Tag: star trek

TV Mountains

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I was impressed a few years back when a friend of mine watched an entire season of 24 in a single weekend. Without commercials that’s about 18 hours of TV in two days, which is a whole lot of “butt in the couch” time. Which got me thinking — in this day and age where people binge TV series all the time, if Mount Everest is the hardest mountain to climb, then what are the hardest TV series to binge?

These are the TV Mountains.

Difficulty: Easy

The Walking Dead

These TV mountains can be climbed in around a week of TV binging.

The Walking Dead: This series originally debuted back in 2010 but doesn’t have seasons that are too long so there’s only been around 100 episodes produced so far, or around 75 hours of TV to date.

Lost: Lost ended its run a few years ago at 121 episodes or around 90 hours of TV.

Difficulty: Moderate

These TV mountains can be climbed via few weeks of TV binging.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons: Airing new episodes since 1989, to date there’s been more than 620 episodes of the series produced. But since each episode of The Simpsons is just 30 minutes long, less minus commercials, you could make it through all of The Simpsons to date in about 205 hours.

Supernatural: This long-running series is currently in its 13th season and has aired more than 280 episodes or about 210 hours of TV. But like The Walking Dead and The Simpsons, Supernatural is showing no signs of stopping, so even if you finish all of Supernatural there’ll be more to watch later.

Difficulty: Difficult

These TV mountains can only be climbed via many weeks of TV binging.

Dark Shadows

Law & Order: Airing since 1990, the Law & Order franchise has produced more than 450 episodes of TV. The series is so popular new episodes are still being produced and the various Law & Order series airs in syndication on many outlets. So far there’s been about 335 hours of Law & Order created. Or, if you did nothing but watch Law & Order back to back and didn’t sleep, it would still take you more than two weeks to make it through all the series.

Dark Shadows: This classic gothic soap opera aired more than 1,200 episodes between 1966 and 1971. Each episode was only 30 minutes long, minus commercials, but still makes for more than 405 hours of TV.

Difficulty: Severe

These TV mountains can only be climbed via months of TV binging.

Tom Baker as Doctor Who

Star Trek: Counting all the various incarnations of Star Trek there are more than 725 episodes of this series or more than 540 hours of TV and counting. To put that number into perspective, doing nothing but watching Star Trek 40 hours a week it would take you more than 13 weeks to finish. Assuming you’d be able to make it through the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, that is.

Doctor Who: There’s been more than 835 episodes of Doctor Who created since the series began in 1963 which makes by my estimation more than 555 hours of time and relative dimension in space TV viewing.

Difficulty: Extremely Severe

This TV mountain can only be climbed via years of TV binging.

General Hospital

General Hospital: General Hospital is the longest running US soap opera and has been producing new episodes on a weekday basis since 1963. Back in 2014 it entered the record books as having the most episodes of any TV series at more than 13,000, or, around 8,600 hours of TV. If Star Trek would take you 13 weeks to finish at 40 hours a week then General Hospital would take you more than FOUR YEARS to finish at the same rate!

The most difficult part of watching all of General Hospital, the Mount Everest of TV shows that’s still growing, would be finding all the episodes. My guess is that in the intervening more than half-century since the show debuted some of the early episodes would have been lost because of time and shortsightedness. But even if most of the episodes are still around finding them would be difficult. First is the huge amount of episodes, so at some point cost acquiring them is going to be an issue. Then there’s the fact that for the most part only seasons of General Hospital that are just a few years old are available making full seasons that aired even prior to 2010 hard, if not impossible, to find.

I take it back, General Hospital isn’t the Mount Everest of TV series, it’s Mount Impossible of TV series!

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered 25 years ago today

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The first episode of the best Trek series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered 25 years ago today. That two-part episode entitled “The Emissary” introduced the world to the Deep Space Nine station, Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Odo (René Auberjonois) to name just a few of the hundreds of characters who would all be a part of the show that would run seven seasons.

