Friday 27 January 2017

TMP Television Edition: Science Fiction


Don't forget to check out where it all started over at Wandering Through the Shelves.


I was obsessed with this show from the get go. Not sure why. For the first few episodes I thought Agent Parker wasn't a good actor until you realise that's her character plus she eases up. Based so very loosely on Stephen King's short story 'The Colorado Kid' the story is about a small town in Maine where some the residents have unusual and somewhat disturbing abilities. Called 'the troubles' they occur every 27 years and are triggered by an emotional event. Agent Parker at first tries to solve crimes  involving the troubled but soon realises she's more involved than she thought. Her and her local detective partner, Nathan and her buddy Duke, the local master smuggler join together to help troubled and help the town keep their secrets. I love it but the last season dragged. They were ending so they tried to fit two seasons worth of stories in one but apart from that still love this show.

This monumental series spanning decades and three generations of three families is all about alien abductions. This was first shown in the UK at the same time 24 premiered. I was also obsessed with this series. But at that age no one at school was watching it! I had to nerd out by myself. Starting with the crash at Roswell, each family represents a different experience with aliens. The Crawford family are obsessed with finding out more and generally nasty people not afraid of murdering for the research. The Keys family are fighters and do not take kindly to being taken. Then the Clarkes who seem to share a bond with the aliens. This show actually featured an amazing performance from a very young Dakota Fanny and very young (alas) Anton Yelchin in a couple of episodes. This show was not given enough credit. Each episode was nearly 2 hours long, so it was like watching a film every Sunday evening but it was so engaging and gripping, aint been a show like it.

Part of an exchange in Uni with my friend. I had turned up my nose at the show before but after I gave her 30 Rock we watched season 1 and I was HOOKED! I blitzed through two and three and was drip fed four and the final season. So much more than 'just another sci-fi show'. Yes it is a remake, but again, so much more than what came before. But just like one of the sayings in the show 'this has all happened before and it will happen again' it looks like there will be yet another visit to the colonies and the famed battlestar. For those who don't know the show (crazy) it is about the age old battle, humans verses machines. This time, we made the machines who rose up and turned up then they disappeared. They return, this time as life like cylons (name for the machines in this show) and they want all humans dead and cylon race to rule. They kill nearly all, but 38,000 humans survive on ships in space and decide to find Earth and make it home. Yes that's right the colonies named after star signs/constellations were ancient tribes and Earth was the 13th who left. But along the way they have to hide and fight the cylons. Honestly, its better than how I'm describing it.