SF-LOVERS Digest Friday, 12 Feb 1993 Volume 18 : Issue 99 Today's Topics: Television - Time Trax (11 msgs) & Space Rangers (2 msgs) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 Jan 93 23:07:09 GMT From: cjd@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Christopher Dean) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax > 14 What was that about Sepp getting three doses of that drug? He had one > when he popped into 1993, and one when he popped out. Where did the > third one come from? My theory for the above questions. The drug was originally made for teleportation. Sepp licked the envelope and teleported back to the doctor. The doctor then gave him another dose and Sepp used the machine in combination with the drug to go to 1993. They need the drug and machine to travel in time and just the drug for teleportation. This also explains that Sepp had already had two doses. Kevin ------------------------------ Date: 27 Jan 93 02:55:43 GMT From: mschmitt@eagle.wesleyan.edu Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Time Trax: Counterpoint I'm afraid I must concur with those that don't think that Time Trax was the greatest pilot ever. On the other hand, I wouldn't call it the silliest of the new show pilots either - the first episode for Space Rangers was intensely silly (it's gotten better, but that first episode - whoa). There were some things in TT that were good. Points that hit me over the head, but seem to have glossed by others. For example, Selma has the appearance she does for a specific reason. At the beginning, Darien holds a picture of his mother, who actually abandoned him, in effect (admittedly, it's a brief and not terribly clear shot, but it's there). Selma (all right, so the acronym's a bit corny) bares a striking resemblance to that picture, part of the reason Darien's so taken aback. But after all, she _was_ programmed for him specifically. This is one example that came up in a discussion I had on another BB - since I haven't followed this group too closely, so my apologies if I'm beating a dead horse. Anyway, the acting was often kind of wooden, but the recurring characters had their moments of insight, and that will develop with time. I'd place that on about par with the TNG pilot. The effects... All right, so they were a bit sub-standard. But this is not going to be an effects driven show. I imagine that they didn't want to develop whole departments just for one episode, an episode that by rumor didn't get a whole lot more budget than the cost of 2 episodes. So I can overlook it a bit, as long as what they do in the future is done well. Which brings up the main point - the pilot was, I think, _very_ different from all other episodes that will follow. All of it takes place in this time now, and it will be a matter of tracking down these criminals, using some nice high-tech methods, in combination with what's available today. The SF element will probably be rather diminished, and the action one emphasized a lot more. Diminishing the SF element will not necessarily be a bad thing - how prominent is it in Quantum Leap? This show may be similar in that respect, although in this case there's no changing of time, and there will be a bit more action over thought as compared to QL, most likely. Also, for a moment, think about who the show is targeted at? IMHO, it is _not_ targetted at the hard core SF fans, but at the general populace, with a wider appeal. It will most likely disappoint the hard core SF fan, if they can't let go a bit. But if it's well written, Time Trax could be a very enjoyable hour of action programming. All you need to do is a little suspension of reality, and it looks like it'll be quite a ride. Summary (sorry so long!): the pilot could have been better, but don't trash the series until you've seen a few regular episodes - the majority of the pilot is most likely very different in attitude and tenor than the series. Matt Schmitt Wesleyan University mschmitt@eagle.wesleyan.edu ms@pacnet.pac.wesleyan.edu ------------------------------ Date: 27 Jan 93 21:39:54 GMT From: ps70awg@rs1.tcs.tulane.edu (mel rupinski) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax nelson@tiger.nsc.com (Taed Nelson) writes: >ps70awg@rs1.tcs.tulane.edu (mel rupinski) writes: >> 1 thing that really impressed me about their vision of the future was >> the racial slur of "blanco". Apparently the writers do have a brain and >> realize that Hispanics will eventually become the ethnic majority in >> this country, as is evidenced by current population trends, and acted >> accordingly. I don't think we would have seen such realism in other >> sci-fi shows. > >While this was good, why was it that 70% of the people we saw in the >police station, West Point, and just about everywhere, were white? It may >have been nice in the script, but the casting crew did not follow through. I've been wanting to follow-up on the racial minority issue since my last post, but my system's been down since Friday, and is now just back online. Anyway, it seems like a lot of people didn't like the fact that while Whites were supposed to be the minority, they still held most of the positions of power. I really don't think this is much of a blunder or error or the result of a lack of continuity, etc. IMHO, even though whites have become the minority in terms of number doesn't necessarily mean that they would relinquish all of their sources of social power. I mean, even in reality, it will probably take quite some time after the whites become a numerical minority before their positions of power are reduced. Perhaps this is why blanco has become "the most hated racial slur". Perhaps Hispanics are upset because the majority of power is still held by a white minority. Further, this situation bears striking resemblance to South Africa, where Whites are a significant minority, and not until very recently began to accept