 

Direct Beam Comms #107

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Rumor Control

2017: Sci-Fi Report

Looking back at 2017 I realized this year was actually a wonderful time for sci-fi movies and TV series. In years past there’s been one or two sci-fi things of quality to celebrate, but this year there are many. It feels weird writing this, but in 2017 sci-fi was the king of generas and every TV network is looking for the next Stranger Things and movie studio Star Wars. Now, not every movie or TV series below was successful, but “success” doesn’t always equate to “good” so I’ve listed everything I liked or found interesting in 2017.

Movies:

  • Alien: Covenant: This one didn’t get great reviews or do that well at the box-office, but I mean c’mon — it’s a frickin’ Alien movie directed by Ridley Scott. What’s not to love!?
  • Blade Runner: 2047: A remake 35 years later of a beloved movie using the latest computer technologies for special effects that has the original star return? Sounds interesting to me.
  • Ghost in the Machine: I know a lot of people didn’t dig this one but I liked it.
  • Kong: Skull Island: This is a silly, fun movie about a group of army soldiers vs a giant ape. It’s not the greatest, but is still a lot of fun.
  • Life: I didn’t dig this one overall, but still dug its setting and characters.
  • Passengers: Another one I found “ok.” Still, “ok” in 2017 would have probably been on my yearly “best of” list ten years ago.
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi: I loved this movie. It had problems, but what Star Wars movie in the last 20 years hasn’t? The Last Jedi is better than The Force Awakens, and I liked The Force Awakens.
  • War for the Planet of the Apes: The final(?) modern, Planet of the Apes movie which was the perfect ending to a six year trilogy of films.

TV:

  • Black Mirror: Creepy as [email protected]#$ and one of the best things on TV at the moment.
  • Doctor Who: Who would have guessed that a series which originated in 1963 would still be going strong in 2017, and beyond?
  • The Expanse: I love, love, love this show.
  • The Orville: See above.
  • Star Trek: Discovery: The latest Star Trek series isn’t getting a lot of love by the fans, but it marks the return of Star Trek to TV after an absence of 12 years which I think is a good thing.
  • Stranger Things: This series is the biggest reason to have Netflix.
  • Star Wars: Rebels: This series about what happened between movies Episode III and IV is as smartly written and acted as any of the great TV series out there. Even if it’s an animated show that aires on Disney.
  • Westworld: An HBO series about a theme park filled with murderous cowboys set in the future? Sure sounds like the perfect show to me!

TV

A Christmas Story Live! **/****

I’ve never been a huge fan of Christmas movies. I don’t have anything against them, but personally I’ve never found any I liked. Except for one movie, that is; A Christmas Story (1983).

I think it was partly because when it was released A Christmas Story didn’t do well at the box office and therefor showed up a lot in the mid–1980s during movie Christmas marathons when, I’m assuming, the movie was cheap to air so it played all the time. My parents and grandparents might have been into It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, but for me and my brother the only reason to sit through those yawn factories was that eventually A Christmas Story would air.

I remember watching A Christmas Story and thinking that I felt the same way that the kids of the movie felt in terms of school, parents and friends. And now when I watch the movie I identify more with Ralphie’s “Old Man” than Ralphie and yet the movie still works. I think it helps a great deal that the movie’s set in my home state of Indiana and, even though it was filmed in Ohio, A Christmas Story looks and feels right.

Several sequels to A Christmas Story would follow but none of them would tackle Christmas time like A Christmas Story so perfectly captured.

So to say that I was a little concerned that FOX would be airing a three hour long live “event” of A Christmas Story just before Christmas would not be an understatement. For a movie as beloved as A Christmas Story that’s traditionally aired back-to-back for 24 hours every Christmas Eve to Christmas to be remade as a something that looks like from all outwards appearances as a cheap ratings stunt turned my stomach a bit.

Still, I decided to give this A Christmas Story Live! a chance and watched it last Sunday.

And to be honest, it wasn’t bad. I didn’t end up watching the whole thing but about an hour’s worth at the start and then flipped back to it every once in a while. A Christmas Story Live! has a sort of polished feel to it that’s not present in the more realistic, run down and slightly threadbare original. I feel like if you’re a fan of musicals, then you might be interested in the three-hour long A Christmas Story Live!. If not, you should probably just skip it and stick with the original.

Movies

Sicario 2: Soldado trailer

Ocean’s 8 trailer

The Reading & Watch List

Cool Movie Posters of the Week