Yet another X-Men movie

– is on the way, and it doesn’t have the word “Origins” in the title, even though it very well could have.

The “original trilogy” of movies based on the classic Marvel Comics was generally well received. In X-Men (2000) we’re introduced to the idea of mutants as a separate species, closely related to humans and yet so very different. We meet Professor X (Sir Patrick Stewart) who trains mutants to use their abilities for good. We meet his archnemesis Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) who, disillusioned by the anti-mutant sentiment among “ordinary” humans, wows to destroy humanity so mutants can be free from prejudice. And we meet the people who fear what they don’t understand – a thinly veiled analogy if there ever was one.

In X2 (2003), arguably the best of the franchise, Professor X and his students try to mend the relationship between humans and mutants, but Magneto and his minions continue to ruin any attempts towards peaceful co-existence. In X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the mutant heroes find their existence threatened by a “cure” that will take away their special powers, as well as by the most powerful among them apparently turning against them. Can Professor X and his students battle several enemies at once?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) was promoted as the first in a series of movies telling the story of how the individual mutants came to be who they are. Logan aka Wolverine was possibly the most popular character of the previous three movies – and the one with the most mysterious origin. This movie told us how he discovered his special power and explained certain aspects of his somewhat…curmudgeonly personality.

The second origins movie (albeit without the word “Origin” in the title) will be X-Men: First Class. It will relate the story of two best friends, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, how their paths began to diverge and how they became mortal enemies.

Superheroes do lend themselves well to the big screen, especially with today’s CGI technology. No movie can survive on special effects alone, though, and what really made the previous movies in this particular franchise worth watching was the acting: stellar casts and solid performances. Due to the prequel nature of the new movie, practically all of the roles have had to be recast. One might fear if it is possible to find actors who can believably portray young versions of Stewart and McKellen – but I’d like to think writer/producer Bryan Singer and the rest of the crew have done it.

James McAvoy is one of the most talented young actors around, and his credits already include genre roles like Leto II Atreides in the Children of Dune mini-series (2003) and Mr. Tumnus the faun in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005). German/Northern Irish actor Michael Fassbender was in the critically acclaimed mini-series Band of Brothers (2001) – with McAvoy, by the way – but is probably better known for his role as the British agent Lt. Archie Hicox in another WW II “period piece”, Inglourious Basterds (2009). If anyone can fill the shoes of the two Shakespearean thespians and queen’s knights, these are your guys.

X-Men: First Class opens on June 3 – and my expectations are high. Judging by this trailer, they have every right to be:

 

Winter is coming!

Last year HBO announced a new tv series based upon George R. R. Martin’s amazing ongoing fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. Ongoing indeed, seeing as the publishing gaps between the volumes have been ever increasing. As of January 2011 we have been waiting over 5 years(!) for volume 5 of 7. Now, I realize that Mr. Martin wants to make the next book as good as possible, and that the pressure of expectation builds up as the series goes along, reaching almost unbearable heights – but still, the man is 62 years old. At this rate, one is beginning to doubt if we will  see the conclusion of the series before it’s too late. The tv series seems to be supposed to adapt one volume per season, which means Mr. Martin really needs to ramp up the pace if they’re not to catch up with him.

Having said that, A Song of Ice and Fire is arguably one of the greatest fantasy stories of all time – we’re talking Lord of the Rings quality world building and storyline. Naturally, this has dissuaded peoplein the tv and movie business from attempting an adaptation, but now HBO has made that leap. The fact that a cable station rather than a big network is doing it is encouraging in itself, and looking at HBO’s back catalogue one is no less encouraged: series like Deadwood (2004-6), Rome (2005-7), The Flight of the Conchords (2007-9), Entourage (2004-), and True Blood (2008-), as well as miniseries like Band of Brothers (2001) and John Adams (2008) have achieved great critical acclaim as well as commercial success.

The cast list includes names like Sean Bean (Ronin, Lord of the Rings), Peter Dinklage (Threshold, The Chronicles of Narnia), and Dane Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Wimbledon, New Amsterdam). The official website already offers trailers and sneek previews along with plenty of background material, and they promise a show that will really please hardcore fans and newcomers alike – and the author himself has been involved as a consultant, which is always a good sign. I will leave you with the clip below and admit that I for one can’t wait for April 17…

Back after too long an absence

First of all: Happy New Year!

Secondly: I apologize for the more than six months of complete and utter blog silence on my part. I probaly shouldn’t even try to explain it away – but some six months it has been. Since my last blog post back in June I have become a father for the first time, landed more or less the job of my dreams, and got married to the woman of my dreams. As you might imagine, this fall and winter have been more than a little hectic for me.

