Subject: Re: Morning-After Commentary: SK's "Golden Years"
From: escheire@elara.mitre.org (eric scheirer)
Date: 1991-07-18, 05:20
Newsgroups: alt.horror,rec.arts.tv,alt.tv.twin-peaks

In article <1991Jul18.065811.25195@zia.aoc.nrao.edu>, jogle@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim)) writes:
|> What irked me about Golden Years was the lack of believable
|> characters.  Outside of the old couple and the female head of security
|> I couldn't accept any of the characters on this show (except for the
|> mad scientist; he's supposed to be unbelievable).
|> 
|> Someone else has already mentioned the problems with the medical parts
|> of the show.  I almost left the room near the beginning when one of
|> the dorko assistants to the mad scientist reverently says "More power
|> than a supernova." to which I responded "Yeah, bullshit!"  If we're
|> gonna fake science lets at least not go so far out of bounds.
|> 
|> Sorry, I had to get that off of my chest...as an astrophysicist that
|> line really got my goat.
|> -- 
|> "Coming to you direct from the largest synchronicity hole in the universe,  
|>      Socorro, New Mexico, its..."
|>  Kansas Jim (jogle@zia.aoc.nrao.edu)

I wasn't sure this wasn't supposed to be camp -- after Jim Gardener in _The 
Tommyknockers_, I found he knew more about science (and had less respect
for the modern greenpeace/Luddite crowd) than I had thought.  One thing I
noticed in particular was that in all the places surrounding the "poor" science,
all of the placements within time were removed -- no dated cars, clothes, 
language.  Take away the color and you get a 50's "B" ("C+" ?) flick, no
problem -- the broad-as-downeast-accent characters, the scientist-as-evil-
experimenter, etc.  All it needed was a lissome teenage thing to be eaten on
a beach.  Cf. his comments about "The Mist" at the end of Skeleton Crew, also.
("This one was meant to be seen in cheesy black-and-white..."

----
Eric Scheirer -- The MITRE Corporation / Cornell University
"I got remote control and a color TV;
 I don't change channels so they must've changed me..."
  -- Billy Joel