SGU: A poor imitation of Voyager?

[Saquist]

hey all, i've only seen a few episodes of SGU and Jesus, it's just so hard to watch. it's clear the produces wanted to take a page out of Trek's book and try to use SGU to be able to create new stories with a brand new crew. i can honestly say i prefer studying than watching SGU.

i'm a huge fan of Trek and Stargate. i used to love the anticipation of watching the weekly episode of SG1 and SGA, but man, I just can't say i want to watch SGU anymore.

Voyager has received its fair share of criticism on here, but at least Voyager gave us some great episodes. Scorpion, Year of Hell, were some awesome episodes.
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Ok, first of all, Year of Hell and Scorpion were not Great episodes. They were at best mediocre. They are perfect beacons of examples of why Voyager could not conclude a cliff-hanger properly after building the suspense.

Voyagers only good Cliff-hanger was Equinox but it wasn't great.

You actually feel like they are lost far away with almost no control.

The only feeling I get from watching that show is that everyone is totally unprofessional and absolutely nuts. Painful and awkward to watch.

INDEED
It's hard to believe these are the people a supersecret military program have recruited. All of them are compromised in some big way.

You actually feel like they are lost far away with almost no control.

The only feeling I get from watching that show is that everyone is totally unprofessional and absolutely nuts. Painful and awkward to watch.

Well I'll give you that on Young and maybe Greer. But Scott, James, and other military personnel seem to be levelheaded enough.

Not even Scott, who was willing to do nothing as they asphyxiated Rush.

You actually feel like they are lost far away with almost no control.

The only feeling I get from watching that show is that everyone is totally unprofessional and absolutely nuts. Painful and awkward to watch.

Truly! And I hate the response of "well, they weren't really picked for a mission on an alien ship blah blah blah". They were still off-world! You wouldn't think the Air Force would just send a bunch of run of the mill airmen off world. To Japan? Maybe but not to P1565423whatever!

The only constant I see with people who like the farce of a show is that realism isn't a prerequisite. Stories don't need logical endings...People can be abducted or abandon on planets and then quickly reappear back on the ship an no one is held accountable for their decisions, Namely Rush, Young and anyone connected to those God forsaken stones.

However SGU has nothing to do with Voyager.
Voyager was a Earth ship lost in a distance place in the Galaxy.
Destiny isn't lost. It's 11 Billion Light Years from our Galaxy

Star Fleet didn't know where Voyager was. They were actually alone
SGC does know the Icarus crew survived and they regularlly body back to Earth...They aren't really alone.

SGU is civilian and military on the same mission
Voyager was all Star Fleet and Rebels directly opposed to each other.

Destiny is a crumbling shell of death and encryption algorithms.
Voyager was state of the art and user friendly.

I see no similarities.

 

[Sparky]

If SGU is BSG lite, then Voyager is Galactica 1980.

Actually strike that. Comparing Voyager to Galactica 1980 is an insult to Galactica 1980.

Voyager is more like a 7 season long Star Wars Christmas Special of the Trek Universe.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

Voyager had some of the best moments in ST history.

 

[Kai Winn]

the very best ones. at least five of their episodes outrank anything else in st, and it had the best characters. sg1 and sga were up to this standard, at times even better. i tried hard to watch sgu, the pilot was ok, then it became increasingly insufferable.

 

[Sparky]

Voyager had some of the best moments in ST history.

Yeah, those opening credits were pretty good.

Moments do not make for an overall good show.

 

[BenRoethig]

SGU is doing what Voyager should have done: SGU is about trying to survive without any supplies and get home. You actually feel like they are lost far away with almost no control. Voyager, on the other hand, didn't take very long to become alien-of-the-week, TNG-copy with a different crew with the occassional reference to needing to get home. I have the same criticism of Atlantis: In almost no time flat, you forgot that they were cut off far away from home.... and to make it no big deal, they took all of one season to reconnect them home!

It was true to its premise the first couple seasons. Problem is, as BSG showed, it could only last so long.

 

[Dr. Chandra]

To answer the original question: No. In my opinion, SGU is not a poor imitation of Voyager. I don't see any similarity between the two, aside from the fact that a group of people far from home wants to go home. How they got lost differs, how difficult life is on the ship differs (abundance of food, water, clothing, etc), How they control (or can't control) the ship differs.

I liked VOY in spite of a few stinker episodes, and I like SGU now.

 

[Saquist]

Voyager had some of the best moments in ST history.

Yeah, those opening credits were pretty good.

Moments do not make for an overall good show.

Voyager was a good show, and smart. It's story lines were lacking in the last two seasons and that happens as shows conclude. DS9 was similarly dull in the end.

