The Martian Chronicles Miniseries (1980)

 

Yesterday, I finished watching The Martian Chronicles, a miniseries in three parts that originally aired in late January 1980, less than a month before the original Miracle on Ice.  I was reminded of the series when I was looking up episodes where Roddy McDowell appeared in Fantasy Island (or as Mr. Rourke would say it, "Faan-Ta-see EYE-land").  A search that was prompted by the shock realization that Roku wasn't streaming all the episodes of the series. (They were missing episode 4 from season 1, and had switched the order of 3 and 5.  Their order for UFO was really jumbled a few years ago.)  I realized I had watched some of this when I was 9, but I doubt I got past the first episode back then.  Compared to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (still in its superior first season) or even Galatica 1980, which premiered the hour before (with flying motorcycles!), The Martian Chronicles had little of the Sci-Fi space action that I was accustomed to since seeing Star Wars a mere three years prior (with The Empire Strikes Back only 4 months away).  Instead, it was atmospheric, philosophical, thought-provoking, and methodical (a bit slow at times) - it's like a mash-up of The Twilight Zone and Space:1999 (first season).  Anyway, I definitely appreciated it more as an adult than as a kid.  Although each viewing left an impression on me.

Imponderable Prompts - Which TV Show from the 70s is Your Favorite? - Part 2

Today, I've "got some 'splanin' to do". Specifically, the process I embarked on the other day to answer the imponderable prompt concerning my favorite TV show from the 70s.  

The aforementioned spreadsheet is still a work in progress somewhat (because I'm a perpetual tweaker [and it's fun]), but it's good enough to start populating some of the fields.  Let's look behind the curtain and delve into the intent behind the design. If you thought my response to my friend's query was overkill, wait to you see the other things I'm compelled to consider...

Imponderable Prompts - Which TV Show from the 70s is Your Favorite? - Part 1

Last night, my friend, John, asked me this question:

I was thinking about TV shows from the 70's lately ... which would be your favorite?

To which I quickly replied:

 A more refined prompt is required...and more time to comply with the request. ; )

Seriously, that's such a loaded question!  Sure, some favorites quickly sprang to mind, but to commit them down as favorites, or even to pick one as "my most favorite" is near impossible.  We've got to have some defined parameters first:  

Having been born in 1970, I've got the whole decade to consider.  And a lot of shows from the 60s were rerun in the 70s, when I first saw them. (Lost in Space) Do I include those for contention?  What about shows that originated in the 60s, but were still running in the 70s? (Dark Shadows) Or ones that started in the 70s that I might have still enjoyed in the 80s? (I'm looking at you, David Banner.) Are we talking childhood favorites, or ones that I discovered later in life?  Do I divide by genre (sitcom, drama, or adventure...)?  What about Saturday morning versus Daytime versus Primetime? Do I include British shows like Doctor Who or The Tomorrow People, etc.?

Whew, this is going to be tough, but a fun challenge nonetheless...

Comics Covers Sunday Returns: Spider-man/Superman & Superman/Spider-man

Today, for you, it's Sunday (but for me it's Friday morning).  And it will take great restraint to schedule this to post later, instead of just posting as soon as I finish it.  However, tradition demands it, because we're bringing back an old Comics And... staple -- "Comic Covers Sunday"!  This feature was originally created by Lee, whom I actually ran into in person a few months ago at our LCS, Cosmic Comix.

In honor of our feature founder, here are a couple of links to some of those bygone posts, one of which features my first comic (and a few of my guest posts in the same vein):

Warning: clicking these links could take you down a rabbit hole worse than being on Facebook!

Comic Covers Sunday 

Comic Covers Sunday: My First Comic

Comic Covers Sunday: DIC Honorable Mentions

Comic Covers Sunday: Frank Miller 

Comic Cover Sundays: Star Trek Fotonovels  (update I now have all of them)

Comic Covers Sunday: Judge Dredd 

Facing Shadows

Now, I'm not promising this will be a regular feature again, but if you want consistent cover coverage, I'd direct you to the excellent 13th Dimension site, which I visit nearly every day and where they often feature cover-themed posts like these.  I credit them for the re-inspiration of this reinstatement.  They've also covered (no pun intended) some of the covers I'm sharing today, but I'm going to add my own analysis and opines...

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or no longer frequent your LCS, you're probably aware of the Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel cross-over of Spider-man/Superman and Superman/Spider-man coming out in late March (DC) and mid-April (Marvel).  And there are a ton of covers, some exclusive, ranging from $7.99 to $8.99 a piece.  So I've got to be judicious on which one to get.  Let's delve into ones I'm considering and a few that I'm not.

MARVEL/DC: SPIDER-MAN/SUPERMAN #1 MARCOS MARTIN VARIANT

Found in the Wild - signs of progress on the health front

 I was out searching for a Valentine's Day card for my wife at Giant, when I saw THIS!!

Now, Cap'n Crunch Berries is my second-favorite breakfast cereal after Fruity Pebbles, but it's not wise to partake of them at my advanced age and slower metabolism.  But if I hadn't made a conscious effort to eat a little bit better this very week (no dark chocolate for several days now), I might have gotten this anyway just for curiosity's sake.  I think it is hilarious and ingenious that they've turned RFK Jr's dye bans into a marketing campaign!  They need public opinion to tell them what they think the flavor tastes like when there is no color to suggest it to them. Priceless.

Of course, it's still super bad for you to eat all that refined sugar, but why poison yourself with dyes in the process?  Bravo, Secretary Kennedy!  Progress for sure.  I wonder what color it is "naturally", grey?  Kids might stop eating this kind of cereal if it now looks unappealing.  At least I got to enjoy it back in the day.

UPDATE: I just noticed that the expiration date is 2026 May 17, only 3 months compared to probably several years before.

Super7's ReAction+ Micronauts Figures - Wave 1 & 2

 

This week my Super7 ReAction+ Microtron arrived from Amazon, completing my assemblage of Wave 1 and 2 of this line, which only started just under a year ago.  I initially only purchased Biotron, since this smaller version would scale nicely with my original magno Baron Karza.  And I have to admit, he looked great on the shelf next to my Marvel Comics Micronauts Omnibuses.  Before Christmas, I saw Baron Karza go on sale for ~$13 (I think), down from the normal $20 to $25, but I passed on it in case someone in my family got it for me for Christmas.  Well, he quickly sold out at that price, and before you knew it, he was commanding higher than the retail price. However, I found a normal-priced one from the BigBadToyStore and ordered him and his arch-rival buddy (the good guy), Force Commander.  Then Microtron went on sale for $19 (he's currently slightly less), so I scooped him up. 

Now that I've opened them all up, what's my verdict?

IRON MAN 3 (2013) and the Backwards Appreciation Phenomenon (BAPH)

 

Wednesday, a week ago (Feb 4), my wife and I got to rewatch Iron Man 3.  It was the concluding part of our Trevor Slattery/faux-Mandarin backstory review (in reverse) following our completion of the excellent Wonder Man Disney+ show.  Since I was taking the next day off to visit my mother in my home state, we amazingly finished it in one sitting! (If you're 55+, you may appreciate how rare that can be, which is why I like to still watch movies in theaters where you're forced to see it through without pause.) And I really, really enjoyed it, much more than I remember upon seeing it the first time back in 2013. (Doesn't look like I even blogged about it.)  Well, I'm contributing this increased favorable opinion to BAPH (pronounced "BAFF"), the Backwards Appreciation Phenomenon. 

(Add it to your lexicon folks, you won't find it in Websters...yet.  Because I just coined it as a term, but the concept has been around for decades.)