[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> I was just watching Andromeda, the latest Kevin Sorbo television vehicle. It
> is also the latest television show to claim to be created by Gene Rodenberry.
the show does not make that claim - the claim, made by Majel
Rodenberry, is that it was based on her late husband's work.
> I don't know how it could POSSIBLY be created by Gene Roddenberry unless
> Gene Roddenberry also created Blake's Seven.
????? Huh?
> My wife would watch Doctor Who every
> so often, but she'd never watch Blake's Seven. And of course now, she won't
> watch Andromeda.
why not?
> So who can I share my outrage with about being served up
> ripped-off uncredited old British science fiction?
why do you think that 'Andromeda' is a rip-off of 'Blake's Seven'?
(i've heard people whine that it was a rip-off of 'Genesis 2', a
short-lived Roddenberry series. if there was a borrowing of initial
premise i don't see any problem with it - unless one wishes to
postulate that 'The Magnificent Seven' is worthless because it was
derived from 'The Seven Samuari'....or that 'Forbidden Planet' should
be avoided because it 'rips off' Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.)
> On the other hand, I like the premise. A skeleton crew of misfits discover a
> "living spaceship."
depends on your definition of 'living'. the ship is a purely
mechanical/electronic entity - just a sentient and self-aware one.
and the captain of the ship is not from the 'crew of misfits' that
pulled it away from its close orbit of a black hole.
> Thus far also ripped off by Farscape.
humph. and anyone who uses genetically modified animals in his
writing is ripping off Cordwainer Smith. (or even Aesop!)
> Blake's Seven
> then try to use their advanced technology to restore the Republic, Andromeda
> tries to restore the Commonwealth.
against great odds i would add.
> It begins to ask an interesting thought
> question, "What could a good man do with the ultimate weapon?"
not on 'Andromeda'. they don't have any 'super-powerful' technology
(unless you count those useless 'nova bombs'*) on that ship, they
just have one of the better ships in that region of space. (the
Commonwealth fell shortly after the Andromeda was trapped in orbit
around that black hole - but there was not a loss of technology. any
poverty that is portrayed is a result of the collapsed economy or
war, not a loss of technology. an analogy would be a Roman Legion
appearing in 5th century Europe - they might be the best military
power in the region, but none of their power would be unmatchable by
the locals....and they wouldn't have the support infrastructure that
they used to have...)
{*nova bombs are useless because they, apparently, destroy the star
they are targeted on. the enemy may become dead, but that is all
you've gained. and you've lost a lot because a lot because any
habitable planets in that solar system are no longer habitable. even
if the historians are otherwise on your side they'll say bad things
about you.)
> A small band
> against a vast evil empire encompassing many innocent people. A complicated
> question.
there is no 'evil empire' in 'Andromeda'. there are a variety of
local powers, barbarians, and pirates - but no 'evil empire'. almost
any of the local governments, or warlords could take the Andromeda -
and a couple of them nearly have. if anything most of the status that
ship has is because it is a symbol of a vanished 'Golden Age', and
not because of it's firepower.
> SPOILER
> If the earthlings of Brin's world ever fetch the derelict fleet, they'll have
> to answer a similar sort of question.
i don't recall that it was ever established that the derelict fleet
was anything other than a bunch of abandoned big ships. i definitely
don't recall any evidence of 'super-technology' on them.
> We know WE are good.
i would agree that humans have a capacity for good - but i can name
quite a few governments in the last century alone that i would not
call 'good'.
> How shall a small wolfing race impose its goodness upon the universe?
first - should it? would attempting to do so be consistent with that
postulated 'goodness'?
> How do we impose our will, as we inevitably will, for good or evil,
> upon the universe?
inevitably will? i can think of a lot of people i know who would
prefer to 'leave well enough alone'.
> Of course the whole living ship thing is at least as ancient as the voyage of
> the Argo (and My Mother the Car!).
oh my! then 'Andromeda' is ripping off the ancient Greeks! oh the
perfidy of it all!
regards,
christopher
--
Christopher Gwyn
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
