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 Smacks wrote:
I thought Lexx was great, it's not really like anything else. It's totally weird, and then gets weirder. It's as though Ice Pirates and The Mighty Boosh had a baby, and then didn't spend any money on it, and it grew up to be a transvestite. If you're watching it hoping it will get better, then it won't, and you're doing it wrong. You have to watch it like it's an Andrei Tarkovsky movie, i.e: give up all hope that there will be any kind of payoff, or that it will even make sense, and just appreciate each deranged moment for what it is.

^This.

It's... Canadian TV, from a time where super-serious, Battlestar Galactica-like sci-fi TV was not really done. It's... kind of supposed to be campy-serious, overly-dramatic soap opera TV. As to whether or not it gets "better"? That... really depends on what you mean by "better".

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
It used to show at the weird small hours in the UK, so I watched it drunk after coming back from various locales in various states of enlightenment, and it worked well for that, until the earth episodes, which, even off my gourd, were rubbish.


My ranking for top 3 space operas btw, is Babylon 5, Farscape, DS9 in that order.

I better start watching Farscape then.

As with B5 and DS9, you have to suffer through a fairly ropey first series, but it escalates nicely. Notably with the appearance of two characters, firstly when they add the rogue to the group...



and secondly when they meet the real big bad, perhaps my favorite villain in any scifi series...

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
It used to show at the weird small hours in the UK, so I watched it drunk after coming back from various locales in various states of enlightenment, and it worked well for that, until the earth episodes, which, even off my gourd, were rubbish.


My ranking for top 3 space operas btw, is Babylon 5, Farscape, DS9 in that order.

I better start watching Farscape then.

As with B5 and DS9, you have to suffer through a fairly ropey first series, but it escalates nicely. Notably with the appearance of two characters, firstly when they add the rogue to the group...



and secondly when they meet the real big bad, perhaps my favorite villain in any scifi series...

Oooh yeah, Scorpio is awesome.

Well I got halfway through season 2 and y'know, there was a good episode in there.

One.

Out of like, ten.

So the schmuck in the crew, Stanley Tweedle goes to visit a space brothel (did I mention this show has sex? a prior episode was set entirely in a space brothel, complete with an over-the-hill Captain Kirk trying to get some action) and is captured and put on trial.

It seems in the past he was a rebel, but was captured while returning from a space brothel (did I mention...) and repeatedly raped.

(Several episodes so far have either involved Stanley being raped or the threat of it, I get that they're trying to be the anti-Star Trek/Star Wars but who exactly thought this was entertaining?).

In the process the Empire discovers he has the coded location of the rebel planets allowing them to destroy 100 rebel worlds and kill 600 billion people.

So Stanley is put on trial for failing to kill himself before capture.

It actually builds on continuity, adds to the character, has a neat ethical problem (how guilty is he?) and a cool ending.

So... how do they follow up on this? A virus swaps everyone's sex organs (women grow penises, men grow vaginas) and one of the girls rapes Stanley.

How do they follow that?

Cannibal, incestuous, rapey hill billies.

And then?

A cyborg who tries to rape Stanley.

Fun?

I've seen good shows. I've seen bad ones. I've seen mediocre forgettable ones.

But this is like someone set out, on purpose, to make a show with nothing appealing at all.

So yeah, rewatching Game of Thrones to clear my head.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

That just looks like a weird cross between Frieza and the Gimp.

 d-usa wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

That just looks like a weird cross between Frieza and the Gimp.

Single greatest villain in any scifi series. Because you actually get why he's doing it, because you can, underneath it all, sympathize with his motives for doing all the terrible, wicked shiz he does, and he does terrible wicked shiz in gigatonnes.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:


Single greatest villain in any scifi series. Because you actually get why he's doing it, because you can, underneath it all, sympathize with his motives for doing all the terrible, wicked shiz he does, and he does terrible wicked shiz in gigatonnes.

That's kinda why I never considered Scorpio a straight-up villain. He was a monster, but he was fighting monsters that were even worse than he was, for the benefit of a galaxy that didn't really like or trust him. Yeah, he's not a good guy, or even a nice guy (Harvey could be, sometimes) but I couldn't put him in the bad guy corner after watching all 4 seasons. I considered the villainess they added in later on (the one modeled after Servalan from Blake's 7), Commandant Grayza (sp?) to be a more "proper" villain.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Well I got halfway through season 2 and y'know, there was a good episode in there.

One.

Out of like, ten.

So the schmuck in the crew, Stanley Tweedle goes to visit a space brothel (did I mention this show has sex? a prior episode was set entirely in a space brothel, complete with an over-the-hill Captain Kirk trying to get some action) and is captured and put on trial.

