Define steady, Heathcliff was his last series voice work other than that he did commericals and many of those were live action, his son Noel had taken over many of voice work by then. I still haven't seen your explaination though.
What if Ron Moore did Buck Rogers in the twenty-fifth century?
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Define steady, Heathcliff was his last series voice work other than that he did commericals and many of those were live action, his son Noel had taken over many of voice work by then. I still haven't seen your explaination though.
No, but you do have to worry about multiple takes, script changes and the day-to-day health of your voice. Just because his voice was generally healthy doesn't mean he couldn't get laryngitis once in a while, so you have to factor some rest time into whatever schedule you make. The fact that he was doing so much voice work meant that he had less opportunity to find that rest, so maybe he compensated by not doing those eps of Buck Rogers.
My local library has (or had) a copy of of "Armageddon 2419 A.D." a bound volume of the material originally published in "Amazing Stories" during 1928. It's been ages since I read it, probably 30 years. A much darker story than the popular newspaper strip that spawned from it. Yes, it had a very blatant "East" vs. "West" aspect to it, something we might find distasteful today, but in 1928 when it was published, the concept of the so-called "Yellow Peril" was considered "normal".
Oddly enough, in the volume I read, which I understand may have been revised a bit from the text originally printed in "Amazing Stories", has a few sentences at the very end that allude to the possibility "aliens" may have interbred with the Han population (in story, of course) thus elevating the menace to an inter-species level rather than just cultural, ideological and racial. When this was revised, I can not say.
Sincerely,
Bill
Oddly enough, in the volume I read, which I understand may have been revised a bit from the text originally printed in "Amazing Stories", has a few sentences at the very end that allude to the possibility "aliens" may have interbred with the Han population (in story, of course) thus elevating the menace to an inter-species level rather than just cultural, ideological and racial. When this was revised, I can not say.
Sincerely,
Bill
Re:Blanc's absence for the first part of season two, I'd always assumed that the voice switch was due to S2 show runner John Mantly's retooling, to make he show less campy and more serious. Remember the writer's strike delayed the season's star to January, so I can't see there being time to go back and re-record Twiki's dialog after any negative audience reaction after the season began airing. Though anything's possible...but given the ratings, would the studio actually spend the money to make such a change?
Less campy? I guess Shgoratchx! counts as being less campy?
Even Gil Gerard didn't like the changes made to the second season, they did try to turn it into Star Trek.It was a logical outgrowth of the premise. Basically, by the time Season 1 was over Dr. Huer was tired of Buck's anachronisms and sent him off on a one-way mission into the unknown. "Finally! I'll never have to deal with Rogers' gifts of house plants and hamburgers again!"
Wilma and Twiki, as those most contaminated by his barbarian ways, were "volunteered" as his companions. Dr. Theopolis, as the next most contaminated, was lobotomized and recycled as the Searcher's computer core, although no one realized it.
"Ha! There is no such thing as a Lost Tribe! I made it up, but they'll never figure that out!"
As for the new characters: Commander Asimov was ineffectual as part of New Chicago's defense forces. They got rid of him by promoting him to Admiral. Dr. Goodfellow was ready (and then some!) for forced retirement. Crichton... well.
Wilma and Twiki, as those most contaminated by his barbarian ways, were "volunteered" as his companions. Dr. Theopolis, as the next most contaminated, was lobotomized and recycled as the Searcher's computer core, although no one realized it.
"Ha! There is no such thing as a Lost Tribe! I made it up, but they'll never figure that out!"
As for the new characters: Commander Asimov was ineffectual as part of New Chicago's defense forces. They got rid of him by promoting him to Admiral. Dr. Goodfellow was ready (and then some!) for forced retirement. Crichton... well.
Yes.
There was so little of the second season that delt with the lost tribe idea it must've been dropped early on. And really there was alot more to life in the 25th century for Buck to explore, which was Gerard's complaint and I can understand his point of view. Plus the ratings fell during the second season, so I don't think the idea went over very well with the viewers.
No argument here -- although I'm sure Twiki's voice was enough reason already.
I wonder if it would have gone over any better if they'd done that hypothetical Galactica crossover. Personally I think it would have sucked worms, but you never know....
I wonder if it would have gone over any better if they'd done that hypothetical Galactica crossover. Personally I think it would have sucked worms, but you never know....
Hawk was cool, The ship was cool, not sure I have any other fond memories of S2? I like Wilfred Hyde-White, but really, was this the place for him?
I think Wilma got more respect in S2 and not focused on so much as Eye candy, but, that may have contributed to the ratings decline
I think Wilma got more respect in S2 and not focused on so much as Eye candy, but, that may have contributed to the ratings decline
Hawk was cool, The ship was cool, not sure I have any other fond memories of S2? I like Wilfred Hyde-White, but really, was this the place for him?
I think Wilma got more respect in S2 and not focused on so much as Eye candy, but, that may have contributed to the ratings decline
Personally I thought Wilmawas better in the first season, they turned her into eye candy and a victim in the second season.
I think Dr Theopolis would be a disembodied computer AI living on the net, rather than a medallion hung around Twiki's neck.
I liked the TSR version, I don't like the "Captain Proton" version.
