Fox's 'Terra Nova'
 

Can't believe we don't have a thread on this (maybe we did, search was fruitless...), it's the Spielberg dino show that finally hits this fall. Been keeping an eye on this one since it was announced.

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I take it we've worn out earth, and the escape route isn't to another planet, but a one way time travel portal? Start all over, but we don't get to choose when?

Right or wrong, I'm interested.

This thing seems like its been delayed forever....I smell a bust.

Spielberg doesnt do TV Sci-Fi very well......See Seaquest DSV....

It doesn't help that it is on Fox. Prepare for it to be handled badly and then get dropped on its head once it finally gets interesting.

Well anyone gonna watch it tonight? Looks good gonna DVR it.

I'm dvr'ing it but reviews are mixed at best. Hopefully it ends up being good in time, but it's Fox. They'll cancel it anyway.

I'll record it and then watch it later like I did with this summer's Falling Skies by FF thru all the Bla, Bla, Bla, stuff and just watch the 5 to 10 minutes of action.

I loved Seaquest DSV.

:(

Of course I was like 9 years old so it didn't take much to impress me.

I have it set to DVR. I'm hopeful, as there isn't much new stuff this season I think I'll follow through the season.

Will watch On Demand at a later date.

I might give it a look, if I remember. I certainly don't give a shit about the MNF game.

Ill give it a shot.

That show was great.. Most people didn't give it a chance..

Avatar meets Jurassic Park no thanks.

IIRC it stars one of the main actors from Avatar too (the hot headed military general).

I haven't watched this show but I will later tonight only because I'm a dino-nut, but can anyone explain why the flaming blue **** people would intentionally travel back to the cretaceous period?

Basically the most vicious predators in the history of earth lived in that period. Plus, why would you travel back before the KT event? I don't think fruited plants even EXISTED in the cretaceous. What would you eat? Dinosaurs? You have competition, and they're better than you. I mean, of all the prehistoric times to travel back to that would be the dumbest choice evar.

No matter if it's good or not, if it's on FOX, it won't make it through the season. They'll be disappointed with it's ratings, move it to Friday night and kaboom.

Yup, that's the same guy. He also played Ike Clanton in Tombstone ("Law don't go around here!).

I believe I read somewhere that they don't have a choice, that the wormhole is locked and they don't have any control over the endpoint. It's basically go wherever the wormhole sends them or die. But I haven't watched so no earthly idea.

Damnit, I was hoping someone would have posted a positive or negative review by now so I knew whether or not to watch it. I guess I'll go first and report back when I'm done.

22nd century. The world is on the brink of environmental collapse.

That's the first thing shown on the show. I'm guessing they'll die if they don't go back.

Barrack Obama on the $1000 bill lol.

I am halfway through. So far it seems way too family friendly.

I'll give the opening episode 7.5 stars out of 10.

The 2nd half was much better, a lot more violent.

I really like mystery shows, and I am a fan of shows/movies that are about building a civilization. This one has both.

To me it felt like they were trying to probably grab fans of other recent scifi shows (duh). The Sixers felt like Cylons and the Dinosaurs feel like Reavers.

That first episode had a lot of family stuff, and while I think the daughter is sort of cute, I don't really give a shit about her (yet). I think they might have thrown extra family stuff in to draw in a different audience. It sort of annoyed me that the son picked up a light machine gun and used it flawlessly. Also, while the Mom and Dad are on a mission to find the son who is in danger, they reflect on their past zany relationship. Stupid. I like realism in drama shows.

I definitely liked it more than I thought I would. Commander Taylor is a G, and it seems like he might have some kind of dark past. The stuff about his son intrigues me, I wonder who is playing that role and if we'll see him any time soon.

To sum it up some stuff I would like to see more of: Sixers tension, Taylor's history, maybe some stuff about contacting the other side (2149 world).

Some stuff I want to see less of: Family stuff, dinosaurs, shitty CG graphics.

I'll have to go back and watch that again.

I liked a lot more than I thought I would. Who knows how it will evolve, but last nights show was definately aiming for the family demographic. I pretty much feel the same as buck above. I did like how the sons love interest wasn't just a pretty face. She was tough as nails hardened by her Dad who had died previously.oh and Stephen Lang is badass. Basically plays a softer version of his character from Avatar.

Good show fox has a keeper.

One thing i did sort of question....What form of government did this new world have? The only leadership i saw was the Commander Taylor (Stephen Langs) character. Is this place a dictatorship?

