Author: Robert Greenberger

A prime time summer series launched during the dog days of August is never a good show of faith on the part of the network. Last August, ABC presented Defying Gravity
, a thirteen episode science fiction series which lasted a mere eight weeks.

A noble effort, it failed to garner much interest and even fewer ratings. The series was said to be inspired by the BBC series [[[Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets]]], and became an international effort co-produced by the BBC, Fox Television Studios, and Omni Film Productions in association with Canadian broadcasters CTV Television Network, SPACE, and German broadcaster ProSieben.

This misfire is now available as a complete season set on Fox Home Entertainment and you can decide for yourself what went wrong. The premise begins in 2052 with the launch of a six year mission throughout the solar system, making the first visits to several planets. Along the way, the eight-person crew is told the real secret behind the mission, then you add in the “[[[Grey’s Anatomy]]] in space” aspect and you have a sprawling tale that truly lacked a compelling focus.

We’re introduced to the eight astronauts, an appealing cast led by Ron Livingston and Laura Harris plus the team at ground control and then other recurring figures including the dogged and totally dispensable reporter. Being a global production, the cast is international in background, which introduces us to new and unfamiliar performers in addition to showing us that reaching the stars will be one way to unite our cultures.

In attempting to make the characters more complex and available for the soap opera elements, many of them come across as people NASA would never accept as astronaut candidates. There was a reason the original seven were chosen, not only did they have the right stuff to handle a spacecraft, but they were dedicated career men who put mission and country first, making them a little less colorful and a lot more trustworthy.

Series creator James Parriott covered this flaw, though, by introducing an extraterrestrial, almost mystical, element that eventually reveals to us that they were chosen to be on this mission. And right there is the series’ greatest problem.

(more…)

[[[Peanuts]]] has proven exceptionally enduring and adaptable as Charles Schulz expanded his cast of characters to reflect the times and changing fascination with different players. The strip debuted in 1950 and within a decade the characters were used as spokesmen for commercial products. In 1965, though, the horizons expanded dramatically with the successful Christmas special.

Not only did that that give us Vince Guaraldi’s score and decades of specials, but it inspired others. In 1967, Clark Gesner unexpectedly showed up with a series of songs which he envisioned as being brought to the stage. Taken Off-Broadway, the songs were kept but the story was evolved. That initial version of [[[You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown]]] was best known for spotlight Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown, just a few years before we met him as Radar O’Reilly. That first cast also included actor/director Bob Balaban as Linus.

A different cast took the show to Broadway in 1971 and it became a high school staple for years ever after. In 1985, the play based on the comic strip was finally adapted as an animated television special. And now for the first time, Warner Home Video will release the cartoon Tuesday on a remastered DVD.

As stated above, as characters rose and fell in popularity, their prominence in the comics altered. Schulz decided for this adaptation to replace Patty and Violet with Sally and Marcie. It also presents the first time on television Snoopy had a human voice.

Overall, the breezy series of vignettes that make up the show works as a Peanuts sampler. Unlike the more successful of the television specials, there’s no one element to act as a spine so we drift from event to event, much like black out comedy. Taken as individual elements, they’re engaging enough but as a 48 minute viewing experience, it’s rather disjointed and honestly, not very funny.

The songs range from the unmemorable to the okay to the one hit, “Happiness”. Perhaps the most successful character-based song is “The Book Report”. And the audio voices do a fine job with the material but are thoroughly adequate as opposed to stirring or amusing.

The animated feature is accompanied with[[[ Animating a Charlie Brown Musical]]], a 14 minute look at the origins of the show and the process of adapting the strip to the stage and then from the stage to the television screen. Nothing is said of the 1999 revival which reworked existing songs and added additional numbers.

Overall, this is a Must Have for Peanuts fanatics only.

(more…)