(1) EMERGENCY HOLOGRAPHIC CAPTAIN. Slashfilm rounds up everything they can find out about Nickolodeon’s “’Star Trek: Prodigy’ Season 1: Release Date, Cast and More”.
…Prodigy will be a kids-oriented show revolving around a group of alien teens who attempt to get away with stealing a Starfleet vessel of their very own, the U.S.S. Protostar. In a fun surprise for older fans, Captain Janeway from the Star Trek: Voyager series will appear as a hologram throughout this show, guiding the teens along their many adventures to the stars….
(2) STEER CLEAR. A Starfleet Academy series is also in development. Fansided’s Chad Porto is adamant that “Star Trek series based around Starfleet Academy should avoid these ideas”. From the middle of his list —
The third idea is about Worf. Dang-it. Walked into that one. Do you want to see more Worf? You do? Do you want to see more Worf but not played by Michael Dorn!? Wait, where did everyone go!? No one wants to see it. Don’t do it. No more prequels. I feel like Edna Mode in The Incredibles. No prequels!
(3) HOLLYWOOD AUTO CREATOR GOING AWAY. “Holy hot wheels, Batman! Iconic auto shop site is for sale” reports the LA Times.
A foundation stone of Southern California car culture is about to be dislodged: The North Hollywood home of Barris Kustom Industries — birthplace of the Batmobile, the Munster Koach and a thousand other custom cars — is for sale.
The 10,000-square-foot commercial property, on an 18,000-square-foot corner lot, is offered at $3.995 million and is almost certainly destined for redevelopment.
The package includes the showroom that still houses a Batmobile; the garages where brothers George and Sam Barris did custom body work for celebrities including Elvis Presley, Elton John and Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; and even the spray booth where “kustom kolors” concocted by George were applied to cars driven by James Dean, John Wayne and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, for whom Barris built a Bat Smart Car….
(4) IS IT A HOARD? Even if it is, calling the lot a collection sounds like good customer relations. Chuck Rozanki of Denver’s MileHiComics announced he has acquired another mountain of inventory. You should see the pictures: “Chuck Buys Another Huge Collection!”
I have just left California, and entered Nevada through Reno. I spent all day yesterday hauling 400 cases of toys, books, comics, and all sorts of pop-culture collectibles from a huge house on top of a mountain in Oroville, California. When you take a look at the sheer mass of material that I picked up, this ends up being the largest private collection that I have ever purchased. Of even greater importance is that this collection is incredibly diverse, as the gentleman who put it together was a thrift store devotee for the past 40 years, shopping pretty much every day on his lunch break. He picked up an amazing array of fun pop culture collectibles.
In case you are wondering, yes, this is the same collection that I mentioned back in June that I was going to return to pick up in California. There was so much material that it took six weeks for it to all get packed up. When I finished unpacking my two truckloads, I ended up with 13 full pallets out at FedEx, which is about 20,000 pounds. I have at least another thousand pounds in my cargo van, including a mint-in-box customized bicycle that was painted by the same guys who do the custom motorcycles down in LA. The last one sold on eBay for $4000…
(5) MARKIE POST (1950-2021). Actress Markie Post died August 7 reports Deadline.
…Her first acting credits came in 1979, with appearances on episodes of … The Incredible Hulk, The Lazarus Syndrome, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century…
She’d later appear in series such as The Love Boat, … Fantasy Island and The A-Team, before landing the role of bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in ABC’s The Fall Guy. She appeared in 65 episodes of that action drama between 1982 and 1985. Post was also a series regular on NBC’s Night Court, portraying public defender Christine Sullivan for 159 episodes between 1985 and 1992.
(6) BRAD ALLAN OBIT. Stuntman Brad Allan, who worked on Wonder Woman and the Kingsman series, died August 7: “Brad Allan, Stuntman and Jackie Chan Protege, Dies at 48”. (msn.com).
Allan eventually carved out a space in Hollywood as one of the best in his craft. After serving as both a stunt actor and coordinator on a string of movies with Chan, including “Shanghai Noon” and “Rush Hour 2,” he went on to design action scenes for movies like, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Wonder Woman,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and the “Kingsman” series.
By the time of his death, Allan had also completed work on “The King’s Man” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which hits theaters next month.
(7) MEMORY LANE.
