Earth, 2147. The legacy of the Metal Wars, where man fought machines—and machines won. Bio-Dreads — monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors... and digitize them!
In 1987, before he created Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski was a writer for
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, a live-action sci-fi show for kids. 24 episodes were produced. Straczynski wrote or co-wrote 14 of them, including multi-episode plot arcs. A
line of interactive toys brought the battle into kids’ living rooms, and
Captain Power was also one of the very first shows on television to feature computer animation in every episode. But in an attempt to appeal to both children and the adults who watched with them, the campy show included some concepts and scenes critics deemed too violent for children and lasted only a single season in syndication.
The full run of the show has now been uploaded to Youtube. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 1, 2012 -
28 comments
Day at Night was an interview series on the public television station of the City University of New York that aired from 1973-4. CUNY TV is in the process of digitizing and uploading the 130 episodes that were produced, with 46 done so far. The episodes are just under half an hour in length. Among the people interviewed by host James Day are author
Ray Bradbury, actress
Myrna Loy, medical researcher
Jonas Salk, singer
Cab Calloway, writer
Christopher Isherwood, nuclear scientist
Edward Teller, comedian
Victor Borge, tennis player
Billie Jean King, linguist and activist
Noam Chomsky, composer
Aaron Copland, actor
Vincent Price and boxer
Muhammad Ali.
posted by Kattullus
on Jan 16, 2012 -
6 comments
"While most other notable British Science Fiction shows were over-ambitious in their special effects, with results ranging from the troubling (
Doctor Who) to the disastrous (
The Tomorrow People),
Sapphire & Steel [ATV, 1979 - 1982] simply did not
try to do anything the budget wouldn't allow. The result called for milking surreal horror for all it's worth, creating a show that is, while definitely not for everyone, quite capable of reducing so-inclined viewers to quivering little heaps behind the sofa."
posted by Iridic
on Dec 12, 2011 -
28 comments
"Let's do those drive-in totals. We have: Nineteen dead bodies
(plus fragments). Ten breasts
(shame on you, TNT censors). Two zombie breasts. One-hundred twenty-five zombies. Mummy dogs. One-half zombie dog. Ten gallons blood. Brain-eating. Gratuitous embalming. Zombie fu. Nekkid punk-rocker fondue. Gratuitous midget zombie. Torso S&M. One motor vehicle chase
(totalled by zombies). Pool cue fu. No aardvarking. Heads roll. Brains roll. Arms roll. Hands roll.
Joe Bob says, Check It Out." Only on
MonsterVision.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Feb 3, 2011 -
31 comments
"We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for 'Caprica' and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series. Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, 'Caprica' has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season." - The Battlestar Galactica prequel series
Caprica has been
cancelled, and it's final episodes consigned to 2011. As ever there is debate as to
what went wrong, though it looks like one complaint, the shows relative lack of action, will be addressed by the next spin-off:
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, set during the war years of a young William Adama.
posted by Artw
on Oct 28, 2010 -
125 comments
A one-hour dramatic television series.
Action - Adventure - Science Fiction.
The first such concept with strong central leas characters plus other continuing regulars.
Gene Roddenberry's original pitchfor Star Trek (.pdf) - featuring Robert M. April, captain of the S.S. Yorktown. (
via)
posted by Artw
on Mar 13, 2010 -
44 comments
"A frail old man lost in space and time. They give him this name because they don't know who he is. He seems not to remember where he has come from; he is suspicious and capable of sudden malignance; he seems to have some undefined energy; he is searching for something as well as fleeing from something. He has a 'machine' which enables them to travel together through time, through space, and through matter."
The Genesis of Doctor Who.
posted by Knappster
on Nov 19, 2008 -
49 comments
"We were treated like rock stars. I was told there were female Trekkies who kept lists of all the cast members with whom they'd slept. I was told this!"
Extracts from 'Up To Now', the autobiography of
William Shatner... from his time on
Star Trek, where he comes over as the colossal jerk of legend, to his poignant recollections of the death of his third wife.
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on May 12, 2008 -
75 comments
Cosmos Patrol: Star Trek for Communists In the late 60s, the Soviets copied the TV show
Star Trek and used it as propaganda and entertainment. Set in the 23rd Century, the 400 galaxy-exploring crewmembers are led by a handsome Commander with a coldly logical First Officer. Ensign Chekhov assists as they encounter alien life forms and embrace them as brothers.
posted by stevis
on Jan 12, 2002 -
25 comments
Let it rest, already! The
fifth Star Trek series is going into casting, with filming to begin in May for a release in Autumn 2001. From the character descriptions it looks like it's basically a remake of the original series. I think they've run out of ideas. (Link via
GeekPress.)
posted by Steven Den Beste
on Mar 5, 2001 -
26 comments
"Babylon" brothers and sisters, a fan has collected, archived and portaled a large collection of postings (Usenet and other forms) on writing, SF and TV work by J. Michael Straczynski, the "Babylon 5" creator-executive producer, also a longtime SF writer and, if you are as old as I am, you may remember him as the Scripts columnist for Writer's Digest. They're not ordered chronologically or topically, so they read more like random postcards from the volcano. But there's plenty of writing advice here and some nuggets of TV gossip dropped along the road.
posted by jhiggy
on Oct 5, 2000 -
1 comment
