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Forum:	Free Space
Topic:	SyFy Channel's "Ascension" (Dec. 2014 miniseries)

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ronpur: [B]Part 1 was an enjoyable surprise. I didn't think I would enjoy it. But,I did begin to suspect what was happening during the ion storm. [/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER>T O P I C     R E V I E W</CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>SyFy has announced "<A HREF="http://www.syfy.com/ascension" TARGET=_blank>Ascension</A>, a new six-hour miniseries to air in December. <BLOCKQUOTE>In 1963, the U.S. government launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, a mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship's population to question the true nature of their mission.</BLOCKQUOTE> Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Galactica") is the first named to the cast.Below is the ship as seen in a long-lead, conceptual teaser for the show. The series begins shooting this summer.<center><a href="http://www.collectspace.com/review/syfy_ascension01-lg.jpg" target="AirLock"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/syfy_ascension01.jpg" width="400" height="265" border="0"></a></center></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#333333"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>This year's San Diego Comic-Con included a panel devoted to "Ascension," which you can <A HREF="http://www.syfy.com/videos/Ascension/Comic-Con%202014" TARGET=_blank>watch here</A>.Dwayne Day attended the panel and <A HREF="http://thespacereview.com/article/2564/1" TARGET=_blank>described for The Space Review</A> the changes to the design of the show's spaceship since production of the series has begun. <BLOCKQUOTE>...the spaceship is based upon an <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29" TARGET=_blank>Orion spacecraft concept</A> that could actually exist. It was launched into orbit beneath a steady pulse of nuclear explosions, and the radioactive wake it has left behind makes communication with Earth impossible. He also said that they built some large sets in Montreal to depict the interior of their giant spaceship, which is as tall as the Empire State Building. A brief trailer showed the ship. This was not the same trailer that the network released earlier which depicted a Saturn V encased in a giant steel latticework floating through space. The new version looks more like the early 1960s Orion concepts, although it was not spinning to provide artificial gravity, and viewers will probably have to not look too hard for scientific accuracy or they'll get headaches.</BLOCKQUOTE> The Comic-Con panel included a new trailer (not yet online) but here are a couple of stills of the ship from the recording of the panel itself. <center><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/syfy_ascension02.jpg" width="400" height="238"><img src="http://www.collectspace.com/review/syfy_ascension03.jpg" width="400" height="238"></center></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top>Robert Pearlman</TD><TD>Tonight marked the launch of "Ascension" on the SyFy Channel, which airs in three parts through Wednesday. Space.com has <A HREF="http://www.space.com/28013-ascension-syfy-tv-miniseries-project-orion.html" TARGET=_blank>an article</A> about the one real crossover between the show and real space history, Project Orion. <BLOCKQUOTE>In "Ascension," a three-part SyFy miniseries that launches tonight (Dec. 15), 600 people live aboard an Orion-class nuclear spacecraft on a mission to Proxima Centauri. The mission launched in 1963, when the Space Race was in full swing and the Cold War made the threat of global nuclear war an uncomfortable possibility. This leads to Project Ascension, led by a Werner von Braun-esque Abraham Enzmann, who dreamed up a spaceship taller than the Empire State Building that is propelled by nuclear bombs.</BLOCKQUOTE> <center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hCLCqyH5wk0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Ronpur

Part 1 was an enjoyable surprise. I didn't think I would enjoy it. But,I did begin to suspect what was happening during the ion storm.

Cozmosis22

Saw the Monday episode but found it heavy on the sex and violence and light on science and technology. It was okay but definitely not a kids' show. Didn't bother watching the rest of the miniseries the following nights.

Robert Pearlman

The series was rated TV-MA, so yes, it was for adults only.

I was disappointed in the direction that the story took (though not for the plot twist at the end of the first night). I would have preferred they stay grounded in science a bit more, but looking past all of that, the set itself was a good reason to watch.

My understanding is that SyFy invested in the set because they plan more episodes to air in future seasons.

Larry McGlynn

Robert, I agree. The show got weird and the ending does lead one to realize that several story lines are left open. It was an interesting crew though. I wonder how they got any work done, since they would seem to be tired and sore from all the drinking and intercourse that was regularly occurring. Reminds me of a Carnival cruise.

Gilbert

Strange is the word I'd use to describe it. I watched all 3 episodes last night, commercial free. (Mild spoiler) I couldn't buy that earth's brightest folks couldn't figure out what was going on. I liked the 60's vibe/look and the way they dropped classic SF author's names into the script, but... The story started getting off track early in the second episode and was finally a typical SyFy network train wreck at the end. Not interested in the series or sequel.

Ronpur

Yep, that tanked real quickly. Beyond the look of a 50s or 60s spacecraft, I didn't see the point of the story in parts 2 and 3, and didn't care much.

dogcrew5369

I expected a series more along the lines of Taken or Battlestar Galactica. I was puzzled how the original crew were led to believe they actually launched unless they could have been in on the experiment. It really belonged on Showtime. Disappointing.

Robert Pearlman

quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
My understanding is that SyFy invested in the set because they plan more episodes to air in future seasons.

"Ascension" won't be returning to SyFy, if at all, Deadline reports.

"We were very happy with Ascension as an event series, but with so much high profile development in the works, we have decided not to pursue a full series," Syfy said in a statement to Deadline.
It is unclear whether the project's producers, Universal Cable Prods., Lionsgate TV and Jason Blum's Blumhouse Prods., will try to shop the potential series elsewhere.

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