TV Shows I Like: Lois and Clark - The New Adventures of Superman

 

Ah the 90s!

I'd forgotten just how good Lois and Clark:The New Adventures of Superman is. Its pretty great!

I'll be upfront, The DC Animated Universe, Superman, is MY Superman. I think the animated series gave us the definitive versions of both Superman and Lex Luthor...

 

Yet Dean Cain's portrayal of a young Man of Steel is something special, he and the series bring a charm we are lacking in entertainment these days.

 

I get all warm and fuzzy watching this show. 

One of the biggest things I liked about it was - Jonathan Kent, DOES NOT DIE! Eddie Jones really helped make the show.

Of course Lane Smith as Perry White did the same. 

Overall, an earnest depiction of The Man of Steel. We need more like it!

Is It Ethical to Recontextualize Star Trek Canon?

Let me state upfront. I have no problems with a hard reboot, that takes elements of existing Trek Canon, and remixes them. Provided its clear, that yes, its a reboot with a new creative force driving it.

The more I've had time to digest the matter, the more uneasy I've become with what Star Trek: Discovery is doing. It is not simply a clean reboot - Rather, it wants things both ways. To be original, or at least modern, while grafting itself onto existing canon and therefor forcing those who might have issues to shut up, and like it.


Like I said. When I watched both seasons, it became clear, there are really two different TV series here.

The body of Star Trek Canon is, everything from The Cage, all the way up to Star Trek: Nemesis. Anything that comes after, and is not pushing the time line forward is, at best supplemental.

The jury, of course remains seated, and hearing the case, where it comes to Star Trek: Picard. Is that simply pushing the time line forward, or will it also be supplemented by things Star Trek: Discovery adding new context to The Next Generation?

Artistically, in regards to pop culture, this is indeed highly disturbing. Rewriting history, by skewing a body of works historical context, with modern - Agenda, is almost Stalinist in its revisionism.

Would Gene Roddenberry, be OK with Michael Burnham, a HUMAN foster  sibling being grafted onto Spock's history? I'm not so sure... He was not even keen on Sybok, and let me state, Sybok, as a character makes more sense as a contrast to Spock, than Michael Burnham does from a story telling standpoint. It literally makes sense, Sarek would have had a pre-Amanda Grayson, purely Vulcan coupling, given what we know about Vulcan history and culture.

Is it ethical, to do this?

I'm not attacking here, I'm sincerely ASKING.

Is it?

Star Trek: Picard

I want to make it clear, there will be spoilers here.

I'll get this out of the way This is not Star Trek. Not too much about this enthuses me.

So what is this?

Apparently its a platform for Sir Patrick Stewart to preach at the world about Brexit and the election of President Trump. And does not do it very artful either which only makes watching it unfold more tedious.

Look, as an actor, I like Patrick Stewart. I could do without his blatant political commentary.


Do the producers of this show, know the United States is not StarFleet, and in reality is a sovereign nation without unlimited tech like replicators? Oh and the Romulan Star Empire is supposed to be a an EMPIRE which kind of implies a functioning military able to move people and resources around.

An empire does not fall just because of one planet being blow up. the Romulans are paranoids. They would never place all their eggs in one basket and, they would also have sufficient resources all by themselves to relocate their populace. Never mind the Vulcans would never abandon their brethren, even if the Federation (They keep talking about StarFleet) would ever act in such an out of characteristic manner. 

It does not even fit the nature of what the United Federation of Planets is. Its sort of a UN. Earth is sovereign entity within its body, yet is not the whole of the UFP, or StarFleet. Somewhere in recent Star Trek these related but not monolithic entities have become a mush.

An alliance of planets is not going to ever do, what Star Trek: Picard, tells us it did. There are a whole host of reasons this Romulans as refugees fails as story point and metaphor.   I blame Sir Patrick Stewart for this more than anyone else. When it comes to creative input where Star Trek stands he has a terrible track record.

Speaking of. Not only does this show seem to play loose with TNG, it also ironically enough rides over JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek movie. The nova that blew up Romulus wasn't their own sun but another faraway star going nova.

Not here. The Romulan's own sun blew them up.

Do you know how stupid that is?

Oh and I guess Bruce Maddox is the big bad guy of the series. Did Patrick Stewart watch Measure of a Man? Yeah Maddox began as the heavy of the episode by by the end of it things were all kosher and he was on Team Data.

Making Bruce Maddox a terrorist for Synthetics rights, to "Own President Trump" is going to fall flat.