He was also Pickett in Gettysburg.

Prepare for awe. I was in avatar when I noticed it was the chubby guy from tombstone. Well cubby compared to now.

I watched the premier after work last night...and I was very impressed. It didn't feel cheesy...nice balance of drama and action...and multiple storylines beginning to open up IMHO. There is a bit of mystery also...and as someone said...yes..commander taylor is a G! One on one face off with a carnosaur? nice. Anyway..that's my thirty second review.

Stephen Lang has been around since the 80's. He was a Michael Mann regular back in the day. He just didnt really break out until Avatar.

One of those equations looked like supermans logo..

I'll continue to give it a chance, but I'm not really impressed at this point.

Meh.

I'd love to know how they set up that HUGE community though. Seems like it would have been difficult with all the workers being eaten.

I'll concur with Buck.

A little too family friendly for my liking; and I'm most interested in the Taylor/son/rock art angle of the show at this point.

I'll keep DVR'ing it.

Cracks me up all you guys that don't like family friendly shows. There are so few of them out there I appreciate it when one at least tries to be FF.

no one on this show can act - it is atrocious. Come on.

The guy mentioned that the jungle was "survivable" when they went to look for the kids, and indicated he'd made it like 180 days or something OTG.

I expected to be Wow'd, but instead I was bored. The acting is terrible. The story doesn't make any sense. And none of it was compelling enough to aspire me to keep watching.

I thought this would be the next Lost. But where Lost got off to a rousing start with a plane crash on the island and set the tone for that series, Terra Nova just seemed to try too hard to be captivating; and instead, it fell completely flat for me.

I hope the rest of you find enjoyment in it though. It just didn't do anything for me.

They lost me when the doctor was attending to the seriously injured girl who was just attacked by a dinosaur and she took the time to stand up and walk over to her husband (while surrounded in the dark by dinosaurs) and apologize for some inane thing that she said to him. OMG - that was absolutely brain-numbing writing. at least wait until you are back in the safety of camp to have that conversation! I have a hard time even envisioning how that played out on the set??! and no one said WTF??!?!? this timing makes no sense???? come the **** on....

I've only watched the first 5 minutes, but already I'm not impressed. It's every post-apocalyptic cliche ever, which would be okay if they found a unique or creative way to present it. Rather than, you know, superimposing text over bad CGI. Although even that can be done well by the right people (say, the first five minutes of both Mass Effect games). I hope it gets better.

The two-hour premiere of Fox’s dinosaur drama Terra Nova drew a 3.0/7 and 9 million viewers, which was OK but slightly below expectations. In its defense, the male-skewing drama had to face the Washington-Dallas Monday Night Football game on ESPN. And it stayed consistent throughout the night, logging a 3.0 rating at 8 PM, 8:30 PM and 9 PM and climbing to a 3.1 at 9:30 PM. Speaking of the MNF game, it drew a 11.9 metered market household average. UPDATE: In the finals, Terra Nova was adjusted up to a 3.1 rating in 18-49.

Ill never understand this antiquated Nielson system....

Everybody is a critic these days. the show was fine for what it was.

Opinion and fact are not the same thing.

(yes, this reply has multiple meanings)

Oh sure those kids could have survived by staying in the car, but apparently armored Cars in the future shipped to the past are made of plastic. One of our modern day armored Cars would have just gotten some scratches and dents from those things... at worst.

I'm actually talking about building that ENORMOUS compound.

Whats funny is, those kids had been there for years and had probably gone outside the compound numerious times. So the first time the main characters kid shows up and decides to go with is when they get into trouble? heh, im sure we could all tear this show apart if we wanted to. Numerious contrived situations, and cliches.......it is what it is. A family sci-Fi show, made to please 4 quadrants. Its not meant to be serious Sci-Fi.

Just watched it. Not bad. Writing felt a lot like Smallville to me. Lots of cheesy, non-sensical crap mixed in with some intriguing plotlines.

I'll give it a shot.

Saw it but one question how the heck did they had that kid in the backpack and didn't make a sound.

Watched the 2nd episode last night. Not sure how much longer i will continue to watch. I felt like i was watching a bad episode of something on the SyFy channel....Attack of the prehistoric birds! Oh noes!!

The writing and characters are all dumbed down for teen appeal IMO. The only thing i really truly like about the show is Stephen Lang.

Yeah... that second episode was rather lousy.

This series kinda feels like Earth 2....

LOL at grown men critiquing a family show for innacuracies and scientific improbabilities. My little boys think it is entertaining, at least so far. They want more dinos.

