Starhunter - Firefly parallels?? by safeat2nd

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Starhunter - Firefly parallels??

POSTED BY: SAFEAT2ND
UPDATED: Thursday, May 31, 2007 06:43
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Friday, October 13, 2006 9:24 AM

I just got one of the poorly produced DVD's from Starhunter season one with Micheal Pare.

Not the greatest show I've ever watched, but I didn't think it was terrible... close, but not terrible. It suspect part of my not thinking it was terrible was my wanting it to be good...

In watching it, I noticed a lot of Fireflyisms.

The obvious parallels are that it was cancelled early, the episodes on the DVD are all out of order (At least it got 22 episodes).

Then there's the troubled captain (Dante), the security officer with special ops background (Lucretia), and a spunky teenaged, engineer (Percy), and a Badger type character assigning them "jobs" (Rudolpho).

Has anyone else seen this? Has anyone else noticed this or am I just comparing Firefly to all the space shows I see now?

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Friday, October 13, 2006 9:38 AM

CHOO1701

no comment...

(and thats just with a Google Image search)
http://www.achannel.ca/victoria/tvshows_Starhunter.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starhunter

BTW: there was a hiastus between its first and second series in which the other show that completly ripped it off was made (went by the name of Firefry??? not sure..)

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TRAIN!!!

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Friday, October 13, 2006 9:45 AM

SAFEAT2ND

Oh yeah! I forgot about Dante's coat.

Hmmm... where have I seen that done before?

Am I wrong or is the TULIP markedly different in the new series?

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"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 6:38 AM

SAFEAT2ND

Bump.

C'mon, more than 2 people had to have seen this show, right? RIGHT??

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
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Saturday, October 14, 2006 6:42 AM

CHOO1701

Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:
Bump.

C'mon, more than 2 people had to have seen this show, right? RIGHT??

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um....i havn't actually seen it

Just googeled and wiki-ed it when you mentioned it (life = + 0) sooo...it looks like your the only one....

...

....

please don't kill me!!!!

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TRAIN!!!

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 6:54 AM

SAFEAT2ND

HAHAHA!!

Thanks Choo!

__________________________________________________
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"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 8:52 AM

PURPLEBELLY

It's very tempting to imagine that Whedon saw this show, was irritated that the attractive motifs were buried beneath the appalling acting and low production values and that he incorporated some of them in his show. I honestly think that it's more likely that the similarities are just part of the zeitgeist.

If you can plough through season one, the season two development of Percy's character does have some interest and the role of Rudolpho is expanded - Tanya Allen and Steven Marcus can act - I missed Murray Melvin's Caravaggio, tho.

Only watch this show if you have a life to waste, evidently I do.

BTW
does anyone know if Michael Pare was the model for Bob Harris in Lost in Translation?

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 10:34 AM

REDLAVA

I have never even heard of this show. Might have to put it on Netflix, if they even have it that is.

-EDIT- They do have it on Netflix, so people who subscribe to it can check it out. You will have to scroll down quite a ways to find it.

Everybody always has the advantage over us, but that's what makes us special...and Browncoats.

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 4:24 PM

BACON

Three people have seen it. It wasn't the same after they got rid of the Dante, not as funny.

I like this ship, Serenity

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 4:24 PM

BACON

Three people have seen it. It wasn't the same after they got rid of the Dante, not as funny.

I like this ship, Serenity

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 4:29 PM

KANEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Choo1701:

no comment... (and thats just with a Google Image search)
http://www.achannel.ca/victoria/tvshows_Starhunter.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starhunter

BTW: there was a hiastus between its first and second series in which the other show that completly ripped it off was made (went by the name of Firefry??? not sure..)

-----------------------------

TRAIN!!!

ROFL...I have never seen this show. Who knew Joss would stoop so low!

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Saturday, October 14, 2006 4:37 PM

TRAVELER

I'm surprized this one got past me, I'm such a SciFi Nut. There are a few I've seen where I can't even remember the names, but I'm sure I have never seen this one. The people in the photograph don't look familiar and the story line is not one I have heard of. But Firefly got past me and I'm lucky to be here today.

Traveler

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Monday, October 16, 2006 4:52 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Never saw it, but might just have to check it out.

__________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02!

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

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Monday, October 16, 2006 6:07 AM

SAFEAT2ND

I've only seen 7 episodes so far, and none of them in order... sound familiar?? And even though some episodes the acting and plotlines made me roll my eyes, I'm intrigued enough to want to see more.

Call me a sci-fi junkie.

Some further parallels, in one episode, Percy the young female engineer, complains that if Dante had've let her buy the good parts instead of cheaping out, the oxygen recycler wouldn't be broken. Gee where have I heard THAT before?