It seems in the past he was a rebel, but was captured while returning from a space brothel (did I mention...) and repeatedly raped.

(Several episodes so far have either involved Stanley being raped or the threat of it, I get that they're trying to be the anti-Star Trek/Star Wars but who exactly thought this was entertaining?).

In the process the Empire discovers he has the coded location of the rebel planets allowing them to destroy 100 rebel worlds and kill 600 billion people.

So Stanley is put on trial for failing to kill himself before capture.

It actually builds on continuity, adds to the character, has a neat ethical problem (how guilty is he?) and a cool ending.

So... how do they follow up on this? A virus swaps everyone's sex organs (women grow penises, men grow vaginas) and one of the girls rapes Stanley.

How do they follow that?

Cannibal, incestuous, rapey hill billies.

And then?

A cyborg who tries to rape Stanley.

Fun?

I've seen good shows. I've seen bad ones. I've seen mediocre forgettable ones.

But this is like someone set out, on purpose, to make a show with nothing appealing at all.

So yeah, rewatching Game of Thrones to clear my head.

All of this is what is generally called "Over The Top". It's just as bad when 40K does it, only it doesn't directly involve rape (unless the Emperor's Children are involved, but we don't talk about them).

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Well I got halfway through season 2 and y'know, there was a good episode in there.

One.

Out of like, ten.

So the schmuck in the crew, Stanley Tweedle goes to visit a space brothel (did I mention this show has sex? a prior episode was set entirely in a space brothel, complete with an over-the-hill Captain Kirk trying to get some action) and is captured and put on trial.

It seems in the past he was a rebel, but was captured while returning from a space brothel (did I mention...) and repeatedly raped.

(Several episodes so far have either involved Stanley being raped or the threat of it, I get that they're trying to be the anti-Star Trek/Star Wars but who exactly thought this was entertaining?).

In the process the Empire discovers he has the coded location of the rebel planets allowing them to destroy 100 rebel worlds and kill 600 billion people.

So Stanley is put on trial for failing to kill himself before capture.

It actually builds on continuity, adds to the character, has a neat ethical problem (how guilty is he?) and a cool ending.

So... how do they follow up on this? A virus swaps everyone's sex organs (women grow penises, men grow vaginas) and one of the girls rapes Stanley.

How do they follow that?

Cannibal, incestuous, rapey hill billies.

And then?

A cyborg who tries to rape Stanley.

Fun?

I've seen good shows. I've seen bad ones. I've seen mediocre forgettable ones.

But this is like someone set out, on purpose, to make a show with nothing appealing at all.

So yeah, rewatching Game of Thrones to clear my head.

I guess you don't like lexx, then. After this thread i've started rewatching it on youtube and still love it. Different strokes for different folks i guess.

Just about stanley, though: yes, he is a shmuck. That's the whole point of him. He's not meant to be likable in the traditional sense. What makes him likable is how unlikable he is. He's a loser in the traditional sense of the word, he manages to be the last man left alive and still can't get the oversexed girl. If something bad is going to happen, it's going to happen to him. He's also the gender-reversed 'damsel in distress', who always gets captured and subjected to sexual peril. If lexx followed traditional stereotypes it would be xev who kept having that sort of thing happen to her.

That's what i meant before about the protagonists all being anti-heroes - there's no one clear person who is likable or relatable. But to me that makes the show more interesting, they're not the traditional team of 'good guys'. They're not out to save the universe. They're just looking out for themselves and helping each other when they have to, while all this stuff is blowing up around them.

It is bearable it is no blake seven or Red dwarf though

 Torga_DW wrote:


I guess you don't like lexx, then. After this thread i've started rewatching it on youtube and still love it. Different strokes for different folks i guess.

Just about stanley, though: yes, he is a shmuck. That's the whole point of him. He's not meant to be likable in the traditional sense. What makes him likable is how unlikable he is. He's a loser in the traditional sense of the word, he manages to be the last man left alive and still can't get the oversexed girl. If something bad is going to happen, it's going to happen to him. He's also the gender-reversed 'damsel in distress', who always gets captured and subjected to sexual peril. If lexx followed traditional stereotypes it would be xev who kept having that sort of thing happen to her.

That's what i meant before about the protagonists all being anti-heroes - there's no one clear person who is likable or relatable. But to me that makes the show more interesting, they're not the traditional team of 'good guys'. They're not out to save the universe. They're just looking out for themselves and helping each other when they have to, while all this stuff is blowing up around them.

And that's the frustrating bit, there's potential here. But not only are the characters unlikeable, they're also dumb as posts. OK the first time the show up at a space station and realize they have no money was cute, but after that? And the first 2 or 3 times they land on a planet with no weapons or security and get captured is OK, but after that?