their black brothers as political etc. leaders. Basically, then, I see no problems with how the production crew has handled the minority issue. Perhaps this tension will be dealt with in future episodes. I think it would be interesting to see how Darien will handle relationships with those of other ethnic backgrounds while in 1993. If I remember correctly, I think someone told him before he left that he was no longer a "blanco", but a "honky" (or some such). I just hope those in charge do explore some of these issues in future episodes. Mel Rupinski Dept. of Psych. Tulane U ps70awg@rs1.tcs.tulane.edu ps70awg@vm.tcs.tulane.edu ------------------------------ Date: 27 Jan 93 22:01:40 GMT From: jdelacr@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Jorge DeLaCruz) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax nelson@tiger.nsc.com (Taed Nelson) writes: >While this was good, why was it that 70% of the people we saw in the >police station, West Point, and just about everywhere, were white? It may >have been nice in the script, but the casting crew did not follow through. Maybe they were light skinned Hispanics, they do exist. I have a couple of blonde haired, blue-eyed cousins. About West Point, maybe more "Whites" are entering the Military for Financial reasons as do many "Blacks" today. Or maybe they casting director couldn't find any Hispanics in California :) Jorge ------------------------------ Date: 4 Feb 93 16:27:01 GMT From: bz978@cleveland.freenet.edu (Charles E Gibbs) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Time Trax Second Episode (* minor spoilers *) IF you ignore the stiff acting of Dale Midkiff and Mia Sara, and IF you ignore how Selma only interrupts to move the plot along ( a direct contradiction of the pilot episode), and IF you ignore a script that devolved dramatically in the last 15 minutes, and IF you ignore any scientific errors regarding time travel... Yes this was a great episode. Charles Gibbs ------------------------------ Date: 4 Feb 93 17:37:16 GMT From: detrolio@andromeda.rutgers.edu (David De Trolio) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax Second Episode (* minor spoilers *) bz978@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Charles E Gibbs) writes: >IF you ignore the stiff acting of Dale Midkiff and Mia Sara, and >IF you ignore how Selma only interrupts to move the plot along ( a > direct contradiction of the pilot episode), and >IF you ignore a script that devolved dramatically in the last 15 minutes, > and >IF you ignore any scientific errors regarding time travel... >yes this was a great episode. I had great hopes for this series, but the reasons you cite above sum up a great deal of what is wrong with the series. This is not what I was hoping for 1990's SF program. It is not as bad as Space Rangers, but you have to sit back and wonder each time the lead character gets a favor from the Federal Agent, played by Mia Sara, and tells her nothing more than "trust me!" This show needs some fast reworking. David De Trolio detrolio@andromeda.rutgers.edu ------------------------------ Date: 3 Feb 93 17:38:25 GMT From: xgg2356@dcmdc.dla.mil (James Fuerstenberg) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: time trax Some comments re time trax. I just watched last night's episode re sending nuclear waste into the future. Am I the only one who basically found the show sort of boring. Some things were done ok, some were not. Selma is pretty well done, although too much like the fellow on quantam leap. The Captain's boss practically panicked re: the nuclear waste. Not real believable at his level. I cannot believe that they have forgot/lost all knowledge re: dealing with the stuff, since it could take almost 200 years just to deal with what we have generated so far. Wayyyy too convenient to have a judge on the three judge panel who is also a time fugitive. For a brilliant mad doctor he is not all that bright. Unless I missed something regarding the max range of the time travel unit. He could have sent the waste to a much more inaccessible time. But, as I said before, the biggest weakness seemed to me that it was not very original and not very well paced, e.g. boring. Jim jfuerstenberg@dcmdc.dla.mil ------------------------------ Date: 4 Feb 93 20:20:32 GMT From: shkolnik@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Leslie Shkolnik) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Time Trax: 2nd Episode The second episode of Time Trax was EXTREMELY disappointing. The idea was great, but the way they solved it was pretty tame. It was a pretty slow episode, and not much happened. As soon as Sahmbi said he had a way to prevent Darien sending him back and punching on his keypad, Darien should have shot, rather than wait! Why does he have to keep disappearing so Annie can't find him? She knows where he lives now, and by the way, how did he get that apartment? I don't remember him bringing any money with him! Leslie leslie@hpprsd1.mayfield.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: 7 Feb 93 10:05:33 GMT From: lichter@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Michael I. Lichter) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax Second Episode (* minor spoilers *) detrolio@andromeda.rutgers.edu (David De Trolio) writes: >This is not what I was hoping for 1990's SF program. It is not as bad as >Space Rangers, but you have to sit back and wonder each time the lead >character gets a favor from the Federal Agent, played by Mia Sara, and >tells her nothing more than "trust me!" After this episode, I'd say that the show has nothing going for it other than a beautiful woman who can't act and an actor who does a reasonable job of projecting "good guy" and nothing much else. This is probably a minority opinion, but I think that Space Rangers is *much* better. And it's SF, which Time Trax is going to be only barely. There's