chainsaw_metal1
Member: Rank 8
I'm also voting for Blake's 7, because I have been meaning to give it another watch, and this will give me an excuse to finally do so. 
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
See the film if you can, mate.
It's John Carpenter at his best, even though it's got a very different feel from most of his other work.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
Any excuse is good enough to watch BLAKE'S 7 again, one more time.I'm also voting for Blake's 7, because I have been meaning to give it another watch, and this will give me an excuse to finally do so.
Amazing responses from everyone, never thought we'd get this many.
As for the voting system itself, hope we can make it as straightforward as possible.
One vote per person for one show. The winner is the one with most votes! Duh! Simple.
Any two shows tying for top spot go into a run -off for a second round.
As for the voting system itself, hope we can make it as straightforward as possible.
One vote per person for one show. The winner is the one with most votes! Duh! Simple.
Any two shows tying for top spot go into a run -off for a second round.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
There is one important point I'd like to make...
I hope that any TV show that's chosen is available to everyone to watch.
YouTube is free. Not everyone can afford or has access to pay TV.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
We could maybe keep this as our official suggestion thread; to refer back to when we need a new show? 
Yes good point, what usually happens is that Mad Pac has a nomination thread, which we've sort of done here already, but more importantly An official voting thread. I expect that will be this weekend and that'll stay open until a winner is deemed chosen, and judging by responses that might be pretty quickly resolved.We could maybe keep this as our official suggestion thread; to refer back to when we need a new show?
And yes Ant -Mac it must be available to all. Blakes7 and Star Cops the frontrunners are on youtube of course , as is most others mentioned so should be no problem. The winner whatever that is should be moved to the franchise zone if possible so it's all neatly accessible. I know it's pushing it to call Star Cops a franchise,but there is an audio continuation coming in May.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
I suggest that whether or not a TV series is a true franchise, it can be given an exception whilst it's under review.
Once the review is complete, the various threads can always be transferred to a more suitable, long-term location.
Is that a suitable solution?
Sounds ideal, but it does hinge on whether the Sages guys want to go on.
I believe I'm correct in thinking you're American. Can you give us an American eye view of Blake's 7 for those not familiar with the series. Could be useful.I'm also voting for Blake's 7, because I have been meaning to give it another watch, and this will give me an excuse to finally do so.
Cloister56
Member: Rank 3
It's nice to see so many people so enthusiastic about the next show. All the suggestions look good, some I've seen but would be happy to re-watch with a view to discussing it.
I've found watching a show with a view to then writing a few thoughts changes the way you view it, I often pay more attention and pick up on more stuff.
I've only been with the Sages for 2 shows (well 1.5 really with Twin Peaks). The impression I get is that Mad-Pac has done this a while and often a lot of ideas for changes have been tried before and didn't work out. So he knows many of the good ways to keep things moving, interested to hear his thoughts on the next move.
I think the idea of taking a series at a time with longer shows is a good one. A whole year of a show might just kill me. It also means people interested in one 1 show can dip in and out of the group when we go back to their show.
I would be keen to still try for a few of the one shot wonder shows. The one that led me to the sages was Daybreak. I thought it was awesome and was so keen to chat about it I went to the old boards and saw this curious thread and down the rabbit hole I went.
I would have loved to chat about where that show could have gone.
Really looking forward to whatever the next show is.
I've found watching a show with a view to then writing a few thoughts changes the way you view it, I often pay more attention and pick up on more stuff.
I've only been with the Sages for 2 shows (well 1.5 really with Twin Peaks). The impression I get is that Mad-Pac has done this a while and often a lot of ideas for changes have been tried before and didn't work out. So he knows many of the good ways to keep things moving, interested to hear his thoughts on the next move.
I think the idea of taking a series at a time with longer shows is a good one. A whole year of a show might just kill me. It also means people interested in one 1 show can dip in and out of the group when we go back to their show.
I would be keen to still try for a few of the one shot wonder shows. The one that led me to the sages was Daybreak. I thought it was awesome and was so keen to chat about it I went to the old boards and saw this curious thread and down the rabbit hole I went.
I would have loved to chat about where that show could have gone.
Really looking forward to whatever the next show is.
chainsaw_metal1
Member: Rank 8
I didn't vote for him! Don't blame me!
Oh, sorry. That's just my go to in this day and age.
Think Battlestar Galactica (the original), but with less Star Wars and more Doctor Who-style exposition. And darker. Much darker. So really, nothing like Battlestar Galactica. Forget I said that.
So much of our later cult sci-fi took elements from Blake's 7. Firefly is a good example, with the band of renegades fighting a totalitarian regime (but with more humor). It also has one of the most perfect endings for a series. It's not one that got as much of a following here in the states because at the time, most American's couldn't wrap their heads around it, because it wasn't typical audience-friendly sci-fi, and it wasn't as optimistic as our audiences were used to.
There does seem to be a very understandable assumption in the Star Trek universe that when finally humanity gets its collective head together and ventures into the inky blackness that the Earth will be represented by a democratic peace loving united Earth .
