Monthly Sci-Fi Club

[tielan]

The best part of today was watching the first few minutes of Knight Rider 1.02 (or was it 1.03?) at my monthly sci-fi club and predicting what would happen. That's one show that I've gotta watch - and watch with other people, just for the joy of poking fun at it.

I also saw Terminator: SCC 2.03 today and have decided I should watch the rest of it. Although some of the characterisations bug me - such as Cameron's social cluelessness, and John's continuing cluelessness that disobeying might be a typical teenaged act of rebellion, but in his case, it gets people killed - like his mother's ex-fiancee's wife when he gave the ex-fiancee his phone number, and nearly him when he played hookey from Cameron.

We also watched Dr. Who: Resurrection of the Daleks, sort of - vintage Who. Because there were apparently several episodes dedicated to this storyline and we saw episode #1 and #3, and it definitely didn't finish at #3.

I'm kind of enjoying The Middleman, although it's a slightly odd show. Traditional British sci-fi style in an American setting, which actually works for me. I don't imagine it'll ever be an old man River particularly popular in America, but it's funny enough.

Does anyone know when Eureka comes back on in the US?

In spite of my continuing and growing dissatisfaction with SGA, I have enjoyed other shows, although none have grabbed me. Mostly, I think, I need to find a place to fit into the fandoms, although it would probably help if any of the characters really spoke to me. I like the physically kickass girls who aren't emotionally disconnected from the people around them. Not exactly a common complaint in science fiction.

Anyway, the club has been good for me this year, brought me into the realm of people that I wouldn't have otherwise met. And at $10 a month, it's way cheaper than paying $3000 for a round-the-world ticket every time I want to catch up with people who can talk sci-fi.

And saeva? You were right. Sanctuary 1.04 was better.

Comments

[thelana.livejournal.com]

You know, if it wasn't deeply masochistic I would suggest Merlin. You know, yet another fandom with pretty neat girls, a canon her pairing, yet a fandom that is 1736275378% one single slash pairing.





I like the physically kickass girls who aren't emotionally disconnected from the people around them. Not exactly a common complaint in science fiction.

Hmmm, I guess Marian on Robin Hood would fit the bill (and she was popular), but she died.

The girl from Legend of the Seeker, I guess she is somewhat disconnected, but not willingly, but because of her gift. Also, very canon pairing, both in the source material and on the show and no serious competition from other pairings I think. And despite her girly looks she must frequently save him because she is a much better fighter than he is. Though maybe he dilutes the dynamic a bit because he is one of these "chosen one" guys.


I don't watch enough Chuck to know how disconnected the woman there is, though probably a bit because of job again, though she is probably more connected than the main character.

I can't really sit through Fringe, but maybe the lead character there would fit the bill?

I know it's not SciFi, but maybe you should give The Mentalist a try. She is the boss of unit and definitely the voice of reason and it her job to keep HIM in check.

[caladria.livejournal.com]

Oh, Classic Who is cheesetastic.. As a general rule of thumb, the longer the serial, the more filler it has (I've never made it through anything over six serials long). Have you tried new Who? series 4 has Donna in it, who's bloody fantastic; physically kickass is probably pushing it too far, but she's no damsel in distress.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I'd totally love to see who among Rose, Martha and Donna would be tielan's fave. My fave was actually Donna because I really appreciated the LACK of romance between her and doctor.

[landwm.livejournal.com]

I would actually totally recommend Fringe. It took me a couple of episodes to really get into it, but now that I am, I find it very very interesting. The lead lady, Agent Dunham, is portrayed as strong, intelligent, and dedicated to her job. And Walter, the crazy scientist guy, is absolutely hysterical. His personality is like an absent minded professor that confesses to some pretty horrible evil genius scientist moments with childlike enthusiasm. I like how the episodes are House-esque, meaning the science behind the cases they are investigating get kind of dummified down so that Agent Dunham and Peter, Walter's son, can understand what is going on.


