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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

The 4400, Oh all right, go back to doing sci-fi as silly costumes and ray guns then...

Our Lady Has Left the Building

09:51 / 13.12.04

Has anyone watched this so far? Take Joe Straczynski's 'Rising Stars' script, alter it just enough to avoid being sued, then turn into a fairly awful 5 part series. I really don't know why I watch this, it's like a car crash every week, and so far only one vaguely intelligent idea (unsurprisingly, the one ripped off so closely from a 'Rising Stars' story).

15:14 / 13.12.04

Kind of mini-spoilers...

Yeah, I've seen the all of this and you're right, it's a total Rising Stars rip off.
That said, at least they chose a good idea to rip off and I didn't think it was all that bad. Admittedly, it's far from the best Sci-Fi we've had in a long time but I kind of had a soft spot for it.
Obviously, the idea to spotlight a different returnee each week was the selling point to the network and how the writers would initially seek to come up with new episode ideas but the show works best when it's follwing the core characters which, if there were more episodes, could potentially be interesting.
The other thing I found odd about it was the sudden end after 5 episodes which didn't seem to wrap much, if anything, up. Does anybody know if the series got cut short or was 5 eps always the plan? Will there be any more?
Based on what we've had, it probably doesn't deserve any more but I can't help thinking the premise was a good one and the show could get better.
I don't really care that they ripped of Rising Stars, the majority of tv viewers won't have read it anyway (more fool them) so if that kind of story can get a wider audience elsewhere, then cool.

09:57 / 08.03.06

Forgive my revival of an old and clearly unpopular thread-- did the show merit so little attention? A friend recommended it to me, and I bought the first, admittedly tiny, series on Amazon for a tiny price and greatly enjoyed it. There are shortcomings, of course, in acting and a little in plot and general cheesiness, but in general I found this an engaging idea, an engaging format, and I Want To Know More. Plus, it has the superbly and effortlessly cool Peter Coyote in it. I mean, a man called Coyote-- what more do you need?

I read that production on the third season has just begun, but remain at the cliffhanger of the first. Was the second season good? Does anyone know? Does anyone watch? Does anyone care?

14:53 / 08.03.06

The second season was better and did focus more on the core cast. Plot threads were started that lasted more than one episode and on occasion the show was genuiinely engaging. More often than not though, it remained much the same as the first season, mostly alright.

That all said, I'm kind of interested to see where it will go after the second season finale. A couple of interesting cliffhanger points were thrown in so I'll jump on when the third starts up.

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

15:30 / 08.03.06

Umm...I quite liked it. The first season, at least. Got the two disc set the day after I watched the marathon on Space (the Canadian sci-fi channel).

I found the show to be pretty interesting, and amusing. Yeah, it was a Rising Stars ripoff...I'm also told it was a Taken ripoff, and not to mention The Visitor ripoff. There are only so many different ways you can spin "we got abducted by aliens and then got our genes messed with...oh wait, we have a secret purpose".

Still, I found some of the concepts interesting. Not as cool as something like...say...Carnivale...but I didn't mind it.

Certainly not the best show out there, but I didn't mind it too much.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

14:59 / 09.03.06

The problem for me was that I hated the characters. All of them. Hated. All the characters. All. Hated. HATED.
The black ex-GI? Hated. The schoolkid with the healing powers? Hated. The really annoying girl with the ability to freak out grown-ups by telling them they, or their loved ones, were about to die? Really hated. The DHS officers? If my emotion was a Scottish man he'd be McHated. Argh!

08:10 / 10.03.06

From my little experience of the series, and on a similar tack-- and you will see why this is a bit of a hindrance to my enjoyment of the series-- I did not like the two main agents. Especially the bloke. Both as a character (masterful interrogator, apparently, yet he rubs every single person up the wrong way) and, superficial beast that I am, as a lipless person. And that was a stumbling block. My aversion to him was such that I was relieved in all the scenes that followed the returnees instead. I was grateful to all those characters you McHated.

09:09 / 10.03.06

Year 2 was better than Year 1. And Year 3 seems primising.

