From the first episode on, I never missed a showing of Quantum Leap when it aired on network television. The second season, which stretched from the Fall of 1989 to the Spring of 1990 was a terrific one. Scott Bakula portrays Sam Beckett. Sam is a quantum physicist who was testing his theories on theContinue reading “Quantum Leap Season 2 – Can We Get a “Do Over” From Universal?”
Category Archives: Television Reviews
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery by Ken Burns
I can’t remember exactly how much time was actually covered in history class about the journey of Lewis and Clark to explore the land purchased from Napoleon and France by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. I know it was discussed, but essentially it was glossed over in text and given a paragraph or two. TheContinue reading “Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery by Ken Burns”
Star Trek: Bread and Circuses – Rome If You Want To
Written by Gene L. Coon and Gene RoddenberryDirected by Ralph Senensky I get that budgets were an issue back in the 1960’s for television programs. For that reason, and the fact that actors and actresses are human, there are many episodes that intelligent life on other worlds are bipedal humanoids that remarkably resemble humans onContinue reading “Star Trek: Bread and Circuses – Rome If You Want To”
Sharpe’s Waterloo – A Satisfying Conclusion to a Great Series
Written by Charles Wood and Bernard CornwellDirected by Tom Clegg March 1815 – Napoleon escapes from Elba and returns to France to plunge Europe into war once again. Facing Napoleon is an allied army of British, Dutch, Belgians and Germans under the command of Wellington, and also the Prussian army. Napoleon’s strategy will be toContinue reading “Sharpe’s Waterloo – A Satisfying Conclusion to a Great Series”
Star Trek: The Ultimate Computer – Rise of the Machines
Written by Laurence N. Wolfe, D.C. Fontana, and Gene RoddenberryDirected by John Meredyth Lucas Over the years there have been many cautionary tales about letting computers run our lives too much. From Battlestar Galactica with their human-hating robots to the Terminator series of films, there almost seems to be the message that if we letContinue reading “Star Trek: The Ultimate Computer – Rise of the Machines”
Star Trek: The Omega Glory – What The Hell?
Written by Gene RoddenberryDirected by Vincent McEveety Being a science-fiction fan requires some suspension of disbelief. I’m okay with believing that somehow technology in the future overcomes the issue of no gravity in space. I can buy that communication issues are overcome with the use of a universal translator. I can even ignore Voyager‘s never-ending-photon-torpedo-supply.Continue reading “Star Trek: The Omega Glory – What The Hell?”
Star Trek: By Any Other Name – Don’t Pick Up Space Hitch-Hikers
Written by D.C. Fontana, Jerome Bixby, and Gene RoddenberryDirected by Marc Daniels Although better than the previous episode, we still are in the midst of a series of lackluster episodes of the original Star Trek. This one could have been a lot better, but the uneven writing kills it. That’s possibly due to the factContinue reading “Star Trek: By Any Other Name – Don’t Pick Up Space Hitch-Hikers”
Star Trek: Patterns of Force – It Might Happen Here, But It Couldn’t Happen There
Written by John Meredyth Lucas and Gene RoddenberryDirected by Vincent McEveety The second season of the original Star Trek series seemed to find certain plots that worked well and then beat them to death. The most egregious was the use of a world with some sort of intelligent humanoid life that ends up developing parallelContinue reading “Star Trek: Patterns of Force – It Might Happen Here, But It Couldn’t Happen There”
Sharpe’s Justice – Stick With the War Sharpe, Civilian Life Doesn’t Suit You
Written by Patrick Harbinson and Bernard CornwellDirected by Tom Clegg 1814. Peace – Napoleon has been exiled to the Island of Elba. The King of France has been returned to his throne. And Sharpe has returned to England. This was not adapted from one of Cornwell’s books, and unfortunately it shows. Once the war wasContinue reading “Sharpe’s Justice – Stick With the War Sharpe, Civilian Life Doesn’t Suit You”
Star Trek: Return to Tomorrow – The Perils of Carrying a Grudge for 500,000 Years
Written by John T. Dugan and Gene RoddenberryDirected by Ralph Senensky Tackling subjects not commonly talked about back in the day was one of the strengths of the original series of Star Trek. It made the show far more interesting and different from anything else that was on the air at the time. Looking backContinue reading “Star Trek: Return to Tomorrow – The Perils of Carrying a Grudge for 500,000 Years”
