Starring Kevin Sorbo and Lexa Doig, based on material by Gene Roddenberry.
Not well known as Star Trek, but what a gorgeous cast - and hair and costumes.
In the last season they apparently ran out of money and the episodes were set in, basically, what looked like an old timey saloon on a dusty prairie.
Do you remember particular episodes that stand out? I loved Andromeda, but never heard much about it when it was on, and now it’s disappeared.
The first and second seasons had some real standout episodes, one was Pearls That Were His Eyes. Pulp sci fi but entertaining and watchable.
The third season I can barely remember, show started going downhill. I never made it to the end of the fourth season, even just having it on as background noise.
There were a number of interesting things about Andromeda.
Like the ships personality existing in the computer and a robot.
What I always found weird is how people were able to board the ship and show up at the bridge and it was a surprise. That kept happening.
The first season was cool when the Andromeda was kind of like the last light in a dark age, and was trying to bring civilization and knowledge, and bring back the Systems Commonwealth in some form.
After that ceased being the case (2nd season?) it just devolved into stupidity.
Ahhhhhh, Andromeda. What a great 1 1/2 season show.
Oh wait. There were seasons after Robert Hewitt Wolfe left and the show became a Kevin Sorbo Egomaniac Vehicle glorifying all of the (apparently literal) deity that was Dylan Hunt? No no, you must be mistaken.
Um, so yeah, I was a major Andromeda fan until it was infected by the vicious Network Interference virus uplinked to poor Rommie’s internal matrix that turned adorable yet possibly dangerous pixie Trance into a crazy-Medusa-haired vixen, selfish yet honorable Tyr into a traitor, kickass yet vulnerable ship avatar Rommie switched with that blonde bimbette avatar whose name I can’t even bother remembering*, and the show morphed from an intricately woven serial with a dark mythos and troubled yet likeable characters (very similar in tone to the last arc of ST: DS9, not surprisingly) into a nonsensical, standalone episode, shoot-'em-up space opera.
All you need to know about the change in tone is in the difference in the first season intro…
… to the last seasons’ intro after Wolfe was booted out:
Almost a parody of simplified dumbing down of a writing staff, isn’t it?
Bitter? Moi?
Okay, now to the positive stuff. My favorite episodes: It’s hard to beat Angel Dark, Demon Bright for showing what a dangerous but decisive captain Dylan Hunt once was, and how manipulative Tyr (and the fascinating idea of the Nietzscheans as a culture) could be. The ship goes back in time and the crew discovers itself in the thick of a decisive battle. Basically Andromeda’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (from ST:TNG) but even with an even darker choice for the captain to make.
Gordon Michael Wolvett’s Harper was my favorite of the cast–the idea that the only Earth-born crew member was physically weak and damaged from having lived under the heels of the Nietzschean rulers really tickled my fancy, plus his sense of humor and slippery ethics made him exactly my favorite type of character. So anything involving him was a delight, particularly “Harper 2.0,” “Fear and Loathing in the Milky Way” (Harper’s friendship with Beka was a delight and Gerentex was always good for a morbid laugh), and for my money one of the best season-ending cliffhangers in a show ever, “Its Hour Come 'Round at Last,” where everyone is put in horrific jeopardy and Harper’s worst nightmare–attack and basically rape by the Magog–comes true. Evidence of how badly the network’s interference began to screw with Wolfe’s vision was how abruptly (indeed, almost magically) what should’ve been a season-long arc of Harper’s infestation by the Magog eggs was resolved. Then there were the follow-ups, “The Widening Gyre” and “Exit Strategies,” all of which dealt with the aftermath of the various hellish events of the Magog takeover.
I loved the show’s mordant humor and the complexity of the characters: Rev Bem’s touching effort to follow a spiritual path despite his vicious Magog instincts (actor Brent Stait having to cut back his episodes and eventually quit due to his problems with the make-up left a real gap); Trance’s compassionate, elfin, childlike persona hiding the obviously manipulative near-deity with an extraordinary agenda; Beka’s competitive, selfish, ethically-challenged past clashing with her genuine respect for Dylan despite disagreemens with his methods at times (and her overall loyalty to her crew – Harper particularly); Tyr, with his arrogant superiority, elegance, viciousness, undisguised contempt for what he saw as Dylan’s naievte and Harper’s weakness, yet slowly turning into a (somewhat) dependable crew member despite his own goals usually taking precedence (also, mamma mia, was he gorgeous!); all three very identifiably different versions of the ship herself: Andromeda, the no-nonsense core AI of the ship visible on monitors, the more human holographic representation who advised Dylan faithfully, and the android/avatar Rommie, built by Harper and his object of love/lust, but her heart belonged to her captain. Oh, and Dylan Hunt himself. A man out of his time who started out confused by his strange surroundings and kept himself sane by deciding on a crazy but noble goal: to unite the planets back into what had been a Commonwealth. Undeniably smart and brave with a good heart and strong leadership, he wasn’t afraid to cut some corners and act harshly when warranted (“Angel Bright, Demon Dark” being a prime example).
