tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
5/1/1967: The Galileo Seven
My ongoing mission: to watch classic television fifty years after first broadcast... Back in the studio this week. The Enterprise is delivering medical supplies to Markus 3. En route they discover a nearby quasar and Kirk orders a small team led by Spock to investigate. I guess scientific research comes under their remit even if it’s not strictly “new life” or “new civilisations”, but I can’t help but wonder whether interrupting a medical delivery is the appropriate time… Still, I’m sure Kirk knows what he’s doing.
Nick BrownPublished 7 years ago in FuturismThe Philosophy of Westworld
Michael Crichton wrote and directed Westworld for the big screen in 1973. That same decade, in 1976, an adjunct professor named Julian Jaynes made the bestseller list with a surprising title: The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. You wouldn’t think that a book with a name like that would become such a popular success. Yet, there it was. In 2016, when Westworld came to the small screen in the re-imagined HBO series, you wouldn’t imagine Jaynes getting heard from again. Especially since bicameralism wasn’t even mentioned in the Michael Crichton’s original film. Yet, there he was. Early on in Westworld’s first season Dr. Ford, one of the creators of the park, explains how he and his co-founder Arnold used a “debunked” theory about the origins of consciousness to bootstrap A.I. The scientific community didn’t recognize bicameralism as an explanation for the origins of the human mind, but, as Dr. Ford suggests, it could be useful for building an artificial one. Thousands of people—perhaps more—started Googling for “bicameral mind.” Bloggers and YouTube channels capitalized on the sudden interest by writing articles and introductory videos about this weird, arguably psychedelic theory of consciousness. Suddenly everyone was interested.
Jeremy JohnsonPublished 7 years ago in FuturismBest Shows About Earth
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot to explore about planet Earth, and with television, there are plenty of shows about Earth that do just that. Whether we’re exploring geography, geology, or animal life, these shows about Earth are a look into some of the amazing things about our home.
Stephanie GladwellPublished 7 years ago in Futurism4 Bizarre 'House' Diseases that Actually Exist
If you have never seen an episode of House M.D., then you are missing true TV brilliance. House M.D. has incredible writing and acting and is worth watching just for Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Dr. House. The one criticism I always hear about House M.D. is how unrealistic it is. Virtually every episode ends with House figuring out what rare disease is killing his patient. House only deals with rare diseases and in the first episode his employee, Dr. Foreman, says "first year of medical school: If you hear hoofbeats, you think horses, not zebras." What separates House from other doctors is that he only deals with Zebras, all his cases have some element that makes them unique. The problem with having 177 unique diseases is that sometimes you need to stretch the truth a little. However, sometimes even the craziest illnesses are 100% real and here are some of the weirdest ones.
Jason SchwartzPublished 7 years ago in Futurism'Battlestar Galactica' Fan Review
I will admit I was one of those people who, growing up on the old 1970s sci-fi shows, had no real interest in a Battlestar Galactica reboot or re-imagining. I would rather have seen a Buck Rogers or even a Space 1999 before Battlestar Galactica. In truth, sometimes we don’t want people to take away from our personal definition of what a show should be. While the 70s Battlestar Galactica was cheesy, lighthearted, and silly, the new show was just the opposite. In fact, this was one of a handful of things that original fans cried foul about, that it was too serious, too dark, and no fun at all. Let’s not ever get started on the gender change for the character Starbuck.
Jeff FountainPublished 7 years ago in FuturismBest Sci-Fi TV Shows of 2016
My priorities are simple. My family/friends first, then my business. Then science fiction. Quite frankly, as I look back on my life, I realize that before I had my own family or a business, sci-fi was all i had. From Buck Roger's and Space 1999, I have watched almost every sci-fi TV show ever. I have seen every episode of Star Trek for each of the series. I never stopped watching Sliders, and when the Syfy channel began it was a big day in my life. I am a sci-fi geek, and this year was an awesome year for sci-fi TV. Again, I watched every episode of every series. And yes, I still try to make time for family, friends, and business.
