Sci-Fi Malady

Well, usually we try to review stuff fans have heard of, or have some redeeming value, or are not a complete waste of a human beings time, or are marginally competent film or tv. This week however, we review Roswell Conspiracies, perhaps the worst thing ever created. 

It is a cartoon that in theory is about a secret alliance that protects Earth from Aliens and keeps humanity from knowing the danger it is in. It also has a division that uses the media to misdirect citizens toward fake conspiracies an UFO activity, so they don't find the real aliens. Pretty hard to mess up. In reality, this cartoon is what happens when writers think they are smart, but are not. It is what happens when the network that carries it has Street Sharks as its flagship program. It is what happens when anything that can reach a 22 minute run time, even if its filled with sexism and possible unintentional racism, gets aired because slots have to be filled. 

This week we review the worst piece of TV ever, Roswell Conspiracies. 

Sci-Fi Saturday month continues as we discuss the greatest cartoon of a generation - TMNT, and an abomination that never should have got beyond a pitch - Street Sharks. 

TMNT - the beloved greatest cartoon of my generation - doesn't quite hold up the same way Ghostbusters or Gargoyles does. And it doesn't matter. TMNT was a cartoon designed to sell toys to kids and entertain them and it has done that for the last 30 years. It may be the most long-lived and successful children cartoon ever. If the story telling doesn't hold up when I watch it as an adult - who cares, it was not supposed to. I still can enjoy a re-watch for nostalgia. 

Street Sharks - well, Ragemaster suggests you watch it. I say - don't waste the 22 minutes, or the the five. You will never get them back and you could be doing something much better, like watching grass grow or paint dry, or giving yourself a root canal without novocain. 

Let the Ricksanity begin. Grab your portal gun because this week its Rick and Morty.  This show is a perfect example of the fun, mind bending and meaningful story telling that can happen when soft sic-fi is combined with animation and a 22 minute run time. 

Yes, the show goes after the low hanging comedic fruit. Yes, the animation is bad. Who cares. The story telling is solid, the comedy is excellent, the characters grow and the soft science fiction format allows mind bleepery such as multiple dimensions, the council of Rick's, infinite Rick's, since the science functions as magic anything is on the table. 

We wrap up this show with a discussion of the time that elapses between seasons and our hopes/fears for the future of this series. 

Back in the mid 90's Disney did something it would probably never do today, it released a kids cartoon with dark story telling themes, heavily pulled from Shakespeare, that was geared toward older teens and adults. The result was amazing. It was, Gargoyles.  

Gargoyles was a smartly written cartoon run by writers who were able to exercise creative control and tell the story they wanted to tell. The combination of great writing, a 22 minute run time and 1st rate voice acting was a show that simply gets better as time goes by. 

We will discuss the awakening episodes that started the series, the two gathering episodes and the one where Puck makes Goliath believe he has travelled to a dystopian future to steal the Phoenix Gate. 

***We had a guest in studio today, one of the members had to bring their son along, so you may hear some great random drop in's by our fifth man in the room this week***

This weeks episode brought to you by Garks! a fictional product that does not actually exist. I'd say you can order them now, but since we haven't produced any yet, the cost might run 5 figures per action figure.  More if you'd like the special run figures that have real rocket pack action, and who doesn't want a shark/gargoyle superhero with a rocket pack? Operators are not standing by now to take your order. 

We kick off Sci-Fi Saturday Mornings month with our review of The Real Ghostbusters - Scott's first favorite TV show and probably still my second favorite show ever. This cartoon amazingly holds up more than 30 years later and maybe its just my inner nerd child, but it is still enjoyable to watch as an adult of 37.  We break down three of our favorite episodes, the Boogey Man Cometh, Mr Sandman Dream Me A Dream and When Halloween Was Forever. We also get a visit from Dork Henderson for a few minutes. He just won't leave my house.  We even try to have a Scott's deep meaning segment and the Ragemaster does his thing and points out the flaws (although he admits it was a kids cartoon, so hey, it is allowed)

Next week - Gargoyles 

All through June on Sci-Fi Malady we are reviewing Sci-Fi Cartoons. Starting this week with The Real Ghostbusters and continuing with Gargoyles, ending with Rick and a show to yet to be determined, we are talking about cartoons that have nerd cred.  Join us this month as we review some of the best sci-fi cartoons. 

We conclude May with a review of the Netflix original series Altered Carbon and there is a lot to get to in this one. There are so many things to discuss that we did not even get to them all. In the Altered Carbon future humanity has become immortal, God is dead (too some) and humanity has become it's own gods. Morality has collapsed, the divide between the rich and the poor is wider than ever, and our protagonist is trying to come to terms with his failure and the death of the love of his life. This series has everything a sci-fi series is supposed to, but as good as it is, it is not perfect. 

Danger Will Robinson! 

This week we take on the Netflix reboot of the classic sci-fi franchise Lost In Space. Opinions are mixed as the reboot is a mixed bag of success and failures. The show manages to be fun, entertaining and dramatic, while trying to discuss important ideas. The problem is that the show often discusses these big ideas in a philosophy 101 sort of way. The series also suffers from an overuse of dues ex machina and thing happens because plot needs it to happen writing. It also appears that the series should have been a 12 to 14 episode run as the backstories are rushed and told entirely in brief flashback mode. Overall though, Lost In Space is fun and a decent effort at a putting  a new twist on a sci-fi classic, plus who doesn't want a robot best friend? 

Modern May continues as we review both the book and film, Ready Player One. This is a fun filled nostalgia romp through 80's pop and nerd culture. And while no one will be bored by this movie ultimately it ends at being an enjoyable nostalgia trip, high level fan fiction. The messages are basic (resource scarcity, dangers of overpopulation, corporations are evil) the female characters, at least in the book, exist only as love interests of the male lead, in the movie Artemis is slightly better written but still falls short of modern day expectations. All of that said this movie/book hits the spot for aging 30 somethings that want to look back fondly on their younger years. We also discuss the controversies with the book as some see it as transphobic and many see the character Artemis as existing solely as conquest for Wade. We feel the later may have some justification but do not agree with the former that the movie is transphobic. 

Next week - the lost in Space reboot. 

I apologize for the audio quality this week. While it is listenable, we all sound like we are in a tin can. I purchased a new audio interface and well, apply live voice processing to four separate audio chains is bad, because of bleed over from mic to mic. The result is we sound echoey this week. I apologize and promise that future audio will sound better as we continue to update our equipment and software and as I of course, learn how to actually edit. 

So, Avengers Infinity War has finally arrived and it was epic. Thanos is one of the greatest movie villains ever, with some depth of character and motivation. The movie manages to successfully integrate the multitude of heroes and storylines that have developing over decades into a mostly cohesive narrative and most importantly - you just have fun watching this film. 

That isn't to say the film does not have problems. How does Thanos realistically get defeated now - even with a damaged gauntlet? If the heroes are just going to ultimately use the infinity stones to undo all Thanos did does that cheapen the impact of the "deaths" in this film? 

Maybe - if Marvel does it wrong in part two however at this point Marvel has earned our faith that they will conclude this movie correctly, with a realistic defeat of Thanos and a restoration of the MCU in a manner does not diminish Infinity Wars part one.