I was sorry to see this, like so many other sci-fi series in that decade, die a quick death because of ratings. But, when I look back, I think the writers turned the three of them - Jessica, Logan and Rem - into doofuses. Sanctuary could not be a place, because most runners wouldn't have made the distance they did in the hovercraft. I would have hoped that early on, they would realize Sanctuary was an idea and the first place they could find that they could settle down, join a community of humans and hold out against the Sandmen from the city, they had sanctuary. The series could have gone through stages - first season: come to this realization; second season: find such a place; third season: convince a group to let them join and stand firm; fourth: hold out against the Sandmen; fifth: reform the city of domes so that people have the freedom to leave it and live outside as their ancestors did, no longer subject to the unrelenting cabal that runs that city. Frances is the advocate for the city in which he has a stake - surviving carousel, and sees that future slipping away, increasing his desperate efforts to stop the leak of people before it becomes a torrent.
Reviews
5 Reviews
The New Mickey Mouse Club
(1977–1979)
My favourite - "just right"
15 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Not as outdated as the 50s show, not as "modern" as the 90s version, but just right for me. I watched this show faithfully starting in the fall of 1977, though it was of some interest to me before that. I remembered watching the old show when I was five years old, back around 1964. The disco music wasn't my thing, but I liked the show anyway. I guess the disco theme doomed the show because disco had a short popularity (other than the captain in the movie "The Martian"). I really liked the sketches the Mouseketeers got to do, I liked when they went on location to check out assorted things (glider flying, antique household appliances), and I liked the musical numbers. I remember that some of their guests on Showtime Day later had independent following: singer Wendy Holcombe, the Keane Brothers, for example. After the show ended, I earnestly followed any work they were able to do after that: Julie on "Facts of Life", Kelly on "Alice" and an Orbit gum commercial, Lisa on "Facts of Life" as well as "Skyward" movies, "The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch" and an uncharacteristic part in an episode of "Family", Nita in "Fantasy Island", Pop in "Eischied", Shawnte in one "Facts of Life".
Truly, the show does seem to be forgotten, or even ignored! There is a small generation of viewers who liked it, and Disney is not being thoughtful by keeping the program in its vaults, the magnetic signals fading for all we know to be lost forever, sooner than decaying celluloid. We need a DVD release - maybe 40 or 50 episodes (not ones with recycled movies or cartoons already available on DVD). Is it they don't want to pay residuals to the cast? (Gosh, Mindy Feldman, who was just eight when they started, is now 48 years old!)
Truly, the show does seem to be forgotten, or even ignored! There is a small generation of viewers who liked it, and Disney is not being thoughtful by keeping the program in its vaults, the magnetic signals fading for all we know to be lost forever, sooner than decaying celluloid. We need a DVD release - maybe 40 or 50 episodes (not ones with recycled movies or cartoons already available on DVD). Is it they don't want to pay residuals to the cast? (Gosh, Mindy Feldman, who was just eight when they started, is now 48 years old!)
The Powers of Matthew Star
(1982–1983)
First half better than the second half
8 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I did like this series better in the first half than the second, where secret agent stuff seemed to become the only thing Matthew and Walt did. Also, I can't believe Matthew became capable of transmuting objects, particularly into complex devices like a TV set or a telephone (as depicted in the opening credits). The hostiles didn't seem to keep coming, either. (And the series summary is incorrect by not being clear that the hostiles were not from Quadris, but somewhere else).
I used to wonder why the hostiles didn't conquer Earth as well, but I think I understand why. Quadris appears to have been unified and peaceful, and therefore relatively trouble-free for conquerors. Earth is divided into numerous nations and probably was recognized as a place where the invading forces would get bogged down, even with superior technology.
I used to wonder why the hostiles didn't conquer Earth as well, but I think I understand why. Quadris appears to have been unified and peaceful, and therefore relatively trouble-free for conquerors. Earth is divided into numerous nations and probably was recognized as a place where the invading forces would get bogged down, even with superior technology.
Blown potential
26 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This goes right up there with the original 50s version of "Invaders From Mars" - the dreamer dreams of impossible details of people - what they're doing when he's not there to see them doing it or saying it.