Things have finally started to settle down, though. I have not forgotten the blog, and in the hopes that anyone is still following it I have decided to revive it. I will try my very best to post more regularly from now on. The content will be the same as before – book and movie reviews, classic and current – combined with some new stuff.

I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, as I rarely manage to stick with them for more than a month at most, but given the time of year, let’s just call it one of my resolutions this time around to post something new at least twice a month, and hopefully more often than that…

Book review CLASSIC: The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin

The genre that we know today as “fantasy” (with its various subgenres), even though it has roots going back for millennia, was essentially created by J. R. R. Tolkien. His works – The Hobbit (1937) and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954-55) – were certainly the first fantasy novels to achieve major mainstream success, even if the author himself probably couldn’t have cared less.

The vast popularity of Tolkien’s books spawned a myriad of fantasy books and continues to do so today, the worst of which are just run-of-the-mill copies and the best of which have become classics in their own right. One of most prominent examples of the latter was part of the “first wave” of fantasy in the 1960s. Ursula K. Le Guin first created the world of Earthsea for her short story “The Word of Unbinding” (1964), but really came to fame with her novel A Wizard of Earthsea, published in 1968. It was later followed by another four novels (the last of which was published in 2001) and another six short stories, set at various points in the timeline.

The world of Earthsea is an archipelago of innumerable islands in a planet-spanning ocean, populated mainly by humans of various nations and races. At the beginning of the series, there is no strong “secular” government, but each of the populated islands is more or less self-governing. The only thing resembling an “elite” class are the wizards. Talented individuals with latent magical powers are trained at the School of Magic on Roke Island, and fully “graduated” wizards are held in high esteem, although people with magical talents but no formal education are still in demand for more menial tasks where magic is useful.

Magic is of course a central aspect of any fantasy setting, and the magic system in Earthsea has certain important characteristics. It is verbal; all spells are uttered in the “Old Speech”, the language of dragons, and humans cannot lie in the Old Speech, so saying something in that language basically makes it so. If a wizard says “I am an eagle”, he literally becomes that animal.

Power is tied to words, primarily names. Everyone has a “true name” and an everyday “use name”. A person, and especially a wizard, will only reveal their true name to those very close to them, people they know they can trust completely, because knowing someone’s true name – in theory – gives you complete power over them.

Le Guin infuses her magic system with a thinly weiled Taoist message: The only good wizardry is the kind that tries to live in harmony with the surrounding world, whereas wizards who try to upset the balance to achieve their own goals are clearly considered bad or evil.

The main character of the first book is the wizard Ged (pronounced “get”). We first encounter him as a youth discovering his magical powers and being accepted as a student at the Roke School of Magic. As the story progresses, he becomes a catalyst for major changes in the way Earthsea society functions. Interestingly, although Ged pops up in all five novels (the only character to do so), in the four sequels he is relegated to part of the supporting cast, as the narrative is told from other people’s points of view, but he still plays an important part in helping the story along in every single book.

Although the first book in the series was originally marketed as suitable for  readers from the age of eleven and up, it is primarily targeted at a younger audience. As the series progresses, however, the novels do become darker in tone and more complex. All the books are written in a language that will engage both children, young adults, and the more mature reader, though. They can all be read as stand-alones, but they also constitute one long story-arch, so read them all – chronologically – and you will get a much better sense of the big picture. They are certainly still worth a read today, for fantasy fans of all ages. Le Guin has won awards for all the books (including a Nebula and a World Fantasy Award), but the greatest testament to the quality of her writing is the immense popularity that her books enjoy to this day, among old and new readers alike.

The Earthsea series (1968-2001) by Ursula K. Le Guin. Approx. 960 pp. All books available on play.com

Book review: Southern Victory / Timeline-191 by Harry Turtledove

Alternate history, also called counterfactual or “what if?” history, is a genre that can be very interesting to read and immensely intriguing. It is also a genre that is immensely difficult to write, or rather to write well. As an historian, I try to explain why past events happened and why they transpired the way they did. That is in fact the whole point of the ‘science’ of history.

Harry Turtledove is himself an historian by training and has a Ph.D. in Byzantine history from UCLA. He is also one of the most prolific authors around; in his close to twenty years as a full-time writer, he has published almost a hundred(!) novels, many of them 600+ page tomes, both adult and YA, in different genres such as science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and – most prominently – alternate history. Unlike some authors, however, who seem to value quantity over quality, Turtledove is actually able to churn out really well-written books almost as fast as his fans are able to devour them.

