h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Doctor Who started back in 1963 - so it's 37 this year. But I certainly don't think it went on too long, simply because the scope of the format is so vast.

Ladies and gentlemen. Before I go on I would like to make it absolutely clear that I regard this a 'relative' forum. I am into SF and have been in to SF for about 30 years now so I generally love SF, be it Dr. Who, Blake's 7(which was pretty nifty btw, I love Avon ), etcetera.

Now then....*grins*...

Marwood : I certainly don't mind SF-series that go on for years. You could actually reverse the statement : The series developed a wide scope *because* it had the chance to grow over the years.

Bluebottle : As I just said - I enjoy those series as well but this was a StarTrek-forum and it was slightly converted into an SF-forum. So we end up comparing the series ! I don't really want to compare the series because it feels like comparing 'apples with pears', 'Dallas with the Twilight zone', 'Robot Wars with Red Dwarf', etcetera. Or even worse : 'Harlan Ellison with Orson Scott Card'.

Each of the SF-series we mentioned was based on a different premise so they all have a right to live and they can all take care of a rainy afternoon...


Oh Ah Just Lurv SF...


TM.

I am not into movies or Tv at all really apart from documentaries or true life stories,or programmes such as x-files or PSI factor.
One of my reasons for having so little interest is that i am too critical of bad acting and filming.
However i did happen to see the Titanic,in fact i think it was the last time that i went to the movies,and i have to say that personally i thought that the special effects played a major part in making it a good film.Very real and very effective,even the bit at the end when the stern went up in the air was ok....that must of been a bitch of a task.
Noname

"puree of bat guano"..lol....excellant phrase by the way Marwood

I don't think it was Doctor Who's longevity that gave it the flexible format.. it was definitely there from the start. You get a guy, give him some friends, and the ability to go anywhere and anywhen. You can make a story in any genre you like.. they've done horror, western, space opera, period drama, contempory drama, romance.. the whole bit.

That ability to make a story about anything was there from the beginning. As Terry Nation said, "You land that ship, the TARDIS, on a planet. And from there on everything is your creation. If the rocks talk, nobody can deny it because you say 'that's what the rocks do on MY planet'..."

Again I found the forum after a couple of days off with no access to the net (since my roomie's called the States so much they barred our phone from outgoing calls) but that's another story.

I just wanted to say that a heap of years ago, when Star Trek celebrated their 25th anniversary with a special on Sky One (hosted by Levar Burton, who were at the NASA space center) they examined some of the electronic gadgets of today compared to certain things that were featured in Star Trek in the 60's.

Like for instance the mobile phones of the early 90's with the flip-up lid to protect the keys from being pressed by accident.
Their design looked an awful lot like the tricorders the crew of the Enterprise used in the 60's.
Unfortunately, I can't recall more examples right now, but there were more similar stuff that could have been influenced from the Star Trek series.

Another thing I remember from that Anniversary special was that Gene Roddenberry once had said that the reason for him to come up with the idea of the transporters was that the ships were so huge that he couldn't find out a good way to land them on the surface of the planet, and this way was much easier.

I don't really know if this entry has any relevance whatsoever, but I wanted to see my name here again, I guess. And I'm not going to start discussing the differences between SF-series, cause as I said earlier, I come from a country where most people are totally deprived of any SF-series whatsoever, unless you've got cable or satellite.

Lost.

The Transporter was invented, because the viewers would expect to see the ship land each week, and they didn't have the budget for the (apparantly un-necessary) SFX. So, some flashing lights and a camera dissolve was used instead.

Has anyone on this thread attended any of the Conventions in Bournemouth, England?

Sadly, I haven't been to any conventions, ever.
Apart from the H2G2 meet-up.

I filmed and edited a documentary on "Confederation", the convention held in Aberdeen, Scotland, during the time I was working for the local cable TV company. It was a two-parter, with a 20 minute programme on the "behind-the-scenes" preparations leading up to the weekend of the convention, and a 30 minute programme on the convention itself.

So give us your email-address so we can order it....

TM.

I don't work there any more, but they still sell copies of their own programmes... I'll do a little research and get back to you... (Hint - don't pay too much for it - the two parts total less than an hour, it was shot on SVHS and edited using some very rudimentary equipment. It's still amusing and educational in places, though )

Hokay - I've found a contact e-mail address...

[email protected]

If you e-mail there, and put "f.a.o. Channel 10, Aberdeen" as the subject, they should pass on your enquiries. Ask about a copy of the two=part "Star Trek Confederation" programme, and they should get back to you with price and delivery details. Remind them that they promised to donate any profits from sales of the tape to charity...

There aren't any stars there, just lots of real fans having fun! We were "treading on eggshells" to avoid directly infringing any of Paramount's copyrights...

btw, in answer to the first question on the thread, I suspect I just watched the next "Star Trek" movie...

"Galaxy Quest" has more trekkie in-jokes than the first half-dozen or so "official" movies put together, and Tim Allen does a wicked "William Shatner" - Highly Recommended!

I agree it was funny, and well worth seeing.
I still prefer "Spaceballs" as far as sci-fi spoofs go. After "Red Dwarf", of course.

Thought I would jump in here.

They have recently announced that the next Trek movie is scheduled for release in Fall of 2001. As is the next series. The movie will be TNG still. (The information has appeared in Star Trek:Communicator and TV Guide, and is probably on the Paramount site). Of course, the details are being kept hidden. Since next season is the last season of Voyager there will be no hiatus between shows (except for the summer months).

Galaxy Quest was great. Many Trekkies were offended, but most Trekkers grokked the humor. Also a must-see if you can find it is Free Enterprise. The movie is chock-full of Trek and other SciFi references and William Shattner appears in a major role as himself. (The best possible role for him, he plays himself well) He sings too. (OK, so that isn't necessarily a plus)

Regarding the age demographic of Trek...it used to be 18-35, the prime demographic sought by most networks. Recent studies of the demographics for Voyager (at least in the US) is that it now skews older. This can also be seen at conventions. I suspect they will be attempting to regain the younger audience with the next series.

Thanks for the info. Now we just have to see in the movie how they manage to get Worf into it again...

Or how, in an "Enterprise-E", post-DS9 scenario, they manage to get Troi in despite a reference to her death in an episode of DS9... (Ryker's "transporter clone", giving his reasons for not talking to O'Brien at the start of the "Maquee weapons" episode - sorry, the name escapes me...)

Yeah ! And Vulcans live a Hell of a long time so let's get Spock back !

TM(President of the committee "Bring Spock back"...)

For the sake of all things holy...did someone mention Blake's 7?

I grew up with that show (and I live in the states, no less--back when Public television MEANT something), well, that and Doctor Who.

They had those spangley wristbands that were communicators/transport locators, right? And the ship looked like 4 inflated condoms held together by bits of plastic.



Ahh the memories. Thanks for reminding me. I mean, it was so tacky, but wow. What a part of childhood.

Triv

D'ya remember that the wristbands made a "ding-dong" doorbell noise for one series? That was entirely building up to an in-joke, with Paul darrow going "*Ding-dong* Avon Calling..." (A reference to a much-overused UK "Avon Cosmetics" advert tagline of the period...)