Roddenberry's ANDROMEDA

[bionicbob]

With all the recent chit chat of older sci-fi shows, I wonder are there any ANDROMEDA fans out there?

I don't know why, but I like this show and probably shouldn't. :-? It is a classic example of the SUITS messing with creative. The show was constantly being tinkered with at the request/demands of the corporate producers (TRIBUNE ENT.) until it was almost unrecongizable at the end (hhhmmmm reminds me of another Roddenberry show Tribune destroyed... Earth:Final Conflict).

But I still, even after all the messing around, I find the show a guilty pleasure of mindless entertainment. The first two seasons under Robert Hewitt Wolfe were excellent. Kevin Sorbo actually had to seriously act in these seasons! After Wolfe was fired, the series took a radical change in season 3, being more episodic, less story more action... but for the most part it still entertained. Season four saw a return to the Magog threat storyline from the first two seasons but in a very form than originally envisioned by Wolfe or the original writers. But again, I still found it a fun show, not very bright, but fun. Season 5 saw the biggest change as FIREWORKS ENT. the production company behind the show went bankrupt, causing major changes in the show due to the sudden lack of budget, and the thus the infamous Seefra storyline. Though the Magog threat was resolved in the final two episodes.

Still, with all its problems, storyline contradictions, production values fluctuations... the cast remained very enjoyably engaging as their characters became more and more archtypical. And while it never broke new ground or overly challenged the viewer, it did provide alot of old school sci-fi action fun. :grin:

Any thoughts on this much maligned series???

 

[ASX]

Actually it was Sorbo that got Robert Hewitt Wolfe and his writing staff fired because Sorbo was too dumb to understand his writing and dialogue.

That's when the show turned to crap.

 

[bionicbob]

It would be easy to blame Sorbo but the truth is there are several different conflicting stories about what happened. And even though Wolfe exited the series (ie. fired) the majority of his writing staff remained for the second and third season, some even right to the end of the 5th.

In the end, the real villain of Andromeda's uneven quality was the executives of TRIBUNE ENTERTAINMENT. They continually armchair quarter backed the series throughout its entire run, issuing orders to writers for changes in series right until the very end. In fact, if you look at every tv series Tribune produced (MUTANT X, BEASTMASTER, EARTH FINAL CONFLICT) you will see they have a solid history of firing the head writers after the first season, changing the direction/tone of a series each season and replacing/firing actors.

 

[lewis886]

i've watched a few episodes.... but i really feel that i need to see the first episode to understand what the hell is going on.... some interesting stuff though... i mostly enjoyed what i saw... not great, but entertaining.