Would you have watched the original Galaxy Quest show?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Galaxy Quest
TVholic — 10 years ago(January 16, 2016 11:46 AM)
Based on the clips we were shown, I don't think I would have watched it. It was just way too cheesy. It didn't look like it could have achieved cult status with its incredibly bad acting, terrible writing and bargain basement special effects. It was not even as good as Buck Rogers or Battlestar Galactica, shows that actually were on in the late 1970s and early 1980s and achieved sizable but not huge followings. Certainly not as good as Star Trek. Although I guess to be honest, Galactica 1980 was as bad in some ways, but that show was widely reviled, thankfully quickly cancelled, did not become a cult classic and did not get over three seasons as GQ did.
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TVholic — 10 years ago(January 18, 2016 01:06 PM)
No, it wasn't. Look at how cheesy the effects were. Heck, Space Academy had better special effects, and that was a very low budget Saturday morning kids show, not a prime time series like Trek. Shatner took himself seriously (even if others didn't) and there wasn't the kind of wink at the camera silliness like Nesmith smoothing his hair. Doohan's acting didn't become laughable until the movies, unlike Fred Kwan charging the camera in the episode 81 clip. If anything, it was as ridiculous as the 1930s Flash Gordon serials, which still tried to take itself seriously. The characters in Trek seemed real. The ones in the GQ series were more ludicrous than the ones in Buck Rogers or even Quark.
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king_of_bob — 10 years ago(January 23, 2016 09:38 AM)
Lots of people watched the original V and Battlestar Galactica, so.
It was not even as good as Buck Rogers or Battlestar Galactica, shows that actually were on in the late 1970s and early 1980s and achieved sizable but not huge followings.
I would argue that Galaxy Quest was meant to be AT LEAST as good as those shows. But look back at classic Trek. The effects and acting were cheesy. The show succeeded on the strength of the writing and the fact that it was the most progressive show on television.
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TVholic — 10 years ago(January 23, 2016 01:36 PM)
The acting on TOS wasn't as cheesy as this. Look at the clips in the movie and you see this was all a "wink, wink, aren't we funny?" quality of hamminess. Say what you will about Shatner, at least his overacting never broke the fourth wall. And seriously, you think TOS had effects anywhere near as bad as the show's slow-moving chompers or the clip that Tommy used to learn how to fly the Protector? The latter was about the quality of
Abbott & Costello Go to Mars
. Let's not forget this was 1982, 13 years after TOS went off the air. You can't compare TOS with GQ. If I had to pick something closer in terms of FX quality, I'd have to go with the Logan's Run series or maybe even classic Doctor Who. -
king_of_bob — 10 years ago(January 24, 2016 09:54 AM)
The acting on TOS wasn't as cheesy as this.
Are you beep kidding? People STILL make jokes about the acting on TOS. And of course it wasn't as cheesy as the movie presents, because the movie is a parody of the real show. Parody exaggerates for effect. That's how parody works.
Look at the clips in the movie and you see this was all a "wink, wink, aren't we funny?" quality of hamminess.
I'm not sure you really remember TOS. There was less humor on it than Galaxy Quest, but when humor was present, it was pretty OTT.
Say what you will about Shatner, at least his overacting never broke the fourth wall.
When did any of the crew break the fourth wall in the Galaxy Quest scenes we see? I do not recall that happening.
And seriously, you think TOS had effects anywhere near as bad as the show's slow-moving chompers or the clip that Tommy used to learn how to fly the Protector?
What "effects" are you even talking about, specifically? I'm not sure I would refer to those chompers as "slow moving" either.
Let's not forget this was 1982, 13 years after TOS went off the air.
The beep are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything, considering Star Trek never existed in the GQ universe?
You can't compare TOS with GQ. If I had to pick something closer in terms of FX quality, I'd have to go with the Logan's Run series or maybe even classic Doctor Who.
I sure as beep can, no matter whether you like it or not.
In fact, I would argue that at the very least the makeup effects were MUCH better on GQ than TOS. Compare Dr. Lazarus to Klingons from TOS. The Klingons BTW were racist ass representations of Asian people.
http://www.trekmate.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Kor_2266.jpg
http://i0.wp.com/geekdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/galaxy-quest.jpg
The ship looks at least as good as TOS. Not sure what FX you saw in TOS that are better than GQ. You offer no evidence, you just keep repeating the same argument.
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TVholic — 10 years ago(January 24, 2016 07:24 PM)
Are you beep kidding? People STILL make jokes about the acting on TOS. And of course it wasn't as cheesy as the movie presents, because the movie is a parody of the real show. Parody exaggerates for effect. That's how parody works.
