Hey there, kiddies! Good morning and welcome to Wednesday -- that irascible Hump Day, as it's known in some parts of the Blogosphere!
For what's it's worth, I'm usually quiet around this space on Wednesdays. I try to reserve this day for watching the projects that get sent to me, maybe puttering away on reviews and the like that I need to get done for the business end of maintaining SciFiHistory.Net. Today will likely be no different, so if you see no new content (other than this) on the MainPage don't panic. It just means that I'm off engaged in other activities that need to go down first before I can get up new reviews and the like. Just sharing that so's you understand a bit of inside baseball.
Also, I've watched the second installment of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and it's quite good. Rest assured: I still haven't decided if I'm gonna review it, but -- if I do -- I'll likely get the reviews up in truncated fashion. They probably won't be anything in depth at all and just cursory thoughts. The show is produced well enough that I'm not sure of how much I have to say. It's far more interesting than was Dead City, and -- of course -- some of that is owed to it's a vastly more complex change of location than was the Maggie/Negan spinoff. Such is life ... or as is the case with that property, "Such is death."
As for today's heavy hitters in genre entertainment?
For what's it's worth, I'm usually quiet around this space on Wednesdays. I try to reserve this day for watching the projects that get sent to me, maybe puttering away on reviews and the like that I need to get done for the business end of maintaining SciFiHistory.Net. Today will likely be no different, so if you see no new content (other than this) on the MainPage don't panic. It just means that I'm off engaged in other activities that need to go down first before I can get up new reviews and the like. Just sharing that so's you understand a bit of inside baseball.
Also, I've watched the second installment of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and it's quite good. Rest assured: I still haven't decided if I'm gonna review it, but -- if I do -- I'll likely get the reviews up in truncated fashion. They probably won't be anything in depth at all and just cursory thoughts. The show is produced well enough that I'm not sure of how much I have to say. It's far more interesting than was Dead City, and -- of course -- some of that is owed to it's a vastly more complex change of location than was the Maggie/Negan spinoff. Such is life ... or as is the case with that property, "Such is death."
As for today's heavy hitters in genre entertainment?
On this day in all the way back in 1979, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century -- one of the seminal TV experiences on my high school days -- first took flight on the Boob Tube. (It actually had some relative exposure prior to this with a theatrical run, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.) Gil Gerard played the Air Force pilot / astronaut who woke up centuries into our planet's future only to find Earth had been largely decimated from wars and such. He's pulled out of his cryosleep by enemies of our world but eventually finds his way to home ... and the adventures begin. Naturally, pairing the leading man with the lovely Erin Gray certainly did things to the hormones of teenage boys across the fruited plain, and the two made for a great pair whose epic exploits were large and campy enough to make for some great TV viewing.
Weirdly, the Buck Rogers property is one that has kinda/sorta all but vanished from our cosmic consciousness, and I think that's sad. Like Flash Gordon, Buck was a force to be reckoned with -- in books, serials, and the like -- and I, for one, would love to see it dusted off and delivered in a more contemporary format to viewers of today. I know that it has surfaced in reboot discussions from time-to-time, but I haven't read anything of substance on that front in quite awhile. Maybe I'll do some digging on the Information Superhighway to see if any rumors persist today.
Yes, yes, and yes: I'm well aware that many in fandom think the show kinda/sorta went off the rails in Season 2. All I can say in that respect is "to each his own." Producers were clearly taking the program in a different direction in that truncated season, and I thought the scripts and stories felt a bit more like the classic Star Trek than did anything else on television at the time. Perhaps it just never quite ironed out a clear tone between camp and crusade, leaving audiences a bit confused with the change-up. I realize that those showing up for more of the same (from Season 1) were likely disappointed with what they found ... but it is what it is.
Weirdly, the Buck Rogers property is one that has kinda/sorta all but vanished from our cosmic consciousness, and I think that's sad. Like Flash Gordon, Buck was a force to be reckoned with -- in books, serials, and the like -- and I, for one, would love to see it dusted off and delivered in a more contemporary format to viewers of today. I know that it has surfaced in reboot discussions from time-to-time, but I haven't read anything of substance on that front in quite awhile. Maybe I'll do some digging on the Information Superhighway to see if any rumors persist today.
Yes, yes, and yes: I'm well aware that many in fandom think the show kinda/sorta went off the rails in Season 2. All I can say in that respect is "to each his own." Producers were clearly taking the program in a different direction in that truncated season, and I thought the scripts and stories felt a bit more like the classic Star Trek than did anything else on television at the time. Perhaps it just never quite ironed out a clear tone between camp and crusade, leaving audiences a bit confused with the change-up. I realize that those showing up for more of the same (from Season 1) were likely disappointed with what they found ... but it is what it is.
