Surface [Archive] - Colonial Fleets

warhammerdriver

September 19th, 2005, 07:23 PM

Missed it.

OK, wasn't planning to watch it. The alien invasion/borderline horror type sci-fi just doesn't do it for me. (Unless WE are the "aliens" doing the invading :D )

I worries me that these new series on ABC/NBC/CBS might flop and there won't BE any sci-fi on the broadcast networks for a long time to come.

GalacticanCajun

September 20th, 2005, 06:21 AM

Surface was quite good. Liked it alot. Have not seen the other new shows.

julix

September 20th, 2005, 06:49 AM

I have it taped so hopefully watch it this week.

Gemini1999

September 20th, 2005, 06:23 PM

Okay,

I took Don's reminder and watched Surface. I really enjoyed it! I don't really call it SciFi, but I guess finding meteor craters on the bottom of the ocean floor is where the SciFi connection comes in.

Someone said that they thought the new CBS series, Threshold was a rip off of the movie and the novel, Sphere. I didn't see it as much in that show as I did in this one....

I still liked it, I thought that it was well written and well acted. There were some really good "OMG!" moments in it that made this hour of television very diverting. I will be back next week to see where they go with it.

I have to tell you, I pretty much backed away from network television last season as there is really so little to offer entertainment wise. Sitcoms are almost dead, "reality" TV is literally gasping, but some knucklehead at (insert name of network here) keeps trying to find a new angle for some cheap, non-scripted televsion that they don't have to pay real actors for, nor bother to build sets, sew costumes, or come up with an original story idea.

Between Threshold and Surface, network TV has me back for at least 2 hours a week - for now.....

Best,
Bryan

P.S. - If you find some strange looking "egg", don't take it home and put it in the fish tank!

Titon

September 21st, 2005, 05:18 AM

First show i've ran into in a long time that actually kept me viewing until the end. I thought the FX was great and the premis seems to be rather fetching.

I'll continue to watch it since nothing else Scifi wise has caught my eye in a longggggggggg time.

:)

julix

September 21st, 2005, 06:11 AM

I thought threshold was pretty entertaining...............and tonight Invasion premiers.

skippercollecto

September 22nd, 2005, 02:14 PM

Of the three new science fiction series that premiered this past week, the one I liked best was "Surface." But then, I really liked "SeaQuest."
I couldn't get past the first half hour of "Threshold." It reminded me too much of "Independence Day," especially since Brent Spiner was in it. I will continue to watch "Invasion" for a few weeks and see if it keeps my interest. I've liked a lot of Shaun Cassidy's shows (I think he is much better as a producer than he ever was as a singer or actor).
"Surface" kept my interest the most.
Mary

julix

September 23rd, 2005, 05:59 AM

I watched my tape of surface last night.........It was pretty entertaining, I thought it was a bit choppy.........but they are trying to bring a couple characters together that are searching for answers. The whole goverment cover-up thing...........kind of old but maybe true! I need to watch my tape of Invasion tonight............

peter noble

September 27th, 2005, 12:50 PM

So did anyone watch Surface last night?

I've yet to watch a Canadian Broadcast.

Titon

September 27th, 2005, 01:53 PM

No! I missed it damn it!

I should have recorded it.

grrrr.

peter noble

September 28th, 2005, 03:56 PM

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6107/surface8ga.jpg

Or the one with the wobbly FX shot.

So this is a bit like 20 Million Miles to Earth, E.T. and The Abyss.

There were some cool scenes but it was a bit of a mishmash, the final shot though was stellar.

If this makes it to 13 episodes I'll eat my hat.

2/5

P.S. Laura, the marine biologist shouldn't have custody of her child.

Titon

September 28th, 2005, 05:54 PM

What happened with the kids that caught one and put it in the fish tank?

peter noble

September 29th, 2005, 04:19 AM

Well, he and his friend captured it and put it in his sister's old playhouse. The creature got sick but it eventually they discovered it had to have live food to survive so they've started feeding it live goldfish!

Titon

September 29th, 2005, 10:10 AM

Goldfish?

Holy crap, it looked like it had and appetite in the begining, goldfish would run out fast!

