H2O Archive: Episodes 51 – 100
You’re still listening? Great! That means we haven’t digressed enough for you to need something stronger than coffee. Here’s our next 50 episodes, wherein we talk about all sorts of bits and pieces of news and opinion from all over the multiverse. Sit back, kick your feet up, and enjoy.
(And anytime you want to share these with your friends, we won’t object… )
And if you want to chime in and let us know what you think, you can send an e-mail.
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ARCHIVE: Episodes 1 – 50
ARCHIVE: Episodes 101 – 150
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100: In Which You Ask and We Answer on Our 100th Episode
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It’s something we figured would eventually be happening, and now suddenly we’ve blinked and it’s here. A major achievement for us, and we’re proud to share it with you. Because you helped us make this episode, with your questions prompting our discussion. So sit back and enjoy this extended special episode.
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99: In Which We Discuss Copyright, Cosplay, and Cheerleaders
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Paramount Pictures and CBS are suing the Axanar production. Marvel issued a take-down order on X-Men: Danger Room Protocols. And there’s this copyright infringement case that looks to be headed to the Supreme Court. The argument, over whether or not cheerleader uniforms can be protected under copyright, has some wondering if there will be implications for cosplayers.
Is the era of fan-created art coming to an end?
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98: In Which We Discuss the Demise of DOCTOR WHO
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“Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who, and the show is in peril! Whatever shall we do? It’s a disaster!”
“Steven Moffat is leaving Doctor Who! Break out the keg! Woo hoo!”
Take your pick; there’s no denying that Steven Moffat has both fans and detractors who will be reacting very strongly to his departure from the show. And what does this mean for Peter Capaldi’s presence? How long will he last as the Doctor? And what will the schedule do for audience numbers?
MoffatWatch begins.
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97: In Which We Discuss All the Wonderful Toys…
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‘Tis a great time to be a geek, as many have noted. And while sometimes we’re a bit overwhelmed by how much there is to talk about, we come around eventually — settling in on the fact that we’ve got so much genre programming to watch these days.
Which is your favorite? Sound off in the comments.
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96: In Which We Discuss David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and the Lawn
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This week, genre fans — and the general population — have had plenty of reason to mourn. The loss of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both finally losing their fights with cancer, hit people right where it counts. And for some of us, the impact was more acutely felt. Those of us who are of an age get prompted to take a look around and see who else is out there — celebrities sometimes, but family and friends especially — who are getting close to the age when we start to get a little concerned.
Our discussion this week: how the loss of Bowie and Rickman throw a spotlight on our own sense of mortality.
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95: In Which We Discuss the AXANAR Lawsuit and the Future of Fan Films
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It’s the case that has everyone talking and everyone’s an expert!
CBS and Paramount Pictures have filed a lawsuit against the Axanar fan film production, claiming copyright infringement. The million-dollar project has plenty of supporters, and some of them are quite vocal, but the controversy surrounding the lawsuit has bigger implications. Not only could this shut down Axanar, but it could have a long-term impact on the state of fan films in general.
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94: In Which We Make New Year’s Resolutions
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Happy 2016, everyone!
It’s that time once again. Out with the old, in with the new, and all that. Time to make resolutions that you might (or might not) keep throughout the first month of the year… ahem … anyway… It’s time for us to take a look at all of the great things going on here at SciFi4Me and do an accounting, as it were. Plans and schemes are afoot, and we discuss some of them here — a new host for Salacious Crumbs, the return of Week in Review and 8Bits, and in the process we come up with six resolutions that we fully intend to keep.
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93: In Which We Discuss Syfy’s Big Week
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In recent years, Syfy has been making the effort to get back to its roots: being a channel dedicated to science fiction. And while it’s been hit-and-miss so far, this week we saw three big projects that reinforce the face that Syfy is at least trying. Are they firing all thrusters? Not yet, but it’s a solid effort. We discuss The Expanse, The Magicians, and Childhood’s End.
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92: In Which We Discuss Mid-Season Lulls & Announce Horror4Me!
The mid-season finales are dropping fast and furious; we only have a few more to go before we’re in the holiday special season. And no, we don’t mean that Holiday Special… so we take a look at the lull. Plus, it’s time to announce our new project! Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the internet…
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91: In Which We Discuss the BvS and SW Trailers
This week, Warner Bros. released a new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and we dissect and analyze it a bit. (For more in-depth discussion on this and other DC TV and movies, be sure to listen to Rogues Gallery.
