Good morning and Happy Tuesday, gentle readers! Here's hoping that your week is off to an incredible, incredible start!
Not an awful lot to report from the SciFiHistory.Net news desk this morning. If you haven't heard, then there's this writers and actors strike going on right now in the entertainment industry. The end result is -- rather obviously -- that the news of new and/or upcoming projects has pretty much cratered ... one of those unintentional consequences of a business gone quiet. Who knows? There are signs out there in cyberspace that these strikes might end reasonably soon, but I've also read some commentary online that suggests it might actually last until after the holiday season. That would be unfortunate, but it is what it is, I guess.
I did get an inquiry as to whether or not I'm watching The Walking Dead spin-off, Daryl Dixon. The short answer is 'yes,' and the longer answer is 'well, I'm thinking about writing reviews for the individual episodes but I just haven't decided as of yet.' The premiere was pretty good, but I haven't watched the second installment yet (from just this past Sunday). If I do get around to a review, then it'll be up on the MainPage this week.
Otherwise, that's all the chump change stuff I can muster this morning. Here's a few tidbits with greater detail.
Not an awful lot to report from the SciFiHistory.Net news desk this morning. If you haven't heard, then there's this writers and actors strike going on right now in the entertainment industry. The end result is -- rather obviously -- that the news of new and/or upcoming projects has pretty much cratered ... one of those unintentional consequences of a business gone quiet. Who knows? There are signs out there in cyberspace that these strikes might end reasonably soon, but I've also read some commentary online that suggests it might actually last until after the holiday season. That would be unfortunate, but it is what it is, I guess.
I did get an inquiry as to whether or not I'm watching The Walking Dead spin-off, Daryl Dixon. The short answer is 'yes,' and the longer answer is 'well, I'm thinking about writing reviews for the individual episodes but I just haven't decided as of yet.' The premiere was pretty good, but I haven't watched the second installment yet (from just this past Sunday). If I do get around to a review, then it'll be up on the MainPage this week.
Otherwise, that's all the chump change stuff I can muster this morning. Here's a few tidbits with greater detail.
Happy anniversary, The Pretender!
This was a very solid SciFi-lite show that aired as part of what NBC TV was calling its 'Saturday Night Thrillogy' in the mid-to-late 1990's. In fact, if I remember correctly, I said to my wife that the writing and acting was far too good for a TV serial and that it might not last for that reason alone. Thankfully, I was wrong (I'm wrong a lot), and the show persisted and even built a solid following. The chimera that was Jared could basically absorb an incredible amount of facts, so much so he had this uncanny ability to assume any identity needed for the purposes of -- well -- about an entire episode. He'd show up to correct something that was obviously being done wrong. In the meantime, the nefarious people of The Center were always trying to recapture their science experiment gone awry (namely Jared), and the Andrea Parker made for a wonderful 'girl power' villain.
After the show's cancellation, it was popular enough to warrant some continuation or two. I think it had a few telefilms (again, could be wrong), and -- from what I've read -- the creators went to some lengths to tie up the overall story. That made it one of those rare occasions in TV history when a property was actually given the chance to sew it all together upon finish, and fans should be forever thankful for that!
This was a very solid SciFi-lite show that aired as part of what NBC TV was calling its 'Saturday Night Thrillogy' in the mid-to-late 1990's. In fact, if I remember correctly, I said to my wife that the writing and acting was far too good for a TV serial and that it might not last for that reason alone. Thankfully, I was wrong (I'm wrong a lot), and the show persisted and even built a solid following. The chimera that was Jared could basically absorb an incredible amount of facts, so much so he had this uncanny ability to assume any identity needed for the purposes of -- well -- about an entire episode. He'd show up to correct something that was obviously being done wrong. In the meantime, the nefarious people of The Center were always trying to recapture their science experiment gone awry (namely Jared), and the Andrea Parker made for a wonderful 'girl power' villain.
After the show's cancellation, it was popular enough to warrant some continuation or two. I think it had a few telefilms (again, could be wrong), and -- from what I've read -- the creators went to some lengths to tie up the overall story. That made it one of those rare occasions in TV history when a property was actually given the chance to sew it all together upon finish, and fans should be forever thankful for that!
