Ranxerox Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Defying Gravity starts tonight on ABC. It is to be about a near future manned mission to explore our solar system. The mission is to take 6 years and a lot of the plot is to about interaction between the crew being stuck together all this time so expect some soap opera. Still, based on the premise alone, this is must-watch tv for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Yeah, I am making it a point to watch this one. All I know about it is the few commercial spots that I barely saw. I figure I can go into it with an open mind and hope it turns out to be something good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Hopefully the commercials' emphasis on sex between crew members won't be the focus of the show itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Well, what else do they have to do except sex? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Defying Gravity starts tonight on ABC. It is to be about a near future manned mission to explore our solar system. The mission is to take 6 years and a lot of the plot is to about interaction between the crew being stuck together all this time so expect some soap opera. Still' date=' based on the premise alone, this is must-watch tv for me.[/quote'] Yeah, Alan Sepinwall (a tv reviewer I follow) had a friend describe it at "Grey's Astronomy" so, yeah--lots of soap operatics. I'm gonna give it a shot, but...we'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragdoll Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Defying Gravity. The best show I never heard about? Seriously, maybe I've had my head in the sand, but I'm usually pretty up on upcoming shows. This one. Not even a peep until just 'now'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapier Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I wanted to watch it but got distracted and missed the first hour. I'm hoping they'll rerun it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clsage Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Yeah' date=' Alan Sepinwall (a tv reviewer I follow) had a friend describe it at "Grey's Astronomy" so, yeah--lots of soap operatics. I'm gonna give it a shot, but...we'll see how it goes.[/quote'] I caught some of the episode last night and DVR'd it for some later review...I'd have to say that I am of several minds about what I saw: A) the "Grey's Astronomy" idiom does have truth in it.... given the use of Faulkner's dictum I suppose it was mostly engaging storytelling (what portions I did see).... C) I was somewhat reminded (in a good way) of the syndicated series "The Cape" (basic info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cape_(TV_series) ) as far as the human interactions went and the character complexity.... D) I have tended to enjoy the work of the cast members I recognized in prior work..... E) The production values were excellent....As someone once said I could "see every dollar spent" up on the screen.... F) From a visual point of view the design "worked" for me, no matter it's level of realism.... So, all things said, my opinion ? Just based on the portions seen and without re-watching the entire show: C. Or maybe C-. Probably not going to my "need to watch list". Tho' depending on how ABC schedules Flashforward and the V re-imagining it might catch an hour or so more of my time. Just my slightly greater than $.02US. -Carl- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series The spacecraft actually had some scientific accuracy about it. The woman testing the Venus spacesuit was actually in danger from decompression illness (the bends), which was a nice scientific touch. The magic nanotechnology artificial gravity clothing made me groan. The plot foreshadowing was ham-fisted (Gee, an alcoholic put on a six-year mission in a ship with no alcohol, that couldn't possibly be a problem. The main character is always fighting with the blond, so we know it is true love, however he also has a photo of him and the other crew woman whose husband had to be transferred to Earth so she's looking at an unexpected six years of celebacy, and then there is the brunette who keep throwing herself at the main character. ) And then there is that npphefrq ZnpThssva va gur sbez bs na nyvra sebz bhgre fcnpr jub vf bpphclvat cbq ahzore sbhe juvyr orvat n chccrg znfgre (rot13) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I missed it. How was the show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series And then there is that npphefrq ZnpThssva va gur sbez bs na nyvra sebz bhgre fcnpr jub vf bpphclvat cbq ahzore sbhe juvyr orvat n chccrg znfgre (rot13) Well without the ASB messing with them, all they'd have is their love lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragdoll Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I missed it. How was the show? I thought it was actually a pretty interesting show. Characters and plot didn't seem boring or anything. I'd tune in next sunday to watch another episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted August 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I missed it. How was the show? I liked it, and plan on watching it again next week. It exceeded my expectation, though admittedly I set them pretty low. IMHO, you have to reasonable about things. Nyrath groaned about their clothes pulling people toward the floor thus imitating gravity, but otherwise they would have had to spend their entire budget simulating weightlessness. So, I gave the magical clothes a pass. The same goes all the personal interaction scenes. Scenes like these are cheap to do which saves money for episodes big special effect moments, and personal scenes provide a point of connection for non-scifi geeks that might be watching. As a plus point, it doesn't hurt that the characters at least have the decency to (for the most part) be half interesting. I for one really like the character A.J. Sharma, and hope that they keep him in the story even though he is no longer on the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I liked it, and plan on watching it again next week. It exceeded my expectation, though admittedly I set them pretty low. IMHO, you have to reasonable about things. Nyrath groaned about their clothes pulling people toward the floor thus imitating gravity, but otherwise they would have had to spend their entire budget simulating weightlessness. So, I gave the magical clothes a pass. I haven't watched it yet (it's on the Tivo), but--based on what I've read, I'm with Nyrath. Magical