Classic Coverage looks back on the episodes of past shows from a modern perspective.
In 2008, NBC aired Fear Itself. This is the unofficial third season of Showtime’s Masters of Horror, a weekly anthology horror series where famous and emerging horror directors from around the world created original short horror films in any style … Continue reading Fear Itself: S1E11 “The Spirit Box”
“It appears my training is failing me. I don’t want to die alone.” I hate this episode. On the one hand, it’s not skippable, really. The John/Aeryn plot line is a major turning point for them, and it’s a really … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×12, “The Flax”
Written by: J Stewart BurnsDirected by: Jeffery Lynch and Kevin O’Brian We’re still in an era of firsts, and I would call this the first middling-in-a-good-way episode. Unlike The Simpsons, I do feel comfortable ranking episodes of the show based … Continue reading Futurama, Season One, Episode Seven, “My Three Suns”
20 years ago last Tuesday, Sealab 2021 first aired on Cartoon Network. Months later, programs like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab and Aqua Teen Hunger Force moved to their own “adult swim” programming block.Adam Reed and Matt Thompson made … Continue reading If you’re looking for me, you better check under the sea. Cause that is where you’ll find me.
In 2007, NBC aired the front half of an anthology horror series called Fear Itself. The series is the unofficial third season of Showtime’s Masters of Horror. Showtime did not want to fund a third season of the show, so … Continue reading Fear Itself: S1E10 “Chance”
“Sorry, I don’t make the rules.” “You certainly seem familiar with them.” “Til the Blood Runs Clear” is a very masculine episode of Farscape. Not that other episodes haven’t been masculine, but usually that’s undercut by the way that Crichton … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×11, “Til the Blood Runs Clear”
Written By: Ron HughartDirected By: Gregg Vanzo I remember this as a mediocre episode, not because it wasn’t that funny, but because it was the most major example of the show not quite finding its feet yet. Fry’s defining trait, … Continue reading Futurama, Season One, Episode Six, “A Fishful Of Dollars”
“The Science Of Illusion” originally aired on NBC Thursday night March 25, 2010 All it takes to redeem a whole episode is one perfectly-executed scene. Not that “The Science Of Illusion” ever comes close to being bad, but until the … Continue reading A Community Notification For This: S1E20, “The Science Of Illusion”
Star Trek Generations (1994) The Original Series spawned a cinematic franchise that spanned three decades and six movies. The most well-known and celebrated of them is undoubtedly The Wrath of Khan, and to a lesser extent, its direct sequels The … Continue reading You Jingle Trek to Me? – “Star Trek Generations”
A question for everyone: what show should I cover next? I have some ideas, but I am curious what you would want to read about. Fear Itself is the unofficial third season of Masters of Horror. Showtime did not want … Continue reading Fear Itself: S1E09 “Something with Bite”
“When you look at me, what do you see?” “They’ve Got a Secret” is structured as two interlocking mysteries. In one, Moya’s systems are shutting down for unknown reasons; in another, D’Argo wakes up after being spaced believing that the … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×10, “They’ve Got a Secret”
Written By: Heather Lombard and Evan GoreDirected By: Peter Avanzino and Carlos Baeza From a certain point of view, this is the first ‘real’ episode of Futurama – the crew make a delivery to the Planet O’ The Week with … Continue reading Futurama, Season One, Episode Five, “Fear Of A Bot Planet”
In Which an End is Just a Beginning What is the legend of Korra? The legacy of a show that has always toiled in the shadow of its predecessor. Marred by a difficult production, haphazard release, and near death by a thousand … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “Day of the Colossus” & “The Last Stand”
I’m not sure how to do this. I’ve always been terrible at endings, which is why I have a bazillion “Chapter One” files in my unfinished stories folder, and precisely two in the “Finished” folder. Endings are hard, though, and … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): SERIES FINALE – S13E05 “Curtain”
“Sons of Mogh”(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 4, Episode 15) Worf has always been a tragic figure. Orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed, he was rescued and raised by humans, growing up in a … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “Sons of Mogh”
Fear Itself is the unofficial third season of Masters of Horror. The anthology horror series started on Showtime and aired for two seasons. They invited famous and emerging horror directors to create original hour-long horror films. The series found a … Continue reading Fear Itself: S1E09 “Skin & Bones”
Operation: Beifong While writing about a long form narrative, such as a TV show, it’s easy to get wound up in big ideas. Pontificate on characters, themes, and plots that have weaved in and out of the story over the … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “Operation: Beifong” & “Kuvira’s Gambit”
“You attacked one of your own. Would you do the same to the rest of us?” “Of course.” Farscape has never been particularly coy about the kind of show it is—though on some level, it’s still coming to understand what … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×09, “DNA Mad Scientist”
Written By: Brian KelleyDirected By: Brian Scheesley I enjoy that we’re four episodes in and still having many fundamental aspects of the show established; people often describe this show (and others) as ‘planned, but I prefer the word ‘prepared’ because … Continue reading Futurama, Season One, Episode Four, “Love’s Labours Lost In Space”
In Which, Despite Everything, It’s Still You In my opening piece about The Legend of Korra I offered a singular thematic idea that I believed served as the overarching structure of the show, even through the tumult of itss production. That if … Continue reading Re-Avatar State: “Beyond the Wilds”
“The House of Quark”(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Season 3, Episode 3) Despite being known for its alien characters and races, Star Trek is generally very human-centric. The casts of characters in all of its shows are mostly human, … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “The House of Quark”