Plus, we speculate on what Ray’s cooking up in Pennsylvania, and discuss the latest footage collection from Star Wars: The Force Awakens — you do know there’s a new movie coming out, right?
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90: In Which We Give Thanks
Another Thanksgiving, another opportunity to contemplate the good fortune we’ve had here at SciFi4Me. In this episode, we discuss the things for which we’re grateful — both personally and professionally — the most important of that being our staff and our supporters, without whom we’d just be two random guys in a basement…
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89: In Which We Discuss the Impact of STAR WARS
Next month — actually, in just less than a month — there’s this space movie coming out. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Something called Star Wars.
You have? Good. Then we can continue with our look at the impact the films have had on the movie industry. From visual effects to soundtracks to editing and sound effects, from motion controlled cameras to computer generated images, Star Wars was the launch pad for so many technical and creative techniques that we take for granted today.
But what if Star Wars had never been made? What would the Hollywood landscape look like today?
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88: In Which We Discuss the World Fantasy Awards and CHILDHOOD’S END
This week, we heard that the World Fantasy Awards will be retiring the bust of H.P. Lovecraft as their trophy, and like everything else these days (the Hugos, to mention one…), the decision is being met with mixed reactions.
As we’ve discussed here before, there’s something to be said for being able to appreciate the context of the times in which Lovecraft lived, and even more for the ability to separate the artist from the art. Is this political correctness run rampant? Is it more appropriate to find an award that better reflects the “fantasy” aspects of the craft?
Also, we take a peek at the upcoming Syfy adaptation of Childhood’s End, and speculate on that and other adaptations and why it’s important to get it right.
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87: In Which We Discuss STAR TREK and the Broken TV Model
Well, we’re officially getting a new Star Trek series on TV (read the news here). But is this Star Trek going to live up to the franchise’s history? Will the new CBS All Access model of distributing the new show be enough to sustain it? Will enough people pay to see a new Trek? And how does this reflect the changing business model between network, cable, and online distribution of new programming?
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86: In Which We Discuss Crazy Fan Theories
As we spend some time gathering your “stump the host” e-mails, we thought we’d take a few moments to discuss a crazy fan theory concerning Batman v. Superman — namely, that Ben Affleck is playing Batman, but not Bruce Wayne. And then we remembered all those other crazy fan theories that are floating about… and suddenly we have a topic.
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85: In Which We Discuss Scary Sci-Fi
Halloween is just around the corner, so to help you prepare your programming for the watch parties, we sit down and discuss some of the scarier entries in the science fiction genre. Those tales that blend the sci fi and fantasy elements with the horror genre. Plus, we answer listener e-mail.
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84: In Which We Discuss “Meh TV”
Season premieres are supposed to be the “start with a bang” episodes, right? So why are so many of this season’s shows starting off with just an OK premiere? Solid episodes, yes. Very enjoyable to watch. But besides Doctor Who, not much in the way of really astounding television. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Or is it just a thing?
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83: In Which We Discuss The Choices You Have
When do you have too much of a good thing? How many shows are “too many shows”? At what point do you get paralyzed by choice?
In this outing — our first on our new regular day — we discuss the fact that there’s so much content out there now, and the fact that some really good, top-quality material just isn’t going to find a big enough audience to survive, mainly because it’s hard to find. Which brings us to … us.
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82: In Which We Discuss Mars
In the wake of the news from NASA this week — that there may be evidence of water on Mars — we’re taking a quick look at the science fiction literature that focuses on the Red Planet. Barsoom. Mars. It’s captured the imagination of generations, and it’s been a setting for so many stories.
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81: In Which We Discuss the Fall Season Further…
More discussion of the Fall TV season. We’ve seen some of the new episodes, and we’re ready for more. Gotham, Minority Report, and Heroes Reborn are up this week, along with Scream Queens. And just around the corner is Once Upon a Time, The Walking Dead, iZombie and the rest of the CW lineup. How are things starting out? Well, take a listen and see if you agree…
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80: In Which We Discuss The Fall 2015 TV Season
The Fall TV season is just around the corner (if you don’t count Steampunk’d and Fear the Walking Dead…) and we get into our anticipatory analysis and a few predictions on what’s likely to be good (Supergirl) and what isn’t (Gotham?). Plus, we digress a bit into the Final Frontier with a note on the Smithsonian’s efforts to restore the U.S.S. Enterprise back to her 1967 configuration. And you can help with that by clicking here.