 

[AJ86]

"Voyager done right" is actually something I've read quite a few times on IMDb. Personally I wouldn't compare them, they two different types of shows.

 

[Jack Bauer]

If it was then everyone would be nicey nice to each other by now...

 

[NKemp3]

I think that SGU has been more true to its premise than VOY. Though I would agree that I get more of a BSG vibe than VOY vibe from it.

Agreed. There's actual continuity and repercussions o SGU. That wasn't the case with VOY. Its funny...back in the day the same things that SGU is doing now is what many of us VOY detractors were hoping VOY would actually do. And yet SGU is characterized as some poor imitation of VOY? Give me a break. VOY was the reset show.

 

[FordSVT]

Sometimes, I wonder if I'm watching the same SGU as others. While I admit that the pacing could indeed pick up a bit, I rather enjoy it. I like the dynamics between the characters, I don't mind the stones (and they've drastically cut down on their use since the season break), I like they way they are exploring the characters instead of having them all act like predictable 2D cutouts. As much as I like SG-1, the characters on that show changed about >this< much during the run.

"It's like BSG!" How? The ship is dirty? There are maybe some God-like aliens? BSG invented this shit? The writers are trying to set the show up as a story told over a season, and while I'd like to see more off-ship and through the gate exploration stuff myself I think they've done a decent job. There are several different story lines that they've been threading along and I'm interested in most of them. I don't require perfection in order to enjoy something, and even the best shows suffer from some pretty large problems.

SG-1 came closer to the end of its run with critics saying "we're tired of SG-1!", and that was before the Ori arc. Atlantis came along and people bitched it wasn't enough like SG-1, and then when they practically ditched the "stuck far from home" premise of the show people complained that it was too much like SG-1. Then they bring out Universe and it wasn't enough like SG-1, and too much like Voyager (which it has almost nothing in common with) and BSG (apparently because it's dirty and people occasionally have sex and there is a homosexual character). I like BSG, but that show gets way too much credit for originality, when from the core of its being on up it takes and it takes from other sources, and I'm not just talking about the original show.

 

[hamudm]

You just can't make everyone happy. Nothing will ever be completely original or flawless. It's too much like voyager it's too much like bsg... So what? Nothing's perfect bit sgu is a fun romp that stays relatively true to it's original premise. I'd rather watch this than skiffy replacing it with wrestling or something.

What is it about the Internet where 90% of forum posts turn into bitching about people's nitpicks and rarely a post about something positive?

 

[hamudm]

I think that SGU has been more true to its premise than VOY. Though I would agree that I get more of a BSG vibe than VOY vibe from it.

Agreed. There's actual continuity and repercussions o SGU. That wasn't the case with VOY. Its funny...back in the day the same things that SGU is doing now is what many of us VOY detractors were hoping VOY would actually do. And yet SGU is characterized as some poor imitation of VOY? Give me a break. VOY was the reset show.

Heh... That's definitely the sweet irony of it. I think a lot of scifi geek types honestly have trouble appreciating anything that doesn't live up to their ludicrously high standards. NOTHING will ever be perfect; that's just life. Just be glad this isn't a repeat of Survivor or something!

Not that it's wrong to have expectations or that I advocate watching any garbage like so e mouth breather, but as a viewer you have to be able to give yourself over to the story from time to time and forgive a few flubs in logic or a filler episode here and there. Yeah SGU has had the odd slower episode, but overall I have been very satisfied with the product and it has certainly had me more hooked than Atlantis which got really old really fast with it's hammy acting, etc...

 

[The Wormhole]

"It's like BSG!" How? The ship is dirty? There are maybe some God-like aliens? BSG invented this shit?

I don't think anyone is trying to say BSG invented this stuff. But consider this: all these elements were in BSG and now they're in SGU. Things like:

-Depressed and moody setting.
-European scientists with a shady agenda haunted by hallucinations of their lovers.
-Alien guardians who may well be "Gods."
-A homosexual who teamed with an opportunistic self-serving bastard to stage a mutiny.
-Military vs civilians. Specifically, a gruff male military authority against a female civilian authority.
-Shaky Cam.
-Half season DVD sets.

All these elements were present in BSG and are now in SGU. That's a bit too coincidental to overlook.

Then they bring out Universe and it wasn't enough like SG-1, and too much like Voyager (which it has almost nothing in common with) and BSG (apparently because it's dirty and people occasionally have sex and there is a homosexual character). [/QUOTE]

No, not because they both have a homosexual character. But rather because they both have a homosexual character (Gaeta/Wray) who teamed up with a self-serving bastard (Tom Zarek/Rush) to stage a mutiny. If you can name me one other show that has this exact scenario play out in this exact way, I will concede the point.

