23 years of this site still chugging along...
Heroes premiere ratings down 25%
by Doc on Sep.23, 2008, under Television
Despite the pomp and circumstance with the one hour premiere party pre-show beforehand (anyone else think the “bar” scenes were all pre-taped?), the ratings for the 2-hour season premiere of Heroes dropped 25% over last year. I’ve only seen half of the premiere, and despite the recaps provided in the pre-show, I was still somewhat confused as to where everything stood. Bruce Boxleitner was a decent surprise though. Seems I had forgotten about it. Oh, and the train scene? Looked VERY fake.
Joan Winston, started Trek conventions, passed away
by Doc on Sep.22, 2008, under General News
Star Trek fan Joan Winston, who helped organized the first ever Star Trek convention in 1972 in Manhattan and started a fandom movement never seen before, passed away on September 11th at the age of 77.
Free ezine, very unique and ad free
by Doc on Sep.22, 2008, under General News
Tracey writes “Loud Silence, a free ezine by award winning artist and author William VanDorin. Featuring flash fiction and original art of a very different sort. The best description of his work is a cross between the twillight zone and Edgar Allen Poe. This one is a must see and best of all it’s free with no advertising or pop ups. Have apeek at.
http://loudsilencestudio.com/loudsilence.htm“
Shatner speaks out about Abrams on YouTube
by Doc on Sep.19, 2008, under General News
Shatner took to a new frontier to dispute a statement by J.J. Abrams regarding a part for James T. Kirk in the upcoming Star Trek movie. Although some reports term it a “blasting”, I think Shatner was in fact very cordial about it and complimented Abrams several times. Read More to see the video.
Edward Lerner reveals secrets of Niven’s Known Space in Juggler of Worlds
by Doc on Sep.19, 2008, under Books
There is a new Known Space novel on bookshelves, once again a team effort between Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner, who previous co-wrote Fleet of Worlds. Juggler of Worlds features Sigmund Ausfaller, Earth’s covert agent and a paranoid, seeking to find just what the Puppeteers have been up to. Lerner gave some more details to SCI FI Wire. Now I’m 3.5 books behind on the Encyclopedia. I need to find reading time.
It is later than you think
by Doc on Sep.19, 2008, under General News
The Thunder Child writes “Last week I shared the info about Bill Cosby’s version of The CHicken Heart That Ate New York. Now, listen to the Lights Out original episode, The Chicken Heart. The audio is accompanied by animation that only an artist with my particular skills could have created.
Disney making Tomorrowland film?
by Doc on Sep.18, 2008, under Movies
Disney, who has been looking at its theme parks for inspiration, especially with the success of Pirates of the Carribean, may make Tomorrowland its next movie source. According to reports, Tomorrowland is set to be a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, who recently starred in The Game Plan and is in the upcoming Disney feature Race To Witch Mountain, and the writing team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (Rebound) are drafting a script. Disney is denying the title or that it has anything to do with the parks.
Sixth Hitchhiker’s book to be penned by Eoin Colfer
by Doc on Sep.17, 2008, under Books
The author of a popular children’s fantasy series has been approached to write a sixth Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy novel. Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl book series, will take the task to write the new book, currently titled And Another Thing… and due for release next October. Jane Belson, Douglas Adams’ widow, approved of the project, and Adams himself has said he planned to do a sixth book, but passed away before it could be done.
Quark – The Complete Series on DVD
by Doc on Sep.16, 2008, under Television, Video/DVD
I found out about this late last night, but was too tired to post: The 70s SF spoof Quark came out on DVD two weeks ago. This is one of those shows I remember from my childhood, and naturally the memories were better than the reality by today’s standards, but it was still a humorous take on the state of SF at the time. Created by Buck Henry (Get Smart), it starred Richard Benjamin as the title character who is captain of a space trash ship. Other characters included Gene/Jean (Tim Thomerson, Trancers), a “transmute” – sort of a dual male/female personality; Betty and Betty (Doublemint twins Cyb and Trish Barnstable), clones who argue which one is the clone; Ficus (Richard Kelton, in his biggest on-screen role), a humanoid emotionless plant; and Otto Palindrome (Conrad Janis, Mork and Mindy), the station commander. Episodes would often start with two other commanders being given prestigious assignments, while Quark would inevitably “take out the trash” somewhere, yet still end up embroiled in some sort of galactic issue.
Four New Sci-Fi Guests Explode onto the Phoenix Comicon stage
by Doc on Sep.15, 2008, under General News
Kate Davids writes “Mesa-The Phoenix Comicon has added actors Marina Sirtis, ‘Deanna Troi’ from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation,’ Tiffany Grant, known for her role as ‘Asuka’ from anime ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion,’ Erin Gray, known as ‘Commander Wilma’ from ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,’ and Gil Gerard, ‘Buck Rogers’ himself.” Read More for the details. The Phoenix Comicon takes place January 23-25, 2009.