Two Reasons to Smile

Both items above represent two important groups that I followed late in high school and throughout my time in college - Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The former of the two, MST3K, was a show on television that showcased different terrible movies each week, on top of which the show’s cast would add their own commentary. It ran for 11 years, starting out on a small, Minnesota public-access cable channel, quickly making its way to a then very young Comedy Central, and finally retiring on the SciFi channel.

The show ended its run in 1999, and its production team went off to make their ways. Mike Nelson, the show’s head writer and second main character (the show’s co-creator Joel Hodgson was its first) wrote a few mildly successful books, but eventually found his way back to movie commentaries with a little start-up called Rifftrax. Recently, a couple of his MST3K alumni joined him on that project, which provides mp3 audio commentary tracks for more well-known film and television projects (eg. 300, Lost, etc.).

Returning to their obscure (and usually terrible) cinematic roots, The Film Crew series will again unite their funny commentary with these gems of bad cinema. There first of a thus-far planned 4 DVD series is out now, and its a fantastic film from the 60’s called Hollywood After Dark starring…you’ll love this bit…a young Rue Mcclanahan as a starlet stripper!! The commentary is just as enjoyable as I remember it being with MST3K, and the movie is just as awful as many they showcased. If you enjoy making fun of bad movies, or just want to see what Blanch du Bois looked like back in the day, go check it out!

While you know what I was constantly watching back in my dorm days, you’re probably wondering what I listened to on my portable CD player whilst biking around UCF. The Squirrel Nut Zippers were one of my favorite swing/folk bands back in the 90’s when swing dancing was making a major comeback. They didn’t quite rise to the popularity level of say a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy or a Brian Setzer, but I loved them even more.

There music ranged from soulful, Billy Holiday-esque jazz to frenetic swing to unusual, experimental instrumental. There only pop-chart experience was with Hell, a song that I’ve now had the privilege to sing and play with my band on at least 3 occasions! I also was fortunate enough to catch one of their rare appearances in Orlando at the Social (then called the Sapphire Supper Club). They’re excellent musicians all around, both recording and performing, and now after a 7 year hiatus, they’re back touring again! Though they don’t yet have any new tracks being released, I’d gladly recommend any of the 5 albums currently out now (though my favorite is definitely Perennial Favorites pictured above).

So yeah, two great reasons to smile!

Top Ten SciFi Movies

The British SciFi magazine SFX reports the top three SciFi movies as follows: Serenity, Star Wars, and Blade Runner. While I certainly treasure each of those and also feel that Serenity was woefully under appreciated at the box-office, I would never dream of putting such a recent release at the top. Given that Firefly and Serenity have a rather rapid and internet-centric fanbase, I’m not really surprised to see this kind of achievement in what was likely an on-line poll. Anyway, in the interest of balance, below is my top 10 list. Every SciFi-loving blogger reading these words would be shirking his blogger-duties by passing up this meme. You have been put on notice!

Weekend

Let’s see, I’ve had a busy weekend! Here’s my list of accomplishments.

• Celebrated Erik’s birthday at Maria Bonitas
• Filled in for a friend at the last moment
• Planted a cherry tree in our front yard
• Wrote the final for my Valencia class
• Caught up on my Olbermann
• Watched some new Doctor

!! Doctor Who Semi Spoilers !!

Speaking of the Doctor, did I ever mention that I absolutely adore David Tennant? I don’t know if its the writing, the improved production values, or just the new Doctor’s positive, geeky, fanatic brilliance. His turn as the Doctor is quite simply fantastic! You watchers on SciFi will hopefully get a chance to see the second series that’s currently airing on BBC, but only if you spread the word and turn up the ratings! Now that those silly flatulent aliens are behind you, the episodes for the rest of the first series are all quite excellent. Keep watching, and buy the DVD of the entire first series when it (finally) comes out in July.

State of the Disunion p4

Human/animal hybrids? George has been watching too many late-night horror flicks on SciFi, that or those man/sheep selling Skittles before movies. Big words about helping disaster victims, but is FEMA doing their best to administer that help? God bless America indeed!

For a really articulate and intelligent response to the State of the Union, be sure to visit Andrew Sullivan’s blog. I know I’ll be heading over there to read up.

Doctor Who - Rose

Yeah, so it was like Christmas 1981 yesterday evening when I got home to find that the Internet Fairy had left the first episode of the new Doctor Who series. I can honestly say that apart from some music and effects, the new series’ writer/producer Russell T Davies should not be EXTERMINATEd. Rather, this new incarnation of the beloved, British, scifi institution finds a way to enchant new viewers without completely turning off the massive fan-base (ie. George Lucas).