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79: In Which We Discuss The Matter of Canon
With the release of the new Star Wars novel, Aftermath by Chuck Wendig, fans have once again been burning up the interwebs with a freshly-stoked discussion about canon. How important is it? How much does it matter? And does it matter more or less in any particular story universe? Is Star Wars canon any more sacred than Star Trek or Farscape canon?
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78: In Which We Discuss AXANAR And Other Fan Films
In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of attention focused on the Axanar fan film. Formerly, Star Trek: Axanar, the project has become quite possibly the largest fan film project so far. With hundreds of thousands of dollars, Star Trek alumni in the cast, and general fandom watching the development of the show, it was inevitable that CBS would have something to say about it.
Or would they?
Axanar is just the latest in a long line of productions by fans — Star Trek: New Voyages, Star Trek Continues, Batman: Dead End, and the plethora of Star Wars films are just the tip of the iceberg — and the production value continues to get better. So at what point (if any) do these “little” projects become too big for their britches and someone in the legal department comes knocking?
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77: In Which We (Finally, Reluctantly) Discuss the 2015 Hugo Awards
It’s finally here: our episode on the 2015 Hugo Awards.
Discussing the controversy is not without its perils, and we look at the fallout along with the claims of victory from both sides. Are the Hugo Awards broken? Are they no longer relevant in the eyes of fandom?
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76: In Which We Discuss Matters of Faith (Adaptations, That Is…)
What happens when you take a story from one medium — a comic book, say — and adapt it to another medium like television or motion pictures? Is there a “best” way to do it? Is there a “worst” way?
And what happens when the adaptation isn’t very much like the source material at all? Does that automatically mean it’s going to be bad? Is it worth your disdain? Does it deserve an objective look?
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75: In Which We Record Episode 75 at Kansas City Comic Con
Our 75th episode! Directed by you!
Well, “you” if you were at our live recording session at Kansas City Comic Con. We had many things to discuss, prompted by questions from new faces (and hopefully new listeners).
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74: In Which We Discuss Galacticon & Lessons Learned
As we previously detailed, Galacticon IV in Seattle almost completely fell apart just days before it was set to open. And while it may have turned out — well, OK — a lot of fans are still steamed, and there’s quite a bit of finger-pointing and hurt feelings over what transpired.
Certainly, this is not the first time a convention has run into issues. Many first-year cons are one-and-done because of poor management, lack of funds, or any number of reasons. But whatever happens, you’d better be ready for the fallout. And hopefully, you learn a thing or two along the way.
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73: In Which We Discuss the Importance of Books
“Books, young man. Books.”
Samuel T. Cogley, attorney at law, was very influential in getting Captain James Kirk to appreciate books. And there’s a fair amount of research that shows how reading improves your cognitive abilities. But is there a difference between reading on a screen and reading an actual book? Turns out, there may be, and we scratch the surface in our discussion of the importance of reading books.
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72: In Which We Discuss The Evolution of Geek Culture
The geeks have inherited the Earth. Right?
Does this mean we get to set the agenda? Does it mean we get to be popular now? Or does it feed more schisms and disconnects between groups that don’t agree? Can we still have nice things? Or is the genre community getting too big for its collective britches? Are events like San Diego Comic-Con outgrowing themselves? Do we need to get back to a time when the gatherings were smaller and more focused?
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71: In Which We Discuss San Diego Comic-Con 2015
San Diego Comic-Con has once again blown through like a tornado of news, announcements, teases, rumors, and all sorts of … stuff. Toys, merchandise, and there’s so much to talk about that it’s taking several articles to share it all with you. In the meantime, we talk about some of the most notable bits. Namely, the Batman v. Superman trailer, Joss Whedon’s “Victorian-era female Batman”, Marvel’s Twitter-driven vending machine, and this little thing called Star Wars.
And we also talk about our own adaptation of The Statement of Randolph Carter, along with a detour through Bloom County…
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70: In which We Discuss the Legendary Arthur Suydam
His name is Arthur Suydam, and over the 4th of July weekend, he made inspired some fireworks of his own during Montreal Comic-Con. The Twitterverse was… uhm… a-twitter (sorry) with reports of rude and inconsiderate behavior, the likes of which (apparently) Suydam has demonstrated at other conventions in the past.
Allegedly, Suydam is in the habit of appropriating the booth space for other comics artists and setting up shop with enough space for four. And he’s now being called out.
