Colombo Critic.com

Are you getting slightly “Bored of the Rings”? Or is Harry Potter and the Poorly Tuned Piano* no different from the previous seventeen installments? Too many vampire slayers? If you’re getting tired of Oz, but still don’t want to come back to Earth, try going into space.

“Space operas” are obviously not for everybody. But if you happen to be somebody who has exhausted his/her supply of movies/DVD box sets of popular TV shows, and is willing to try a little genre change, you might want to give these a try. It also helps if you’re not looking for down-to-Earth drama. The line between science fiction and fantasy can sometimes be rather thin.

I’ll limit myself to TV shows readily available in Colombo’s DVD shops. Movies excluded (so no Star Wars).

“Space operas” are obviously not for everybody. But if you happen to be somebody who has exhausted his/her supply of movies/DVD box sets of popular TV shows, and is willing to try a little genre change, you might want to give these a try.

Star Trek (Is Assimilation for you?)

Star Trek is generally considered to be the ‘geekiest’ of all “space operas” (slightly dated word). But even between the different series of ST, there’s a great deal of variation – something for every geek, I guess.

The Original Series (TOS): Everybody knows Kirk & Spock, but with 70′s special effects and 60′s acting, this show is for serious collectors only. I’m a confessed ST fan, but even I don’t have this (though I have seen it three times on TV). You’re better off waiting for a future reboot like Battlestar Galactica.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG): The Golden Age of Star Trek. Even though I said I’ll limit myself to shows available here in Colombo, I just have to include this. A show critically acclaimed even by non-sci-fi critics, TNG would be my top recommendation to both geeks and non-geeks alike. Unfortunately, it’s not available in Sri Lanka. But some of you may have caught its first season on Rupavahini some years back.

Star Trek: Deeps Space 9: I have not seen this. It’s not available here. Supposedly not as good as TNG, but better than what’s to come next. Moving on…

Star Trek: Voyager (VOY): Considered by some fans to be the ‘beginning of the end’, Voyager is a lesson in appreciation. Everything has its flaws, and in the absence of something better you must willfully blind yourself to its finer faults in order to appreciate it (that’s also true of relationships, but that’s a different topic). Learn to ignore captain Janeway (hated by many for her Mary Poppins style of command) and the occasional blaring scientific error, and you’ll be fine.

You may find seasons 1 and 3 somewhat boring. But you need to get through them in order to get to the better episodes, which start with season 4. If you’re not big on continuity and character development, then feel free to jump to season 4.

Star Trek: Enterprise (ENT): Another lesson in appreciation, but this time for the Trekkies. Some non-Trekkies might find this show enjoyable for the same reason many Trekkies hate it: ENT violates a lot of long-standing Star Trek No-No’s. That’s a subject for a review of its own, so I wouldn’t go into it here.

For those who are not big sci-fi fans, perhaps ENT is a good place to start. Star Trek has always been more plot-driven than character-driven, and that’s the way most Trekkies like it (myself included). ENT makes a partially successful attempt to be a bit more character driven.

I must say I hated both Voyager and Enterprise at first and refused to watch them. But I eventually learned to take of my critic-hat and enjoy what can be enjoyed. I simply shut out the rest.

Star Gate: SG1: Not as widely available, but ask around enough shops and you’ll most likely find it. SG1 is similar to Star Trek in its exploration aspect, but minus the technical jargon. Both Star Trek and Star Gate are interesting because their story lines allow the exploration of not just space, but also human nature. By placing the characters on a planet where people, society and beliefs are different, they highlight things about ourselves that we are not normally keenly aware of. But SG1 will go down better with non-sci-fi audiences. I’ve bought seven seasons and watched three so far, and I’ve yet to be bored.

Star Gate: Atlantis: This is the Star Gate series following SG1, comprising a completely different cast and a different setting. But the story is basically the same (now the enemy is called the Wraith, not the Goa’uld; the Goa’uld possess you and the Wraith suck the life out of you). On the plus side, it has a larger and more diverse group of recurring characters. Dr. Weir does a much better job at being a female leader than Voyager’s captain Janeway. And there are three recurring characters capable of humor, which for me, is a good thing. Only the first season is available in Sri Lanka.

Firefly: A must see. This is not a story about the future or spaceships. For firefly, space is just a setting. The story has a life of its own. Firefly characters are three dimensional in a way Star Trek characters will most likely never be. It took me three seasons before I could start relating to Voyager characters, and two seasons to start doing the same with Enterprise. All nine Firefly characters were familiar to me in just three episodes.

Unfortunately, this show has only one season, plus a movie (Serenity — do NOT watch this movie before the series; it might spoil things for you because the movie is basically the series finale). Firefly is set in a bleak universe and the crew of the Serenity (name of the Firefly-class freighter) is always trying to make ends meet while running from the authorities. Despite circumstances, this is not a gloomy show. In fact, it’s perhaps the most lighthearted of all the shows listed here.

Babylon 5: It’s a long time since I’ve seen this, and I can’t remember much, other than that I didn’t like it then.

Battlestar Galactica(BSG): Different from all of the other space opera’s, including its own original. A complete reboot of the original series: story is different (Cylons are now made by man, not aliens; Starbuck is now a woman; Tilium fuel is no longer spelled ‘tie-lium’).

BSG is a Greek tragedy in space — there is nothing happy about this show. The ‘twelve colonies of man’ are completely destroyed by insane robots and a ragtag fleet is looking for a mythical 13th colony called Earth. Meanwhile the insane robots play mind games with the humans and keep saying things that just don’t make sense. Every main character is either an emotional wreck or distracted.

I’m not sure whether the show’s creators knew exactly what they were doing — it’s like they were trying to say something and they suddenly forgot what it was. Maybe they were trying to say “there are no good-guys or bad-guys; we’re all the same”, but instead they came out saying “nobody knows what he’s doing”. But I find it interesting in a weird kind of way, maybe because it’s set in space. And I know for a fact that there are some who find it very interesting. Maybe you’re one of those. Try season one if you want. Season two is more of the same.

Blake’s Seven: Just kidding. I’m not going to review this one. Unless of course, they reboot that too, like they did with Dr. Who.

You may notice something about the way I’ve ordered the list: ST:VOY, ST:ENT, SG, Firefly, BSG. From sci-fi fan base appeal to mainstream. Star Trek appeals to hard sci-fi fans. Firefly would be most appealing to a mainstream audience. BSG overshoots and ends up being just abnormal.

* Harry Potter and the Poorly Tuned Piano: Credit to Paul Melko