I was particularly relieved when I found out that the newly written theme had not made it in time for this draft, but can be heard here if you’re curious. Also, if you’re in need of a spot-on, more spoilery review check out Warren Ellis’ site.

For those of you in Orlando who are interested but aren’t fortunate enough to have your own Internet Fairy, feel free to drop by and ask nicely. I’d love to host a weekly Doctor Who night, but I don’t think Patrick would tolerate that amount of geekiness. Well, at least not on a weekly basis.

Frustration

Conservative agitator Bill O’Reilly and our current secretary of education (Margaret Spellings) seem to have the all-to-common problem of distinguishing between love and sex. “Many Americans believe that little kids should have a childhood and not be subjected to any kind of sexuality,” said O’Reilly in the above column. This is in reaction to a PBS cartoon where Buster the Bunny went to visit a lesbian couple in Vermont who run a syrup farm. It seems that a bunch (or at least one very vocal set) of parents complained to the PBS execs who, already fearful losing what little federal funding they receive, decided to not air that episode nationally.

To be fair and balanced, O’Reilly does, in the same column, criticize “some religious zealots who believe SpongeBob is cruising gay bars in Key West.” Still, neither SpongeBob nor Buster’s lesbian friends are demonstrating anything necessarily sexual. Why can’t parents just explain to their children upon seeing a gay couple that they love each other very much, and leave it at that? Why does the topic of sex necessarily have to be brought up before the inevitable “birds and the bees” conversation? Our culture’s repressive view on sexuality is exactly why people can’t see the distinction.

But that’s a topic for another day. Another point of frustration is the decision by SciFi to pass on the new Doctor Who show. Now, I realize that the previous incarnations of this show had less than impressive production value, but this new version promises to have excellent effects (at least as good as Stargate SG-1) and top-notch writing and acting. But with the exception of the new Battlestar Galactica (which I rather enjoy), SciFi hasn’t really been about quality science fiction so much as “exciting” (ie. explosive) scifi for the masses. Take for instance their lack of support for Farscape, or they abysmal treatment of Le Guin’s EarthSea.

This most recent action just points increasingly towards the loss of relevance of network television in light of the BitTorrent/iPodization of content. I know quite contently that when the new Doctor materializes on the BBC on March 26th, I will be able to download and delight in its glory a scant few hours later. Just like many were alleged to have done with the earlier run of Battlestar (but not me, of course).

One happy note to end on, though. Click here for the glory of a church constructed entirely of LEGO’s!

Fantasia Barrino & the Gay Pilgrim

I have mixed feelings about reality TV, as I’m sure many others do. Some shows like Colonial House and Mad Mad House have caught my attention because the subject matter interested me, but most of them just use real people in ridiculously manipulated experiences that defy reality. I used to feel that way about American Idol as well, but that show has finally produced a unique voice that totally justifies its existence - Fantasia Barrino.

I’ve enjoyed her voice since her initial audition with the three judges, each week delighting that she was moving forward in the competition. Unlike past American Idol finalists, Barrino has a unique sound that is unlike most everyone else in pop music today. Usually, America seems to prefer the expected and uninteresting in their pop stars, but this time it would seem that raw talent and distinctiveness might actually win in the end. Even so, I voted successfully 5 times last night for Fantasia, Ms. Barrino if you’re nasty.

Did anyone else watch Colonial House out there? I know PBS is usually no major Neilsen magnet, but someone out there besides the Beeb have to produce the shows that will eventually be re-run on the cable learning channels. Anyway, Colonial House is essentially a show where real people are shipped off to live like colonists from the 1600’s in America. The producers, also responsible for Frontier House, have strived to be as true to the period as possible, from the clothing to the social structure to the strident laws on behaviour. One unexpected surprise was the coming out of Jonathon, the servant of the colony’s lay preacher. At first this reminded me of the expected gay guy in the early Real World shows, but the producers tastefully wove this into the comparison between 17th-century and 21st-century mindsets.

Tonight, I finish both American Idol and Colonial House and ceremoniously wipe them from my ReplayTV. With Alias over until 2005, Sopranos and Deadwood coming to an end soon, and these shows over tonight, my TV watching will finally quiet down again. Too bad the summer movie season starts this weekend. Oy!

New Doctor Who Interviewed

Here’s an interview with the newest actor to play Doctor Who, a paragon of British scifi TV. Over the last year, I’ve become quite a fan of this series, though I’m still not sure why. I did watch the show briefly as a kid when it aired on PBS, but I was usually too horrified to finish even an entire episode. Of course, I watch the show these days, and I’m horrified by the show’s cheesy effects. Still, the stories are interesting and the acting quite good. Not bad for British public television of the 60’s-80’s.

