Date sent: 15-AUG-1996 14:36:08
Yes folks. The second season of SAAB has been canceled.
Roomer has it that despite turning a tidy prophet and building up a good
following, the show was canceled to make sure that Wong and
Morgan would be available for the next season of the X-files.
It looks like the show was canceled due to FOX boardroom politics rather than
any financial or viewing figure consideration.
Other related roumers.
The set for SAAB is being used as the set for Alien 4.
After the success of B5, Warner Brothers tried to buy SAAB, but were turned
down flatly. FOX didn't even want to negotiate.
I'm not saying that SAAB is a great program, but it is certainly better than a
lot of the rubbish we currently get. It will be a pity to see it go.
> On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Adam Delafield wrote:
> Date sent: 15-AUG-1996 14:36:08
Svenska Aeroplan AB? Didn't know their cars sold that badly <g>
Seriously, though: what does this SAAB stand for?
> On Thu, 15 Aug 1996, Adam Delafield wrote:
> Oerjan Ohlson
In a message dated 96-08-15 10:04:00 EDT, you write:
> Date sent: 15-AUG-1996 14:36:08
> Svenska Aeroplan AB? Didn't know their cars sold that badly <g>
> Seriously, though: what does this SAAB stand for?
> Oerjan Ohlson
SAAB=Space Above And Beyond. An attempt to create a gritty, military-SF
TV show here in the States. Writers seemed to get lazy and fell jack to
cliched
plot devices of US Marines and "Torch-Jockeys" (aka fighter pilots). As
you
have read, the show was cancelled. More agnst-driven then by a sensible
plot, usually ended in neatly tied episodes, and had all the military research
and sense of someone who got their military expertise by going down
to the video store and renting every Golan-Globus action movies
(producers of
the laughable films Delta Force 1 & 2, and the Missing in Action-series,
amoung others). Concept: Noble. Execution: Poor. Creativity: Nil.
Results: Cancelled, despite rapid "fanboy/girl" howls of indignation
(but
then again, they were more into the "90210/Melrose Place-esque" agnst of
the characters and shouted down any attempt by critics who suggested changes
and
pointed out errors/plot holes/research failings, even if these
observations were meant to improve the show). Ah well. B5 survives and with it
the hope
of future prime-time SF series other then the Trek-based ones.
Morgul, aka Morgan Keyes Sine Pari Airborne All The Way!
> >Seriously, though: what does this SAAB stand for?
As you
> have read, the show was cancelled. More agnst-driven then by a
Its like they took the scripts from Tour Of Duty and crossed them with some of
the visual effects from B5 and removed all the good bits.
Comments about Space: Above and Beyond
> Darren Douglas wrote:
I wouldn't even compare it to Tour Of Duty. I enjoyed Tour of Duty, military
inaccuracies aside (I was about thirteen or fourteen when it came out, so I
didn't even notice most of them), and the pilot of SAAB was interesting.
Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. After the third episode, I
stopped watching. After hearing about the fifth or sixth, I was hoping that
people out there wouldn't take this to be an example of what sci-fi
is like.
On retrospect, I think the mistake was to take an organization that we know of
today (the US Marine Corps), and try to extrapolate it out into space. When
authors do that, they have to be extra careful to make sure that they don't
break any "rules" of how the Corps works. When you're doing something like B5,
or ST, you can just say "Well, that's the way it works in MY universe", and
what can you say about that?
Hell, we're already supposed to be in the middle of World War III right about
now, in ST Canon. (8-)
Ahh, work calls.
J.
In a message dated 96-08-15 10:27:20 EDT, you write:
<< Its like they took the scripts from Tour Of Duty and crossed them with some
of the visual effects from B5 and removed all the good bits.
Darren >>
And there's the rub. I was actually hoping it would be an SF "Tour of Duty",
good ground force stuff. Instead we get pilots PLAYING infantry with weak
excuses about multi-function mission profiles. If they wanted decent
pilot stories beyond the cockpit then the writers should have dusted off some
old copies of "Black Sheep Squadron" (Hell, they were even Marine pilots there
too). If they wanted ground missions then maybe introduce new main
characters as part of the Saratoga's Recon/SpecOp detachment of the
embarked ground troops. Ah, well. SAAB is dead. Pop open a beer, find the
remote and turn on B5. Then pull out the dice and mini's and get some Full
Thrust going.
Morgul, aka Morgan Keyes Sine Pari Airborne All The Way!
In a message dated 96-08-15 09:48:59 EDT, you write:
<< a tidy prophet >>
Is that like Moses with a shave and haircut?
Gene
In a message dated 96-08-15 11:03:13 EDT, you write:
<< Ah, well. SAAB is dead. Pop open a beer, find the remote and turn on B5.
Then pull out the dice and mini's and get some Full Thrust going. >>
Hell, I taped 'em all anyway. Sure they sucked, but if you fast forward
'em,
and mute it in strategic places, and squint your eyes in parts, it really
wasn't too bad...... As for your remedy for post-SAAB blues, I think you
have found the elusive Panacea.
Gene