Trailer Park: Upcoming TV shows and movies

I’m feeling a little exhausted this week, so I thought I would showcase trailers for some upcoming TV shows and movies that my wife and I are looking forward to, in (mostly) no particular order. Also, after blogging about the Stumptown comics the other week, I must let everyone know that the TV series is great. Check out the scene from the second episode posted above, and I really recommend checking out the show on Wednesdays on ABC. 

Stumptown

I’ve been a fan of Greg Rucka’s writing since his first comic, Whiteout. He was a novelist before that, but I came to his novels after his comics. I loved them, too. He’s done a lot of work for DC, and some for Marvel, but what I love the best are his creator-owned comics. Right now, he’s got two series ongoing: Black Magick, a supernatural thriller about a cop who is also a witch, and Lazarus, a series set in the near future where a handful of ultra-rich families own and control the entire world, with the rest of the world entirely subservient to them. (My joke is that I like Lazarus just fine, but I prefer reading fiction.) Truth is, both those series are fantastic. But I think my favorite Greg Rucka comic may be his Portland-set private eye series Stumptown.

The Twilight Zone

Even though I haven’t seen every episode, I consider myself to be a big fan of the Twilight Zone. I first encountered reruns of the original series as a kid, and then found myself completely won over by the 1980s series. Since then, I have watched a lot more of the original episodes, and watched every new iteration of the series. News that CBS would be producing a new series for their CBS All Access streaming service really excited me. Having seen seven episodes from the first season, I am once again really enjoying the Twilight Zone. 

Doom Patrol on DC Universe

I have a new favorite TV show, and it’s the Doom Patrol. It streams on the DC Universe streaming service, which combines DC’s digital comics library, a large library of TV shows and movies based on their superheroes, and original series, both animated and live action, created specifically for the service. Doom Patrol follows the live action Titans and the animated Young Justice: Outsiders (a revived version of a show which originated on Cartoon Network), and while I’ve really enjoyed those other two, Doom Patrol is the one that has won my heart.

Magnum PI: The Remake

Today, I wanted to talk briefly about a couple of TV shows that have made me feel pretty happy the past couple of weeks.

First, we are loving the new season of Doctor Who, particularly Jodie Whitaker as the new Doctor. I’ve been a huge fan of Doctor Who since I was a kid, but in recent years, my enthusiasm had waned a bit. With this new season, though, I feel completely reenergized. Jodie Whitaker brings a similar kind of energy and enthusiasm to the part that I loved in David Tennant, and Peter Davison, and Christopher Eccleston. With just two episodes broadcast, she is completely and totally the Doctor in my mind. 

The other day, despite having been almost completely turned off by the trailers, I decided to watch the first episode of the remade Magnum P.I. As a kid, I avidly watched the last 3 or 4 seasons of the original show (followed by Simon & Simon), and I HATED the idea that it was being remade by the producers who—to my mind—got the remake of MacGyver so wrong. The previews showcased big, explodey car crashes, making it look more like The Fast & the Furious (F&F director Justin Lin directed the new Magnum pilot) than the Magnum I knew. And it looked like they had just cast a typical Hollywood pretty boy as Magnum, and really, who could replace Tom Selleck, anyway? 

But, I loved the original so much, I felt compelled to check out the new one. I mean, what if it wasn’t awful? And who was I to judge without watching at least one episode?

Turns out, I really enjoyed it. And nobody is more surprised at that than me.

TV Themes

Apologies for not posting anything last week. Things have been crazy here for the past few months, particularly in terms of stuff needing repair in our house. For those of you playing “Problems with Andrew’s House” Bingo at home, you can now fill in the “water main needed replacing,” “sewer main needed replacing,” and “water heater broke and needed replacing/water damage to garage” squares. This would be in addition to the “turns out most of the wiring in the house needed replacing and probably caught the attic on fire at one point” and “water leak in dining room ceiling with evidence of previous, undisclosed leaks from previous owner” squares you could have filled in earlier.