Huh?

Somehow they have managed to ruin Noonian Soong without even mentioning his name...

Its hard for me to cover just how badly they have handled Data and what Data actually is. The writers have no understanding of what a Soong-Type Android is, or what went into their construction.

We can now... Clone them. What?

Oh its like they don't get the joke of B4, and have forgotten all about Lore. Hint B4 was the prototype and Lore and Data were the perfected models - Each in their own turn. The writers don't seem to grasp this.

Why are they ripping off Battlestar Galactica and Blade Runner?

By the way. Does the Federations (They oddly only talk about StarFleet these days in Kurtzman Star Trek) novel ban on "synthetics" apply to holograms?

I am sure Robert Picardo's EMH is pleased he's been outlawed. Providing they are consistent about what it means to outlaw synthetics and this is just not some poorly thought out emotional manipulation on the part of those involved.

Speaking of off screen characters, who are poorly treated. Do you know, Dr. Beverly Crusher is dead?

Why? Why do that? Is Gates McFadden retired? If is OK. But still DON"T KILL A LEGACY CHARACTER OFF -- OFF SCREEN.

Enterprise-E, what's that? Guess Secret Hideout didn't licence it, even though it would have made more sense. However the D is more a memberberry.

They seem to forget all about the Enterprise-E while making indirect references to Star Trek: Nemesis, without outright doing so. And that is because who owns what and how the deal which was made between Bad Robot and CBS that got us to where we are today has been written.

The movies are owned by Paramount.

Did I mention, this is too contemporary? Not only in how it looks but in how people behave and talk. Its like Millennials glanced at a wiki entry for TNG and tried to recreate it without very many visual references or an understanding of what they were remaking.

My understanding is, this is all going to go off the rails by the 4th episode and CBS is bracing for the backlash. I don't need to even see that much, since all the signs are there for where this is going and I am sorry.

This is not Star Trek, though its dressed up in vague The Next Generation clothes to try to fool a few people. It will briefly succeed in fooling those people. Either because it affirms their political biases, or they've been caught up by nostalgia watching Patrick Stewart play a Picard-like figure for the first time in a long while.

Star Trek: Picard, is bland and is only going to go downhill from here.

Danmachi/Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Danmachi/Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?/Familia Myth is my new favorite thing!

No really, I'm obsessed!



I can't express how much I enjoy this Anime and the world it has presented. Aside from its wonderfully rendered art, and quirky characters, both gods, humans, and animal people. I like the idea of presenting a "Dungeons & Dragons" environment like its not a game, yet the conceits of leveling up, and all the attendant roleplaying game ideas are there, including the collection of jewels which are converted into player money to be spent to buy better equipment and the like.

Right, Hestia is adorable.

Now its rather long, and somewhat awkward title might turn some people off, but I assure you, this show is bigger than Fanservice. Everyone, god and human alike has a story and aspirations, and are not just there for shock value. 

Judging by the the internet, I'm a little late jumping onto the Danmachi craze.

Books I Like: The Romulan Way by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood

Blurb:

They are a race of warriors, a noble people to whom honor is all. They are cousin to the Vulcan, ally to the Klingon, and Starfleet's most feared and cunning adversary. They are the Romulans – and for eight years, Federation Agent Terise LoBrutto has hidden in their midst. 
Now the presence of a captured Starfleet officer forces her to make a fateful choice between exposure and escape. Between maintaining her cover – and saving the life of Dr. Leonard McCoy. 
Here, in a startlingly different adventure, is the truth behind one of the most fascinating alien races ever created in Star Trek – the Romulans.

Not only is this a good Star Trek book, from a time when Trek novels were allowed to go off on their own threads, and be their own thing - Its a highly enjoyable Sci-fi read.



The Romulan Way is unusual, in that all its major action does not take place on the Enterprise, and in fact only one Enterprise 1701 crew member figures into the plot. Dr. Leonard McCoy.

The major action takes place on Romulus, and in flashbacks, which recount The Sundering from Vulcan. And the story mainly focuses on its protagonist Arrhae ir-Mnaeha t'Khellian aka Terise Haleakala-LoBrutto, a servant in House Khellian.

This was my first experience of Diane Duane's "Rihannsu", and it, more so than any depiction of Romulans on screen, cemented my notion of those brethren to the Vulcans. In truth, on screen depictions of Romulans in The Next Generation era failed to live up to what I got out of Diane Duane's writing - Someways, this also would later apply to the Vulcan's in the Enterprise era, which attempted to tactile some of the same historical material related to both species.

