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Jeremiah Season 2

The State Of The Union

JeremiahAs Jeremiah continues to chafe against his duties as the mayor of Millhaven, Marcus continues to send teams out from Thunder Mountain with radios for the cities that make up the alliance. Kurdy and Smith, making a radio supply run, decide to visit Jeremiah and give him a break from it all, but this break from his duties is anything but relaxing; the town where they were due to drop radios off has been razed to the ground by Sims and his thugs, with only a few of the residents living long enough to escape the carnage. The area is land-mined as well, and Kurdy’s vehicle is destroyed, along with the only way to call Thunder Mountain for backup. The three wander south to seek help, instead finding that Sims has set up camp nearby with a radio jammer capable of taking down the very communications network they’re trying to build.

Order the DVDswritten by Sara (Samm) Barnes
directed by Miran Cheylov
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Ingrid Kavelaars (Erin), Byron Lawson (Lee Chen), Enid-Raye Adams (Gina), John Pyper-Ferguson (Sims), David Richmond-Peck (Tad), Adrian Holmes (Sandor), Nicole Munoz (Little Girl), Rik Kiviaho (Aide), David Lovgren (Jacob), Brian Jennings (Samuel), Shaker Paleja (Jacob’s Soldier), Camille Martinez (Sandor’s Wife), Toby Berner (Guy)

Appearing in footage from Crossing Jordan, Voices In The Dark, Deus Ex Machina: Joanne Kelly (Libby)
Appearing in footage from Letters From The Other Side: Robert Wisden (Devon)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Jeremiah Season 2

Interregnum

JeremiahEven as Daniel’s troops close in on Thunder Mountain, Smith insists on taking Jeremiah and Kurdy to a children’s home that neither of them has ever seen before. There, a few adult survivors of the Big Death have banded together to shepherd the next generation of the human race toward their own adulthood. And they’ve made a discovery: the new generation of children is smarter than previous generations, and at a much younger age, though no one knows if this is evolution at work, or a side effect of the virus. Smith hopes that the home can be protected, but Marcus can’t guarantee this when an attack closes his supply lines right on the doorstep of Thunder Mountain. Worse yet, evidence is uncovered of sabotage taking place within the complex – Sims’ people are already inside. And on the eve of battle, when Jeremiah discovers how and why Libby really died, it seems there’s little chance that he’ll forgive either Sims or Smith.

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Ingrid Kavelaars (Erin), Byron Lawson (Lee Chen), Michael Teigen (Frank), Donna White (Hannah), Enid-Raye Adams (Gina), John Pyper-Ferguson (Sims), Rik Kiviaho (Sim’s Lieutenant), David Richmond-Peck (Tad), Sam MacMillan (Pilot), Justin Stillwell (Thunder Mountain Recruit), Jillian Fargey (Teacher), Chris Lovick (Fifth Column Recruit), Michael Smith (Matt), Samuel Patrick Chu (Blackboard Kid), Jessica Amlee (Rose), Clint Carleton (Thunder Mountain Driver), Demord Dann (Thunder Mountain Passenger)

Appearing in footage from Crossing Jordan: Joanne Kelly (Libby)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Chosen Realm

Star Trek: EnterpriseA chance encounter with a small vessel full of humanoids on a spiritual pilgrimage turns out to be more than a coincidence – their leader, D’Jamat, has specifically sought the Enterprise. His followers attack the crew and hijack the ship, intending to use it to turn the tide in a holy war that has divided their planet for centuries. When D’Jamat demands that Archer select a member of the crew to die, Archer chooses himself – and even names his own sentence, “death” by transporter. In fact, Archer merely has himself beamed into the bowels of the Enterprise, where he coordinates a last-ditch effort to retake the ship. But even if he can’t, has the end of this so-called holy war already been decided?

