TUSK Official Trailer

This is so cool, listening to the podcast as the movie was born and came to fruition is a once in a life time media experience:)

Soundtracks

Ok so I went a little nuts with some soundtrack albums for recent animated features, they weren't expensive so that helps when clicking the "buy" links on Amazon and yes I still prefer physical media:)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 12

Buck's Duel to the Death

S1E21

The planet Katar and a legend of a 500 year old man called the Roshan who is destined to defeat the Traybor and free the world from tyranny, it's fortunate that the fame of Buck has spread so far from Earth because once again he gets dropped right in it after accepting an offer to visit Katar. Of course it's a woman that finally convinces Buck to help although it didn't hurt that the Traybor foolishly sent men to kill Buck and more importantly failed in that task. The Traybor played wonderfully over the top by William Smith had spent time on the planet Voltron and had circuitry embedded under his skin which allowed him to store and manipulate electrical energy and then discharge at a will, mostly it had to be said in combat which made him pretty much unstoppable since modern worlds don't seem to be familiar with electricity, no idea what they use since that was never explored, cheap dodge but I guess it worked ok :) Of course Buck has his own knowledge and resources back on Earth and with the insight gleamed he uses Twiki as an insulator and capacitor and fights the Traybor eventually prevailing and all is once again right with the world.

An average episode which may be given an extra point because of how William filled the screen with his campy menace and another point for the gratuitous shots of the ladies climbing down the ladders in their tight outfits, seriously one woman just to make the point but 4 or 5 was probably overkill:)

It's Good to be King

IMDB

Flight of the War Witch, Part 1 & 2

S1 Finale

Well here we are at the season 1 finale and they do a two parter, clever idea but you would have thought it would have straddled the seasons as a cliffhanger but given how different the second season was you wonder if they thought the show wasn't coming back and well blew their wad all in one go:)

Anyhow whatever the reason the presented feature length story worked very well indeed, a message from another universe with instructions for getting there using the "Vortex" aka Black Hole and with the intent to not only bring in the military forces of the Earth but also the more violent yet predictable Draconian forces under the command of Princess Ardala.

It says a lot about tv at the time that it's taken this long for both Wilma and Dr Huer to get a strong emotional scene with Buck where both can express their feeling for the guy, Tim and Erin shine but unfortunately Gil is pretty wooden throughout, not sure if he was directed in that manner since we know he can do better but the scenes lost a little for his lack of empathy. There were some excellent (for the time) visual/optical effects for the wormhole and nice to see they tried to make this universe look different with a more varied star field and the trapped aliens around the planet of Pendar was a nice touch if never really explored. As you would expect neither the Earth Directorate nor the Draconians are happy about being manipulated but they are kinda stuck with no way back without the help of the natives. Once again credit to the location set which would be a backlot but it looked pretty good and to me it reminded me of the studio set used for the Trek episode Shore Leave and then add the very Organian approach to the more advanced locals and Trek was fairly screaming at me in a very good way:) While we are looking at contemporary shows who else would be playing the War Witch Zarina but the one and only Julie Newmar  (Catwoman and Eleen (TOS) ).

Julie Newmar

Council taking Corporeal Form

There is no surprise that Buck agrees to help nor that Ardala stabs them in the back nor that the War Witch doesn't trust anyone and is quite happy to betray Ardala but her plans are working and with the imminent attack on Pendar after the successful breach of it's shield why would she take on new allies? Of course she is taken by Buck (what woman isn't) but even though he seems to be softening towards Ardala he isn't playing ball with Zarina and there are some very good lines including "To Live One Must Be Willing To Die" which comes as a surprise from the shows writers which once again makes you wonder if they realised this episode was make or break for ongoing employment. 

As Pendar gets close to falling from the assault beyond their atmosphere by the 73,000 troops and ships carried by the War Witch's ship the infiltration by Buck which fell apart after Ardala betrayed him gets back on track with the rescue of the previously captured Kodus (Trek again?) and when returned to Pendar begins to fix the shield which gives Buck the chance to set the trap for the War Witch relying on her own anger and blindness in seeing the obvious when her goal was so close.

