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Reader mail 

Last week's Zippy's SF Loft included some thoughts on the upcoming SF-TV series "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda," dealing with the fact that "Star Trek" creator Roddenberry has become a far more successful and prolific producer posthumously than he ever was alive. 

Neil Shurley writes: "Am I the only one who's noticed that the name of the main character in the new Roddenberry series "Andromeda," Dylan Hunt, is the same name used in Roddenberry's two aborted seventies pilots featuring double-naveled Marriet Hartley? I think it was John Saxon who played Dylan Hunt in these two pilots. Is this supposed to be the same character, the 20th century man who survived into the 22nd or 23rd or whatever century, only now he's got a spaceship?"

The Loft noted that "Andromeda's" producers likely wouldn't accept unsolicited story submissions at first, but may do so in the future. DeWayne Knight questions whether it's good to do at all. "I am surprised that the producers of 'Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda' are even considering an open-submission policy in the same vein as the 'Star Trek' incarnations. With the increase in celebrity stalkers surrounding the Hollywood landscape, producers are better off accepting material only from agented submissions--with the agencies themselves consulting third-party companies to investigate background checks of prospective screenwriters. Anyone seeking a career in show business who has a stalking conviction and/or history of mental illness should barred at the gate--it's that simple!"

The main fear that producers have is not stalkers, at least that they admit to. They fear legal problems from newbies who submit story ideas that are rejected but who later sue, claiming that an episode included ideas from their story submissions.

And, finally, Ron Casalotti doesn't think "Andromeda" should win any awards for originality. "Let's see, a handsome earthling (Kevin Sorbo as 'Dylan Hunt') leading a multi-species crew aboard a 'living spaceship' (Lexa Doig as 'Andromeda'). Why does this sound so... familiar? Oh, yeah! Sounds like the Sci-Fi Channel's current hit show, 'Farscape.' I am fearful that just as 'Big Brother' is a broadcast TV derivative (and a poor one at that) of (cable network) MTV's 'Real World,' 'Andromeda' might be merely a broadcast TV iteration of Sci-Fi's current offering. And just as when making photocopies, each generation is of less quality than the one before."

Any thoughts? Let us know.

In other news and views 

Fans and actors made the best of a strange situation at a recent "Star Trek" convention when a bomb scare caused the evacuation of the hotel where the event was taking place. According to reports from the Star Trek Continuum and Sci Fi Wire, the convention at Philadelphia's Adam's Mark Hotel was disrupted while police checked out a suspicious item, which turned out to be a box of clocks for the Republican National Convention, which was also taking place in the city of brotherly love. While the crowd was outdoors, actors signed autographs for the fans and demonstrated Klingon fighting techniques. In case the Republicans invaded, we presume.

Well, some actors develop an antipathy for SF when they act in its movies or television; remember star William Katt's negative comments about the genre when he starred in the short-lived "Greatest American Hero" two decades ago? Other actors, such as "Roswell's" Katherine Heigl, grows to like the scruffy little entertainment niche. She tells TV Guide Online that she began to appreciate the storytelling possibilities once she began acting in "Roswell." "They create these other planets and lives and all this stuff that I really find fascinating." Welcome to the club.

Last Thursday at The Next Twenty Years symposium in Manhattan, Dr. Michio Kaku gave his predictions for the next two decades. One intriguing idea he mentioned was that scientists such as himself had worked up an idea that civilizations that reach into space come in three phases: Phase One has learned to control planetary-level powers, such as global weather; Phase Two has learned to control the power of a star; and Phase Three is able to control the power of an entire galaxy. (By the way, he says we're currently at Phase Zero.) This idea was applied to the United Federation of Planets in "Star Trek," for which Dr. Kaku serves as a scientific advisor. And he brings an impressive background to that advising, certainly; currently a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, he's published on topics ranging from superstring theory to supergravity to supersymmetry and beyond; he's also the co-founder of string theory. So what? Well, first of all, I just find that exciting. But it does make you wonder how "Star Trek" could have such astounding talent in its scientific advisors yet be so astonishingly cavalier about its treatment of science--just think of their many time-travel stories. Why even bother having such exalted advisors if you're not going to really pay attention to them (and, you know, really mine SCIENCE fiction)?