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Manny Coto
directed by Roxann Dawson
music by Paul Biallargeon

Guest Cast: Conor O’Farrell (D’Jamat), Vince Grant (Yarrick), Lindsey Stoddart (Indava), Tayler Sheridan (Jareb), David Youse (Nalbis), Gregory Wagrowski (Ceris), Matt Huhn (Triannon), Kim Fitzgerald (Crewman)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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8th Doctor Doctor Who

The Creed Of The Kromon

Doctor Who: The Creed Of The KromonStill trapped in the divergent universe without the TARDIS, the Doctor and Charley encounter what seems to be an impenetrable barrier, guarded by a being known as the Kro’Ka. After assessing what both of the travelers fear, the Kro’Ka lets them pass through to a neighboring zone, where the native humanoid population has been enslaved by the insectoid Kromon. The Doctor and Charley meet C’rizz, a refugee from the Kromon biodomes in a suicidal mood since he lost his mate. The Doctor offers to help, and the three make their way into the nearest Kromon dome, which is also where the Doctor hopes to find the TARDIS. Once inside, however, they become prisoners of the Kromon. The insectoid creatures, following the creed set down by a long-vanished Company, intend to mine the Doctor’s knowledge of space travel and enslave C’rizz once more. And they have something else in mind for Charley – a fate worse than death in the Kromon breeding chambers.

Order this CDwritten by Philip Martin
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley), Conrad Westmaas (C’rizz), Brian Cobby (The Oroog), Stephen Perring (The Kro’Ka / Kromon voices), Jane Hills (L’da), Daniel Hogarth (Kromon voices)

Timeline: after Scherzo and before The Natural History Of Fear

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films

Come What May

Star Trek: Phase II

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 6010.1: No sooner has the Enterprise emerged from spacedock following a refit than a distress call is received from a cantankerous Starbase commander, who later sends another message: the emergency is over, thanks to the intervention of someone named Onabi. A suspicious Captain Kirk orders the Enterprise to proceed there anyway, where he and the Enterprise crew meet Onabi for themselves, and discover that she has a closer connection to the unknown alien threat than the Starbase personnel suspect.

Watch Itwritten by Jack Marshall
directed by Jack Marshall

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Jeffery Quinn (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Jack Marshall (Scott), Jay Storey (Kyle), Julienne Irons (Uhura), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Jasen Tucker (Chekov), Jay Storey (Kyle), Larry Nemecek (Cal Strickland), John Winston (Captain Jefferies), Eddie Paskey (Admiral Leslie), Andrea Ajemian (Onabi), Mark Strock (Ohn), Shawn David (Security Officer), Pearl Marshall (Security Officer), Jeff Mailhote (Security Officer), Ed Kaczmarek (Mr. Leslie), Ed Abbate (Crewman), Timothy Sheffield (Crewman), Michel Anderson (Crewman), Anthony Laviano (Crewman), Jerry Yuen (Crewman)

Review: At the time this first effort by James Cawley and the determined Star Trek: New Voyages crew hit the internet, it was a revelation for most folks who weren’t on the inside curve when it came to fan films. Arguably, the media interest in their efforts not only put New Voyages and other Trek fan films on the map, but drew more attention to fan-made continuations of existing “universes” in general. In the minds of some diehard Trek fans, it was also a ballsy, defiant gesture to Paramount: if you don’t make the Star Trek we want to watch (a vocal faction of fandom was disappointed in the then-current series Star Trek: Enterprise), we’ll make it ourselves.

Categories
Jeremiah Season 2

Interregnum Part 2

JeremiahOn the eve of battle, Sims finds himself troubled by Marcus’ announcement that Daniel doesn’t exist, but presses forward with preparations for the final battle anyway. Smith is discovered by one of the women running the children’s home, who gets him to safety, and he’s able to inform Kurdy of Sims’ movements. Armed with that information, Jeremiah sets out to settle the score once and for all, to kill Sims himself. At Thunder Mountain, one of Sims’ infiltrators is captured, and Marcus is able to avert the takeover of the base. When Jeremiah catches up with Sims, he discovers that the seed of distrust has already been planted, and that Sims is already questioning the existence of Daniel. But is that enough for Jeremiah to spare his life and possibly stop the war before the first battle is fought?