- 1988 – Thirty-three years ago at Nolacon II, Ursula K. Le Guin would win the Best Novelette Hugo for “Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight.” Other nominated works that year were “Rachel in Love” by Pat Murphy, “Dinosaurs” by Walter Jon Williams, “Flowers of Edo” by Bruce Sterling and “Dream Baby” by Bruce McAllister.
(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.
[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]
- Born August 8, 1919 — Dino De Laurentiis. Responsible for Dune obviously but less obviously also a lot of other genre including Conan the Barbarian, Flash Gordon, King Kong, Halloween II and Halloween III, Dead Zone and The Last Legion. His company even made Army of Darkness! (Died 2010.)
- Born August 8, 1930 — Terry Nation. Best known as scriptwriter for Doctor Who and creator of the Daleks. He later created Blake’s 7. He would also write scripts for Department S, The Avengers, The Champions and MacGyver. (Died 1997.)
- Born August 8, 1935 — Donald P. Bellisario, 86. His genre shows include Tales of the Gold Monkey, Airwolf, Magnum P.I. (according to some of you) and of course that truly amazing show Quantum Leap. He was a writer and producer on the original Battlestar Galactica.
- Born August 8, 1937 — Dustin Hoffman, 84. Ahhh — Captian Hook, the man who got swallowed by the vast crocodile in Hook. Yeah, I like that film a lot. By no means his only genre appearance, as he was Mumbles, Caprice’s fast-talking henchman in Dick Tracy (not a film I love), Mr. Edward Magorium in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium and the voice of Master Shifu in Kung Fu Panda.
- Born August 8, 1943 — Terry J. Erdmann, 78. He ran the media campaigns for such films as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, (where he was credited as the film’s publicist). He’s also written such books as the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, which he co-wrote with Paula Block, his wife who works as a Trek publicist, and The Magic of Tribbles: The Making of Trials and Tribble-ations.
- Born August 8, 1949 — Keith Carradine, 72. Genre roles include Special Report: Journey to Mars, Star Trek: Enterprise, Kung Fu, voice work on the animated Spider-Man series, Dollhouse and The Big Bang Theory.
- Born August 8, 1993 — Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, 28. She’s a Kahnawake Mohawk. Why I mention that will be apparent in a moment. Her most recent role is recurring one as Sam Black Crow on now-cancelled American Gods but she has a very long genre history starting with being Monique on the Stephen King’s Dead Zone series. From there, she was Claudia Auditore in Assassin’s Creed: Lineage, a series of three short films based on the Assassin’s Creed II video game before showing up as Ali’s in Rhymes for Young Ghouls which is notable for its handling of First Nations issues. She’s Daisy in Another WolfCop (oh guess which monster), an unnamed bar waitress in Being Human, Nourhan in Exploding Sun and Sam in the The Walking Dead: Michonne video game. Her latest genre role is Blood Quantum about a zombie uprising on a First Nations homeland.
(9) LIGHTEN UP. John King Tarpinian swears he had none of these. Especially if it had anything to do with disco. “5 of the wildest pieces of vintage Star Trek merch” at Heroes & Icons.
THIS LIGHT-UP JACKET THAT’S PERFECT FOR DISCOS, CONVENTIONS, SF PARTIES AND SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Sure, a replica of the actual Starfleet uniform is rad, but not as rad as a shiny jacket that “lights up,” “flashes” and “creates a sensation,” with the Enterprise emblazoned on the back. This 1978 official licensed jacket surely would have impressed everyone at school and at the disco.
(10) ABANDONED STARSHIPS. Heroes & Icons also knows about “9 abandoned Star Trek series that never made it to the TV screen”. Some of these I’ve heard about, but not this one!
2. THE HARRY MUDD SHOW
Harcourt Fenton Mudd remains one of the most beloved rogues in the Star Trek universe, even appearing in the new Discovery series, as played by Rainn Wilson of The Office. Roger Carmel, also a delightful Batman villain, originated the role. He was the only character aside from the Enterprise crew to appear in more than one episode (“Mudd’s Woman” and “I, Mudd). No wonder NBC hoped to give him a spin-off. As Carmel himself recalled, “Gene Roddenberry was there and we started talking and Gene said, ‘It’s a shame that series thing for you never worked out.’ I said, ‘What series thing?’ He said, ‘Oh, didn’t you know? Well, after the successful Harry Mudd episodes, NBC wanted to know if I would develop a spin-off series for you starring the Harry Mudd character. A space pirate, intergalactic con-man kind of thing.'” A flabberghasted Carmel asked, “‘My God, Gene, I didn’t know anything about that. What happened?’ He said, ‘Well, the artists didn’t have enough time to develop it.'” Arg!
