Review: Falling Skies (2011)

“And the human spirit remains the most powerful weapon on this planet.” This show was originally on cable channel TNT, which was why I didn’t see it. It was executive-produced by Steven Spielberg (as was Halo, another show I recently reviewed). Star Noah Wyle (as Professor Tom Mason) is also credited as a producer on …

Review: Halo (2022)

This series, based on the video games, debuted in 2022 and has been renewed for a second season. It was executive produced by Steven Spielberg, who you’ll remember for Jaws, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones and that execrable remake of West Side Story. But we’ll just skip right over that last one, because I’m not bitter. …

Review: Cyberpunk Edgerunners

I will attempt to avoid spoilers. If you’re a fan of cyberpunk genre fiction you’re probably aware of the Cyberpunk role-playing game by Mike Pondsmith, first released back in 1988. You’re probably also aware of the related Cyberpunk 2077 video game released in 2020. The licensing keeps expanding, and this year marks the release of …

Gamma World / Metamorphosis Alpha / Orphans of the Sky / Non-Stop

I expect many of you know of the Gamma World role-playing game by James Ward, set in Earth’s post-apocalyptic future world and filled with neon-colored fantastic mutants and humanoid animals with blasters and air cars and killer robots. Homicidal chickens, smart-alec giant badgers, and murderous six-foot-tall rabbits who can turn metal into rubber. It’s not …

Review: Iron Sky, and The Coming Race

If you like pulp adventure, silly sci-fi and space Nazis, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re so sensitive that even lampooning Nazis offends you, just click on by. Back in 2012 some wild and crazy Finns produced a comedy film titled Iron Sky. The premise is simple; some Nazis escaped defeat at the …

The Planet of the Apes (Old School)

I’ve been on an ape rampage recently. But what good’s a rampage without witnesses? So here’s another blog post. I hope you relish it as much as I. Rampage First of all, now I’ve reminded myself of an old arcade game circa 1986 called Rampage, featuring, you guessed it, a giant ape. (There were two …

Visions of the Future: Grand Master Fritz Leiber

Recently I’ve been reading or re-reading a lot of fantasy and science fiction from the twentieth century. It’s been fun, but it’s also been thought-provoking. A Book About the Future, And Understanding the Past In 1953 famed author Fritz Leiber (who is credited as having invented the term “sword and sorcery,” and who you probably …

Review: Life on Mars / Ashes to Ashes (UK)

Life on Mars Life on Mars was a two-season UK show from 2006. I had seen the US version from 2008, but I wanted to check out the original since I’d heard it was much better. Spoiler, it is. So much better. It’s a science-fiction premise where a contemporary policeman has an accident and abruptly …

Colony – A Review

No spoilers. Colony debuted in 2016 and had three of today’s typically short seasons. I just finished watching it through and I thought I’d write up a review. First off, it’s always fun for me to see a show set in Los Angeles since that’s where I live. Sadly this kind of “SF” show is …

Part Thirty-Six: You Can’t Take the Sky from Me. 2002, A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches

G Gygax won’t you please come home This year Gary found a new home with a company that had been founded two years prior (in 2000), Troll Lord Games (TLG). Originally they had launched their own RPG, Swords & Sorcery, but 3rd edition D&D was released at the same time so they switched to making …