It was not however the story alone, which impacted me. The writing style, and presentation of information was unusual for a Star Trek book. That is to say, it felt more like an original Sci-Fi novel, rather than mere media tie-in. A book that could stand on its own, beyond the property it was part of.

As a writer I can say, this book certainly had an impact on me, and my own work in a positive manner.

You would do yourself a favor by reading this book. When you do, you are better off putting aside almost everything on screen, post-TOS out of your mind regarding Romulans. It helps.

The Mandalorian - Pilot

I don't want to overstate this, as I think its too soon to fully judge a series based on a single episode in which not very much happened, but Disney's The Mandalorian is actually not bad. For what we've seen so far it was actually pretty good.

Before I go on. There will be SPOILERS!




The Mandalorian, himself is actually an enjoyable character, keeping in mind he's a mysterious figure we don't know all that much about at this point. This is helpful. Having a likable central character goes a long way in letting viewers get into a series.


Like I said. Not that much happened.


We learn it takes place post-Empire. There are seemingly Imperial remnants, out there as Werner Herzog's "The Client" appears to be a former Imperial of some ranking. He was after all, wearing the emblem of the Empire and being guarded by Stormtroopers.

So there's a lot of laser fire and a few gruesome moments. All of which lead to our Mandalorian buddy becoming employed by "The Client" to seek out a package. The Client pays the bounty hunter with a pressed piece of steel emblazoned with the Imperial Emblem, which seems to be of high cultural value to the Mandalor.

Our protagonist takes the job, and leaves. Returns to his tribe, where his leader, a female Mandalor forges for him from the steel an shoulder pauldron, and then the Mandalorian is off to seek out his prey.


Sidebar: Star Wars typically makes it very clear what planet we are on at any given time. This show however, does not do so, and its a hindrance to the story. Please, if you are not going to incorporate it into dialogue, at least use a chyron to inform us what the planet is named. At one point it looked like one of the planets might have been intended to be Batuu (Galaxies Edge) but its hard to be sure.


Back to the mission. Along the way, our Mandalorian meets some people, fires some more lasers and almost becomes friends with a Droid. Almost... He hates Droids.


After killing a bunch of people he discovers what, who he has been looking for. The Asset...

Adorable! A baby member of Master Yoda's species. I hope this plays into a larger aspect of Star Wars lore and we learn about Yoda's species. I get the impression they are rare, otherwise there would not be a fuss to acquire a specimen. 

What did I think of all this?

I enjoyed it. But I remain skeptical. There's still time for this to go off the rails. Thus far The Mandalorian, is enjoyable and feels more like Star Wars than most of what we have gotten out of Disney. In some ways this actually reminds me of Rogue One - A Disney Star Wars movie, that I do in fact like.

I'd say be cautiously optimistic.

One episode in, its too early to come to a real solid conclusion. I will say this is probably the Star Wars Disney should have been giving us from the beginning.

Jon Favreau, should probably be put in charge of any new Star Wars Trilogy whenever that might come about. I don't want to jump too far ahead, but it does look like he has a handle on the universe.

The Mandalorian, could end up being the Saga's only remaining hope.

Star Trek: The Cage

"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the American television series Star Trek. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until late 1988.

Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

Majel Barrett as Number One

John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce

The original Star Trek Pilot, is a product of its time, and is glorious for being so! 

Imagine some alternate reality where we follow the space going adventures of Christoper Pike. Who, totally comes off as a 50s dad - That's not a slam, its an observation. 

I had a bit of culture shock when I turned this on, the other night. Like, wait! This isn't Star Trek, its some other Science Fiction TV Show! 

One thing, this more so, than even the whole of TOS comes across as Americans in Space. Again, not a slam. 

You have a sense, its not meant to be set too far into the future, and in fact Faster Than Light travel feels - NEW. Very new. At best it seems like the (Late) 22nd Century, and I am even doubtful of that. 

You start to realize, women aboard the USS Enterprise were to be better regarded when they wore mini skirts. That's not intended as a backhanded compliment. Every member of the crew wears the same style uniform in the pilot, and yet Christopher Pike seems to be experiencing his own sort of culture shock at having a female yeoman on his bridge. 

It was a crazy moment, when Captain Pike remarked he "Can't get used to having women on the bridge." 

What? 

Imagine if Christopher Pike's Star Trek, had been what we got? In fact I almost want to see that alternate reality. Pike in command for 5 years.