Turtledove has been dubbed “the Master of alternate history” and “the Wizard of If”, and rightly so. Not only are his books generally well-written, they are also based on extensive research (whereever he gets the time; one wonders of the man ever sleeps) and a profound understanding of how history works.

Perhaps the finest example of Turtledove’s alternate history writing is an 11-book series which has no official title; the fans, however, have given it various names. One is Southern Victory, because it is based on one of the two most popular PODs among alternate historians: the South winning the American Civil War (the other of course being a Nazi victory in World War II). Another title often used to descibe the series is Timeline-191, since the South are able to win the war because, unlike in our timeline, enemy forces do not find a copy of Robert E. Lee’s Special Order 191.

The series starts out with the stand-alone ‘prequel’ How Few Remain, telling the story of the ‘Second War between the States’ in the 1880s, caused by the Confederacy buying some land from the near-bankrupt Empire of Mexico to gain access to the Pacific, and goes on to describe the rise of two great powers rather than one on the North American continent – the USA and the CSA – and the wars they fight against each other as parts of one long, ongoing conflict throughout the first half of the 20th century. The Great War trilogy (American Front, Walk in Hell, Breakthroughs) tells the story of a World War I that is both very different from and very similar to the one we know from our history books; the trenches are not in France and Belgium, but in Virginia and Texas. The American Empire trilogy (Blood and Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, The Victorious Opposition) goes on to recount the interwar years, with the brewing enmity between gloating winners and downtrodden and humiliated losers, massive economic depression and the subsequent rise of fascism, culminating in an even bigger and more awful World War II, as depicted in the Settling Accounts tetralogy (Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, In at the Death).

All the books are written with multiple viewpoint characters, and this is a big part of their strength. We follow the fates of individuals throughout the continent, from privates to generals and from peasants to presidents, some of them for brief periods and some across three decades. We watch them change and grow (some of them literally), we inevitably become engaged in their lives – and eventually we even start to think like them, ‘good’ and ‘bad guys’ alike. Because Turtledove understands that history isn’t black and white, good vs. evil, he manages to humanize even the vilest of criminals and make us understand how someone could end up doing the things they do; the mark of a true literary master.

Turtledove is quite obviously a war buff, which becomes very clear in his sometimes quite detailed description of the mechanics of war and his almost eerily realistic fight scenes. The strongest point of the series, though, is the way it shows us how much society changed – technology as well as peoples’s mindsets – in just one generation. It truly was the birth of the modern world. In order to write convincing alternate history, one has to understand the basic mechanisms of history, and considering how history might have turned otherwise can provide a different and very fruitful perspective when working with ‘real’ history. With Timeline-191, Turtledove provides just such a perspective, and this brilliant series should be required reading for all students of 20th century history, as well as a must-read for all alternate history buffs.

Southern Victory / Timeline-191 (1997-2007) by Harry Turtledove. Approx. 5500 pp. All 11 books available on play.com

Special Order 191

Movie review: Iron Man 2

The Invincible Iron Man is back. With a vengeance.

After defeating his father’s old business partner turned evil rogue, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is now focusing his energy on preserving world peace, essentially by using his armoured suit as the individual equivalent of a nuclear deterrent. The authorities, however, led by an obnoxious senator (Garry Shandling), seem to think that this powerful weapon belongs to the American people (i.e. the US military), not to one man or his private corporation. Stark, naturally, disagrees – as it later turns out, both because of a sense of ownership and – primarily – for more personal reasons.

This is not Starks’ only concern, though. Rival weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) is also a growing concern for Stark Industries – and as if that wasn’t enough: While he is busy fighting both the government, the competition, and his personal issues, Stark’s past once again comes back to haunt him, this time in the form of the son of a former colleague of his father’s.

The first Iron Man movie was my favourite among the ‘new bunch’ of film versions made by Marvel and Paramount. It brought a refreshingly self-ironic approach to the superhero genre, managing to find the perfect blend of a relatively dark storyline and even darker humour. I am glad to say that the sequel also delivers and all those accounts – even more so than its predecessor.

Downey is perfect as the brilliant and brilliantly narcissistic billionaire, but the whole cast around him is what makes this movie so enjoyable: Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, the pithy PA with more balls than most of the men in the movie put together; Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko, the deranged evil genius; Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James Rhodes, long-time friend and the Jiminy Cricket to Stark’s Pinocchio. A part he took over from Terrence Howard and – no offence to Howard – adds a lot more substance to.

