Category: Television

LOST Map?

Another screen cap worth sharing. This one is not too clear, though. No matter how many times I tried to get a clear image, I just couldn’t pull it off. ( I need a better capture card, obviously) Never fear, there are others out there with access to better equipment (or they just took pictures of the actual props, who knows) Anyway, if you click on over to “The Tail Section” they have a diagram and an enhanced image that get into most of the details of the map. There are also a lot of places on the site that deal with spoilers and potential spoilers. This constitutes fair warning, once again.

I remember the promo for this episode, “Lockdown” saying 5 things would be revealed. I only counted 3. Obviously what is being revealed isn’t of clear importance… yet.

One of the best episodes so far this season.

Rev. 03/23/22

Star Trek: the Academy Years

Somebody has resurrected Harve Bennett’s old script for Star Trek: the Academy Years over at Ain’t it Cool News; it seems the guy is really interested in the story. I hate to break it to him, but any story placing the original series crew together in Star Fleet Academy just couldn’t be considered canon; that’s not the way that the series developed originally.

Not that this would be unprecedented. Of the entire four year run of Enterprise, only two episodes could be considered canon. That would be the In a Mirror Darkly two-parter. Spock was established to be the first Vulcan in Starfleet in one of the first Star Trek episodes. There is no way that T’Pol could be an officer on a Starfleet vessel in the normal Star Trek universe. However, in the Mirror, Mirror universe this is not a problem.

How About an Example of a Bad Show?

I don’t understand this need to mess with cherished memories. Why does Hollywood have to re-invent every show that was once successful? Do we really need to make a Star Trek Babies movie? Do we really need to cast someone else in the roles of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the others?

I didn’t need to see Scooby Doo as a live action film. I didn’t need to see King Kong without the stop motion animation. I didn’t need to see The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, etc. on the big screen (in fact, I didn’t see those. Bullet successfully dodged) do we really have to go there with Classic Trek? Watch someone else play James T. Kirk? Someone other than Leonard Nimoy wear Spock’s ears? I won’t be paying for that, myself.

If they just have to do a Star Trek: the Academy Years do it without including the classic characters, or you can count on this classic Trek fan sitting this film out.

Postscript
Star Trek, 1966-2009, R.I.P.

Rev. 03/19/22

Boston Legal, Jury Nullification, Euthanasia

Since I’m on the topic of Boston Legal; the season 2 episode Live Big (16) which aired on the 21st features Alan Shore once again on the horns of an ethical dilemma. His client granted his Alzheimer’s afflicted wife’s request to have her life terminated.

I love watching James Spader’s characterization of Alan Shore. He’s so wonderfully dry. The contrasting relationship with the bombastic Denny Crane (William Shatner) makes an excellent sounding board (and vice versa) for discussion points within the episode.

Denny Crane: That’s how dad went. Morphine drip.
Alan Shore: How did you get the doctor to do it?
Denny Crane: “Denny Crane”. It was the real thing then.

Spader’s Shore is clearly uncomfortable with the whole subject, but he believes that his client should not be labeled a criminal, and bases his closing argument on that very basic fact.

The A.D.A.’s argument amounts to: he broke the law, he’s a criminal, and we can’t afford to start down the slippery slope of allowing assisted suicide. I mean, what happens when people start getting rid of the old, sick people they just don’t want around anymore.

Shore’s argument goes like this:

The dirty little secret is; we went down that slope, years ago. Officially we say we’re against assisted suicide; but it goes on, all the time. 70% of all deaths in hospitals are due to decisions to let patients die. Whether it’s morphine drips or respirators, hydration tubes. With all due respect to the Terry Schiavo fanfare, patients are assisted with death, all across the country, all the time.

As for regulating motive, here’s a thought, investigate it. if we suspect foul play have the police ask questions, if it smells funny, prosecute.

But here, there is no suggestion that Mr. Myerson’s motive was anything other than to satisfy his wifes wishes and spare her the extreme indignity of the rotting of her brain. Can you imagine? Would you want to live like that?

I had a dog for 12 years. His name was Allen. That was his name when I got him. He had cancer in the end. That, in conjunction with severe hip dysplasia, and he was in unbearable pain. My vet recommended, and I agreed, to euthanize him. It was ‘humane’ which we as society endeavor to be, for animals.

