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by Rick Norwood
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SF on TV | |
Smallville, "Spell" (***)
Superboy in this series is closer to the Silver Age's Mort Weisinger version of Superboy than to any of the more recent
incarnations -- the two big differences being the lack of a costume and the fact that the stories make sense. As
Weisinger endlessly reminded us, Superboy is vulnerable to just two things, kryptonite and magic. In most episodes
of Smallville, kryptonite does Clark in. In this episode his vulnerability to magic surfaces. Taken as it
stands, the relationship between magic and the planet Krypton does not really add up, but I am trusting the writers to fill
in the gaping plot holes in future episodes.
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DVD Reviews | |
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Columbia House will shortly be bringing out more of the original Perry Mason TV series on DVD and the second season DVD of Have Gun –- Will Travel has been announced. It's a good time for collectors of classic television.
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Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume II (****) by Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, Maurice Noble, Mel Blanc, et al. | |
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Chuck Jones is generally considered the greatest cartoon director, but this DVD has many excellent cartoons from other
directors, including the only cartoon where Elmer Fudd actually outwits Bugs Bunny, using hypnotism.
Chuck Jones directed 230 cartoons for Warner Brothers. The first two Looney Tunes volumes bring us 37 of them, including, on
this set, "One Froggy Evening" and "What's Opera, Doc."
This collection focuses on Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner -- maybe too much on Roadrunner. Watch them a the rate of one cartoon a night,
not all at once. They are best savored, not gulped.
Between 1949 and 1964, Chuck Jones directed 28 theatrical cartoons in the Roadrunner and Coyote series, counting four where Bugs
Bunny stands in for the Roadrunner. (He also directed a few for TV specials and movie compilations, but nothing to compare
with his earlier work.) This volume has the first eleven, skipping the one Roadrunner already released in Volume One and skipping
two Bugs Bunny and Coyote cartoons, "Operation: Rabbit" and "To Hare is Human".
Here is a checklist:
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Rick Norwood is a mathematician and writer whose small press publishing house, Manuscript Press, has published books by Hal Clement, R.A. Lafferty, and Hal Foster. He is also the editor of Comics Revue Monthly, which publishes such classic comic strips as Flash Gordon, Sky Masters, Modesty Blaise, Tarzan, Odd Bodkins, Casey Ruggles, The Phantom, Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, Alley Oop, Little Orphan Annie, Barnaby, Buz Sawyer, and Steve Canyon. |
Lana, Lois, and Chloe all become witches.
Brent Spiner hams it up as Arik Soong, causing a small spike in the ratings, but not enough to capture the four
million viewers who watched Enterprise at its peak. This is thoroughly enjoyable Star Trek, but
still not where I keep hoping Star Trek will be at the end of what is probably its swan song.
Fast and Furry-ous
 
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