NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30

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Internet Message Format | 1992-12-12 | 17.9 KB

Xref: sparky rec.misc:327 rec.arts.anime:26972 rec.arts.misc:432 rec.arts.tv:23763 rec.misc:328 rec.mag:280 Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!cn577 From: cn577@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine) Newsgroups: rec.misc,rec.arts.anime,rec.arts.misc,rec.arts.tv,rec.misc,rec.mag Subject: CYBERSPACE VANGUARD -- Preview Issue Date: 13 Dec 1992 02:17:42 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA) Lines: 316 Message-ID: <1ge6g6INNsq9@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> Reply-To: cn577@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine) NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu WELCOME to the preview issue of CYBERSPACE VANGUARD! While we put the finishing touches on the first issue, we thought we'd give you some idea of the kinds of things that you'll find in our electronic pages. Despite the name, CV is NOT a magazine about or in any way related to cyberpunk. We chose the name simply because "cyberspace" is quickly becoming the 90's word for the world of electronic communications. CV will cover pretty much anything that's of interest to the science fiction community, regardless of what it is. We're open to submissions from anyone, regardless of experience. The writing is judged SOLELY on its quality. For writers' guidelines, write to cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu or, for those of you who prefer to communicate on paper, you can write to us at: Cyberspace Vanguard PO Box 25704 Garfield Heights, OH 44125 USA __________________________________________________ CONTENTS FEATURE SCREEN NUMBER Patrick Stewart on Broadway .................................3 J. Michael Straczynski on BABYLON 5..........................5 All the News that Fit to Transmit............................8 Spoilers Ahoy!..............................................13 Opportunity Knocks..........................................15 What's missing ... ........................................16 Well, enough of that. On to the news! __________________________________________________ FROM STAR TREK TO BROADWAY: PATRICK STEWART DOES HIS OWN VERSION OF "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" S [Note: Patrick Stewart's one man version of Charles Dickens' "A T Christmas Carol" will run from December 15, 1992 until January 3, E 1993 on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street 3 W in New York City). Tickets are $45 and can be ordered from Tele- A Charge at (212) 239-6200.] R T OK. Jean-Luc Picard as Scrooge. You can picture that, can't you? Heck, some of you probably think he IS Scrooge. All right, how about Picard as Bob Cratchit? Or Marley's Ghost? Now. How about Patrick Stewart, the man who plays Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, as all of them. And Tiny Tim. And dozens of others. At the same time. "It's the ultimate piece of fun for an actor, because not only do I get to play the dramatic role of Scrooge but also the children, Mrs. Cratchit and Mrs. Fezziwig," Mr. Stewart said in an interview with the New York papers around this time last year. S This is the third year that Patrick Stewart has taken time T off during the holidays to perform his one man adaptation of E Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Mr. Stewart has created his 4 W own adaptation of the book. More than just a reading, he performs A all the roles, including the props. (You know it's not English R 101 when you're dealing with a man who takes a break for an T imaginary glass of water.) At one point, during the Fezziwigs' party, he plays eleven roles at once. "It's a stupendous actors' workout and that's what it's meant to do: Keep my stage arteries from clogging up." After 25 years as a member and associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, those arteries have gotten quite a workout. But is Star Trek a step down from that? Well, noting the tremendous influence the show has on popular culture, he once told a reporter "Look, all those years of sitting on the throne of England playing a king of England was nothing but a preparation for sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise." Later, he remembers thinking that "there are many people who consider the captain's chair by far the more important S of the two." T All in all, the role is certainly going to require E flexibility. But after five years of Star Trek, he seems to have 5 W that down. Discussing the first season episode "Skin of Evil" -- A you know, the one where Tasha Yar um, leaves the show -- he R mentions that he had to act to what was essentially an oil slick. T "And I treated that oil slick precisely as I treated my first officer." __________________________________________________ HOW TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY AND DEVOTION IN ONE EASY PILOT: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI ON BABYLON 5 Some people just have a knack for coming up with the quotes that people remember. I'm not sure, but I think that if we did a study we would find out that most of them are writers, or could be. That's certainly the case with J. Michael Straczynski, S creator and co-producer of the upcoming series BABYLON 5. With T writing credits that range from novels to the syndicated TWILIGHT R ZONE, he told CV in a phone interview between production meetings, A "Some people