My client’s act was a humane one. It was a sorrowful one. Mrs. Myerson’s nurse testified as to the profound love that Ryan Myerson had for his wife. Sometimes the ultimate act of love and kindness…

If you think this man is a criminal send him to jail. If you don’t, don’t.

His client is, of course, acquitted. A classic case of jury nullification, a legitimate finding by the jury that the law was wrongly applied in this instance.

Another example of why I love the show evolves afterwards. Once again in a conversation between Denny and Alan, the nature of “who’s life is it anyway” is explored. An excellent conclusion to the episode, and what I’ve come to expect from the show.

Looking forward to tonight’s episode.

Rev 02/05/2022

Boston Legal & Abortion

This furor over abortion (again) reminds me of last weeks Boston Legal (the ep. Smile) and the rape victim suing the Catholic hospital because they failed to provide her with the ‘morning after’ pill when she requested it.

Specifically I am reminded of the exchange between the characters of Shirley Schmidt and Denise Bauer when, at the end of the episode it is revealed…

…Well, don’t read any farther if you want to be surprised when watching the episode.

Here are the lines from the transcript:

Denise Bauer: So?
Shirley Schmidt: I just spoke with her mother. She’s having an abortion. While it’s still legal.
Denise Bauer: Girl who said she would never even consider it. She hands Shirley a bottle of beer.
Shirley Schmidt: Well. What’s the alternative? Having custody battles with your rapist? Sorry. That was really tasteless.
Denise Bauer: It’s all tasteless. The more science comes up with alternatives to the misery of abortion the louder the opposition.
Shirley Schmidt: Course it’s about power. It’s always been about power. They drink. Shirley motions with her bottle. These guys have any friends?
Denise Bauer: Not for long.

So the do-gooder at the Catholic hospital in fact contributed to someone having an abortion, all because of the scientifically indefensible belief that life begins at conception.

Misery does love company, I guess.

Rev. 06/25/22

Andreas Katsulas 1946-2006

Andreas Katsulas and his characterization of G’kar was, in the end, the most memorable part of Babylon 5 for me. His portrayal of the ambassador for the newly liberated Narn was exactly what was needed to give the series ‘an edge’. Despicable, but at the same time likeable, the character matured with the show into the image of a visionary leader of his people, once again oppressed by their old masters.

His story arc was about the only one that came to a satisfying conclusion.

I’ll never forget the convention in Tulsa where he posed for this picture. (Yes, those are puppets, made by a friend of mine) He made the convention worth attending, all by himself.

This pretty much puts an end to the possibilities of a resurrection of B5. Without the characters of G’kar and Dr. Franklin (played by Richard Biggs who passed away in 2004) A story based on the original characters would be quite hard to tell.

I have found the voice over that Andreas did as G’kar at the end of the Episode “Z’ha’dum” to be quite moving at times. It goes like this:

“It was the end of the Earth year 2260. The War had come to a pause, suddenly and unexpectedly. All around it was as if the Universe were holding its breath, waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition, and moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both.

G’Quan wrote: ‘There is a darkness greater than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The War we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender.’

The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain…”

He will be missed.

ZTeamProductions – Babylon 5: In Memory of Andreas Katsulas – Dec 7, 2008

http://www.zteamproductions.com

Postscript

I joined a Facebook group dedicated to Babylon 5 in 2019. They, of course, revisited this period in time near the anniversary of Andreas’ death. I posted the tribute above as part of the general sentiments of loss that were already present. No one had yet linked the tribute video when I posted it. It was nice to have something that I had saved on the blog to add to the group.

Fighting For a Purpose

LOST – What’s in a Name?

OK. I have to admit this up front. I had not been following this show until O.S. Card threw down the gauntlet last year concerning the worthlessness of Trek (Enterprise was worthless. It also wasn’t Trek. Well maybe Ber-Trek) and the praiseworthiness of ‘Lost’ (and ‘Smallville’. Don’t care what he says about that. His original comments can be found here) I accepted the challenge and took up watching ‘Lost’ just to see what the buzz was about.

