tv review
Reviewing insightful and thought provoking science fiction TV and technology.
Review of 'Project Blue Book' 1.1
Project Blue Book, the docudrama on the History Channel about Dr. Allen Hynek and his research into UFOs, couldn't have come at a better time. I mean, a better time for me. I read and reviewed Alec Nevala-Lee's Astounding, about John W. Campbell and the golden age of science fiction, And Hynek's story—at least, as it begins on Project Blue Book—begins in 1952, which many people, including me, would regard as the peak of that golden age. Asimov's Foundation trilogy, which had first been published as a series of stories in Astounding (the magazine), was smack dab in the middle of being published as three books. Robert Heinlein had just published, a year earlier, his Puppet Masters, to this day one the very best books about an extraterrestrial invasion... But I digress.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Orville' 2.2
Porn addiction and planetary disintegration were not really connected in the excellent second episode of the second season of The Orville—that is, not at first, at least. By the end, they come together and make for a compelling and as always funny episode in this bizarro Star Trekian series.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Timeless' Finale
Well, the Timeless two-hour special was as good a finale as I've seen for any television series—which means, it was true to the series narrative, satisfying, intriguing, and provoking— like the best finales of any television series from The Fugitive to The Sopranos, though of course those now classic series are in a class far higher than Timeless. (I talked about this, what makes a great finale, a few years ago on PBS. Here's the three-minute video. A great finale, even a good finale, is tough to make.)
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Travelers' Season 3
The third season of Travelers would have been excellent anyway. MacLaren struggling against his own erased memory, the team dealing with a traveler who got into the body of a serial killer, the deadly chess match with the Faction, the unreliability of the director, members of the team grappling with all kinds of personal lethal crises—all of that with the customary repartee about our culture, as seen from the distant future, and true-to-life dialog like "You only ever wear a third of your wardrobe, anyway," (MacLaren's wife Kathryn to MacLaren; for me it's more like a 10th) made for a series of episodes as good as those in the first two seasons. But the ending of season three made for something very different, and lifted the series to a whole new level.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Review: 'Doctor Who' (11.8) "The Witchfinders"
This season's third historical adventure continues to show that the thirteenth Doctor's best episodes are those set in the past. Unlike “Rosa” or “Demons of the Punjab,” though, “The Witchfinders” is an episode that relies heavily on an alien influence. That's not to say that a purely historical episode set during the witch trials wouldn't work, but it would be a very different story to the one we enjoyed on Sunday night. While there's a moral side to the story, “The Witchfinders” is unashamedly in the mould of the theme park history romps of the previous few Doctors, and that's great. As good as the more serious historicals this season have been, it's worth reminding viewers that trips to the past can be a lark as well.
By Daniel Tessier7 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Outlander' 4.4
Another great episode of Outlander last night—4.4—in which Jamie and Claire come to terms with bears and the Cherokee, and then at the end, we learn something much worse, which apparently they won't be able to come to terms with at all.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