:)

Titon

October 4th, 2005, 04:24 AM

Catch Surface last night Pete?

It's actually getting interesting but i don't know if it has the guns to stay on tv.

:)

peter noble

October 4th, 2005, 02:54 PM

Don,

I just watched it.

Yes, it's getting interesting. The mystery is unfolding but the some of the story threads and character need to interact more I think.

The Old Faithful shot at the end was bad because you could see "fringing" around the park ranger. The same thing happened last week. Someone's not doing a very good job compositing the mattes. Last week's was really poor.

However, the creature animation and water FX are really good.

I still think it'll be lucky to get to 13 eps, although it did slightly better than last week rating wise.

Best,

Peter

Titon

October 4th, 2005, 03:15 PM

Eden FX is doing the cgi portion but your right i have no idea who is doing the compositing.

It's horrible!

peter noble

October 4th, 2005, 03:19 PM

Eden do excellent work. I would have thought they'd do the compositing too.

All the stuff on the carrier in the first ep was very good though.

Stevew

October 4th, 2005, 04:00 PM

It is not bad IMHO but it is alittle slow moving for me atleast at this stage but has a lot of potential

peter noble

October 11th, 2005, 03:12 PM

Well, I watched Surface again last night.

The kid is sort of like Elliott from E.T. and the Rich character is like Roy Neary from Close Encounters.

It's unfolding too slowly and last night's episode only had Lake Bell in bikini too recommend it, despite it being written by David Greenwalt of Buffy, Angel, Jake 2.0 and Lost fame.

This will get cancelled in the next couple of weeks, which is a shame, because it's SF for a family audience.

Titon

October 11th, 2005, 06:12 PM

Well i hope it hangs on a while yet but your right, sloooooooooooooooowwww!

:)

Gemini1999

October 11th, 2005, 07:03 PM

Guess what show is on the Skiffy channel all evening....?

You guessed it! Surface....

It looks like NBC is using those "re-purposing" rights....

Bryan

Titon

October 12th, 2005, 05:18 AM

Bryan i noticed that as well. Still it's nice to watch on my local channels. Since i have Hi Def reciever and tv the show really looks good *but* looks equally bad with the bad compositing.

I think the series has potential but it needs to move along quicker. Get to the point dammit! :)

Stevew

October 12th, 2005, 05:24 AM

Even though it is slow and they need a little more action, it is far more watchable than the new BSG
S

Nezhdan

October 12th, 2005, 11:50 AM

I've caught one episode of this show, it didn't do a thing for me, but granted, it was last weeks episode, and I missed all the ones leading up to it.

I've heard one person compare it to the Abyss, which is a fantastic movie, which is why I gave it a whirl last week, maybe I'll watch this week. So far it hasn't impressed me at all though. :/

peter noble

October 18th, 2005, 01:18 PM

So Serko's now offered Laura a place on his team.

The story should get going moving more now. Laura's working for the "man" should put her at odds with Rich.

Nim came back! :thumbsup:

Gemini1999

October 18th, 2005, 06:14 PM

One thing that gets me is the uncertainty and upredictability of what happens each time they encounter one of the creatures.

When the Coast Guard was trying to turn the big one back out to sea last night, I kept wondering what would happen... I mean, would the cutter get eaten with all aboard, or would it attack those on the docks? The electrical pulse was kind of cool, but you had to wonder what the creature was trying to do - was it a warning, or is it smart enough to decide to disable everything around it?

The bit with the sailor from that missing submarine washing up on the shore was kind of weird and intruguing. They found the sub intact, yet empty, but then you have a lone crewman found somewhere else entirely.

I still can't follow the character's names from the show, but I'm starting to like the storyline with the guy from N.C. trying to track down his missing (or dead) brother. I'm interested in seeing how that winds up.

I'm still watching and being patiently entertained. Predictable, this show isn't...

Best,
Bryan

peter noble

October 25th, 2005, 02:23 PM

Just watched episode six.

Wow, it's hotting up (and not just the Earth!)! Cerko's dead and some mysterious agency is out to put a lid on the truth. I don't think these guys are from the Government.