Catching Up, and ATA Girl

Welcome back! This week, I want to talk about a recent audio drama from Big Finish Productions that I think is worthy of some attention: ATA Girl. But first, some follow-ups to previous entries.

Star Wars Rebels

I first saw Star Wars in 1977, when I was eight years old. My parents took me to see it at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco, and it changed my life. I had loved other things—Sesame Street, Mister Rogers, I don’t even remember what else—but Star Wars was the first thing of which I became a passionate fan. Over the years, my interest waxed and waned; I drifted away after the first trilogy ended and came back when the second began. Now that we are getting annual Star Wars movies, I’m very much obsessed again. However, it may come as a surprise that my favorite iteration of Star Wars isn’t any of the nine movies (although I love them all, to a greater or lesser degree) but the animated TV series, Star Wars Rebels.

12 Blogs of Christmas Day Two: The Christmas Toy

While Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is our favorite Jim Henson Muppet Christmas special, The Christmas Toy is a close second. This is produced by Jim Henson, but not directed by him, since, when it was produced in 1986, the Muppets were much bigger business, and presumably Henson was busy with other things. It’s still a great TV special. I remember loving it on its original broadcast, and that love hasn’t faded a bit in the intervening years.

(Spoilers after the jump. Although, again, this special is 21 years old, long past the spoiler statute of limitations.)

12 Blogs of Christmas Day One: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the first of my 12 Blogs of Christmas, running every day from Christmas Day to the Epiphany (that’s the way it works; look it up). Every day, I will be talking about something that particularly means Christmas to me.

One of our annual Christmas traditions is watching the early Jim Henson special, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Produced 40 years ago, based on the book by Lillian and Russell Hoban, this hour-long special oozes charm. It tells the story of Emmet Otter and his mother, together since Pa Otter passed away, scraping by on the income from Ma taking in laundry and Emmet doing odd jobs using his father’s tool set. 

(Spoilers after the jump. But seriously, it’s 40 years old. I think the spoiler statute of limitations has expired.)

Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival 2016 and River Belle Terrace at Disneyland

Before I get into the meat of this week’s blog, I want to mention Syfy’s Wynonna Earp TV series. Some time ago, I blogged about my enthusiasm for the 21st century version of the comic, and how much I was looking forward to the show. Well, it has not disappointed at all. It’s funny, fast-paced, charming and exciting. It’s very much an origin story for the character, and should appeal to fans of shows like Buffy and Supernatural. It has become a favorite in our household after only two episodes, and seems to be getting a lot of positive reviews online. I highly recommend checking it out.

Recently, we visited the Disneyland Resort. We bought annual passes last fall, so have been visiting Disneyland more frequently than in recent years. This time, our primary focus was on eating, for a couple of reasons. One of those reasons was that through the entire month of April, Disney California Adventure is hosting the Food and Wine Festival, returning after an absence of several years. While we didn’t try everything on offer, we did try quite a few items, and here’s what we thought:

After looking at the brochure, we decided the first booth we wanted to try was the Gold Rush booth, for the Triple Cheese Mac with Smoked Chicken and the Apple Bacon Whoopie Pie. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to take photos of these items, but there are ample photos available online. (Like here.)

The mac and cheese was really good. The three cheeses combined nicely, and the smoked chicken had a distinct flavor that was not overwhelming. Similarly, the whoopie pie had a nice delicacy of flavor. I've had maple bacon pastries in the past that were way too sweet; this had a more subtle balance. Less subtle was the Flower Field Lemonade, which was really tasty, but really, really sweet. Overall, the Gold Rush booth set the tone for what we hoped would be a pleasant Food & Wine Festival experience.

Our next target was the By the Bay booth. I'd read good things about the White Cheddar and Ale Bacon Soup, served in a sourdough boule. My wife and I are both suckers for soup in a bread bowl, so there you go. While my wife isn't particularly interested in seafood, I also wanted to try the Chilled Shrimp & Snow Crab Cocktail. And, of course, we couldn't pass up the coconut tapioca layered with fresh mango, lychee boba, and mango coulis.

