Space Cadets

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 12:04pm

Anyone else on this island going to be catching this new series on Channel 4? I like the premise, even if it is reality TV. For the uninitiated, it basically follows a group of hopeful cosmonauts who applied to be a part of a Russian programme to get the chance to go into space via their aeronautics & space department. What these people don't now know, as they are cut-off from the rest of the world "training", is that their mission control is not a base in Kazakhstan, but a hangar in a disused military base down south in some undisclosed location. The Russians are actors and every tiny detail possible to give the impression of the place being a well worn base camp for the old Soviet space programme has been implemented. It starts tonight at 2100 and there is additional coverage on E4 and interactive as well as online.

It's the most expensive and ambitious TV hoax ever, so I want to see how it turns out. Far more interesting than Big Brother and that other crap.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-07 12:17pm

Hah! May you be blessed with or without moosey love depending on your preference, AV - I knew there was something I wanted to watch tonight, had completely slipped my mind - would have missed it if not for this thread.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 12:19pm

It's on before Lost, so I'd have checked anyway if I'd forgotten. I think it'll be on daily for 10 shows before it wraps up.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-07 12:22pm

Bugger, might miss some of them then - it does look rather intriguing - probably in the same sort of bent as that spy thing that was on a while back. Will see if it holds interest.

Manus Celer Dei · Post by **Manus Celer Dei** » 2005-12-07 12:22pm

It sounds incredibly stupid, if I understand it correctly.

So at the end, are they just going to go "Aha, fuckers! We lied to you and made you waste several weeks of your time!"?

It seems a bit cruel, really.

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2005-12-07 12:26pm

Yea, I'll be watching, it'll fill the gap between SG:A and Lost nicely.

And "undisclosed location"? I thought Johnny Vaughan had been saying on the ads for the past week or so, that it's somewhere in Suffolk.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2005-12-07 12:27pm

It's vile, retarded, and would not even have been greenlit had the average TV zombie not had the IQ of a dim ferret.

Par on the course for Endemol, then.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 12:29pm

I guess you people have never played practical jokes before, eh? Geez, so uppity. You'd have to be amazingly dumb to think the Russians would just pick a random group of Brits to blast off into space.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2005-12-07 12:32pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:I guess you people have never played practical jokes before, eh? Geez, so uppity. You'd have to be amazingly dumb to think the Russians would just pick a random group of Brits to blast off into space.

Precisely, and I find no amusement in laughing at people that can barely muster enough brain activity to tie their shoelaces.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 12:33pm

Bounty wrote:
Precisely, and I find no amusement in laughing at people that can barely muster enough brain activity to tie their shoelaces.

Then why are you on this site, a site whose motto is exactly that?

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2005-12-07 12:36pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Bounty wrote:
Precisely, and I find no amusement in laughing at people that can barely muster enough brain activity to tie their shoelaces.
Then why are you on this site, a site whose motto is exactly that?

I'm here for

Get your fill of sci-fi, science

not

and mockery of stupid people

Just like there are people here for the reverse.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 01:09pm

Bounty wrote: *SNIP*

So be it, but next time remember that the majority of people on this site take great pleasure in watching idiots wind themselves up, so choose your words carefully.

Dorsk 81 wrote:Yea, I'll be watching, it'll fill the gap between SG:A and Lost nicely.

And "undisclosed location"? I thought Johnny Vaughan had been saying on the ads for the past week or so, that it's somewhere in Suffolk.

That'd be undisclosed to me, unless you know precisely where it is, you'll be checking for hangars or warehouses of suitable size all over the county. It's down south is all I know.

I wonder if anyone in there has ever seen Capricorn One...

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2005-12-07 01:42pm

There're gonna be pissed when the show ends.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 01:59pm

That's the best part! I want to see how they fare at the end. Wonder if Endemol has planned for any lawsuits at all.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2005-12-07 02:23pm

You know, as much as I hate reality television in nearly all of its forms, I really sort of want to see this.

I mean, the only thing I've ever heard of that could top this would be if they did an American Idol rip-off, but they did a search for the worst singer while making them think they were at the best. Then at the end, when they've been chosen as the new "idol" and are doing some kind of victory performance, everybody does an about-face and boos them off the stage and pelts them with various types of vegitable matter.

Call me a malicious fucker, but god damn it I want to see something like that before I die...

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 03:08pm

The only show they need to make then is The Running Man. That, or have live tramp racing from Russia.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2005-12-07 03:15pm

My mate was talking to me about this before. We were supposed to be watching Doom tonight, but thankfully because this show is on we don't have to go.

However, the whole premise sounds dumb. What is the point of it other than going 'lol we fooled you!' at the end of it? At least BB has a financial reward for the idiot who wins.

Anyway, I will watch it with a fairly open mind - I just hope it's not as tasteless as it sounds and that the people being bullied by C4 are truely morons who deserve to be in their situation, and not mothers who have been seperated from their kids to be given the chance to go to space, etc.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2005-12-07 03:34pm

I'm considering watching the last episode, just to see if the crew gets torn to shreds by the cast. Other than that, I'm not really interested. 'Reality' shows are rather dull, really.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-07 03:59pm

I'm really getting fed up with these supposedly geordie channel 4 announcers though. I'm from 8 miles out of Newcastle, and I've never heard anyone with as annoying an accent as them. I think they're actually southerners trained at classes watching tapes of Byker Grove. I want to punch them, I really do.

AMX · Post by **AMX** » 2005-12-07 04:03pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:You'd have to be amazingly dumb to think the Russians would just pick a random group of Brits to blast off into space.

Actually...
1) It's well known that the Russians are selling cosmonaut training courses and spaceflights.
2) It's also well known that TV execs will throw lots of money at dumb ideas.
1+2=3) It's perfectly plausible that a TV station will sponsor cosmonaut training, and maybe even flight, for some random guy off the street.
Expensive and dumb, but plausible.

'Course, I don't have enough background info to tell whether that logic holds in this case.

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2005-12-07 04:06pm

Listening to Johnny explaining it all, you have to admire the amount of hard work they've obviously gone to.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 04:09pm

They're all fucking idiots. Yes, I'm going to enjoy this.

The remaking of a whole Cold War base in Ipswich, Suffolk is amazing. Must've been one hell of a job to do.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-07 04:26pm

I'm relieved that they didn't seem to go for the most controversial morons that appeared in the initial contestant stream, I would have lost all interest in the program if they'd seemed to be just out for ratings through absolutely irritating contestants.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-12-07 04:31pm

Just as well they eliminated HM Forces personnel and anyone who knew anything about the military, astrophysics and the like. They're using Bloodhound SAMs as background detail. I'd spot that as fake right away, even with the Cyrillic writing newly put on.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-12-07 04:41pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:Just as well they eliminated HM Forces personnel and anyone who knew anything about the military, astrophysics and the like. They're using Bloodhound SAMs as background detail. I'd spot that as fake right away, even with the Cyrillic writing newly put on.

I bet there'll be someone who'll rumble something - regardless of whether they've weeded out the experts, someone's bound to spot something which isn't quite right. A british airways flight passing over head or a view of space which doesn't look right. The people are pissing me off already, but I think I'll stay with it. It's rather diverting from this air pollution essay I'm supposed to be writing.