You know you can't really trust her!

Laughed myself silly when Ardala on her hands and knees and in a tight outfit was crawling around a cargo bay and uttered "This is so degrading" amen sister both for the character and actress, again either the writers going to town or maybe a classic adlib?  I guess the men saving the day was always going to be the case especially in this era of television and the market but at least the women were contributing even if at times they were classic damsels in distress but with the destruction of the War Witch the two enemies keep their guns holstered at least until returning to their own universe.

The Flight of the War Witch is a pretty good title and overall the episode is a very fitting conclusion to the first season of Buck Rogers, good special effects and some new ship models but looking back we see this is the farewell for Ardala, Kane and Huer who do not return for the second season.

So the second season, don't think I'll be watching it anytime soon, recall not being that impressed first time around but it's sitting on the shelf so you never know.

IMDB

Star Trek FIRST LOOK: Enterprise Refit Desktop Replica

Star Trek FIRST LOOK: Enterprise Refit Desktop Replica



A thing of beauty.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 11

A Dream of Jennifer

S1E19

While out on a shopping trip with Twiki Buck spots a familiar face from his past but that can not be, after all that was 500 years ago. He spots her again at a transit station and suspiciously gets her information from the check in desk and she is identified as Lela Markeson on route to City by the Sea which used to be New Orleans. It turns out that this Lela had being surgically altered to look like Buck's girl friend Jennifer as part of an overly complex plot to derail arms and supply shipments to the independent world Vega V by the Earth directorate. The Koven who are literally very red skinned have put a lot of effort into thwarting the efforts of the directorate but it's all for nought thanks to a few surprises onboard the supply freighter and of course Buck and Wilma doing their thing.

Anne Lockhart as Lela / Jennifer

So Buck is gathering supplies to build a hot tub, not quite sure how the human race lost interest in such things even after a nuclear war but hey it got the plot moving and set up the market scene with a lot of extras and of course the first look at Lela played by the gorgeous Anne Lockhart. In the flash back we even get a little side boob, it says a lot that despite the times that was quite surprising on the show and the notion that Buck was in a serious relationship prior to his mission back in the day. Later he again spotted the woman who looked like his Jennifer at a space port and hey I know that guy, yes Dennis Haysbert (The Unit, 24) is playing a guard and then over the public address system we hear "Captain Christopher Pike", I pissed myself laughing:)

The main plot I guess was the efforts of the Koven led by Commander Reeve (Paul Koslo) to prevent the Earth from supplying the planet Vega V with supplies and munitions to aid in their defence but the whole convoluted plot of altering a woman to look like Buck's long lost love and to then use her to force him to destroy the supply freighter seems way over the top. They said Buck had a photo of Jennifer and they used that to create the copy complete with voice and I guess all those little things which I'm not quite sure a 2D photo would be capable of showing. I felt a little let down that Buck rejected the flirting from the alien Nola, if nothing else wouldn't we all be curious if she was red all over but then again Lela was rocking the ridiculously tight blue spandex so it's all good apart from the end which wasn't but hey a last minute joke about Jaws so the show finished on a happy note.

Overall a pretty good episode mind you the bad guys plans were a little extreme but there were laughs and everyone looked good even when the alien of the week are guys painted a garish red.

IMDB

Space Rockers

S1E20

The galaxies most popular music is being used to subvert the young folk of thousands of worlds leading to rioting and civil unrest and Buck is sent to investigate because after all he was around when music was destroying civilisation back in the 20th century. The band Andromeda perform from a former military space station controlled by Lars Mangros (Jerry Orbach) and he splices a harmonic code into the music which effects the listeners, his goal to sew chaos and then extort power from the various worlds in turmoil.

