Friday, 21 November 2014

1997: THE SECOND SFX GUIDE TO THE GALAXY


The second, and (sadly) final, SFX Magazine SFX EPISODE GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, given away free with a 1997 issue.

As before, the small paperback provided summaries and analysis of the the show's covered and comes highly recommended.  Because both editions had a relatively high circulation (they were free after all!) they do occasionally resurface in charity and secondhand book stores.  Well worth grabbing!

It's hard to believe now that the erratic LOIS AND CLARK (aka simply THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN on the BBC) would deserve such prominent billing as, despite the DVD releases, this SEAQUEST 'killer' (their first seasons were scheduled against each other... and Supes emerged triumphant) has faded from public consciousness and now only seems to be mentioned when discussing Terri Hatcher's 'other' work.  Personally, I liked the first season because it tried hard not to be a superhero show (and recognized the limitations of both the character and the genre on the small screen) in favor of MOONLIGHTING evoking romance.  Plus it had TV legend Tracy Scoggins amongst the supporting cast.  Once they tried to be a proper superpowered show... I lost interest.  

AMERICAN GOTHIC is a show I did (and still do) absolutely love and I highly recommend searching out a copy of the box set.  If you do, double-check the order that the episodes should be viewed in as, I think, the set follows the CBS transmission order which (as the ratings dropped) started to get out-of-sequence with the intended internal chronology of the show.  

ALIEN NATION, the show that would not die, is a nice (albeit, sometimes heavy-handed) police procedural with-a-twist based on the feature film.  It returned as a series of five TV movies and they're worth seeking out (as a DVD box set) as Producer Ken Johnson supplies an audio commentary for each and no-one in TV does commentaries as well as Johnson.  His commentary on the original 'V' mini-series is essential. 

SAPPHIRE AND STEEL, from ATV, is just the most amazing show ever.  It is the quintessential something-out-of-nothing production maxing out the limitations of the studio-bound format and small cast to create something really special...

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