Andromeda: Does anyone have this as their favourite show?

[ReadyAndWilling]

Hi all, I only found out about this show long after it had been off the air. I've only seen the first four episodes and it's great. However, it seems a bit 'low budgetish' compared to Star Trek Voyager. What's the deal? How did I not hear about it when it was being run?

Does anyone have this as their number one sci-fi show?

 

[Goji]

It was definitely a lower-budgeted production than the Star Trek shows that ran at the same time. But it had its own charms, despite being uneven, for about a season and a half. Then a lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil that I won't go into, but will surely get well and thoroughly covered by the time this thread is over, pretty much doomed the show to mediocrity (in its best hours) and unwatchablility (the rest of the time).

 

[RoJoHen]

I only watched the first season or so, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I heard a lot of behind-the-scenes drama went down in later seasons, which ruined the show.

 

[Greg Cox]

I feel obliged to mention that there were a handful of ANDROMEDA tie-in novels as well.

 

[urbandefault]

It was ok, I guess. I didn't get to see it on a regular basis, so it was hard to get into. The premise seemed a little Buck Rogers-ish to me, but maybe that was what Gene was shooting for. I didn't get the Rev Bem character at all. It just seemed like GR liked the Bug Eyed Monster thing so it was just stuck in there.

I liked the avatar concept, but the android seemed redundant. Especially when they introduced the Doyle character. I don't know what the deal is there.

When I try to remember what Andromeda looked like, all I can picture is the NSEA Protector. I guess Galaxy Quest made a bigger impression on me.

 

[Relayer1]

I started watching it but drifted off during season two.

It wasn't that good...

 

[DonIago]

To paraphrase a line from Ghostbusters 2 - "It was borderline for the first two seasons...then it crossed the border."

 

[Kelthaz]

I started watching it but drifted off during season two.

It wasn't that good...

Yeah, same with me. Andromeda had neither the intelligence of Star Trek or the fun of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. If you've exhausted all other decent live action science fiction shows it's worth a watch, but that's not high praise.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

I forgot to ask: Where does Andromeda rank compared to other scifi shows?

 

[Jan]

For the first season and a half, Andromeda was excellent. Then the head writer was forced out and the show was deliberately dumbed down by Kevin Sorbo. I quit watching after an episode where all story sense and character integrity was sacrificed for a CGI extravaganza.

Jan

 

[Thestral]

I really liked and closely followed Andromeda for its first season and a half, and I came to TrekBBS via the SlipstreamBBS. Probably one of my favorites at the time. I kept watching through part of Season 3, and came back for S3's penultimate episode because of who wrote it, but it was so much worse overall after the aforementioned behind-the-scenes trouble.

I still really like the characters overall, and Andromeda herself was a really cool idea. It's worth checking out up through the episode "Ouroborous," and then scattered episodes afterwards.

 

[FreezeC77]

Show went downhill quick once Robert Hewitt Wolfe left. I remember him after the show ended I think he released a bible on what his direction for the show would have been.

I think some elements of his plan were sort of kept by the writers who stayed on, but ended up modified.

For instance Trance Gemini in the show is revealed as the Tarn-Vedran sun which was modified and made into a weapon to battle the Spirit of the Abyss and Trance was the 'avatar' of the sun.

RHW's plan I believe had Trance as an avatar of a sun, but it was of a different sort where Trance was part of a group of beings which sought chaos/change and fought against order/stagnation. The war they fought resulted in a victory which caused the Big Bang. Those beings then became suns in the new universe.

Trance was supposed to be a sun in the Gemini constellation (hence the Gemini) and her beings and their battle ended up being the story of heaven & hell since her side were the 'devils'. Although sort of like the ending of the Evangelion anime the side fighting for chaos/change are the good guys because the side wanting harmony basically takes away free will to create perfect order.

 

[Guy Gardener]

There was an early season two episode, where Dylan tried to say to Trance "You are way cool and amazing" becuase she had just saved the day when all had seemed quite bleak... But what words he actually used were "Trance Gemini, You're a star!"

I laughed my ass off.

For a year maybe, my signature at the bottom of my every post was from Tyr Anasazi...

"I have faith in nothing but this. When the universe collapses and dies, there will be three survivors. Tyr Anasazi, the cockroaches, and Dylan Hunt trying to save the cockroaches!"

Individual episodes are weak, but each of the first 4 seasons collectively stand up quite well, so you're a bit a punk to quit at that point when the end is in sight and ignore the painfully dire season 5.

Actually, Trance in the beginning was Kes from Voyager, and rather than replacing the actress, because the kids don't go for sweet and innocent any more, they levelled her up with a bold new superficial paint job and dollop of brutal mercenary killer instinctiveness .

 

[Danny99]

For the first season and a half, Andromeda was excellent. Then the head writer was forced out and the show was deliberately dumbed down by Kevin Sorbo. I quit watching after an episode where all story sense and character integrity was sacrificed for a CGI extravaganza.

Jan

Even though I'm not 100% sure how the whole thing with Sorbo went down, but I agree with the assertion that the first season and a half was great television before going down hill.

As for Trance, they turned her into Seven of Nine when they gave her the new paint job. She is suddenly the pope of the universe of something and she loses all the mystique and interest in her character.

 

[sidious618]

It ran at the same time as Enterprise and I thought Enterprise was a much, much better show than this. Take that as you will.

 

[Morpheus 02]

It also followed a model of another Trubune sci-fi show, Earth Final Conflict. And like EFC, the Show had an interesting concept season 1, changed in season 2, but season 4 of both seemed to try & get back to the original season...and then season 5 was complete drop in budget - and quality & continuity with the previous 4 seasons.

Two good things about Andromeda: some of the coolest Starship names...and great supporting actors

 

[Guy Gardener]

Gordon Michael Woolvett is worth 7 Kevin Sorbos.

 

[Sindatur]

Although Andromeda took a different direction for awile, I think it worked together overall alright. As a whole, watching in a marathon, several episodes a night, I actually enjoy S1 - 4. I

I'm OK with Trance's S5 Arc, but, yea, being grounded didn't help the creativity for much of the rest of the writing for S5.

To me, it actually felt natural that Dylan had built the 50 Commonwealth Worlds, and turned them over to a Democratic Government and was kinda made obsolete and able to "run Loose" for awhile, and that Government screwed it all up, and he had to take control back again

 

[DonIago]

IIRC one reason I stopped watching is that that arc never seemed to flow organically. Like, one minute Dylan can't get anyone to join, the next he's got 48 systems signed up, then all of a sudden a new Commonwealth is in place...

Clearly the show must have been a fantasy, because real governments -never- move that quickly.

 

[John Clark]

I watched all the seasons, but only the first 2 were ok in my opinion.