Why the Reputation?

[alanhayes]

OK, so I've watched about 30 episodes (and then gone back to Square One with Alys and am slowly watching it from the start) and I really can't see why "Jupiter Moon" has inspired such a poor reputation. It looks no more cheap 'n' cheerful than other genre stuff like "Doctor Who", "Blakes 7" and "Star Trek", but these seem to be better respected, despite their "cowboys and Indians in space" trappings.

What do we think has caused the reputation to be attached to the show? The fact that it only lasted a "mere" 150 episodes and was made for a channel that crashed and burned? The acting and sets? The hairstyles (which are occasionally very duff indeed!)? Or do you think that a lot of the reputation is based on the opinions of people who have never seen the show - or at least have seen very little of it?

Does anyone think JM deserves its reputation?

[Nathan]

I think it's perceived shortcomings were very clearly based on the word "soap" and it's non-terrestrial origins, ie it was assumed to be cheap and tacky.

It's a kind of TV snobbery that I have to admit I am sometimes prone to. I never had any intention initially to watch the programme as I fully expected some sub-standard Star Trek Space Academy kind of programme. I also missed the original broadcast of Spaced due to it being a co-production with Paramount. "If it's that good, why didn't Channel 4 just make it themselves" was my rather uncharitable first impression.

I'll post a review that DWB printed back at the launch when I get home later and you will see what I mean.

Of course anyone who has actually seen it knows the reputation is very ill deserved. Unfortunately they are still in the minority.

There was a guy on OG who had just watched Moonbase 3 on DVD and had enjoyed it and was looking for similar programmes. I recommended Star Cops and Jupiter Moon, and then there was a barrage of messages (some of them private messages that were not on the forum he later admitted) pleading with him not to watch JM as it was a "soap" and had no real SF content whatsoever but was just about people having affairs and so on. So in the end he watched Star Cops which he enjoyed, and Babylon 5!

Admittedly he did enjoy Babylon 5, but it was hardly the kind of programme he was looking for, and arguably is more "soapy" than JM!

He has been very polite and declined to watch JM for the time being, he has quite clearly been influenced by those posting. I don't know what motivates these people but they have obviously never seen it.

The JM thread on OG degenerated into people just saying "don't bother, it's just Hollyoaks!"

[alanhayes]

admin said:

The JM thread on OG degenerated into people just saying "don't bother, it's just Hollyoaks!"

Oddly enough, that's exactly what was going through my mind at points during the new Doctor Who series...

It seems soap and science fiction have come full circle when the Doctor ends up in the living room of his companion's home and gets chatted up by her mother...

Admittedly, there is a soap element in Jupiter Moon - no-one's denying that - but to say that it has "no real SF content whatsoever but was just about people having affairs and so on" is so wide of the mark that it has to be a comment from someone who hasn't sat down and given the show a chance.

As you say, it's something we all do. I can't stand Hollywood films - they just seem to be demographics-led and have lost their originality almost completely. But I'm sure that in my distancing myself from them, I miss the occasional, remarkable movie.

[jameshellyer]

I think the reputation is largely due to the shortcomings of the genres it fuses together. It looks quite cheap and has some dodgy acting. In that way it's representative of non-science fiction fans' vision of bad science fiction. Meanwhile the soap elements put other people off. I know that I found the idea of a soap uninteresting. The series gets hit by snobbery about both genres.

[Nathan]

Also at the time there was a huge snobbery about Satellite and Cable programming.