Hacker Chronicles 2/HACKER2.BIN/425.SF018076.TXT

Text File | 1993-02-05 | 18KB | 444 lines

SF-LOVERS Digest            Friday, 5 Feb 1993         Volume 18 : Issue 76

Today's Topics:

         Television - Star Trek (2 msgs) & Deep Space 9 (6 msgs) &
                      Space: 1999 & New Superman TV Show &
                      Forever Knight

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Date: 13 Jan 93 19:12:09 GMT
From: [e-mail] (RANDY_GOLDBERG)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: SF Writers and ST

[e-mail] writes:
>I mean, why are there no real sf writers on these ST shows?  Why don't
>they spend some of those millions of dollars on some decent writers?  I
>hear that BABYLON 5 has Harlan Ellison as script editor, and William
>Gibson among others as writers.  Now, there's a concept - using SF writers
>to write SF tv!  Hello Star Trek, hello!?!?

As someone else pointed out, Melinda Snodgrass is deeply involved in STTNG.
Further, after the shoddy way Gene treated David Gerrold and Harlan Ellison
all those years ago, no self-respecting "big-name" author will touch ST
with a ten-foot pole.

Granted, there have been people who started out in ST who have *become* big
names, who still write ST (Peter David, A.C. Crispin, Vonda McIntyre).  But
they don't count.

Randy

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Date: 3 Feb 93 00:37:22 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Marc M. Pack)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: ST:TNG - Teeny tiny little plot hole?

This is regarding the newest ST:TNG ("Aquiel"?), the one where Geordi and
the rest of the crew get involved with the murder investigation on a relay
outpost.

SPOILER Warning:

I'm trying to piece together the events leading up to the arrival of the
Enterprise, in order to get a grasp of one (almost trivial) plot hole in
the episode.  Okay, here goes:

1.  Rocha is stationed on a remote planet.
2.  Rocha is destroyed/absorbed by a hitherto unknown kind of creature.
3.  Rocha-Creature is then stationed on relay outpost with Aquiel.
4.  After several days, Rocha-Creature gets hungry and tries to
    destroy/absorb Aquiel.
5.  Aquiel fights, starts to succumb to absorption process.
6.  Aquiel gets away, makes it to weapons locker.
7.  Aquiel shoots Rocha-Creature with phaser, no apparent effect.
8.  Aquiel increases phaser to setting ten, kills creature with sustained
    fire.
9.  Injured and confused, Aquiel escapes in shuttle.
10. Rocha-Creature, still hungry, proceeds to destroy/absorb pet dog,
    becomes Dog-Creature.
11. Enterprise arrives, murder investigation ensues, autopsy reveals that
    vaporized remains belong to killed Rocha-Creature.
12. Dog-Creature, still hungry, attacks Geordi and is killed by sustained,
    level ten phaser fire.

Okay!  Now if someone could just explain to me where I've misunderstood, I
would be most grateful.  Otherwise, this episode must be from the "ST:TNG -
Just when you thought our writing couldn't be worse" school of television.

Marc Pack
[e-mail]

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Date: 20 Jan 93 22:29:28 GMT
From: [e-mail] (RANDY_GOLDBERG)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: DS9

Responses to several posts in the last SF-LOVERS digest:

[e-mail] (Lady Johanna Constantine) writes:
>Isn't DS9 a Bajoran station, not Cardassian?  I haven't watched my tape
>again, but I could have sworn that was it.

DS9 was built by the Cardassians, but under the withdrawal agreement, it is
now the property of Bajor, under Starfleet administration.

[e-mail] (Eric E. Katz) writes:
>About the Cardassians leaving their space station for the Federation to
>claim, why didn't they have a self-destruct triggered from remote.
>Knowing the way the Cardassians are, it could have been very beneficial
>for them to blow up the space station from the inside at any time
>especially when the Enterprise was docked there.

Probably because it would have violated the terms of the armistice/
withdrawl agreement, and Starfleet would have smashed them into very small
pieces.

[e-mail] (Kevin J. Chen) writes:
>[e-mail] (Yamanari) says:
>>As for the doctor - I kind of like him.  At least he isn't some
>>RikerClone (tm) or WesleyPod (tm) like some others.
>
>Are you sure?  The first thought that popped into my head when I was
>watching the series was "Oh, my god - they've combined Wesley and his mom
>into a single character..."  It's also fairly telling that no one seems to
>remember his name (I know I don't).

I do.  It's Julian Bashir.  I like him, too, though he seems a bit
scatterbrained.  He may be Wesley-brilliant, but at least he's gone through
his training, and he's only brilliant within his field (at least, so far).

[e-mail] (Crystal Kile) writes:
>In an earlier posting, someone referred to Dax as a "Trill."  I ask you,
>what the hell is a Trill????

The Trill are a new species, introduced in a 4th season STTNG episode.
Trill are symbiotic.  The main mind resides in a slug-like creature, which
appears to have a lifespan several times that of a human.  The hosts are
humanoid, and appear to have similar lifespans to us.  Th slug lives in the
humanoid's abdomen.