Thats cool....its obvious thats the intended target audience. I just prefer something with a little more edge.

Yeah, you definitely can't have accurate science on a family show. That's like unpossible or something.

We enjoy plenty of that on Discovery, NatGeo, PBS, etc. That doesn't mean there is no room for shows that are for fun. School is very intense for kids these days, a little fun for fun's sake is a good thing IMHO.

I hear you. There is definetely no edge on TN, it's all pretty well rounded off.

The little bird trying to force itself in the door when the son was closing it was just horrible. Oh noes, I can't overpower a bird that by the looks of it weighs maybe 20 pounds. That was bad.

Yeah, because scientific accuracy can't possibly be fun.

What with learnings their goes-into and times stuffs?

THIS JFC
Not every show has to be historically or scientifically accurate. Why are you even paying attention to this thread if the show sucks that much for you?

I haven't watched the show, and I haven't said anywhere that it sucks.

What I'm laughing at is the idea that things can't be both entertaining and smart. It's not like there's some switch somewhere that toggles between "fun and dumb" and "intelligent and boring".

Jesus christ.

uhhh, ok.

:D Yep, and their cipherin' and letter spellin' and what not.

Homework starts in first grade now and gets heavier with each grade. High schools look at your grades and ECs starting in 6th grade.
Speaking only for myself that is more intense than when I was a kid so I try to balance that out for them by leaving time for plain old fun and goofing off.

Real science is a ton of fun but not everything has to be scientifically valid to be enjoyable is the point I was trying to make.

I didn't realize I needed your permission to have an opinion on entertainment in general. Should I start passing all my posts your way before I hit enter just to make sure they meet your approval?

My point: things do not have to be innacurate, do not have to be wrong, to be good, and expecting producers and writers to do a little footwork (let's call it homework), a bare modicum of research into whatever they're doing is not suddenly going to turn a "family show" into a history channel documentary. What it is going to do is draw a wider audience. Because suddenly you have a show that kids and adults can both watch. Which is something I'd imagine any network would like in prime time.

This is not a statement about Terra Nova, this is a statement about television in general, and a problem that I see all over the place. People are programmed to settle for less when they should be expecting more.

And as far as "family shows" go, "family shows" are great. What's not great is labeling something a "family show" as a way to excuse lazy writing, poor production or in any other way justifying its existence by going down the "well, it's not that good, but kids can watch it" route. Which happens all the freaking time.

Treat kids like they're smart, and they will be. It'll be good for everyone in the long run.

That's my opinion at least.

Assuming I'm actually allowed to have one.

And you have never seen the show? Thats what I was referring too.

Sometimes I just feel that too many people want 100% accuracy in every damn show on TV and fail to just look at whether it is entertaining or not. too many people want to play critic these days rather than take it for what it is.

That isn't directed specifically at you keg. Just at everyone in general.

I still remember everyone bitching about all the plot holes in 24 and it drove me up the wall. it's TV for crying out loud.

I'm just happy to see a show that is family oriented. Same reason I liked No Ordinary Family last year.

...and also played "Stonewall" Jackson in "Gods and Generals."

2nd episode was meh.

I'll still watch. I feel like half the eps might be family oriented and the other half will be a little more gritty and explain the mysteries of Terra Nova.

I watched it until the little girl feed the dino...that was enough

weak 2nd episode.. You run something like that a couple episodes before a finale, not when you are trying to keep viewers.. This does not bode well..

I could not agree more. I watch TV to get away from reality so if things aren't exactly right I really don't care. It is the same way with movies. People complain all the time...well the could not have survived that 300 foot fall into the water....who cares it is a movie!

1st episode was OK


2nd episode was meh.



Can we get some daring, interesting TV? Falling Skies and Terra Nova are about as original as hamburgers at a tailgate.

Sure, but you'd better have cable.

FX, A&E, and HBO are killing it.

:)

I should have asked,"Can we get some daring, intersting Sci-Fi?"

Ooooh... agreed.

Fringe on FOX is supposed to be good. Admittedly i havent watched in awhile...but there is a thread on the show.

Allison Miller is amazingly gorgeous.

http://www.superiorpics.com/pictures...d520090420.jpg

Getting good last night was good.

She's one of only a few bright spots in a pretty lame show so far. Lame from the pov of a grown up looking for the same kind of show that Keg appreciates at least.

We've attempted to watch this show twice. It's crap, we turned the channel. And your post explains exactly why.