Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Falling Skies and Torchwood, while not deathless classics,
held Rick's interest to the end. Terra Nova did not. It wasn't terrible, it
just didn't hold his interest. He is still watching Sanctuary, but if it wants
to keep him as a viewer, it needs to start making sense.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick enjoyed the first fifteen minutes. The rest not so much. He was bored by the rebellious
teen. The pretty girl who knows science and the adorable pre-teen were OK. None of the dialogue
sounds like anything a human being might say in similar circumstances. But characterization is not
what people tuned in to Terra Nova to see. As well, Rick gives us a list of what SF is on TV in October.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick gives us a list of those SF TV shows that have caught his attention recently.
They include Doctor Who, followed by Torchwood.
He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in September.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick is back from Comic-Con where he heard Kevin Smith ask William Shatner if he was coming
out of the closet, heard J. Michael Straczinski rate himself a 6 or a 7 to Alan
Moore's 10 and attended comics fandom's fiftieth anniversary reunion.
One thing he didn't do was to see any movies.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Falling Skies is the best new science fiction tv show since 2009's Defying Gravity,
which was also a Summer series. Defying Gravity was cancelled half-way through
its first season. Rick hopes Falling Skies has a longer run.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Two new genre tv shows premiere this month. The first, Teen Wolf, has already aired. It is
roughly a half hour of typical teen high jinks with about eight minutes of werewolf spliced in.
Falling Skies premieres June 19. Aliens conquer Earth. Humans fight back.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
For most of his life, Rick claims there has only been one really good science fiction series on
television: Star Trek. The last two decades brought half a dozen more,
starting in 1993 with Babylon 5 and The X-Files. Now that
Smallville has ended, the only new show he really looks forward to is
Doctor Who.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The first two weeks in May brought us the season finale of Fringe and the series finale of
Smallville. The end of Smallville was worth watching. If you have not seen these episodes
but plan to, stop reading now.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Fringe is better than Smallville, though Smallville used to be
great when Al Gough and Miles Miller were writing it. Sanctuary is better than Fringe. But
now Doctor Who is back. And Doctor Who is so much better than any other genre
show on television that it makes Rick ashamed to have praised the others. Doctor Who is really
good. As good as Firefly. As good as Babylon 5...
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Doctor Who returns April 23. Rick missed listing it in the April issue, so here is
a list of the episodes announced so far in the new season.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The big news in April is the beginning of the new HBO series Game of Thrones,
based on the best-selling fantasy series by George R.R. Martin. HBO has a good reputation for doing things
right, and fans of the books can be thankful that HBO bought them instead of SyFy.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Each year Rick predicts which genre films will be best, based on the people who write the screenplay, people who have
more to do with how good a film is than anyone else, people largely neglected by the popular media.
According to the IMDB, 102 science fiction movies will be released in 2011 and 92 fantasy
movies. Most will never make it to your local multiplex. Most will not be worth seeing.
A random example: Evil Bong 3-D: The Wrath of Bong,
written by August White, who also wrote the first two Evil Bong movies.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick watched episodes of Being Human, Primeval and The Vampire Diaries but it was other series
that held his interest. He also combed through his movie predictions for 2010 (based on how good the writers
are) and it holds a few surprises.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Being Human is a horror comedy series based on a British show of the same title about a
vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost who share an apartment. It debuted on SyFy in January to an audience
in the two million viewer range. This would get a series cancelled on network television, but
for SyFy it's huge. See when it and other SF series on TV will be broadcast in February.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Caprica has ended. The next installment of the Battlestar Galactica story
will be set at a time between the end of Caprica and the start of
BSG. Rick found the last five episodes, which aired back to back on January 4,
moderately enjoyable. The ending was more fun than some of the earlier episodes.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts the comings and goings of TV series in January 2011 including
Doctor Who, "A Christmas Carol," Stargate Universe,
Medium, V, Primeval and the final five episodes of Caprica.
|
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick took a break from watching old Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies to watch the two six-hour
Sci-Fi Channel Dune movies. He'd seen and enjoyed them when they first aired. They hold up well
on a second viewing, thanks to excellent acting, scripts by John Harrison that are mostly true to the books,
outstanding musical scores, and special-effects that aren't bad.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
December is the cruelest month, at least as far as new content on television
goes. Even if you watch everything, there are only
14 new episodes airing. Rick's recommendations: Smallville,
Sanctuary, and Doctor Who.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on Battlestar Galactica direct to DVD movie The Plan.
