Uncanny Treks

di Bob and Matt

Seconda serata Critica televisiva

Stagione 2

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine- "All Alone in the Night" vs. "Heart of Stone"

All Alone in the Night S2E11 (15 Feb 95) vs. Heart of Stone S2E14 (6 Feb 95) -The Shadows ate our episode on GROPOS vs. Life Support. Sorry folks! Thankfully they weren’t very good episodes -Matt got Fire in the Sky (1993) vibes off Sheridan’s abduction -We both get big Twin Peaks vibes off Sheridan’s vision -We both love James Ellroy’s LA cop novels. Bob also loves Walter Mosley’s LA & James Sallis’s New Orleans PI novels

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine- "The Coming of Shadows" vs. "Past Tense"

Coming of Shadows S2E9 (1 Feb 95) vs. Past Tense S3E11-2 (2-9 Jan 95) -The Hugos recognize both science fiction & fantasy -Bob sees both G’Kar & Mollari as being somewhat Falstaffian characters -Emperor Turhan is played by the famous Austro-Turkish actor Turhan Bey, nicknamed Turkish Delight in 40s Hollywood who returned to US tv in the 90s, including playing a Russian on an early seaQuest DSV -One of the many things that’s cringey about The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe is someone selling their soul for Turkish Delight -Prime Minister Malachi is played by Jewish-American actor Malachi Thorne who also played False Face in the 60s Batman show, the Judge on the early 90s Batman cartoon, a gorilla in Batman Beyond, the Talosian keeper in the very first Star Trek ep, the commodore in the original series clipshow episode of that first episode, & a Romulan senator on TNG -Matt & Bob discuss their reluctance to revisit the 60s Batman show & the good things they’ve heard about the Batman ‘66 comic -If you want Roman intrigue, Bob always recommends I, Claudius (1976) &, for Venetian intrigue, Don’t Look Now (1973) -Bob admires Brendan Fraser’s mullet in Doom Patrol -Matt torments Bob w/ Robert Frost -Bob wants to be buried w/ both the Little Red Book (1964) & the Rules of Acquisition (1995) -The cop Vin is played by Dick Miller, he voiced a gangster in Mask of the Phantasm & played the newsstand vendor in Picard’s Dixon Hill program on TNG -Bob has been deeply disgusted by Michael Shellenberger’s book tour & how he wants to expel the homeless from SF -The best entry book on Trotskyism is Ernest Mandel Trotsky: A Study in the Dynamic of his Thought (1979) -Pt2 references the greatest director’s credit of all time in The Wild Bunch (1969) -Pt2 has Ron Howard’s brother as the guy who steals Dax’s combadge, his 2nd of 4 Trek appearances & only 1 as a human, the first being Balok in one of the first original series episodes, the third being a Ferangi in Enterprise, & the 4th being an Orion drug dealer late in Disco S1

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine- "Soul Mates" vs. "Fascination"

Soul Mates S2E8 (14 Dec 94) vs. Fascination S3E10 (28 Nov 94) -Bob continues to recommend the Thomas Pynchon-esque dramedy Lodge 49 (2018-9) -One of the best books on Carnival is Joseph Roach Cities of the Dead (1996) -Matt recommends the comic Batman: Long Halloween (1997), but Bob disagrees & just says go with the film The Godfather (1972), which Long Halloween shamelessly rips off

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"Race Through Dark Places" vs. "Defiant"

Race thru Dark Places S2E7(25 Jan 95) vs. Defiant S3E9 (21 Nov 94) -A couple of cool alternative history novels that incorporate modern technology in Underground Railroad narratives are Colson Whitehead Underground Railroad (2016) & Ishmael Reed Flight to Canada (1976). Bob read the Whitehead after our recording & digs it. He hasn’t read the Reed yet but really digs his Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (1969) & Mumbo Jumbo (1977) -The group telepathy scene does seem to anticipate JMS’s concerns in Sense8 (2015-8) -Bob’s ranking of Riker guest spots: Voyager, Lower Decks, Deep Space 9, Picard, & Enterprise

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"A Spider in the Web" vs. "Meridian"