We still don't know a) what happens to the host's mind and b) why the hosts
allow this in the first place.  I think the answer to b) might be that the
hosts cannot reproduce without the symbiont in place.

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Date: 20 Jan 93 15:40:59 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Kevin J. Chen)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: DS9

[e-mail] writes:
>One question, if this is such a bad show why are you still watching it?

Call it naive faith.  We're hoping it might get better.

I'm still not horribly impressed after the second episode.  It was fun to
see the sisters of Duraas again (now that they've been partially funded by
the Bajoran nationalists, is the Klingon Empire going to erupt in civil war
again?), but the rest of the episode just didn't do much.  Kira's loyalties
were never really called into question (BTW, when did she go for the Demi
Moore haircut?), and Tana's plan to eliminate the wormhole to make the
Federation go away just didn't make a whole lot of sense.  After all, the
Federation had planned to occupy the Cardassian space station even *before*
anyone knew about the wormhole.  I'm also vaguely surprised that the
omnipotent non-linear aliens-in-the-wormhole didn't try to stop him; after
all, a bomb detonation would certainly disrupt their existence quite a bit.
Oh, wait.  Maybe they were just a plot device and will never appear again.
Hurm.

Other randomness:

I'm really beginning to dislike the way everyone refers to the space
station as "DS9".  This just sounds goofy.  It does make you wonder where
DS1 through 8 are, though.

It's too bad about the doctor's little spy mission; I was really hoping
that he'd go in *wearing* Odo...  What exactly was the Cardassian trying to
achieve, anyway (did they mention or reveal this somewhere in the episode?
I missed it) by revealing the meeting between the Klingons and the Bajoran
nationals?

Sigh.  Maybe next week gets better.

Kevin

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Date: 20 Jan 93 19:56:26 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Jim Mann)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: RE: DS9

>I'm still not horribly impressed after the second episode.  It was fun to
>see the sisters of Duraas again (now that they've been partially funded by
>the Bajoran nationalists, is the Klingon Empire going to erupt in civil
>war again?), but the rest of the episode just didn't do much.

How are they partially funded by Bajoran nationilists?  I got the feeling
they were just selling weapons to terrorists, then making even more money
by turning around and selling the terrorists to the Cardasians.

>Kira's loyalties were never really called into question (BTW, when did she
>go for the Demi Moore haircut?), and Tana's plan to eliminate the wormhole
>to make the Federation go away just didn't make a whole lot of sense.
>After all, the Federation had planned to occupy the Cardassian space
>station even *before* anyone knew about the wormhole.

No, the Federation had said they were going to be there for a while, during
the transition. The existence of the worm hole makes it likely they'll be
there for a long time.

>It's too bad about the doctor's little spy mission; I was really hoping
>that he'd go in *wearing* Odo...  What exactly was the Cardassian trying
>to achieve, anyway (did they mention or reveal this somewhere in the
>episode?  I missed it) by revealing the meeting between the Klingons and
>the Bajoran nationals?

Yes. He was trying to make the Federation aware of the problem without it
coming through official channels (and thereby having to really admit that
he was a spy).

Jim Mann
Stratus Computer
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: 20 Jan 93 19:09:05 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Roger Tang)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: DS9

"Kevin J. Chen" <[e-mail]> writes:
>I'm still not horribly impressed after the second episode.  It was fun to
>see the sisters of Duraas again (now that they've been partially funded by
>the Bajoran nationalists, is the Klingon Empire going to erupt in civil
>war again?), but the rest of the episode just didn't do much.  Kira's
>loyalties were never really called into question (BTW, when did she go for
>the Demi Moore haircut?), and Tana's plan to eliminate the wormhole to
>make the Federation go away just didn't make a whole lot of sense.

   Yet, they rang true. He acted EXACTLY like a political fanatic would do
(and I'm speaking from experience here - many of the more extreme people
I've worked with had exactly this type of myopic view).

>It's too bad about the doctor's little spy mission; I was really hoping
>that he'd go in *wearing* Odo...  What exactly was the Cardassian trying
>to achieve, anyway (did they mention or reveal this somewhere in the
>episode?  I missed it) by revealing the meeting between the Klingons and
>the Bajoran nationals?

   Now I thought it was obvious - get the Federation to do the dirty work
for them. Much nicer work to get a potential antagonist to work with you on
an issue, and much more realistic...

[e-mail]

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Date: 26 Jan 93 02:08:33 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Yamanari)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: Ds9: The Viral Generation

Well, if you ignore the huge, disgusting hole brought about by the problems
of cross-species viral infections (without a change in symptom, no less)
and the "mutated to an airborn variety" bit, I'll have to admit that this
was finally a good episode of DS9.  (A step up.  The first one was bad, the
second was lame, and the third was OK.  This one was fun.)

Spoilers:

Ok, bit problems are already listed above, but the following are some
stylistic problems.

