Random thoughts mostly...

I take it none of the SGU fans are screaming Kirk about what's his name? The hue and cry over even hints that Shep might be having sex 3 times in 5 years was loud. I loved the fact that McKay was pretty much shown to have or try to have sex a hell of a lot more often and it was never referred to as Kirking. Now here's a guy (horny lieutenant) that really has bonked 2 different women in the space of the first 5 episodes and that's just fine. Wow.

I guess they really can't have on-going bad guys like the Wraith or Goa-uld since the ship is supposed to travelling so far so fast. It has to be someone on board. Ah, but who is the real villain, or is every one? Sorry, but the "guess the villain(s) among us of the week" thing isn't interesting to me.

And, don't think Eli is perfect. He ratted out a couple of people very quickly in the first 3 eps. He loves to finger point. And, he's stalking the cute young thing that had perfect makeup after crying over her dear departed Daddy. Now we have two creepy guys.

I still have Darkness to watch, but I don't know if I can watch another one. I've already gone past the point where I would have given up on a show. As was said, this isn't Stargate. They could have a Time Tunnel or whatever that thing was in Sliders or just have the ship automatically stop on various worlds. Having the Gate is just a way to call it part of the franchise. Nothing more.


Well, I just watched Darkness. I seriously doubt I'll watch the next one. This is just an awful, awful show. I didn't think there was anything left to throw into the mix, but the kitchen sink went in plus the garbage cans and the poop patrol bag from the back yard. For example...

- little "I shouldn't be here" moments on the floating video camera from everyone
- the naked girl in a mist shower with her stalker standing guard at the door
- the caffeine withdrawal meltdown by the creepy, slightly sinister egomaniac scientist
- people "using power, using power" to recharge batteries (and, no doubt, vibrators)
- the commander back at the SGC getting a five minute look into what's going on and wants a horny, unseasoned lieutenant to pretty much commit mutiny and try to control a bunch of self serving power seeking schemers
- hey, I wonder how much power the body swap thingy and the mist shower use? Coz guess what...
- all, and I mean all, power is gone - hey, that's what creepy scientist said - but there still seems to be light everywhere
- wifey back home tells hubby to take a hike. Now that's rubbing salt into the wound. He's probably gonna die out there and she says bugger off because he's probably gonna die out there. Wow. Frigid.
- flying into a sun. Hey, haven't I seen that before somewhere?

Are they digging up the flower garden to toss the plants in, too?

I'm still trying to find something resembling wit in there somewhere. Well, was trying. I have the sinking suspicion that the stuff coming out of geeky, stalker guy is supposed to be the witty repartee. Sorry, guys. It isn't wit, banter, repartee, not even lowly sarcasm. It's a 13 year old thinking he's a smartass without knowing what any of those words mean.

I tried. Honestly, I did watch 4 hours of SGU. I'm embarrassed that it has the word Stargate in it.

If you really liked SGU, I suggest you don't read this.

A thought about the opening sequence - I think it would have been far more effective if there had been no squealing and screaming from the women. Maybe an “umph” or “WTF?” on landing, but only the sound of bodies and bags landing after that. The constant need to have women scream and cry is very old.

Oh, and Eli (?) goes through a whole Superman thing with Daniel acting as Marlon Brando doing Jor-El? *snerk* Good thing I don’t drink!


OMG! The screwing scene in the closet! I swear I read that when I stumbled into a site that had porn fics. The writer loved closets!

I am going to have trouble keeping up. The military commander is severely injured on his first appearance. Where have we seen that before, or something very like it? Hmmm…

The quirky, slightly creepy and sinister brilliant scientist.

A kid that solves a computer game is suddenly an expert on Ancient language and technology. That’s a leap or ten.

The jumping back and forth is so incredibly jarring and distracting. It works as long as you’re not doing it every minute or two.

The trigger happy kid is just a little too trigger happy. Would someone so hot-headed really have been on such an assignment?

