The Rise of Canadian Fantasy/Sci- Fi TVCurrently there's a new light horror/supernatural TV series called Bitten, about a female werewolf (or would that be wifwolf?) and her extended werewolf family. Starring Laura Vandervoort, who looks a bit like a next generation Dale sister (think Jennifer and Cynthia), and adapted to TV from novels by Kelley Armstrong, so far Bitten seems to have hit the ground at a trot, critically speaking. Many of the initial reviews seem to feel the show okay, but needs to step up its game in the next few episodes in order to stand out from the - - well - - pack.
And that's because horror/supernatural series are virtually a dime a dozen these days, with werewolves cropping up in more than a few. But an interesting thing about Bitten is it's a Canadian series. Even more remarkable, it pays token lip service to that, at least in the first episode, as the heroine is living in Toronto - - though her family home is in upstate New York where some of the action will occur. Bitten has even been referred to as a Canadian series - - or a Canadian import - - in American articles and reviews, and with headlines such as TV. Unless it's to be pejorative. Indeed, one can wonder if some commentators have identified Bitten as Canadian because some of the reviews have been mediocre - - while Canadian series they like, they sometimes identify more vaguely as simply being . Even in the seventies, people were worried about global warming. With this in mind, Alternative 3 was about a secret colony on Mars, built by American and Russian. Got Android? Get my Classic UHF app at the Google Store (click here) This app has most of my public domain library in an easy to use point and click format for phones. Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald.IMDb's advanced search allows you to run extremely powerful queries over all people and titles in the database. Find exactly what you're looking for! But though I say it's interesting that Bitten is Canadian - - it's not really unusual, because there's been a big spike in Canadian . And since fantasy/SF and Canadian film/TV are two things I think about way too much, pull up a big chair for two to cozy up in (as The Friendly Giant used to say) and let's look at where the combo has been, where it's at - - and where it could go, should go, or is going. Occasional oases of . A few were made primarily by and for the Canadian market, but most were international co- productions aimed at the global (i. American) market. But from the point of view of a creative continuum it was probably the 1. It was around then that a spat of Canada- U. S. The result was a slew of fantasy and sci- fi TV series including Star. Gate, Andromeda, Earth: Final Conflict, Tek. War, Poltergeist: The Legacy and many others. Most of these series were Canada- U. S. In one interview, one of the Canadian producers behind Star. Gate lamented that in the U. S. Star. Gate was dismissed as a Canadian series, while in Canada it was regarded as simply being an American program shot in Canada. Some series were basically overseen by American creators, yet with Canadians fundamentally involved (as opposed to American series that were shot in Canada but remained American productions - - like The X- Files). With others, the creative heavy lifting was unarguably being done by Canadians. What united most of these productions was that many were derived from existing - - American - - properties (spin- offs from movies or novels or unused scripts). Almost all featured an American actor (or two) as the top- billed star (with other principal roles going to Canadians). And all were adamantly set in the United States - - aggressively rejecting any sense of Canadianness on screen (even the deep space/far future series Andromeda still managed to work in occasional American references!). Around this time, though, were a few interesting exceptions. The vampire- detective series Forever Knight was a co- production based on an existing American property (having begun as a U. S. TV movie called Nick Night). But it featured an all- Canadian cast and was actually set in Canada. Meanwhile The Collector also featured a Canadian cast and was set in Canada - - and was created by Canadians. The odd- ball Lexx was a space fantasy with largely Canadian and German involvement. And you could also toss Due South into the mix - - not technically a fantasy, but tilting that way being a cult series with a premise of an almost . But in general, if people had trouble distinguishing between an actual Canadian production (or co- production) and an American production simply shot in Canada, it was because the Canadian producers themselves were trying very hard to promote that ambiguity. At the IMDB you can find discussion threads about the various Star. Gate series with some fans wondering why there were so many Canadian actors in what they assumed were American series. But if this glut of series failed to depict a . Love or hate these shows, they generally did what was required of them. No more, perhaps, but no less. And by establishing Canada as a purveyor of functional (if anonymous) products, and providing situations for creative types to come together within Canada, working on Canadian productions, it provided the petri dish for a new phase to begin - - and the start of something that entertainment businesses are built upon, but is not too often seen in Canada: a trend. So next time I'll look at this trend that, arguably, began with Sanctuary, and how it led to, among others, The Lost Girl, Orphan Black and now Bitten - - and the lingering sense of a Culture That Dares Not Speak Its Name. ALSO ON HUFFPOST: Suggest a correction. Battlestar Galactica (2. TV series)Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is an American military science fictiontelevision series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore and executive produced by Moore and David Eick as a re- imagining of the 1. Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. The series first aired as a three- hour miniseries (comprising four broadcast hours) in December 2. Sci- Fi Channel, and ran for four seasons thereafter, ending its run on March 2. The series features Edward James Olmos and Mary Mc. Donnell, and garnered a wide range of critical acclaim, which included a Peabody Award, the Television Critics Association's Program of the Year Award, a placement inside Time's 1. Best TV Shows of All- TIME. In the past, the Colonies had been at war with a cybernetic race of their own creation, known as the Cylons. With the unwitting help of a human scientist named Gaius Baltar, the Cylons launch a sudden sneak attack on the Colonies, laying waste to the planets and devastating their populations. Out of a population numbering in the billions, only approximately 5. Of all the Colonial Fleet, the eponymous Battlestar Galactica appears to be the only military capital ship that survived the attack. Under the leadership of Colonial Fleet officer Commander William . Another spin- off, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, was released in November 2. February 1. 0, 2. Syfy as a televised movie. The survivors are led by President Laura Roslin and Commander William Adama in a ragtag fleet of ships with the Battlestar Galactica, an old, but powerful warship, as its command ship. Pursued by Cylons intent on wiping out the remnants of the human race, the survivors travel across the galaxy looking for the fabled and long- lost . Unlike most space opera series, Battlestar Galactica has no humanoid aliens (the antagonists are man- made Cylon robots), the primary armaments used by both military forces utilize bullets, rail guns, and missiles instead of lasers, and the series intentionally avoids technobabble. Stories also portray the concept of perpetuated cycles of hate and violence driving the human- Cylon conflict, and religion, with the implication of a . Despite the animosity on both sides, the humans and a faction of the Cylons eventually form an uneasy alliance, in the wake of the Cylon Civil War. The Cylon leader, humanoid Cylon . Cavil deceives the other models by obsessively hiding the identities and origins of the remaining five humanoid Cylon models, the . Other plotlines involve the mysterious destiny of Kara . The first group of survivors settle in ancient Africa. Ironically, these humanoid Cylons created their own Centurion robotic slaves, who waged a nuclear attack against their masters, devastating the planet and making it uninhabitable. The new Earth is found to be inhabited by early humans, who are genetically compatible with the humans from the Galactica and the rest of the fleet, but who possess only the most rudimentary civilization. The surviving humans and humanoid Cylons settle on the new planet; they discard all technology, destroying the fleet by flying it into the Sun, in order to postpone the creation of robotic servants until their society has progressed to higher ethics. The surviving Cylon Centurions are given possession of the remaining Cylon Basestar, and proceed to jump away from Earth. In the final scenes, modern- day Earth humans are shown to be descendants of the colonists, their humanoid Cylon allies, and the early humans. At the end of the series finale, an angelic Baltar and Cylon Number Six are walking down a sidewalk in modern- day New York City. They are unseen and unheard by the people around them. As the two walk, they notice technologically advanced robots, computers, and other cybernetic devices, and they talk about the technological advancements the humans have made since the Colonists and Humanoid Cylons first arrived to this Earth, over 1. Cylon Number Six and Baltar have an exchange over one of the ongoing themes from the series, . But the question remains, does all of this have to happen again? Gaius Baltar, a brilliant scientist, and later President. Tricia Helfer as Number Six, a humanoid Cylon. Grace Park as. (LTJG) Sharon . Sherman Cottle, Chief Medical Officer of BS Galactica. Nicki Clyne as (SPC) Cally Henderson, member of the landing bay deck crew of BS Galactica, later married to . That search is motivated by ancient religious texts' references to a 1. Earth. Various religious relics and ruins on the Twelve Colonies and elsewhere in the galaxy provide clues to Earth's location. Throughout the series, humans and Cylons are assisted in times of need by mysterious entities, possibly from a higher plane of existence. Human polytheism. This appears to be the