Spider in the Web S2E6 (7 Dec 94) vs. Meridian S3E8 (14 Nov 94) -Bob hasn’t watched much of either Parks & Rec or Brooklyn 9-9 -Bob strongly recommends the AMC show Lodge 49 -The voices of Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Ra’s al Ghul, & the Judge from Batman: The Animated Series all show up on B5, & the voice of Riddler shows up on DS9. -Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter stars in the first planetary romance novel series -David K. Johnson has written a good history of the Lavender Scare -Jessica Walters played Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development -The review of Ready Player 1 in ep 199 of Chapo Trap House is the only RP1 content you need -Matt recommends the Neal Stephenson novel Snow Crash -James Shigeta plays a Japanese-American detective in the Sam Fuller noir Crimson Kimono & a Vietnamese president in seaQuest DSV -Twin Peaks is one example of US media paranoia of Asian businesspeople in the 80s & 90s

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"The Long Dark" vs. "Civil Defense"

Long Dark S2E5 (30 Nov 94) vs. Civil Defense S3E7 (7 Nov 94) -Dwight Schultz also played Howling Mad in A-Team & Barclay in TNG -Jerry Doyle & Dwight Schultz both hosted rightwing radio shows, Schultz sometimes guesthosted for Doyle & Michael Savage, & Doyle’s show took Savage’s show’s slot. For the funniest account of Savage & his son, see ep 249 of the amazing podcast Grubstakers -Bob hates on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy franchise

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"A Distant Star" vs. "The Abandoned"

Distant Star S2E4 (23 Nov 94) vs. Abandoned S3E6 (31 Oct 94) -Bob & Matt failed to make any references beyond their usual Trek, Babylon 5, & Twin Peaks this week, so they’ll just include a link to the video, a preview of their upcoming Patreon campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQI8VA4Iayo

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"The Geometry of Shadows" vs. "Second Skin"

Geometry of Shadows S2E3 (16 Nov 94) vs. 2nd Skin S3E5 (24 Oct 94) -Technomages don’t reappear in B5 but do play a big role in the spinoff Crusade (1999) & a novel trilogy (2001) -Much to Bob’s distaste, Lord of the Rings & Power Rangers come up -Michael Ansara plays the technomage as well as Kang in TOS & DS9 & Mr. Freeze in Batman TAS -René Descartes entertains questions about the first principles of reason & the possibility of deception & error in Discourse on the Method (1637) & Meditations on 1st Philosophy (1641) -Philip K. Dick’s narratives often engage w/ questions of Cartesian doubt, for example Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) & the film adaptation Blade Runner (1982) & “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966) & the film adaptation Total Recall (1990) -Bob’s example of Cartesian doubt this time is the Hitchcock thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938) -Matt makes grim Purge & Jonathan Swift references

Babylon 5: The CW Reboot

Disclaimer: Cover art is meant to be clickbait (and never going to happen). Bob and Matt discuss the announcement of Babylon 5 returning on the CW Network.

Babylon 5 vs. Deep Space Nine-"The Price of Peace (Comic)" vs. "Equilibrium"

Price of Peace (comic Dec 94-Mar 95) vs. Equilibrium S3E4 (17 Oct 94) -Bob vaguely paraphrases the opening line of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Cask of Amontillado’ -Matt & Bob references the post-Vietnam & X-Files vibes of the Earth Alliance govt. okaying the Minbari mindwipe of Sinclair -Bob recommends skipping issues #5-10 of the first run of Babylon 5 comics, Matt recommends skipping issues #2-10 -The assassination plot seems very inspired by Oliver Stone’s film JFK (1991) -The artist for issue #1-2, & 4, Israeli Mike Netzer, drew a Batman/Green Arrow graphic novel Matt & Bob read as kids, Poison Tomorrow (1992) as well as a 1978 Legion of Super-Heroes back-up where Mon-El fights the Khunds that Bob likes very much in Superboy & the Legion #236 -The fill-in artist for #3, Colombian Carlos Garzón, apparently mainly worked on Marvel Star Wars & DC Star Trek comics. -The artist for #11 is Englishman John Ridgway, who did several fill-ins on the best run of the Spectre, John Ostrander’s in the early 90s -Matt & Bob say Cypher sounds like a badass 90s superhero name, but in fairness it is the mutant name of the least badass 80s member of the New Mutants -Bob makes the connections between the Siskos, beets, & black Louisianan cuisine to great Chew artist Rob Guillory -Bob & Matt debate the meaning & entailments of the concept thirst

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