

Word of advice to ABC. Don't get all NBC on me and start canceling good shows. Don't do it. That would make you idiots. I promise.

A Quickie About SGU

Ok, folks, for reals this time. I just finished watching the newest episode of SGU, called "Time." I believe it is probably the best episode of anything ever. As one guy on Twitter put it: "All right, I'm converted- this latest SGU? Rocked my socks off, blew my mind & possibly cured cancer- it was that brilliant"

It really was that brilliant.

Anybody even remotely interested in anything Sci-Fi needs to watch this show. It's already great, it's getting better, and it's very quickly becoming my favorite show on TV.

I'm working on a write-up of SGU thusfar, which I hope to have published later this weekend. Check back, it's gonna be a long one.

Stargate Universe Revisited

As I mentioned in my last post, I have recently become quite addicted to the shows in the world of Stargate. I still have yet to test the waters in Atlantis, but I'm making strong headway into the original SG-1, and I've completely caught myself up on the current episodes from SG-U. I must say, as much as I love SG-1, There is something remarkable about SG-U that has me quite literally hopping up and down in anticipation of the next episode.

Here's why: We can officially add this to the very short list of shows with characters I truly love. Very few times can I say that I was sitting here watching the show shouting at the screen (it's like what most people do with football) or that I had to get up and pace because the show was making me nervous.

Though I still have a little over 7 seasons to go in SG-1, I do feel pretty comfortable saying that I'm going to like SG-U better... much better. See, while there are some pretty awesome characters in SG-1, a truly memorable lot, SG-U seems to be almost entirely focused on the characters. We get back stories, we get relationships, rivalries, and camaraderie.

All this on the backdrop of being stuck on a spaceship that seems capable of taking care of the people on the ship without allowing them to leave or get home. And this is where the show succeeds in my opinion - the stuff about the Stargates is really just a backdrop for the characters and their interactions. It reminds me of The Mist, in that the people can survive, so the story becomes one about the people and their natures. My favorite kind of story.

In any case, my favorite character of the bunch remains Lt. Scott. His arc even in the first 6 episodes is just fascinating and a pleasure to watch. The character has a lot of back story that can be built upon and expanded, and I positively can't wait. Also, Dr. Rush continues to get ever more complicated. His motives are questionable, but his ends seems to work for the benefit of everybody on the crew. Like Scott, I cannot wait to see how his character evolves.

One character that I didn't mention in my first post on the show was Colonel Young, and shame on me, because he is the gravity and the maturity that really keeps the show level. He's obviously a seasoned soldier, and the weight he lends the pieces of the story on board the ship really makes it all seem so... plausible. His back story, though, is what really got me on his bandwagon. It's kind of heartbreaking, and they really dig into it in the episode entitled "Earth." This also happens to be the basis for the biggest OMG moment I've had watching TV in quite a while. It was the cliffhanger ending of the show, and it had me staring slack-jawed at the screen for many a minute after the credits had concluded.

In any case, This show has definitely been added to the weekly must-watch list - right up there with House, Heroes, Cougar Town, and V (and Southland in January :-). Check it out if you get the chance.

A Bit About Stargate

My friend Randy has been devoting time recently to introducing me to this TV show called Stargate SG-1. I had decided prior to sitting down and watching my first episode that it wasn't going to be particularly good and therefore a waste of time. Lo and behold, It took about half of that first episode for me to be completely engrossed. The show is smart, it's funny, and it's got some great story. It's been almost a week since the last time I watched it, and I think I'm going into withdrawal.

I was browsing Hulu today, and I happened upon the newest of the Stargate series called SG-U... or Stargate Universe. The first episode was a 2-parter, an hour and a half long, and damn is it fascinating. I haven't caught myself up on the 10+ years of SG-1, nor have I even started my venture to Atlantis, but Randy has filled me in on enough of the story to have a pretty good idea of what's going on. I fell right into this new story and these new characters, and I now have a new weekly must-watch show. Can't wait to get back to it and jump into the second episode.

I'm not sure what it is about the Stargate series, but they seem to always find some really good actors to fill the required roles. The acting in the newest iteration is sharp and intelligent, the folks really bring the on-screen personas to life. Of particular note are Brian J. Smith as Lt. Matthew Scott (and I say that for more than just the fact that he shares my name - coolest name ever!! :-) and Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush. Just from the first episode, I can tell that there is a lot more to these two than meets the eye, and I'm quite excited to see what happens with them. In particular, the dynamic between the two characters is fascinating,and I find myself hoping the show devotes plenty of time to exploring it.

Storyline-wise, so far as I can tell, this is a natural evolution from what I know of the past storylines, and it's ridiculously fascinating to put the missing pieces together in my head.

So, anyway, there's my two cents on the matter. I highly recommend it to anybody who is looking for an entertaining watch.