(11) TWELVE IS NOT FIVE BY FIVE. Did Capaldi talk himself out of a job? “Doctor Who Is Canceling One Of Its Former Stars” — Giant Freakin Robot has the story.
It’s in the area of voice work, in fact, where Capaldi recently may have gotten in a little bit of trouble. As Cinema Blend reported on Thursday, Capaldi was expected to play the Doctor for the Big Finish Doctor Who audio drama Timejacked. However, rather than Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor will now be voiced by Jacob Dudman, who has done voice work on previous Doctor Who audio dramas.
While it hasn’t been confirmed, there’s a lot of speculation that Capaldi’s recent interview on The Chris Moyles Show may be to blame for his replacement in the Doctor Who audio drama. Capaldi appeared on the show while doing press for The Suicide Squad. During the interview, after Capaldi mentions he’d like to be DJ, he’s asked if he’s ever worked in radio. The actor answers he’s done radio plays, and what he says about them isn’t very complimentary. Capaldi says he finds making them “quite dreary” and that they’re made “in the basement of the BBC with all the pipes and stuff.” He goes on to call it “an absolutely glamor free zone.”
(12) FANTASTIC PLASTIC. I’d almost forgotten these (and now I’ll have to start all over again!) “It’s the 50th anniversary of the most horrific kids’ toys ever” reminds Input.
…Nabisco, the cookie and cracker conglomerate that bought Aurora soon after these kits were released, found itself in a world of pain after horrified parents, op-ed writers, and boisterous protesters decried the toys as misogynistic and grotesque — and wholly inappropriate for kids. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the torture-toy scandal, during which public outcry led to not only the discontinuation of an outrageously successful toy line, but also to the passage of legislation that would keep similarly objectionable toys off store shelves, at least in California.
But a half-century later, these kits still thrive, thanks, of course, to the internet….
(13) MIND ON THE GAME. In the Washington Post, Shannon Liao reviews the about to be released video game Psychonauts 2, a sequel to the 2005 Psychonauts, which was one of the first video games to address mental health issues. She talks to game designers who explain how they tried to have a good story while trying to improve gamers’ mental health. “’Psychonauts 2’ preview: Double Fine discusses game’s bosses, mental health”.
…To undo the mistake he made, Raz must venture back into his mentor’s mind, but this time, it’s transformed into a fantastical level that’s part hospital, part casino. Eventually, he’s able to undo the bad mental connections he made in Hollis’s mind, undo other mental connections she’s formed such as “defiance is useless” and get her to recognize better connections such as “wisdom = decisions.” It’s clear throughout this level that Raz is genuinely feeling regret and guilt for messing with Hollis’s mind without consent. He reflects on what he did wrong, and apologizes to Hollis.
“It’s a small change between the first and second games,” Schafer said. “I noticed in the first game, Raz just kind of pops into everyone’s mind willy nilly. He’s like, ‘hey!’ And so in every level on ‘Psychonauts 2,’ except for some near the end where it’s an emergency situation, in every brain you go into, there is a moment of actually getting consent from the person’s brain that you’re going into, because it is an invasive process going into someone’s brain. There’s a lot more dialogue about that, which we try to be careful about in the second game.”…
(14) VIDEO OF THE DAY. We ran the trailer, now see the whole short film: Forsaken Mandalorian And The Drunken Jedi Master – A Star Wars Fan Film.
A Forsaken Mandalorian hunts down a Hutt Courier to recover an asset that unexpectedly leads him to team up with an outcast Drunken Jedi Master to fulfill his sworn duty.
[Thanks to Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, Michael Toman, John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to contributing editor of the day Soon Lee.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
(8) IT IS TERRY NATION’S BIRTHDAY. CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE!
(8) Dustin Hoffman’s only 84.
Dino de Laurentiis presumably died in 2010. The backwards date legitimately applies only to P. D. Q. Bach [1807-1742(?)]