Miles is a jerk and his parents are right!

Gemini1999

October 25th, 2005, 07:34 PM

I thought that this was a ripping good episode!

Some mystery, some drama, a bit of character development.....a lot of nice bits altogether.

I almost died when Nim was tunneling his way through the ceiling right on top of Mom......

Another good moment was when (I'm so bad with the character's names) the guy and the girl were almost caught in that storage unit..... I was sure they would get captured or something.

What was the deal with the underwater "flower"? Is that also an alien lifeform, or is it terrestrial.

The previews for the coming weeks have me pretty well sucked in for a while. This show's not high art, but it's damn entertaining!

Best,
Bryan

Titon

October 26th, 2005, 04:24 AM

Damn!

I missed it!

Malkyte

October 26th, 2005, 11:21 AM

skippercollecto

October 26th, 2005, 11:53 AM

I find it amusing, and probably NOT coincidental, that a lot of people on this discussion board have latched onto Surface and yet are ignoring the other scifi/fantasy shows that have premiered this fall. I'm assuming we all have the same taste! I also find it amusing, and probably NOT coincidental, that the TV critics haven't cared for Surface as much as they have Invasion, Threshold and Supernatural. I haven't liked those other three at all, but am really enjoying Surface.
Mary

peter noble

November 8th, 2005, 03:11 PM

Just watched last night's show.

Laura and Rich are becoming pro-active, which is about time!

What is the agenda of the mysterious third party?

I'm glad Miles' friend has persuaded him to set Nim free. Miles was starting to turn in to a total 'tard!

4/5 (extra point for Lake Bell getting most of her kit off!) ;)

Titon

November 8th, 2005, 04:07 PM

Man i keep missing this!

grrrr!

:mad:

peter noble

November 15th, 2005, 03:07 PM

Wow, Laura and Rich dropping into the green hole at the end! ;)

Can't wait till the next ep!

4/5

Gemini1999

November 15th, 2005, 04:33 PM

I only saw the last 15 minutes of this one...

It's the first time I forgot!

I'll have to check the Canadian Broadcast to see the rest.

I liked what I saw - I want to see more!

Best,
Bryan

Titon

November 16th, 2005, 05:02 PM

Finally remembered to watch!

Top notch stuff.

Although i really don't believe the diving bell!

;)

skippercollecto

November 29th, 2005, 02:30 PM

Gemini1999

November 29th, 2005, 06:05 PM

Last night's episode was actually nervewracking in places. It was the best episode of the series so far, and the ending was kind of sad. The episode made me feel (well, almost) the way some of the episodes of Lost last season made me feel. I will miss not being able to watch this on Monday nights for a while.
I know it will return in January, but I don't know when.
Mary

Mary -

I caught the last half of the episode (2nd time I forgot), but I got to see how the episode wrapped up.

Nerve wracking? You said it kiddo! I thought those people would never get rescued when a big creature tried to eat the helicopter.

Having 'Nim die at the end of the episode really was a sad note for me. I'm glad that the kid lived, but you kind of got the feeling that some kind of understanding between humans and the creatures was lost at the same time.

This show is so unusual and so good! I'm glad it made the cut and I'm glad it'll be around a while longer.

Best,
Bryan

peter noble

November 30th, 2005, 04:19 PM

Great ep!

I'm liking the relationships on this show.

The end was a bit of surprise as well.

Is it not on again until January now?

Titon

December 1st, 2005, 04:25 AM

They said new episode's back in January.

The show really has caught my attention. I hope the budget expands because the cg is pretty bad right now. The cgi shark was terrible.

But i guess i'm just picky.

The show itself has some really great moments but is a dog in other parts. But there's enough there to keep it going!