While we love cheese, soup, beer, bacon, and bacon ale cheese soup, we felt this iteration tasted a little bland. Cheddar is not the mildest of cheeses, but there wasn't a lot of flavor to this soup. We also didn't get very much in our little mini boule, which sounds like the old joke ("The food here is awful!" "Yes, and such small portions!") but there you go.

The shrimp and crab cocktail was more successful, I felt. It had a light, refreshing flavor that was perfect on a hot Saturday. My only complaint was that it was a bit tough cracking the crab claw to get to the meat. My wife didn't try the shrimp or crab meat, but she sampled the sauce and thought it tasted great.

The coconut tapioca was a definite winner. I'm not a particularly big fan of mango on its own--I find it a bit bitter--but paired with the boba bubbles and the coconut tapioca, the sweetness took the edge off of it. 

Our final lunch booth of the day was Wine Country. I am the complete sucker for braised beef. Braise it with wine? How can I pass that up? We also had to try the blackberry tart. While we were there, my wife impulsively decided to also try the beet salad, despite the fact that a really bad beet salad at a restaurant years ago had made us wary of that dish. This time, her love of goat cheese won out over the fear of beets.

The Zinfandel-braised Wagyu beef with creamy polenta and spring pea purée was delicious. The beef was extremely tender and rich, and both the polenta and pea purée complimented it nicely. It was so good, I was reluctant to share it with my wife. (But I did.) The beet salad was nicely dressed, with a good balance of ingredients. And the blackberry tart was nice. We especially liked the flavor of the rosemary vanilla bean creme fraiche, although the texture of both the creme and the crust were industrial strength.

We took a break, went on some attractions, went back to the room for a nap, and then returned to the festival for dinner. We decided to try a couple of specific items as “appetizers,” with our main dinner at the Cocina Cucamonga restaurant in Disney’s California Adventure.

Based on what I had read beforehand, I really wanted to try the Pork Belly Bao Taco at the LAstyle booth. We each got one of those, and split the Milk Chocolate Caramel tart.

The flavors of the pork belly bao taco were excellent. For starters, what’s better than a nicely-cooked piece of pig fat? The sauce was rich but not overpowering, the vegetables were crisp and refreshing, and the bao bun taco shell was soft and fluffy. This may have been my favorite item from the festival, although the chocolate tart from the same booth ran a close second. Rich and creamy, it was a fantastic dessert. Even though we were having it as an appetizer.

Our final booth selection was the tenderloin slider from the Farm booth. I am a sucker for sliders, and beef tenderloin, plus I had read good things about this item online. Be warned: the brochure for the festival says it is served with a smoked BBQ sauce and Bleu cheese. On the menu at the booth, it says it comes with a chimichurri sauce (which indeed it does).

Honestly, this was a bit of a disappointment. The tenderloin is not cooked to order, so it should come as no surprise that it is fairly well done, in terms of temperature. In fact, what comes as a surprise is that, as thoroughly cooked as it was, it was still fairly tender and edible. It was nicely seasoned, which is more than I can say for the chimichurri sauce. I’ve had many chimichurri sauces in the past, and this was easily the blandest, least flavorful I’ve ever tasted. (In fact, I’m not really sure I actually did taste it; it may have actually subtracted flavor from the slider.)

For our actual dinner, we decided to try Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill, a restaurant in DCA that neither of us had ever eaten at before. They had a special item on the menu for the Food & Wine Festival, a shredded pork tostada with grilled pineapple slaw and chipotle crema.

This dish was actually very tasty. I don’t always enjoy pineapple, but the sweetness of the fruit was offset enough by the chipotle, and together, they made a really nice combination. I was particularly surprised by the rice. Generally, I’ve found so-called Spanish rice to be a little bland, particularly at places like a counter-service restaurant in a theme park. However, this was much better seasoned than expected. Overall, this dish makes me willing to come back to this restaurant again in the future.

