Does Anyone Remember G vs. E (aka Good versus Evil)? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kaz]

"A man torn from his family...only to be resurrected as an agent of the almighty CORP.

With no special skills, Chandler Smythe and Henry McNeil fight to save lost souls."

It's a battle between good versus evil. G vs. E...That's what it is!"


I was going through my VHS collection the other day and found all the episodes to G vs. E, so I started watching one a night. I had forgotten what a great show this was. A great mix of satire and camp set to a techno beat with rapid fire pacing and, of course, Morlock slaying. The main cast was absolutely perfect together. Ford & Decker rule!

I mean, how can you possibly go wrong with a show that has episode titles like:

"Gee, Your Hair Smells Evil"

and

"Men are From Mars, Women Are Evil"

My personal favorite episode is "The Mission", where it begins with Smythe waking up and realizing he'd been stuck in a coffin and buried alive. One of the best episodes of any show I have ever seen. Where else can you see Emmanuel Lewis strapped to explosives and then accidentally blown up?

It's a shame this show only lasted 22 episodes, but that's to be expected when a show moves to the SciFi channel. I would cut a faustian deal in a second to get this show on DVD!

 

[Jeremy_Watson]

Brian,

I have never heard of this show (or at least I don't remember it) but it sounds interesting. I looked at the web page on the SciFi channel site (http://www.scifi.com/goodvsevil/), but the way it is divided into "Good" and "Evil" just confused me. Can you explain more about it?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Brian Kaz wrote (post #1):

Well, your question is partly answered within itself, along with your description of the show as "a great mix of satire and camp . . . ."

It's entirely too easy to blame the SciFi Channel for its demise, since this show was one in a long list of "genre" shows that has "CANCELLED" written all over it at first sight. I sure could see it.

The problem is that the premises for such shows are just so powerful that they overwhelm the viewer's willing suspension of disbelief from the get-go. That kind of strong fantastic premise may work well for a single movie or miniseries, but, in my opinion, is too fantastic to be delivered week after week after week without becoming diluted and just plain silly-seeming. Making it "campy" and confused by putting in all the regular, formulaic demographic "hooks" ("contemporary" pop music of various sorts, "hip-cool" dialog, T&A, and the like) is only counterproductive for those of us who like their horror a little bit more on the serious side. And that tactic never really captures the casual audiences that would just as soon take their "camp" and T&A "straight, no chaser" (i.e., without fantastic premises). This has been shown over and over again by the precipitous ratings for such shows (if they manage even to capture a notable audience in the first place).

I don't know; somehow Special Unit 2 seemed to deliver the same goods much better with just as incredible a premise, although, it, too, was doomed from the start (regardless of network affiliation).

 

[LarryDavenport]

I'm pretty sure the show started on USA and then moved to SciFi. This is a show I would buy in a second on DVD!

 

[Brian Kaz]

I'm pretty sure the show started on USA and then moved to SciFi.

That's exactly what happened. When it moved to SciFi, I believe it played as G vs. E for a few more episodes, then they decided to change it what it meant: Good Versus Evil.


I don't care what anyone says, behind Farscape, this was the best show on SciFi.

 

[Mike Graham]

Was by far the funniest show of its time. The pilot was one of the better hours of television I've seen. And who can forget the infamouse cameo by Emmanuel Lewis as a Morlock? Of all the forgotten TV series that I'd like to see put out on disc (Brimstone, Millennium, Nowhere Man), this would have to be my first choice.

 

[TheLongshot]

I don't care what anyone says, behind Farscape, this was the best show on SciFi.

I can't argue with that. It was certainly one of the most promising shows that they had. Unfortunatly, they killed it, just like most of their shows. It is the reason why I can't get wrapped up in any of their tv shows, since they seem to suffer from premature deaths...

Jason

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I thought Good vs Evil was certainly the second best Sci-Fi network show ever (after Farscape).

Of course they shitcanned it.

They replaced it with 'The Invisible Man', which was halfway decent but not nearly as good.

Sci-Fi (Channel) sucks. Tremors? The Dream Team? Scare Tactics?

Sci-Fi (Channel) is dead to me.

