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jim-01568
Reviews
Space: 1999 (1975)
The Future is Now Past
Just a few notes about a program I saw once or twice on local TV but which is now available on the 'net. Space 1999 like many science fiction programs is about predicting the future. What will technology be like? How will people live? What will they wear? And will going to the bathroom be the same? (they never answer this) Some things the program does pretty well. There are a lot of monitors and information kiosks though the analogue clock is quaint. The computer is well acted, but the method of communicating via small slips of paper reminds me of grocery receipts. While Star Trek had communicators, Space 1999 had video communicators, more in line with smart phones used at the time of this writing. The opening premise of the program where Alpha is tasked with disposing of nuclear waste which ultimately has a chain reaction, correctly notes that the problem of nuclear disposal would span generations.
When the show was produced, 1999 seemed a log ways off, easily distant to accept a moon base. As of this writing 17 years after the time of Space 1999, in a way it is sad we've seen such little space exploration. But space travel is expensive and with few immediate rewards.
Star Trek: Turnabout Intruder (1969)
Shatner acting as a woman
This is my really short review of Turnabout Intruder. If you are a fan of watching the William Shatner school of acting, this episode gives you a chance to see it at its best (or worst?). Basically, Shatner must act as if he is a woman, with all the negative stereotypes of a envious, deceiving revengeful female. He has to pull this off without acting too effeminate, but enough so that one can see the woman inside the man. In effect, he has to be a man inhabited by a woman. In his character as inhabited by Lester, he seems to have a possible romantic association with her partner in crime, Mr. Coleman. At one point Kirk puts his (or her) hand on Coleman's shoulder and just gives a glimpse of a man being a woman showing a certain, shall we say, physical closeness. He has to do this without looking gay. It's a very daring scene that Shatner actually pulls off. The basic story plot is not so interesting and the feminism aspect does not hold up to the passage of time. But the work of Shatner and his acting style make watching the episode worth it.