Separate from the Food & Wine Festival, we also tried the new BBQ menu at the River Belle Terrace on this trip. Previously, I had enjoyed breakfasts and lunches at the River Belle Terrace. We had also enjoyed the all-you-can-eat BBQ at Big Thunder Ranch, but, sadly, that restaurant has been closed for good. River Belle Terrace just launched their new menu a few months ago. I’d seen good reviews online, we like BBQ, and it’s a Disneyland restaurant we hadn’t eaten at yet, so of course we went.

We started with the creamy cheese dip, which was served with toasted bread and celery. It was a little spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. The toasted bread it came with made for a nice combination with the cheese. It was almost like eating a little tiny pot of fondue.

For our meals, my wife and I each chose sandwiches. All entrees come with baked beans and an additional side; my wife and I both opted for the potato salad. I considered the tater tots, but we had been driving all day, and I wanted something a little less greasy.

I ordered the beef brisket sandwich, which has smoked provolone cheese and fried onions with steak sauce mayo. I’ve had good brisket sandwiches and bad brisket sandwiches, and even smoked my own brisket. This was one of the better ones. The meat was moist and tender without tasting greasy or overly fatty. I could definitely taste the smoke in the cheese. The steak sauce mayo was a nice accent without being overwhelming. Most importantly for me, the fried onions were pretty unobtrusive. I’ve had sandwiches with so many fried onions that’s all I can taste; that was definitely not the case here. They added a nice touch, but didn’t turn it into an onion sandwich.

My wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich. She also appreciated the relative lack of grease, and commented that she enjoyed the cole slaw on it. I mention that because she normally does not enjoy cole slaw.

The baked beans were a nice combination of several types of beans, and the potato salad was well-made and seasoned. However, we both agreed that there was nothing particularly remarkable about any of it. They were perfectly serviceable sandwiches and sides, but didn’t really justify the price the restaurant charges. 

My wife had made a point of saving room for dessert. I hadn’t saved room, but ordered dessert anyway. As it turns out, that wasn’t an issue as, unlike the sandwiches, the desserts were not particularly big. In fact, they were kind of on the small side.

My wife ordered the maple, apple & bacon bundt cake, and she let me have a bite. It was moist and delicious, but the restaurant changes $8 for what is probably a $5 portion. She was particularly disappointed because she hadn’t had as much of the cheese dip or beans or potato salad as she had wanted, because she had expected a much larger dessert.

While we were waiting to be seated, I heard the couple in front of us tell the hostess that they just wanted to try the restaurant’s famous cheesecake. (This was the first time I had heard of their cheesecake, but there you go.) So I ordered the fried cheesecake, to see what the fuss was about. 

It’s for the best that I hadn’t been saving room, since it was even smaller than the bundt cake, The whole thing was maybe the size of a flattened Snickers bar. The breading/coating was pretty thick compared to the amount of cheesecake, so it was very difficult to actually cut through it without melted cheesecake squirting everywhere. It came with some fruit and--once again--some industrial-strength whipped cream. I’m glad I ate all my dinner, otherwise I would have gone away hungry.

I don’t like to complain about prices at Disneyland, because I go in knowing that it’s not a cheap place to be. However, in the past, I have generally felt like I’ve gotten good value for my money. In the case of the new River Belle Terrace, I don’t feel that’s the case. The quality of the food was just fine, but that’s not enough to justify these prices. It’s certainly no substitute for the defunct Big Thunder Ranch.

Overall, we’ve come to the conclusion that when we’re in the parks, we prefer to stick with counter service restaurants. The quality of food and service at the table service restaurants has been on a decline, while prices have increased. We figure that unless you’re getting a special experience, like at the Blue Bayou, the table service restaurants aren’t worth the expense in both money and time spent waiting. So I honestly can’t recommend the River Belle Terrace as a place to eat in Disneyland.

Overall, though, we had a great series of dining experiences on this trip. In addition to the Food & Wine Festival, we had a couple of particularly special meals. So special, in fact, that they deserve their own entries. So in the weeks to come, I will be writing about our afternoon tea at Steakhouse 55, and our dinner at the extremely exclusive Club 33.

Do you have a favorite place to eat at the Disneyland Resort? Have you had better experiences with table service restaurants than we have? If so, please let me know in the comments.