Frank WhitePublished 7 years ago in FuturismSci-Fi's Obsession with the American West
I was once in Big Bend National Park and thought I’d stepped onto another planet. If you’ve had the misfortune never to have visited, it’s a mostly parched desert wonderland with the strangest flowers, succulents, and eerie hills that you can imagine. Toss in the sexy wild lawlessness of the historical American West and you can see why science fiction would create some of its most memorable works against such an awe-inspiring backdrop. From cartoons like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun to animated shows like Galaxy Rangers and Bravestarr, science fiction clearly has a great big ol’ crush on the American West. There’s DC Comics’ Jonah Hex, a whole slew of terrible B-movies, and then there are the great ones: films like Westworld and Back to the Future Part III, books like The Gunslinger, and shows like Firefly (*sniff*). If you haven’t seen them yet, check out these incredible tributes to science fiction and the West all in one beautiful biomechanical horse meets pony-express package.
Sarah QuinnPublished 8 years ago in FuturismReviewing Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’, Season 3
When Black Mirror first hit television screens in 2011, it was a quintessentially British creation. Episode 1, The National Anthem, shows an upstanding prime minister blackmailed into live sexual intercourse with a pig. The public responds with cynicism and ironic detachment, mocking the man on twitter, as the media scrambles for a scoop. The episodes that followed continued the condemnation of British culture – Brooker had given us a black mirror, reflecting us at our very worst. In Fifteen Million Merits he showed us powering the workings of an authoritarian regime, bombarded by advertising with an X-factor style talent show our only means of salvation. In White Bear, the justice system has been replaced by a sickening spectacle of psychological torture, with amnesiac criminals forced to relive their crimes, as children watch on. In The Waldo Moment, he shows a disaffected public voting a foul-mouthed CGI bear into office, rather than careerist politicians. The result is a degeneration into violence and fascism.
Ed VenablesPublished 8 years ago in FuturismA Crash Course on Curved Screens
Curved TV screens are one of those novelties of the 21st century that not many people quite understand. When we thought normal screens were good enough; higher pixel density, higher dynamic range and larger size, things were changed drastically. The flat screen still exists, but now with a glowing new cousin – the curved monitor. Whilst I won’t be buying one any time soon, namely due to the fact that I can’t really find a spare $12,000 without selling one of my organs, there is no denying curved TVs will be the future ‘norm’ as manufacturing and purchasing prices eventually drop.
Sci-Fi Casting That Almost Happened - 'Star Trek' Edition
Our favorite TV shows and movies and the iconic characters who populate them effectively carry us away on captivating adventures. We connect to them as an audience on many emotional levels. Often, they’re more than mere entertainment or a simple distraction. We grow up watching them as wide eyed kids, discover them in high school or maybe while living off at college. Show casts can feel as if they’re part of our own family. Soon we find that those casts of actors and actresses become a part of our collective pop culture experience, one we share with family and friends. With a TV show and movie franchise as established and beloved as StarTrek, the casting becomes all the more essential and memorable.
Will StapePublished 8 years ago in FuturismNetflix Is Bringing Back Sci-Fi TV
Sci-fi TV, like any category of entertainment, sees an ebb and flow in its popularity and supply. These days it is back in a big way, and not just on cable outlet SyFy— it's coming on strong in the streaming arena. Netflix changed the game in Hollywood in distribution, and now it's competing with the big production studios to offer up some of the best original content around. Shows such as Orange Is The New Black and Grace And Frankie are great drama/comedies, but Netflix isn't leaving out nor forgetting its genre loving fans or geek squads. Stranger Things is one of the hottest new TV shows in years. You won't find it on broadcast or cable. Jessica Jones, Sense8, Black Mirror and Stranger Things are all original and exclusive to Netflix, and cable outlets like SyFy are now encouraged to make more stimulating science fiction for fans.
Will StapePublished 8 years ago in Futurism'Star Trek' Booze: 50 Years Of Drinking With The Starship Enterprise
For the proud accomplishment of lasting half a century, a 50th anniversary is golden. It deserves a celebratory toast for any species in any part of the galaxy, and in the latest Trek film, fans get a fun tip of the glass after a fashion. Early on in Star Trek: Beyond, director Justin Lin’s action packed entry in Paramount Pictures feature film franchise, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (Karl Urban) share a rare quiet moment by drinking together in Enterprise’s officer’s lounge. The two friends and Starfleet officers take the time to down a little Saurian Brandy—an alien drink all too familiar to fans from way back in the day of the start of the original series.
Will StapePublished 8 years ago in Futurism