state religion of the colonies; government oaths refer to the gods, and back on the Twelve Colonies, public museums housed artifacts of the gods. Some people are devout believers, others are atheists, and most fall somewhere in the middle; all three viewpoints are accepted more or less equally. The Kobol gods have the same names and characteristics as the Greek Olympian gods and the show makes references to Zeus (as well as Jupiter), Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Ares (as well as Mars), and Apollo. As evidenced by prayers offered by the human characters, the Kobol gods are morally refined and are believed to watch over and intervene benevolently in the lives of the just. This is similar to the concept of the gods during the Greek classical and Hellenistic periods, not the amoral (and very human) gods of the Greek archaic period. In another parallel to Western polytheism, the names of the Twelve Colonies and their planets are similar to the names of the constellations in the Greco- Romanzodiac. The finale implies that the Greek and Roman pantheons, as well as several ancient belief systems including the zodiac, were imported to Earth by the colonial survivors. The principal means of transmitting divine knowledge are the Sacred Scrolls. The Scrolls chronicle the early period of human existence, when people and the gods purportedly lived together on the planet Kobol, whose location at the beginning of the series is unknown and is regarded as mythical by secular humans. The Scrolls tell that at some point in time, twelve human tribes left Kobol and founded the Twelve Colonies, while a thirteenth headed towards Earth. This is also referred to in the opening words of the Scrolls: . One important feature mentioned is the Book of Pythia, which chronicles an ancient prophetess (similar to the Oracle of Delphi named Pythia) who journeyed with the Thirteenth Tribe on their voyage to Earth. Pythia also described the exodus of the other Twelve Tribes, and the things that happened to them. She describes a dying leader who would guide the tribes to salvation. President Roslin sees herself as playing the part of the leader in the texts, as she has terminal breast cancer. Another important quotation from the scrolls is the recurring phrase . The opening credits are accompanied by a new- age- inflected version of the Gayatri Mantra, a hymn dedicated to the solar deity Savitr. It differs greatly from the humans' religion; it is monotheistic and shares many beliefs of Abrahamic monotheistic religions (God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, that he will one day deliver divine retribution and that he intervenes in the world). Much like Evangelical Christianity, the Cylon religion encourages a personal relationship with God. Despite being man- made, Cylons believe that they were created by God. Some humans have come to follow the Cylon religion, mostly by way of Gaius Baltar, who himself grew to believe in the Cylon religion through the efforts of Caprica Six. References to modern society. Johnson after the Kennedy assassination. Many people have drawn parallels between the Cylons and Al Qaeda. The show has also tackled issues regarding terrorist sleeper cells with stories involving the reality and fear of Cylon suicide attacks, Cylon Number 5 (Aaron Doral) in the episode called Litmus, sneaks aboard the Galactica and blows himself up in the middle of the corridor and sleeper agent Lt. It has been suggested that these plotlines extensively . Moore points out that the Cylons and Al Qaeda are not necessarily intended to be allegorical: . There is a consensus that with . The reasoning of the Cylons is horrifically familiar, they would prefer not to be brutal but they won't accept the failure of a glorious mission. We sympathize with the insurgents wholeheartedly. When the show was picked up, Gibbs opted not to devote full- time to the regular series' production and Mc. Creary became the composer. He scored over 7. Six Battlestar Galactica soundtrack albums have been released to great critical acclaim - one for the miniseries, one for each of the four seasons, and one combining music from the inter- season Razor and post- finale prequel The Plan. The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan hailed the music as . For some of the series' more important episodes, Mc. Creary was granted a full orchestra. Character themes and leitmotifs gradually took on importance, despite being avoided earlier. A variety of ethnic instruments have been used. One season 4 episode employed: Chinese membrane flute, Indian bansuri flute, duduk (Armenian woodwind), erhu (Chinese violin), yialli tanbur (a Turkish lute), dumbek (Middle Eastern drum), Japanese taiko drums and four brass players, 3. In April 2. 00. 8, more than 1,0. L. A.'s Roxy on Sunset Boulevard, with some fans flying in from as far as England and Australia. Season 1 began airing in North America three months later, on January 1. United States, and January 1. Canada. The first episode aired in the U. S. In fall 2. 00. Sci- Fi Channel's standard airing schedule normally used for its Stargate series, which was to split a 2. The second half of season 2 (.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2017
Categories |