Frankly it beggars the imagination to understand why Sorbo and Paramount preferred the goody-two-shoes cartoon hero that Dylan became. Well, I understand Paramount’s preference more than I understand Sorbo’s. The version of Dylan developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe was so much more complicated and nuanced, a challenge that demanded and got a solid performance out of a not-tremendously-talented actor like Sorbo. Dylan v.2 was basically Hercules. Sorbo was actually better than he thought he was, or than his acting ambitions lay. Maybe his taste just sucks. All I know is, his increasing power behind-the-scenes post-Wolfe’s era was vastly to the detriment of his character, and God knows the show in general.
Sooooooo yeah. Those are my thoughts on Andromeda. It started out as a really viable successor to the similarly complicated (and staffed) ST: DS9, but ended up little better–if at all–than Earth: Final Conflict or any of the other Paramount crapfest syndicated shows of the era. Hell, Hercules was more interesting by the end than Andromeda was.
Not wanting to dump on people’s fandom, I did try to like Andromeda. I tried. But eventually became disinterested. Mostly for the negatives listed above.
And the Magog costume. Which was so laughably a furry blanket hanging loosely on a human like a child’s onesy pajamas.
I also liked the show early on. It had the typical Rodenberry tactic of a race that takes a philosophy and runs with it (the Vulcans with logic, the Neitzscheans with what I termed “selfish righteousness” :)) and some of the most interesting byplay on the show was Hunt (Kirk) and Tyr (Spock) as they learned to work together and gained respect for each other.
My impression was that Sorbo had an issue with that. He was looking for more of a star vehicle than a buddy or ensemble show, plus the actor playing Tyr was a little too attractive/charismatic/popular for his liking. Cobbs’ role dwindled, and his storyline - the most interesting of the crew - grew more and more ridiculous.
I’m always fascinated by how egos can warp a tv show. The behind the screen antics are Charmed entertained me long after I stopped watching (how does Alyssa Milano have the clout to oust anyone, from anything, ever?). Not just actors, though - Marti Noxon’s epic crush on James Marsters (and the gouges from the resulting shoe-horn marks) ruined BTVS for me.
What choie said, but about half as long. 
I liked Andromeda at the beginning–until the Kevinsorbosity became overwhelming…
(Hey, Lucy Lawless isteasing us on Twitter!)
I loved the early seasons, when they tried to be a hard science fiction show. (They never succeeded, of course, but at least they made an effort.) Later, when they veered off into fantasy and allegory, it was much less interesting.
My favorite episodes were the ones where Dylan would out-Machiavel the Nietzscheans, and give them a cold-bloodedly pragmatic reason to do the idealistic thing they had promised to do in the first place.
Superman writers have often complained that you cannot write good stories when your hero is too powerful. Andromeda had the opposite problem: the villains kept getting more powerful, and it became less believable that the heroes could possibly survive.
And then the last season was just pathetic. Neither the writers nor the actors were even trying. They just phoned it in, collected their paychecks, and prayed that they would still have careers after the contract was completed.
Oh, that last season was ridiculous! Brandy Ledford was the blond girl, filling in for Lexa Doig, in a garish pink velour body suit. She was a Penthouse model and made a sex tape before getting the role. I kind of warmed up to her, though, she proved she could kick some ass on the show.
That entity - the Abyss - creeped me out, that was the leader of the Magog, correct? It took over Beka and when she was back to herself, asked what it was like, she said the experience was “beautiful”.
Andromeda was made after Kevin Sorbo had his aneurysm and stroke during filming of Hercules previously. I give him credit for that!
I apparently know some stuff you guys don’t for once. The show, as originally intended, is a lot darker and deeper than you’d think. I’m debating telling you what the Abyss is, or just letting you read a one act teleplay script by the author where he explains the ending.
Nah, I’ll go with the link: Home
Yeah, that last season was a bit odd to say the least. But I did like the premise and a fair fraction of the episodes and I seem to recall a time travel/parallel world episode or two that were pretty good. But I am a sucker for those themes.
Yeah, I read that ages ago when it was first posted on the fansite named “Ex-Isle” or something similar – made by a bunch of disgruntled Drom fans whose bitterness got them kicked off the Trek BBS-related Andromeda community. Wolfe answered questions there, and I believe writers Zack and Ash also turned up now and again. (Forgot their full names… gosh I can’t believe how part of that fandom I was!)
Honestly? I think it’s terrible. I know RHW wrote it and so on, but it is so ridiculously fanwanky that I’m still not 100% certain Wolfe didn’t really pen it as a parody of what a fanfic author who treated every character as a Mary Sue might produce.
If I remember correctly, EVERY member of the main cast ends up, like, the most important person in their own various part of the universe in some way. Tyr’s an emperor, Harper becomes one with the World Machine, Trance is the very devil, Dylan’s a deity… It comes across as unbelievably pretentious and in love with its own Very Important Science Fiction Mythos.
I swear, when I read it, I almost agreed with Tribune (or was it Fireworks by then?) for basically forcing his resignation! No, okay, not really–obviously I hate that he was pushed out and the show clearly needed his sort of vision; but I also think that script shows that Wolfe very much needed others to rein in his tendency towards this kind of over-the-top, almost messianic grandiosity.
Also I need someone to rein in my bitterness over a show that ended ten years ago. Then again, I’m still pissed off at CBS for what they did to American Gothic and that was seventeen years ago, so my grudges run long and deep!
I always thought it was a fairly crappy show, but still watchable. Basically a way to kill time on weekends waiting for Baywatch to come on.
Then it moved to SciFi and somehow got worse. Last season was pathetic.