Octopodial Chrome

The Virtual Ranger has a great comparison of National Geographic and BBC nature specials. The National Geographic version is staged, hyper-active, short-attention-span-oriented, not terribly interesting and only marginally educational. The BBC version is thought-provoking and designed to encourage the viewer to think in a methodical fashion.

We need less of the former and more of the latter.

Wil Wheaton reviews Start Trek: The Next Generation episodes. What makes this notable is that Wheaton was a regular actor on Star Trek. He’s not afraid to point out how absurd the writing could be, but is also willing to give the show what (little, IMHO) credit it deserves in places. Really cool stuff.

I just watched the first Christmas episode of Moonlighting, from way back in 1985. At the end the camera pans out of the scene to reveal the entire studio & its crew, all singing The First Noël. It’s striking how much our culture has changed: in 1985 one could make a Christmas episode featuring a religious song; nowadays one cannot even refer to the Christmas season, but rather to some absurd holiday season. It’s sad how low we’ve sunk in a mere 21 years.

I’ve recently been re-watching the Highlander television series which aired during my high school years. In case you’re not familiar with the plot, it’s based off of the Highlander film(s): for an unknown reason, some people are immortal; they can be killed, but they come back to life—the only way that they can be killed is by cutting off their heads. There’s a bit more than just this, but suffice it to say that the upshot is that in pretty much every episode the hero, Duncan McLeod, fights a duel with some bad guy or gal.

As a teenage boy, this had just about everything I could have asked for: a cool hero for me to identify with; hot women (the show was half-produced by French television) to drool over; cool historical flashbacks with lots of great costumes; and a guaranteed swordfight in every episode. As an adult, though, I find it somewhat lacking: the acting is…sad (the hero couldn’t act his way out of a wet paper bag); the costumes range from pretty good to really, truly pathetic; the flashbacks themselves are mid-90s characters in historical settings; the swordfights are absurd stage choreography (hint: in a real fight, one doesn’t attack one’s opponent’s sword but his body; a nasty cut to a sword does nothing, but a good cut to the torso can end the whole thing). But one thing remains: the gals are almost uniformly hot, even if they are dolled up in mid-90s clothing (which is beginning to look almost as foolish to my eyes as 80s and 70s styles, sadly).

And really, what more does a show need than attractive women, a thin plot and some swordfights which are passable if one’s had enough to drink? Nothing, I think you’ll find.

A Japanese TV show locked a man naked in a room until he won $10,000 in prizes through mail-entry contests; his ordeal lasted a year and three month. I really hope that this is a hoax, but something tells me that it’s not.

TV Guide has a bit of humour by Joss Whedon about the future directions of television. Great for a laugh.

Carrie Lukas of the Independent Women’s Forum takes on the insipid Commander in Chief, pointing out that its world of sexism and such quite simply doesn’t exist.

From the Netflix blurb for Jeremiah:

Based on the graphic novels by Hermann Huppen, this sci-fi epic stars Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner as survivors of a deadly virus that, two decades ago, killed everyone but the young. In a world ruled by anarchy and danger, Jeremiah (Perry) is in search of Valhalla, a place that his father told him held hope for the survivors. As a new leader, Jeremiah faces warring groups of survivors who are hoping for peace, but desperate just to live.

Dear Lord, could it possibly be any worse?

…this sci-fi epic stars Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner…

Has-beens…check.

…deadly virus that, two decades ago, killed everyone but the young

Hackneyed post-apocalyptic plot…check. As an aside, if it were two decades ago, then the survivors would hardly be very young now. Which explains, I guess, the casting of Messrs. Perry & Warner.

…Jeremiah…is in search of Valhalla…

Goofiness…check.

As a new leader, Jeremiah faces warring groups of survivors who are hoping for peace, but desperate just to live.

Piss-poor economics and back-story…check. Here’s a hint: very few are ever new leaders; generally it’s a long, hard slog to the top. Also, in situations of limited resources warfare is often the most counter-productive strategy possible. Let me guess—this is one of those post-apocalyptic tales in which everyone has a US Army brigade’s supply of ready-made ammo?

And once again sci-fi fans are left in the lurch. My question is: who thought that this could possibly be good?

I’ve recently been watching Alias, a television series about a gal in the intel biz. Last night as she and her fellow agent entered a Swedish nightclub, I realised something: everywhere they go, she changes costume—this night it might be one type of dress, tomorrow another and the next day something else entirely—while his disguise always consists of a coat and tie. Now, far be it for me to disdain coat and tie, but doesn’t it seem unfair to us fellows that we do not get a chance to show off in order to attract gals, while they get to show off to attract us? Not that I mind them showing themselves off, of course—but it’d be cool to be able to do the same.

I think I could figure out that. The whole having-a-personality thing is much more difficult…

I was just watching an episode of Frasier, and apparently the first episode of his (fictional) radio show was 21 May 1993—my 15th birthday. How very droll.

There is a comprehensive Guide to Springfield, USA put together by careful watching of many, many Simpsons episodes. These guys have way too much time on their hands, but it’s still quite cool!