SF Signal: Tube Bits For 10/16/2007

Tube Bits For 10/16/2007

Amazon's Unbox service has some interesting freebies for us this week. In case you missed them, you can see the premier episodes of Supernatural and The Search for the Next Elvira. That's right, Elvira. You know you want to watch, and it's free!

The LA Times looks at the looming writers strike in Hollywood. Nov. 1 is the deadline and if an agreement isn't reached, you can bet all scripted shows will grind to a halt. Heroes? Interrupted. LOST? Only a few eps written. You'd think in an era of shrinking audiences and a wider array of entertainment choices for consumers, the suits and the creative types would figure a way to settle their differences.

To elaborate on the above theme, Kati Irons of Blogcritics Magazine has a problem. Namely, how to watch all the interesting shows on TV. The result? A cool little formula to help her decide what to watch live, and what to watch later. Sorry Bionic Woman.

Much like our own John, Marcho at Flick Direct has some issues with season 2 of Heroes. I agree with most of the issues, although I can see how a bunch of gangsters won't look to kindly on anyone who might, in any way, be connected to missing iPods. And yes, the issues here are a result of the producers having to vamp their way to a second season with the majority of the old cast, instead of the mostly new cast we were promised.

Is anyone watching The Big Bang Theory? I ask because Isaac Asimov's daughter, Robyn, gives her approval to the show, calling it "delightfully witty, a brilliant mix of intelligent dialogue with comedy...". I'm still not interested.

Jon Halter on Boardgamegeek.com reviews the Star Blazers Fleet Battle System game. Based on the anime, Star Blazers, he says it captures the feel of the show, while still being an entertaining game in its own right. Hopefully the rule set is much smaller than those for Starfleet Battles.

Hopefully the rule set is much smaller than those for Starfleet Battles.

It would be difficult not to exceed that low bar. :grins:

When I first started reading the rules and seeing sections and subsections, it occurred to me at a young age that SFB was a techie's dream game, with arcane rules spelled out to the nth degree. And I was right.

Posted by Paul on Monday October 15, 2007 at 9:11 PM

SFB was a great game when it was a single box and a couple of supplements in zip-lock bags. But everybody had their favorite weapon, their favorite variant...and then every other race had to adopt that weapon, etc., etc., etc.

They did a "reset" on the universe a few years ago with a new game called Federation Commander. Streamlined (and cleanly edited!) rules, nice counters, beautiful play aids, etc.

Posted by Fred Kiesche on Tuesday October 16, 2007 at 8:24 PM

Oh yes, Asimov's daughter also thought the movie of "I, Robot" was a worthy homage to her father's works. I must have missed that story in the "I, Robot" sequence that involved large numbers of machineguns and the like...

Posted by Fred Kiesche on Tuesday October 16, 2007 at 8:26 PM