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Suggestions for BSG type space operas

Emwitus

Emwitus

The Fallen
Feb 28, 2018
4,434
Hi everyone,
Just finished a rewatch of bsg and what an awesome show that was. They treating the material they had and there viewers with respect and i appreciated the sense of wonder and drama. Lets not forget the incredible actors.

That being said, any suggestions for similar material? And please no star trek/star gate. Thanks era.
 
DrForester

DrForester

Mod of the Year 2006
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,770
Babylon 5.

You say no Trek, but if you haven't seen it, I would still recommend Deep Space Nine. One of the writers for DS9 created the new Battlestar Galactica.

Discovery is also more like a space opera than most other Trek.
 
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Emwitus

Emwitus

The Fallen
Feb 28, 2018
4,434
DrForester said:
Babylon 5.

You say no Trek, but if you haven't seen it, I would still recommend Deep Space Nine. One of the writers for DS9 created the new Battlestar Galactica.

Discovery is also more like a space opera than most other Trek.
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Thanks Dr. Forester. I actually singled out those cause im a big nerd and have gone through most lol. But il check out babylon 5 and deep space 9 ( didnt know he was involved with bsg. I also feel the tone of bsg is alot more serious than your typical star trek show.
 
Meauxse

Meauxse

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,253
New Orleans, LA
Emwitus said:
Thanks Dr. Forester. I actually singled out those cause im a big nerd and have gone through most lol. But il check out babylon 5 and deep space 9 ( didnt know he was involved with bsg. I also feel the tone of bsg is alot more serious than your typical star trek show.
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Uh Deep Space 9 is not your typical Star Trek show. It's a masterpiece.
 
Cipherr

Cipherr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,484
Babylon 5 is all I can offer. Its the only one that does it as well or better (better IMO). But its dated, so youll have to suffer a bit, the CGI is dated, and some of the corniness of the 1990's is in there. But if you power through, youll be making another thread in a month begging for another recommendation.... but there will be nothing else...


/cries
 
dabig2

dabig2

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,116
Sounds like this will be up your alley like it was mine and seemingly everyone else I've talked to that loved BSG:
91jkqTj90VL._RI_.jpg


ninja edit: beaten
 
Cipherr

Cipherr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,484
Ahh, thats right, I still havent watched Expanse....

This show had better deliver dudes...
 
GreenMonkey

GreenMonkey

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,864
Michigan
NH Apache said:
Uh Deep Space 9 is not your typical Star Trek show. It's a masterpiece.
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I don't know if I'd go masterpiece, but it varies from good to great, and quite a bit different than TNG/Voyager/etc. Just rewatched it with my daughter earlier this year. A great show, but I feel like it fizzles a bit in the last season or two.

We watched Babylon 5 too which is my favorite show, and still amazing. Video quality for B5 is gonna be a mixed bag on that no matter where you watch it (thanks to cropping/stretching on CGI and mixed-CGI/film scenes), but the DVDs are the best compromise. Amazon Prime video masters were apparently sourced differently because they are even worse (JMS, showrunner/writer/creator, talked about this on twitter a bit).
 
BrutalInsane

BrutalInsane

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
2,080
Seconding the sentiment that DS9 is a masterpiece. It's fantastic, and holds up perfectly after all this time.
 
SArcher

SArcher

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,669
And now that Bezos is bankrolling the Expanse maybe it'll finally have something resembling a budget.
 
dabig2

dabig2

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,116
Cipherr said:
Ahh, thats right, I still havent watched Expanse....

This show had better deliver dudes...
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It hits
https://www.resetera.com/threads/th...-in-movies-or-tv-spoilers-including-s3.42511/
Breqesk said:
BjN4dMU.gif


uuHmtVf.gif


I dunno if they're my all-time favourite, but I certainly like them a whole heck of a lot.

To address the BSG comparison... I realise this is an unpopular opinion but, while I don't hate them or anything, the BSG space battles have never done a huge amount for me, honestly. I think it's that hey just spend too much time on the fighters for my taste?