Anyway… Trek bashing (by one of the better SF authors that I’ve read to date) aside, I’ve gotten hooked on Lost. It’s a pretty good show (still don’t know if I’d call it SciFi) the episodes are character and plot driven, and they are cut in such a way as to keep you interested in the show, even if you haven’t seen the beginning of the series. I started watching about 4 episodes before the season one finale, and kept right on watching as the repeats started airing. I found myself going “Oh, that explains the scene in the finale where…” and have to shut up, because no one else in the house was watching the finale when it aired previously and I didn’t want to give it away…

I’ve stumbled across more sites for this show than any other show I’ve watched. Example?

…and that’s an old list.

The obsession with names that the fans have (as illustrated here, and several other places) has been earned. Taking into account the meaning of the name “Desmond” (where did he go, anyway?) the symbology behind the Dharma logo, the Bagua (anyone else notice the black/white “swan” looks remarkably like a yin-yang?) and the meaning of the name “Dharma“. How about “Jack” and “John”, the two leaders who have the same first name, but couldn’t be more different.? Aaron, Claire’s child? Mr. Eko? It seems that the writers are choosing names just to pique our interest. It’s not surprising, and has been done in SF series for years. But it still leads you to wonder…

…Which takes you to questioning where this is all going. Reading through the ideas presented at this link (WARNING, SPOILERS) might give you an idea.

But then maybe he, as well as the writers, don’t know where this is going. I’m still watching.

This was the press release concerning the Gary Troup manuscript that Hurley was reading. I don’t know if the book has come out or not. The story isn’t on Yahoo anymore.

By Sarah Hall Wed Nov 2, 7:36 PM ET

Is ABC trying to get Lost fans fired?

As if there wasn’t already enough material out there for superfans to obsess over, including a plethora of fan sites and message boards devoted to the show, now a Lost storyline is making the jump from fiction to reality.

ABC has announced plans to introduce a Lost subplot about a character named Gary Troup, a fictitious author who supposedly perished in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, but left behind the manuscript on which he had been working, having dropped it off with his publisher just days before boarding the fatal flight.

Here’s where the line between fact and fiction blurs: Hyperion Books, ABC’s sister publishing label, is actually putting out said manuscript in book form this spring–here in the real world–to coincide with the related episodes of Lost.

Titled Bad Twin, the private eye thriller is said to be about a rich heir’s search for his devious sibling. Hyperion said it has commissioned a well known writer to pen the book, with the help of writers from the show.

“Fans of the show are obsessive,” Hyperion President Bob Miller told Daily Variety. “We think a lot of them will be buying the book just to look for clues.”

(Hey, who’s he calling obsessive? Maybe the hundreds of Powerball hopefuls who played Hurley’s unlucky number–4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42–in the $340 million drawing last month to no avail? Just a hunch.)

The marketing ploy may be the first to combine characters and events from a television show with a real-life sales campaign, according to Variety.

While just 9 million viewers tuned in for last week’s Lost rerun, the eerie Emmy-winning drama consistently ranks as the fourth-most watched show on television, pulling in over 20 million viewers each week on average.

New episodes of Lost resume Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 9 p.m. Set your TiVos now.

news.yahoo.com

Failed Movies From Failed Series

Ever heard of a show called Firefly? I’m a fan. A hardcore fan. Ever heard of the movie Serenity? It’s a continuation of the characters and storyline in Firefly. Again, I’m a hardcore fan. I just want to get the fact that I LOVE the show(s) in the record before we go where this post goes. Stay with me here.

Serenity

Firefly was canceled due to the infinite wisdom of Fox television. All television executives are omniscient, just ask the guys at NBC who canceled Star Trek in the 60’s. They knew it was junk and was never going to make any money. Don’t let the fact that Paramount has milked millions out of the franchise (and founded the 5th broadcast network with not much more than Star Trek to carry it) since that point fool you, Star Trek needed canceling. In much the same way, the red-headed (browncoated) stepchild that was Firefly needed canceling, because Fox only agreed to let Joss Whedon do it so that they could keep him for another season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You don’t promote and fund a ‘gimme’ long term. And they didn’t. 13 episodes filmed. 10 episodes aired. No promotion to speak of. You’re outta here!

