Sci-Fi's at it again

[Cullen]

Reruns of shows no one likes?!

Sometimes they play the original (and superior) "Outer Limits" and "Twilight Zone."  On occasion, they'll play "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," manna for the bad movie lover.  Plus, they've got "Farscape," one of the best Sci-Fi shows out there.

Now, I won't argue that the channel's not what it once was, but it DOES have some of the good stuff.

[john]

>What I do have a problem with is if Blockbuster somehow influences the
>theatrical version of a film.

 The problem is that stores like Blockbuster are pushing the smaller video stores that DO carry odd, uncensored movies, out of business. There used to be a place right down the street that carried lots of cult stuff, like all of the Ilsa movies. They went out of business (I didn't even know about it, I just went there one day and it was gone!) and now the only stores around here are chain stores that only carry the more popular crap. Of course you can order movies online, but then you're doing it sight-unseen.

>BTW, am i the only one who misses sci-fi channel shows like Sci-fi Buzz?

 Nope, I miss them too. The various E.T. type shows, Sightings, The Anti-Gravity Room etc.

>Ellison has his moments on both side of the spectrum. Damn fine writer, either
>way.

 I have a book of his short stories and I have to admit that most of them don't make any sense to me. One of the few stories that seems straight-forward (stone gargoyles coming to life and killing people), I get the feeling that it's supposed to have some deeper meaning that I'm missing.

>Sometimes they play the original (and superior) "Outer Limits" and "Twilight
>Zone." On occasion, they'll play "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," manna for the

 Except that they edit the episodes to cram in even more commercials. The first episode of TZ I watched had a whole sequence missing.

 BTW, starting next Friday, SFC is going to be showing Night Visions, a TZ like show that Fox cancelled before the first episode had even aired. Fox didn't even air all the episodes they had. Each hour show has two half-hour stories.

[Cullen]

"I have a book of his short stories and I have to admit that most of them don't make any sense to me. One of the few stories that seems straight-forward (stone gargoyles coming to life and killing people), I get the feeling that it's supposed to have some deeper meaning that I'm missing."

I have a simular problem with him.  Sometimes it's like he's on another wavelength from me.  Not high or lower, say, but over to the left or right.  I understand the words but nothings getting through to me.

I have the same problem with some of the works of Peter Straub and Ramsey Campbell.  A part of it, for me at least, is I read fast, and tend to miss a word or two here or there.  But the main reason is style.  Their style and my brain don't always mesh, and sometimes it takes a second reading for me to get where their coming from.  And, sometimes I still don't get it.

However, with all three writers, there are stories that clicked with me the first time I read them.  With Ellison, the stories were "Jeffty Is Five", "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs,"  and "Paladin of the Lost Hour."  There were probably others, but the titles slip my mind.

As for any deeper meaning to his work, there almost always is one, for him.  
____________________________________________________________________
"Except that they edit the episodes to cram in even more commercials. The first episode of TZ I watched had a whole sequence missing."

I'll take your word on this one, though I haven't noticed any editing myself.  Still, this is a common occurance on any commercial channel.  More so on cable, now, than anywhere else.

[jmc]

I like Ellison's non-fiction stuff best, though I no longer agree with him the way I did when I was younger.  A lot of his fiction is kinda dated, but I still think he's one of the best science-fiction/fantasy writers.

As far as Blockbuster goes, I think the mom and pop stores were just victims of the times.   They are still out there, just in very small towns or in large cities where there are enough customers interested in offbeat videos to support a store.  
I chalk it up to survival of the fittest.  

I don't really mind buying a lot of videos sight unseen.  A lot of the stuff I buy is just collecting movies I enjoyed when I was younger.   And there are at least a couple of video places where you can rent by mail.  And of course Netflix--I've seen quite a few of the Something Weird DVDs there.

[Flangepart]

"Paladin of the lost hour". That one had Danny Kaye in it. He did a good one there. Yeah, i miss the "Support" shows, including the one's with writers talking about their craft. Now, the Sci-fi Channel is takeing the easy way out. "Whats onna scedual, charley?' "Ah, some crap bout a big Croc or sommin. Oh, and a bunch a convicts on the moon." "Same as las' night?" " Yeah, so crank it up, and i'll get us a beer outta the cooler. it'll ba a long Labor day weekend."

[john]

>I have a simular problem with him. Sometimes it's like he's on another
>wavelength from me. Not high or lower, say, but over to the left or right. I
>understand the words but nothings getting through to me.

 Same here.

>I have the same problem with some of the works of Peter Straub and Ramsey
>Campbell.

 I've only read a couple books by Straub (Ghost Story & Shadowlands) and they were clearer to me than any of Ellison's work.

>"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs," and "Paladin of the Lost Hour." There were
>probably others, but the titles slip my mind.

 That was in the book I have, Deathbird and Other Stories. Don't remember the plot though.

>I'll take your word on this one, though I haven't noticed any editing myself. Still,
>this is a common occurance on any commercial channel. More so on cable,
>now, than anywhere else.

 The first episode I watched was the one with the author who could create things by describing them into his tape recorder. When he tells his wife, she thinks he's crazy and to stop her from leaving, he creates an elephant in the hallway. She sees it and runs back into the room. In the SFC version, she starts pulling at the door and the next thing you see is her slamming it shut and breathing hard.

 The funny part is that all the stuff SFC cuts out and which they claim hasn't been seen on TV since its original airing, like the uncut Star Trek episodes, were all shown on one of my local channels about 10 years ago. I watched the Star Trek episodes and didn't see a single scene that was new to me. I know many channel used to edit these out, but at least one fo my local channels had shown all of them and TZ uncut.

[J.R.]

I like some of Ellison's work. There are many sci-fi writers that really don't grab me. Peter David is at the top of the list. His books are just so...dirty. I'm not a prude or anything, but his books deal way too heavily with sex. In the Star Trek:TNG book Q-Squared, for instance, he writes of Picard and Dr. Crusher gettin' it awn, Geordie fondling Troi in the shower and several other such scenes. I enjoy a steamy scene every now and again, but the way he writes is like Harlequin Publishing's sci-fi library.