And the hubby and I love Eureka. The last episode was such a cliffhanger, we both actually yelled "NO!" when we saw that it was the midseason break and that new episodes wouldn't air until January. I really like Alison in this season as opposed to last season; I thought she was looking rough there for a while and acting pretty harsh, especially to poor Jack. It seems to me that she is going back to being how she was in the first season, smart, no-nonsense when she has to be, but with a friendlier personality.


Terminator: SCC takes watching a few episodes to really get into, and for me, it took practically the entire first season. I originally started watching it because Summer Glau is in it and Firefly is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi shows that ended way before it's time. But this season is ok, not great, but ok. I seem to be having a hard time getting into some of the characters, especially the leading bad guy terminator lady played by the chick from Garbage. I realize that they are playing robots, and therefore their personalities are supposed to be flat, but still...


Robin Hood really is the only other show I can think of that has a very strong, able to kick ass better than the guys, leading lady. And they killed Marian in the last season, which makes absolutely no senses because what other love interest is Robin supposed to have if not Marian?


I suppose Smallville could go towards strong leading ladies, since Lois Lane tends to be portrayed as independent and a risk-taker. But I haven't watched a single episode of season 8, partly because my husband wants to finish watching season 7 before getting caught up in the latest episodes, and also partly because Lex Luthor isn't in the show anymore. The actor decided not to renew his contract, which is why there is a new bad guy and bad lady. It's hard to reconcile that this is very likely the last season of Smallville, and yet no Lex, no more ultimate battle between Good and Evil and all that. And I really liked Lex; he was not quite the bad guy with the heart of gold, but he had his moments.

[caladria.livejournal.com]

Donna because I really appreciated the LACK of romance between her and doctor.

Oh, God, yes. Donna was much more of an equal, and much more willing to call the Doctor on his crap than either Rose (who was dippy-in-love) or Jack or Martha (who were busy trying to prove themselves worthy to him). And he needs that - just rewatched Fire of Pompeii, and Donna stands there and questions him all the way through, yet when push comes to shove, she stands by him and takes some of the load.

She just acts like a proper mate, is all (I may find her completely and utterly awesome in so many ways).

[ryf.livejournal.com]

Ot's not sci-fi and already ended a few years ago, but Buffy is really quite good if you don't know it already. And also not sci-fi, but Pushing daisies has great characters .

[wlykyoti.livejournal.com]

There doesn't seem to be any official word on when Eureka will start again. The rumor is March. *shrugs* I can tell you it will be 21 episodes instead of just 13 so yay there.

[tielan]

I've seen part of the first episode of Merlin but the chronological anachronisms bugged me. After the first two or three episodes of the new Robin Hood, I stopped watching: too much swashbuckle not enough substance.

I have two eps of The Mentalist although I haven't started watching it yet. I did get a rec for Blood Ties yesterday at the meet, and I know I have most of that.

It's interesting that not one of these shows with physically capable women you've mentioned is 'popular' on my f-list. And possibly rather terrifying, too.

[tielan]

I suspect my problem with Dr Who is that I'm better watching it with someone else. Actually, that could sum up my issues with most shows - I prefer watching in a group, not by myself. The enjoyment is considerably more when watching with others.

I liked Donna, though. I liked Martha, and I didn't really see too much of DW when Rose was there. Although, really, most of S3 seemed to be about Rose's absence instead of Martha's presence. But then, I only watched the first three or four episodes when Martha was there.

[tielan]

I've got the first episode of Fringe but haven't yet watched it. It's on my 'list of things to do when I have a spare second that isn't devoted to writing'.

And Smallville is one of those shows I've never touched. Prettyboyness doesn't interest me, and neither does prettygirlness. I guess that kinda marks me out, even before I've watched a minute of a show.

[tielan]

Already seen most of Buffy and large chunks of Angel. To tell you the truth, my favouritet character out of that panoply was Faith, and I was very disappointed that Eliza Dushku went with Tru Calling rather than Faith The Vampire Slayer although I can understand why she would.

