The season 1 finale and season 2 opener were the high points of the series for me. Other than that--meh. Being a "Roddenberry"-inspired show, I was really predisposed to wanting to like this when it first came out but, like EFC, it didn't live up to its potential premise.
Gene Roddenberrys Andromeda
- Thread starter Phaedron
- Start date
The first season and a half were mostly great with a few clunkers. The first season finale/cliffhanger was fantastic. Once Wolfe got the boot it went way way way down. The new showrunner could barely write a coherent episode. I forget his name but he sucked.
The first season and a half were mostly great with a few clunkers. The first season finale/cliffhanger was fantastic. Once Wolfe got the boot it went way way way down. The new showrunner could barely write a coherent episode. I forget his name but he sucked.
I LOVE this show (in a comfort show, silly fun kinda way). The stories and mythology were really interesting, and the actors generally seemed to be having fun with their roles (especially Keith Hamilton Cobb).
Shame it all wen't to hell at the end of season 3.
Pretty much. Although in my books, good campy, silly fun can still be good sci fi. Fun is GOOD!
Shame it all wen't to hell at the end of season 3.
Pretty much. Although in my books, good campy, silly fun can still be good sci fi. Fun is GOOD!
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^^^I could see that anyone who gets attached to the characters could find it fun. Which is why there really isn't much difference in the quality of the series until the last season, when the budget was cut so much they didn't even do a spaceship show anymore.
But the overwhelming majority of posters here really are saying that the Robert Hewitt Wolfe episodes were deep, high quality (other than production values, that is,) "serious" drama. Keith Hamilton Cobb's Nietzchean, for instance, is regarded as really exemplifying and exploring an alternative, Darwinian morality as commentary on current society.
That is miles from seeing that Keith Hamilton Cobb's campy little himbo was a natural predecessor to a role on Noah's Arc.
But the overwhelming majority of posters here really are saying that the Robert Hewitt Wolfe episodes were deep, high quality (other than production values, that is,) "serious" drama. Keith Hamilton Cobb's Nietzchean, for instance, is regarded as really exemplifying and exploring an alternative, Darwinian morality as commentary on current society.
That is miles from seeing that Keith Hamilton Cobb's campy little himbo was a natural predecessor to a role on Noah's Arc.
I never saw Andromeda as a serious show, but there was definitely a change after Wolfe left the show. Everyone involved in the production says the same things. Wolfe wanted a more serialized show that focused on the entire crew of Andromeda. Sorbo and the suits wanted a more action oriented show focused almost entire on Sorbo's character.
And that was clearly reflected from the middle of season two onward after Wolfe left. Did the tone, look and feel of the show radically change? Not really.
But the mythology and character development(little as it was)took even more of a backseat to action and one off stories that had little to do with any on-going story-arcs.
I wasn't really web savvy back in those days, so I had no idea that there had been creative shakes on the show, but I know that by the end of season of two the show had gone from appointment TV for me, to not really caring whether I caught each episode or not.
And that was clearly reflected from the middle of season two onward after Wolfe left. Did the tone, look and feel of the show radically change? Not really.
But the mythology and character development(little as it was)took even more of a backseat to action and one off stories that had little to do with any on-going story-arcs.
I wasn't really web savvy back in those days, so I had no idea that there had been creative shakes on the show, but I know that by the end of season of two the show had gone from appointment TV for me, to not really caring whether I caught each episode or not.
there were a few things i liked about the show, but the stories were hit and miss most of the time.One bright spot for me was that a lot of the guest stars were from battlestar Galactica.It was fun to see them in other roles.
Andromeda was a Kevin Sorbo vehicle from the beginning. It's one thing to write for a breakout character, but trying to surreptitiously demote the star who got the series greenlit is something else. Trying to write a serial for syndication is also bizarre. It's why Babylon 5 was such a hard sell. It was very kind of Sorbo to say Wolfe was too complex or literate (however he phrased it.) Of course Wolfe fans have dutifully developed Sorbo hate. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
Nonetheless, the new producer (a guy named Engel) kept the basics Wolfe established, at least until the budget forced the soft reboot in fifth season. That's why there's no clear distinction in the Wolfe/Engel seasons, no real change in tone, look or feel. That's part of Andromeda's problem, Engel didn't fix any of the stuff Wolfe fucked up. The notion that there was some arc that people got cheated out of assumes that arcs in themselves are better, which is just harebrained. It also assumes, against the evidence of the episodes that Wolfe produced, the arc would have been good in itself.
This is sort of like the claim there really were outstanding episodes on Andromeda while Wolfe was there. Namely, you haven't made an argument. No doubt you have correctly reported your subjective feelings but why should anyone here care about them? A series with Wolfe's look and tone and feel wasn't very compelling? Yes, yes, of course I agree.
But, more of Wolfe Andromeda would have been an exciting arc with fascinating character development? Excuse me, try explaining why it would be a good thing, instead of assuming it. For instance, the Magog (yet another gross lapse in naming, would good writers really be so tone deaf?) are menacing mulitiple galaxies with their teeth, claws and their ability to swarm their victims like football players making a tackle. Frankly, the burden of the proof is on the people who want to think Andromeda tanked quality wise because it didn't explore the thematic depths of that idea.
'Demote' is a little strong here. I don't think RHW or Kevin Sorbo disagreed that Dylan Hunt was the star of Andromeda. Heck, the entire arc for the first season is mostly propelled by Dylan Hunt. No unfrozen Boy Scout, no restore the Commonwealth.
The difference is, I think, that RHW saw Dylan Hunt as the lead characer in an ensemble and Kevin Sorbo saw Dylan Hunt as the lead, period.
And yeah, Sorbo clearly wanted something close to Hercules or Xena in terms of tone and continuity. RHW's approach was more likely to appeal to geeks, but as B5 shows that's not always a great ratings strategy.