See you next week!

Maverick Rewatch: Episodes 1-3

Prompted by the Warner Archive release of Young Maverick, which means all the Maverick TV series are currently available for purchase (and all owned by us), my wife and I decided to start watching the whole series from the beginning. Here are my thoughts on the episodes we’ve seen to date. As I said in the first post of this blog, but maybe bears repeating, these are not reviews; these are reactions and responses. There’s a whole internet of critical discussion about television in general and Maverick in particular, but that isn’t what you will find here.

Also, a word about spoilers: there will be some. I don't want to tap dance around plot details from a show that aired 60 years ago. I'm not going to be writing plot summaries, but I'm not going to avoid spoilers, either.

War of the Silver Kings: I’d seen this one before, and was a little anxious, because this would determine whether my wife and I would be watching the series together, or whether I’d have to find time to watch on my own. Fortunately, she was won over by the clever plotting and dialogue, and James Garner’s undeniable charm.

For myself, part of my concern about this maybe not being the best first episode for her to watch may have come from my knowledge that this wasn’t originally intended to be the first episode of the series. Warner Brothers nascent television division made creator Roy Huggins adapt this first episode from a novel they owned the rights to, so that he couldn’t claim the residuals he would have been owed if he was credited as the creator. I still think that’s a crappy thing to do, but if I don’t let that knowledge color my view of the show, this is a really good debut.

The story clearly introduces Maverick as a character who just wants to mind his own business as a wandering gambler, but when push comes to shove, he won’t hesitate to fight back. However, he prefers to fight using his brain, not his fists or a gun (although he does throw a fair few punches in this episode). That’s why I love this show, while other, more traditional Westerns of the period hold little interest for me. That’s probably also why this show has withstood the test of time, and been revived on multiple occasions.

The plot is pretty complicated, and they probably pack a feature-length movie’s worth of story into a TV episode. I feel like that especially shows with the character of Edie, the daughter of the miner who rescues Maverick after he is knocked unconscious by the thugs working for Phineas King. She’s a weird, quirky character who adds a lot of humor to the proceedings, but really only gets one scene to shine.

Having said that, I would rather have a packed 50 minute story than a padded 90 or 120 minute movie, so I’m fine with the pace and content of this episode.

I appreciated how Maverick arrives in town looking like a grubby cowboy, It wouldn’t make sense, seeing him riding from town to town in his ruffled shirt and fancy gambling duds. It really gives the sense that he is wearing clothes, not a costume. 

I also appreciated how, while Maverick clearly fights with his wits, he isn’t a cool, emotionless genius. He gets angry, and sometimes his anger gets the better of him. He’s a fully-drawn character, even in this first episode.

Of course, by the end of the show, Maverick’s wits have won the day, and he and Big Mike McComb are riding out of town and on to the next big thing. I can’t remember whether or not Big Mike shows up in future episodes, so that will be interesting to see.

Point Blank: Sure enough, Big Mike McComb is not in the second episode of Maverick. The episode opens with Maverick on the run from a group of riders, and we never really hear too much more about that. He shows up in the town of Bent Fork, once again filthy from the road, and almost immediately hoodwinks the (apparent) town bully with an old trick using a belt. However, Maverick being Maverick, he pays back twice what he won, claiming that the guy had given him a loan; he just hadn't realized it. 

However, Maverick still manages to run afoul of the local sheriff, partly because he doesn't trust an outsider gambler like Maverick, and partly because the sheriff appears to have a crush on Molly, the big city girl now working in the local saloon. For her part, Molly appears to be developing an interest in Maverick, and that interest is definitely reciprocated. But we soon learn that her interest is less romantic, and more nefarious.

We learn--well before Maverick--that Molly and her boyfriend, bank teller Ralph, are scheming to rob the bank. Maverick bears a superficial resemblance to Ralph; more than superficial if they were to blow his face off with a shotgun. The plan is to lure Maverick to his death--by way of the aforementioned shotgun blast to the face--so that, for all intents and purposes, the authorities will assume Ralph is dead, and he will be free to leave with Molly to spend their riches.