sell a show in order to become a producer. I became C a producer in order to sell this show." 6 Z It seems like a lot of trouble to go through, but he must Y believe in it. The series, which deals with the goings on of a N space station named Babylon 5 (hence the title), has taken five S years to go from idea to reality. They have been five eventful K years. I The station, which lies at the junction of five previously warring galactic empires, is the fifth of its kind. The first three were sabotaged, and the fourth simply vanished without a trace. But it has a strategic importance, in that it is the jumping off point to all five empires by way of string-like entities. Hm. For those of you who have been following the developments on STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, your reaction at this point is probably one of suspicion. (See the News, screen 8) The two shows have nearly identical premises -- on the surface, anyway. Mr. Straczynski has repeatedly refused to accuse Rick S Berman and Michael Piller, Star Trek producers, of stealing his T ideas. "All I can say is that we have the paper trail. It was R brought to Paramount, and they did see the material. It has been A in production for five years. We announced in the trades in C November [of 1991] that BABYLON 5 was going ahead, and we know 7 Z that the presentation for DS9 wasn't made to Brandon Tartikoff I until January [of 1992]. On the flip side, though, it is my N sincere conviction that neither [Rick] Berman or [Michael] Piller S ever saw the material. They are two honorable men who would never K borrow a comma from anybody." I He does seem to think that perhaps the competition might be good for BOTH shows. _Cinefantastic_ magazine quoted him as saying the show would "kick DEEP SPACE NINE's [butt]," but he says it's out of context, and that he meant "that STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION has gotten complacent, and maybe if we can give them a short, sharp kick in the butt, they'll stop being complacent and be more willing to try innovative new things." But there's still a twinge of pride in his tone. "Best case S scenario, in five years both shows have gone on to be eminently T successful. Worst case scenario, we beat the pants off them." R At any rate, once one looks past the surface, there is a A galaxy of difference between the shows. While DS9 is set in what C is pretty much a well established universe -- OK, so we don't 8 Z really know much about the Cardassians, but we know pretty much I everything else -- B5 is meant to be more of a "tapestry," an N entirely new universe in which to be figuratively lost. S (to be continued ...) K I __________________________________________________ ALL THE NEWS THAT FIT TO TRANSMIT What's rumor and what's news? Sometimes it's hard to tell. All we can do is give you our sources and let you decide. GODZILLA RISES AGAIN -- TEMPORARILY, ANYWAY Well, this being the first issue of CV, maybe it's fitting that we start out the news with one of the granddaddies of sf films, Godzilla, or as he is known in Japan, Gojira. Toho produced the first of these monster movies in 1954, and while the dubbing might not have been the greatest (though it certainly has N inspired lots of comedy) the original film was good enough to 9 E inspire sequels that are STILL being made in Japan. W Ironically, while the next Japanese Gojira film will see the S death of the King of the Monsters, TriStar has paid anywhere from $300,000 to $400,000 for the rights to use the characters from the first 15 installments of the series. Rumors are flying as to who will be involved, but Tim Burton, a huge Godzilla fan, has been mentioned as a possible director. The series WILL continue in Japan, even though Gojira will be killed in a battle with MekaGojira, created by the Japan Defense Force. The next films will involve Gojira's child, Minya (Godzooky in the US version), who will be all grown up by the end of the latest film. (...to be continued...) HIGHLANDER Totally unconfirmed: Production on HIGHLANDER III: THE MAGICIAN is set to start this month. It reportedly involves a sword maker with the power of illusion who has been buried under a N mountain for 300 years. Since it begins in ancient Japan, it 10 E would seem that the film is going to utterly ignore HIGHLANDER II. W According to those who have seen the ill-fated sequel, this is S probably for the best. No word on Sean Connery, but Christopher Lambert has reportedly signed on to play MacCloud once again. Of course, if you can't wait that long for another dose of your favorite immortal, check out the syndicated television show HIGHLANDER. While Christopher Lambert did make an appearance in the pilot, the series deals with a clansman of Connor MacCloud, Duncan. Now about half-way into its first season, it seems to be holding up, quality-wise. STAR TREK: MISCELLANEOUS Well, well, well, right now we could do pages on this one. Let's start with the original series. Despite Gene Roddenberry's death, Paramount has no problem with continuing the series of movies. According to Bjo Trimble, Brandon Tartikoff, then-head of the studio, sat at a screening of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and asked "Why are we stopping making these N films?" Someone pointed out that the cast was getting old, but he 11 E asked "Are the fans still buying?" Of course we all know they W are, so his question became "Then what's the problem?" S The word is that yes, William Shatner IS trying to sell