Television: The Earlier Moon Mission on PBS

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s impression of Apollo 11 approaching the Moon. (PBS)

If you really want something interesting to watch regarding the Moon, catch these two PBS programs (stations and times may vary). Yes, they aired earlier, but as noted earlier, I would rather rewatch the good stuff than waste my time on some of the new stuff.

American Experience: Chasing the Moon, July 2 at 7pm (6 hours):

“Chasing the Moon,” a film by Robert Stone, reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama. Utilizing a visual feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material — much of which has never before been seen by the public — the film features a diverse cast of characters who played key roles in these historic events. Among those included are astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Frank Borman and Bill Anders; Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet premier and a leading Soviet rocket engineer; Poppy Northcutt, a 25-year old “mathematics whiz” who gained worldwide attention as the first woman to serve in the all-male bastion of NASA’s Mission Control; and Ed Dwight, the Air Force pilot selected by the Kennedy administration to train as America’s first black astronaut.

8 Days: To the Moon and Back, July 9 at 8pm (1 hour 25 minutes)

Join Apollo 11 on its historic journey. The film seamlessly blends mission audio featuring conversations among Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins with new footage, NASA archive and stunning CGI to recreate the first moon landing.

Television: Moonhaven is Coming in July

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Source): Moonhaven’s Garden of Eden on the Moon. (AMC+)

While NASA is working on the first permanent base on the Moon, the AMC+ television series set 100 years in the future already has a Garden of Eden on the lunar surface. Here is the general story from AMC+ on the new series Moonhaven, which premieres on July 7th:

Moonhaven focuses on Bella Sway (Emma McDonald), a lunar cargo pilot and smuggler 100 years in the future who finds herself accused of a crime and marooned on Moonhaven, a utopian community set on a 500 square mile Garden of Eden built on the Moon to find solutions to the problems that will soon end civilization on Mother Earth. A skeptic in Paradise, Bella is sucked into a conspiracy to gain control of the artificial intelligence responsible for Moonhaven’s miracles and teams with a local detective to stop the forces that want to destroy Earth’s last hope before they are destroyed themselves.

Yes, the Earth is a toxic waste (again) and it is easier to build a future on the dead Moon than get our act together here on Earth. But even that is too easy, because the Moon colony appears to be a cult. Could it be a SpaceX colony based on the principles of Musk. I hope NASA did not pay for that.

I do not have any high hopes, but that may be it for this summer outside of Star Wars and Star Trek series. I may just go back and rewatch The Expanse this summer.

TV: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Disney+

While Star Trek is generally a better fit for an astronomy site, I did not want to ignore the release this week of Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. As with the other similar releases in the last few years, including The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Disney is mining the Star Wars stories for new angles. Of course, Paramount has also been doing the same with Star Trek.

Disney has been spending quite a bit of time on the planet of Tatooine in all three new series, be it bounty hunting in The Mandalorian, taking over Jabba the Hutt’s old business in The Book of Boba Fett, and now Obi-Wan watching over young Luke Skywalker’s formative years in Obi-Wan Kenobi. I hope you don’t mind sand. Here is a preview of what you can expect with this latest series.

So far I have enjoyed The Mandalorian and suffered through The Book of Boba Fett. Too often Star Wars seems to be mostly a vehicle to sell toys (think of Baby Yoda), and yet the creators kept it fun in The Mandalorian. Adding Amy Sedaris to the mix of characters was brilliant.

Maybe The Mandalorian worked because the main character said so little and Baby Yoda said basically nothing. I know Mr. Lucas is gone, but dialogue has not been the strongest part of the Star Wars universe. We can only hope the creators have finally learned how to use the talents of Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in the latest series.

And yes, there’s more. Stay tuned for the next Star Wars series, Andor, coming out on August 31st. Season two of this new series is already in the works. It takes place 28 years after the film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and five years before the events of the film Rogue One. I think this one will stay away from Tatooine, thankfully. Diego Luna will be playing the role of Cassian Andor. Here is a teaser for Andor.

Credit: Disney+

Television: Check Out Strange New Worlds

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Paramount.

Tonight is the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. If you are a Trekkie, then there is nothing strange about Captain Pike and the earlier adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise. We have been waiting for the rest of the story since Star Trek appears in 1966.

You probably already saw Captain Pike in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, but now it will be all Pike all the time. The most recent trailer is proof that you an expect a return to the fun early days was more like James Bond than the more serious captains that came later. The actors engaged with this series are top notch: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock.

Yes, there are multiple Star Trek series now playing on Paramount, as one could also say about the Star Wars series on Disney+. And yet, with Star Trek each one has its place and time that makes plenty of sense without any overlapping confusion. I am not sure whether we really needed a movie on the origins of Han Solo, but the original adventures of Captain Pike seems like a void that needed to be filled.

I would even forgo more Star Trek movies as long as we can have quality television series. Beside, the movies blew apart the time line (creating the Kelvin Timeline), so I have less interest in what they have to say these days even though that bastardized timeline has infected the timeline in Star Trek: Discovery. Don’t get me started.

Image (Credit): The pre-Kirk crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. (Paramount)

Television: The Orville Returns (Shortly)

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Source/Credit: The crew of the USS Orville from 20th Television.

Season three of The Orville was supposed to return this week, but is has been pushed off until June 2nd. Hence, it will have been more than three years since the last episode on April 25, 2019.

Seth McFarlane, also known as Captain Ed Mercer, tweeted that the delay relates to COVID, indicating that the long tentacles of COVID reach many years into the future as well.

I am not sure why it needs to be re-branded The Orville: New Horizons, except that it is now part of Hulu rather than Fox. Regardless of the name, this parody of Star Trek took some time to grow on me (not until season two, in fact), but I now look forward to this new season. Where else can you see the words of Dolly Parton being used to inspire a new society on a distant planet?

As Star Trek gets darker, this warped version (not pun intended) remains lighter, though this sneak peak of season three may seem to say otherwise. Maybe The Orville will be somewhat darker going forward.

If you need your space fix now, check out the second season of Star Trek: Picard. It premiered just last week.