This episode is a lot more focused and deliberately paced than War of the Silver Kings. That one, possibly because of its origins as a novel, felt like it had a ton of story crammed into its 50 minutes of running time. Point Blank is able to take its time and build the characters and relationships. We get a genuine sense of Maverick's developing feelings for Molly, and similarly get a strong sense that she is developing feelings for him... OR IS SHE????? 

Contrasted with War of the Silver Kings, this story is much more character-based. This makes me happy; two episodes in, and it's clear that the formula is not as simple as, "What's Maverick's scheme this week?" In fact, while we see his gambling expertise at play several times, for the most part, Maverick is the one who is getting conned here. And once he realizes it, he doesn't come up with some sort of elaborate counter-scheme. Nope, he just goes and confronts Ralph with a gun. He does get Molly to confess her part in the plot in earshot of the sheriff, but it's not a complicated set-up. She just doesn't know he's there.

Because the characters have time to breathe, it allows them to build in a little subtlety. Particularly in the case of Molly, it's difficult to tell whether she really is falling for Maverick, or if it's all a part of the plan. The relationship between Molly and Maverick feels real, because it has time to develop, and that helps build that ambiguity into the story.

I've often seen Maverick described as an "anti-hero," but I don't believe that's an appropriate description for his character. Certainly, he doesn't behave like a stereotypical Western hero, and the scene in this episode--where he bargains the reward for recovering the stolen bank money up before returning the money--is certainly something that the Lone Ranger would never do. However, he is still a man who does the right thing when push comes to shove. For example, as he tells Molly--and here I am paraphrasing--"I tried to come up with some way to keep you out of it, but I just couldn't square it." He returns the money he tricked the town bully into giving away. He's a man who is focused on his own survival and profit, but not at the expense of others, or justice.

This episode also features my favorite Maverick quote to date. When the sheriff tells him he has ten minutes to get out of town, Maverick replies, “Sheriff, I’ve gotten out of towns this size in five minutes.”

According to Hoyle: In this episode, we do see the return of Big Mike, plus the debut of recurring female foil Samantha Crawford. In some ways, this episode combines the broader scope of War of the Silver Kings with the character focus of Point Blank, in that it ranges all across the west, from New Orleans to Wagon Wheel, Montana, but still deals with a relatively small group of characters.

We first see Maverick soundly beaten at cards on a riverboat by the sweet, demure, but apparently crafty Samantha Crawford. He makes a deal with a pair of steamboat line owners to draw passengers to their ship by promising a rematch with Samantha, if they stake him $5000 to a game. This time around, Samantha beats him again by relying on a little-followed rule from Hoyle.

She tells Maverick that he is responsible for her father being in prison for embezzling money from his bank, a course of action he restored to after Maverick ostensibly cheated him out of $50,000. Maverick apparently convinces her that he's not a cheater, then forms a plan with her to raise the money she needs to buy her father out of prison. It involves taking down a crooked saloon owner, Riggs, who Maverick humiliated on the river boat.

From here, things get twisty. It seems Samantha's story about her father isn't quite the truth, although she has been deliberately targeting Maverick as part of a revenge scheme involving a man he did win $50,000 from. Despite his charm, Maverick ends up facing setbacks at every turn, right up until the end. Ultimately, he doesn't really come out ahead, but neither does anyone else, and maybe that''s the best anyone can hope for in this situation.

Diane Brewster, as Samantha Crawford, makes a great foil for James Garner's Maverick. She's every bit as charming as he is. Ted de Corsia, as Riggs, is fantastic as the corrupt gambling hall owner. Esther Dale, as the feisty Ma Braus, is the very image of the tough old bird, in the best way possible. And Leo Gordon, returning as Big Mike McComb, is a great partner for Maverick. His character gets a nice ending in this episode, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the last we see of him, and I know Samantha returns in future episodes as well.

