tv review

Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.

Catspaw
"Catspaw" is all sorts of First-Generation TOS badassery, and who could argue otherwise? It is penned by none other than Robert Bloch, who, when not penning episodes of classic "Thriller" with Boris Karloff, was also creating and documenting the dress-wearing doings of a certain California taxidermist with an old, Victorian manse and a mommy fixation—for that other Great Ghoul, Alfred Hitchcock.
By Tom Baker2 months ago in Futurism
The City on the Edge of Forever
Written by sci-fi guru and perturbable potentate Harlan Ellison, “The City on the Edge of Forever” qualifies as one of the top five episodes of TOS ever produced. It stars Joan Collins as Edith Keeler in a story that underscores the logical paradoxes and pitfalls of time travel.
By Tom Baker3 months ago in Futurism
Claude Fable 5 and the New AI Cold War
A few nights ago, I found myself staring at my laptop long after I should have gone to bed. The room was quiet. The kind of quiet where you can hear your refrigerator humming from another room.
By John Smith4 months ago in Futurism
Yuxian Skull discovered in China has challenged this long-standing narrative of Human Evolution
Rethinking Human Evolution: A Discovery That Changes the Timeline For decades, the story of human evolution appeared relatively straightforward. Scientists believed that early advanced humans emerged around one million years ago, belonging to the species Homo erectus. According to this widely accepted model, this species eventually split into two major branches around 600,000 years ago. One branch led to the Neanderthals, while the other gave rise to modern humans, Homo sapiens. This linear and orderly progression formed the foundation of how we understood our origins.
By Ibrahim Shah 4 months ago in Futurism
Logopolis
Logopolis is the final jaunt of Tom Baker as the TARDIS-occupying Time Lord before death and regeneration turn him into Peter Davison. It's hard to quantify, insomuch as it has a somewhat cluttered plotline that renders it a Big Think for even the most stalwart Whovian. (Doctorian? Certainly not!)
By Tom Baker4 months ago in Futurism
Review of 'Star City' 1.1-1.2
Just watched the first two episodes of Star City on Apple TV. I think it's a powerful, exciting, politically potent narrative so far, and looks to be a worthy successor to For All Mankind.
By Paul Levinson4 months ago in Futurism
Spock's Brain
Spock, the First Officer of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, loses his brain. A guy like Spock, I dlon't have to tell you, a guy who relies on logic, pure emotionless logic ("Enough of your damned green-blooded logic, Spock!" cries Dr. McCoy, who may be able to tolerate green blood, or pure logic, but, for chrissakes, not BOTH embodied in one Vulcan); well, a guy like that cannot dispense with his brain. No siree Bob! Not gonna fly, at Warp Speed, or any other damned speed.
By Tom Baker4 months ago in Futurism
Cipher News Burst in Pakistan
Cipher News Burst in Pakistan Pakistan has once again entered a period of intense political discussion after the sudden return of the “cipher controversy” in national and international media. The issue, often called the “Cypher Case” or “Cyphergate,” has created strong reactions among political parties, journalists, analysts, and ordinary citizens. The controversy is connected to a diplomatic cable that former Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed contained evidence of foreign pressure and political interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs.
By Wings of Time 5 months ago in Futurism
Authorship vs Refinement
Much of the confusion surrounding artificial intelligence and writing comes from a failure to distinguish between two fundamentally different acts: originating ideas and refining their expression. These acts are often treated as interchangeable, as though whoever touches the final form must also be the source of the thought itself. That assumption does not reflect how writing has ever worked, nor does it reflect how human thinking actually unfolds.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast5 months ago in Futurism
Tools That Empower and Tools That Numb
A tool is never neutral in its effect, even when it may be neutral in its design. What a tool does to a person depends not only on what it enables, but also on what it quietly replaces. A hammer extends the hand. A calculator extends memory. A map extends orientation. Each tool amplifies a capacity, but each one also changes the relationship between effort and outcome.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast5 months ago in Futurism
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Kirk, Chekhov, and Uhura are beaming down to Gamma 2, but lo and behold, something strange happens. (No red shirts, but the Away Team are always in deep horse puckey, are they not?)
By Tom Baker5 months ago in Futurism
Walking Distance
Gig Young is a tragic figure in the history of the small and silver screens--the duo-headed hydra of entertainment and infotainment was just gearing up to stand astride the world like an unbeatable colossus, a vast neaural landscape wherein the New Flesh spoken of in Cronenberg's Videodrome was and is realized every moment of every hour, every day, with nary a hint of a borderland anywhere.
By Tom Baker7 months ago in Futurism