Why did the GQ show need to be a parody of Trek? There's no reason the movie wouldn't have worked if the show had been played straight. The movie is the parody. The show didn't need to be.
What "effects" are you even talking about, specifically? I'm not sure I would refer to those chompers as "slow moving" either.
You're either dumb or blind. Not the chompers they ran through in the movie. The ones in the clip that Hollister was watching to get the timing. Those are the ones in the show. I could have run through those without knowing the timing sequence. I keep getting the impression you can't separate the show from the movie.
The beep are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything, considering Star Trek never existed in the GQ universe?
Irrelevant. The state of the art in effects and makeup was much better in the 1980s than in the 1960s, regardless of what shows you're comparing.
In fact, I would argue that at the very least the makeup effects were MUCH better on GQ than TOS. Compare Dr. Lazarus to Klingons from TOS. The Klingons BTW were racist ass representations of Asian people.
That's your opinion. Others would say the skull caps on the Keeper's race in "The Cage" were no worse than Lazarus' skull cap, just without the purple blush and with veins instead of spines. Or the Vians in "The Empath."
Aside from the Fu Manchu beard Kor wore, the Klingons really didn't resemble Asians, who aren't a monolithic people by the way. I just spoke with some longtime Chinese-American fans and they never had the impression that Klingons were supposed to be Asians, especially Koloth and the other Klingons in "The Trouble with Tribbles."
The ship looks at least as good as TOS. Not sure what FX you saw in TOS that are better than GQ. You offer no evidence, you just keep repeating the same argument.
The evidence was right there on the screen if you were just watching. The scene where Tommy watches the show, replicating his younger self's motions while repeating "Pedal to the metal, Commander!" By Grabthar's hammer, that scene he was watching looked like something out of pre-1970 Doctor Who, or worse.
Regardless, I maintain that the Galaxy Quest show seemed on average to be roughly the quality of
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
, which didn't become a cultural phenomenon. Go to any convention and you won't find many if any people doing cosplay in costumes from that show. -
Pharaoh Osmosis — 9 years ago(April 15, 2016 11:57 AM)
The scene where Tommy watches the show, replicating his younger self's motions while repeating "Pedal to the metal, Commander!" By Grabthar's hammer, that scene he was watching looked like something out of pre-1970 Doctor Who, or worse.
I think you mean more like 1970s 'Doctor Who' which was the cheapest era for sets and effects and probably the worst for acting where even the better actors were trying to stop themselves laughing through any scenes where they were attacked.
This is especially true for Tom Baker's era in regards to acting, though Jon Pertwee's era probably takes the cake for overall cheapness (that being said the wobbly sets archetype is probably most represented by Tom Baker's 'The Invisible Enemy'). -
ContinentalOp — 9 years ago(July 10, 2016 04:33 PM)
Yeah, there seems to be a myth that the 60s episodes of Doctor Who were the cheapest. This is very wrong. The fact that a great deal of Pertwee stories were set on Earth is due to the budget for the show being lowered. When the Doctor returned to space in the later episodes of Pertwee and in the 70s episodes of Tom Baker's era, the show looked terribly cheap and had appalling wobbly sets.
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TVholic — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 10:25 PM)
Sadly, I probably would have watched it too. That's what happens when you're a sci-fi fan, and there really wasn't anything in the way of quality SF TV right around 1980. We had Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, neither of which were very good. Then short-lived junk like Beyond Westworld, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Phoenix and Automan. It wasn't until the late 1980s when Star Trek TNG and Quantum Leap took off.
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TakeTwoTheyreSmall — 9 years ago(August 08, 2016 03:51 PM)
As others have pointed out, you have already watched "the show". Galaxy Quest is a movie about a parody of a TV show. A comedy knock-off about a cheesy sci-fi TV show, about a cult-hit TV show fandom. So, you've already watched it, in watching the movie, and the show(s) it parodies. The whole GQ set and direction is supposed to be cheesy. Not just cheesy, but super cheesy. As far as the "quality" of the set, effects and direction, it only had to be on a level with a SNL skit to succeed. Which it did. Any less "cheesy" and it would not have worked.
The special effects, IMO, were too good at times. The "transporters", the alien "babies", and the kill-shot of Sarris, not to mention the fabulous space scenes. They could (should) have been "cheesed" a lot more.
A Winnebago traveling through space was no accident. The cheesy effects in GQ weren't either.
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