1.  Are we going to have an Odo-morphs-with-furniture in every episode?

2.  That camera shot with Kira (sp) telling, face to face, the doctor that
he was infected was *extremely* poorly done.  I don't think she's actually
cross-eyed, but it sure looked like it.

3.  The ENDING.  While I really like Quark (sp) the Ferengi, and his
interaction w/Odo in this episode (It was *fun* for once), I really thought
that the ending - (ship ejects, blows up.  Then, "...and here's how we
solved the problem, THE END.). Boy, these guys *really* need to either get
some editing lessons, or, preferably, accept the concept of more two-part
episodes.

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Date: 26 Jan 93 12:32:01 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Dave Shariff Yadallee)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: ST:DS9

Question of the day:

   Doesn't DS9 kind of reminds you of the UN intervening and helping out
some countries?

Dave Shariff Yadallee
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Date: 25 Jan 93 06:02:38 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Nick Sayer)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: MAILING LIST: Space: 1999

I am firing up a new mailing list for any and all fans of the 1974-1975 TV
show 'Space:1999'. Subject matter of this list is anything at all to do
with the show, the characters, the actors, fan groups, anything.  Anyone
who is interested in this show and wants to join the list can do so by
sending mail to:

[e-mail]

Nick Sayer
[e-mail]

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Date: 31 Jan 93 03:32:04 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Bill Henley)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: New Superman TV show?

A short news item in the Jan. 28 USA TODAY newspaper rported that ABC and
Lorimar Productions are working on a new Superman TV show for next season.
The description sounded a bit bizarre, though; the show is supposedly to be
titled "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman", and is to be a
"hip, '90s," MOONLIGHTING-like look at the romance of the two characters.

Anyone have any confirmation of this news other than the USA TODAY item, or
any additional information?

Bill Henley

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Date: 1 Feb 93 07:11:58 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Steve Fellows)
Reply-to: [e-mail]
Subject: Help us save Forever Knight

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Forever Knight is one of the shows
currently airing in CBS' latenight CrimeTime After PrimeTime lineup.  With
David Letterman's move from NBC to CBS, all of the shows in the current
latenight lineup will be cancelled. However, CBS is considering moving the
most popular shows into primetime.

The show's premise is this: (thanks to Lisa McDavid for writing this)

   For those who haven't seen it, Forever Knight is the story of Toronto
police detective Nick Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies), who has an unusual
problem in his personal life. He's a vampire, and he wants to be mortal
again. As a young Crusader in 1228, he unknowingly got involved with a
vampire, and was made one himself. For hundreds of years, in many
identities, Nick has tried to atone and to become human.  Now, he may be
about to succeed, with the help of Dr. Natalie Lambert, a young medical
examiner who knows his secret.
   The show is a well-written police mystery, with a good deal of humor,
and a lot of tantalizing frustration as Nick's vampirism limits the
definition of his relationship with Natalie.  If this sounds like a show
show you'd like to try, the one this Tuesday is a good introduction, since
the flashbacks (an important part of this show's technique) told us for the
first time how Natalie found out about Nick.

We need support to show CBS that this show has a following and we want to
see it continue. Also, if CBS does decide to drop it, the production
company (Columbia/Tri-Star) wants to offer the show to cable networks, and
we want them to have some evidence to show those networks that the show
will be watched.

Try watching the show once or twice (it's on Tuesday nights) and if you
like it, call and/or send a letter or postcard to the folks listed below as
soon as possible. CBS will probably be making its decision the show by
February 10.

CBS:

CBS Audience Services
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
212-975-4321 (ask for Audience Services) 10:00-11:30, 14:00-15:30 EST

CBS general phone number: 213-852-2345
CBS President Jeff Sagansky, FAX: [phone]

Rod Perth, CBS (Vice President of LateNight programming)
7800 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
213-852-2144

Columbia/Tri-Star Pictures:

James Parriott/Forever Knight (Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer)
Culver Studios
9336 West Washington Blvd
Building C, Room 209
Culver City, CA 90232

John Feldheimer (the exec who'll present FK to the cable networks if CBS
Tri-Star Television                                           cancels it)
9336 West Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310-202-4900

Columbia Pictures Television
1438 North Gower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90028-8394
213-460-7200

TV Guide (they called FK and the rest of the CrimeTime lineup "cheesy")

Letters Department
TV Guide
Radnor, PA 19088
 If you do write to TV Guide, please also send a copy to CBS at the
 Audience Services address above.

Fan clubs:
There are currently 2 Forever Knight fan clubs as well as a BITNET/Internet
LISTSERV mailing list.

Forever Knight
P.O. Box 1108
Boston, MA 02102-1108
617-522-0387

The Raven
c/o Amy Hull & Paula Sanders
603 West Walnut Street
Carbondale, IL 62901

The e-mail list is [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Credits: Lisa McDavid  ([e-mail])
         Amy L. Hull   ([e-mail])
         Evelyn Duncan ([e-mail])
         Joe Wells     ([e-mail])
         [e-mail]
 and probably others I don't know about

Steve Fellows
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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