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coffeeteaandmeAll right, I have stuff to unpack, friends to help, and blood to give-- not to mention a game to catch-- but before I do I have to say a word or two about all this revamping of cheesy old science fiction shows.
Yes, I was a kid in the 70s. Yes, I watched Battlestar Galactica. It was the only thing on. I watched The Greatest American Hero, with a big crush on ____ ___(Sorry, there are some things I still can not admit.). And yes, yes, yes, I watched Doctor Who, in all its poorly effected, poorly thought out, bad science, holes-in-the-plot-you-could-spit-a-whale-through atrociousness. It was my favorite show, I waited eagerly for it every week. I liked the Bee Gees too, but dammit I was a kid! I didn't know, by all the gods I didn't know! I grew up. I realized most dance music was gutless computer-made jizzum with as much soul as The Gap. (thank you Mojo Nixon, and apologies to any remaining disco lovers). The point is, it was the 70s, and they were over, okay? I forgot about it all, reworked myself and started over. Punk music. Deep acoustic. These days even jazz doesn't seem out of my reach. The other day I get home and find DVDs of Doctor Who on the stereo. Just for a laugh I pop in one of the late Tom Baker disks. I turn it off after ten minutes. Awful stuff, really. And look there's a boxed set of what? Doctor Who 2005? Well, good for them, it's a shame to lose such a crappy old tradition-- who are they kidding? Of course I pop it in.
By all the great greasy gonads of the gods--
It's good. Goddammit, it's good! Keeps the premise and soul of the original show, but with these abominable additions. Production values. Plot twists. Emotional content. Fully realized secondary characters. And it's *funny*. It's *smart*. No companion was ever that self-reliant, and certainly never turned to The Doctor and said "You're so gay." Someone has obviously been watching Buffy. What the hell were they at, what happened?
Look, dammit, we were kids. We watched awful shows because we were children. Even though everyone told us how stupid and awful and bad they were, and we knew we were freaks for even liking them, and watched them alone. And then we grew up and moved around and learned better and never brought it up again, and put it all away and tried not to think about it until the Great Hellish Funk/Disco Revival. And as if the pseudo-kitsch resurrection of Gilligan's Island isn't enough, now what? They're taking these cheesy old shows that no one admitted to even watching, much less remembering years ago, and --and --and it's hip now, isn't it? It's fashionable. Ooooh, have you seen the new episode of Battlestar Galactica? It's nominated for a bunch of Emmys, you know. Have you seen the new Doctor Who? It's as slick as the fricking X-Files!!! What, was everyone and their cousin watching Dr. Who locked in their rooms Saturday mornings?
OK, so half of it is that I feel like an old Grateful Dead fan after the release of In The Dark, when they suddenly moved to having four #1 hits off the same disc. Suddenly everyone's screaming about The Dead on the radio stations like they weren't avoiding them like poison all along. But the other half feels like I'm having a weak sort of traumatic flashback. It's kind of funny, like I'm confronting my wounded Inner Geek, and telling her it's okay to have liked these awful things. Maybe I could take a look at them with that kind of eye and find out what it was about these stories that I needed so much, what it was they did for me.
But if they try to resurrect The Greatest American Hero as a high-end dramatic series I am going to scream like it's Judgment Day.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to pretend I'm a Nazi Spy in Lovecraftian England.
Yes, I was a kid in the 70s. Yes, I watched Battlestar Galactica. It was the only thing on. I watched The Greatest American Hero, with a big crush on ____ ___(Sorry, there are some things I still can not admit.). And yes, yes, yes, I watched Doctor Who, in all its poorly effected, poorly thought out, bad science, holes-in-the-plot-you-could-spit-a-whale-through atrociousness. It was my favorite show, I waited eagerly for it every week. I liked the Bee Gees too, but dammit I was a kid! I didn't know, by all the gods I didn't know! I grew up. I realized most dance music was gutless computer-made jizzum with as much soul as The Gap. (thank you Mojo Nixon, and apologies to any remaining disco lovers). The point is, it was the 70s, and they were over, okay? I forgot about it all, reworked myself and started over. Punk music. Deep acoustic. These days even jazz doesn't seem out of my reach. The other day I get home and find DVDs of Doctor Who on the stereo. Just for a laugh I pop in one of the late Tom Baker disks. I turn it off after ten minutes. Awful stuff, really. And look there's a boxed set of what? Doctor Who 2005? Well, good for them, it's a shame to lose such a crappy old tradition-- who are they kidding? Of course I pop it in.
By all the great greasy gonads of the gods--
It's good. Goddammit, it's good! Keeps the premise and soul of the original show, but with these abominable additions. Production values. Plot twists. Emotional content. Fully realized secondary characters. And it's *funny*. It's *smart*. No companion was ever that self-reliant, and certainly never turned to The Doctor and said "You're so gay." Someone has obviously been watching Buffy. What the hell were they at, what happened?
Look, dammit, we were kids. We watched awful shows because we were children. Even though everyone told us how stupid and awful and bad they were, and we knew we were freaks for even liking them, and watched them alone. And then we grew up and moved around and learned better and never brought it up again, and put it all away and tried not to think about it until the Great Hellish Funk/Disco Revival. And as if the pseudo-kitsch resurrection of Gilligan's Island isn't enough, now what? They're taking these cheesy old shows that no one admitted to even watching, much less remembering years ago, and --and --and it's hip now, isn't it? It's fashionable. Ooooh, have you seen the new episode of Battlestar Galactica? It's nominated for a bunch of Emmys, you know. Have you seen the new Doctor Who? It's as slick as the fricking X-Files!!! What, was everyone and their cousin watching Dr. Who locked in their rooms Saturday mornings?
OK, so half of it is that I feel like an old Grateful Dead fan after the release of In The Dark, when they suddenly moved to having four #1 hits off the same disc. Suddenly everyone's screaming about The Dead on the radio stations like they weren't avoiding them like poison all along. But the other half feels like I'm having a weak sort of traumatic flashback. It's kind of funny, like I'm confronting my wounded Inner Geek, and telling her it's okay to have liked these awful things. Maybe I could take a look at them with that kind of eye and find out what it was about these stories that I needed so much, what it was they did for me.
But if they try to resurrect The Greatest American Hero as a high-end dramatic series I am going to scream like it's Judgment Day.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to pretend I'm a Nazi Spy in Lovecraftian England.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 08:14 pm (UTC)That said, isn't BSG maaaahvelous?
no subject
Date: 2005-09-20 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 02:00 am (UTC)Apollo...Mmmmmm
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 09:11 pm (UTC)I still sing the theme song sometimes.
I haven't seen any re-runs so I didn't realize until now that it was crap.
Thank you for tarnishing a cherished childhood memory.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-20 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 01:59 am (UTC)OK, I admit the song was good. :)
Have therapy. Bill me. ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 10:54 pm (UTC)As to the science -- it was still better than my son's favorite cartoon Superfriends, which had Superman giving the immortal line, "That's the biggest black hole I've ever seen!"
no subject
Date: 2005-09-20 03:35 am (UTC)"All I know is that Jacobs is dead. * Murdered.* And someone's responsible!"
no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 01:58 am (UTC)