Posted: 11/30/2006 7:31:15 AM EDT
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Everybody, and I mean everybody (well except the Unas) speak English. I wish they had universal translator thingymajigs or something. When even they find a cool toy it gets destroyed or can't be used. (Most of the time) |
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Too much Star Trekish technobabble coming from Carter. Sci-Fi must think it gets the nerds excited... Definitely the capital ship thing. That's depressing. The language thing sucks to since the language barrier was part of what made the movie great. Then again, you can't run through the same "WTF are you saying and learn the language" plot thread in every episode. Hell, the only reason ST came up with the universal translator was to explain why everyone spoke english. Also, with attacks on earth itself, hundreds of military personell dying, and billions of dollars spent building intergalactic warships, there is no way in hell that the SG program could be kept under wraps this long. At some point they will have a Cindy Sheehan blow the lid off it by camping outside Cheyenne Mountain asking "What happened to my son?" on cable news... |
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I recall a special that Scifi did on the two shows. Part of it featured cast members reading email from fans. David Hewlett (McKay) read one from a fan complaining that everyone in the universe, including the Pegasus galaxy could speak English with out ever possibly being exposed to it. To quote the response "Damnit! They noticed!" In an SG-1 episode, O'neil asks why the team didn't just go say 'hi' to the inhabitants of some village. Daniel commented that it was highly unlikely that they spoke English, but was cut off by a villager responding to Jack in English. Instead of trying to explain that little plot device with a universal translator, the show just ignores it. Overall, the show do a pretty good job of explaining things or at least 'hanging a lantern' on obvious problems. -Local |
On the Capital ship front, I can think of two occasions where SG-1 got a hold of a Go'uld Ha'Tak (the big pyramid shaped ones) class ship only to loose it, got a half complete scout ship from the town that was over run by cloned goulds, and let Murray's friends keep their ship and let them go out of the kindess of their hearts...I would hope no one in the military would ever really be that stupid. As far as the SGC still being underwraps, all the attacks on Earth Directly, save for Annubis which only hit a carrier battle group in blue water and in Antartica never actually made it as far as the surface, I'm actually not sure, again save for Anubis, if they ever even made it to Low-Earth Orbit. The ships are either built underground at some undisclosed location as seen on the episode Pegasus, or prehaps later ships were built at an off world site. </shrug> |
Air Force- "I'm sorry. That information is classified." Sheehan type woman- "Classified! I have the right to know how he died!" AF- "He died doing his duty." |
I remember that, and laughed my ass off.  In a way, it's actually better than the lame "universal translator" thing in Star Trek that never made any sense to me. 
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The English thing is just one of pure necessity. You'd either have to have some techobabble "universal translator" that, if portrayed anywhere in a realistic way, would be a nightmare to script and shoot. Even worse if you write it as some sort of "brain wave" device then how do you know it's going to work on every species. Babel fish in every one's ear? Translator microbes? It's just one of those things that HAS to be accepted otherwise you wouldn't have a story or series. SG-1 and SGA, while having a strong visual/tech component has always been about people stories, much like what made ST work. Notice that when that starts to unravel (ST-Voy) the series starts to suck. It almost always comes back to the relationships and actions of a handful of people that you care very much about. As for the "toys"... too much advancement takes the characters and situations away from what people in the here and now can relate to. I remember something from the Star Trek Technical Manual regarding replicators for manipulation of materials and the use of transporter phase bonding to join starship hull sections together. Someone asked "Why can't you just replicate a starship"? The answer was along the lines of "If you had the ability to replicate a starship in one step, you'd probably be advanced enough NOT TO NEED ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE". Food for thought. |
Would you rather watch 15 minutes of Daniel Jackson trying to learn their language every episode. The writers explained it, it is a TV show at that would get really old after a couple of episode, let alone 10 seasons. |
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As lame as this reply is, they would have to use "current US military hardware". I'm not sure if the FN 5.7's are in the US military arsenal....but it still makes good TV.  so as long as they dont' start using some POS that EVER INFORMED gun owner would KNOW the US would not touch.....They need compact stuff...... since they are "scouting" and the weopons are for self defence. Now, when they go for combat, it can be anything..... 
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I think the show is great becasue it takes place NOW. Not some distant time or place. Sure, the 30th century would be neat, but I can relate to SG better because of the setting. Still, no one can answer how the Air Force explains the dead people or where they get the insane funding they always reference... |
Gotta love that monstrosity that Carter uses... 
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 I was wondering if anyone would catch that. About 400 DVD's and 150-ish Laserdiscs. 
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Never know...... not all details are known about the SG program If it's enough to power a hyper space drive or the rings.... should be more then enough to light a city.... or state.
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Thank god for that, Atlantis uses real guns the whole time. They even have Wraith Stunners to get the same effect as the Zats. SG1 uses the crazy weapons too much IMO. If Atlantis were to start using crazy alien "knock 'em out" guns all the time it would be pretty weak, hell Shepard even changed from the M9 to a 1911. O'neil said in one episode when they were joining with the Jaffa, the Goa'uld weapons are weapons of terror, while the human firearms are weapons of war. |