nanotech gravity-imitating clothes? Is everything they handle also wrapped in MNGIC? A CGI spaceship with a rotating lifesystem to produce simulated gravity couldn't be much (if any) more expensive than a CGI spaceship without one. I'm even willing to ignore the fact that the sets don't actually look they're built into a large ring. But MNGIC? It is to laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I haven't watched it yet (it's on the Tivo), but--based on what I've read, I'm with Nyrath. Magical nanotech gravity-imitating clothes? Is everything they handle also wrapped in MNGIC? A CGI spaceship with a rotating lifesystem to produce simulated gravity couldn't be much (if any) more expensive than a CGI spaceship without one. I'm even willing to ignore the fact that the sets don't actually look they're built into a large ring. But MNGIC? It is to laugh. I think the rotating bits of the ship are the sleeping quarters. The rest of the ship (where any interaction between 3 or more characters must take place) is zero-g. Afaik, there is no cheap or even convincing way to consistently produce zero-g shots except on a 'vomit-comet' aircraft (which is what Hollywood used for Apollo 13). Magnetic nano clothing seems to be the only stretch being made so far. I can suspend disbelief for it since everything else (tech wise) seems excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series I think the rotating bits of the ship are the sleeping quarters. The rest of the ship (where any interaction between 3 or more characters must take place) is zero-g. Afaik, there is no cheap or even convincing way to consistently produce zero-g shots except on a 'vomit-comet' aircraft (which is what Hollywood used for Apollo 13). Magnetic nano clothing seems to be the only stretch being made so far. I can suspend disbelief for it since everything else (tech wise) seems excellent. I hadn't seen the show, so I was speaking hypothetically. I was thinking more of a complete ring rotating round the shaft of the ship--like Discovery in 2001. Then they could have "gravity" in all the occupied sections of the ship without anything as ridiculous as magic nanotech gravity clothes. The ship is CGI, after all, it would cost nothing to have designed it that way instead. As for other stretches...well, the usual for tv/movie SF: Vast open spaces in the ship when it ought to look a lot more like a submarine. Every cubic centimeter of space means more mass to push around and more volume to keep heated/cooled and properly aerated. Huge picture windows. Less egregious than in most cases, given that Antares is clearly not designed to deal with reentry stresses, but still.... But otherwise, yeah, I'm satisfied with the "tech" of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series The problem with making all crew space a complete ring rotating round the shaft of the ship--like Discovery in 2001(: A Space Odyssey) is that it would require an effects shot every time 2 or more crew were in different parts of the curvature of the 'ring'. 2001 never showed more than 1 crew member in the ring at the same time unless they were in the same place (edited: or one was strapped down while the other was moving). It also required a life-size rotating set that moved when either character moved within. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Nitpick: 2001 did show two people in two different places in the wheel at the same time, but always separated by the central hub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper-Man Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Nitpick: 2001 did show two people in two different places in the wheel at the same time' date=' but always separated by the central hub.[/quote'] Oops.. In that case, it had to be an effects shot (each person filmed individually and later combined in the film processor). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Yup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series 2001 never showed more than 1 crew member in the ring at the same time unless they were in the same place. It also required a life-size rotating set that moved when either character moved within. Ah but it did. One person was sitting down, while the other was walking. This means the sitting person was strapped into their chair, and had to act like they were NOT gradually hanging upside down in the air. I'm sure this is why they only did this shot once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Here's the Wiki entry - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defying_Gravity_(TV_series) I cannot help but note the reference to a libido-reducing device worn by every crewmember, called a HALOS. This seems to me to be an EXTREMELY obvious set-up for using a line like "His / Her HALOS (halo) slipped". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted August 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Another episode of Defying Gravity came on last night. If you missed it you can watch on ABC's site. To be honest, I'm pimping the show mainly because science fiction tv series with realistic science are as rare as chicken lips, and if we (science fiction fandom) does not support them when they come along they are likely to stay rare. So, even though I wish that DG's story was moving along quicker (had I been writing it, I would have started the series as the Antaris was coming into orbit around Venus), I plan to go on watching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series BTW it's also on Hulu http://www.hulu.com/defying-gravity I am enjoying it. The Soap Opera stuff makes it interesting. It makes the show about people who happen to be in a space craft. The "big secret" is somewhat interesting. It gives them something to do during sweeps. I'll keep watching. BTW I keep wincing when they insist that people explode in vacuum. I hate when shows don't do basic research... Tasha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted August 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Re: Defying Gravity TV Series Just watched episode 4 on my computer. I liked this episode a good deal. The ratio of action in space to action down on earth seems to have gotten better, and I like the fact that the main focus of the episode was solving a engineering problem. Also I'm real happy that brought AJ back as part of the ground crew. He is probably my favorite character, and I would have been unhappy if he was written out of the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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