But Firefly wouldn’t die, I’m sure the old guard Star Trek fans out there understand why that is. Writing. Talking. Promoting. And lo and behold the show that needed canceling is resurrected as a feature length film. Some said “that doesn’t happen” (Trekkies know better, but we let them have their moment. Kids are so cute) and marveled at the feat. And, really it was a feat. An excellent film that preserved the atmosphere of the original show, and completed the main story arc left unfinished by Fox needing to cancel the show. It was on screens all too briefly, and passed onto disk (a copy of which is already in my library) within a few short months.

And then the rumblings started from naysayers, TV executive lakeys, and Hollywood insider wannabes concerning whether Serenity the movie was a success or failure, and whether or not this should “shut the fans up”.

Personally, I don’t feel like shutting up, and I don’t count the shows short time on screen as a failure. Why you say? Because in comparison it’s just not.

Fire Walk With Me

I’d like to point out a show (no, not Star Trek) that had a similar fate, not so long ago. A critically acclaimed series with a very short life was resurrected as a movie (that was also critically acclaimed) that went out of theaters nearly as fast. What was the show? Twin Peaks. The movie was Fire Walk With Me. My point is this, even with the media circus that surrounded the show and the subsequent movie, if you look at the numbers here or here, you will see that the show did not in fact do an impressive amount of business. A recoup of about half of the 10 million dollar budget spent on it. But the critics loved it…

In comparison, Serenity’s numbers are just rosy here and here. All told, Serenity has made back the money spent on it, and we aren’t even done with the video sales yet. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. And still, I hear the “What if’s” and the “If onlys”. What’s done is done. The movie came out when it did, competed with the films that were out then, and left the theaters when new films crowded into the fall schedule showed up to push it out. Gotta have all the good films out right before Oscar time. Don’t ask me why, it must be that same omniscience that the TV execs have.

So why should we wear long faces and walk silently? Because the film wasn’t as popular as Lord of the Rings? Didn’t make the kind of money Titanic did? The film didn’t have the history of Lord of the Rings to promote it to every adult in the world, or the potential 200+ million dollar hickey that motivated the blitzkrieg of media exposure which ensured Titanic‘s (undeserved, in my opinion) box office sales. Serenity was good enough on its own merits to pay back it’s investors, and good enough on its own merits to inspire loyal fans of the series. I say we crow to the moon and demand a second film! Who’s with me?

A Stand-Alone Spin Off

Serenity (2005)

Firefly moves from the little screen to the big one with minimal hiccups. I volunteered to be part of the test audience for one of the pre-release versions of the film back in May. That version didn’t have all effects and music in it yet, and that version was still good. Because we watched the television series, there were lots of extremely tense moments, but the best part of seeing the film was realizing that even if someone hadn’t seen the TV show, they’d still be able to enjoy this romping space western.

The movie is consistent with the series’ storyline and details. There are several unexpected events that leave you reeling in your seat. The characters are what make this movie worth watching. As for myself…

Well…

I’ll be there opening night to see the finished product. I loved it.

As an aside, Adam Baldwin is used heavily as a marketing tool on this film, and while he is his always excellent self in the movie, his part was smaller than originally anticipated. He was one of the actors that was out promoting the movie when I saw it back in May, or when the Wife saw it on the second go round on the test audience circuit.

IMdb

Afterword

We went to watch this movie on it’s opening week at one of the Rolling Roadshow events for Alamo Drafthouse. The event was held in an abandoned set for the 2004 remake of the Alamo. As usual for most Rolling Roadshow events, there was a special menu complete with vendors decked out in costumes that mimicked things worn in Firefly. The Daughter created some unique art to gift to Jewel Staite and Summer Glau who were there on that special occasion to egg on all the Firefly fans.

Unfortunately, almost none of the pictures I took that night were exposed properly, so there is no record of the event other than what I keep in my head. We had such a great time with Bear Philley and his family that night. It would be nice to have some decent photos to relate what a surreal experience the whole event was. Being outside in a derelict tribute to an iconic battle. A building that was only partially constructed in the first place and hadn’t aged well. The attendants decked out in mock-chinese apparel. Getting to meet Jewel and Summer. It really was the event of a lifetime.