:)

peter noble

January 2nd, 2006, 05:18 AM

I think there's a new episode on tonight.

skippercollecto

January 3rd, 2006, 04:54 PM

What did the NBC announcer mean at the end when he said "only four more episodes"?
I actually laughed out loud a couple of times during the episode last night, not because the scenes were stupid but because they were funny. I liked how NBC parodied its sister network MSNBC. And I liked the facial expressions on Rich and Laura just before they went into McDonald's.
As the MSNBC program was being broadcast, the scene switched to a girl watching TV. Was that Miles annoying new girlfriend, or was that his sister Savannah?
Who is the bad Blum? Is it Dr. Blum, trying to get credit for discovering Nimrod, or is it his daughter, who I couldn't figure out was taking advantage of Miles for her father, or if she really didn't know if her father was a jerk or not? Or is Dr. Blum the good guy, trying to protect Miles from his witchy daughter?
Mary

Gemini1999

January 3rd, 2006, 06:47 PM

I think there's a new episode on tonight.

Peter -

Thanks for the reminder....I probably would have missed it!

I liked this episode - I felt like I was watching "E.T." at the beginning with Nim being packed in ice with Miles coming to say "goodbye" and then Nim coming back to life.

That doc is a jerk - he makes like he's got Miles interests at heart, but then goes for the glory when Nim is revived. I hope Nim zaps him right in the badoobies when he gets a chance.

The scene where Miles, the doc's daughter and Nim were swimming in the tank was a beautifully done scene - too bad the doc had to mess things up. I'm wondering about the girl, she seems genuninely interested in Miles, but it would be a shame if she's got other motives. It's nice to see the "geek get the girl"!

Looking forward to next week!
Bryan

skippercollecto

January 5th, 2006, 07:33 PM

I just watched the 2001 anime film Spirited Away on TCM. The dragon named Hawkoo sure looked a lot like Nimrod.

peter noble

January 10th, 2006, 03:33 PM

Okay, so now Miles is mutating, ugh!

I thought those amphibians had come from outer space, now they might be manmade, call me confused but still watching.

3/5

Gemini1999

January 10th, 2006, 06:32 PM

This show has become my "must see" programme for the week! I don't care about missing anything else, but I'm not missing this show....

Last night's episode kind of kept me on the edge for the better part of it. The idea that Miles is slowly mutating is something I just didn't see coming until we started seeing some of the more visible effects from it. I thought that I was gonna drop off the sofa when Miles kissed his new girlfriend for the first time and his hands (which were touching her face) had this sticky slime all over them. The look on her face was just unbeleivable... The change in the eyes is kind of cool, I thought that she would see that straight away, but then she had to go and kiss him. She won't do that again!

I'm liking the storyline with Rich and Laura meeting up (well Laura anyway) with that scientist. I thought casting Martha Plimpton was an interesting one - she's always looked like a "mad" scientist since she was a teenager.... It'll be interesting to see where that plot goes.

The scene with Laura getting the pic from her son was just heartbreaking....I thought I was gonna get all misty over it too. It's tough on her, being on the run and wanting to protect him, but wanting to be with him at the same time.

Only 3 more episodes to go......I wish that it was more!

Bryan

skippercollecto

January 14th, 2006, 10:14 AM

I thought last Monday's episode was the best one yet. The stories flowed smoothly and the acting is improving.
I missed the opening credits and so I didn't find out until later who the guest stars were. I kept thinking the scientist that Laura went off with looked like--ahem--a heavier and older Tricia Helfer. That was distracting, with me wondering how Helfer ended up there! I learned later that it was an actress named Martha Plimpton.

skippercollecto

January 25th, 2006, 08:38 AM

I'm very irritated today. I have learned that both Surface and The Book of Daniel have been cancelled. And because of the announcement of the merger of the WB and UPN, the chances of renewal don't look too good for Everwood.
And people wonder why I keep going to the movies so much, and keep buying DVD sets of old TV series. Every year I watch less TV than I did the year before.....
Mary

spcglider

January 25th, 2006, 09:58 AM

Never watched Everwood or Book of Daniel, but my personal opinion of Surface is that it's not a big loss. I know it's sci-fi and all, but it seemed to have itself firmly rooted in the "fi" and not enough in the "sci" for me. They keep trying to convince me that the stuff happening in the show could be scientifically feasible without so much as a sly wink acknowledging they know its a sham. They wouldn't have to make it tounge-in-cheek, they'd just have to point out the ludicrous nature of what they're asking me to buy into. They don't do that at all. Major negative points overall.