 

[Anwar]

No, the premise of all three shows (VOY, NuBSG, SGU) have similarities but that premise has been around for a MUCH longer time than any of those shows.

I think VOY had conceptual problems before it even aired but I still like it, NuBSG I could never get into and seeing how it began to fall apart after only 2 seasons and ESPECIALLY that ending (which further proves that Ron Moore can't write a proper ending to save his life), SGU I stuck with in season one but S2 I dropped it.

I'll be frank, "Consequences" and "repercussions" don't mean all that much to me. If a guy says "I'm lactose intolerant" and then is seen 3 seasons later drinking milk I'll forgive it, if someone gets punched in the face I won't care if the next 5 episodes don't reference that he got punched in the face.

I just wanted to be entertained, and VOY did that better than the other two shows. Yes, it could've done a little better to show how they survive instead of just implying things to save money, and some of the characters never should have been main characters to begin with, but it still works for me.

 

[MPH]

No, the premise of all three shows (VOY, NuBSG, SGU) have similarities but that premise has been around for a MUCH longer time than any of those shows.

I think VOY had conceptual problems before it even aired but I still like it, NuBSG I could never get into and seeing how it began to fall apart after only 2 seasons and ESPECIALLY that ending (which further proves that Ron Moore can't write a proper ending to save his life), SGU I stuck with in season one but S2 I dropped it.

I'll be frank, "Consequences" and "repercussions" don't mean all that much to me. If a guy says "I'm lactose intolerant" and then is seen 3 seasons later drinking milk I'll forgive it, if someone gets punched in the face I won't care if the next 5 episodes don't reference that he got punched in the face.

I just wanted to be entertained, and VOY did that better than the other two shows. Yes, it could've done a little better to show how they survive instead of just implying things to save money, and some of the characters never should have been main characters to begin with, but it still works for me.

I thought that ending was one of the best for series I have ever seen but I suppose you though Voyagers was a good ending
Oh and its a pity you have given up on SGU after 1 season as I think its now finding its footing.

 

[Shazam!]

Voyager is a poor imitation of Voyager.

 

[Saquist]

I disagree. It may have been mediocre but it's spite that lead those to say "poor"
ENTERPRISE was poor. A lot of men don't look at Voyager favorably because it was female intensive but theer was nothing so wrong with the show that a little inspired writing couldn't fix. It had Characters with excellent chemistry, a concept that was more original that the other Trek genre, it was at least fun to watch or lighthearted and very positive.

SGU by all comparison is a failure.
Few people can tolerate the characters
the Ratings were crap from go.
The stories never go anywhere
Dark and depressing

No, the premise of all three shows (VOY, NuBSG, SGU) have similarities but that premise has been around for a MUCH longer time than any of those shows.

I think VOY had conceptual problems before it even aired but I still like it, NuBSG I could never get into and seeing how it began to fall apart after only 2 seasons and ESPECIALLY that ending (which further proves that Ron Moore can't write a proper ending to save his life), SGU I stuck with in season one but S2 I dropped it.

I'll be frank, "Consequences" and "repercussions" don't mean all that much to me. If a guy says "I'm lactose intolerant" and then is seen 3 seasons later drinking milk I'll forgive it, if someone gets punched in the face I won't care if the next 5 episodes don't reference that he got punched in the face.

I just wanted to be entertained, and VOY did that better than the other two shows. Yes, it could've done a little better to show how they survive instead of just implying things to save money, and some of the characters never should have been main characters to begin with, but it still works for me.

I do care about consequences and repercussions but SGU is so FAKE with making them. They pretended to be more realistic but that's not how they pan out. You might as well post a sign on the gate "All roads lead back to Destiny" it's like a freakin Roach Motel.

Voyager was entertaining...mediocre at times...really smart at other times Like RELATIVITY, THAW, DEADLOCK, COUNTERPOINT, VOID, Worst Case Scenario, EQUINOX, and other episodes but it was darn entertaining as shows go. The standard formula.

Similarly I couldn't get into BSG, and I love Stargate...but SGU SUCKS. I did one year and had enough of it.

 

[Anwar]

I thought that ending was one of the best for series I have ever seen

I liked it better when I was watching "Gall Force" 15 years ago.

but I suppose you though Voyagers was a good ending

They got back to Earth and didn't waste time on one of those silly cliched "They get back home but they don't fit in anymore" type things. Farscape was at least original enough to do it quite a bit before the end and still have a major plotline beyond going back home.