Star Trek: Picard, S1.2: “Maps and Legends” is Star Trek’s answer to CSI…

*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!!!***** The second episode of Star Trek: Picard, “Maps and Legends”, written by series’ creators Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and directed (once again) by Hannale Culpepper has been released on CBS-All Access and Amazon Prime (overseas). This particular episode plays like a procedural drama; more “CSI: Starfleet” than Star Trek…

Doctor Who, S12.5: “Fugitive of the Judoon” is quite a boon…

****TARDIS-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** I’ve said in previous posts that I’ve had many issues with the Chris Chibnall-era of Doctor Who; mainly that it’s been characterized by uneven writing and an overall feeling of creative entropy. Tonight, with “Fugitive of the Judoon”, scripted by Chibnall, Vinay Patel (“Demons of the Punjab”) and directed by Nida Manzoor…

Retro-Musings: George Pal’s “The Time Machine” (1960) 60 years later…

Once Upon a Time… Published in 1895, Herbert George Wells’ “The Time Machine” was the seminal time travel story that spawned/inspired several film adaptations and various TV series (“Doctor Who” “Quantum Leap”). There have been at least four live-action adaptations of which I’m familiar, including an obscure 1949 movie, the popular 1960 MGM film, an…

“Star Trek: Voyager” slipstreams into its silver anniversary…

Before I get too deep into this personal retrospective of “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995-2001), I have to state upfront that “Voyager” (VGR) is perhaps my least favorite series of the Star Trek canon, but that’s not to say that I actively dislike it, or that this is going to be a hatchet job on the…

Short Treks 2.6: “Children of Mars” glimpses things to comes…

*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** CBS All Access has just released the latest “Short Trek” and this one is less of a story and more a tantalizing glimpse of what lies ahead for “Star Trek: Picard” which debuts January 23rd. Written by Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet and directed by Mark Pellington, “Children of Mars” feels…

Galactica 1980: The Colonial Fleet came a calling 40 years ago…

On a January evening nearly 40 years ago, I was 13 years old, and eagerly awaiting the return of a favorite TV series of mine that had been unceremoniously cancelled the previous year. “Battlestar Galactica”, created by Glen Larson (“The Fall Guy”), was the TV-sized, Star Wars-styled opus chronicling the exodus of humans from a…

Smooth sailing for Season 2 of Netflix’s “Lost In Space”…

The second season of Netflix’s reimagined “Lost in Space” is now streaming, and it ups the stakes, both dramatically and cinematically, looking better than many current science fiction films, and providing a family drama series that isn’t hokey, corny or condescending. To say it surpasses this series surpasses both the original 1965-8 TV series and…