O Captain, My Revived Monster!
This week's LYT Linkage: Star Trek, Godzilla-adjacency, and show revivals
It’s time to take a look at some of the articles I’ve done at other outlets in recent days and weeks. For TV Line, I’ve been taking a few deep dives, including my own very important take on possibly the ultimate nerd debate of all time:
Who is the best Star Trek Captain?
Nobody who knows me is likely to be surprised by my #1, but I threw in some curveballs along the way:
It would be easy to blame Captain Carol Freeman for the Cerritos’ chaotic reputation, but honestly, she deserves credit for keeping the ship functional at all. Without her leadership, the Cerritos likely would have been destroyed several times over by its needy, impulsive, and deeply anxious crew. Her primary officers include a testosterone-addled tactical officer, a shameless egomaniac first officer, an aggressive cat-person as the doctor, and, of course, her own brilliant but wildly insubordinate daughter, Beckett Mariner.
As a ship tasked with Second Contact missions, the Cerritos has less responsibility than those that explore strange new worlds. All it has to do is not screw up the follow-through. The problem is that Captain Freeman is just about the only person onboard capable of being diplomatic. The fact that the Cerritos hasn’t accidentally sparked an interstellar conflict is a testament to her ability to balance an unruly crew with fragile new alliances.
From one icon to a pair of them — peripherally. Godzilla and Kong inhabit the world of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, though the story focus is on the human characters. If you like that show, though, which others might you like?
Both Godzilla and Kong owe a debt to Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel “The Lost World,” adapted as a silent film in 1925 and several times thereafter. Hailing from that same family tree, but in a uniquely ‘70s style, was Sid and Marty Krofft’s “Land of the Lost,” which has also been remade a couple of times and has another Netflix reboot in the works.
Rather than some lost enclave on Earth, the titular land existed in another dimension with three moons. Dinosaurs still roamed there, but so too did lizard people called Sleestak and a Neanderthal-ish race known as the Pakuni. It wasn’t all primitive, either; bizarre technological artifacts littered the landscape.
What are the best TV show revivals of all time? You might not be surprised at one that made the list, but maybe more so that it wasn’t my #1 pick:
Netflix’s “Masters of the Universe: Revelation” and “Revolution” served as very belated sequels to the original ‘80s Filmation series. Because the He-Man media rights had been divided, the revival had to ignore “She-Ra: Princess of Power,” even though He-Man crossed over into his sister’s superior spinoff.
Keeping the essential mythology intact while jettisoning some of the kiddie humor, the Kevin Smith-produced revival aimed at both longtime fans and newcomers. Prince Adam still wielded his sword and said “By the power of Grayskull!” to become He-Man, but in this show, episodes were no longer predictably formulaic and took big leaps. Moving the story significantly forward, He-Man died early in the series! There was a time jump, Teela took over as lead for a time, and sure enough, eventually He-Man fought his way back from the land of the dead. Meanwhile, Teela briefly seemed more interested in her friend Andra than in any muscular sword-wielder.
Both Skeletor and Evil-Lyn wielded the power of Grayskull at different times, answering years of “what if” fan questions. Orko died and came back like Gandalf, all in white. King Randor also died, and He-Man’s identity was exposed. Teela became the new Sorceress, and He-Man renounced his throne to move in with her. These were big steps to shake up the status quo in what had once been a glorified toy commercial. Viewers also got both William Shatner and Mark Hamill voicing Skeletor’s dueling personalities. That’ll never be topped.
Dare I close out with…
Until Next Time!
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