It probably doesn't help that I've never been a huge fan of nuBSG generally, so it was tough to get invested in the space action.
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Shodan14 said:
Oh man, that poster...
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giphy.gif


definitely in the hall of fame bad posters
 
Watership

Watership

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,128
Emwitus said:
Hi everyone,
Just finished a rewatch of bsg and what an awesome show that was. They treating the material they had and there viewers with respect and i appreciated the sense of wonder and drama. Lets not forget the incredible actors.

That being said, any suggestions for similar material? And please no star trek/star gate. Thanks era.
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Are you sure about that part? :) Ron D. Moore, Michael Taylor, Bradley Thompson & David Weddle. All these writers/producers heavily responsible for Battlestar Galactica, used to work on Stat Trek: Deep Space Nine together. They even brought over DS9's special effects guru supervisor Gary Hutzel (RIP).

However, Babylon 5, Farscape (personal fave) are also great. B5 has aged badly, but if you look past some of the acting/effects/set, there is great show. Farscape is fun and silly and but so magnificently creative that few Sci fi shows are. Henson production, so there are muppets. :) The Expanse some of the best TV in recent years, don't sleep on it.
 
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thediamondage

thediamondage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,386
The Expanse
Farscape
Babylon 5
Black Sails (not space but pirates)
Spartacus (not space but ... spartacus lol)
Rome


BSG is one of my favorite shows barring the finale and the above shows are ones that have a very similar vibe/etc and I love them for similar reasons as to why I love BSG.
 
Wraith

Wraith

Member
Jun 28, 2018
8,892
Everyone's already said it, but anyway, I came to The Expanse pretty late and it definitely gave me some BSG (2004) vibes.
 
FreezePeach

FreezePeach

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,811
There arent too many shows that had the quality of acting and production that BSG had in the space sci-fi setting. Shows like star trek (The new Star Trek Discovery though seems to be good but i only saw the first episode) and babylon 5 can be fun shows but they just cant compare on some of the more dramatic elements.

The only show i can think of that is close is The Expanse. Thankfully that is continuing on Amazon Prime after getting canceled.
 

JDSN

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,129
The Expanse for sure. Lead is basically Jon Snow on a jumpsuit but the way all the pieces are constantly interacting is endearing.
 
Heshinsi

Heshinsi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,104
Cipherr said:
Ahh, thats right, I still havent watched Expanse....

This show had better deliver dudes...
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It does. My sister has asked me to recommend her a sci-fi show a few months back, and I told her about the Expanse being on Prime Video. A few days later she sends me a reply going, "ok so when's the next season?!" She binged all 3 seasons in a matter of days. She told me she couldn't stop watching lol.
 
Stiler

Stiler

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
6,659
Lot of goods ones already mentioned, The Expanse is the most close to it and it's a great show (new season coming sometime this year on amazon), Farscape is a very fun show, though it's more campy/fun and not super-serious all the time, Jim Henson studios did some effects work for it and it makes ample use of puppets and things for some aliens, including two crewmembers (Pilot who...well flies the ship and Rygel who his one of the main secondary characters and comedic relief usually).

If you don't mind an older show I'd recommend Space: 1999, it's a bit melodramatic (It was the 70's afterall) but it has a lot of elements you might enjoy,


Another one I'd recommend is Earth 2, though it's scope isn't nearly as big and it's not got any big flashy battles or anything, it's about humans who travel 22 light years away to settle on a new planet similar to some of BSG.



If you want something even more campy there's always Lexx as well, but it's REALLY campy.
 
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Emwitus

Emwitus

The Fallen
Feb 28, 2018
4,434
Stiler said:
Lot of goods ones already mentioned, The Expanse is the most close to it and it's a great show (new season coming sometime this year on amazon), Farscape is a very fun show, though it's more campy/fun and not super-serious all the time, Jim Henson studios did some effects work for it and it makes ample use of puppets and things for some aliens, including two crewmembers (Pilot who...well flies the ship and Rygel who his one of the main secondary characters and comedic relief usually).