[tielan]

That's a bit of a break! Why 13 eps?

[landwm.livejournal.com]

Really? Man, I need to pay more attention to the news about the show. I thought the last episode said it was going to start back up in January. There was something about maybe the writer's strike affecting the show's production? And this is why there is such a long mid-season break?

[wlykyoti.livejournal.com]

The season have only been 13 eps until now. The writer's strike and production costs led to the deal being 21 eps for this season. At least that's what I hear.

[wlykyoti.livejournal.com]

I hope it's January because I need a few good shows to ease my boredom, but last I knew it was March. Yeah I did hear the strike screwed things up. Guess we'll see.

[landwm.livejournal.com]

I honestly didn't watch the Smallville series until my friend wouldn't stop bugging me about it. Most of the episodes are actually pretty good and the whole alternate timeline-ness of the show lends itself to some interesting speculation.

If you can, you should try to get one or two more episodes of Fringe. While the first episode was intriguing, it wasn't until I watched another episode before I really got into the characters and storyline.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

Merlin, it's ok. Not great, but ok. And I thought maybe you would like having some color in the show :) Just like Robin Hood, it's kinda a "go with the flow" kind of show. Though it seems to me that there was slightly less inane wisecracking and slightly more serious topics like destiny.

I couldn't watch Robin Hood either, btw, the main character was just too annoying to me. But I hear particularly the episodes about Marian and her basic conflict, namely having to balance helping Robin and staying "undercover" with the Sherrif were much better.

Blood Ties is an awesome show. Truely focused on the main woman. Sadly it was cancelled after one season.

Actually, most of the vampire shows I watch or watched had some pretty interesting and likable (to me) female characters:

True Blood: Main character Sookie is famale has many suitors, takes care of her family. Is pretty good with people. She can read people's minds. She is not that physical with the fighting though she is not above taking a shovel to a badguy if necessary. She has a female black friend who I LOVE. Love, love the actress. I'm not sure if I really like the development her character went in in the very last episode, but other than that I adore the character.
Downside: It's on HBO, so one season =12 episodes and now you have to wait another year for the next set of 12.

Blade: Blade got an roughly equal if not more important woman at his side in the form of Krista. Krista (who I loooooooved) was a police woman investigating the murder of her twin brother who had been killed by vampires. The vampire who killed her brother turned her, but Blade got to her before she could feed and gave her his antidote and made her into a double agent. Again, good stories as she is torn between being loyal to Blade (who treats her like dirt most of the time), investigating the mysteries of her vampire house and dealing with her new vampire urges.
Downside: Cancelled after 13 action packed episodes.

Moonlight: Ok, she wasn't so much an action gal, but she was a reporter with her own life and personality. Straight up romance series with plenty of chemistry between the two leads.
Downside: Cancelled after one season.


Some other strong women who come to my mind (though none are really fantasy):

Burn Notice: Main character has a trigger happy ex girlfriend who is also a former secret agent and together they sparr, annoy each other and help people in Miami. I like her because she is not as young looking.

And then of course there are the female lead cop series that have pretty neat female leads with actual personalities: Bones (though Bones has some connection to the real world issues), The Closer and Medium.

(Cold Case and Close To Home have/had female leads as well but both sort of cold and bland)

BTW, shouldn't Sanctuary make you really happy with the strong female leads and the SciFi/Fantasy angle? (I only watched some of the later episodes, particularly the ones with the backstory of AT's character and those were quite good even if the concept of the show doesn't really draw me in all that much)

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I really loved the first two seasons of Smallville when I thought it used the whole superhero thing in combination with teenage angsts about changing and growing away from your parents really well.

Then I started liking it less and less and stopped watching. Now I'm slowly beginning to watch it again because I particularly like Lois and I like Green Arrow and I actually like that Lana and Lex are gone for the most part.

Besides it's been like what 8 seasons? So they are not teenagers anymore, they are now 20somethings with jobs in the city and with the superman/supervillian stuff on top of it.