Lars Mangros

Andromeda

This really wasn't a good episode after all the very idea of a music genre corrupting the young while still the mindset of some more fringe elements in society really belongs in a bygone age, I guess the idea of manipulating the music to cause a specific effect is scifi and that has some credibility but for half the episode that wasn't a known element. I didn't quite understand why the Earth directorate has no regulatory control over the former space station, it was in freaking orbit and even when it was known to be the source of a galaxy wind terrorist attack then sod the rules nuke it! It was also hilarious how old the youth of the Earth were, not exactly teenagers looking for direction and one thing we've seen is that the human society is pretty stable and we humans are not everywhere so why would this music effect the whole galaxy? Lets not get into how this concert was being transmitted galaxy wide or why Lars would even consider that one world wouldn't take very pro-active action to prevent their society.

You know the worst thing, the music wasn't that bad:)

IMDB

Star Trek TNG XXX Commentary

I own the DVD release of the Star Trek TNG XXX parody movie, yes I actually paid for some porn in this day and age, it's a bizarre concept I know assuming you are not judging the very existence of adult material in the first place:) Anyhow this movie offers a Star Trek next generation story dealing with Tasha Yar and the Enterprise along with the usual crew, the plot itself stands up to the average of what TNG offered and while obviously production levels are not going to be met if you can judge it as a well financed fan film then we can proceed:)

If you are familiar with The Gatecast podcast this is very much of the same style, a running commentary spliced into the soundtrack with observations and thoughts, it may not be that entertaining but it something I just fancied doing:)

Opening Credits

She's put on a few pounds

Riker, Picard and Troi

Satisfaction or Expectation?

India Summer & April O'Neil

Giles Aston as Picard

Tyler Knight as Geordi

Bobbi Starr as Leah Brahms and some familiar looking rocks

Pesky Romulans

Beverly and Jean-Luc getting busy

Lee Bang as Worf with Ro

Dana DeArmond rocking it as Ro Laren

Star Trek: The Next Generation - A XXX Parody
IMDB
Official Site

The Long Mars

The third novel in the The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter has been released and I just picked it up in hardback from Amazon UK. It's next on my reading list after The Dark Between The Stars which is the return to the Seven Suns Saga by Kevin J. Anderson.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Trailer

Well no one can say it doesn't have a certain visual appeal:)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 10

Twiki is Missing

S1E17

Times are tough on the mining colony controlled by Kerk Belzak having to deal with a workers collective demanding better safety and pay so despite killing his workers spokesmen he decides to buy and then steal Twiki and use his enhanced AI to create a bunch of robots to mine the mineral Blazium. He sends his enforcement unit a trio of telekinetic women to do the deed but of course Buck won't sell so they steal Twiki and Buck gives chase. Meanwhile Wilma is in charge of a moving a huge space berg through the solar system into Earth orbit and then crash it into the north pole where huge amounts of oxygen will be released to help heal the Earth after the atomic war. An ion storm diverts the space berg and it looks like it could cause devastation on Earth and in the turmoil Buck is kidnapped and Twiki goes to the rescue but Buck takes on Kerk and his goons, escapes the colony and saves the day.

Space Berg

What is a dishonest business man supposed to do with uppity workers? Well you would think that with so much advanced technology in the galaxy relying on thousands of manual workers for mining would be a thing of the past. Of course Kerk's action make him the bad guy straight away so we're good to go which leads us to the space berg, ok bringing water to the Earth from the asteroid belt makes sense, not quite sure dropping it on the north pole is going to release oxygen, even melt water would benefit a poisoned world but the explanation is a little light. Loved seeing Twiki going for a space walk and even more bizarre when he somehow got into a starfighter, took off and was wearing a helmet, not sure how but go Twiki!

As per usual the "bad" girl (there were three but we concentrate on Stella played by

Anne-Marie Martin ) turns out to have a son and is being pressured to do the naughty things which gives the story a sort of happy ending when she finally helps Buck to escape the mining colony and nick some Blazium to use to divert the space berg, somehow:)

Anne-Marie Martin

Twiki Is Missing isn't a bad episode at all but were getting late into the season and money and ideas may just be getting a little short.