Notice I don’t even know their names? Notice I really don’t care enough to know their names?

Slo-mo explosions as the last man is running to the Gate as the base is destroyed behind him. Wee…yawn…

Some pretty good effects, some not so good.

Already we have intrigue and suspicious glances. Creepy, sinister scientist is already up to no good. TPTB are playing all their cards in the first ep. Goodie.

Horny guy from the closet takes horny girl from closet with him to search the ship.

Horny guy tell geeky role-playing guy to open a bulkhead door that’s flashing red. Always a good idea. Hey, it looked like the hole in the room would have sucked those three right out into space. Am I wrong?

Creepy, sinister scientist tells everyone he has the communications stones and then maybe spins a lie about talking to O’Neill (with 2 Ls)?

People playing politics, maneuvering for power and being sneaky and sinister. We are getting it all in the first hour!

Days of Our Lives, meet Battlestar Galactica. The Muppets could really have fun with this! Oh, did I say that out loud?

Geek boy finds wonderful toys. The floating camera is such fun, especially when used for hamming it up or reeling off melodramatic lines. Wee!

Oh, dear. Self sacrificing senator (that’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one) and distraught daughter watches Daddy die. She had problems producing actual tears, though, or did I just not see them?

Rush’s speech to crying daughter was truly bad. Not his fault? He’s the one who dialed the damn ship to begin with!

Now they’re all sitting around? No more exploring the ship? No more looking to find food or other essentials? Good grief! Oh, wait, horny guy is going back to the search. Sorry.

Creepy, sinister scientist is now being very wise and sage. Oh, he’s good. Master manipulator.

Now we’re dialing the Gate without checking first to make sure it’s safe to do. Power is low.

Geeky kid sure loves to give people up at a moment’s notice. I wouldn’t want to trust him with any secrets.

Uh, they’re certainly placing a hell of a lot of trust in geek boy given that up until now he was pretty much just a gamer. Brilliant but a gamer that figured out a game. No physical training, no field experience at all. I know they’re in desperate straits, but geez. Just because he wants to go doesn’t mean he should be allowed, especially considering the planet looks like a desert. What’s he going to do, calculate the number of grains of sand?

At least Daniel Jackson was a field archeologist. Rodney McKay was part of a team that had Sheppard, Teyla and Ford, all three experienced warriors. And, with Teyla, they knew there were friendlies on some planets.

Okay, overall, this one does not look like TPTB had the amount of time they had to put it together. Considering SGA’s “Rising” was made with much less time, “Air” is inferior in just about all respects.

The idea behind the ship is interesting, I’ll give you that. The execution in telling the story is the problem. The writing in “Air” is abysmal. It’s full of clichés and daytime soap tricks. Please see above for what I mean.

At the end of Rising, I felt connected to the characters. I was glad they succeeded. I looked forward to the next episode. It was clean (and not as in a shiny city), fast paced, and coherent. No pretensions.

“Air”, on the other hand, was ham-handed and just plain muddled. It was as if the writers decided to try to think of all the dark and edgy things they liked and wanted to see in their new show. Then they tried to cram it all in the premier. It wasn’t a teaser that beckoned viewers, enticing us to watch the story of this ship and these people unfold.

It was
- here is some backstory or hints at it on all our main characters
- here is some sex,
- here is some self-sacrifice
- here is danger
- here are a few of your favorite characters from SG-1 doing a cameo because we know you love them so much you will want to watch
- here is angst
- here is the young stud, fresh faced and ever so hunky
- here is the beautiful, sexy girl(s)
- here is the hot-headed kid with a gun and a crazed glint in his eye
- here is the creepy, sinister scientist playing both sides
- here is suspicion amongst our own
- here is the grieving daughter of the self-sacrificing man
- here is the geeky guy who is the instant expert and hero
- here is political maneuvering and powerplay
- here is, here is, here is…

Get the picture? In less than 90 minutes, TPTB decided that we needed it all in order to be edgy and dark and just too wonderful to miss.

