The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

To discuss what sci-fi TV shows you have seen recently.

As i've been recovering i've been watching more TV and so been catching up on things i've missed - which most people probably have already seen! I recently read the book of Pines by Blake Crouch and it really read like a TV script and in fact it is - Wayward Pines. To be honest I enjoyed the first series more than the book. There is a sequel to the book which i've not read, I don't know if the second series is based on this but I will be watching that shortly!

Also I saw at the local mediateque there is Extant with Halle Berry, has anybody seen this one? I'm wondering if it's one to add to my list or not?

We watched the first couple/few episodes of Extant, but lost interest.

We're watching the second season of The Expanse & liking it a lot. I read the first book, but haven't gotten to the second yet. The second seasons first episode or two are the end of the first book, I think.

"Humans" is a British TV show about androids. We liked the first season, haven't started watching the second yet, but plan to.

I've heard the Westworld series is really good. I saw the first episode & liked it, but somehow haven't gotten around to any more. I guess because Marg isn't into it & my TV time is pretty limited, especially without her. The majority is an hour show with her during dinner. I occasionally watch a half hour after work or during lunch on the weekends.

I don't watch the Extant nor humans.
The Expanse is pretty good.
Westworld is great.

Shows I've seen recently (that are from this year or last):
3% (Netflix show) dystopian stuff
The OA (Netflix), weird stuff
Travelers (Netflix), time travel stuff

New shows from last week;
- The handmaid's tale (Hulu) (Just wow...)
- American Gods (not really science fiction, but the book is an hugo award) (I liked the book, the first episode was, I don´t know, Ok, I guess) (Hulu)

Other ongoing shows:
- Orphan Black
- Black Mirror.

The OA was a fantastic show. I am not sure I would call it SF although it does flirt with experimental science and causality.

Some of the episodes of Black Mirror are the most beautifully produced SF ever. Others are just updated Outer Limits shows.

I really enjoyed 3%. Great human dynamics.

Fox has a new show coming out this fall, The Orville, a spoof on Star Trek. There's a trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sK...

I'll probably try it since low, slapstick humor & Star Trek are both favorites, but the trailer isn't giving me a lot of hope. I'm sure my wife will hate it.

Jim wrote: "Fox has a new show coming out this fall, The Orville, a spoof on Star Trek. There's a trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sK...

I'll probably try it since low, slapstick humor & St..."

Thanks for that preview, Jim. Not a great MacFarlane fan, but I might try to watch at least one episode. Perhaps there will be a standout. After all, it was Spock who made Star Trek.

If you like "spoofs" or humorous SF, you should definitely check out "Other Space".

It ran for 1 season on "Yahoo! Screen", but never caught on. (Nothing on "Yahoo!" caught on.)

Humor is very much in the eye of the beholder, so it may not work for you. I hate "Red Dwarf" but I loved this.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/its-finally-ea...

We watched The Gifted last night. Seems pretty good so far. The X-Men have disappeared & mutants are struggling with the Sentinels. It's nice to see 'Bill' from True Blood again (Stephen Moyer). He's a good actor & so is his wife (Amy Acker) on the show. She played 'Root' on Person of Interest.

I haven't given up on Inhumans after the first double episode, but it's not doing much for me.

Gotham is still really good.

I recently watched Legion I thought it was only OK & am surprised by the high rating on IMDB & all. A lot of boring parts.

The Defenders was OK. It's a team up of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, & Iron Fist. I watched the entire series, something I never managed for the rest. Most of them were too dark & brooding, although Iron Fist was just silly.

A lot of choices out there. I can't ever remember so many. What are you watching?

I found all the Marvel lead-ins to The Defenders a blast. I really loved the retro-Black spoiltation of Luke Cage, the drunkness of Jessica Jones, and global hippie dibby-ness of Iron Fist. Of course, Daredevil continuously getting his asskicked has always been a delight.

But The 100 is still killing it.

Been watching the new Star Trek Discovery series. Great storytelling but I am missing the classic Trek optimism.

Jim wrote: "Fox has a new show coming out this fall, The Orville, a spoof on Star Trek. There's a trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sK...

I'll probably try it since low, slapstick humor & St..."

I have to admit, I wasn't so sure about the Orville at first but have to admit it has grown on me and I'm thoroughly enjoying it now.

I watched the first 4 or 5 episodes of Orville, but my wife dropped it during the 3d episode which means I have to watch it on my own. I don't do much of that unless I'm sick or don't have a good book. I thought they were getting better as they progressed. I really liked the time travel one. It had a good balance of snark & seriousness.

Maybe I will today or over this long weekend. I came home early yesterday since a stabbing pain in my back drove me to the doctor where I found out I have pneumonia. I spent most of the day sleeping, reading, & generally getting achy from sitting around too long. I finished the book, a brand new one in Modesitt's Recluce series late last night. (Review here. I thought I'd be able to sleep in, but woke up at normal time, a little after 4am, & laid around in bed trying to decide if I should go into work or not. I decided not. My wife & boss were pretty clear about me resting a lot so it doesn't get worse. I feel pretty good, though. Modern drugs rock.

Jim wrote: "..."
Pneumonia sounds nasty! Get better soon! But a good excuse to stay home and read and watch shows.

Thanks. It has been nice to catch up on Gotham. Now I'm working on Marvel's Inhumans & then I'll catch up on The Orville. I'm glad I didn't go in today. I went out to the shop about 6:30 & practically crawled in an hour later. Who would have thought some final finishing on a torsion catapult would wear a person out? It's a little catapult! Just a 16" base & arm, but it's powerful.

I kept forgetting to mention that James Cameron is doing a new series called 'The Story of SF'. Last night was the first episode on AMC. I should have caught it on the DVR, but I don't know when I'll get the time to watch it. Anyone else?