IMDB

Olympiad

S1E18

Well the Olympics have moved beyond Earth and have been embraced by the galaxy and Buck with his traditional five ringed flag is invited as a guest to the latest games, as a sports fan he is up for this and is looking forward to the competition. Alas political and ideology influence has infected the spirit of the competition and two competitors who have feelings for each other are being kept apart by one of the governments who keep their "stars" under tight control with threats and intimidation. Buck is approached by Lara Teasian ( Judith Chapman ) and is asked for political asylum and after consulting the Earth directorate is is agreed and then a behind the scenes "war" goes on to keep Jorex Leet ( Barney McFadden ) competing and when the gold is won to punish him by using the brain implant he has in his skull which has been turned into a bomb.

Olympiad isn't a good episode, it pulls on the political and sporting reality of the time with athletes being symbols of a nations power and legitimacy, this hasn't gone away but thankfully many of the nations that practiced this sort of control over their people have changed. So the episode is very dated and what's worse is that they try to make the sports modern with sonic boxing and martial arts, super high jumping and astro sledding which plays a pivotal role in the story. Budget restrictions meant most of this had to take place in a single enclosed arena with ported in audience noise and it simply doesn't work, it's rather pathetic to be honest, it would have more sense to imply a huge complex and have just one or two sports in the visible arena. Of course Wilma has to save the day by stealing the explosive trigger and wears some tight tight shorts but with skin tone tights etc which kinda negates the impact but how interesting that the even has women hired to "entertain". I'm not going into how a sporting event exists with so many worlds with varying gravity and an open admission that generations of some people have taken steroids etc. It's almost as bad as the Miss Cosmos which at least had the integrity to include genetics as the main point not just looks.

I can't really recommend this episode at all:)

IMDB

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 9

A Blast For Buck

S1E15

A mysterious object is beamed into Dr Huer's office followed by a cryptic riddle which seems to relate to Buck and has ominous implications and then the other 45 minutes is a clip show.

Yes a clip show in the first season, never really a good thing but I suppose it would have been a budget or time issue and to be honest I fast forwarded through most of it and the bits I watched were nothing special. That said I think Twiki was in fine form "Killed by a Yo-Yo what a way to go" and the has it really been 11 months since the Happy Birthday, Buck episode or did they just get aired in the wrong order:)

IMDB

Ardala Returns

S1E16

Well it's never dull when Ardala make an appearance on the show and no question Pamela Hensley not only looks fantastic but vamps the role up wonderfully. Anyhow in this episode a new Hatchet fighter is being tested and the Draconian pilots are unable to control it and Ardala suggests getting Buck Rogers to test fly the fighter, not as mad as suggestion as it sounds. Meanwhile Buck has been given a Ping Pool table yes you read that right and well it doesn't quite fit the bill for either game but the fun is interrupted when a vessel is detected in the solar system and a remote probe indicates it has a human on board and it was launched in the 20th century. Buck and Twiki investigate but it's a trap and he is taken to the Draconian flagship where once again Ardala fawns all over him but the reveals their cyborg/cloning technology and the plans to create duplicates of Buck who can then fly the new Hatchets and attack the cities of Earth.

Of course just like the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" the duplicates are not quite right and the initial attack on New Chicago targeting Huer, Wilma and Dr. Theopolis fails but it's upto Buck himself to thwart the attack on New Phoenix by the evil robots.

No apologies for so much Ardala  

Not surprisingly there wasn't a lot of difference between the old and new Hatchet fighters, budgets for models would have been tight but no question it seemed the Draconians has upped their game when faced with Starfighters flown by more competent pilots. For an empire I find it strange that the loss of seven test pilots would be an issue, perhaps it shows a softer side to Ardala which is an undertone to this episode but the idea to make use of Buck makes a lot of sense, he did make the difference during the first attack on Earth. Love the Ping Pool table, the scene was well written and played for laughs and even the new model/effects for the "earth ship" was well done, laughed out loud when the dummies head fell off:) It was awfully convenient that the first of the duplicates was wearing the same outfit as Buck, saved time and money and more importantly probably make filming the scenes so much faster and Twiki once again hitting the right notes with "Once a dummy always a dummy". 

