The last time I watched “The Menagerie” recently, I was wondering whether this episode still represents greatness. Don’t get me wrong. There were strong performances from the regular cast (particularly Nimoy) and the guest cast (Malachi Throne, Susan Oliver, Jeffrey Hunter and Meg Wylie). It made great use of effects that were common at the […]

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That’s a reference to the two NASA astronauts now onboard the successfully launched Space X Crew Dragon capsule onboard the Falcon rocket. I noticed how this may be the first crew craft that was influenced by science fiction about as much as its been influenced by previous craft. The sleek touch panel looks like Star […]

Read more "Doug and Bob’s Excellent Adventure"

From the looks of the trailers, Ad Astra seemed like it was going to be a very compelling space tale. For the most part, in terms of general plot, it did not disappoint. Astronaut Roy Mc Bride (Brad Pitt) is sent on a mission to stop his father (played by Tommy Lee Jones), presumed lost […]

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In today’s installment of the new Twilight Zone series (“Six Degrees of Freedom”) a crew that is just about to launch for Mars finds out that there has been a break out of nuclear war that has decimated cities. Mission control advises the crew that they in the control room are about to evacuate. The […]

Read more "More on New TZ: A Fresh Look at an Old Idea"

Many of you likely know that there is a new reboot out there of the Twilight Zone provided by CBS All Access (for the uninitiated, that’s CBS owned streaming service that provides all of their back load–everything from I Love Lucy to Big Bang Theory—and new original content just for streaming, such as Star Trek: […]

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A little while ago I posted a review suggesting some problems with the latest installment in the science fiction anthology series, Black Mirror (Netflix). “Bandersnatch” is perhaps a bit shallow in some of the choices it makes (or rather, the choices it offers us to make), but one “plus” of the new episode (Netflix seems […]

Read more "Is “Bandersnatch” Time Travel Real?"

Last week Netflix dropped two offerings that can be seen to overlap in the sci fi genre, so I thought I’d talk about each one, though we’ve seen quite a lot of talk already about these two, especially from Netflix itself. Bird Box seemed like it would have a lot to offer, especially with a […]

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Did anyone else think that this last season of Doctor Who, at least at times, seemed like a rehash of the 1960’s 2 season Irwin Allen show, The Time Tunnel? The premise of that show was that the two leads were set adrift in time (usually the past) due to an accident involving a secret […]

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I thought I’d make some remarks concerning Hulu’s series, The First, regarding the first crewed mission to Mars. I like how they turned a cliche on its head to explore the relationship between an astronaut and his daughter. The cliche is one we’ve scene before: male scientist/engineer/astronaut is left to raise his one child, a […]

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This will be the first of several posts that will consider time travel as presented by Harlan Ellison. I’d like to start with one of his most popular works, the “City on the Edge of Forever” episode of Star Trek. The basic plot is that the Enterprise detects a violent time and space disturbance on […]

Read more "Time Travel and Harlan Ellison Part I"