The Omnigeek

I don’t know why NBC even tries these things. They clearly cannot do science based TV. Okay, ER was pretty good on a science side, but every thing else they do is an EPIC FAIL.

I didn’t go into this show with a lot of high expectations has other recent NBC shows have bombed, but hey, I’m willing to give it a go. I’m not sure I would even give this a “B” movie status on the SyFy (formerly SciFi) Network. Some of the original’s on SyFy are pretty bad, and this one would have a hard time making that network.

The basic plot of “The Meteor” involves a comet that hits 114 Kassandra, a main belt asteroid and knocks it out of its stable orbit into a collision course with Earth. A kook of a scientist who was fired from NASA/JPL played by Christopher Lloyd spots the impending dome and along with his assistant, played by Marla Sokoloff races from their exile observatory at the end of the Baja Peninsula with the information the Air Force will need to attack the planet killer.

Meanwhile, the JPL Science Advisor, played by Jason Alexander, that fired Lloyd’s character in the first place is at the Air Force’s Near Earth Astroid command center where the Air Force is monitoring the situation and plotting an nuclear missile strike.

A side plot revolves around a small California town, where the sheriff’s son, an LAPD officer who tries to bust his crazed partner has to try to keep the crazed partner from killing his daughter and his father the sheriff, played by Stacy Keach. The sheriff is trying to keep his small town from becoming mass chaos from the early meteor strikes that have been picking on it.

Science aside, this story is so full of stupid plot holes its not even funny.

Lets start with the exiled scientists. Instead of staying at the observatory where they can monitor things and transmit data over the internet, they decide to race along the Baja to get to JPL. Well, their older SUV breaks down and the character played by Lloyd gets hit by a truck while he’s standing in the road and killed. Note, I’m referring to the characters by their actor’s name because none of the character’s have memorable names. Assistant hitches a ride to a Police station, presumably in Tijuana, Mexico where she finds a couple of bad guys have taken over the police station and are now dressed as the cops and they try to molest her.

Now so far, she has been timid, scared and naive. Once the one dude ties to assault her, she manages to subdue him by beating the crap out of him with a fire extinguisher in a panic. But the suddenly she takes the gun from him, what looks like a .357 magnum revolver, and for the next 30 seconds, she is Laura Croft as she blasts her way out of the police station, dropping the other bad guy with three accurately placed shots and marches to the police car outside to drive to JPL where she immediately returns to her cowardly wimp character.

There is no way her character could squeeze off three shots from that gun. If she is the timid scientist, the first blast would have blown the gun right out of her hand and she probably would have missed anyway. Dumb character play.

Now to the Jason Alexander character. He’s a bumbling idiot. He doesn’t know squat and is panicked when put on the spot by the Air Force to come up with the answer. Well here is the problem. The janitors at JPL are smarter than this dude. JPL holds the brightest minds on the planet. This representation of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is an insult to all the fine people that work at one of NASA’s main research facilities. There is no way on Earth that JPL would depend on some numbers from a fired quack to get the job done. They are too good.

Secondly, the Air Force has a bunch of smart people too and probably wouldn’t need NASA’s input to figure out how to deal with this large rock coming toward Earth. I haven’t even gotten to the bad science in here, this is just character issues.

And WTF is going on with this sub-plot with the crazed LAPD officer? It has no place in this film.

Its a two parter that finishes up Sunday, July 19th. I’ve committed too much energy to this show to not watch the conclusion but save yourself the time…..

Its nine minutes until 10:00pm on a Friday night.  It may be the nine most antagonizing moments in a geek’s life.  That is because this Friday night is a very special night for geeks around the world.  For in seven minutes now, the final season of Battlestar Galactica will start with the season premier.  For many of us, we are currently watching the last episode of last season.

Its with baited breath that we wait for the beginning of the end of what may very well be the best drama on television that no one watches, except for us geeks.  Ten episodes remain to answer last seasons cliff-hanger and to answer questions that have been nurtured through the entire series.

Many of us grew up with the original series in the 70′s.  It was cheesy TV sci-fi.  The special effects were cutting edge for the time but they reused the same combat sequences over and over.  The characters were ones that we fell in love with.  But it was a show of lightly connected individual shows.  The characters, though we loved them, were shallow and perfect.

When the Sci-Fi Network announced the new series and we got a glimpse of what was to come, we saw a very edgy, updated series that trampled on several pieces of gospel from the original series. The prime example:  “What the frak?  Starbuck’s a girl?” blazoned forums and chat rooms.  It wasn’t just a remake of the one Character.  Major important plot lines were changed.  Cylons now existed in two models, the old tin can’s from the old series and new “Human” like models.

This change turned off a lot of purists, but for many we latched on to the new series with a passion.

Accepting change is hard for many people.  But many times change is good and for those who stayed with the show, they have found a true gem.

Unlike the ’70′s series, the characters in this show are complex and well thought out.  Almost all have major quirks or dark twists.  For instance, the character “Apollo” in the 70′s was a hot shot fighter pilot and an all around “Captain America”.  This version of “Apollo” is a guy name Lee, who’s fighter call-sign is “Apollo” and he’s one angry and torn character.

In addition to these great characters, the cinematography is edgy and as dark as the characters and plot twists.  It is shot in a fashion that has a very editorial / documentary feel to it which helps the viewer tie in to the show even strong.

But more importantly the story has and is intriguing.  Its a show you have to watch from the beginning.  The episodes are so intertwined its very hard to pick it up in the middle.  Luckily for those interested, DVD’s of the previous seasons exist.  There are only a hand full of episodes that stand alone.  The long term questions are not over played but carefully weaved into the short term situations the cast finds themselves.

The problem is this show is never going to be known by the masses.  Sure, its tucked away on the Sci-Fi channel, which most people don’t get unless they have digital cable, DirecTV or Dish, but the fact that its a sci-fi show is an instant reason to turn away.  Science scares people who don’t love it.  Add the fiction twist and its just too much for non-geeks to enjoy.  They will never know how great this series is.

In a way I’m glad that this has stayed on Sci-Fi.  Had NBC tried to bring it to network, we would have ended up with another “Bionic Woman” failure, where “Suits” would micro-manage the show to a total train wreck killing the wonderful freedom the directors have had in creating this dark, deadly, dreary darling of a show.

Battlestar Galactia is an expensive show to produce.  The cast, save a couple are not household names, is large.  There are dozens of main characters and dozens more in supporting roles.  The Special Effects, space scenes, variety of sets all have the feel of a big budget Hollywood production.  No wonder the show is coming to an end.  An expensive show on a station that few people watch can’t go on for ever.

So its with sadness that we know tonight starts the beginning of the end, but for the next 9 episodes now (the 1st show of the season is now over and all I’m going to say is “Wow”) we can loose ourselves in this show that is a much better drama than anything shown on the big 4 networks.  Yes, its better than CSI and better than Desperate Housewives but the masses will never know.

Or never care.

*Sigh*