My First SGA.

[icarus]

wildernessguru and I are watching our first Stargate: Atlantis episode.

So, yes, I can see the slash. There are two likeable characters: McKay and Shep.

As for the rest of the show...

1) dry and obvious dialogue
2) plots that are sci-fi retreads except with dull pacing
3) crappy costumes and props (particularly the arm-patches... my girl scout uniform had better quality)
4) cheap and silly-looking special effects (this one is just a bubble machine where they've applied a blue filter -- I could do that in my living room)
5) clueless and slightly phony acting (the actors stop acting once they've delivered their line while still on camera)
6) cardboard sets, with no detail or effort (look at that background, there's no electrical wiring, no switches, no boards, no dials -- it's just a LiteBrite set)
7) terrible staging (people are upstaging each other, the camera angles are awkward and amateurish ... MutantX has better staging than this)
8) mediocre soap opera quality cinematography (and the only cool shot is shown with the opening credits)

... what's not to love?

It's like Stargate only with no budget to spend on costumes, props, writers, directors, cinematographers, sets, or actors.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah. The jump to HD explains the amateurishness. I was looking at these camera angles and thinking "what the fuck--? It looks like college kids filmed this."

If there were ridiculous time constraints (and ten months is absurd, you can't even do a new Broadway play in that amount of time) the poor production values have a chance of improving. The acting is usually awkward at the beginning of a series, especially in sci-fi where you have the equivalent of fireworks going off around you while you're trying to act.

Add the logistics of sharing facilities. Jesus. I'd be very surprised if both SG-1 and SGA didn't suck for half a season.

I thought they were just trying to pass off crap under the Stargate formula knowing there was already an audience. I'll give it a second chance around episode ten or so.

Season 9 sounds wonderful... if it weren't for the lack of Jack. *Icarus puts on a black armband and mourns*

Icarus

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

If you wait that long to jump back in, you'll miss Rodney's character growth into a team member. Just my opinion. :)

One of the pleasures of watching SGA has been seeing the team become a tight unit.

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

I missed Jack terribly when he left. Sriously, he's been the main reason I watched, from the beginning.

But you know, if I don't think of him as a replacement for Jack, Cam Mitchell has grown on me quite a bit.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Jack and Daniel together make the essence of Stargate for me. I may enjoy season 9, especially if it explores Daniel in a little more depth (though I'm not fond G.I Joe!Daniel either), but it really wouldn't be Stargate without that team dynamic and the Jack - Daniel interaction.

Icarus

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

It's all about Jack & Daniel for me, too, but I also have liked season 9. In my mind, Jack & Daniel are together off camera and I can work it out much better in my own mind or through fanfic than I would trust the writers with it. hehe

I was predisposed to dislike Mitchell, too. I just didn't want him on the show. In spite of that, and in spite of being all about Jack/Daniel, I have come to like the character of Mitchell quite a bit. At times I even love him just a little. A great part of that interest is his relationship with Daniel. I don't see them as a slash couple, but just...he treats Daniel different from anyone we've ever seen. Landry, too, has had some great interaction with Daniel, though they seem to have dropped that lately. I hope they pick up on it again.

Nobody could replace Jack on this show, but I see Landry and Mitchell as two entirely different characters. OTOH, I sympathize with you if Jack was your favorite character.