My errors.
(11) So, they’ve kindly relieved Capaldi of the awful burden of doing something he hates.
(8) I might be in the minority for whom Blake’s 7 is the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of Terry Nation. Might have to rewatch that again.
Also: Thank you for Title Credit!
“The 36th Chamber of Scrollin”?
(7) That’s a pretty astonishing line-up of contenders for the Best Novelette Hugo.
PhilRM says That’s a pretty astonishing line-up of contenders for the Best Novelette Hugo.
Indeed it is. It’s one of the sheer joys of writing up these Anniversaries is discovering these Hugo histories, The Hugos are far better documented than any of the other Awards are.
11) Seems extraordinarily petty.
Pretty awesome scrolling through the pixels and going, “Hey! That’s a Mohawk name!” Felt a little homesick for Haudenosaunee country. Thanks so much for including Kawennáhere, Cat! Heard a zombie movie was happening, didn’t know it was going to be called “blood quantum.” There’s a lot of sub textual horror loaded into the title alone!
Lis Carey says So, they’ve kindly relieved Capaldi of the awful burden of doing something he hates.
Indeed so.
I thought that he was ok as a Doctor but never really seemed to be into the role like the other modern performers were. His successor seems much more assured in the role.
14) Somebody should have gone to Drunken Jedi Master in Jedi School and said, “You know, if you’re getting blotto on mouthwash, you need help!”
@rochrist–
One of the things normally expected of leading actors in a production is that they will talk it up, not badmouth it.
12) Is it wrong that I find these sets incredibly cool?
Scrolling scrolling scrolling pixelhide!
(9) The sixth weirdest Star Trek collectible might be one I remember from the 1970s. These were action figures (close to Barbie size) with cloth bodies (or at least cloth torsos) and Velcro on their hands. Because of this, you could pose their arms by sticking their hands against a part of the soft uniform fabric. This mean that people would come into the toy store and pose Kirk’s and Spock’s hands against their crotches. They ended up in the clearance bin. And I wish I had bought a couple when I saw them there because I later saw them listed as collectibles.
Does anyone remember the name of these things? I tried to Google for them, but too many unrelated items showed up.
To paraphrase (I think I’m using that right) Soon Lee:
8) I might be in the minority for whom Survivors is the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of Terry Nation. Might have to rewatch that again…in a few years when a worldwide pandemic isn’t the top news story.
11) This story is sensationalist and probably wrong. I heard Capaldi say very firmly at London Film and Comic Con in 2018 that he would not return to the role. This was in the context of whether he would do a TV multi-Doctor story with his predecessors and successors, but he was clear that sometimes it is time to leave and his Doctor would not be available in future. If in addition he doesn’t actually like radio, the most likely explanation is that Big Finish did approach him or his agent, and the eventual answer was no.
I think Capaldi is reluctant rather than cancelled. Big Finish did cancel an actor who had played one of their incarnations of the Master, so we know what that looks like, and this isn’t it. They have a good record of eventually persuading initially reluctant former Doctors to join their roster – it was several years before they got Paul McGann to record for them, and it took over a decade to get Tom Baker and Christopher Eccleston. (David Tennant, who had been in Big Finish audios before he got the TV role, was less difficult to persuade to return.)
Meanwhile Dudman is a good mimic and a good actor. I’ve heard his Capaldi impression and it’s clear who it’s meant to be. If we can’t have the real thing, it will certainly do.
Anne M Marble asks Does anyone remember the name of these things? I tried to Google for them, but too many unrelated items showed up.
Would they be these dolls? I used eBay to look for them. I spend too much on eBay.
Now listening to Charles Stross’ Empire Games which is narrated by the outstanding Kate Reading.
Cat Eldridge wrote:
Yes, those are the action figures I remember! They look odder than I remember.
All I could find with my searches were much nicer Meco figures.
8) I still wish they had decided to do the crossover cameo between Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who that was contemplated.
Melanie Stormm says Pretty awesome scrolling through the pixels and going, “Hey! That’s a Mohawk name!” Felt a little homesick for Haudenosaunee country. Thanks so much for including Kawennáhere, Cat! Heard a zombie movie was happening, didn’t know it was going to be called “blood quantum.” There’s a lot of sub textual horror loaded into the title alone!
