Babylon 5 blew me away every single week.  The quality was consistent.  It was like watching the first "Borg" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation every single week.  I was disappointed in the last episode, though--it seemed to just run out of gas, and the justification for the "explosive climax" was extremely lame and completely unbelievable.

Looking back, I wonder if they overused the air supply ducts a little.

Randy: My brother hates the end of the shadow war... I thought Season 5 was weak, but then, one of the reasons it was the way it was, was because they didn't know if they would have a season 5... well... then Claudia Christian had to go all hollywood and quit as Ivanova.

--Ray

Definitely B.  I hate feeling like I was being used for someone else's sick enjoyment.  When I taught 15-18 year old sunday school I had a couple of folks that felt it funny to try and stump the teacher.  Usually I was able to get out of it but it was fustrating knowing they were asking the question just for entertainment and not because they really wanted an answer.  Especially fustrating when the answer was contrary to what the "world" teaches teens these days and you could tell from their response that they had bought into the "world" view already instead of listening to the guidance of a prophet.

This topic is too serious.  Wait, I'm having an argument with myself right now.  No, no, we've decided (I and myself) that it is a great TGIF topic.

That's a good question Cat.  It seems that whenever these type shows are put onto regular TV, the writers want to dumb them down and make them campy.  I had high hopes for Andromeda and Earth Final Conflict but both seemed to jump the shark pretty early on and managed to hold on long enough to completely turn off even the most ardent fan.  The Sci Fi Lite fare on regular T.V. seems to be too milktoast in the writing, acting, etc.  I doubt if a Bab 5 done today would even make it.  I remember how dissapointed I was when Space Above and Beyond got dumped by the network.  Its gritty realism and complicated plot were too much for the dumb dumbs drinking beer in their single wide trailers.  Give them Surfiver, Dancing with Stars, and Wife Swap.  Don't try to engage them in a thinking man's (or woman's) series involving space, scientific theory, compelling acting, and a decent plot.

contracfactual history

What the...?!  Dude... this is the TGIF thread... there can be no philosophical discussion above the intelligence level Bill S. Preston, Esquire, and Ted Theodore Logan... particularly on a Friday! 

Back to the which is worse topic, what was bad for me, was that it happened in front of all 4 of the other scouts in my 11 year old patrol last night.    The kid has got some intelligence, but needs to be coached that if you really are going to debate someone, it is poor form to keep on changing the rules like a scumbucket slimeball whenever you start losing because the other side starts to provide proof.  I mean, the topic he chose started out on semantics within the Scout Law and Oath, and then turned to the same sort of debate every Scoutmaster has with at least one set of parents (about cutting corners on the requirements and letting someone other than a Scoutmaster sign off on the advancement requirements...).  Hmmm... makes me wonder what they do for fun in his family.    I can just see his dad (our HP group leader and an HR manager executive type) having these sorts of discussions with his sons for fun.    I wonder... this kid could actually be a good patrol leader (and maybe the best overall candidate maturity wise) when our current patrol leader turns 12 just before Thanksgiving...  Of course besides the embarrasing imitation of a cable news political discussion in Scouts last night, the boys also all decided that we would do our 2nd Class 10 mile bike ride on this coming Tuesday since they don't have school due to Election Day (which means I have to take the day off from work and find another Dad who has the day off and then hope I am in enough shape to survive the trip myself...) 

Anyway, after I realized that the boy had baited me and didn't want to do anything but debate, I took the opportunity to use it as a "teaching" moment to explain to the boys that there are things they need to do as Scouts and as future priesthood holders that they have the duty to do to the best of their ability and not just the bare minimum even if they don't understand why (used the example of Nephi and his brothers getting the brass plates).  And to emphasize the point it is not to their advantage to try and dis' their Scoutmaster or Quorum Advisor, I made the Scoutmaster's minute last about 10 minutes (two of the five boys were nearly bored to tears by the time I made sure my point had got across to all five)...   bwa-ha-ha!    Good boys.  They will most likely be the best, most mature group of deacons the ward has seen in a couple years, in spite of themselves. 

salesortonscom wrote:

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Admit it Jeff, the show jumped shark the minute the hot blue chick got a makeover!

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Going back to old cooler topic...

My mother in law brought her last couple seasons of Farscape so I'm gonna watch'em over the next month or so... yay!! No more need for internet!!

--Ray

Cat Herder wrote:

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salesortonscom wrote:

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Admit it Jeff, the show jumped shark the minute the hot blue chick got a makeover!

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Okay, is that some sort of SoCal slang? What does "jumped shark" mean, and who was the hot blue chick and what makeover are you talking about... and are you referring to Andromeda or Farscape?

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I was refering to Andromeda and the girl with the tail.  She started blue and changed color when she switched places with her future self.

Anyway, Aribald pointed out what Jumped the Shark means but for those who haven't read it.  Jumping the Shark refers to an episode of Happy Days were the Fonz decides to water ski over a jump with killer sharks.  Basically it was the moment where the show tanked.  Now whenever a TV show does something crazy, mainly to get ratings, that becomes the point of decline it is referred to as jumping the shark.  Most long running shows have a jumping the shark moment.  Some shows try to avoid this by calling it quits while the going is good.  Seinfeld did this but their final episode actually did jump the shark so they just beat the execs by cancelling the show first!

Basically if you can point to an episode of your favorite show where you feel they lost the magic that made the show great, then ratings decline, then you have identified where that show has jumped the shark.

Cat Herder wrote:

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Oh, in that case, from my standpoint, Andromeda jumped the shark on it's pilot...

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Good use of the term Cat.  Soon you will incorporate shark jumping into other aspects of your life.  Some examples:

"I think they've jumped the shark with that managment incentive program"

or

"I think buying 14 year old Billy pink tights for his ballet recital was the moment we jumped the shark as parents"

or

"I think we jumped the hometeaching shark back in Wilford Woodruff's day"

or

"Jefferson Starship jumping the shark, NEVER!"

or

"Perhaps we jumped the shark when we decided to use Hugo Chaves as spokesman for the Tomacolatte marketing campaign"

Tomorrow, in honor of it being election day, we shall have a very special TGIF topic just for Tuesday...

It shall be "Illustrate in 5 words or less how (candidate of your choice) jumped shark in their election campaign."

So let it be written, so let it be done.

This thread is beyond boring...

Where's today's topic? 

I'm pulling for The Ohio State University for two reason.  The first being the my Fresno State Bulldogs have suddenly forgotten what it means to win this season and secondly because I developed a fondness for the Buckeyes when I was at the ATI for a week a few years back.

7Up is to Uncola as Tobacco is to Tomacolatte!

Cocobeem wrote:

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Oh, yeah, I remember that now.

I work in the Technology/Operations department of the Lord's bank (Zions Bank). We get all the daily work from the branches and encode them with special magnetic ink, fix the tellers' and customers' errors and get the work ready to send off to the (unconstitutional) Federal Reserve.

Drugs and money... hmm.... maybe we could really start something...?

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 I had a comp on my mission whose grandfather was on the board of directors for Zion's bank. I think he worked there for a while, too. He described the flood of tithing money that came in every week, and how it would immediately go right back out into various investments the church has.