I may watch future episodes in reruns when I want to have something on TV whilst doing other things. Other than that I have next to no interest. I feel no investment in the show or the characters. I am sad at that feeling. I have watched SG-1 and SGA and am a fan of both.

People may say that I haven’t given it a chance. Well, the first episode, especially if it’s a two hour episode, is supposed to knock one’s socks off. It is supposed to be one of the best, if not the best, episode of the series. It is the preview of what is to come, the invitation to adventure.

BTW, I did see bits of “Air” part 3 last night. Not impressed enough to stay. Maybe I’ll catch it in reruns. Sometime.

I've been thinking about how a remake of this old favorite could be made without being locked into trying to match or better James Garner. It would be impossible. I am interested in this because I think Joe Flanigan would be perfect for the role. Tp me, he is very much like a contemporary James Garner, and Rockford.

This is very rough, so please bear with me.

First, the main character shouldn't be Rockford. Let's call him the Lead. He should be the son of a friend or maybe a former client. Not a relative, please! (No Barnaby Jones here.) The Lead could be a former cop that left the force because he was tired of the constraints or corruption or whatever. Or, the Lead could be former military. Maybe he was severely wounded and retired. He's physically recovered, but left a little scarred by his experiences and the wound. Nothing to make him a scenery chewer, please. He's laid back like Rockford, something that the older man identifies with, but does have underlying pain and insecurities.

The Lead comes to Rockford, looking for something that happened to his father (the friend or client, remember?) Rockford has retired, but pulls his files and helps the younger man work through the problem. They resolve it, and for a loose sort of partnership. The Lead helps Rockford with some cold cases as well as new ones coming in. Some of those new cases are brought in by Rockford and people start coming to the Lead as well.

Rockford can appear in person or by phone every episode. He is a mentor to the younger man, but lets him have his head. He kind of likes watching the Lead develop and take over the business. (Maybe here, Rockford had to retire not only due to age, but also declining business.) It gives Rockford a new lease on life and his reputation from years ago helps bring in business through references from parents, uncles, etc. The Lead is happy to keep the original name on the shingle next to the door.

The show, after inital set up and the first couple of episodes, could end up with two cases per episode, one coming through Rockford. One of the cases could run through an arc over 2 or 3 episodes. Therefore, it is still the Rockford Files, we haven't really stepped all over the unbeatable original, and we have a new perspective.

Think that would work?

Y'all can all relax now. Except for the story being published in a zine that I can't post until June 1 2010 and the story I am working on now, I have finally posted all my fics on LJ. Some are good, one or two not so good. Thank you for being patient!

Chapter: 1 of 1
Genre: Missing scene
Rating: PG
Spoilers: For Vegas
Pairings: none

( This is a missing scene for Vegas, so it is a big spoiler. It takes place after the end of the episode. I had a little inspiration, so I had to write it. First posted on FanFiction.net in January 2009. )

Chapter: 1 of 12
Genre: Drama, H/C
Rating: PG
Spoilers: none
Pairings: none

( Chapter 1. The Ancient gene, and Sheppard’s ability to use it to maximum effect, is pivotal. I wrote it because TPTB didn’t really seem to feel the need to do an episode centered on it. Pity. First posted on FanFiction.net in December 2008 )

Chapter: 1 of 1
Genre: Missing scene
Rating: PG
Pairing: none
Spoilers: Since this is a missing scene from Tabula Rasa, it is a spoiler.

( This is all about the Jumper ride. It was first posted on FanFiction.net in January 2008 )

Chapters: 1 of 11
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, H/C
Spoilers: none
Pairings: none

( Chapter 1 - I was inspired by one of the episodes in an early season. This takes place between McKay and Mrs. Miller and Tao of Rodney. Long Time Gone was first posted on FanFiction.net in January 2008. )