Old Shat, New Who
The new Doctor Who series finally premiered in the U.S. last night, and if you subtract the SciFi Channel's usual overload of promo spots and commercials aimed at senior citizens from its 2-hour running length, it was a pleasant enough hour and 10 minutes of actual show. The new doc, Christopher Eccleston, recalls Tom Baker at his most manic, and Billie Piper does a more than adequate job as the new sidekick eye-candy. The BBC also manages to update the special effects and alien makeup without losing that essential cheesiness Who fans have come to expect and demand, and thankfully, they haven't updated the theme music too much (except for the addition of some Peter-Gunnish riffing). At this point I'm cautiously optimistic, but I think the inevitable Daleks episode will be the proof in the pudding. [Link]
Meanwhile, on this side of the Briny, my main-man Shatner, attempts to bloviate his way into history with a 2-hour Discovery Channel documentary humbly (if somewhat misleadingly) entitled, How William Shatner Changed the World. In the show, he employs his god-like expository talents to tell us how the gadgets and social commentary in Star Trek (cellphones, medical imaging, interracial tongue-wrestling) have beamed down from the deck of the Enterprise to make our lives here on Earth better. Too bad for Shat that Gene Rodenberry never envisioned a galaxy without bad toupees and hair weaves. [Link][via]
