# Highlander on the Sci-Fi channel



## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

Not that it is current or anything, but the Sci-Fi channel is showing the first 17 episodes of the Highlander series on the 26th and 27th. They are also showing the not-worth-your-time movie, Highlander: the Source. Skip that! I have all the episodes on VHS, but season one is pretty bad compared to the later ones, so this is good (for me). 

They were of course shot in SD, original air date 1992 (Egad!) so I'm not sure if the SD or the HD would be best to record. They might postage-stamp the HD feed, as happens on Sci-Fi now and then.


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## klia (Apr 13, 2005)

Not only are they in SD, I believe the early eps were shot on 16mm film to cut production costs. So, even after fiddling in post, they still never look great.


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## Schmye Bubbula (Oct 14, 2004)

Let me strongly urge that all who haven't seen the Highlander TV series to record it. The first movie is classic, followed by the lesser but still worthwhile Highlander: Endgame, but all the other films utterly stink. But the TV series occurs in a mostly reimagined Highlander universe, and the long multi-seasons run allows a story arc and character development that will gain your affection. Adrian Paul's Duncan Macleod produced a fantasy series *so* beloved by the fans!

Yes, the series didn't really skyrocket until season 2, but the first season had its outstanding moments, and provides necessary canon to fully appreciate the story arc of upcoming seasons:

- Why Duncan's beloved Tessa influenced Duncan's behavior & outlook throughout the later years of the show.
- The origin of Amanda.
- The later episodes of season 1 setup the plot for season 2.
- One word: Darius! (Equaled only by Methos in later seasons.)
- Lots more little things that shouldn't be missed.

Record all the episodes, except you can skip "Mountain Men," which was a stand-alone dog.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

SciFi lists Highlander: The Source as being letter boxed. It isn't.


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## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

Schmye Bubbula said:


> ...Record all the episodes, except you can skip "Mountain Men," which was a stand-alone dog.


You forgot to mention "Bad Day in Building A" and "Deadly Medicine" as pretty bad too. The first season was not nearly as focused as the others, but they were doing some "experimental" type of shows, and that is always hit or miss. The good ones were very good, some of the others just never worked.

I found the hi-def feed superior to the std feed, even though the image was pillar-boxed.

Let's hope this is a kick-off to them showing the entire series later on. I suppose it all depends on ratings and sponsors.

I forgot how good some of these early episodes were.

I thought they were showing the first seventeen episodes, but it really was 1-10, then they skipped 11-13, and then had 14-20. They skipped one of my favorite episodes of the whole series, "Band of Brothers."

The movie "The Source" was useless, and a total waste of your time.


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## Schmye Bubbula (Oct 14, 2004)

Church AV Guy said:


> You forgot to mention "Bad Day in Building A" and "Deadly Medicine" as pretty bad too....


Yeppir, "Bad Day in Building A" definitely was mediocre, but to me a small step above the utterly unwatchable "Mountain Men." But there's no accounting for taste: I actually kind of enjoyed "Deadly Medicine."

I'm hoping we get all seasons over the next year as well.

Lest we forget that the the very last season lost steam for the most part. And the Amanda spinoff didn't live up to expectations for the formidable Elizabeth Gracen, alas.


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## tivogurl (Dec 16, 2004)

Mountain Men was pretty bad, but it did have one important event: Tessa actually saw Duncan behead someone and receive the Quickening. It's one thing to know intellectually what Duncan is and does, it's quite another to see it in person. As I recall the writers never explored this, Tessa changed not one bit from the experience.

It's also amusing to see (and relive) early 90s women's fashions (leggings!).


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## Schmye Bubbula (Oct 14, 2004)

tivogurl said:


> Mountain Men was pretty bad, but it did have one important event: Tessa actually saw Duncan behead someone and receive the Quickening. It's one thing to know intellectually what Duncan is and does, it's quite another to see it in person. As I recall the writers never explored this, Tessa changed not one bit from the experience.
> 
> It's also amusing to see (and relive) early 90s women's fashions (leggings!).


Point well-taken about Tessa, tivogurl. Many of the precepts of seasons to come were set in the touchstone that was Season 1. ... And perhaps Lindsay Lohan got the inspiration for her current line of leggings that are flying off the shelves, from watching Highlander as a child.


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## gchance (Dec 6, 2002)

I just noticed this thread, and wow, the Highlander fans are coming out of the woodwork. I brought up Highlander as the next series to rewatch together (we're nearing the end of Babylon 5), but the B5 folks didn't sound too interested. 

What's also strange about watching 1st season Highlander is the early 90s intro. It smacks of late 80s/early 90s style, which they remedied the following season.

Personally I think S1 really gets better once Darius is introduced.

Yes, Bad Day in Building A is bad, but it features Patchy from Lost, and that counts for something. 

Greg


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

What a great heads up. I read all the books, but missed the series. I'll TiVo them in a heartbeat.

Barbeedoll


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## timr_42 (Oct 14, 2001)

I never watched it before, but tivo'ed the marathon. I've watched the first 4 so far.

Any idea if Sci-fi is going to run the series any further?


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## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

> Any idea if Sci-fi is going to run the series any further?


I haven't heard anything, but I have hope.


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## Schmye Bubbula (Oct 14, 2004)

timr_42 said:


> Any idea if Sci-fi is going to run the series any further?


Not through the end of Jan 2009, at least - the latest outward month for which data are available:
http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/index.php3
You can always scroll to the bottom of this page for next month's calendar.


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

Well, obviously I missed it. I thought it was January 26th and 27th, not December 26th and 27th.

Here I come iTunes. Does anyone know if it's there?

Barbeedoll


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## Church AV Guy (Jan 19, 2005)

Sorry you missed it. It's available on HULU here. I don't know about iTunes.

When I was transferring my Highlander VHS tapes to DVD, I realized I was one episode short. There was even a blank space on the cassette for me to insert it, but I never did. Luckily, I found it on HULU, and I managed to complete my collection. The quality of the first season was terrible though, because I was using a really poor cable company. There was ghosting, and snow, and audio dropouts. The first season episodes I just recorded last week are infinitely superior.


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