To me, though, the most enjoyable performance, – apart from Downey himself – was Rockwell as Justin Hammer. He manages to switch effortlessly between complete deadpan and an almost Tom Cruise-like creepy craziness, and steals every single scene he is in.

A word of praise for director Jon Favreau: Not only has he proven – twice now – that he can put together a thoroughly entertaining big budget blockbuster action flick; he also manages to deliver an enjoyable performance as Stark’s chauffeur sidekick Happy Hogan.

Not much to say about the special effects: they are as good as could be expected from a movie of this calibre and budget size – which is to say, very good.

Like two of the previous Marvel movies (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk), this movie also has the double function of building up to the announced Avengers movie. There are two more movies to come before that – Captain America and Thor, both scheduled for release in the summer of 2011 – to complete the cast. Watch out for the nice little easter eggs in this movie (and of course for the obligatory Stan Lee cameo). Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his organizsation S.H.I.E.L.D. also feature much more heavily in this movie than in the previous two, and we get more of the background story for the organization. Hopefully, even more is to come next year.

Finally, in both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, there was an extra scene inserted at the end of the credits. This is the case again with Iron Man 2. Do yourself a favour and stay in your seat those 6-7 minutes. It is definitely worth it.

Iron Man 2 (2010) Starring Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Favreau. Written by Justin Theroux. Directed by Jon Favreau. Rated PG-13. 2 h 04 min.

Movie review: Clash of the Titans

One should always be wary of remakes. So many classics have been ruined for a new generation by pointless reimaginings. The original Clash of the Titans was, maybe not a great movie, but still very good by 1981 standards – and it is certainly a classic. So, naturally, I was very sceptical when the remake was announced. At the same time, though, I could see the point in updating a movie like this, what with the possibilities of CGI.

Let it be said right away: The remake wasn’t a great movie, but it wasn’t as bad as some have made it out to be.

The story of demi-god Perseus and his quest isn’t exactly treated faithfully – but then, that wasn’t the case in the original either. In 1981, Perseus’ quest was brought on by the lesser sea goddess Thetis. In 2010, the main antagonist is none other than Hades himself. Perseus’ has a new love interest this time around. His winged mount Pegasus has been made into the token black guy (well, see for yourself). The main difference, though, is in the role of the gods. In 1981, Zeus was just a dirty old man, literally playing a game with human pawns, for his own enjoyment more than anything. In 2010, the story is much darker: the humans have come to think too highly of themselves, angering the gods, and there is real enmity brewing between the gods as well.

Perseus still fights Medusa, though, and the final showdown is still against the kraken – which makes no sense at all, since the kraken belongs in Norwegian folklore and certainly not in Greek mythology, which has its own gargantuan sea monsters. Kind of ironic that the main element from the original that was kept in the remake is really anything but authentic.

As for the acting: Sam Worthington certainly seems to be the new hot action hero (Terminator Salvation, Avatar, an upcoming Dracula project) and his Perseus is exactly what you would expect. Liam Neeson is suitably imperious as Zeus, and Ralph Fiennes makes a creepy Vold–I mean, Hades – although I did prefer Steve Coogan’s version in Percy Jackson (see my earlier review in this blog). As a Dane, I guess I have to mention Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Draco (a new addition compared to the original) and does what he does best: the drak, brooding anti-hero. My favourite, though, was Liam Cunningham as Solon, the pithy and grizzled veteran of Perseus’ band. His role is partly comic relief, but he fulfils it with a refreshingly deadpan delivery.

The computer-generated special effects are as impressive as one has come to expect these days. Let’s be honest: Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion monsters in the original do look extremely dated in the eyes of today’s CGI-spoiled audience. Don’t get me wrong: I still watch “his” movies (the Sinbad movies, Jason and the Argonauts) with much enjoyment and even more nostalgia, but Harryhausen used the means at his disposal to the absolut best of his abilities, and I’d like to think that if he were still making movies today, he would have embraced the newest technologies – and excelled at them! If Harryhausen has seen the new movie, I hope he likes what they have done with it – and I was glad to see how they put in a nice little nod to him and to the original. Watch out for Bubo the owl…

Clash of the Titans (2010) Starring Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Mads Mikkelsen, Liam Cunningham. Written by Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi. Directed by Louis Leterrier. Rated PG-13. 1 h 46 min.

Futurama – back after a short absence

Matt Groening is by far best known for creating The Simpsons, one of the best – and most popular – animated TV shows of all time. He also created another TV show which is at least as good but not nearly as popular – at least not with the general public.