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Monday, October 16, 2006 2:13 PM

TRAVELER

Its like when I watch "Rocky Jones Space Rangerrrrr".
This show dates to the mid 50's. But once Rocky mentions Tractor Beam. Over ten years later Captain Kirk is using the same thing. They even come up with a masking device for the ship so you can't see it. There is very little new under the sun.
But my favorite is that what ever they do, they toggle the same couple of switches like Wash does on Serenity.

Traveler

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Monday, October 16, 2006 2:39 PM

WILLIAMJAMESW

I remember watching it (airing about 3:00 A.M. on Sunday morning); it was pretty good ,but easily forgettable. Percy and the original hologram were the only parts of the show that really stuck in my mind.

I could stand to hear a little more.

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Monday, October 16, 2006 2:40 PM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

I found season 1 at a record store for $10... and I was robbed!
Bad acting, bad writing, bad sets, bad special effects, and 20 minutes of story stretched into an hour time slot - it's pretty bad... and so was season 2 after I dug around for days and finally found it online.

But like you say there are those Firefly-isms. I suspect PurpleBelly's right about the "climate of scifi at the time," being why it seems familiar.
However... the Tulip, the crew's ship, has a giant sign on it's side that says it's a "Trans-U" for Transit Utopia Cruiseship Lines. Where have I heard that before?

This guy look familiar?

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Monday, October 16, 2006 2:50 PM

SAFEAT2ND

I think this story had a lot of potential, and who am I to turn down the chance to see another spaceship?

LOL Pizmobeach. I'm in the same boat. Only I won mine on E-bay for .50 cents. mind you the shipping brought it up to about $10.

I hear Season two or Starhunter2300 was better.

It's a shame really. I like Micheal Pare. It's just tto bad he keeps taking horrible roles. Anyone remember Moon44?

BTW, DON'T see BloodRayne...

Traveler, I suspect your right at that, but these just seemed more blatant...

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Monday, October 16, 2006 2:59 PM

TRAVELER

Hello Safeat2nd:

I have never seen Starhunter, but that photograph says a lot. I mean, a browncoat. And the black woman is wearing a leather vest. I can't argue with that.

Traveler

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Monday, October 16, 2006 3:44 PM

RICKKER

I think this was one of the last Syndicated shows, they all ended up between midnight and 3AM saturday night, saw a few episodes cause Im an insoniac who will watch anything sci-fi/fantacy. Did anyone else see Soldier of fortune/Special ops force? Heart of gold was in that(Melinda Clark)

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006 2:40 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:
I think this story had a lot of potential, and who am I to turn down the chance to see another spaceship?

I felt exactly the same way - I was suffering from FF withdrawl and this looked "similar," how bad could it be? And it had spaceships...

Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:
I hear Season two or Starhunter2300 was better.

It was better - it had better sets, a bigger budget, etc., but it suffered from the same uneven writing. The show also lost the original actor that played Carvagio (as mentioned by PurpleBelly), a loss. And the actress that played Percy - I never got her style, she seemed to always be "somewhere else."

I watched all the eps but I'm not sure I'd watch them again.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006 2:51 AM

SAFEAT2ND

I noticed the uneven writing too. Even with just watching 7 episodes, one was really good, two were ok, the others were dismal.

Carvaggio gone? I liked him. And Percy... she does seem to be all over the place. Sometimes she comes across as sneaky and self absorbed, almost nasty and other times as perky or bubblely.

I'll watch them all and do what I do with other movie or shows that I thought had a good premise, I'll file away the good parts and think "What if good writers wrote for this story?" But I won't write it off.

It'll sit on my self next to Space Above and Beyond, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25TH Century and of course, Firefly.

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006 2:52 AM

SAFEAT2ND

Ooop!! Double post!

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006 10:23 AM

LETOV

Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:

It'll sit on my self next to Space Above and Beyond, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25TH Century and of course, Firefly.

Don't forget Farscape

- Leto_V

"Well, my days of not taking you
seriously are certainly coming to
a middle." - Mal

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 7:31 AM

SAFEAT2ND

Letov, I haven't seen farscape yet. I'm having a hard time getting past the "muppets in space" feeling. But I've heard good reviews so I may have to check it out.

Pizmo, I just rewatched Serenity, the Firefly pilot, not the movie and caught the Trans-U reference. Did you noctice in the Starhunter episodes if Dante always calls the Tulip his "boat" or was it a rare occurance?

Traveller, even the Tulip has some similarities to Serenity. The big globe thingy on the back is an engine of sorts... I think..

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 7:35 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

I've never seen the show, so I can't comment on that but... that image makes me think of 'Wormhole X-treme!', the spoof Sci-fi show in the 100th episode of Stargate SG1.

I mean... look at them!

Soooo a Firefly copy!

More graphics and animations available at www.desktophippie.com

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 7:41 AM

TPAGE

I've only ever seen a few episodes of the second season. Wasn't the greatest but there wasn't much Sci-Fi going on at the time I watched it.

I believe I actually saw it about the same time as Firefly (saw on the Space Channel in syndication up here in Canada, I saw more episodes in order and Heart of Gold was aired). However, I never drew the parallels; I pretty much abandoned Starhunter in the street when I saw Firefly... and then realised Firefly wasn't going to last long.

It's a damn shame; Starhunter had the potential to be good and continued, Firefly was good but was cancelled.

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 8:23 AM

SAFEAT2ND

Starhunter had the potential to be good, Firefly was good.

I think that sums it all up perfectly TPage! And yet as you said both were cancelled. But Starhunter had a follow-up season two years later and Firefly had a movie. That there is the differnce between potential and actually being good.

DeskTopHippie, I thought the same thing, that it was a copy as sooo many shows are nowadays, until I found out, Starhunter came out a year before Firefly.

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:31 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by safeat2nd:
Pizmo, I just rewatched Serenity, the Firefly pilot, not the movie and caught the Trans-U reference. Did you noctice in the Starhunter episodes if Dante always calls the Tulip his "boat" or was it a rare occurance?

Sorry, I don't recall - it's been a while - I pretty much zeroed out file

Forgot to mention my (only) favorite part of the show was the Peter Gabriel theme songs - "Darker Star," pretty cool.

http://www.scifiradio.com/darker-star.mp3

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:46 AM

CHOO1701

Quote:
Originally posted by DesktopHippie:
I mean... look at them!

Soooo a Firefly copy!

actually Firefly was produced during the break between the two season (check the wikipedia link in my first post).

Quote:
Originally posted by DesktopHippie:
... that image makes me think of 'Wormhole X-treme!', the spoof Sci-fi show in the 100th episode of Stargate SG1.

lol!

Announcer: "Coming Up next on the Cortex "Starhunter"!!!!

Zoe: "Wash, your gorram shows on...."

Wash: "YIPPEE!!!"

Joss (OS): wait this wasn't in the script!

-----------------------------

TRAIN!!!

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Friday, October 20, 2006 2:03 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

I can't believe that came out before Firefly. It looks just like a copy! It doesn't even look like something Firefly copied, it looks like a bad copy of Firefly!

LOL at the image of Wash watching the show on the cortex, with a big bowl of popcorn and a happy grin. Hee hee hee!

More graphics and animations available at www.desktophippie.com

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Friday, October 20, 2006 3:18 AM

SAFEAT2ND

I'm not saying this was a good series...

I look at a piece of coal and instead of focusing on the black, rough exterior and see the diamond within, the buried potential.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm far from a raving optimist. More of a self proclaimed crank filled with a self righteousness that ones usually finds preaching from atop a soapbox.

So, that being said, I watched this and suffered through the uneven writing, poor acting and sub par special effects and saw the little (and I mean little) glimmers of potential. Good writing goes along way to correcting bad acting, doesn’t fix it entirely mind you.

I thought this was a show that “coulda been a contender”. I could see it as being a prequel or even a spin off of Firefly. Ya that’s stretching it a bit… well ok a LOT. But you can’t tell me that if you squint your eyes tight and watch from a distance, with the sound down low, you don’t see it too. Right? RIGHT??

Ok, move along Mr. Safeat2nd, back to your rubber room. Don’t give us trouble now or we’ll have to up the meds again...

__________________________________________________
"Stop doing that thing"
"What thing"
"That thing where your mouth moves and noise comes out"

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Friday, October 20, 2006 4:11 AM

PURPLEBELLY

^Absolutely. Goes to show you can't produce good TV by formula - it takes talented folks, a lot of them, working together.

How about Dawn Stern for Wonder Woman?

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Thursday, May 31, 2007 6:43 AM

PJONES11

Ok, I've seen Starhunter (Seasons 1 and 2) and always thought there was a strange similarity between it and Firefly. Now that I have the complete season 1 on DVD (recently released by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment after they aquired Platinum Disc) I'm more convinced than ever that the story was ripped off for Firefly (although with more budget, better actors, better stories, etc...).

For example:
1) The "Raiders", like the "Reavers" capture, mutilate children and make them their own.
2) In the episode "Siren's Song", a young woman is being experimented on, like River. She's from the "Miranda" quarantine zone, where the government released a "virus" and then abandoned the population.....sounds like the Serenity movie plot to me....plus there's a "government" soldier that will do anything to protect the government's secret.

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