SF-LOVERS Digest Monday, 8 Feb 1993 Volume 18 : Issue 81 Today's Topics: Television - Time Trax (9 msgs) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 22 Jan 93 07:22:43 GMT From: bscott@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ben Scott) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax SPOILER warning left in for a reason, folks: amd@space.mit.edu (Ann M. Davis) writes: >Points I got a kick out of: >SPOILERS >The Pentagon as a prison. I found this very believable. Done for effect, to make a point. Not realistic but funny. Also, the effect was very well done - especially the way the spotlights moved. >The modern version of peepholes for doors. A bit overdone, again a case of overstating a point, but also good. >Selma's disguise as a credit card Just silly. I mean, within the context of the story, it was a good idea, but here in real life, it was a cheap joke. >Anyway, does anyone know if/when this will be a series? The movie was the pilot for a series. Parts I liked (some of which I touched on before): The flying cars were supported by air, not magical antigravity or rocketry. (The technological speculations in general were well thought out, if a bit less than ambitious considering that the setting is a full two centuries in the future) Caucasians being the minority race was not overdone; it was a valid part of the story without being harped on tediously. Similarly, the old cliche of references to a past nuclear war or other societal collapse was avoided for ONCE. The computer displays were large, ubiquitous, quick and reasonably well done considering TV budgetary restraints. Unlike the tiny TV screens in the Star Trek movies, the ridiculous jumpy Mac-like "animation" of anything moving on a Trek TNG display, or etc. I posted earlier (while still watching the movie) that the dialogue hadn't made me laugh. Well, there were a few bits later on that did, mostly any time the main character was talking to the girl. But overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as the run-of-the-mill. Characterizations, too, were at least average if not better. The computer pal Selma could've been worse; she doesn't make wisecracks constantly, at least. The flickery display is a bit of an affectation but is part of the "character" I guess. There's a lot of potential usefulness in a gadget like that and they actually had some nifty ideas in the movie. As I also said, so long as the writing doesn't fall into the trap of helping the person of the week while catching the criminal of the week, which it likely will, it could be really good. I hope they continue to show the future society from time to time, though I see few excuses to do so in the subsequent shows. Ben Scott bscott@nyx.cs.du.edu ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jan 93 20:22:42 GMT From: baylor@nebula.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax KitchenRN@SSD0.LAAFB.AF.MIL writes: >Hmmm... we seem to have The Six Million Dollar Man meets Quantum Leap (he >even has a hologram companion, although Al from QL can stay in focus a lot >better than Selma can.) Yea. Al only fades when they're low on power or something. [cut] >But, several questions came to mind as I watched this show: Some of your questions are pretty good, but the answers to a few seem obvious to me. >5 If whites are a despised minority, why are all of the cops white? And >they're all male, also. (Well, there was that one brief appearance of a >black female cop showing Elissa (sp?) into Damien's office, but she seemed >more like an usher than a cop.) The best question of the lot! I was wondering about that myself. My best guess: as in the modern day military*, the police force was a bit better at implementing "equal opportunity" than society as a whole. Therefore there are a disproportionate number of minority members. Do I compliment the society or insult the casting director that the "blankos" were proportionately represented in the police leadership positions (not like the present military)? * I'm talking about the volunteer force, not the fact that poor folk couldn't legally dodge the draft in the Vietnam era. >6 200 years from now, they still use *paper* mail?! They'd hardly allow a criminal computer access - too much mischief to get into. The letters might have been delivered as "parcels." I mean, there may not be a large enough demand for paper mail, but there would still be package shipments. >9 How come Doctor S (never could figure out his name - Sahmbi?) needed the >machine to go into the past, but Sepp the Nazi didn't? Sepp just licked >the envelope, and he was gone. Sepp needed Dr. S. to run the machine for him. Given that the Doctor knew where Sepp was, he could project some sort of beam to the appropriate coordinates. But the Doctor had to run the machine himself for his own escape. >11 Why did they badmouth Aaron Burr? He wasn't a traitor! I think there's some historical disput, but it's not my area of study. >14 What was that about Sepp getting three doses of that drug? He had one >when he popped into 1993, and one when he popped out. Where did the third >one come from? You don't have to travel when you take the drug. The machine has to be powered up, also. There was probably some failed attempt before he made it. >15 Why, if Damien was born in 2160, does the photo of his "mother" show >her dressed in 19th century clothes? You can bet that this little time >jaunt had something to do with Damien showing up as a foundling at the >orphanage. Either 1) Fashions come around again, 2) She was in costume, for some reason, in the picture, or 3) It'll be related in a subsequent episode, which would be fascinating. >16 I wonder, if there is a 200-year limit on the use of that drug, >couldn't they just set up their operation in 1993 and send other people >back to 1793? Why? 200 years is enough to get them away from the law, and the lifestyle is cushier. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jan 93 17:39:03 GMT From: johnson@rtsg.mot.com (Brad Johnson) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax Just to put in my 2 cents, I have to say that if Time Trax in series form can continue to expound on the ideas generated in the premiere, then it's going to be a great show! To each his own, but by way of comparison, I thought the Space Rangers premiere was the worst piece of SF cliche drivel I've ever seen. (Except for the pilot apparently _choosing_ to lie on her stomach to fly her spaceship. That was at least hilariously stupid. What happened to any concept of sensible human engineering or ergonomics?) I don't claim that Time Trax was startingly original or anything, but the FX were pretty good and the future environment postulation was very good. I thought the writing was only so-so, and the plot was extremely MacGyver-ish, but you can't win them all. To compare with Quantum Leap, I thought Time Trax was leaps (pun intended) ahead in the sense that the science fiction and time travel concepts were INTEGRAL parts of the show. I also really enjoy QL, but let's face it - the time travel thing is only a cheesy plot device to put the protagonist in a wide variety of completely un-related situations week after week. (Can anyone say Deus Ex Machina?) Sam Beckett could just as well be an angel as a time traveler. (Now let's not start that again.) Back to Time Trax - my only fear is that they won't show the world in 2193 much anymore, which would be a shame, since that was by far the best part of the premiere. Thanks for listening. Brad Johnson johnson@ebony.rtsg.mot.com ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jan 93 00:21:45 GMT From: mmcalees@cs16.uvic.ca (Michael McAleese) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax roy@trigger.watson.ibm.com writes: >As for TT, well, I thought it was good. It portrayed a pretty good vision >of the world 200 years from now as far as technology goes. It portrays a >pretty dismal social picture, though. Kind of the looks like the writers >do not share Roddenberry's optimism. Anyway, the show was good. The >SELMA character was very good, and it appears that it will provide a >number of plot possibilities. A dismal social picture? The city was clean and beautiful, there were no poor people, the typical person was a mental and physical giant compared to our norms (as the intro kept pounding away at the "average" nature of this superman have as the main character), and aside from some political unrest hinted at in the opening sequence all seemed fine and dandy. Perhaps their version of the future didn't have Mr. Roddenberry's rose-colored view of a future without crime or want (or human beings, it would seem) but it was anything but dismal. I expect SELMA will be used for many of those oh-so-humorous incidents of normal folk catching the hero shouting into his credit card because he's moronic enough to forget this might seem a little odd in a public place, despite his 204 IQ. (On a side note, I wish they wouldn't try the acronym into a name thing. Why not just say it's a computer that we named Selma?) Michael McAleese mmcalees@csr.uvic.ca ------------------------------ Date: 21 Jan 93 21:59:18 GMT From: shkelnik@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Leslie Shkolnik) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Time Trax (Minor Spoiler) Minor SPOILERS Did anyone see Time Trax last night? I was really looking forward to this and so far am not impressed. I'm not quite sure yet whether it has potential. It started out pretty poor. They did a pretty bad job laying the ground work, and I don't believe overnight that there was really any attachment between Darien and Alyssa. But once they went back in time, it picked up a lot. They never did adequately explain how over a 200 year period of time man all of the sudden has changed physiologically. And the cities were WAY too clean. If there is so much violence then, as the commercial said, then it wouldn't have been so clean and pretty! I think they should have spent a lot more time building up the characters and the relationships between them, and showing us what 2193 is supposed to be like so that we know what he is giving up! I also think they should have showed us his history instead of narrating it. There may be hope in the future! For now, I'll have to keep watching. I'm holding out with hope for next week! Leslie leslie@hpprsd1.mayfield.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: 23 Jan 93 10:26:42 GMT From: lichter@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Michael I. Lichter) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: Time Trax (possible spoiler) ohara@angelo.amd.com (Bob O'Hara) writes: >One thing that bothered me though...early in the show, it is said that >caucasians are now a minority. Other than the riot scene, most people >seemed to be pretty WASPy. Did anyone else find themselves bothered by >this incongruity? Yes! (And besides, if they wanted to use an epithet for whites, why use the neutral "blanco" instead of words that already have a charge like "gabacho" or "gringo"?) Not only were all the cops white, but the scientists (except for Frank) were white, etc. This was not very well developed, making Dietrich's speech about "we're both white" seem odd, and Darien's reply "I guess it's good I don't know too many white men" (was that what he said?) look kind of wierd. By the way, somebody