something about Space Rangers I can't exactly define. After you get over the initial insult to your intelligence, you find that there's more going on than you thought. Suspend your coolness, and you'll find yourself really enjoying it. Well, you would if it was going to be on the air any more :-(. Michael ------------------------------ Date: 8 Feb 93 00:49:25 GMT From: neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: time trax xgg2356@DCMDC.DLA.MIL (James Fuerstenberg) writes: >The Captain's boss practically panicked re: the nuclear waste. Not real >believable at his level. I cannot believe that they have forgot/lost all >knowledge re: dealing with the stuff, since it could take almost 200 years >just to deal with what we have generated so far. They were also a bit behind the technology even for today. We've known for decades how to "neutralize" high-level nuclear waste, in theory. The theory is making it into designs or even small-scale research devices as we speak. Basically it involves hitting the material with the right kind of particle radiation, transmuting or fissioning it to short-lived or stable isotopes. There's work being done now on particle-beam transmutation, and some future reactor designs allow for the introduction of high-level waste for disintegration in the neutron flux within (actinide burning). The energy required to run the disintegrators is significantly smaller than that generated by the power, and in fact for some (most?) materials the disintegration is exothermal and could provide additional power. >For a brilliant mad doctor he is not all that bright. Unless I missed >something regarding the max range of the time travel unit. He could have >sent the waste to a much more inaccessible time. Or, how about just another place? We saw in the pilot that he could move people and objects from one place to another on the planet without moving them through time. So, why not drop the stuff onto the moon, or, if the potential energy costs are too high for the machine to work, into Jupiter or the sun? If the range is insufficient for that, materialize it about two thousand kilometres straight down. Christopher Neufeld neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca utzoo.utoronto.ca!generic!cneufeld ------------------------------ Date: 10 Feb 93 01:06:35 GMT From: eek2@po.cwru.edu (Eric E. Katz) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: time trax The flaws in the plot for Time Trax are pretty explainable. The future which the captain panics is a result of Szambi's latest change which is sending nuclear waste into the future. Since the waste would no longer be there, then there would be no problems with getting rid of the waste. Also, sending the waste 200 years into the future will go right with the limit, so when the waste is discovered, it will be too late to warn Darien or send him back to stop it before it happened. ------------------------------ Date: 1 Feb 93 16:28:41 GMT From: pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com (Paul Dorweiler) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: CBS confirms: 'Space Rangers' on hiatus Well, I got through to CBS New York this morning. The person I talked to, albeit not very forthcoming with info, did confirm that Space Rangers is on indefinite hiatus. I could not get the reasons for this, try though I might. All I got was "typically shows are put on hiatus for low ratings or to be moved to a different time slot". There are seven complete SR episodes (six plus the pilot, I'd guess) that CBS has, but I also could not find out whether the other three would be shown if CBS cans the show completely. Also, unless something changes (like US!), don't expect the show to come back soon - as in this season. I have the address to write to, and a phone number if you don't like stamps. I'll post the information and strategy in a bit. Paul Dorweiler Hewlett-Packard Company Fort Collins, CO pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: 1 Feb 93 17:06:15 GMT From: pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com (Paul Dorweiler) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: ATTN: Everyone who watched Space Rangers Yes, this includes everyone who watched one episode, hated it, and/or argued about it here. As most of you may be aware by now, CBS has put Space Rangers on indefinite hiatus, with no apparent plans to bring it back anytime this season. Now, I'll be the last person so say it was a "perfect" show, but I (and a few others that I've talked to) felt this show had potential. I personally think having a space adventure show on a major network is better than _just_ having Trek bob around the syndicated channels. If we can get Space Rangers to continue, perhaps ABC or NBC will try some other scifi shows as well, and more people can find a scifi show they like on TV. So, I'm asking for a LOT of people to write CBS about bringing Space Rangers back from hiatus. The "preferred" address to write to is: CBS Audience Services Attn: Ray Faiola 524 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 Let's flood Ray's secretary with mail asking CBS to bring Space Rangers back from hiatus this season, and to pick it up as a regular prime-time show. If you prefer to call, try CBS Program Information at: (212) 975-3247 This number will be answered as "Program Info". State you want CBS to bring Space Rangers back from hiatus, and make CERTAIN they log your call. The general number for CBS is (212) 975-4321, and you can ask for Audience Services at this number if you wish. Get everyone you can to do this. The more letters, the better chance of convincing them that Nielsen ratings aren't always a true measure of the audience. Paul Dorweiler Hewlett-Packard Company Fort Collins, CO pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com ------------------------------ End of SF-LOVERS Digest ***********************