18:23 / 02.07.06

Possibly one season 1 spoiler!
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I've never read the Rising Stars books, alledged rip-offee, but the Amazon summary seems to be a rip-off of the Midwich Cuckoos....

I just watched the mini-series / 1st season, and it's entertaining enough that I plan to watch season 2. I don't want any spoilers (in fact the time-travel revelation at the end of this series felt more like a spoiler than a reveal - why tell us so soon? and what's with the comet, it they're not aliens???). But does the plot develop, or does this become an X-files thing (i.e. different returnee every episode)?

I found lots of references in this, by the way, and not only a Lost similarity Claire / Lily's baby thing (with creepy bearded guy wanting the baby...). Also lots of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind references in the first couple of episodes (especially the returning abductees, the sense of purpose (staying around Seattle area?), the people returning to the site of UFO visit (at the lake), with deck chairs and all).

Anyway, I'm intrigued, if not won over...

10:09 / 03.07.06

I have to say I think you're all nuts. I didn't start watching the 4400 with the first season - I got into it with the second on Bit Torrent, and although I treated it like a bit of a sideline for a while, I've found it growing on me significantly and now i actively look forward to it each week. There's something about it having a core cast that are completely spread around the plotlines that means that it actually can keep shifting and changing, and I think it's one of the extremely few TV series I've watched in recent years where you actually feel like anything could happen episode to episode and then for it to actually have an impact on subsequent episodes. The Isabelle storyline pisses me off a little, but I loved the episode where Tom ends up living an entire life in the episode and the subsequent impact that has on the show and on his life. I thought that was extremely well done. And the episode that was broadcast last week in the US I thought was genuinely startling! You people are all barking.

I particularly like the approach to the superheroics of the whole thing - sure it's a Rising Stars rip-off / homage / parallel evolution, but still. The abilities aren't all flashy, they're treated super-realistically (for the most part) and they are occasionally quite smart and innovative. Loved the woman who could make men freak out with rage - that episode rocked. Interested in the fortune telling girl. Richard's tk was a bit generic, but the woman who creates whole alternative worlds in your mind you can inhabit. That sort of rocks. I genuinely look forward to it every week!!!

20:33 / 08.07.06

OK, I'm gripped eongh to keep watching.

The Close Encounter references have long evaporated, but the 3rd season is keeping some mystery (about which side are the "bad guys", and who is on which side, and when each side is from, and whether there are distinct sides, or is there a hidden faction...).

I'm agreeably surprised at how they've held back from a special effect bonanza - all the superheroic abilities are downplayed, and not melodramaticised. This is a good thing.

07:47 / 09.07.06

How's Jeff Combs working out? I've not seen any of this show but I have a lot of time for Ira Behr and The Man Combs.

19:00 / 09.07.06

You a Star Trek fan? Combs plays one of the most interesting characters, and is one of the least wooden actors on the series. Mind you, I think he has more that others to work with , as a recovered catatonic genius neuroscientist (which I think must have replaced nuclear physicist or rocket scientist as the genius scientist stereotype). I like him. Have you watched any of it?

Keith, like a scientist

19:36 / 09.07.06

tom: i agree that the show's plot and concept is great. the powers stuff is done very well, and it's overall a compelling mystery to keep watching, especially after last week.

but...but...the writing...the directing...the acting... it's...all so... utilitarian, if it was done to BSG levels of quality, this show would be amazing.

11:28 / 10.07.06

I'm not a Trekkie, I'm a Niner. The Trek Canon for me consists of a few Original Series episodes, about one in eight TNG, the whole of DS9 and virtually none of Voyager and Enterprise (plus Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock and Undiscovered Country). I've not seen any 4400, but I might check it out if it doesn't require too much perseverence to get good. Any recommended standalones?

20:33 / 11.07.06

Wow, I didn't know that Trek had such purists! Is there a thread on that? I kind of liked Enterprise (except the theme song, obviously).

Personally, I wouldn't say The 4400 ever gets really good. Try the first episode of the second season (Combs' first appearance), or the 6th, which has an interesting story. If you like them... and you're waiting for the new seasons of Galactica, Lost, Veronica Mars, whatever, then go back and watch from the start.