'Tis the season of the Space Opera

I don't know about anyone else on this forum but I have to say space opera is my absolute favorite genre of fiction. Forget Star Trek and Stargate, I'm talking about classics such as Firefly and Farscape, and let us not forget the legendary Lexx. It seems like forever since we've had a decent space opera series, now it looks like we're getting 2 at the same time!

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

There is no television program that will attain the status of Star Trek no matter how hard they try.


"I have been and forever shall be...your friend. "

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

"Live long and prosper".


The prime directive. No descrimination. Revolutionary tech gadgets, the "boldly going where no one has gone before"...


Pure genious.

They look good. I miss Space operas.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

There is no television program that will attain the status of Star Trek no matter how hard they try.

I must be one of those weird people who never really could get into Star Trek, I prefer a crew which have a slightly rebellious side, not a formal crew wearing the same uniform. And I prefer a story which is more focused on adventuring around the universe and visiting alien planets. The vibe you get when watching a show like Firefly is almost impossible to find in any other show and that's what puts it above Star Trek in my mind. But we all have our own tastes and I don't expect anyone to agree with me.

And when it comes to Lexx, I think that show deserves respect for many reasons. First of all it was pretty much the first show to take on the space opera genre with a very light hearted and comedic tone, and it paved the way for shows like Firefly and Farscape and pushed the limits of CGI technology with quite a low budget. And even though Lexx was a very casual watch for the most part it also had very dark undertones and a deep lore involving His Divine Shadow. The last few seasons got pretty crappy but I highly recommend watching the first 2 or 3 for anyone who loves Firefly and Farscape.

This is what I call pure genius.

originally posted by: ChaoticOrder

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: ChaoticOrder

There is no television program that will attain the status of Star Trek no matter how hard they try.

I must be one of those weird people who never really could get into Star Trek, I prefer a crew which have a slightly rebellious side, not a formal crew wearing the same uniform. And I prefer a story which is more focused adventuring around the universe and visiting alien planets. The vibe you get when watching a show like Firefly is almost impossible to find in any other show and that's what puts it above Star Trek in my mind. But we all have our own tastes and I don't expect anyone to agree with me.

And when it comes to Lexx, I think that show deserves respect for many reasons. First of all it was pretty much the first show to take on the space opera genre with a very light hearted and comedic tone, and it paved the way for shows like Firefly and pushed the limits of CGI technology available at the time. And even though Lexx was a very casual watch for the most part it also had very dark undertones and a deep lore involving His Divine Shadow. The last few seasons got pretty crappy but I high recommend watching the first 2 or 3 for anyone who loves Firefly and Farscape.

This is what I call pure genius.

I tried Lexx as am a bit of a sci fi fanatic but just found it a little to odd for my liking, a little too odd.

One show I felt did not get the right recognition was Andromeda, the first season was a bit lame in an episodal way but I thought it had some really good ideas and some truly brilliant charecters in the limelight.

a reply to: nonspecific

I tried Lexx as am a bit of a sci fi fanatic but just found it a little to odd for my liking, a little too odd.

That's one of the things I think makes it so brilliant though, that's what makes the worlds they visit in Lexx feel truly alien. Charlie Chaplin lost in space, that's the best way I've heard anyone describe Lexx. I mean what's not to love about that concept. Plus 790 has to be the most awesome fictional robot ever.

originally posted by: ChaoticOrder
a reply to: nonspecific

I tried Lexx as am a bit of a sci fi fanatic but just found it a little to odd for my liking, a little too odd.

That's one of the things I think makes it so brilliant though, that's what makes the worlds they visit in Lexx feel truly alien. Charlie Chaplin lost in space, that's the best way I've heard anyone describe Lexx. I mean what's not to love about that concept. Plus 790 has to be like the most awesome fictional robot ever.

It has been a few years since I watched it but it felt like a douglas adams novel converted to tv by a German bondage fetishist.

I liked it but it was sometimes just too wierd for me.

a reply to: nonspecific

I liked it but it was sometimes just too wierd for me.

Haha well I have to admit it could get pretty weird at times.

When do these shows premiere?

originally posted by: zazzafrazz
When do these shows premiere?

They first episode of both shows have already been aired.

I think I'll have a little look at these.
I think Farscape is truly awesome & I was pleased that some people remember Lexx & even enjoyed it! I certainly did.

I've never watched any of Firefly, so I think that's near the top of my list of stuff to do.
Anybody got anything to say about the new Battlestar Galactica? (Not seen a whole lot of that either, just snippets here & there).

Oh yeah - Star Trek has fantastic dialogue too:
"...or it could be a beaker full of death".

a reply to: nonspecific

Most of those shows are a bit slow in the first season. Firefly was an exception, and if that was slow ... just imagine what seasons two and up would have been like ...

It takes time for the writers to find the characters and the cast to find its chemistry and gel.

I loved Farscape!

And we aren't done with Space Operas yet. I'm reading the Expanse series in book form right now, and Sci-fi is putting that one out in series in December. So we have one more Space Opera to go. If they can keep it true to the books, it'll be pretty good.

Can't believe Lexx got mentioned, nobody ever knows what that show is when I bring it up. Great show, weird as ****, my 14 year old self was fascinated.

Let's not forget japanimation like Cowboy Bebop or older stuff like Ulysses 31 www.dailymotion.com...

a reply to: gosseyn

Indeed. Outlaw Star and Trigun are also very awesome.

Other space properties definitely had their following though (and still do)...

Firefly
Babylon 5
Battlestar Galactica

spring to mind.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

Love the first episode of dark matter. Have the 2nd on my list to watch today.

I love Space Channel honestly, even the ones that don't last are always worth the season they put out.

~Tenth

Hm, I'll have to look in to these. Hopefully they're better than Lexx & Firefly were. I watched some Lexx on the boob tube back in the day, but didn't watch any Firefly until my husband had me watch a few episodes with him. Now, I seem to anger diehards when I say this, but I thought the acting in Lexx was pretty poor (good concept & stories, but overall bad actors) and that the writing in Firefly blew (BAD writing, good actors that got screwed over) Highly overrated shows, IMHO.

Farscape, though. Love it. Absolutely love it, it was a slam dunk in writing & acting. I even hit up the series on Netflix earlier this morning & re-watched the series premiere. That's a classic sci-fi series now, hands down.

How did I forget Farscape?

We're about due for another stab at a Trek franchise. Maybe after the next movie?

Enterprise was about the first one I couldn't care for...mostly because it just seemed so out of place with the rest of it. Just use the Next Generation/DS9/Voyager type tech or go even more advanced than that. Trying to go BACK was just wrong....

originally posted by: Nyiah

Farscape, though. Love it. Absolutely love it, it was a slam dunk in writing & acting.

I agree Farscape is better than Lexx and Firefly. Overall it does a better job in most areas. I don't think the writing in Firefly was bad but the series was too short. On top of that Farscape actually had very well designed alien creatures like the blue plant lady and little slug dude. I try to look past a lot of the faults in Lexx because it's obvious they were working with a small budget but they still managed to do many amazing things.