Though most of the tracks on Silva Screen Records' "Space3: Beyond the Final Frontier" are film themes, television SF is represented by "The Menagerie" suite from the original "Star Trek." Okay, that's the excuse for me mentioning it in this column; chances are, what'll interest you about this two-CD set is music from "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace," "The Matrix," "Aliens," "Galaxy Quest," and other big science fiction films. The recent release was recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic, which is just another reason to celebrate the collapse of the iron curtain.

Britney Spears does appear to be set to guest star in an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" this next season, reports Sci Fi Wire and EW.com. In addition, "Buffy" stories will focus on family matters in the Fall.

This week's episodes

All times Eastern. Syndicated episodes are sometimes shown in different weeks in different locations, so your local broadcast may, naturally, differ.

Angel
WB, 9 p.m. Tuesdays; David Boreanaz, Seth Green, and Charisma Carpenter
August 15: "She" (Repeat) 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
WB, 8 p.m. Tuesdays; Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Kristine Sutherland, and Anthony Stewart Head; official site
August 15: "Living Conditions" (Repeat)

Cleopatra 2525 
Syndicated; Gina Torres, Victoria Pratt, Jennifer Sky, Patrick Kake, Danielle Cormack, Joel Tobeck 
Week of August 15: "Home" (Repeat)
Week of August 22: "Rescue" (Repeat)

Earth: Final Conflict  
Syndicated, Lisa Howard, Leni Parker, Von Flores, David Hemblen, Robert Leeshock, Richard Chevolleau, Anita LaSelva, Jayne Heitmeyer, Peter Krantz, Barna Moricz, Lindy Booth, Sten Eirik; official site 
Week of August 15: "The Fields" (Repeat)
Week of August 22: "Subterfuge" (Repeat)

Farscape
Sci-Fi, 9 p.m. Fridays; Ben Browder, Lani John Tupu, and Virginia Hey; official site 
August 11: "Beware of Dogs"
August 18: "Won't Get Fooled Again"  

First Wave
Sci-Fi, 7 p.m. Sundays; Sebastian Spence and Roger Cross; official site
August 13: "Rubicon"
August 20: "Gladiator"

Futurama
Fox, 7:00 p.m. Sundays; Billy West, Lauren Tom, John Di Maggio, and Katey Sagal; official site
August 13: "The Deep South" (Repeat) 

The Invisible Man 
Sci-Fi, 8:00 p.m. Fridays; official site 
August 11: "Separation Anxiety"
August 18: "It Hurts When You Do This"

Lexx 
Sci-Fi, 10 p.m.; Xenia Seeberg. 
August 11: "I Worship His Shadow" 
August 18: "Fire and Water"

Outer Limits
Showtime, 11:30 p.m. Fridays
August 11: "Zig Zag" 
August 18: "Nest"

Roswell
WB, 9:00 p.m. Mondays; Jason Behr, Shiri Appleby, Brendan Fehr, and Katherine Heigl
August 14: No matter what the producers give us, the title to this episode, "Sexual Healing," promises more than it can possibly deliver. (Repeat)

Seven Days
UPN, 8 p.m. Wednesdays; Jonathan LaPaglia, Don Franklin; official site 
August 16: "Playmates and Presidents" (Repeat)
August 23: "Witch Way to the Prom?" (Repeat) 

Stargate SG-1
Showtime, 10 p.m. Fridays; official site
August 11: "Watergate" 
August 18: "The First Ones" 

Star Trek: Voyager
UPN, 9 p.m. Wednesdays; Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Jeri Ryan, and Garrett Wang. official site
August 16: "Child's Play" (Repeat) 
August 23: "Good Shepherd" (Repeat)

Xena: Warrior Princess
Syndicated, Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Bruce Campbell, official site
Week of August 15: "Kindred Spirits" (Repeat)
Week of August 22: "Antony and Cleopatra" (Repeat)

The X-Files
Fox, 9 p.m. Sundays; David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi; official site
August 13: "Rush" (Repeat) 
August 20: "The Goldberg Variation" (Repeat)

The final words...

"Poor Bender. Without his brain, he's become all quiet and helpful."
—Fry, "Futurama"

Copyright © 2000 by John Zipperer. E-mail Zippy

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