Kevin's Watch

FINALLY Andromeda is being released season by season, instead of that ridiculously moneygrubbing set of four episodes for $40. I bought the second season yesterday, and the clerks told me the first season is out the same way. I won't completely believe it about the first season until someone I trust actually sees it -- noooo, don't just combine those sets of 4 into one box!!! -- but I did order it with the option to reject.

My first glimpse of Andromeda the Series was the last scene of the first hour (the two-hour premier). I'm sure any of the ladies can still remember the first time they saw that, with mercenary Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb) in the doorway, framed by smoke.

When I first saw Andromeda I was disappointed: flimsy characters, cliched plots, less-than-stellar acting. I've seen a few eps of the later seasons though, and it seems to have turned into something rather dark and edgy in the intervening time.

Battlestar Galactica still gets my vote as the best sci-fi series currently on TV, but I'll definitely be looking to fill in the gaps in what I've seen of Andromeda.

Season One has one episode about a weapons locker held by children, which was obvously written before the show really knew what to do with itself. Season One also has the episodes "Double Helix" and "Harper 2.0," both of which are fabulous. One can also make a very good case for "The Banks of the Lethe."

It has been difficult for Gordon Michael Woolvett (Harper) to find his niche, because of his small size and permanently youthful appearance. He is a natural comic, able to turn anything funny just by the way he does it. He was also nominated for Canada's Best Actor award, for a dramatic role.

Fans of Hercules rave about Kevin Sorbo's looks, but I'm too taken with Keith Hamilton Cobb to be much affected by Sorbo. Cobb is a fine actor who moved on because he wasn't getting enough use. IMO, he deserves a starring role, proving that in Eyes Beyond Seeing. To renew my long-standing campaign: Cobb is the perfect star for Tom Clancy's WITHOUT REMORSE.

IIRC there were also a few early episodes which suffered from what I call Star Trek Voyager syndrome, i.e. good premise, poorly executed.

I don't mind Sorbo's Captain, although episodes do tend to focus on him a bit too squarely for my liking. He has good comic timing though, something which Sisko and Picard lacked, and that William Shatner has now but never really did as Captain Kirk. I remember the Tyr character being very cool but also rather stoic. I imagine Keith Hamilton Cobb left because the character didn't really have anywhere else to go. I've found Bekah to be somewhat disappointing too as, unless I've missed some major storylines, she doesn't seem to have strayed very far from her role as the (token) strong, dependable and independent female sidekick.

Still, I've found the 'new Trance' story quite interesting, although I don't really know what's going on with it. I think I'll keep watching and see how things work out.

"Star Trek Syndrome." Good description of some of those early shows. You hit the nail on the head with Captain Hunt. Andromeda started as an ensemble series, with different episodes focusing on different characters. When it got to be so popular, Sorbo had the will and the heft to take it over, and Executive Producer Sorbo didn't want it to be an ensemble series. That's when it became the Captain Dylan Hunt Show, and I stopped watching it regularly. A Cobb fan, as I said.

Yay, the First Season boxed set is all of the episodes, in order, with 10 discs. I got it for $70. Almost every disc includes an episode with a commentary track by Kevin Sorbo and Producer Eastman.

"Double Helix," mmmmmmm. Eye candy, and action plus.

I really, really wanted to like Andromeda. I did. Big fan of space opera here. And the idea--what a cool premise!

But...it began looking like a blend of Space: 1999 and Buck Rogers, and for the most part didn't improve. At least not by the time I stopped watching. Really, shows like Deep Space Nine and Babylon Five and Farscape and now Battlestar Galactica have reset the bar. In comparison this show seems very cheesy indeed.