Saturday, October 25, 2003

WHAT ELSE IS ON? In the most important news for the world of professional illusionists since one of them inexplicably starved himself in a box in London for a long time, revolutionary advances in youth market analysis recently permitted American media scientists to apply the cultish appeal of goth aesthetics and the intellectual hook of professional wrestling to the tired genre of television magic acts. But there are worse things to watch, even when you're not watching ER. Like how about the plot of Early Edition on the set of After Hours with the conceit of Groundhog Day, a twist of John Edward and the worst name thus-far in the whole bastard-children-of-Good-Will-Hunting-and-Felicity trend in show titles (Crossing Jordan, Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, Alan Keyes is Making Sense… blah): Fox Network’s mortician-with-ESP-dramalette Tru Calling.

All of which begs the question: Why isn’t bad tv better? Aren’t there any new ideas out there? If not, couldn’t we at least remake Battlestar Galactica? What’s that? We can!? Yes, apparently we can. Or they can, over at the Sci-Fi (-Fantasy-Horror-Occult-Conspiracy-Inexplicable Dreck-Why-Isn’t-There-More-Good-Stuff-In-This-Ad-Hoc-Conglomerate-Genre) Channel.

I'm psyched, but not surprisingly, the project has been fraught with controversy. Innovators have made impassioned appeals to the best and worst nature of sci-fi fans. Traditionalists have engaged in heavily self-interested whining. Meanwhile the rest of us are just waiting to see if the folks at Sci-Fi -- who didn't have the sense not to broadcast Roger Corman's Black Scorpion -- can do a better job with Battlestar Galactica than they did with Dune.

Until it airs, and we find out, you can get your old-school Colonial Warrior ya-yas out here, and here.

No comments:

Post a Comment