We discuss the reported behavior, yes, but also the reaction to it, the other ways the situation could have been handled, and — as we do so many times when our topic revolves around “The Internet” — we talk about how Wheaton’s Law is still a good way to operate.
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69: In Which We Discuss Staying Relevant
We are in a time when it seems the geeks have inherited the Earth. And yet for all of the massively successful web sites, blogs, TV shows, and other media out there — those of us who cover the genre rather than create it — it seems there are some that have fallen on hard times, fallen into disrepair, or fallen into disuse. At what point did we stop paying attention to Ain’t It Cool News? At what point did Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times feel like it was beat worth covering?
We discuss the need to stay relevant, and what it takes in this era of geek journalism where it seems like you need deep pockets to survive…
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68: In Which We Discuss the Loss of James Horner
His music defined much of our adolescence: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Aliens, Patriot Games, Willow, Clear and Present Danger, The Rocketeer, Wolfen, Titanic, Avatar and more. James Horner contributed scores to some of the most genre-defining movies of the 1980s an 90s. His death in a plane crash prompts us to pause and reflect on his music — and by extension, the music scores that helped shape movies in that time period.
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67: In Which We Discuss Trusting the Audience
It’s been noted that almost every time we talk “Story, Story, Story” we inevitably will also swerve into the importance of trusting the audience. Whether it’s a book, movie, television show, or web series (or anything else creative), there is always a need for the people making the thing to demonstrate some trust in the people seeing the thing.
Trusting the audience is a critical component for any creative endeavor to work, and the lack of that trust can damage (or destroy) any chance of success.
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66: In Which We Discuss the Legendary Uwe Boll
This week, the legendary master of cinematic arts, Mr. Uwe Boll, decided he’s done with you.
The filmmaker, in an F-bomb laden rant on YouTube, announced he was done making movies, mainly because of the lack of support for his recent three attempts to crowdfund Rampage 3: No Mercy. In addition, he blasted the “Hollywood elite” and you poor unwashed masses who keep giving George Clooney and Brad Pitt your money.
So of course we have to discuss it…
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65: In Which We Discuss BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
Mr. Harvey is back from New York, and Mr. Hunt is back from Dallas, so we have almost a normal-sounding show this week — in time to discuss the news that 20th Century Fox is working up a new version of Big Trouble in Little China with Dwayne Johnson as Jack Burton (see the full story here).
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64: In Which We Preview SCI FI X/Y
Vacation!
Well, for Mr. Harvey anyway. Whilst he whiles away his time in the Big Apple, we decided to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new show that will be coming to SciFi4Me Radio in June. Our guest host this week: Sonya Rodriguez, joining the conversation from Corpus Christi, Texas. And said conversation is about … wait for it… story.
Specifically, UCLA Professor Richard Walter’s contention that there’s really no such thing as genre. There are only good stories and bad stories. So we take a look at this, and the question of whether audience expectations have led to Hollywood opting for reboots and remakes and sequels whether the story’s good or not, because it’s a known quantity (see this Variety article about Tomorrowland‘s box office).
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63: In Which We Discuss That Scene in GAME OF THRONES…
… But not in the way you might think.
Admittedly, neither of us is up to speed on either HBO’s Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire from George R.R. Martin, so our ability to comment on the actual scene from the show is limited.
What’s interesting for us, however, is the varied reactions to that scene. From The Mary Sue deciding to stop covering the show altogether, to Martin’s editor complaining on social media, to Sophie Turner herself saying she was excited about the scene. It opens up a conversation about the standards we set for ourselves — as fans, as bloggers, as journalists.
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62: In Which We Discuss the Vagaries of Time Travel
In our second episode ever, we talked about the methods of time travel. This time we look at the challenges to telling a good time travel story. How do you maintain your internal logic? How do you explain the science? With Terminator: Genisys on the way, plus the inclusion of time travel in The Flash and (likely) the upcoming DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, we’ll have plenty of opportunity to examine whether or not the story tellers get it right.
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61: In Which We Discuss the “Problem” with Black Widow
Black Widow. She’s become the poster child for a movement to bring more women into lead roles in the superhero and science fiction media. And rightly so. She’s a capable, three-dimensional character with skills and abilities that definer her more than her wardrobe does.
