In the year 2067, world-renowned 21-year-old scientist and Cloudcuckoolander Benjamin Solaris lives in an apartment neighboring the semi-famous astrochemist Johnson Daniel Davis and his wife Kira. The trio lives their lives as casually as possible; it's not as if anything bad is going to happen... or will it? Actually, it doesn't really happen that often as one might suspect, and even if it does, mostly it's somebody else's problem. In fact, when they're not saving galaxies, solving mysteries, or otherwise helping out, it's a show about nothing. It's about nothing but the lives of these three normal folk... But In The Future! It's rife with Seinfeldian Conversation, Buffy Speak, and otherwise imperfect grammar. What? Do you think we're gonna turn into perfect people with perfect grammar in the not-too-distant future? Dream on! This isn't your grandpa's sci-fi show.
Possible rating: Somewhere between TV-PG and TV-14. Yeah, there are Squicky alien bodily functions and some Nightmare Fuel... and this still is a marionette show... Imagine how some red (or green) dye and corn syrup could induce nightmares in children all over the world!
Tropes it uses include...
- Aliens Speaking English: Yes, this series has aliens in it. Yes, they speak English. No, not every single one. Certain alien travelers learned it to allow better socialization with us Earth-folks. Besides, some can't, due to some Bizarre Alien Biology.
- Bilingual Dialogue: When an alien can't speak English for whatever reason, it can be paired with an interpreter, human or otherwise, who does know the language. Oftentimes, they keep the subject to themselves, so practically no Repeating So the Audience Can Hear, although it often leads to One Dialogue, Two Conversations and other weirdness.
- Big Damn Heroes: Benjamin, Johnson, and Kira, the baddest Badass Normal trio this side of the quadrant, get these moments sometimes.
- Casual Interstellar Travel: Space travel's still a bit of a luxury, but as long as you pay up, it's as casual as you want... sometimes too casual...
- Clingy Macguffin: Benjamin has a robotic left arm after losing his organic one in a Freak Lab Accident; it required an external power pack that ran out at the stupidest of moments. However, through Heroic Willpower (and some crazed Nanomachines), he was able to power the arm with his own body energy. The side effect? The Nanomachines are now in the slow process of turning his body into a Living Metal Machine-Man.
- Faster-Than-Light Travel: Humans discovered the secret to faster-than-light travel after defeating an invading alien race, the first ever alien encounter. They took the engine from a fallen warship, reverse engineered it, and blasted off to discover new planets. We have been doomed ever since.
- Humanity Is Superior: Well, it's a mixed case, seeing as how sometimes We Are as Mayflies, and other times we're damn scary!
- Humans Are Special: Hell, no! Well, it's not as if we're the scum of the universe; we have the differing opinions of galaxies of aliens here! Some see us as "cute", while others think we're
Squick-inducing. However, no matter what, humans are not the first aliens a creature might turn to for help. Crap. - In My Language, That Sounds Like...: Many alien races, a large fraction of them having some form of spoken language, and many of them having human-like phonemes; naturally, this trope happens a lot.
- It's Always Spring: Averted with great zeal, which also allows us to find out about alien seasons.
- Law of Conservation of Normality: Despite every alien invasion and cosmic calamity, Earth does its Earth thing, even with aliens on Earth doing it as well.
- Mundane Utility: The aliens sometimes have what we, by human standards, know as superpowers; some being able to breath fire or lift tons of weight. When not showing off (if they want to), they'll do work for others, usually diamond-cutting, heavy-lifting, mood-lighting, and other mundane activities.
- Benjamin Solaris' robotic arm can extend at the wrist to nigh-ridiculous lengths, but mostly he uses it to grab stuff off of the high shelves of his laboratory, that is, when he's not using it to swing around like Spider-Man.
- Planetville: Somewhat. The whole planet of Jockroo is split into merely four giant city-states in a "lemon-wedge" style, with one ruler for each of them.
- Planet of Hats: Once again, only somewhat. Myrak vantaken is advertised as "The Paradise Planet", but which parts are the most paradise-like depends on your personal taste and species. One area is a winter wonderland while another is a lush tropical jungle, whilst yet another has pink pools full of revitalizing alien bacteria. Ew...
- Shown Their Work: Many of the predictions of the future world of this show are based on actual experiments and prototypes which seem the awesomest.
- Space Madness: It's not space that kills you, it's your own mind.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Inverted, minus the marriage part. Benjamin's girlfriend, Jenny Mercury, isn't Mirror-Cracking Ugly, but she ain't no supermodel, and she's definitely not Hollywood Homely. She has rather strong features and a So Okay, It's Average physique, and often jokes on getting it from "her family".