-Gordon

peter noble

January 28th, 2006, 09:34 AM

I enjoyed the last episode very much. The scene at the end was great.

I'm bummed about the cancellation but at least there's going to be some sort of resolution to the series.

Titon

January 30th, 2006, 06:56 AM

Didn't hear they canceled it Peter but to be quite honest with you i lost interest in it.

Gemini1999

January 30th, 2006, 08:14 AM

I'm bummed about the cancellation but at least there's going to be some sort of resolution to the series.

Cancelled?

Damn - there goes my reason to watch TV on Monday nights...

As far as a resolution, I don't see how unless they were prepared from the word "go" that it wasn't gonna make it.

Crap....

Bryan

skippercollecto

January 31st, 2006, 04:16 AM

The article I read about Surface's cancellation must have been wrong. The preview on last night's show said next week was the "season" finale, not the "series" finale. But 15 weeks is an awfully short season. Whatever happened to a 26-week season? I know that many series now have a six- or nine-month wait between seasons, but that doesn't work for me. By that time I have quite often forgotten about the series.
As for the episode, it's obvious where Greg gets his bullying tendencies. What I don't understand is why, with so many witnesses, no one believed that he hit Miles first. And the police department's attempts to hold off a lynch mob were frightening.

peter noble

January 31st, 2006, 12:03 PM

I've just watched it.

Really, really good.

Rich's discovery at the complex was a great sci fi moment.

Can't wait for the ep next week.

As to the cancellation, I read the head of NBC making a non-committal statement to some reporters. That's usually an indicator of exec-speak for: "I haven't got the stones to say it's cancelled in front of you lot, so I'll do it all sneaky like.".

Gemini1999

January 31st, 2006, 06:05 PM

Last night's ep was pretty good - but they opened more story threads instead of heading in the direction of resolving them. There's no way that they can tie this up neatly by next week.

*sigh* I guess that they'll just have to do another 13 eps to resolve the storyline.

Now, I did have a thought.....Skiffy has been re-airing the eps each week. Who's to say that Skiffy couldn't pick it up as another one of their "original" series? At least the ratings wouldn't be so much of an issue on a cable channel.....

Bryan

skippercollecto

February 9th, 2006, 03:07 PM

What I hope was the season finale and not the series finale of Surface was the best episode yet of the series. It was quite entertaining, and I hope we're not left hanging for the rest of eternity wondering what happened (we all know that situation!).
I know there were stolen scenes in the series. The ending was from The Day After Tomorrow, but the segment with Rich trapped in that room wasn't from a movie. It seemed to be borrowed from real life, reminiscent of those stories I read of people trapped in the World Trade Center and calling their families.
Actually, what I originally thought would happen at the end was a little different. I thought that the plant would be flooded by water and destroyed. However, the room would be airtight and able to float away. I thought that maybe Jackson (the guy whose picture he saw on the computer) would come rescue him.
Mary

peter noble

February 9th, 2006, 03:38 PM

It was the best episode yet. Very "Hand of God". ;)

skippercollecto

February 11th, 2006, 05:39 AM

Peter, I thought of The Hand of God too! It wasn't just that because the scene ended with the two couples looking from a tiny enclosed place with windows all around out on a new empty world, it was the way I felt watching it. My feeling was similar, although not nearly as intense, as when I originally watched The Hand of God!
In other words, I was really impressed!
Mary

peter noble

February 11th, 2006, 09:46 AM

Mary, I to was impressed.

Over the weeks I've become invested in the characters. I liked how Miles's sister was at odds with him and then came to be closer to him and defend him against her "friends".

I liked how Miles leapt off the ferry to search for his girlfriend and how Laura went back for Rich, they were great "hero" moments.

Best,

Peter

Gemini1999

February 11th, 2006, 10:51 AM

Over the weeks I've become invested in the characters. I liked how Miles's sister was at odds with him and then came to be closer to him and defend him against her "friends".

I liked how Miles leapt off the ferry to search for his girlfriend and how Laura went back for Rich, they were great "hero" moments.

Peter -

That was good wasn't it? Definitely characters worth investing in and a show worth keeping around....

I hope we see more!

Bryan