So when Joss Whedon dropped off Twitter — seemingly due to the criticism he got over his treatment of Natasha (turns out not to be the case) — we knew that a discussion could (and should) be had about the state of affairs in the film industry regarding female lead action movies. Now’s as good a time as any…
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60: In Which We Wax Philosophical About 80s Games
Coming our of last week’s conversation about the new trailers we got, including the “Legacy” trailer for Mad Max Fury Road, we turn to one of the other big things of the 80s: the games. Video games, role-playing games, tabletop games… genre-based games came into their heyday in the 80s and never looked back. From the meteoric rise (and subsequent fall) of Atari, to Dungeons & Dragons, to Star Fleet Battles, we talk games and their impact on modern fandom.
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59: In Which We Visit the Trailer Park
It’s been one of those weeks! Five trailers for us to savor and analyze. Five movies that — barring any disastrous reception — will bolster the popularity of the genre for another four or five years. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Mad Max Fury Road, Jurassic World, and Fantastic Four all dropped new entries in the marketing roll-out. And we take a look at them all for our discussion this week.
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58: In Which We Discuss Wonder Woman & Women Directors
Earlier in the week, we got news that Michelle MacLaren had left the solo Wonder Woman project, and discussions on the internet were already swirling around candidates to replace her. Naturally, the question of whether the project needs a woman in the director’s chair is near the top of the list of Things To Discuss, so we dive into that along with the broader question of which option is best: hiring someone because she’s female, or hiring someone who’s the best qualified no matter the gender? [Note: this show was recorded prior to the news that Patti Jenkins was the front-runner to replace MacLaren.]
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57: In Which We Discuss Story, Story, Story
We’re not talking about the Hugo Awards. Yet.
But as we delve into the research for that topic, we keep coming back to something that’s been a constant element in many of our podcasts, both here on H2O and on Level Eleventy-Seven and Echo Chamber as well: what makes a good story? Just as we discussed the definition of “science fiction” on Echo Chamber (with special guests), here now we take a look at the concept of story and why it’s important.
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56: In Which We Discuss Stuff & Things…
This week: we discuss deciding what to discuss. Although we do actually manage to have a coherent conversation that flows from Planet Comicon to some casting news to how cool it is that we get to do what we do. Speculations about the new Flash/Arrow spinoff (is it Earth-2?), Constantine‘s chances for renewal, adaptations of classic SF literature, and more.
Plus, the “weekend away from the computer” experiment has delivered some interesting results.
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55: In Which We Discuss Discworld and Terry Pratchett
During last week’s special H2O panel at Planet Comicon, Mr. Harvey was out. This week, Mr. Hunt is out to leave his seat warm for Mr. Parsons. On the table for discussion this episode: Terry Pratchett — his death has left a big hole in fantasy literature, and our two resident Pratchett experts talk about his life and the impact he had on the genre, and how his fight with Alzheimer’s has made a big impact on awareness.
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54: In Which We Discuss Science Fiction Gone Bad…
This week: Live from Planet Comicon!
Mr. Harvey had this thing called “work” intercept him on Friday the 13th, so Mr. Handley very ably stepped in and we had a very good discussion about how “going mainstream” has affected science fiction — both the fandom and the literary form. Some great input from members of the audience as well.
Do you think the science fiction community is going through “mainstream” growing pains? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!
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53: In Which We Discuss Planet Comicon 2015
This week: Planet Comicon is finally upon us! It seems like after months and months of the event looming over our shoulders, it decided to sneak up on us and BOOM it’s here! We discuss our plans and schemes, hopes and dreams… and maybe we’ll get all of the interviews, video, photos, audio, and more that we’re hoping to get. We’ll take you along for the ride as much as we can on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds.
If you’re coming to Planet Comicon, we’re at booth #2006… when we’re not wandering from room to room, camera to camera…
and we also talk a little bit about Ghostbusters…
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52: In Which We Discuss the Legacy of Leonard Nimoy
In the wake of Leonard Nimoy’s death, we discuss his role as Mr. Spock in Star Trek, of course, but we also touch on his influence in the genre overall. His friendship with William Shatner, his Jewish heritage, and his life outside of Spock are all things that have special meaning to a lot of people within fandom. This week, we honor the man who became our patron saint of science fiction.
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51: In Which We Discuss the Future of Positive Futures
This week, our discussion is prompted by this Popular Mechanics article (Thanks, Micheal Okuda!) that posits how Star Trek: The Next Generation was the last best hope for optimistic show about the future of humanity. And that got us thinking. After our discussion on Echo Chamber about dystopian futurism, are we at a point now where there is no hope? Is science fiction now only about the death and destruction that await us? Even the Power Rangers are not immune…
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ARCHIVE: Episodes 1 – 50
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