Order the DVDswritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Tim Truman

Guest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus), Ingrid Kavelaars (Erin), Byron Lawson (Lee Chen), Michael Teigen (Frank), Donna White (Hannah), Enid-Raye Adams (Gina), John Pyper-Ferguson (Sims), Rik Kiviaho (Sim’s Lieutenant), Larry Musser (Warren), Chris Lovick (Fifth Column Recruit), Matthew MacCaull (Guard), Jessica Amlee (Rose)

Notes: This was the final episode of Jeremiah, which was cancelled by MGM despite efforts to regroup the creative team after the departure of J. Michael Straczynski, who left in a dispute with the studio (and openly said he would never work with MGM again). The airdates for the latter half of the season season are taken from the episodes’ world premiere dates in Canada, where the entire season was aired in order on a weekly basis with no interruptions. In the U.S., the Showtime network buried the final episodes, airing them back-to-back in the wee hours of weekend mornings, with virtually no promotion to draw attention to the lame duck show’s return after months off the air.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Proving Ground

Star Trek: EnterpriseAt a meeting of the multi-species Xindi war council, it is announced that a prototype of the next sphere weapon – this one on a larger scale intended to take Earth out in a single strike – is nearly ready. If the leaders of the various Xindi species approve of the weapon’s test firing, the genuine article could be on course for Earth in a matter of mere weeks.

Using the traceable kemosite planted by Gralik, Archer and the Enterprise crew find the location where the Xindi plan to test their weapon – but that proving ground is tucked away behind a dense field of the spatial anomalies that have severely damaged the Enterprise in the past. An attempt to navigate the anomalies fails, and the Enterprise becomes stuck in what seems to be a hopeless situation – until a tractor beam pulls her to safety. Archer is stunned, and T’Pol is suspicious, to see that Captain Shran of the Andorians has followed them simply to offer his help – with surprisingly few strings attached. When Shran is all too eager to help Archer hijack the test weapon, Archer must consider destroying his prize if only to keep Shran from using it to develop a weapon of mass destruction for use against the Vulcans.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Chris Black
directed by David Livingston
music by John Frizzell

Guest Cast: Jeffrey Combs (Shran), Molly Brink (Talas), Randy Oglesby (Degra), Scott MacDonald (Xindi Reptilian), Tucker Smallwood (Xindi Humanoid), Rick Worthy (Xindi Sloth), Granville Van Dusen (Andorian General), Josh Drennen (Degra’s Assistant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Strategem

Star Trek: EnterpriseThree years after the end of the human-Xindi conflict, Archer and Degra, the Xindi-humanoid weapons develeoper, escape from imprisonment at the hands of the Xindi-insectoids. Degra has experienced memory loss during his interrogation, and Archer reminds him that after destroying Earth, the various Xindi turned on each other in a vicious civil war. But Archer is also insisting that Degra must help him return to the place where the fateful Xindi sphere-weapon was tested before being launched toward Earth. And Degra is unaware – at least at first – that everything he is being told is untrue.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Michael Sussman
story by Terry Matalas
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Josh Drennen (Thalen), Randy Oglesby (Degra)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Harbinger

Star Trek: EnterpriseWhen Major Hayes orders security and self-defense drills for the Enterprise’s crew without going through Lt. Reed, the Enterprise security chief is most annoyed and sets out to prove that his crewmates are every bit as capable of handling themselves as the MACO commandos. In the meantime, one of the MACOs is handling Trip quite well, embarking on a romantic relationship with him that leaves T’Pol strangely unsettled. The Enterprise encounters an anomaly containing a tiny pod. When the pod is pulled free, Captain Archer and Dr. Phlox are alarmed to find one humanoid life form aboard, and they’re even more alarmed by his agonized recounting of cruel treatment by the Xindi. But at the first opportunity, their visitor proves that he is, in fact, a Trojan horse sent by the Xindi themselves – and Hayes and Reed may be too busy exchanging blows with one another to stop the alien from destroying the Enterprise.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Manny Coto
story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
directed by David Livingston
music by Velton Ray Bunch

Guest Cast: Steven Culp (Hayes), Thomas Kopache (Alien), Noa Tishby (Amanda Cole)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
8th Doctor Doctor Who

The Natural History Of Fear

Doctor Who: The Natural History Of FearThe Doctor, Charley and C’rizz arrive in Light City, a self-contained biodome whose citizens happily toil for – and all but worship – the State. State-approved broadcasts outline the approved behavior of a citizen of Light City, but certain ideas are considered thought-crime – and questions are illegal. Naturally, the three travelers are bursting with questions about where they’ve arrived, and they soon learn first-hand of the State’s other means of controlling its populace: those who break the rules are forcibly brainwashed and “revised,” and their original memories are recorded and become part of the broadcasts as a warning to others. The “revised” citizens are implanted with new, productive, docile personalities – and yet problems keep cropping up with the beings who think they were once a trio of time-travelers.

