The Old Fan’s Commentary on Star Trek – The Motion Picture
Sunday on Tales From SYL Ranch: part one of the Old Fan’s Commentary on Star Trek – The Motion Picture (the Director’s Edition).
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00-22:00 UTC at http://anonradio.net.
This week, we’ll be talking about what it was like as a teenaged Star Trek fan to see the film for the first time in 1979. We’ll also talk about fandom of that period and what it was like to live through it.
We’ll also have the usual episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy and a smattering of amusing bits throughout.
After all, you can’t listen to Bill talk for an hour without wanting to slit your wrists.
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00-22:00 UTC at http://anonradio.net. The station is listed on iTunes, TuneIn, and other streaming services.
Listen to Bill discuss the first Star Trek movie (the one people usually like to forget).
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00-22:00 UTC at http://anonradio.net.
It’s all-comedy all-the-time on this Sunday’s Tales From SYL Ranch.
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00 – 22:00 UTC at // aNONrado.net //
(If you’re not in UTC, either do the math or ask Siri/Google.)
About three-fourths of the show is my informal “best of” “Weird Al” Yankovic. His career stretches back to the early 1980s. The task became narrowing it down to about an hour-and-a-half.
They’re all gems. In fact, I had to cut some I liked for time, so it’s really the best of Al’s best.
Update: “Weird Al” dropped a new collection, Medium Rarities, this week. The timing was entirely unintentional. However, I’ve changed the playlist accordingly.
“It’s Still Billy Joel” has been downgraded from “rare” to “medium rare.” “Chicken Pot Pie” is still “very rare” and is from my personal collection.
The Holy Grail of “Weird Al” fans, “Belvedere Cruising,” has downgraded all the way to “medium rare.” It’s the song that got Al his break on the Doctor Demento show; which in turn propelled him to stardom.
Younger listeners may not be aware of the Hitchhiker’s Guide strange history. It began as a BBC Radio series, then a couple of books, then more radio, then TV, then more books, then a movie, and then more radio.
I’ll be playing all five radio series, starting with series one, episode one on Sunday. I’ll be running them for about four years.
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00 – 22:00 UTC at // aNONrado.net //
And the following two weeks , you’ll hear my voice for the first time — and you will ultimately be grateful for the respite of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy.
I’m going to do a two-part “Old Fan’s Commentary” of Star Trek – The Motion Picture.
I’m doing this not because I have any great backstage knowledge. I’ll talk about what I know, but that’s not the point. This is a fan commentary. I’m going to talk about Star Trek fandom in the 1970s, and how it was for a teen-aged Trekkkie to see the film for the first time.
I’ll be commenting on the Director’s Edition, so if you want to follow along, get out your DVDs, stream from your favorite service, or … well, you know.
Tales From SYL Ranch can be heard Sundays from 20:00 – 22:00 UTC at // aNONrado.net //
For reference, here’s the full playlist. With the exception of the Hitchhiker’s Guide, they’re all “Weird Al” Yankovic songs.
Don’t Download This Song
Belvedere Cruising
Another One Rides The Bus
I Love Rocky Road
Ricky
Eat It
Nature Trail To Hell
Chicken Pot Pie
Like A Surgeon
The Brady Bunch
It’s Still Billy Joel To Me
Theme From Rocky XIII: The Rye Or the Kaiser
Amish Paradise
I Lost On Jeopardy
Gump
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 1: Primary Phase – Fit the First
It’s a serious trip to the groove-yard of forgotten favorites.
In the 1970s, Power Records produced a series of Star Trekaudio dramas for children. The stories were released in several different combinations and sometimes included a comic book of the story.
In all, there were eleven episodes. They’re not great, but not horrible. Most were written by Alan Dean Foster. He has numerous novels to his credit. In the 1970s, he novelized the Star Trek animated series in greatly-expanded form. Most recently Foster wrote the Abrams film novelizations.
You have to overlook a few things. The first is the fact that none of the original cast were involved. Most of the actors at least try to sound like the original cast.
You also have to overlook that none of the sound effects nor music are from the original series. Sometimes it’s rather jarring.
These aren’t all the audio drama that Power Records produced. I’ve had to cut a couple for time and will play them in the future.
Sunday’s tracks, in order, are:
Passage to Moauve
In Vino Veritas
The Crier in Emptiness
The Time Stealer
To Starve a Fleaver
The Logistics Of Stampede
A Mirror For Futility
A Milo Yiannopoulos ZAP rant (I’m going to lose libertarian friends over this one)
I have also nicknamed the primary TTS voices on the show “Mike” and “Michelle.” Heinlein fans know why.