When it comes to television that got away before it could've turned into something great, The Event was one of those big ticket items to emerge on the entertainment landscape that was probably a bit too smart for audiences to keep up with it. Having a big and talented cast arguably gave it the potential to be more than the sum of its parts, but -- in all honesty -- it had a pretty complicated storyline that definitely required both active watching and staying committed. This was the kind of programming wherein you couldn't miss an episode ... unless you wanted to be a bit confused when you came back to it next week.
The show had a vastness to it that its writers tried to keep anchored (to a degree) in one of the franchise's leads: Jason Ritter -- as 'Sean Walker' -- was only trying to find his missing girlfriend from a luxurious cruise when all of a sudden he finds himself wrapped up in the middle of a global conspiracy involving aliens embedded into our world along with a complicit U.S. government trying to keep a lid on an impending 'event' (as well as smaller ones signalling a change of season). Smartly written and expertly produced, The Event was about as engaging as great TV can be; but -- as I implied -- it may've been a bit too meaty for those who want to tune in for the ultimate purpose of tuning out.
Though I could be wrong, I thought at one time -- in the wake of its cancellation -- there was some talk of it continuing perhaps in another format -- a tie-up movie, a comic book, or something else. It's a shame that it perhaps didn't come along in today's climate wherein dumping and binging whole seasons have become a bit more normal. I think it likely may've survived in such a venue as audiences would've been given the chance to take it exactly as much as they could absorb, alleviating some of the confusion resulting from the usual start-and-stop serial approach of traditional broadcasts. Whatever the case may be, it's a shame this one didn't succeed.
The show had a vastness to it that its writers tried to keep anchored (to a degree) in one of the franchise's leads: Jason Ritter -- as 'Sean Walker' -- was only trying to find his missing girlfriend from a luxurious cruise when all of a sudden he finds himself wrapped up in the middle of a global conspiracy involving aliens embedded into our world along with a complicit U.S. government trying to keep a lid on an impending 'event' (as well as smaller ones signalling a change of season). Smartly written and expertly produced, The Event was about as engaging as great TV can be; but -- as I implied -- it may've been a bit too meaty for those who want to tune in for the ultimate purpose of tuning out.
Though I could be wrong, I thought at one time -- in the wake of its cancellation -- there was some talk of it continuing perhaps in another format -- a tie-up movie, a comic book, or something else. It's a shame that it perhaps didn't come along in today's climate wherein dumping and binging whole seasons have become a bit more normal. I think it likely may've survived in such a venue as audiences would've been given the chance to take it exactly as much as they could absorb, alleviating some of the confusion resulting from the usual start-and-stop serial approach of traditional broadcasts. Whatever the case may be, it's a shame this one didn't succeed.
And twenty-one years ago today, the now somewhat disgraced predator Joss Whedon delivered his space saga Firefly to the masses-at-large, and an all-new phenomenon was born.
I won't belabor the point, and I don't really discuss the show to any lengths on SciFiHistory.Net, mostly because its fans are just far too destructive for my calmer sensibilities. Frankly, it's a show that just didn't do anything for me, feeling a bit too similar to other programs I'd already watched, and that's it. I wished it well. I think it had a terrific cast. It was, arguably, very well produced. But for no particular reason it just never rung a bell for me. It's another one of those properties that gets tossed around for rebooting from time-to-time, but ... really? Reboot? Why not a continuation of some sort? Yes, yes, and yes: I know it had a movie, but that was more for closure than anything else. The vast percentage of its original cast is still active and about, so why not let them take it further as opposed to starting over. That seems like a mistake to me.
I won't belabor the point, and I don't really discuss the show to any lengths on SciFiHistory.Net, mostly because its fans are just far too destructive for my calmer sensibilities. Frankly, it's a show that just didn't do anything for me, feeling a bit too similar to other programs I'd already watched, and that's it. I wished it well. I think it had a terrific cast. It was, arguably, very well produced. But for no particular reason it just never rung a bell for me. It's another one of those properties that gets tossed around for rebooting from time-to-time, but ... really? Reboot? Why not a continuation of some sort? Yes, yes, and yes: I know it had a movie, but that was more for closure than anything else. The vast percentage of its original cast is still active and about, so why not let them take it further as opposed to starting over. That seems like a mistake to me.
Oh, well ...
There's a great amount of additional material on the September 20th page, folks, so this is one of the cases where I strongly encourage you to head on over to that location. I dare you to find something that tickles your fancy because this date in SciFi History has an astonishing assortment of birthdays, films, and TV launches to consider. It's an incredible, incredible, incredible meal worthy of your digestion ... so get eating ...
As always, thanks for reading ... thanks for sharing ... thanks for being a fan ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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