Saturday, April 25, 2026

Movies: Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi


I like the Kenobi mini-series better than most Star Wars Fans.  It tells part of the story of what Obi-Wan was doing between Episode III and Episode IV.  In this series, a young Princess Leia is kidnapped, and Obi-Wan is recruited to rescue her.

It is seems that LucasFilm is incapable of creating shows and movies that are logically consistent with previous Star Wars movies and shows, or they simply don't care.  However, the hardcore Star Wars fans get upset when something doesn't match up.  The show has some logical problems, but I found the rest of the mini-series very entertaining. 

Fans also complained about the character of Reva, saying that she is the main character in a show about Kenobi.  However, this isn't true.  Although Reva is a prominent secondary character, it is still Kenobi's show.

I like Ewan McGregor as Kenobi, and the guest appearance of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader.  Some fans complained that this entire series is just an excuse to see Kenobi and Vader fight again, which maybe it is, but the fight is very well done.

Rating: B

I would like to see a second season, but that may never happen given the negative reaction by some Star Was fans.

I think that Star Wars fans are hard to please.  If anything doesn't match their expectations, they will say that the entire show is bad.

Nicholas Brendon dies at 54: Cause of death revealed



I was a fan of Nicholas Brendon because he played Xander Harris on the series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  This is a far better show than most people realize, and he played an important character.

After the series, he reportedly had trouble getting roles and struggled with alcoholism.

Nicholas Brendon Dies At 54: Cause of Death Revealed

The Buffy director and writer Joss Whedon has been brilliant in most of the shows and movies he has worked on.  However, he has fallen out of favor in Hollywood for claims of being abusive to some actors.

Saturday, March 21, 2026

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Best science fiction franchises


Not including Star Wars, what would you consider your favorite "franchise" and why?

Star Trek is arguably the king of franchises, with 13 movies and 13 TV series. 

 Doctor Who has spanned over six decades. I don't like any of the older episodes, but the 2005 reboot hit its peak around 2010, giving us some fantastic stories. After that, the show slowly declined. In recent years, it has been terrible. The series hasn't been officially canceled yet, but it is barely on life support. The BBC nearly canceled it until Disney+ picked it up, but now Disney+ seems to have washed its hands of it. 


 An honorable mention should go to Stargate, which includes one barely passable movie and three TV series. Stargate SG-1 ran for ten seasons, followed by three made-for-TV movies. For years, there have been rumors of a new series or reboot. The franchise isn't dead yet, but it feels like it has done everything it can with its premise. 


 Battlestar Galactica has had four series, although the earlier ones from 1979 and 1980 are too corny by today's standards. However, the 2004 series might be the best science fiction TV show ever made. A reboot/sequel was in development at one point but was ultimately canceled.


Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Not Another Star Trek Prequel! Star Trek: Year One


It has appeared to me that the current Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds, was working toward rebooting the original Star Trek series.  The show has introduced new actors for Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Traitors Are Hard to Spot

This is from 1923, a prequel to Yellowstone.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fC8h4BgsEY

Wow. This is pretty good. I'm going to have to watch the show.  There is Helen Mirren and Robert Patrick, both looking older.  And Harrison Ford is in the show too.

The plan for "The Acolyte" Season Two would've destroyed Star Wars...


@john2001plus
Hey Thor,

I don't think that the first six episodes of The Acolyte were bad. I don't think they were great either, but I enjoyed them well enough. However, the show failed to stick any kind of landing, with episode 7 being terrible and episode 8 questionable for all sorts of reasons.

I tried to make the case that the show doesn't throw the Jedi under the bus. That is not how I saw it. Instead, I saw it as a handful of Jedi who had gotten in over their heads and didn't handle a situation well. (The real world tends to be messy, so maybe in the fictional world as well.) That is hardly a condemnation of all Jedi. Likewise, it was kind of telling the story from the bad guy's point of view. You responded to my comments in a video by doubling down on the notion that the show throws the Jedi under the bus. Again, that's not how I saw it.

I assumed that Leslye Headland had been taken out of context by some YouTubers, since her early interview turned people against the show before it had even come out. However, with this most recent interview, I have to concede the point. Apparently, she really was throwing the Jedi under the bus.

I can't find the interview, but I've read some people's comments about it, so I don't have the full context. Perhaps Yoda felt political pressure to make the Jedi look good, but this is not a characterization of Yoda that I like.

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Richard Burton on how he had to correct his speech.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy TV Series 2026


The reviews for Starfleet Academy have been terrible.  This is from people watching the show, but the 9nth episode got a favorable score.  

Notice that the number of reviewers drops considerably as the series progresses.

Who are you? | Stargate Atlantis: 5x11 'The Lost Tribe'

This is a cool moment in one of the Stargate series.  There were many cool moments and three different series.


For years there have been rumors of a franchise reboot, but it hasn't happened yet. 

The original movie had mixed to negative reviews, although I personally liked it and saw it around 7 times, but the spinoff TV shows developed a large fan base.

Crazy photos

Friday, March 6, 2026

The Real Monsters Aren’t the Infected

I was always a fan of Graham Greene who passed away recently.  He was in Dance With Wolves along with a few other movies.


This is from the Zombie streaming series, "The Last of Us", which is adapted from a video game.  I assumed that this was one of Graham Greene's final roles, but according to IMDB, he had dozens of recent roles.

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Tragic Details About How I Met Your Mother Star Alyson Hannigan


The title seems like click bait.

I've been a fan of Alyson Hannigan since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On that show she played a nerdy character. The first actress looked the part, but she didn't work out, so they hired Alyson Hannigan, who Joss Whedon described as someone who "looks like a supermodel."

She later ended up on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, which IMDb lists her as a producer.







Friday, February 27, 2026

"Risk is Our Business" - speech explaining what Star Trek is about

#show #yellowstone


@PaulFinestone-l6q
10 days ago
The Battle of the Wilderness (May 5–7, 1864) was the opening clash of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Virginia. Fought in thick, tangled woods, the brutal, often hand-to-hand, three-day battle resulted in over 28,000 combined casualties and ended in a tactical stalemate.

This Minute Speech is Better Than Entire Sci-Fi Shows

One of the highlights of Babylon 5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRXQAcmRN5E

Ambassador G'Kar and Ambassador Mollari were bitter enemies, as were their peoples, but years later aligned with each other for a common purpose and to achieve peace.

G'Kar was played by Andreas Katsulas, who was maybe the most brilliant actor on the series.  He played the one-armed man in The Fugitive movie.  He occasionally played a villain on Star Trek.

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Friday, February 20, 2026

Rose Marie: Al Capone's Lunch: A Kid's Unforgettable Mob Encounter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMHDvTRomUs

Rose Marie is most famous for her role on the Dick Van Dyke show.  She started as a child performer in Vaudeville, and reportedly in places that had some associations with gangsters.