Arlene Martel (Sax) 1936-2014

It took an article in the NY Times for me to learn Arlene Martel had passed away.

She wasn't a household name, like Robin Williams or Lauren Bacall, but to several generations of sci-fi fans she was...

...the smiling woman who ominously-intoned "Room for one more, honey." in the nightmares of a hysterical woman in the classic Twilight Zone ep "Twenty-Two".

...an innocent woman caught in a battle inside a deserted building between a time-traveler from the future and aliens determined to kill him and destroy the secret that would save humanity in the equally-classic Outer Limits episode "Demon with a Glass Hand"...

...and, most memorably, T'Pring, the Bride of Spock in the (I hate to use the word, but it does apply) classic Star Trek ep "Amok Time"!

Besides appearances on other genre shows like Man from U.N.C.L.E., Wild Wild West, and Battlestar Galactica, she also appeared in comedies, Westerns, and crime shows, and was still working on-and-off in movies and tv until her passing.

Ralph McQuarrie (June 13, 1929 - March 3, 2012)

From Star Wars to BattleStar Galactica to Star Trek, among many others...

Star Wars

 Ralph McQuarrie envisioned worlds beyond belief for two generations of movie and tv sf/fantasy fans.

BattleStar Galactica

Star Trek: Planet of the Titans (1976, unproduced)

LOST: the Series Finale...

Well, I was fine with it for the first 2 1/4 hours...
Didn't they say it wasn't Purgatory?
Apparently, they're saying the Island itself (and it's timeline including flashbacks and flashforwards) wasn't Purgatory, just the "flash-sideways" alternate universe!

But that, in and of itself, opens up a number of questions...
The only "real" people in the flash-sideways universe were the ones assembled in the church?
Why was Claire's child, Aaron, still a baby? He was shown as 3-4 before Kate turned him over to his maternal grandmother in the "real world". Did the grandmother kill him? (We didn't see Sun & Jin's child, Ji Yeon, indicating she was still alive.)
Where was the now-mortal Richard Alpert?
Who replaced Hurley as the Protector of the Island? (Ben Linus would've been the obvious choice)
Why did everyone look the same age as their last appearences together on the Island in the main timeline? Since some died after (perhaps long after) Jack died, wouldn't they look like they would at the time of their passing?

The upcoming 6th Season DVD set will have an additional 20 minutes cut from the series finale that'll, hopefully, explain more...

Not since the end of the "reimagined" BattleStar Galactica have I been so disappointed...came to love the series (big fan of the original), hated the ending!

My head hurts...

Star Trek is here--Beam me up!

If you're willing to accept Crisis on Infinite Earths and it's aftermath (plus Batman Begins onward and the various other DC-related film / tv series), Ultimate Marvel Universe, "One More Day", and the various Marvel-based films and tv series (Hell, Punisher was rebooted twice!), the Godzilla Heisei and Millenium films, Battlestar Galactica [2003-09],or the Eon James Bond 007 films from Casino Royale [2006] on, then you'll go with this for what it is...a reboot / alternate universe with some interesting twists.

And unlike most of the other film /tv series, this one acknowledges the fact that it's an alternate universe!
(Comics on the other hand, enjoy pointing out when they reboot! Go figure!) ;-)

BattleStar Galactica "DayBreak" Questions...

1) Are the "Baltar" and "Caprica Six" entities who appear to the corporeal Baltar and Caprica Six and on Earth at the end, angels (good), demons (bad), or just entities (indifferent)?
2) Starbuck who "returned from the dead" was also not human, but an entity of some sort. Why could everyone see her? Did the same superior entity who sent the projected "Baltar" and "Caprica Six" send her? And if so, why didn't she know what she was and what to do?
3) Who projected the "Opera House" illusion into both humans (Roslin & Baltar) and Cylons (Caprica Six & Athena)?
4) Are the humanoid Cylons the "Lords of Kobol"?
4) Why were there so many "old-style" Centurions on the Colony?
5) In the pan over the fleet's final voyage into the sun, did I see the original design for the Enterprise (as seen in the book Making of Star Trek) and the Ark from The StarLost?

Fantastic Femmes--Kandyse McClure

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info 
HERE!

Last night, just as we were about to keyboard Kandyse into our Fantastic Femmes section of the blog, her character, Anastasia Dualla, committed suicide in BSG's final season opener, "Sometimes a Great Notion".
(We hope Dee reappears, at least in flashbacks, in some of the remaining eps.)
She's been an appealing presence on the show from her relatively minor role in the mini-series to her character's increasing importance in the plotline, and her gut-wrenching departure is a scary reminder that almost no character is safe...

Fantastic Femmes--Grace Park

Note: this page has been updated with NEW info
HERE!