It's interesting how they have played Ardala being so obsessed with Buck, granted he is probably totally different from all the men she has had contact with before and has proven himself both intelligent, capable, honourable and worthy of a Draconian princess but surely there must come a time when enough is enough. On the upside so many possibilities for her with so many variants of Buck running around the ship, at the very least a few happy hours spent in her chambers just having the time of her life but even this isn't good enough. Ardala herself realises how pathetic she has become by her desires for Buck and as the tears falls you've got to feel something for her. 

Ok not quite sure when armed with a small nuclear device the Buck sent to New Chicago didn't get the job done as soon as his targets where in the city or why it took so long for anyone to notice how weird he was acting. On the flipside real Buck acting like one of the duplicates worked well and in the grand tradition no copy can rival the talents of courage of the real thing as the Draconian attack is once again foiled but it seems every other episode has the Earth protected by different means and sometimes not at all.

This wasn't a bad episode at all, yes serious eye candy as Ardala goes through many a costume and some serious undertones of what is going on behind closed doors but it is let down a little by how poor the duplicates where in the field, mind you Kane did say the first was a prototype because Ardala rarely shows patience when her wishes are not fulfilled immediately.

IMDB

Dinosaur 13 Official Trailer

Now this looks like a fascinating story.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 8

Space Vampire

S1E13

In Space Vampire and yes those were the days when even the titles were cheesy we have a Buck and Wilma going on a kind of vacation and dropping off Twiki at a repair station which gets hit by a rogue freighter. The crew of the ship are dead but evidence indicates they were infected with the EL7 virus which causes fever, hallucinations and mental issues and then strange things start to happen. As the station personnel start to go mad Buck finds evidence that the ship had been invaded by a mythical entity but despite all the strange goings on Buck is believed to be suffering from the virus until it's almost too late.

Yes I Know

Ok then talk about an excellent example of it's time, this was a fun episode but a bad episode it really was. Lets begin with Buck and Wilma going on a trip, about time but it seemed strange Twiki needed to go off world for some maintenance even though they were joking it was due to all his fun and games with his "friend" from last weeks episode. Wilma smoking hot as always and maybe an old flame on the station in the form of Commander Royko (Christopher Stone) but that's cut short when the freighter comes through the stargate on a direct vector towards the station, now who in their right mind places a fixed station in the flight path of a stargate exit, you are really asking for trouble. Now I wouldn't even have bothered trying to show the collision, just stick with the shaky cam and actors throwing themselves around because the slow mo model work really didn't look that good. Anyhow the freighters air becomes mixed with the station and the presence of the EL7 virus clouds the arrival of this alien life form which is capable of controlling people and he sets his sights on Wilma in the classic Dracula plot, don't blame the guy one bit.

Oh yes

I liked how they presented this "Vorvon" via the use of an energy based entity and then the physical form although the makeup was a little well never mind:) Wilma once controlled took the hotness up a notch although the reverb in her voice would be a little off putting but so much fun seeing her "vamping" towards Buck. The episode saved it's best special effects for the shuttle and it's escape pod, that looked very nice even though the whole gate to a sun seemed bloody dangerous to me but we'll let it go.

Space Vampire IMDB

Happy Birthday, Buck

S1E14

Buck is feeling very depressed, it seems life is too easy and too uniform for him despite all his adventures and well yes all the ladies he has met this past year so Dr. Huer asks him to escort the courier Raylyn Derren (Morgan Brittany) on her assignment which gives them time to set up a surprise party for Buck. Meanwhile Cornell Traeger (Peter MacLean) after being imprisoned for 15 years by an alien species escapes and returns to earth to exact vengeance on Dr Huer armed with his new "powers" and first things first, find the courier get the security information and then strike but well he didn't plan for Buck being along.

Tamara Dobson as Dr. Delora Bayliss

Well it was good to hear of New Detroit and have the episode deal with the city even if only in a casual way, wasn't quite sure if using couriers and mind probes made sense given it seemed just as easy to get information if you have the know how as shown by the antics of Dr. Bayliss who was wonderfully played by Tamara Dobson. Traeger was a little over the top and so many things wrong with the plot elements surrounding his imprisonment and getting his special powers, maybe more daft than the space vampire:)

I liked the idea that psychiatry is still alive and well in 500 years although it seems most is done by machine and even then in an open environment, not exactly conductive to privacy but hey lots of screen time for some for the lovely lady extras. I laughed quite a bit with Huer and Wilma with the ballons and certinaly with the pointy hat and deja-vu with the Dagger of the Mind scenario using the mind probe machine.

