NASA Fail on Defying Gravity

[tablesaw]

Well, technically not NASA. Defying Gravity is a new show on ABC about a group of astronauts in the near future taking a tour around the solar system. It's . . . meh.

Anyway, in this weeks episode, two crewmembers see a planetary lander being updated from the International Space Organization (the "ISO," not NASA). On the computer screen there's a prominent window that reads "RECEIVING UPDATE FROM MISSION CONTROL." Behind it is a larger window that is scrolling "computery text."

Or at least, I assume it's supposed to look computery. Even before I froze the screen I could tell that it was scrolling through a list of IP addresses for Wikipedia. No wonder they're having so much trouble on that ship; it's the massively complex interplanetary space mission that anyone can edit!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the giggle, I needed that. =)
-WesleyJenn

[eisen]

I was (mostly^*) on board with DEFYING GRAVITY (it looked, at least superficially, like a modernized take on Stephen Baxter's VOYAGE, and I loved VOYAGE, so I had ... hopes!) until they dropped the "psychic space monster that can see the future, ZOMG" plot device onto the unsuspecting audience's lap; I was still hoping they weren't going to go where they seemed to want to go with that plot device when they decided to plop in a throwaway line about how abortions were illegal in the future and now it was all back-alley all the way and then the one character who seemed sane about it said "You know I want to have babies with you, right?"; at that point I knew it was ... not going anywhere good, and wisely stopped watching.

^*I say mostly because the "hero" of the story is a raging chauvinistic asshole and I did not like how the story kept bending over backwards to justify his chauvinism like we were supposed to sympathize with his reasons for being a chauvinistic asshole. But I liked most of the other characters! Until the ... "illegal abortions" thing, anyway.

[tablesaw]

I have clearly not been paying enough attention to the show to be angry about anything. My take on all of these issues was "That guy's a dick," "What was that about abortion?" and "Psychic alien? At least I know something will happen."

Virtuality

[sdryans.blogspot.com]

Did you happen to catch "Virtuality" when it aired on Fox several weeks ago? It was eerily similar to Defying Gravity...a long-term mission beyond the solar system to ensure the future of the human race, lots of sexual intrigue between the crewmembers, a creepy external influence (rogue aliens/computer), and a combination of standard cinematography and documentary/reality show styles. I much prefer Virtuality to Defying Gravity; unfortunately, it was a pilot that is unlikely to be picked up due to lack of interest (and competition from this much-less-intriguing version).