Space: Above and Beyond

If there is justice a 2nd series would be in the planning stages, you'd think everyones preoccupation with war recently and S:AaB 'Vietnam' like scenario would fit in very nicely.

If you can remake Battlestar Galactica, then someone rake together a few quid to fund this beauty of a series. Liked not seeing much of the enemy race till right into the series, and OK the CG of the space battles where a little rough round the edges, but to think of how so many other Space Ship gun fight series have now got it just right - that could probably get sorted nowadays.

Great cast of reasonably unknown actors too, it was good to see Mr Robinson (aka in Neighbours) get some work even if he was to die 5 Min's in. All i have to do now is wait for a UK DVD release and sit and hope people get back into it again.

I saw this in its first run in 1995-96 and was a huge fan. I used to look for it every week (because Fox moved constantly instead of letting it find an audience).

The premise of the show was fairly straightforward: Humanity begins reaching for the stars as technology has evolved, and we believe we are alone in the universe. Shortly after the first two human colonies are established, unknown beings from another planet attack and Earth is forced to muster defenses to fight an alien force.

But from there the plot diverges. Executive Producers Morgan and Wong take us on a season long journey that allows us to examine the military industrial complex, racism, drug addiction, political conspiracies, and attempt to answer the question "why we fight." The back drop is the war which is not a depicted as a "rah rah" atmosphere, but as one that is harsh and somewhat graphic in its depictions of the consequences of battle (see the episode "Stay With the Dead").

In sum, the show was innovative and tried to answer old questions in a new way. The good guys were not always good, and from the outset, the bad guys are not necessarily bad, nor are they all that different from us.

While the portrayal of the military required one to suspend disbelief, the overall product was done quite well...

One of my top ten.

This is without doubt one of the truly great sci-fi series of all time. Why it was ever cancelled is, equally, one of the great mysteries of all time. The characters were all highly charismatic and all very different; yet they blended together perfectly to make one hell of a team. Nowhere was there a weak link: the weakest was the tendency to photograph the entire series in near blackness - a fault shared by so many TV and cinema films these days e.g. The X-Files. This is not a series with a single 'star' with everyone else playing satellite roles: in S:AAB, there are either no stars or everyone is a star. You cannot choose individuals as the entire series emphasises time and again that the group of youngsters and their commanding officers are all part of the team, and that they are all functioning as one unit. To anyone who is not impressed by S:AAB, then I really would like to know what they fancy, as I probably would not.

Space Above and Beyond was and still is in my opinion one of the best war dramas ever made for TV. Really when you watch the show, you cant help but feel that this is a World War 2 show in space.

There is Racial discrimination (Tanks/Natural Borns, AI/Humans, Chigs/Humans) suffering and loss. Political coups and entanglements. Shadowy Corporations, Religion and its implications to a soldier and of course battles.

I think the main thing that brings SAaB down, is that many people feel that it should be compared to other Sci-Fi shows. I do not, and will never consider this a "Sci-Fi" show. Its a War Drama. I don't have to sit through a lecture on the Jefferys Tubes or why I cant exceed Warp 8. I know that these young soldiers need to do their best, and I am here to experience this. How their ships and guns work is a granted, a thing outside of notice. Do you have to learn how an M-16 works before watching Platoon? No. Its the Same with SAaB.

The acting I have to admit is kinda bad in the first 2 episodes. But the Actors AND writers both find their stride by 3 and it just continues to get better from there.

Of course the show was canceled and you can readily see this by the fact that around eps. 14-16 it goes from showing the war as being a long drawn out affair to we need to finish this in the next 10-8 episodes. Story lines are obviously cut out or shortened up. The reason the Aliens are fighting us, for example goes from what I'm sure was going to be a Season 4 or 5 reveal hits us around episode 20, and only gets a 4 line delivery.

For all that, I highly recommend this show, and ask all of you to please Mail FOX and ask them to release these treasures on DVD.

I've seen a lot of comments from people who hate this show, which is surprising. I can understand that it's not for everyone but I can't imagine thinking that someone would dislike it this much. To each his own.

In my opinion, this series was one of the best ever. It explored deeper themes than most shows would dare. It gave a more realistic view of war and the future of Earth than any other scifi or war show I have ever seen. Also, Glen Morgan and James Wong's appreciation of poetry really shows in this series.

If I had to describe "Space: Above and Beyond" in one word: Deep.

You may not believe me, or you may just think that I only say this because I am such a big fan. That's fine. But I truly believe that this show was good while it was on, and had the potential to be something great. Check it out if you can.