Order this CDwritten by Jim Mortimore
directed by Gary Russell
music by Jim Mortimore

Cast: Paul McGann, India Fisher, Conrad Westmaas, Geoff Serle, Alison Sterling, Sean Carlsen, Wink Taylor, Jane Hills, Ben Summers

Timeline: after Creed Of The Kromon and before The Twilight Kingdom

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Doctor’s Orders

Star Trek: EnterpriseEnterprise arrives at a vast nebula, and trying to go around the gaseous structure would add months to the ship’s journey. Archer is forced to consider putting the entire crew under neurosedation and leaving Enterprise in the hands of Doctor Phlox and T’Pol, whose alien physiologies render them immune to the nebula’s effects. Though T’Pol is undaunted by the exhaustive schedule of duties she must perform as the ship’s sole pilot and engineer, Phlox may be unprepared for the sense of isolation that he must endure – but is he really alone, or has someone else boarded Enterprise?

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Chris Black
directed by Roxann Dawson
music by Dennis McCarthy & Kevin Kiner

Guest Cast: Porthos

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

The Hatchery

Star Trek: EnterpriseWhen the wreckage of a Xindi-insectoid ship is detected on a nearby planet, Captain Archer diverts the Enterprise from its larger mission to investigate. The entire crew is dead, but what’s left behind, largely intact, is a hatchery with the crew’s offspring – and Archer, despite misgivings from T’Pol and the rest of his crew, becomes obsessed with preserving the Xindi-insectoid hatchlings, if only to prove that he and his crew value life more than the Xindi do. But when T’Pol and Reed protest his actions, Archer relieves them of their duties, to the surprise of the rest of the crew – and Trip and Phlox begin contemplating relieving Archer of command by whatever means are necessary.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Andrè Bormanis and Michael Sussman
directed by Michael Grossman
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: Steven Culp (Major Hayes), Daniel Dae Kim (Corporal Chang), Sean McGowan (Corporal Hawkins)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Azati Prime

Star Trek: EnterpriseThe Enterprise arrives at Azati Prime, the construction site of the sphere-weapon which could destroy Earth. Using a stolen Xindi ship, Trip and Mayweather make a reconnaissance run, collecting sensor readings on the weapon as it is assembled underwater on a nearby planet. The most obvious solution to the problem of the weapon seems to be detonating a large-yield explosive at the construction site – and Archer refuses to send any of his officers on this suicide mission, volunteering to deliver the deadly cargo himself. But then he’s whisked away – by Daniels, his occasional contact from the 26th century. Daniels treats Archer to an awesome sight: a pitch battle between Federation forces and a race he calls the Sphere Builders, from the vantage point of a ship called the Enterprise-J. Daniels explains that the Federation – an alliance that includes Earth, the Vulcans, the Andorians, the Klingons and the Xindi – beats back an invasion attempt by the Sphere Builders in 400 years’ time. To undo that defeat, the Sphere Builders have gone back in time to offer their technology to the Xindi – and the price of Xindi superiority in the 22nd century is the eradication of the human race. Daniels points out that Archer could turn the tide of events by extending an offer of peace to the Xindi now – but for the captain, anything less than destroying the Xindi weapon is unacceptable, even if it unravels the future.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Manny Coto
story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga and Manny Coto
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Matt Winston (Daniels), Randy Oglesby (Degra), Scott MacDonald (Reptilian Commander), Tucker Smallwood (Xindi-Humanoid), Rick Worthy (Xindi-Arboreal), Christopher Goodman (Thalen)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who Gallifrey

Weapon Of Choice

Gallifrey: Weapon Of ChoiceA powerful coalition of time-traveling races monitors access to history, stopping newly-emergent time travelers and redirecting them to the planet Gryben for “processing” – though that process often strands them there permanently. That logjam of stranded time travelers has given rise to a new movement – Free Time – seeking to force these temporal superpowers to allow free access to the timeways.