 

[Brad Grenz]

They replaced it with 'The Invisible Man', which was halfway decent but not nearly as good.

The funny thing was the Invisible Man had a very similar quality to it. That same kind of borderline campy cool mix of action and humor to it. They should have put the shows in a block together instead of cancelling the first, replacing it with the second which got the networks best ratings to date and then kill it too. You get the feeling that noone's at the wheel there.

 

[TheLongshot]

And people wonder why I'm frustrated with Sci-Fi. It is this haphazard, lack of a plan, lack of developing shows that has caused me to write off the station. It isn't just Farscape I'm frustrated about.

Jason

 

[LarryDavenport]

There are enough episodes (and the final episode could work as a FINAL episode) that the powers that be should put out a DVD box set.

 

[Quentin]

This show ruled. I would also buy it on DVD. It's biggest problem, aside from being buried by USA and then SciFi, is that it came out around the same time as Buffy. Buffy was a HUGE hit, and this suffered for it. They were just too similar in tone and attitude.

Deacon Jones as the celestial badass who taught you how to head slap a demon to the ground? You just can't find that anywhere on TV!!!!

 

[Brian Kaz]

Deacon Jones as the celestial badass who taught you how to head slap a demon to the ground? You just can't find that anywhere on TV!!!!

My favorite Deacon moment(from "Men are from Mars, Women are Evil):


Henry: You better watch it, Chan. If Deacon ever finds out you're messing with Cherry...

[Cut to Deacon at his office desk]

Deacon: Roses are red, violets are blue. Have sex in the CORP- and I'm gonna break...yo'...neck!

 

[Rex Bachmann]

post #3:

"Will I stay on Earth and kill Morlocks again next week? Or, will I bite the big "retirement" plan and float off to heaven (or the other place)?" Realllly big! Really "deep". That show wasn't the only party that didn't take it seriously, and rightfully so. A predictable misfire, as I said.

 

[Brian Kaz]

"Will I stay on Earth and kill Morlocks again next week? Or, will I bite the big "retirement" plan and float off to heaven (or the other place)?" Realllly big! Really "deep".

Again, you obviously have not seen a lot of this show.

 

[Quentin]

"Suffering" from a one-note premise is the "weakness" of every TV show. It is how they explore and expand upon that premise that makes or breaks a show. Buffy is built on a one-note premise - a smartass teen "chosen one" who kills vamps. Strip away all the fun stuff, and you know that she's going to kill a vamp/demon every week.

So, your logic is inherently flawed...Buffy successfully expands on that premise by introducing meta-plots and exploring characers. G vs. E was in the process of doing the same thing when it was cancelled.

You didn't like G vs. E? Fine...move along. We're talking about why we did. Didn't you pull this same crap over in the "Children of Dune" thread?

Where's the Deacon when you need him...

 

[LarryDavenport]

I hope that if G vs E ever comes out on DVD the R-Rated version will prevail. I really liked the show because it felt like a cross between Pulp Fiction and Night Gallery. The dialogue was crisp and all the actors were likable.

 

[Mike Graham]

The series' quirky style may not have been for everyone; it could range between hilarious situations to very touching moments (who can forget when Henry went home to his mother, played by Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols). Then there was the very stylish episode in the vein of Run Lola Run, in which Henry and Chandler had to save Chandler's son from being crushed in a junkyard compressor. The acting throughout the series was very well done, always being played fairly serious no matter what the situation.

 

[Chuck Parker]

I loved this show when it was on! Interesting premise, and a really quirky style that I liked. To me, though, once it left USA for Sci-Fi (and dropped the G vs E for the less interesting "Good vs. Evil") it seemed to lose a lot of the quirky appeal that drew me to it (like the Dukes of Hazard style freeze frame commercial breaks and Deacon Jones narration, and the often inspired stunt casting). Still, at the time, it was probably the best thing on the SciFi channel at the time...

That said,I'd snap it up on DVD in a minute...

 

[Michael St. Clair]

This is one series that I would buy immediately on DVD in any region, even from PAL regions. With most series I at least wait a while for news of an R1 release.