Buck gets THE best presents

Happy Birthday, Buck had some good bits but I was tuning out for the most part, it just wasn't that exciting to watch.

Happy Birthday, Buck IMDB

The Flash - Extended Trailer

Well this has got to be better than some of the shows The CW have offered up this season just gone:)

Interstellar Trailer

I get a very definite vibe similar to some of the classic scifi Earth is doomed features from this movie with of course all the modern flare and style you would come to expect, cracking cast as well.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 7

Escape from Wedded Bliss

S1E12

An alien vehicle positions itself over New Chicago and then Princess Ardala turns up with a simple ultimatum, give her Buck Rogers to be her husband and she will not destroy every city on the planet. The council are not co-operative and Buck goes on a camping trip but eventually he goes to her warship and to prove himself he has to fight Tigerman and then he will become the husband of Ardala who is due to take the crown of the Empire from her father. 

Well Ardala returns which wasn't a surprise and no doubt Pamela Hensley is very easy on the eye and does ham it up wonderfully as the princess who really has few limits but I can't help but think if she had come to Buck openly and yes pointed out the consequence then being husband to the new Empress would not only have protected Earth but been a pretty good life, she is after all totally in to him. Nice to see Kane return albeit played by another actor and of course Tigerman:)

That said I don't think we needed the roller disco show, was there really a time when that was considered a good idea and lets hope Ardala has learnt her lesson, sleeping with Buck means literally sleeping as he drugs her and has his own adventures.

Loved Twiki at the end wearing the headphones and listening to Meatloaf but overall a silly story with one or two good bits like the orbit weapons platform which reminded me of a Xindi in Enterprise a little too much:)

IMDB

Cruise Ship to the Stars

S1E13

Miss Cosmos the most genetically perfect human in the galaxy is on a cruise and becomes the target of a woman who has telekinetic powers, Buck becomes her security chief and Wilma goes undercover to ferret out the thieves using valuable jewels as a lure. It turns out that the thief is able to morph into another human who then is unaware of her other halves activity, the perfect disguise but it's the innocent part of her that eventually approaches Buck and opens up the investigation revealing the truth.

Dorothy Stratten

Ok a Miss Cosmos in the 25th century sounds ridiculous but at least they have the twist that it's based on the persons genetic profile but time has moved on and needing her actual body to gain access to the code in our age of cloning and manipulation seems a little strange. It also begs the question how has any human who is the product of a nuked earthed can have anything close to a perfect genetic makeup or is Miss Cosmos not human human even though she would kinda have to be in the context of the story.

Wilma was rocking the heiress look, great legs on that woman and quite rare to see her without the skin tight outfits she normally wears and a nice touch to have the tragic Dorothy Stratten as Miss Cosmos, one of the beauties of her era who was murdered for who she was.

IMDB

A couple of average scifi episodes, ok for the time they were released but fall way short of what would be required for scifi today.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Rewatch Part 6

Planet of the Amazon Women

S1Ep10

The Earth and Ruatha are in negotiations to maintain resource rights to the planet Madrea as it's a major supplier of Barbanite which is used by Earth in it's power generators. While Buck is patrolling an assigned safe route he answers a distress call and "rescues" two women and returns their ship to the planet Zantia which has a very xenophobic attitude to outsiders particularly Earth ships. Buck is entertained but becomes suspicious and finds himself taken captive and offered up for auction to the dominant female population. Wilma investigates Buck's disappearance and infiltrates Zantia and discovers the young woman who is now his "mate" intends to kidnap the ambassador of Ruatha and use him as leverage to get the prisoners of war (mostly men) who were captured when Madrea and Zantia last went to war.