Look ... up in the sky ... is it a bird? A plane? No ... it's Superman!
Happy anniversary to Adventures Of Superman, TV's first incarnation of the seminal Man of Steel.
Yes, yes, and yes: it's clearly a franchise with some (cough cough) very dated effects technology, but producers did what they could to bring a thrilling serial to life for audiences of its day. From what I've read, the show was very popular with audiences, so much so that the sudden death of two of its biggest names (John Hamilton as 'Perry White' and George Reeves as 'Clark Kent/Superman') were actually looked on by producers as problems they could work around. Wikipedia.org reports that the studio had scripts for two more seasons already developed, but -- in the end -- they just couldn't figure out the logistics of continuing in a different format.
It goes without saying that this saga exploring the 'strange visitor from another planet' remained very popular in TV syndication for years, so much so that I can remember seeing it as a young'un in the early 70's on different small market channels. That's the true power of a great character that inspires others, folks. That's who Superman was, is, and will remain.
Happy anniversary to Adventures Of Superman, TV's first incarnation of the seminal Man of Steel.
Yes, yes, and yes: it's clearly a franchise with some (cough cough) very dated effects technology, but producers did what they could to bring a thrilling serial to life for audiences of its day. From what I've read, the show was very popular with audiences, so much so that the sudden death of two of its biggest names (John Hamilton as 'Perry White' and George Reeves as 'Clark Kent/Superman') were actually looked on by producers as problems they could work around. Wikipedia.org reports that the studio had scripts for two more seasons already developed, but -- in the end -- they just couldn't figure out the logistics of continuing in a different format.
It goes without saying that this saga exploring the 'strange visitor from another planet' remained very popular in TV syndication for years, so much so that I can remember seeing it as a young'un in the early 70's on different small market channels. That's the true power of a great character that inspires others, folks. That's who Superman was, is, and will remain.
This might show some of you: as big a fan of Batman that I've always been, I've always hated the camp classic TV series that actor Adam West headlined.
Yes, yes, and yes: I bring this up only because it's Adam West's birthday -- so Happy Birthday, Mr. West, wherever in the universe you may be at this time. The fact that I hated the show has nothing to do with West, whom I'll always agree performed brilliantly in the show. I just never cared for the camp of it all. Yes, yes, and yes: this definitely set me apart from very many of my generation -- Batman was a hugely popular character in the 1980's at a time when I was in college, and my classmates couldn't understand why I didn't worship Batman (the show) the way they did. My two cents was that I just didn't find it all that funny, nor did I find authentically fighting crime all that much the substance for jokes and merriment. Again: this doesn't negate in any way the show's impact with audiences. It just wasn't for me.
Still, I always thought that Adam West was kinda/sorta like the laid back version of William Shatner in the way he handled the role. His voice just had this 'cool cat' quality to his delivery, and his mannerisms definitely helped fuel the undercurrent of mirth that ran through just about every aspect of the program. And -- like Shatner -- West's whole theatricality is an aesthetic that's hard to replicate, except for broad parody.
Yes, yes, and yes: I bring this up only because it's Adam West's birthday -- so Happy Birthday, Mr. West, wherever in the universe you may be at this time. The fact that I hated the show has nothing to do with West, whom I'll always agree performed brilliantly in the show. I just never cared for the camp of it all. Yes, yes, and yes: this definitely set me apart from very many of my generation -- Batman was a hugely popular character in the 1980's at a time when I was in college, and my classmates couldn't understand why I didn't worship Batman (the show) the way they did. My two cents was that I just didn't find it all that funny, nor did I find authentically fighting crime all that much the substance for jokes and merriment. Again: this doesn't negate in any way the show's impact with audiences. It just wasn't for me.
Still, I always thought that Adam West was kinda/sorta like the laid back version of William Shatner in the way he handled the role. His voice just had this 'cool cat' quality to his delivery, and his mannerisms definitely helped fuel the undercurrent of mirth that ran through just about every aspect of the program. And -- like Shatner -- West's whole theatricality is an aesthetic that's hard to replicate, except for broad parody.
That's all I have for now.
Here's the real reason why you're here:
As always, thanks for reading ... thanks for sharing ... thanks for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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