Once again, we are reminded that Maverick, despite his profession as gambler, is still a thoroughly honest man. He doesn't cheat at cards. He insists on repaying the $5000 to the river boat owners, even though they insist he doesn't have to do so. He chooses Wagon Wheel as a place to establish a profitable casino because it also means taking down a corrupt, cheating rat like Riggs. He's a good man who, whenever he has the opportunity, does good things. Those are not the actions of an anti-hero, to my mind.

Our only real quibble about this episode is that my wife and I aren't sure how Samantha was able to beat Maverick at cards. We see her using the Hoyle trick, but otherwise, he describes her as a bad card player. So how does she manage to take all his money? Is it as simple as she is able to hold her own, until ultimately she gets to the point where she is able to trick him into betting all his money against what turns out to be a sure thing? If she's as bad as Maverick claims, it doesn't make sense that he would get himself into that position.

However, despite that one objection, this is another fine episode in a series that definitely deserves its reputation. I enjoyed the range of geography this episode covered--even if that did mean a little more stock footage of river boats and trains and saloon fights than usual--and I particularly enjoyed the final scene, with all the adversaries putting their differences aside for a game of cards. Best of all, the story didn’t rely on the obvious trope of, “Oh, Maverick knew what they were up to and was one step ahead of them all along!”

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Lo, the Rings of Saturn

It’s easy for me to point out things that I like right now. It’s harder to tell what’s going to make a lasting impact and what’s the equivalent of a momentary infatuation. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (the TV series) is one of those things that has stuck with me through my life. I enjoyed watching it as a kid, but unlike so many other childhood shows, it’s one that I keep coming back to again and again. And every time I watch it, I enjoy it as much as I did the first time around. (The first season, anyway; the second season is another story entirely. In just about every sense.) So when I learned that a company called Blam Ventures was producing new, officially licensed Buck Rogers novels, I had to check them out.

First, some context. At some point between 1979 and 1981, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century premiered, and I fell for it, hard. It's tough for me to recall the exact chronology of things, and while I suppose I could uncover some dates using the Internets, the actual facts don't really matter. Here's what I remember: 

After seeing Star Wars in 1977, I became a huge science fiction fan. At the time, that meant seeing movies like Battle Beyond the Stars and watching TV shows like Battlestar Galactica. At some point in 1979 or 1980, I became aware of a new movie, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard. (Who it starred probably meant nothing to me at the time.) 

Around the same time, my family moved to New Zealand for a year, while my father did research. What I think may have happened was that I saw the publicity for Buck Rogers before we moved, but it didn't come out until after we moved, so I wasn't able to see it in the US. I was able to buy a treasury-sized comic adaptation of the movie, and I eventually did see it in New Zealand in the theater. I thought it was great.

I learned, somehow, that the movie was just the pilot for a TV series that would be premiering in the US while I was still in New Zealand. (Did I learn about this from Starlog Magazine? Was I reading Starlog Magazine at this point? I don't recall.) Of course, we left New Zealand before the show started airing there, and missed the premiere of the show in the US. Didn't stop me from getting excited about it, though. 

When we returned to the US, we took a trip to Washington, DC almost immediately. I remember asking my mother to buy an issue of TV Guide from a local convenience store to see when Buck Rogers was on, so I could FINALLY see an episode. If memory serves, I did see my very first episode while we were on that trip, but I couldn't say for sure. What I can say for sure is that the title of the episode was Space Vampire. And that I was hooked.

What Buck Rogers had over other contemporary science fiction shows (which were basically Battlestar Galactica, as far as I can recall) was that it was very much a bright, shiny escapist action adventure fantasy. Battlestar Galactica was a much darker, more serious series, and my ten-year-old brain was looking for action and adventure. And, apparently, really attractive women playing strong military leaders, because I instantly developed a huge crush on Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering.

And Wilma wasn’t the only character who had my attention. Almost every episode featured a gorgeous lady, usually working for the villains, either because they were forced to or because they were misguided. Regardless, Buck usually ended up rescuing them or getting them to turn on the villains, and together they defeated whatever the evil plan of the week happened to be. Maybe that was part of the appeal of the show then and now: Buck and Wilma and their friends fought bad guys and evil plans, and they won.