Space Tarts

Feast your eyes Ladies

Planet of the Amazon Women has issues especially when viewed from the mindset of the 21st century viewer, the whole idea of the women of Zantia not wanting anyone to know their men were missing and making them vulnerable is rather silly but it's from an era when the western powers did not exploit their female population for front line military purposes. It's also a bit strange that so many men had been captured, did they give themselves up en-masse to get away from these women because it really doesn't make sense. The Barbanite, ok resources are always at the centre of political and military conflicts but we know the Earth has fusion power planets and this episode really doesn't explain what this mineral is useful for? That said it was good to see the daughter of the Zantia prime minister leading a pseudo rebellion which at least gives us one strong woman with integrity and courage which just about saves the story when balanced against the jealous woman and the space bimbos.

I loved the dedicated "Distress" alarm in the Starfighter cockpit and Buck turning his back on a dinner date with Wilma for these two women, granted looked a sure thing but come on it's Wilma she's worth any number of space hot pants wearing damsels in distress. For the lady viewers Buck did get to display his "manly" torso and the quip that he was worth more than was being bid, mind you not sure making light of the sex slave trade is something we would these days.

I was rather to surprised to see that DC Fontana had co-wrote this episode under a pseudonym but I guess a job is a job.

IMDB  

Cosmic Wiz Kid

S1E11

Hieronymus Fox the president of the planet Genesia is kidnapped by a criminal syndicate controlled by Roderick Zale (Ray Walston) and his bodyguard Lt. Dia Cyrton goes to Earth for help since just like Buck it seems Hieronymus is from the 20th century. While Wilma undertakes an undercover mission to rescue the President Buck gets involved with Dia and together they lead the charge and the fun and games commence. 

Ray Walston aka Boothby

A very young Gary Coleman

Cosmic Wiz Kid benefited greatly from a fantastic performance by Gary Coleman long before he really become a major TV star on Different Strokes although the humour did drop into a stereotypical elements of African American culture that was common in the media back then. It was good to Ray Walston as the bad guy, he always offers a dry and controlled performance and his role choices work with that delivery as seen many years later on Star Trek. I couldn't really buy into another "frozen" dude from the 20th century although they did spice it up with a back story and a different technique to get from there to here. The K9 type robot was wonderfully sarcastic, the matte painting of the station has been used before in the show and was retasked for an episode of Star Trek TNG years later and I'm sure that electric buggy was repainted for use by the Banana splits:)

I was disappointed that the energy barrier was only about 8 or 9 feet high and surely they should have tested it before Buck boosted Dia over it, I guess this planet is lower than standard gravity and on that subject the assassin from a high grave planet, nice idea but didn't work very well at all. I did laugh out loud at the reference to a Ken doll and the assassin calling himself a Terminator.

IMDB

Overall both of these episode were weak but the guest stars for both were competent and Gary Coleman really shined but average episodes at best.

Carry On Cleo

I picked up one of my favourite Carry On movies yesterday on Blu-ray, I say picked up but I clicked on a pre-order via Amazon UK a few months ago and the movie arrived yesterday:)
Carry On Cleo is set against the turmoil, brutality and betrayal of the clash between the Roman and Egyptian empires with little old Britain a resource for slaves and other things, especially from Bristol for some reason, oh the subtle humour of the time:)

Carry On Cleo 

• IMDB
• BFI
• Amazon UK

Interesting Shelves

No one has ever claimed I got my own jobs done in a quick and efficient manner, other peoples and those I am paid for are a different matter but my own well not so much but nearly there:)

Yes I still had to make some sacrifices with some novels going to the charity shop to look for a new home and of course I already had 90% of my DVD's ripped to the NAS but the up side this is only 2 and a bit walls...

New desk and monitor

Well I've been decorating, some new shelves and a new desk for my computer and decided to treat myself to a new monitor as well, this is a 27" AOC Q2770PQU and while it came with no instructions and took me a while to figure out it didn't like my existing cable (used the bundled one) everything is working fine. The picture doesn't really do it justice, it's pretty impressive when compared to my old 19" monitor and there is simply so much screen space to work within.

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