May be the Kardashians are something like the Coneheads, only less funny?
That idea, that aliens spread life in the galaxy is fascinating, and has been inspired many stories already. May be even humans directly. That would be handy for the movie and TV industry - since it explains why most aliens look like us, or very similar. In Stargate they actually said that.
Talking of which, I recently heard a rumor that they want to revive Stargate. Could be cool, if its done properly. But I'm afraid it will be like usual: its Stargate, only totally different.
Btw., I'm watching the 2nd season of "Upload" at the moment. Not bad at all, and a relatively fresh idea for a SF. Not totally new, but what is, nowadays. It's on Amazon Prime.
The less funny part is certainly true!
Ah, I don't have Amazon Prime. We probably won't get it either, because we're just out of TV watching time ... unless five or six of our shows get canceled this summer, which is certainly possible.
Space seeding certainly is convenient for visual SF, although not so much as it used to be. They can do amazing things now with visual effects, but the cost is probably still up there. I'm having a little fun with the idea in my work in progress--but then, I'm having a little fun with a lot of SF tropes! We'll see how that goes over.
I hate to admit it, but I haven't seen very much Stargate--it's one of things on our to watch list.
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Well, watching a sponge drying out is better entertainment than most "reality" TV shows. :)
Sure they have much more possibilities to visualize aliens today, by using CGI. But strangely enough they often still use humanoid forms do do so. Like in Avatar for example, or many other films, where its looking more alien but still has 2 arms and 2 legs and a head ect. - so the basic principles are pretty much those of earth animals.
Rarely someone dares to go beyond that. Some time ago I watched a documentary about how life forms may look on other planets, concidering what conditions are present on such a planet. That resulted in totally different concepts of what a life form would look like, after going through a evolutionary process under completely different conditions than here. Like animals that float or fly in the atmosphere all their life, or who live on a high gravity planet, or a planet that does not rotate like Mercury. That was really interesting, and more believable.
Well, if you want to catch up on Stargate, it will be quite a job! The original SG1 series has 10 seasons, SG Atlantis has 7 and that later SG continuation another few. But SG1 and Atlantis are the real good ones in my opinion. And there are 3 movies of course. The one with Kurt Russell which is a little strange (but not bad) if you know the series, but also 2 more that were made exactly like the SG1 setting, and with the same actors. Good old traditional style SF, with interesting actors, lots of action, SFX and all the things that make a good series.
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I've seen that documentary--fascinating stuff! I don't know how much CGI costs, but I suspect part of the reason why they still use humanoids is because the entertainment people think viewers won't be able to identify with aliens that are just a bit too alien. Many of the ones on TV and movies who are totally alien are the bad guys, so that's probably what they're thinking. I play with that a little in my novel--hopefully it will get published one day!
I have seen some Stargate, including with original movie--we watched Stargate Universe, too. I don't remember why we watched all of that one before the others--I think we were big fans of Robert Carlyle, who we also liked on Once Upon a Time.
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Well, I think nowadays CGI is not so expensive anymore. Usually its cheaper than building models of space ships or weird landscapes. And also "aliens", monsters and stuff like that. And they look better, too - if you remember back at the time of Godzilla, or similar stuff in the 50s and 60s... it does look pretty silly from todays perspective.
And true, if the viewers are supposed to connect with the character of an alien, its sure easier when it looks a bit relateable and not so repulsive. Only the really nasty aliens are allowed to look inhuman. Old propaganda tricks that still work.
SG Universe, right. I didn't like that much. Too much bitching among the characters, instead of real SG action. A bit like "Walking Dead" - a Zombie show in which the Zombies are not important, instead the relations between the characters.
As I said, I favour the original SG1 series, and SG Atlantis is also quite good. This warrior guy, Jason Momoa, from Atlantis has made quite a career since, as Aquaman and some other roles in big movies. In Atlantis he looked a bit wooden at first, but loosend up later.
And generally they didn't take themself too seriously, at least sometimes.
I just had a look at the cast listing of the SG1 And Atlantis series - its absolutely stunning! I think it would be easier to list which US and Canadian actors were NOT in it. Even people like Bill Nye appear in it. :)
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Ah, I love my silly Godzilla movies! The bad effects were part of the fun.
Certainly the CGI aliens look a lot better. I often prefer the models, as far as spaceships go: I have a photo of the U.S. Enterprise from the first Star Trek movie, a close up shot that looks fantastic ... the computerized space ships just don't have that weight to them, for want of a better term. Of course, the first Star Trek movie is proof that you need more than great special effects.
I saw the Stargate episode with Bill Nye--it was a lot of fun. Although there are some shows I like that are always serious, injecting a little light heartedness is usually an improvement with me.
The Walking Dead, of course, is not a zombie show, something I realized almost from the beginning. One of the characters actually says it, about the living: "WE are the walking dead". The truth is, I almost gave up on the show around season 4 not because it was too serious, but because I came to love the characters so much, and those lousy writers kept killing them off! I actually began to get stressed about it. I suppose that attracts some viewers, knowing that no one is safe.
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I don't like it too much if shows, that are obviously not based on facts. take themself too seriously. But it is not easy to find the right balance, I guess. Here on German TV they have crime shows sometimes, which miss this balance as well. Then you see one or a team of police detectives, supposedly investigating a murder case. But actually its all about their private problems, broken relationships, kids in puberty, a father that has Alzheimer or god knows what else. The actual investigation is done just inbetween, if and when they find time outside their private mess. Its just not what I'm looking for if I watch a crime show.
I guess the writers try to be closer to real life that way, but in fact they just dissipate in their story telling.
Yeah, there are some guys in US TV that seem to pop up in every production that didn't lock the doors fast enough. :) Bill Nye is one of them. In Big Bang Theory he appeared several times. Same as this old guy, I forget his name, he also did a popular science show many years ago, I think. He is quite funny actually.
Btw., there is a documentary about nature/ ecology out now, that is narrated by Barak Obama. Did you hear about that?
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Yeah, I get that--it's the reason why I don't watch most firefighting shows. Stop with the soap opera and give me firefighting!
I haven't seen that documentary, but I'll probably get around to it eventually. There are plenty of documentaries, these days!
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Well, its called "Our Great National Parks" and is a 5 part mini series. Not all parts are about US national parks, its all around the world. Yeah, narrator is a good job for him - if there is one thing he is good in, its talking.
Its on Netflix here, but may be you can find it elsewhere in the US.
Yes, Netflix especially produces tons of documentaries about each and everything. Just the other day I watched one about the Boeing 737 Max crashes. Absolutely irresponsible and criminal, how Boeing acted in that. Especially the 2nd crash was totally unnecessary. They knew exactly what the problem was, but didn't want to ground all the planes for PR reasons. Which killed another 150 people.
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