Futurama features pizza delivery boy and chronic ne’er-do-well Philip J. Fry who, on New Year’s Eve 1999, accidentially stumbles into a cryogenic freezer and is thawed again in the year 3000, where he gets a job as – a delivery boy, basically. Needless to say, the world has changed immensely in the last thousand years – or has it?

The characters are just as crazy and funny as Homer & Co.: Leela, the one-eyed amazon; Bender, the misanthropic, ego-centric robot; Hermes Conrad, possibly the only rastafarian accountant in the known universe; Zapp Brannigan, the starship captain with more testosterone than Shatner himself; and of course Dr Zoidberg, the incompetent but lovable lobster physician.

Just like The Simpsons, Groening uses the animated world of Futurama to comment on the real world. The satire and social commentary is just as poignant and the pop culture references are just as numerous – albeit more specifically aimed at a sci-fi audience, which might explain why the show never achieved the same broad popular appeal as its sister show. The Simpsons have celebrated their 20th anniversary as America’s – and the world’s – favourite dysfunctional family, and they are still going strong. Some might argue that they are past their prime, but every now and then they still churn out a really good episode.

The story of Futurama is – or, at least, used to be – somewhat shorter: the show proper only lasted four seasons and 72 episodes from 1999-2003, after which it was cancelled by Fox (who else?) due to low ratings. This was seven years ago and may seem like old news by now. However, in 2008-09 four straight-to-DVD films were produced and later aired as 16 half-hour episodes, comprising the official “fifth season” of the show on Comedy Central. These were generally well-recieved, mostly of high quality and definitely in the vein of the original show. The success of these movies/episodes prompted Fox do to something quite extraordinary: they decided to revive the show after a seven year hiatus.

Whereas British and other European TV shows regularly have longer gaps between seasons, it is practically unheard of in America. Remaking old shows or creating new shows within an existing franchise? Yes. All too often. Simply continuing an existing show as if it had never been off the air? – now that’s a different matter altogether. Fox have been known in the past to screw up several brilliant and promising shows, more than one of them in the science-fiction genre. What they are doing with Futurama is a first for them. Also, the show will only be produced by Fox (featuring all of the old cast and most of the old crew) but broadcast on Comedy Central. All in all, there is plenty of reason for us fans of the show to be hopeful that this is the beginning of a new era of greatness. I for one am eagerly awaiting the first of the new episodes, scheduled to air on 24 June.

Futurama (1999-?) Voices: Billy West, Katey Segal, John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, Frank Welker. Created by Matt Groening. Rated TV-PG. Approx. runtime: 30 min incl. commercials.

Movie review: Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is an unusual teenager with perhaps not so unusual teenage problems: He’s battling with ADHD and dyslexia. His stepfather is a disgusting creep and his real father left when he was a baby. One day, though, Percy finds out why: his father is actually the Greek god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). As if that wasn’t enough, it turns out that all the gods and other creatures of Greek mythology are still alive and well – they just don’t meddle in human affairs as much as they used to.

One day, Percy is accused of stealing Zeus‘ (Sean Bean) famous lightning bolt on behalf of his father. He gets two weeks to give it back, or a new war between the gods will break out. Percy is completely innocent, so his best friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) – a satyr assigned to protect him without his knowing – takes him to what is basically a summer camp for demigods. Here he meets and trains with other children of human-god unions. However, Hades (Steve Coogan), the last of the ‘Big Three’ brother gods, also believing that Percy has the lightning bolt, kidnaps his mother and keeps her in the realm of the dead, demanding the bolt in return for her life. Along with Grover and Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), a daughter of Athena, Percy now sets out to rescue his mother – and hopefully find the real lightning thief along the way.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is the tongue-breaking full title of this movie (at least in the US), based on a book by Rick Riordan. I haven’t read the book, so I’m unable to comment on the differences and what was left out, but I’m sure plenty of fans of the book will have plenty of strong opinions about that. Suffice to say that this is not a bad movie. The movie, like the book, is clearly YA, made for kids of about the same age as the main characters – apparently Percy is only 12 years old in the book, whereas the movie made him a high school student – which makes it at least a little bit less unrealistic for him to be doing sword fights and the like.