If you don't mind an older show I'd recommend Space: 1999, it's a bit melodramatic (It was the 70's afterall) but it has a lot of elements you might enjoy,


Another one I'd recommend is Earth 2, though it's scope isn't nearly as big and it's not got any big flashy battles or anything, it's about humans who travel 22 light years away to settle on a new planet similar to some of BSG.



If you want something even more campy there's always Lexx as well, but it's REALLY campy.
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Wow. Thanks everyone. These two are especially unique so il definitely check them out. Seems like ds9 and expanse are the general consensus
 
DarthWoo

DarthWoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,673
Already mentioned many times, but I'll add my vote for The Expanse.

Is it weird that I find Shohreh Aghdashloo's accent really attractive? I love how they really take the kid gloves off her lines starting in S2 and she's swearing like a Martian marine.
 
Big-E

Big-E

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,169
Legend of Galactic Heroes is one that has not been mentioned. I have not watched the recent remake but the original is awesome.
 
Jag

Jag

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,675
DarthWoo said:
Already mentioned many times, but I'll add my vote for The Expanse.

Is it weird that I find Shohreh Aghdashloo's accent really attractive? I love how they really take the kid gloves off her lines starting in S2 and she's swearing like a Martian marine.
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She's actually more sarcastic and foul mouthed in the book.

But yeah, my vote is the Expanse. Book Era knows what's up.

Lrutj2C.png
 
Meauxse

Meauxse

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,253
New Orleans, LA
SG-17 said:
Eh. Its good. But it doesn't really get good until Worf shows up. So it can't be a masterpiece.
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Michael Dorn's picture is over my front door.

But it was Avery growing the beard.

Yes, season one drags. But it still allows the series to be a masterpiece.

And the quality in every episode allows the significant amount of episodes to be a pleasure to go through. Characters are great. Space battles are fucking great. It culminates beautifully and ends well.

DS9 is a must see show for any Sci-Fi fan, even if you hate traditional Trek. Flat out.
 
Palantiri

Palantiri

Member
Oct 25, 2017
545
Babylon 5, DS9 and The Expanse are all really good suggestions for shows with the dramatic weight of BSG. I would have to revisit B5 to see how the space fights hold up, but I remember them being pretty great. The Expanse takes it to another level though.

If you want something more SciFi - definitely check out Farscape. It is pretty unique and thoroughly entertaining.

I love Firefly, but it is more small scale Western then space opera. It is short though and a great ride.

I can't agree with Space Above and Beyond. I thought it was great when it originally aired, but revisiting it years later and it is rough (and got cancelled early).

DarthWoo said:
Is it weird that I find Shohreh Aghdashloo's accent really attractive? I love how they really take the kid gloves off her lines starting in S2 and she's swearing like a Martian marine.
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If it is weird, I am in the same boat. She is a fantastic actor, but her voice just adds so much character to her scenes.
 
Dreams-Visions

Dreams-Visions

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
41,368
Miami, FL
Agree on Babylon 5.

But boy is that CG hard to watch in 2019. I wish they'd remaster it with modern graphics, but I'm sure there isn't nearly a strong enough market to warrant that kind of expenditure.
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,788
After BSG the only thing that comes close is The Expanse. Stop wasting time posting on here and hop to it!
 
UnpopularBlargh

UnpopularBlargh

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,207
Everyone's said most of my picks except Stargate Universe. It's good veering on great until it was cancelled and it borrows heavily from BSG visually and character wise.
 
I KILL PXLS

I KILL PXLS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,593
Going to agree with everyone. Babylon 5 is probably the closest and The Expanse is next closest if you want something more modern.
 

Lyon

Member
Jun 5, 2019
241


Others have already said some of what I'd suggest. So, if you're feeling for something different. Try Lexx.

nb I couldn't find a good trailer in English, but I think this one gives a good sense of the more serious aspects of the show. However, it does have comedic elements which the trailer doesn't really capture.


.......and of course I forgot to post this earlier, so someone has already mentioned Lexx. Oh well.
 
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