Properly written - perhaps with the spa staff knocked out or such - this could have actually happened to Foster, and when they recover him, everyone gets the amnesia drug because it is traumatic not only for Foster, but for everyone else involved, including Carlin and Straker. Some written records are made and kept for exposure if certain conditions recur in the future, and some security upgrades are ordered as well.
When the drug wears off, Foster finds himself in the spa with an apparently unharmed spa staff, and he is convinced it's only a dream. They even shaved him at the right time, juiced his blood with a bit of alcohol so he thinks he is getting over the hangover.
As to comments about the dance being "wrong" for 1980 - hey, these are adults, and they're having a nostalgia party about the groovy 60s.
Properly written - perhaps with the spa staff knocked out or such - this could have actually happened to Foster, and when they recover him, everyone gets the amnesia drug because it is traumatic not only for Foster, but for everyone else involved, including Carlin and Straker. Some written records are made and kept for exposure if certain conditions recur in the future, and some security upgrades are ordered as well.
When the drug wears off, Foster finds himself in the spa with an apparently unharmed spa staff, and he is convinced it's only a dream. They even shaved him at the right time, juiced his blood with a bit of alcohol so he thinks he is getting over the hangover.
As to comments about the dance being "wrong" for 1980 - hey, these are adults, and they're having a nostalgia party about the groovy 60s.
The Stranger
(1973 TV Movie)
Doomed as an imitation, but would've been interesting
20 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I can concur with the comments that production values were poor, but I still believe it would have been interesting as a variation on "The Fugitive". I can also see where it would not be believable for him to ever get home, since his best and only chance to get onto a spacecraft was in the pilot. Every Terran spaceport would be alert to him after this. Also, being on their toes, the Perfect Order would have been steadily improving their chances of catching Neil by imprinting his face in every mind. Now, that said, it could have been interesting if Neil discovered a totally different thing going on: the steady erosion and breakdown of the Perfect Order - a growing dissidence that the Order cannot deal with. The suspense would be: what happens first? Neil is caught, Ward E'd and killed, or the dissidence becomes organized and he's in the dilemma of staying out of it or helping it.
The movie would have been helped if there were clues that the history of the planet was identical to Earth up to the time of WW2, explaining the similar technology, and if most of the cars seen were less popular and more unusual models, seen so often that they seem to be the preferred models. The three moons should have had some texture, some cratering and maria, and shifted position from night to night, so that at the end of the movie, one is missing and the other two are further apart. Also, there should have been at least a few "northpaws" - in a society that views right-handedness as being as sinister as our society used to regard left-handedness. (Maybe in Ward E, they fix people who are right-handed. Now, what if Bettina was right-handed but they let her pass, then they fixed her while doing the other conditioning, and Dylan wondered about it when she reappeared.)
I noticed that all the guards - the rank and file - seemed to be "old guys" - in their mid to late 40s or early 50s - and thus old enough to remember pre-Perfect Order conditions. They look older than Benedict and Dr. Revere, so it looks like they cast guys happy for the work, not because they looked like young, well-educated supporters of the system.
But I liked the touch of authoritarianism, and the perverse fact that it had solved poverty, crime and disease, but was ruthless against "thoughtcrime" (a "1984" term) that could cause such problems.
The movie would have been helped if there were clues that the history of the planet was identical to Earth up to the time of WW2, explaining the similar technology, and if most of the cars seen were less popular and more unusual models, seen so often that they seem to be the preferred models. The three moons should have had some texture, some cratering and maria, and shifted position from night to night, so that at the end of the movie, one is missing and the other two are further apart. Also, there should have been at least a few "northpaws" - in a society that views right-handedness as being as sinister as our society used to regard left-handedness. (Maybe in Ward E, they fix people who are right-handed. Now, what if Bettina was right-handed but they let her pass, then they fixed her while doing the other conditioning, and Dylan wondered about it when she reappeared.)
I noticed that all the guards - the rank and file - seemed to be "old guys" - in their mid to late 40s or early 50s - and thus old enough to remember pre-Perfect Order conditions. They look older than Benedict and Dr. Revere, so it looks like they cast guys happy for the work, not because they looked like young, well-educated supporters of the system.
But I liked the touch of authoritarianism, and the perverse fact that it had solved poverty, crime and disease, but was ruthless against "thoughtcrime" (a "1984" term) that could cause such problems.
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