Because of the younger target audience the movie does spend some time introducing the various gods and other mythological creatures and explaining their properties, but it is done in a fairly subtle way and doesn’t interfere too much with the telling of the story – which follows the standard quest formula with no big surprises. That being said, the movie does a good job doing what it sets out to do. If it can create an interest in the subject matter among teenagers – more power to it. Also, the rich imagery of Greek mythology does lend itself well to film, and the CGI monsters are just plain eye candy on a big screen. The on-screen chemistry between the three young leads is a big plus, but some of the ‘grown-ups’ are worth watching as well – especially Coogan and Dawson as the unhappily married First Couple of the Underworld. The big names like Brosnan and Bean are really just phoning it in, though.

If you like the classic myths – and have just an ounce of inner child left – you should be able to enjoy this movie for what it is. For a more ‘adult’ treatment of the source material, wait for the upcoming remake of the classic Clash of the Titans – I’m certainly looking forward to that one. Oh, and stay tuned for an extra little scene inserted during the end credits.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Lightning Thief (2010) Starring Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman. Written by Craig Titley. Directed by Chris Columbus. Rated PG. 1 h 58 min.

Defying Gravity – another promising sci fi show cut short

Ok, not really a movie but a tv show – bear with me.

Anyone familiar with American tv will know how the system works: A tv show creator will pitch an idea to a network. If the network likes the idea, they will order a pilot episode. If the pilot is succesful enough, they will go ahead and produce more episodes. If the ratings aren’t good enough, the show will get canceled – sometimes mid-season.

From the point of view of the network executives, this approach makes perfect sense. Why waste more time and money than necessary on a project that apparently doesn’t appeal to the viewers? Better to just pull out in time and cut your losses.

There are, however, several flaws to the typical network model. First of all, most shows take a while to get going. You can’t expect instant success; you have to give the show a chance to find its stride and the viewers a chance to warm up to it. An example is Star Trek: The Next Generation. The first couple of seasons were horrible and cheesy, even by a late 80s standard, but the network gave it a chance and it just kept getting better and better.

Secondly, the business strategies of the big networks are hopelessly antiquated. Decisions are based almost solely on ratings – most of which only take into account the original first airing of an episode, watched ‘live’. Content streamed or downloaded legally, from iTunes or from the network’s own website, doesn’t figure anywhere. Neither do DVD sales. Neither do episodes that are taped and watched later. Not even reruns! Networks simply are not up to date with the viewing habits of the 21st century.

Of the major American networks, FOX probably has the worst reputation when it comes to not giving tv shows the chance they deserve – especially among sci fi fans. Firefly is often used as an example. The show only lasted 14 episodes and yet it has a massive cult following today, seven years later. I’ve never been much of a Joss Whedon fan (except for Angel and some of Buffy), but even I have to recognize that the viewers were there – unlike the network’s patience. Other, more recent examples include New Amsterdam (8 episodes, also on FOX), a show which definitely deserved more, the remake of Bionic Woman (9 episodes on NBC), a slow starter but still with potential – and now Defying Gravity – and this was on Canadian TV, not American!

The show takes place 40 years into the future and tells the story of a multinational scientific space mission, scheduled to visit six of the planets in the solar system in six years. As the mission progresses, however, the crew slowly realizes that not everything is as it seems, and that perhaps mission control hasn’t been completely open wth them about the actual goal of the mission.

CTV, the national Canadian TV network, originally ordered a 13 episode first season, which was then sold to American network ABC – who never aired the last two episodes! Some shows at least get a chance to wrap up the story line, albeit hurriedly, after they get canceled. Not so with Defying Gravity. The plot is simply too complex, even if the writers had been warned well in advance. The show therefore ends very abruptly and on a very annoying and unsatisfying cliffhanger. If you choose to watch the show anyway, do so at your own peril! I’m still going to recommend it, though. The basic idea is solid, the writing is more than solid, and the acting is damn near brilliant – plus it’ really refreshing to see a cast consisting of all unfamiliar faces. Probably because the show is Canadian and not American, it has a much more British feel to it – it’s not afraid to take up issues that American producers would never trust their audience to be able to cope with.

If you do decide to go ahead and watch the show anyway – and it is worth the frustration of the unresolved plot threads – show creator James Parriott did reveal some of what his show bible contained and how the show would have progressed. Read the interview here – but not until after you’ve watched all 13 episodes…

Defying Gravity (2009) Starring Ron Livingston, Malik Yoba, Andrew Airlie, Paula Garcés, Florentine Lahme, Karen LeBlanc, Eyal Podell, Dylan Taylor, Christina Cox, Laura Harris. Created by James D. Parriott. Rated 14+ (Canada). Approx. runtime: 43 min excl. commercials.