Oh, nostalgia

[vr_trakowski]

Pros and Cons--so prison shakedowns are separated by race?  Huh. 

A Small and Deadly War--Dean Stockwell, snerk! 
Also, Murdock reading a Fantastic Four comic, double snerk.  

Black Day at Bad Rock--well, it took them all of one episode to break their own continuity... 

And can anyone tell me WHY In the Heat of the Night isn't available on DVD yet??  The series, that is.  Sheesh.  

Comments

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Nope, the only one I've read was the novelization of the first episode.

Actually, I've never seen the series--I tried to, back when I still got Sci-Fi, but every time I tried they were showing the first episode. And I tried something like four or five times. It got to be pretty eerie. I took it as a sign and gave up.

[inalichenmanner.livejournal.com]

I'm old enough to remember when the show was first on. I rewatched it recently, and I had forgotten just how badly it turned out. They had a great premise, but between wanting it to be a Western in space and a kids' show, some of the episodes were really, really bad. By the time they realized their mistake, it was too late to save the series.

The books take place 20+ years after the series and are like a compilation of all the worst in fanfic. The first one was pretty decent, the second wasn't bad, but the third read like it had never seen an editor. Names spelled wrong, ignoring plot points from the first two books, paragraphs breaking in mid-sentence, plot holes, characters completely changing character ... And it went downhill from there. Apollo - Hatch's character - becomes the ultimate Mary Sue by the fourth book. I haven't read the last couple yet, wondering if they get any worse.

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Huh, I never heard that the original series was that bad, just the later spin-off. But given what was going on with Star Trek novels when those got started, I'm not too surprised that the books were less than great!

[inalichenmanner.livejournal.com]

I was 15 when the sequel started, and I recognized it as truly horrendous the first episode. It was beyond bad. But I am rather fond of the original series, actually. They had a great premise, and it's rare to find a sci-fi show that openly dealt with faith in a positive manner. The network just let Glen Larson have input on the show after coming up with the idea. :-O I tried to find some clips on YouTube, but they seem to have parodies and deleted scenes mainly.

Here's a dangerous drinking game that gives you some clues about the problems. It even has a great section on the novels:

http://web.archive.org/web/20050309183228/www.galacticafanfic.com/drinking.html

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Hee! Oh dear. Yeah, somehow I don't think I'm missing all that much.

[inalichenmanner.livejournal.com]

The 18 drinks for Commander Cain alone is a hoot. Add in the Sheba sniping, the Sheba hero worship, mention of Cassie's past, the food at a Cylon base plot hole... You'd get wasted on that, even splitting it up in the two parts. Hmm, now I want to go count how many drinks it takes to get through it.

I wonder how they managed to get someone like Lloyd Bridges to play the part of Cain. I seriously doubted he needed the money. I know Fred Astaire asked for a part because his grandkids loved the show. Ray Bolger must have been desperate to take the really bad takeoff of the Tin Man he played - at least he wasn't a scarecrow! And Jane Seymour seems to never mention her role when talking about her past. Can't imagine why. :)

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Ah well. I still don't approve of the reboot, though. New ideas, people, give them a try!