Paul Levinson

I endeavored in my reviews of Star Trek: Picard and the first season of Discovery to keep them free of specific spoilers. But it is not possible to review the tour de force that is the second season of Discovery without them, so expect plenty of spoilers in what follows.

One of my favorite lines in any movie or television show is Jake Houseman (played by the inimitable Jerry Orbach) lamely apologizing to Johnny in Dirty Dancing -- "when I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong". That's what I have to say about not watching Star Trek: Discovery until the past few days. I wasn't in the mood for another Star Trek series, I didn't like paying for or even just watching yet another streaming service. But I was wrong.

Just finished binging Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access. It's the best Star Trek since Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is where Jean-Luc Picard was introduced. And unlike TNG which was episodic, this first season of Picard was serial, which is a big plus in my book.

Well, my wife and I just saw Yesterday, having taped it last week on HBO, and we loved it. This is contrary to some otherwise worthy critics, but what else is new.

I really enjoyed the first season of Altered Carbon. I enjoyed the second season even more. It was sharper, tighter, more effective in narrative in just about every way.

The pulpy science fiction that is Project Blue Book was back on the History Channel last Tuesday for the debut of its second season. I was kidnapped by a UFO so didn't get a chance to watch and review until now -- no, only kidding, I was really up in Boston last Tuesday, for a radio show in which my new album Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time was debuted. That's true -- listen to this -- and I promise everything else I say in this review will be true, at least as far as I know it.