Posted by lon [ 69.28.14.144 ] on April 17, 2006 at 23:11:13:
In Reply to: Re: Why does the BBC do SF and not Hollywood posted by manualblock on April 17, 2006 at 15:20:35:
What might be more to the point is why has Canada become so
good at it?
I believe Stargate SG1 and a few others of my favorites
like Babylon 5 and Earth Final Conflict (not on my fave list)
originated in Canada.
OTOH I don't buy the notion that all or any Brit science
fiction is good either because it looks cheap or sounds
literary. Even such attempts at class such as LeGuin's
"Lathe of Heaven" or Dick's ... wait I lost it... all
of them look dreadful. And Red Dwarf. There's one by Neil Gaiman too.
Piffle, every bit of it.
They did do The Prisoner way back when. But as I said
earlier, the Prisoner is in a class by itself.
Some may wonder why I spend any amount of time with
Stargate SG1. It's directed by Dom DeLouise's son for the
most part, the stories are trite and melodramatic, the
acting is operatic on the part of most of the god-like
aliens and... well the list is quite long such as
the fact that projectile weapons never have ricochets inside
the alien spacecraft. Jeez.
But what show has lasted 10 seasons with such outlandish
characteristics besides this one?
I think the answer is that it's a propaganda show sponsored by
the military to make enlisting look glamorous. After all,
the SG1 team can defeat superior firepower and technology
with handguns and C-4 explosives. It's sort of a variation
on the video game-referenced ads on tv for "Be all you can be"
with the A-Team being the primary source material.
If you have any doubt about these speculations, I suggest
a documentary called "Operation Hollywood." It shows how
the military has strict control over any production in which
its properties such as uniforms, vehicles or arms are used.
SG1 had full Pentagon approval. Even though I'm a peace activist,
I'm looking forward to the next dvd box. 
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