mentioned that Darien's mother being dressed in Victorian clothes indicates something interesting. I predict that (a) Darien will travel backwards from 1993, (b) that he will meet and fall in love with a woman in this earlier time period (say 1850's), and that (c) he is is own father, but in a different universe (remember this parallel universe stuff) from his own. Michael ------------------------------ From: leeper@mtgzy.att.com Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 11:19 EST Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: TIME TRAX TIME TRAX A television review by Mark R. Leeper The year is still young and this is our third science fiction series to debut. Apparently we have another time travel television series that looks as if it could follow in the time tracks of TIME TUNNEL and QUANTUM LEAP. It certainly is the silliest of the newest science fiction shows. Our story begins in the present with a time traveler falling into a stall in the women's restroom in the Smithsonian Institute (well, they call it an "institute"). This is Darien Lambert, a fancy cop from 2193. What is he doing in our time? We flash back to 2193 ... uh ... we flash forward to Lambert's past in 2193 ... uh ... we flash forward back to Lambert's past in the future. (Yeah, that's what we do.) In this future police have gotten more technical, computers have gotten much smaller, criminals have become much cleverer, and matte painters have lost the secrets of their ancestors. Lambert is born on August 17, 2160, which seems to fall on a Monday contrary to all current expectations that it will be a Sunday. Lambert has an IQ of over 200 which he either chooses not to use or which may indicate downward recalibration. Advanced technology has made him a super-athlete and has given him the ability to "slow down visual images" until it is too late. He makes himself a super-cop. Then he stumbles onto a mad Nobel Laureate who has been sending something like a hundred criminals back to 1993 where they are trying to take over the government, just like Burr, Bonaparte, and Brutus. (Brutus? Brutus was a follower of Pompey who was forgiven and given a governorship by Caesar, but allowed himself to be goaded into joining the assassination plot. He was no empire builder!) Lambert is given an AT&T smart card that is just a little smarter. It is a tiny super-computer that projects a hologram of a frumpy know-it-all librarian who can answer Lambert's questions. It is called SELMA (short for "Special Encapsulated Limitless Memory Archive") Gee, the computer has a female name which is an acronym. Gosh, that has a nostalgic feel. I thought that went out with 1950s science fiction films! He finds out the mechanics of time travel from a beautiful super-genius, then goes back two hundred years and finds a woman who looks just like the one he just left. (Oh, boy! Now they're borrowing from Mummy movies.) So Lambert is now in 1993 hunting down criminals from 2193 who are trying to take over our world. When he needs to send a message back to 2193 he places an ad in the Washington Post. His trusty old police captain is scanning the 200-year-old papers for ads that he could not find the previous week, but were placed two hundred years earlier. Luckily the captain has not thought to look at the front page or he would know if the coup succeeded. I guess the idea is that the past is changing the future, and there are allusions to something never explained about parallel universes having something to do with time travel. I don't understand it, the writers don't understand it, only Lambert understands it because he took a course in Parallel Universe Theory at the Police Academy. Confused? Hey, I spared you the whole bit about the time travel drug. All this is produced by Harve Bennett, usually associated with "Star Trek" movies. Whether this series becomes something creative and interesting, or falls into being just a souped-up INVADERS remains to be seen. We will all know some time in the future. Mark R. Leeper att!mtgzfs3!leeper leeper@mtgzfs3.att.com ------------------------------ Date: 25 Jan 93 21:29:41 GMT From: william.johnson@um.cc.umich.edu (William Johnson) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: TimeTrax A friend of mine came up with an interesting thought about TimeTrax or Timedrek depending on how one looks at it. If the action is taking place in an alternate universe, then how are the characters communicating with the future through newspaper ads? Also my own thought on the matter, how do the people get sent back to the correct universe? ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jan 93 01:43:43 GMT From: eek2@po.cwru.edu (Eric E. Katz) Reply-to: sf-lovers-tv@Rutgers.Edu Subject: Re: TimeTraxx The answer to the parallel universe question. They aren't communicating with the same universe. They are communicating with the one that was generated by the events that are in motion in the past that Darien is in. That one will pull the criminals back and that will also change the future. That's the reason I could think of that would make sense. This of course brings about two points, there has to be one criminal that remains or that Darien has to send himself back with the criminal. We could conclude that the criminals are successful, but perhaps Dr. Sahmbi put into motion a way of contacting his future self that will live in the parallel universe generated by his actions. All we need is that the future Darien will find out about this and that he will send himself back to stop the criminal's plan. Of course he will find a way of saving Alyssa when he goes back. ------------------------------ End of SF-LOVERS Digest ***********************