The characters were also friends, and they were kind to each other, and they were genuinely nice and funny. I want to say that I watched it with my dad and my brother, even though I don’t remember whether or not that was the case. I choose to remember it that way, because it’s a great show to watch as a family. 

By the time the second season rolled around, I know I was reading Starlog Magazine, because I distinctly remember reading articles about how things would be changing drastically for the second season. At the time, I kept watching, because at that age, no matter how drastically shows that you watch get changed, they’re still shows that you watch, right? However, even at the time, I don’t think I was enjoying the show as much. (I remember really not enjoying the two-hour episode where Buck and everyone had to escort an alien ambassador with a removable head—yes, a removable head—across a desolate planet. It was the first time I felt like the show had crossed the line from fun to just silly.) However, I kind of liked the new character they introduced, a half-bird alien named Hawk. (You knew he was part bird because he had feathers on his head, and his ship was shaped like a hawk. I was ten or eleven years old, and that ship looked pretty cool.)

As I grew older, I watched the show in reruns whenever I could. More specifically, I watched the first season in reruns whenever I could. I bought it on DVD, and I even purchased a season one soundtrack not too long ago. It brought back a lot of fond memories. I would buy season two’s soundtrack as well, but it was a limited edition release, and the prices people are asking are a little more than I want to pay at the moment.

Not too long ago, I learned that Bear Manor Media, a small press specializing in books about TV and movies, had released a book about the TV series. After checking out an excerpt, I decided to order it. I haven’t read it yet, but skimming through it, it looks pretty good.

Not long after that, I discovered that Blam Ventures had just released the first in a series of licensed Buck Rogers novels, based on the series, and set between the first and second seasons. I almost immediately purchased their first book, and read it over an hour or so while my sick wife lay napping beside me. 

The book, by Andrew Gaska, was a lot of fun. It really captured the spirit of the show, and I could hear the actors speaking the dialogue as I read it. The plot felt like it could easily come from an episode of the show: Buck and Wilma are sent to uncover the reason why shipments of a valuable resource are being delayed. During his undercover investigation, Buck encounters an attractive young woman who agrees to help him foil the plot. In this case, the attractive young woman is actually a character returning from the TV series, although the book introduces yet another attractive young woman who may figure more prominently into the story in later installments.

I won’t spoil who the returning character is, but I will say that she’s not the only character from the series who makes an appearance. However, these references to the show don’t feel forced in the way fan-fiction will also include a bunch of references just to make fans of the show smile. The story takes place on a prison world, so it makes sense that a bunch of defeated villains would appear in the story.

There’s also plenty of fast-paced action, just like the show. However, there’s also some nice character stuff. We get a sense of what happened to all the various women who Buck rescued throughout the series, and we get some sense of his reaction to that. It’s not particularly dark or creepy or nefarious, just realistic. And there’s maybe a greater sense of danger in this episode.

The book also does a great job of fleshing out the character of recurring frenemy Princess Ardala, who gets her own subplot completely separate—at this point, anyway—from the Buck/Wilma story. We learn more of her backstory and see a major change in her status quo. (We also get an explanation of why the character of Kane changed actors between the pilot and the series, but it doesn’t feel like too much jarring fan service to get distracting.) I look forward to seeing where the Ardala story goes.

This is very much just the first part of the story, ending on a cliffhanger with quite a bit left to be resolved. That’s fine; it’s pretty clearly labeled as “book one.” From the publisher’s web site and other interviews, it appears that we get three of these “season 1.5” novellas, and then stories set after season two. I’m genuinely hoping that they bring the series back to Earth, instead of continuing the “searching for lost tribes of Earth” plot of the second season.

As a fan of the show, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book as much as it felt like Gaska enjoyed writing it. I’m glad I finally get new stories based on this thing that I loved so much as a kid, and I’m glad that I can still enjoy them more than 30 years later.

(Note: An earlier version of this entry had author Andrew Gaska's name misspelled. I sincerely apologize for that, and have corrected it.)