Again, it's only in the Glen Larson version that Ardala was a princess. In the original, she was just an "evil adventuress," Kane's partner in crime or subordinate. The Larson series reinterpreted her in a new role, so there's no reason a new series couldn't find a completely different role for her.
Explain? Which version is that? Are you referring to the Buster Crabbe serial from 1939?
Hmm...
How about making Buck sort of a nerd instead of an adventurer. He was a computer programmer who loved star wars and other sorts of adventurous space opera. He has collections of action figures, and owned some cool guns (which he did shoot on occasion) and always wanted to go adventure racing, but never did.
When he's unfrozen in the 25th century, he's in heaven. He's living in a real space opera, and it's the adventure he's always wanted. But it wasn't exactly like he had imagined it would be. He isn't Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. He isn't a hero and he doesn't have character shields or movie physics to save his ass when trouble happens.
On the other side, the people of the future totally worship him. They have a romanticized view of the time period he came from, similar to the modern view of the old west, and expect everyone from that era to be totally insanely hardcore and violent. They're disappointed when he reveals that he isn't some awesome super-killer from a less civilized time and totally elated when he channels Colonel Kilgore or starts talking in Klingon.
These people are fighting a real war for the first time in centuries and they expect him to be the expert. They thrust him into life or death situations and tell him to lead them because he's the only one who has experience with violence, but it's a total disaster at first because his experience is limited to television, video games, and occasional range time. He's constant afraid for his life, can't eat, can't sleep, and generally fucked up both psychologically and physiologically by the stress of it all.
But even after those initial failures, he continues on because he doesn't want to disapoint them. He takes on the persona of the violent sociopathic killer that they expect 21sat century people to be and with experience he grows into it. He studies tactics and strategies. He trains. he fights. He perseveres. And at some point he actually becomes the sort of insane badass that the future people hoped he'd be. He might commit a few war crimes along the way, not because he had to but because it's what they expected of him, and in the end he might wonder if it was all actually worth it, but he will become a hero and lead them to victory
How about making Buck sort of a nerd instead of an adventurer. He was a computer programmer who loved star wars and other sorts of adventurous space opera. He has collections of action figures, and owned some cool guns (which he did shoot on occasion) and always wanted to go adventure racing, but never did.
When he's unfrozen in the 25th century, he's in heaven. He's living in a real space opera, and it's the adventure he's always wanted. But it wasn't exactly like he had imagined it would be. He isn't Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. He isn't a hero and he doesn't have character shields or movie physics to save his ass when trouble happens.
On the other side, the people of the future totally worship him. They have a romanticized view of the time period he came from, similar to the modern view of the old west, and expect everyone from that era to be totally insanely hardcore and violent. They're disappointed when he reveals that he isn't some awesome super-killer from a less civilized time and totally elated when he channels Colonel Kilgore or starts talking in Klingon.
These people are fighting a real war for the first time in centuries and they expect him to be the expert. They thrust him into life or death situations and tell him to lead them because he's the only one who has experience with violence, but it's a total disaster at first because his experience is limited to television, video games, and occasional range time. He's constant afraid for his life, can't eat, can't sleep, and generally fucked up both psychologically and physiologically by the stress of it all.
But even after those initial failures, he continues on because he doesn't want to disapoint them. He takes on the persona of the violent sociopathic killer that they expect 21sat century people to be and with experience he grows into it. He studies tactics and strategies. He trains. he fights. He perseveres. And at some point he actually becomes the sort of insane badass that the future people hoped he'd be. He might commit a few war crimes along the way, not because he had to but because it's what they expected of him, and in the end he might wonder if it was all actually worth it, but he will become a hero and lead them to victory
^That premise sounds very familiar to me. Has echoes of The Last Starfighter, or Eli's arc in Stargate Universe. The whole "nerd wish fulfillment fantasy" angle is kind of played out by now, I think.
I wasn't thinking nerd wish fulfillment fantasy so much as nerd wish fulfillment nightmare. Think less Last Starfighter and more Sleeping with the Girls or Farscape.
In fact, I was thinking of Sleeping with the Girls when I wrote that. The protagonist's wish fulfillment is quickly overshadowed by the stress of almost dying every few hours, being beaten half to death multiple times with no chance to recover in between, and getting dozens of innocent people killed because of simple errors in his plans leading to desperate gambits that ultimately fail to kill their target and just make things worse. The result is less wish fulfillment and more a very fast downward spiral towards insanity.
I think Wilma got more respect in S2 and not focused on so much as Eye candy, but, that may have contributed to the ratings decline
Seriously? She was turned into a flight attendant! I mean look at that outfit. In S1 she was a very capable fighter pilot and in S2 she was a bridge bunny.
Probably. Science fiction for the silver screen back then was crap, and I wouldn't want a retro homage to it such as "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". Science fiction needs to maintain some plausibility, and I'm not interested in recreating some hokey black and white sci fi flick. I'm more interested in modernizing it rather than going backwards. I liked the TSR Role Playing Game version of it, but not the later 1930s recreation of it that was dumbed down. The TSR XXV game was set entirely within the Solar System, the main adversary was a terraformed Mars.