Most US shows of the genre have this utopian ideal. I love Star Trek and admire the breadth of writing. But Blakes7 gave us a grim view of humanity under a despotic regime. Fans may remember the Star Trek episode Mirror Mirror when Kirk and co end up in fascistic mirror universe.
I'm not saying the Blake's 7 Earth Federation is quite that bad but it's sort of in that ballpark.
Actually the tv series (and movie) Logan's Run presented an interesting dystopian view of future Earth. So despite the cheesiness of it I rate that high.
Personally I'd prefer a universe more like that of Babylon 5. A Utopian universe is disconnected to our reality, but a despotic distopia has become a cliché as well and it's more of an excuse for rebels to be heroes, and characters look cool just for being rebels. But in Babylon 5, there was a democratic earth society, but the situation was generally unstable and many of the problems that exist today still exist in that future. Meanwhile, the people who can make a difference do what they can, and diplomacy is still the desired route.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Ironically, JMS has apparently conceded in the past that Babylon 5 was influenced by Blake's 7 (and there were also echoes of it in Lexx and Farscape and, of course, Firefly.)
So, rather than worrying about the distopia element of the show, why not watch it as a curious and fascinating forerunner of these other shows?
And one of the trump cards that BLAKE holds is the great characters in it; particularly Avon and Servalan and the mixed up Blake.
Are they Robin Hood figures? Or terrorists? That's one of the great ambiguities of the show.
Babylon 5 just never gripped me in that way.
So, rather than worrying about the distopia element of the show, why not watch it as a curious and fascinating forerunner of these other shows?
And one of the trump cards that BLAKE holds is the great characters in it; particularly Avon and Servalan and the mixed up Blake.
Are they Robin Hood figures? Or terrorists? That's one of the great ambiguities of the show.
Babylon 5 just never gripped me in that way.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
At this point in time, almost any type of future fictional universe has been done to death. Whether it's utopian or dystopian. And in real life, one man's rebel is often another man's hero. What's wrong with fiction - especially science fiction - copying reality? Good fiction - especially science fiction - has often done that.
And when STAR TREK and BLAKE'S 7 first came out, the ideas they represented were fresher and newer. Now, it might not feel so, because there are so many copies and clones, but that takes nothing away from the originals.
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
I've always enjoyed BLAKE'S 7 and - for the most part - STAR TREK. However, like you, I've never felt any attraction for BABYLON 5...
Perhaps B5 just didn't have as much to offer as B7...
Cloister56
Member: Rank 3
Looking forward to Altered Carbon which is coming to Netflix soon, I've never read the book but the series looks good.
I love the concept of digital selves and the problems that come with it.
It's been done in a few forms but I enjoyed the idea in Pandora's Star.
I really enjoyed both Babylon 5 and Blake's 7. Both seemed to lose a bit of steam by the late series and I must admit I didn't finish Babylon 5 (maybe I am missing out)
I would also include Deep Space 9 and to some degree the new Star Trek Discovery all have good people doing terrible things (I'm thinking specifically of the DS9 episode "In the Pale Moonlight")
I'm up for any view of the future if it feels well developed. Dystopian and Eutopian the reality is probably going to lie somewhere in the middle.
I love the concept of digital selves and the problems that come with it.
It's been done in a few forms but I enjoyed the idea in Pandora's Star.
I really enjoyed both Babylon 5 and Blake's 7. Both seemed to lose a bit of steam by the late series and I must admit I didn't finish Babylon 5 (maybe I am missing out)
I would also include Deep Space 9 and to some degree the new Star Trek Discovery all have good people doing terrible things (I'm thinking specifically of the DS9 episode "In the Pale Moonlight")
I'm up for any view of the future if it feels well developed. Dystopian and Eutopian the reality is probably going to lie somewhere in the middle.
If dystopia is now a cliche it's because shows copied B7, which was the first mainstream primetime show to dare to present this as a future Earth model.
When I was 100% a group member it was the mantra to try new shows and enjoy the novelty of it, there's a new influx of interested people willing to join , but YES it might have a British telefantasy flavor for the next few shows.
If this really troubles you then say so and I and others may get back to enjoying this great forum and leave you in peace.
Truth be told, a sci-fi dystopian future in which evil prevails is not a new idea at all. We had that in HG Wells' "The Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds" in which humans would be at the mercy of monsters, whether they were Morlocks or Martians. Or Flash Gordon fighting on Planet Mongo against Ming the Merciless. Or Buck Rogers fighting chaos in a futuristic earth. Or John Carter of Mars. And then we had the Planet of the Apes saga starting in 1968, and, obviously, Star Wars, which, in 1977, redefines everything about totalitarian regimes and heroic rebels that came after that.
Exactly. This is why the shows had a limit, since we could persuade others to try something new if it was brief enough. From that perspective, for example, shows like Star Maidens, with its 13 episodes, Star Cops (9 eps.) or The Starlost (16 eps) would be more in tune with that spirit.
Honestly I don't see what's stopping you. Feel free to do whatever you prefer.