So they're not even really looking out for themselves Firefly or Blake's 7 (post-Blake) style. They're just... idiots. Unpleasant idiots. So maybe at 2 am coming back from the bar this would be the funniest @#$% I ever saw. But stone cold sober enjoying a precious window of free time? Not so much.

I could have great fun with a story about space @#$%ers flying around blowing up planets. This ain't it.

That's... kind of the point. They're... all losers. They're all, basically, morons. Just different types and flavors of loser.

Then they should be dead!

At some point they should either learn or die!

or I lose interest.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Then they should be dead!

At some point they should either learn or die!

or I lose interest.

Congratulations on encapsulating why Firefly never stood a chance

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Then they should be dead!

At some point they should either learn or die!

or I lose interest.

Well, make sure you lose interest before season 4. The internet will not have enough hate in it to represent what you'll feel after watching that. The episode that did it to me was where oberon marries his once and future 'queen' titania. As someone who actually likes lexx, season 4 is just grrrr. They really should have ended it at season 3 or maybe even 2.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Then they should be dead!

At some point they should either learn or die!

or I lose interest.

I'm not trying to make you like the show. It is what it is, and if you aren't with what it "is", then "it" isn't for you. Though I find I have to agree with the Hat-Lord... Firefly suffered from basically the same problem. As shows go, it wasn't very good.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
OK I'll add Star Gate to the 'watch someday' list along with Farscape.

Farscape I would say "watch right this moment". It was absolutely amazing and probably the most overlooked jewel of late 90's, early 00's TV aside from Firefly, if for no other reason than just Scorpius' character.

 Psienesis wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Then they should be dead!

At some point they should either learn or die!

or I lose interest.

I'm not trying to make you like the show. It is what it is, and if you aren't with what it "is", then "it" isn't for you. Though I find I have to agree with the Hat-Lord... Firefly suffered from basically the same problem. As shows go, it wasn't very good.

Yeah I'm mostly venting, because I see in it the germ of a show I could really, really like.

I mean I don't have a strong opinion on 2 and a hlaf men or whatever, because there's nothing there I'm even vaguely interested in.

But Lexx which its 40k type empire and the fantasy of having your own mile-long planet killing ship is something I could like.

But it just falls so short.

Well I went back and finished season 2 and to answer my original question, yes it becomes tolerable about halfway through season 2.

They finally get a mission other than fly around and try to get laid.

There's a novel universe-threatening threat.

They address it in an original an interesting way (with run away as their first pick).

And after a brief moment of heroism (told through a musical episode that actually adds to the characters) there's an unexpectedly down ending.

From what I read and hear I don't think seasons 3 and 4 are a high priority for me. Though Season 4 where they reach modern Earth sounds like it has potential.

And in the end, that's the best I can say for this show, 2/5, had potential.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And oh yes, I did order Farscape.

Will start watching around the time the family goes on its next vacation.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Well I went back and finished season 2 and to answer my original question, yes it becomes tolerable about halfway through season 2.

They finally get a mission other than fly around and try to get laid.

There's a novel universe-threatening threat.

They address it in an original an interesting way (with run away as their first pick).

And after a brief moment of heroism (told through a musical episode that actually adds to the characters) there's an unexpectedly down ending.

From what I read and hear I don't think seasons 3 and 4 are a high priority for me. Though Season 4 where they reach modern Earth sounds like it has potential.

And in the end, that's the best I can say for this show, 2/5, had potential.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And oh yes, I did order Farscape.

Will start watching around the time the family goes on its next vacation.

So I had to create an account here just to tell you that if you think it got better around halfway through S2, don't give up on Lexx and keep watching with S3. It's my favorite season and also essentially when the show toned down the humor and weirdness and went into a full, serialized 13-episode arc. S4 is the opposite of that, all stand-alones focusing on humor, except for the absolutely killer finale which is honestly my favorite finale on a sci-fi show ever (S4.24)

I need to echo the statement though that Lexx is not for everyone - but the weirdness kept pulling me back in every late-night (found out about this show in 2013) and I have to say it's by far my favorite sci-fi show of all time simply because it is entirely alien and unique. Yes, they're idiots, yes the universe in which the show exists is insanely evil and depraved, but I honestly think that to people who can look past the weirdness, Lexx is very imaginative and original, which is essentially what makes it my favorite sci-fi show.

Now, I love all underdog shows, which is why Voyager is my favorite of all Treks, but there's something special about Lexx and it was during S3 it hit its peak, IMO. S3 to me reminds me of Dune in many ways and the high-fantasy concept is so ambitious you have to give them credit for doing that in the Early 2000's.