A Night for TV

In spite of my past misgivings about the SciFi channel’s committment to quality science fiction programming, I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed their 2 newest shows - Mad, Mad House and Tripping the Rift.

Mad, Mad House is a reality TV show that has guests attempting to learn how to live with vary alternative lifestyles. No, not a fundie trying to come to terms with a gay man. The alternative lifestyles featured here include a witch, a voodoo priestess, a vampire, a modern primitive, and a naturalist. Watching this reminded me of my days in the dorms, experiencing that “fish-out-of-water” feeling when confronted with such a different worldview from my roomies and bandmates. At this point in my life, such an experience would be vastly rewarding, but probably wouldn’t make for the most entertaining reality TV. In this case, I am looking forward to watching these fish struggle and try to swim.

Tripping the Rift follows in the finest traditions of Spaceballs, Futurama, and even the Space Quest series. At first, I was a bit turned-off by the not-quite-Pixar-quality CG. But after the jokes started flowing by, I quickly stopped caring about polygons and learned to love the show. Within the first 30 minute episode, there were jokes about sex, lesbians, fundies, racial profiling, bureaucratic shortcomings, God, robotic phalluses, and time-travel paradoxes. If the show keeps up this healthy mix of scifi satire and social commentary, I’ll be quite pleased to keep watching it.

Good vs. Evil

Good vs. Evil (aka. GvsE) is the best show that you’ll probably never see on television. That’s because, as of two weeks ago, that on-again-off-again champion of original genre programming the SciFi Channel canned what is probably the funniest, most original show on television. What’s so insane about their decision isn’t that Good vs. Evil didn’t have the ratings to warrant keeping the show - it quite frankly wasn’t doing too hot. What’s so insane is that Good vs. Evil actually ranked higher than several other shows that the SciFi Channel have decided to renew. Two shows in particular come to mind - Lexx and First Wave. Both are abysmal, horribly written pieces of excrement that shouldn’t even be aired against the infomercials at 2:00am on Sunday morning! But they were both renewed for additional seasons, to sit comfortably beside the glorious sci-fi epic series Farscape.

But what’s Good vs. Evil about anyway? In style, Good vs. Evil is comparable to the buddy-detective shows of the 1970’s, mixed with Touched by an Angel and tons of great lines and cool characters. Chandler Smythe, a slain journalist is brought back to life to fight in the Lord’s ongoing war against the Devil. This spiritual war is fought between the Corp., a pseudo-FBI of ass-kicking agents, and the Morlocks, a underworld organization of demons out to take your soul. The agents of the Corp. are all given a second chance on life in fighting against evil; however, many of them find it difficult to abide by the rules of the Corp. First, they cannot contact family members or friends from their previous life. Second, they are forbidden ANY sexual contact. If they serve the Corp. faithfully, they will eventually be allowed into heaven. But if any of them break these rules or drop out of service, it’s a guaranteed one-way ticket down into Hades.

Whew…there are a lot of things that Good vs. Evil needs improvement on. However, as with most other shows, time must be given for the cast and writers to find their own niche and perfect it. Look at any successful show - Seinfeld, Buffy, X-Files, Simpsons, Farscape, Babylon 5, etc - all mostly sucked their first seasons on the air. Thankfully, some network execs had faith in each of those shows to let them survive into at least a second season. I sincerely believe that we’ll see less and less quality programming as the new network execs have less and less patience with new shows. If a new show doesn’t hit the ground running in under three episodes, bang, they’re gone! And with them go the future of the medium…

Crusade by J. Michael Straczynski

Fight the tasteless, uninspired, commerce-driven television that IS television today! Dare to watch a show that challenges both your imagination, your intellect, and your emotions. Crusade airs at 10:00pm Wednesday nights on TNT. Catch it now, for it may be the only showing of this new series from the creators of Babylon 5. That is, unless the fans and viewers support it now while TNT’s (hopefully) rethinking their moronic decision to can it after only 13 episodes. And why, do you ask, would they decide to do such a thing before the show even aired???? Ultimately, it came down to expectations and control. Straczynski created a deep, philosophical scifi/adventure show for TNT. TNT wanted an easy-to-understand action show involving lots of violence and sex. Straczynski stood his ground and would only make minor modifications to placate the network. Ultimately, he made the sacrifice to produce 13 good episodes instead of allowing the show to change into “wrestling in space.”

But there is hope even if TNT cans the show for good. The Sci Fi Channel has expressed interest in acquiring a second season, depending on the reaction that the show receives. But considering that SFC has saved sub-par shows such as Sliders and Poltergeist: the Legacy by producing new episodes, it stands to reason that Crusade will also find a home where the network leaves well enough alone. The only thing we can do now is watch and wait…