*jumps in*

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation for "Chuck," by the way, though I don't know how well you'd like it. The main female character, Sarah, is totally kick-ass, has a really interesting back story, and is not emotionally detached at all (she's a spy and she probably should be detached, but what she is, is able to act detached well enough to do her job while sekritly being very emotionally attached). I really like her.

Chuck's sister Ellie is also an awesome character, even though she has very little to do. But she's a great sister -- not too clingy, not mean, just...sisterly. And her relationship with her fiancee is pretty cool. Then there's Anna, who works on the Nerd Herd with Chuck at the Buy More (are you familiar with the Geek Squad? the computer tech people who drive dorky cars and fix computers, based from the Best Buy chain stores? the Nerd Herd/Buy More is a bit of a parody of that); she's a supporting character and not in every episode, but steals all of her scenes by being completely awesome. And in one episode? She totally KICKED MICHAEL STRAHAN'S ASS. (He's an enormous football player.) It was GREAT.

The show isn't perfect, but I like it a lot. It's got good character stuff, good humor, plus actiony spy action! :P

"The Mentalist" is a good show, too, and I definitely agree that the main female character is pretty awesome. She's one of the better cop bosses on a crime drama, too. I like a few other crime dramas, and I like the cop boss types on them, but compared even to other cop bosses that I like Lisbon has more charisma, and a really great balance of professionalism/steel + sense of humor/humanity. The show belongs to the main character, Patrick Jane, but Lisbon is a great supporting character. There's another woman on the cast who's not very present yet, but she's actually a pretty good character, too. It's the only show of the new season that I like. I do wish there was a lot more diversity on it, though. Of the regular cast, one guy is Asian and the rest are white.

[tielan]

There'll be BSG... Although, that depends on your opinion of where that was last headed...

[tielan]

That seems to be the general consensus: watch at least half a season or six episodes, and get a feel for the show.

Truthfully, I didn't get reeled into SGA until the fourth or fifth episode - the one about Teyla.

[tielan]

I don't know why Sanctuary's not drawing me. It's a bit of a mystery, that. Maybe it's just them finding their feet. Or maybe it's just that every AT fan is rushing it with love and promotion and while I love Amanda, I'm...not that convinced that this is as awesome as they think it is.

Re: *jumps in*

[tielan]

What is Chuck about? I've seen it promoted all over my f-list but never a word on what it's about.

Re: *jumps in*

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I named Merlin first because at least there is an interesting black female character. it was very depressing that even though I could list a lot of shows with central female leads or interesting female secondary leads, almost all of them were white women.

Speaking of sort of supporting women, I actually think the women of Dexter are pretty good. You have his sister who is a messed up but likable vulnerable cop. You have La Guerta his female latina boss who can be manipulative but she also has smarts, which comes out particularly as the show progresses. And there is his fiance played by Darla from Angel/Buffy who is sort of more the stereotypically soft female type, but you can still see that even with her being that she needs a lot of strenght and personality.

BTW, I don't remember, tielan, did you ever watch Veronica Mars?

As for something completely different... have any of you ever tried Asian dramas (http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/1169392.html#cutid1)? A lot of them can be gotten quite easily at crunchyroll.com with subtitles. And while a lot of the females fall into the "physically weak and cute, but emotionally and morally strong" category, you do occasionally find the warrior princess type too.

[thelana.livejournal.com]

I remember Chloe, Clark's geeky best friend was for a long time THE poster girl for all the geeky fangirls who LOVED her to bits. And even though there was a lot of Lex/Clark slash, there was decent support for Clark/Chloe. (and the show treats it that even though they will probably never get together, they get to kiss at least once per season)

Personally, I felt that they ultimately made Chloe too weak in her pining for Clark and so I welcome the more tough/isn't hung up on Clark Lois.

But that is pretty much the central war of the fandom, the fans who like Lois and accept her and the fans who think Chloe should become Lois somehow.