You’re welcome! I’m always trying to diversify the Birthdays beyond the older, white males that it’s far too easy to populate them with. Some days I succeed, some days I don’t.
11) To follow up Nicholas’ comment: Big Finish would have needed a working Tardis to replace Capaldi with Dudman because of his comments in late July, because Dudman did his recording in late May, see the Backstage tab in
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-doctor-chronicles-the-twelfth-doctor-volume-02-timejacked-2502
Anne Marble says Yes, those are the action figures I remember! They look odder than I remember.
All I could find with my searches were much nicer Meco figures.
They’re quite reasonably priced on eBay. You can pick them up in the the original packaging for around twenty five to thirty five dollars in near mint condition. I suspect that they weren’t all that popular.
Cat Eldridge wrote:
I might get one after all these years. But they’re kind of scary… They could be in the next Conjuring movie.
I would be much more interesting in a Conjuring movie where instead of creepy porcelain Victorian dolls the demons were possessing one of those 12″ tall Six Million Dollar Man action figures with the removable bionic panels on his arm & chest.
Giant Freakin Robot has turned Capaldi having a little fun into giant freakin clickbait.
He was commenting on the making of the radio plays, not the quality of them, and he was clearly joking around during an interview where everybody was laughing. Calling a radio production studio dreary and non-glamourous is hardly a scathing indictment.
Also Capaldi was talking about BBC radio productions as opposed to working as a presenter.
Big Finish is not a part of the BBC, they just licence the IP. Linking the two is just right out of left field.
IanP say Also Capaldi was talking about BBC radio productions as opposed to working as a presenter.
Big Finish is not a part of the BBC, they just licence the IP. Linking the two is just right out of left field.
Yeah the article is quite sloppy. But then a lot of so-called news reporting on Doctor Who is just unprofessional. It’s that bad.
Meredith moment: Andre Norton’s The Gate of the Cat is available from the usual suspects for a buck ninety nine. I see she came close twice to winning a Hugo, once for her Witch World novel and again for her “Wizard’s World” novelette.
2) I agree I dont know the fixation of wanting to do prequels instead of continuing the timeline.
TBS Im not especially keen on a Star Trek Acaedmy series whenever its set. DS9 had trouble with a fixed location and introduced a space ship and a war to have better stories. And that was set at an unknown place.
Plus: While its comparible easy to show advancement in tech or hard Sciebce, Star Trek always strugglked when it came to Social sciences like Education or Psychology and they always had a very outdated version of it.
Another Meredith moment: Andre Norton’s Time Traders is available from the usual suspects for absolutely nothing. Yes, Baen Books is giving it away. (I found it while looking to see what was available for her.) I’ve not read it yet, so opinions on it are quite welcome.
Something is pixelling but you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Scroll?
Another Meredith moment for Andre Norton. The Andre Norton Collection. Ten novels, $0.99.
@Cat Eldridge: I reread Time Traders a few years ago and thought it had held up well. Norton had an eye for the underdog that helps to keep her characters sympathetic. It has a sequel, Galactic Derelict, that I found less interesting.
Jim Janney tells me I reread Time Traders a few years ago and thought it had held up well. Norton had an eye for the underdog that helps to keep her characters sympathetic. It has a sequel, Galactic Derelict, that I found less interesting.
Thanks Jim. I grabbed a copy for my Infinite Library which every day more earns its name a little bit more.
Now listening to Charles Stross’ Empire Games and reading Neal Asher’s Jack Four
Every time I see the title Star Trek: Prodigy, I think there ought to be Star Trek: Compuserve and Star Trek: AOL.
Lis Riba says Every time I see the title Star Trek: Prodigy, I think there ought to be Star Trek: Compuserve and Star Trek: AOL
(Deep chortle)
It’s a way too cute a title. That said, I’ll likely watch it as it sounds interesting and the idea of Janeway as a holographic artificial intelligence is rather intriguing.
Galactic Derelict was possibly the very first SF I read, and as such it remains dear to my heart. Plus the cover was wonderful.
Star Trek: Fidonet!
There’s a reason I don’t watch a lot of American-made animation. A group of teenagers, stealing a starfleet ship? Really? How about them stealing a US Navy large vessel? Security? Remote controls?
Nope. That’s on par with supervillains, that can beat an adult, but any five year old can beat them.