the movie studio, now headed by Sherry Lansing, a script he wrote involving a romance for Kirk. Apparently the only way we're going to see a film dealing with Captain Sulu is a major letter- writing campaign. The studio simply doesn't believe that enough people will go to see a film that doesn't star the Big Three, Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Over in the Next Generation, there's Patrick Stewart on Broadway. For more info, see the article on Screen 3. And there's even more in SPOILERS AHOY. And there's yet one more Generation... STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE There probably isn't a soul hooked into cyberspace that doesn't know about STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. The show, a strict N spin-off from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, will involve an 12 E antiquated space station above the Bajorran homeworld (Ro Larren's W home) which is basically deserted by the Cardassian's when they S have exhausted the planet's resources. The Federation takes over the station, but when a stable wormhole is discovered nearby, the Cardassians want it back. The show will begin with a tie-in to a two part episode of ST:TNG, "Chain of Command." In the episode, Picard is sent on an intelligence mission to destroy a Cardassian "ultimate weapon" and is captured and tortured by the Cardassians. He is temporarily replaced by a not-to-nice captain played by Ronny Cox, according to reports. (No word on why Riker is passed up yet AGAIN...) The only crew members who will be moving over from TNG to DS9 will be Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and his wife Keiko (Rosalind Chao), who will not be awfully happy about bringing their daughter Molly up in such an environment. The cast and episode lists read ... S (...to be continued...) P O __________________________________________________ 13 I L SPOILERS AHOY! E R QUANTUM LEAP -- from Terri Librande S Filming on "Liberation" has been completed. The episode takes place in the seventies and features Sam as a bra burning woman's libber. "Blood Moon" , the anticipated 'vampire' episode, completed filming the week of 11-19. No details as to plot, but Sam will leap directly into a coffin in this one, and spare me the cemetery jokes, please! Written by Tommy Thompson, it promises to be a leap right into the twilight zone. The Christmas offering "The Promised Land" will be on sometime in the month of December. Sam leaps into a bank robber in Elk Ridge, Indiana. No further details yet, because I'm still S waiting for the script to this one! I do know there will be very P special surprises, and Scott Bakula directed the episode. O The long anticipated 'baby' episode is on the schedule as is 14 I the Dr. Ruth show. The animated episode will be on sometime in L May, if all goes according to plan. The second half of the 'dark E leaper' will be on during February sweeps. The first half R garnered 10 extra points on the Neilsen scale, but on that front, S we're still plenty shaky. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION Just in: the two-parter episode "Chain of Command," originally scheduled to be shown in January -- immediately preceding the premiere of DEEP SPACE NINE -- will instead be shown this coming week, the week of December 13. Part two will NOT be delayed until after the holidays, but will instead be shown during the following week. The episode, written in conjunction with the human rights organization Amnesty International, reportedly contains scenes of the psychological intimidation and torture of Jean-Luc Picard which are so intense that the program may carry a warning statement. (...to be continued...) __________________________________________________ OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING You say you don't want to write but you still want to be a part of CYBERSPACE VANGUARD? You're in luck. We couldn't possibly watch every newsgroup and conference on every network out there - - believe me, we tried! So what we need is a group of dedicated people to watch the newsgroups for us and report on any news that turns up. If you want to be a Cyberspace Correspondent, send a list of the newsgroups you read CONSISTENTLY to cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu (Internet), Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 (Fidonet) or Cyberspace Vanguard@40:204/264 (AmigaNet). If you're reading this on a network that doesn't support these mail systems, you can send a letter with the list and your e-mail address to Correspondent Cyberspace Vanguard PO Box 25704 Garfield Heights, OH 44125 USA We are also looking for writers, of course. If you have an idea you think would be right for us, drop us a line! __________________________________________________ Well, that's it for the preview. There's lots more that you'll see in the first issue. We left out the interviews with Peter Donat, one of the stars of the upcoming show TIME TRAX, and Eric Radomski, producer of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, reviews, talk about anime, an explanation as to what that MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 thing is, anyway, and, of course, the rest of the articles we cut short for this preview. Drop us a line and let us know what you think! -- CYBERSPACE VANGUARD MAGAZINE News and Views from the Science Fiction Universe TJ Goldstein, Editor | Send submissions, questions, comments to tlg4@po.cwru.edu | cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu