Tek-War series: The books, the tv mini, and the game....

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Joel_Kirk, Dec 27, 2009.

  1. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This series was from the 90s when virtual technology was 'the thing'...(but not handled well until 'The Matrix,' IMO)....

    Tek-War had a game (which I recall owing and playing a few times), a comic series, and a television mini-series, all based on the book series....

    A question I have: Is William Shatner working with other writers, similar to the Trek Shatner-verse novels, or is all the writing Shatner himself?

    I believe he--Shatner--still is writing books in the series; I do know he has started another sci-fi book series, which I forget the name of.

    Other questions: Do you recommend this series? What are your thoughts on the series...

    I vaguely know of this series as centering around a cop who awakens in the future, and there is a drug called 'Tek'....
     
  2. tharpdevenport

    tharpdevenport Admiral Admiral

    I can't recall the series being all that good. I seem to recall exploding people with eyes that warned them. And cool weapons. I remember more from "FX: The Series" than I do this.
     
  3. cylkoth

    cylkoth Commodore Commodore

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    The series is available from Netflix, though the 4 movies that preceded it are not out on dvd. Strange, as they were produced by Universal for the syndicated Action Pack block, so there shouldn't be rights issues holding them back. The show hasn't aged well at all, compared to others of the day, i.e. Hercules, the Treks, etc. The background music, synthesizer rock on steroids, is an assault on your auditory senses, and the storylines-which start out alright in the early eps, goes so over the top into cheesy low rate action hour territory nearly half way thru. It got so bad, I didn't even finish watching.
     
  4. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    If he is, then it's a new thing. The last Tek War book came out something like 11 years ago if I remember right.
     
  5. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    This is pretty much my experience as well, thought I bought the DVD set of the TV series. It is ... bad. I remembered it fondly, but it did NOT age well. There were a couple good actors, but most of them were horrible. For trivia buffs, a young Lexa Doig plays Cowgirl, a Tek hacker that helps the main characters occasionally.
     
  6. cylkoth

    cylkoth Commodore Commodore

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    ^^And Stargate's Torri Higginson played Jake Cardigan's love interest Beth Kittridge in the early episodes, until being written out. Can't have the male lead tied down in a steady relationship...

    And it's amazing, but Torri is hotter today than she was back then..what, 15 years ago?
     
  7. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^Ugh, she was my main memory of bad acting. I was so glad when they killed her off.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    The Tek novels were a collaboration between Shatner and veteran SF author Ron Goulart. Shatner got sole credit, but I gather from people familiar with Goulart's other work that the Tek books clearly reflect his style, focus, and approach.



    Higginson was mainly featured in the movies, which were mostly adaptations of the books and were much more faithful to them than the weekly series was. In the series, they progressively wrote out or killed off most of the book characters, probably in order to replace the actors with cheaper ones.
     
  9. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I stand corrected....

    Interesting...:vulcan:
     
  10. OmahaStar

    OmahaStar Disrespectful of his betters Admiral

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    How so? Bill Shatner has yet to write any of the books credited to him. But his name brings in the bucks, so it works well for the actual writers in higher sales.
     
  11. Joel_Kirk

    Joel_Kirk Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's why it's....interesting....:vulcan:
     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's simply not true. As Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens have explained about the writing process on their Trek novels with him, Shatner decides on Kirk's story arc and dialogue, the Reeves-Stevenses come up with the rest of the story, they go back and forth rewriting each other's stuff, and Shatner makes the final decision on every word. That's as valid a form of collaboration as any other, analogous to the relationship between a TV series' showrunner and its other writing staffers. I'm sure his working relationship with Goulart and his other collaborators has been much the same.
     
  13. OmahaStar

    OmahaStar Disrespectful of his betters Admiral

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    And you keep proving my point.
     
  14. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    Shatner wants to dramatize 'Tek War' as radio shows

    Shatner Interview
    William Shatner’s next frontier: radio

    Now we all know it won't be anything like the production values of
    "Star Wars: A New Hope" NPR radio serial 1981
    but it is a real medium of the mind's imagination.
     
  15. Buck Rogers

    Buck Rogers Captain Captain

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    I have the books,and recorded the TV Movie's as well as the series yes I do recomend reading the books,then watch either the TV Movies or the series.
    I love the concepts of Cryo-Prison,Tek the drug,and android policemen that made you believe you're living the future.
    Signed
    Buck Rogers
     
  16. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    scifi radio shows

    check this out.
     
  17. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    radio shows /audio-only horror film

    Perhaps this will catch on the use of audio-only.
    H.P. Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror
    "The Dunwich Horror"
    There is a new horror film that did this very thing in what is being dubbed the world's first "audio horror":
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/edinburgh_east_and_fife/10205708.stm


    http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2010/04/prweb3899724.htm

    will premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 23rd June.