I've watched one episode of the new "Lost in Space". It has nice special effects and has none of the campiness of the original TV show. (But I _liked_ the campiness of the original!)

Apparently, the internet thinks the robot has a sexy butt.

I might check it out eventually, but I'm not in a rush. Has anyone seen Cameron's new show?

Watched the first two episodes of the new Lost in Space on Netflix. A fun series so far, I'll have to watch the rest if it when I get a chance.

I also finished episode 2 of Lost in Space. Pretty enjoyable, and appropriate for all ages. I already mentioned that the special effects are good. But I'm also impressed by the music and sound design. They are movie quality, not just TV quality.

I was mildly annoyed and amused by the very obvious product placement for a certain brand of cookies. (They even had over-the-top sounds of crunching and bag wrinkling!) But I guess that is what it takes to get money for quality special effects. And it is nothing new. Even Jules Verne included paid product placement in "Around the World in 80 Days."

I guess I'll give it a try. Thanks, Ed.

I would like to watch the Cameron series, but don't have (or want) TV.

I watched the first of James Cameron's "Story of Science Fiction" & liked it. It was nice to see Gary K. Wolfe, the author of How Great Science Fiction Works albeit for a short comment, plus a lot of other well known figures. It was a little light on content, but not as bad as most shows of this sort.
http://www.amc.com/shows/james-camero...

It would be aired here next week. I thought that it would be just one episode. It has more than one episode?

Yes, I have the second on the DVR already. This first one was about aliens. The next is supposed to go out into space.

Jim wrote: "The next is supposed to go out into space."

I suspect he will mention Avatar. Probably many times during the series. ;)

Oh, Avatar certainly got some screen time & discussion by quite a few. Siguourney Weaver got a lot of screen time of course since she starred in Alien & Avatar.

Counterpart. It's half low-sci-fi alternate universe stuff, half espionage thriller, and very good.

I can't keep up with all the channels available much less all these new streaming services. At home, we only have long range wireless for Internet & that's only 512kb on a good day, so streaming isn't an option.

Is anyone trying to keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe? I wanted to, but when I looked into it, I found that it's just too big. There are almost 60 entries in this chronology:
http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/feat...
True, they break up some of the hour long shows into a few episodes to fit the chronology properly, but that's still way too many movies & shows for me to watch.

I just want to watch the movies and I just have not watched the Ant man and Wasp. I actually follow this chronology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of... and started from Blade. Don't want to watch Punisher war Zone and fantastic Four (2015).

I’m currently watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Decent quality for a tv show, although no where near the quality of the first 3 movies.

I don't know why they have not called Linda Hamilton to reprise her role in this series.

You should check out Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams -- one of the better shows in recent times. Some episodes are better than others, but all are well-produced and engaging; after all they are based on short stories by Philip K. Dick, which by itself is a guarantee for high quality.

Pi wrote: "You should check out Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams..."

I watched one episode, and it was fine. But I just don't find it convenient to watch things on Amazon. Netflix, Mubi, YooToob and even Kanopy are more convenient.

But there are just way too many things to watch or read. Sigh. When will I have the time?

Jim wrote: "Is anyone trying to keep up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe?..."

Certainly not me! I currently read more comics than any other type of book, but I have very little interest in the superheroes. Partly because there are so many books and so many characters and the stories are all interrelated and I just don't care!

I finally got around to Westworld. Loosely based on Westworld, it is an interesting mash-up of Video Games, Westerns and Sci-Fi. The fake "people" in the western amusement park are supposed to be non-concious robots. But some of them are beginning to develop consciousness and thus aren't so very happy about being shot to death or tortured over and over. Very high production values, too, with beautiful and creepy sets.

I also still recommend 'Lost in Space', though it isn't as deep as Westworld.

Annihilation (I was too cheap to see it in theatres, but it's on Canadian netflix now!)

I finally finished watching James Cameron's "Story of Science Fiction" yesterday. I think there were six 1 hour episodes & they were pretty good. They hit a lot of the iconic moments in SF cinema & it was nice seeing some of the screenwriters, directors, & other movie staff that brought them to life.

Walking Dead is back!

Randy wrote: "Walking Dead is back!"

I haven't been able to make myself interested in either the comic book or the tv show. But one of the video game versions is said to be very good. Even so, the company making it went out of business leaving the sequel unfinished. :(

The top 25 spaceships of SF is a fun list.
https://www.space.com/42312-greatest-...

Jim wrote: "The top 25 spaceships of SF is a fun list.
https://www.space.com/42312-greatest-..."

I think the website is broken. I didn't see the Eagle from Space: 1999.

I just watched the first episode of "Men Into Space", a show that came out in 1959. It was pretty good & had Angie Dickinson as the wife of the astronaut in charge of the 3 man crew. That's just one of the things they got right. 3 stages to the rocket, too. They skipped the tough part - getting back to Earth - & managed to pick up a guy who floated away. The second episode is "Moon Landing". I'm looking forward to that since it aired about a decade before we did.

The Wikipedia entry is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_int...

Jim wrote: "I just watched the first episode of "Men Into Space"..."

Looks interesting, but he is wearing sandals with socks! OK, space sandals with space socks. But still....

LOL!

I've been slowly working my way through "Science Fiction Theater" which the kids got me for Xmas. Season 1, episode 25 is "The Human Equation" & aired on October 15, 1955. It's all about crappy lab procedures leading to people getting mean. At the end, the host Truman Bradley tells about how there are chemicals that can do this. 'A remarkable new one is LSD that has allowed science to relate chemical imbalance to mental illness for the first time.' or something like that.

This show is great. He often does cool experiments that blow stuff up in the intro.