Dare we hope the forecast calls for "it's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere?"

Oct 12, 2009 22:34












"Red Dwarf" might be gearing up for a tenth season. While I wouldn't rank "Back to Earth" as being among their best episodes, I wouldn't put the miniseries among their worst. Looking back at its history, what (in my opinion, which may or may not be those of this station or affiliates) would make another season of "Red Dwarf" good?

1. Keep it set 3 million years in the future. The isolation was part of what made Red Dwarf compelling. Finding the remains of humanity's legacy in the galaxy was half the fun. If the scripts must have other characters from the past involved, bring them to "the present" rather than the RD crew traveling back in time.

2. Get a "big" sci-fi idea, if not several. Luck viruses, time-manipulating judgmental robots, questioning whether or not your life is really a video game, etc. Tackling tropes from sci-fi and giving them a touch of "Douglas Adams" was what I liked most about the series. The 10th season needs a goal (say, trying to find a black monolith so Lister can touch it and solve a riddle on the door of an ancient tomb containing a terraforming device that can create a "backup copy" of the Earth) for the guys to pursue while they tackle lesser threats to their lives.

3. Keep the cast small, with no permanent authority figures. I didn't care for the revival of Captain Hollister, as it reduced our "heroes" to UK versions of Gomer Pyle. I'm torn on whether or not we should have Christine Kochanski as a cast regular; she works as a love interest and single goal for Lister, but not so much as a comedic foil.

4. Holly. I don't care which at this point. There needs to be a ship's computer, especially for the opening intro. One with the I.Q. of 6,000 P.E. teachers.

5. The toaster. The "Battlestar Galactica" jokes alone could fill an entire episode.

But I'm not being asked to write for the show, so I'll take what I can get, when and if it comes. I am, however, throwing a few pitches towards Marvel. This is nothing along the scale of "North 40," mind you, but more like what I did in "Spider-Man Unlimited" #13; shorter "evergreen" ideas involving the primary characters. I've already got an idear noodling around for a way that vigilante heroes could "train" and have an unofficial blessing of the powers that be in New York...

And I might have to re-submit that "Symbiote Satisfaction Survey" idea I had a while back. It's pretty much "Spider-Man Meets Red Dwarf," so why not? :)

Sadly, I've been neglecting "Heroes" the past few weeks, which is too bad. If the story starts to hurt my brainmeats, I go over to Toplessrobot.com's "live blog" of the show, which reads like an IRC version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I've heard it's better, but having difficulty pulling itself out of the mess it made in previous episodes. I'll try to catch up, but childbirthing classes are eating up the Monday nights. :)

So while I help Cristi practice her breathing and figure out how to stream live video from her room (for the nephews; they're not allowing anyone in to visit who's under 18 due to H1N1 concerns), here's something we hope you'll really like:

- In all the hubub over what's-his-name winning the Peace Prize, I forgot to check who won the Ig Nobel prizes! Now I have to sit back and wait for Thanksgiving to listen to the ceremony on NPR's "Science Friday."
- This next site isn't what you think. Aside from some very suggestive language (kids and workplace computers might want to steer clear), RITPorn.com has the filthiest (server) racks on the net. If your idea of a "group activity" is a photo of every handheld phone and game system you have in a nicely arranged pile, this is the hot 'n' heavy site for you.
- "Time" Magazine reports that the ninja nuisance can no longer be ignored. I would ask if it's being ignored, or if it's hiding in the moonlight shadows...
- Caps is a puzzle game reminiscent of all of those wooden peg-jump puzzles they used to sell in roadside tourist traps that your parents let you frustrate yourself with in the back of the station wagon.
- Even if you don't play "Team Fortress 2," you have to admit this is pretty clever. They've made a mod for the game where one team hides from the other by becoming bits of scenery.
- This Dark Knight vs. Blade trailer mash-up makes me want to see a fusion of both movies this weekend, even if I have to purchase overpriced eats from the concession stand.
- This is one small step for plane-mounted lasers, and one giant leap towards me having a phaser bank on my Honda.
- Now here's a puzzler that will either be a snap or about as intuitive as most of the "Infocom" games of our misspent youths: Take Something Literally presents you with kind of logic puzzles to solve in unusual or "out of the box" ways.
- And in case you'd rather platform-game, here's Cave Chaos, where the play area is created and destroyed as you try to make it to the finish line.

red dwarf, writing, marvel

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