He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in November.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick has found a Fall TV show he really likes: Sanctuary. Actually, this
is the third season of the show. It has appealing, exotic characters, interesting scripts,
and -- something you don't often see these days -- good music and good art
direction. He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in November.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick has been watching a lot of television this month, as hehas done every Fall since he was a child. He
always hopes that the new Fall tv season will produce new delights, and usually it does. But not this October.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick watched the premiere of the tenth and final season of Smallville, and while the writers try very
hard, only a few seconds really thrilled him. On the other hand, a few thrilling seconds are better than an
hour of mild entertainment. He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in October.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
This month the 2010 Fall Season starts late, as the networks vie to see which one can offer the least content
with the most advertising, and more and more people bypass the ads entirely using downloads and DVRs. It's
impossible to guess what the future of television will be like, but fun to try.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
In his mid-July column, Rick offered a list of the ten best sf movies before Stanley Kubrick's monumental sf trilogy,
and wondered what modern moviegoers made of such ancient fare. These films still have some popularity, since all
are available on DVD and can be ordered from Netflix. The response led him to wonder about the
demographics of SF Site, and of science fiction generally.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The current season of Doctor Who came to a satisfactorily mind-blowing end,
with the threat that the universe would be, not just destroyed, but caused never to have
existed at all. The Doctor faces down all of the villains he has ever encountered
armed, as usual, with nothing more than his wits.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
From time to time Rick wonders what people born after Star Wars think of old science fiction movies. A
case can be made for consigning to the dustheap every SF film made before Stanley Kubrick's three
blockbusters, Dr. Strangelove in 1964, 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, and A Clockwork Orange
in 1971.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
It has been a slow summer for SF on TV so Rick has been watching DVDs of series including
Defying Gravity and Fraggle Rock. On TV,
Warehouse 13 and Eureka return. He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in July.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick offers his thoughts on the new Doctor Who, on the end of Lost and what shows will be
returning in the Fall.
He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in June.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
According to the IMDB, 2010 will see the release of 83 science fiction films
and 64 fantasy films, most of which you don't really want to know about. For example,
there's Mars, by Jeff Marslett, whose previous work includes
Milton is a Shitbag. Here are some that look interesting.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Is the island sentient? If not, why do people keep saying, "The island wants this." "The
island wants that." Are Jacob and the Man in Black good and evil? Order and chaos? Two
players in a cosmic game? Will the ending of Lost be the Titanic
ending or the 2001: A Space Odyssey ending or the 1940s South Sea Island ending?
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Every year Rick predicts the best movies, based on the writers, not the director or the stars. A month from now, he'll do that
for 2010. He listed thirty genre films in 2009, not counting talking gerbil movies. One 2008 movie, The Imaginarium of
Doctor Parnassus, wasn't released until 2009. One 2009 movie, The Illuminati: Out of Chaos Comes Order,
won't be released until 2010. He saw 16 of the films listed, plus Imaginarium.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The creators of V and FlashForward hoped the shows would come back
strong after their long hiatus, and ABC gave them a lot of ad play, especially
during Lost.
Smallville and Fringe have been renewed and will return in the Fall.
Rick gives us highlights of what SF is on TV in April.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
FlashForward and V will return sooner than expected. Clips from old episodes
of FlashForward will air March 16, with new episodes March 18 and 25. Clips from old episodes
of V will air March 23, with a new episode March 30. ABC is heavily promoting both shows,
and promising to reveal lots of secrets.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
When Lost first aired, Rick watched a few episodes, but it did not hold his interest. There were
too many flashbacks, vignettes about the characters, with no sf content.
But he did watch each season finale and each season premiere, and after they announced that the current season, Season Six,
would be the last, he watched all of Season Five. Now Rick is hooked.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The TV reviewer for Entertainment Weekly and Rick have very different tastes. He likes
Caprica and gave a recent episode of Smallville an A. Not Rick.
He's also not a big fan of horror movies, but he does have a soft spot in his head for the Universal monsters. The remake
of The Wolf Man, now titled The Wolfman, gives him occasion to mention the Universal films.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
The big news in February is the premiere of the sixth and final season of Lost. It was
reported that President Obama moved his State of the Union Address so as not to conflict with that
much awaited event, which takes place February second.
Babylon 5.1
TV reviews by Rick Norwood
Rick also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in January
when Dollhouse ends, Heroes, Fringe,
and Smallville return. Since Dollhouse is ending,
the writers are free to send it out with a bang. Smallville, on the
other hand, would be ending with a whimper -- except it's not ending. As for Heroes...
|
