I'm 36 years old. That's not so bad. I was born in late 1969. My mom was pregnant with me when man first landed on the moon. These were the days of adventure. I grew up watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, and pretty much every other science fiction piece of crap I could get my hands on. There was a dry period there for a while in the early and mid '80s until Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, and then producers wised up and realized there was good money to be made in science fiction.
But I'm 36. I remember those days. I remember having an afro because that was the style in the '70s. I remember VW's back when the reliable ones were in production. I remember a time before computers, ATMs, the internet, or even FM radio (or at least FM radio's popularity). I remember Han Solo shooting first. I think what gets me the worst is that I know a few people in their early 20's, and have been watching them get exposed to the new Battlestar Galactica. They have no idea what it used to be. They have no idea THAT it used to be.
When I exposed Esther (Heidi's 20-year-old sister) to BSG, she was having a hard time pronouncing the word Cylon when it was printed on the screen. That was a completely foreign concept to me. When I first saw the word Cylon printed on the screen, all I could hear was Dirk Benedict's voice in the back of my mind saying the word. Esther had never even known this show existed prior to the Sci-Fi Channel's retelling of it. I think what got me even worse was Nate's (Heidi's cousin, who I believe is 23) . In the linked post, he talks about the miniseries being like a "wannabe scifi movie." OK, ouch.Perhaps it's just because I know from what depths of medio
crity this particular show arose. I have been quite pleased to hear that for quite a while Esther was hiding away watching the first season whenever she could, but in her case, I was returning the favor (she got me hooked on Lost). Y'know, it was a crappy show in the '70's, but I was 8. I hadn't developed my sense of critical appreciation yet. For me it was all, "Ooooo, spaceships! Laser guns!" and I got obsessed. As an adult, I've tried to sit through an entire episode, and have managed to do so I think once, and that's only because I was trying to get Heidi to remember the show she last saw when she was 3. So I'll admit, I'm a bit biased. To hear such lack of knowledge pains me, and to hear such harsh criticism even more so.
2 comments:
Oh wow, I get a mention on your blog. Awesome. It's like we're family already. Actually I should have probably mentioned more regarding BSG. The the series starting airing on SciFi I had watched the first couple episodes and it kind of bored me. I kind of only watched it because it was part of the SciFi friday along with Stargate. By the third episode the plot started to grab me and I kind of understood what the whole thing was about. Now when I go back and watch the miniseries or those first episodes about the Cyclons finding them every 33 minutes or having to find a new water source that had found boring originally, I can actually appreciate what the story is about. It's frankly one of my favorite shows.
I have to say, from what I know about you, I suspect we have quite a few things in common. I look forward to meeting you in September.
BSG is good both ways. But you have to take into consideration that those of us who truly remember the original show, saw it as a wide-eyed, eager child who was just coming down off our Star Wars high. The special effects guy who worked for Lucas on SW, John Dykstra, was recruited for BSG and he did a kick-ass. Seriously...SW effects on a TV show?! True to life lasers, robots, and spaceships? Unheard of for 1978!!! Any kid would have been instantly enthralled...as we were.
The new BSG...I've given it two different, distinct chances and I just can't seem to get into it. Starbuck's a chick? Boomer is a chick AND asian? There are no robots? No lizard people? And Baltar is a schizo? I just don't get it. Needs more ships, more lasers, more sci-fi driven (rather than character driven) storylines. Perhaps when it comes out on DVD and I have to deploy to sea again, I might get into it when it has my undivided attention. Until that happens, the original BSG is still in my heart.
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