Several delegates from the time-traveling powers, including a Time Lord and a Monan (a symbiotic race consisting of noncorporeal intelligences, and human “thralls” whose bodies they inhabit), arrive to investigate what appears to be the emergence of another sophisticated time-traveling race – but one of the delegates turns out to be a member of Free Time, and soon she has her hands on a timeonic fusion device – a weapon of temporal mass destruction banned by the coalition of time-traveling superpowers. Torvald, the Time Lord operative assigned to this delegation, is recalled to his home planet of Gallifrey.

There, President Romana of the Time Lords’ High Council assigns Torvald to go undercover to retrieve the forbidden weapon. To this end, she also assigns Leela – a mere human primitive who stayed behind on Gallifrey years ago to marry another Gallifreyan – to go with him, and to take her loyal robotic dog K9 with her. Romana, too, has a K9 unit, capable of linking with its counterpart through time and space. Leela, Torvald, and Leela’s K9 travel to Gryben to find the Free Time operative and retrieve the weapon – but while there, they discover that other members of the coalition are willing to overstep their bounds to obtain the weapon, even if it means risking war with Gallifrey. And when she tries to defuse the situation at home, Romana meets a challenge from the ambitious Coordinator Narvin – ambitious enough to set her impeachment in motion.

Order this CDwritten by Alan Barnes
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Lalla Ward (President Romana), Louise Jameson (Leela), John Leeson (K9), Miles Richardson (Cardinal Braxiatel), Sean Carlsen (Coordinator Narvin), Andy Coleman (Commander Torvald), Lynda Bellingham (Inquisitor Darkel), Hugo Myatt (Arkadian), Helen Goldwyn (Nepenthe), Daniel Hogarth (Ba’aruk), Stephen Mansfield (Scragbite), Trevor Littledale (Outsider)

Notes: The Gallifrey audio miniseries is a fascinating mixture of elements from televised Doctor Who and professional fiction postdating the original TV series. Leela, Romana and K9 appeared in the original TV series. At the end of her tenure on TV, Romana was left stranded in a dimension called E-Space with the Doctor’s second K9 unit; in the Missing Adventures novels printed by Virgin Publishing, Romana and K9 escaped E-Space, after which she returned to Gallifrey and successfully ran for the Presidency. With that acknowledgement of the novels’ continuity in mind, it’s curious that the Gallifrey audios and their immediate antecedent, the 2003 Doctor Who audio Zagreus establish that Romana and Leela have only just met; the penultimate Virgin New Adventures novel establishes a different first meeting for Romana and Leela. Braxiatel was established in throwaway dialogue in City Of Death (1979), but was later fleshed out in Virgin’s New Adventures novels, including those which postdate Virgin’s loss of the Doctor Who print fiction license, and has also appeared in Big Finish’s Bernice Summerfield audios; Braxiatel was established in print and in audio as the owner of the Braxiatel Collection for which Bernice is a curator. Inquisitor Darkel also appeared in the TV series, presiding over The Trial Of A Time Lord, though she was known only as the Inquisitor during her television appearances.

Timeline: all of the Gallifrey audios take place sometime after the Doctor Who audio Zagreus.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Game Over

Meet The Smashenburns

Game OverThe Smashenburns are a typical suburban family…if those suburbs happen to be in the realm of video games. Rip Smashenburn is a race car driver who repeatedly makes narrow escapes from disastrous crashes, while his wife Raquel raids tombs full-time, and their kids Alice and Billy long for some kind of normalcy. Rip feels this could be solved with the addition of a family pet, but when the family adopts a raucous dog-like creature named Turbo, he quickly proves to be too much trouble to keep – and too much trouble to get rid of.

Season 1 Regular Cast: Patrick Warburton (Rip Smashenburn), Lucy Liu (Raquel Smashenburn), Rachel Dratch (Alice Smashenburn), E.G. Daily (Billy Smashenburn), Artie Lange (Turbo)

Order the DVDwritten by David Sacks, Jason Venokur, Ross Venokur & David Goetsch
music by Christopher Tyng

Guest Cast: Marie Martiko (Dark Princess), James Sie (Sam Chang), Bill Farmer (Announcer), Danica McKellar (Elsa), Jeffrey Tambor (Dr. Zod)

LogBook entry by Earl Green