Edward German

Since its inception during the mid 2000s, YouTube has been a go- to site for just about any subject out there. The subjects range from the mundane and weird to popular to obscure. One popular topic is Military History and YouTube has many professional and self-made videos produced for the service. There are five different YouTube channels that I subscribe to and periodically enjoy. Among the subjects discussed are the world wars, the Cold War, espionage, and the current state of affairs. Most of the videos run anywhere from a few minutes to about 20 minutes in length, making them very user-friendly. Each program is well researched and is narrated off- screen by the content creator.

Do you hate war, pollution, or hard pizza rolls? You would love the 1969 science fiction/satire "The Monitors". This motion picture is based on a science fiction novel of the same name written by Keith Laumer and published in 1966. The story is about a group of friendly aliens coming to Earth and taking over the planet and its governments. The movie was produced by the Second City comedy troupe and co-produced by the Bell and Howe Corporation. This film was shot on location in Chicago, Illinois with the intention it would become a center of movie and TV production. The Monitors is minutes 92 in length and premiered on October 8, 1969, in New York City.

At the turn of the Millennium there were some very short lived sci-fi shows broadcasted on the newer baby networks. There were two on UPN, one was on the WB, and the last one was on the Showtime Cable network. They lasted for less than one season and had less than 20 episodes produced. I watched all four shows back in the day and generally enjoyed all of them. They weren't the best but not the worst shows out there, they just didn't have enough ratings.

During the turn of the millennium, I enjoyed a brand new sci-fi series on the Fox TV Network created by James Cameron. It was his first foray into sci-fi TV after his successes in making blockbuster movies. The series was also co-produced by Charles H. Eglee and was the only TV show they produced together. The series is a dystopian cyberpunk science fiction show set in Seattle, WA, nearly twenty years in what was then the future. The plot centers around a young woman named Max who works as a bike messenger while trying to survive the chaotic world the US has become after a terrorist attack rendered American society into the status of a Third World country. The show premiered on Fox TV on October 3, 2000, and ended on May 3, 2002. The series consisted of 43 episodes which included a pilot episode. The show was shot entirely at Lionsgate Studios in Vancouver BC, Canada.

The Planet 8 podcast was started by three lifelong sci-fi fans who love to talk about anything sci-fi. The show's hosts, Bob, Karen, and Larry not only discuss sci-fi; horror and comics also get the same about of attention as well. The show consists of episodes in 50 minutes to over an hour in length and is uploaded to the web at least twice a month. A typical show involves a group discussion followed by a spotlight on a book or other item. While some shows will have guest interviews and others shows are recorded on location. There is also a portion of the podcast called "Sensor Sweep." That segment covers sci-fi merchandise such as toys, books, and other collectibles. The podcast debuted on May 8, 2018, and still continues with at least 30 episodes or more.

For the past two years, I have been listening to a podcast network that is as diverse as it is interesting. The Parcast Network started back in 2016 as a series of true crime podcasts that are professionally produced and presented. Starting with Unsolved Murders, the network now has some 22 individual podcast series that range from true crime, history, science, and the paranormal. Moreover, it continues to grow, the latest show is The Dark Side Of... It doesn't look like Parcast will stop growing anytime soon.