Sci-Fi Quote: Black Mirror is Today’s Twilight Zone

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The crew from Black Mirror’s USS Callister. (Netflix)

“In Serling’s day, the atom bomb, civil rights, McCarthyism, psychiatry and the space race were of primary concern. Today he’d be writing about terrorism, the economy, the media, privacy and our relationship with technology…That’s what we’re aiming for with Black Mirror: each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they’re all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time if we’re clumsy.”

-Statement by Charlie Brooker, creator of the Black Mirror series, as quoted by Collider. Season 8 of the series will premiere on Netflix shortly. The series has been very timely as we deal with new technologies, social media, and now artificial intelligence. You might also recall two earlier episodes with the USS Callister, which was a clever and dark mimicking of Star Trek. Another good episode, called “Beyond the Sea,” also dealt with space travel. Hopefully, we will get a least one more space-related episode out of the new season.

Sci-Fi Quote: You Must Have Been Living in a Hole in the Ground If You Missed Silo

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Apple TV.

“It’s not like they’re writing the show and then having to come up with, ‘Oh, how to end this?’…This is a 40 episode story. So the ending… is very satisfying because it’s the end of a novel.”

–Statement by actor Ashley Zukerman, who plays Daniel Keene in the Silo television series, regarding the fourth and final season of the series coming out on July 9, 2027. If you missed the series, particularly season three, it is a show you need to watch. We talk about living in lava tubes on the Moon or Mars, but this show is about living in an underground silo for generations here on Earth after some pretty horrible terra-forming above. You can catch it on Apple TV.

Sci-Fi Quote: Lt. Erica Ortegas and Strange New Worlds

Posted on by onespaceman2000

“I say that it’s not over, it’s never done, it’s never done. Because I always say the fans are the other half of what we do. So, I there’s a world for Ortegas that still exists, without giving anything away. She’s a character who I think was just a wonder to play. I’m so happy that they created the character in the first place. And as a pilot, as a maverick, as somebody who I have gotten to see has influenced so many younger fans, older fans, I keep saying it’s not over. There’s many places yet for Ortegas, and the world that she lives in to go.”

-Statement by Melissa Navia, who plays Lt. Erica Ortegas on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, during an interview with Trekmovie. Season four of the Paramount+ series premieres on July 23rd. Filming for season five was completed late last year, with this final season of the series expected to be broadcast in 2027.

Sci-Fi Quote: Another Star Wars Movie to Save the Day

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

“Mainly, I’m tired of the world around us, and I’m tired of everything sucking so much. “The Mandalorian” series, which stylistically harkens back to the great spaghetti westerns of the mid-1960s, has brought great joy and escapism, and I will celebrate this new movie and savor its joy and escapism, no matter what any critic or cinema scold says.”

-Statement by USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke in his column regarding the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters today. The Hollywood Reporter noted that movie is likely to make some money, but unlikely to give the Star Wars franchise the boost it needs to escape it own inability to create sufficient long-term interest in a galaxy far, far away.

Sci-Fi Quote: William Shatner Defends Starfleet Academy

Posted on by onespaceman2000

“Star Trek exists in more than one world. It exists in the fantasy of science fiction – weird and wonderful things that play unimaginable possibilities of exploration and human endeavor. But it also exists in the fantasy of human beings, the perfection of human beings, the exploration that human beings have made since the dawn of time and the continuing exploration – physically mentally and morally. It’s that aspect of Star Trek that I’ve always loved, to look at something physically that doesn’t exist now by these talented writers & designers but also to tackle the eternal human questions the agonies, the ecstasies. Star Trek should exist for a long time to come based on those truths. I for one would love to see its continuity. It’s with sorrow that I hear about the cancellation of the new Star Trek series.”

-William Shatner’s comments on Twitter/X regarding the recent announcement that Star Trek’s Starfleet Academy will end after two seasons. In a follow-up post, highlighting the criticism that the new series was too woke, he continued:

During the first airing of my Star Trek series where a kiss was objectionable; many southern stations pulled the episode & condemned the show. Using today’s vernacular it would absolutely be called “woke DEI crap” because it went against “norms” of society for its time. Not a lot seems to have changed.

Note: Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary, is one of the parties criticizing the new series and the direction of Star Trek, but some of it sounds like sour grapes.