I got reminded by George Takei’s BlueSky account that this week marks 60 years since Star Trek debuted. I haven’t done much regarding Trek in recent years. I read both DC Comics’ series, re-watched the original crew novels and read the novelizations, and Gene Hendricks and I talked about our Trek stories on episode 112 of the podcast.
One thing I mentioned on that episode was the 25th Anniversary special. It aired September 28, 1991 in the middle of a big celebration year for the franchise. The Next Generation was going strong, novels and comics were coming out on the regular and were successful, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country would be released on December 6.
I watched the show when it aired on WPIX, and the station preceded it with a marathon of original series episodes, packaged as a top ten of all-time. I caught a few of them and taped them, especially “Space Seed” (ranked #2) and “The Trouble With Tribbles” (ranked #1). And I also taped the special, which was two hours (with commercials).
That tape, believe it or not, was still in my basement among the other VHS tapes I’d held onto over the years. I’d thought about popping it in and watching it, but there was an excellent, crisp transfer from LaserDisc on YouTube.
I had forgotten it was as long as it was, and while I knew that it was hosted by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from a TV control room, I couldn’t remember much else. I was also a little wary. These specials can sometimes be too short and skip over a lot; sometimes, they are cheesy and don’t take the material seriously. So I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was done.
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After nine years of blogging and 99 podcast episodes, it’s time to take another look at the movie that started it all: MEGAFORCE! In this episode, I take a look at the 1982 Hal Needham film, which stars Barry Bostwick as Ace Hunter, the commander of a super-elite international military unit. I give a summary of the movie, talk about my Megaforce origin story and re-evaluate my opinion of it.
It’s the sixth episode of the seven-part miniseries IT CAME FROM SYNDICATION! This time around, I continue my look at syndicated television from the 1980s and 1990s with a look at the “drama” category, which encompasses action, science fiction, and horror. I’m joined by friend and fellow podcaster Michael Bailey (Views from the Longbox) to talk about everything from Friday the 13th: The Series to Highlander.
Greetings, listener. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada! That’s right, it’s time to brush up on your video game skills and fly into my coverage of the 1984 sci-fi flick, The Last Starfighter. Over the course of this episode, I recap the movie and give it my review; plus, I take a look at the novelization by Alan Dean Foster, the comics adaptation from Marvel, the aborted toy line, and several attempts at video game adaptations. I also talk about sequel and reboot rumors.
If there’s one genre that DC is known for as much as its superheroes, it’s science fiction. A staple of the company since it’s very early days, it has spawned thousands of stories, and in this episode I take a look at 80 years of DC Comics’ science fiction. What’s covered, you ask? Don Drake on the Planet Soro, Tommy Tomorrow in “Columbus of Space,” Adam Strange in “War on Earth and Rann,” a story called “Killing Time” from Mystery in Space, Hex #11, and the Warren Ellis/Colleen Doran graphic novel Orbiter. Plus, interludes from Real Fact Comics that show us all what a wonderful future the Golden Age had in store for us!
It’s time to beam aboard and join me as I take a brief look at one of DC’s most successful licensed properties comics: Star Trek. In this episode, I take a quick look at Star Trek (1st series) #33, an issue billed as a “Twentieth Anniversary Special” that has the Excelsior as captained by James T. Kirk and his former Enterprise crew meet up with the crew from … the Enterprise?!
Pop Culture Affidavit 