*So I saw Star Wars this weekend, and I have to say I kind of enjoyed it. It wasn’t as great as it should have been, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And that puts me in a bit of a bind. Because, you see, now I want to see more Star Wars movies.

When the first Star Wars prequel came out I was pretty excited. I figured Lucas’ new movie would have to be as good as the other ones. Boy was I wrong. Of course I wasn’t alone with that reaction. And then came the second movie, which was quite possibly worse than the first movie. So by now, my expectations have been destroyed and I no longer care about Star Wars (not that I cared much to begin with).

But now Lucas has gone and made an enjoyable movie. What was he thinking?! Now I actually would like to see another Star Wars movie. What am I thinking?!

So instead of being content that I’d never have to watch another Star Wars movie, I must live with that feeling of longing. Maybe, just maybe, we could get another Star Wars film.

*I think I experienced the same thing with Star Trek Enterprise. The first season was pretty good, and I was excited. Especially since if followed the awful Voyager series. And then, suddenly, it just totally sucked. The Suliban?! What were they thinking?!

So I became content to accept that Enterprise was an awful show at worse, and “watchable” at best. Then suddenly they start writing the episodes they should have written in the first place, and season 4 was remarkable. It became my second favorite show, only following StarGate.

So what happens, yup, you guessed it, they cancelled the show. I could have been completely happy if they cancelled it after season 3. But they didn’t. No, they showed me the glimpse of potential, and now I must be depressed because they’ll never have a chance to live out that potential.

I hate that.

*One last thing to tie this train of thought up…

If you check out the other threads around here at SOTS (you are doing that, right?) you’ll notice that we’ve been talking about the “death of geekdom.” Now I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. However, the general idea is sound. To many, the end of Star Wars is the end of an era. And considering Star Trek ended a week before the final Star Wars movie that’s a pretty big blow to geeks everywhere.

I think the big thing is that for 30-40 years there was anticipation for MORE Star Trek or Star Wars. And now that’s gone. There’s no anticipation to replace what we’ve lost. As good as StarGate is, it’s NOT Star Trek. And as much of a following as Andromeda has, it’s not Star Wars. It’s as if the Michael Jordan of geek culture retired – you can’t just fill a void like that. Something intangible is irrevocably lost. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that.

*I often feel that way about story arcs in comic books. The best part of the story is never the ending, which always seems to be a let down. It’s all about the build-up.

*I was watching Animaniacs the other night, and I came to the startling realization that it would be difficult to ever make a show like that again. I mean the Warner brothers (and the Warner sister) sexually harass people, they break and enter, they destroy property…I could go on.

But it’s violent, rude, and perhaps worse of all, un-PC. But I suppose that’s why I love it so!

*As I mentioned last week Smallville is finishing up its fourth season. But it looks like they’ll be brining it back for season 5. I’m kind of curious to see where they’ll go with this one. I’m hoping that they back off the whole teen-angst angle, but I’m not holding my breath. It also looks like Lois Lane might not be back (not a big loss to me, I didn’t really like her anyway).

One additional note, it’s moving to a Thursday timeslot instead of its Tuesday timeslot.

*A couple of movie notes? I just don’t see Kelsey Grammar being a good casting choice for Beast. I could be wrong I suppose – I think he’s a talented actor – I just can’t see him as Beast.

But I’ve been wrong before, and I think I might be wrong about Nicholas Cage playing the role of Johnny Blaze in the new Ghost Rider movie. I thought he was a horrible cast. However this image of him makes it look like he might have some promise. Now a lot depends on how the movie turns out. But I am a little more optimistic.

*Speaking of optimism….I saw the Fantastic 4 movie trailer with Episode 3. I’ve panned the F4 movie here and here. Mostly because the screen shots I saw just looked awful. And worse than that, they also looked cheesy. Awful and cheesy – not a good combination. But the trailer I saw made the movie look pretty good. While I’m not excited about seeing the movie, I do think I’ll try to go.

*Frank Gorshin died this last week. He’s best known as playing the Riddler on the 60’s Batman TV show. And frankly, when I think of the Riddler I think of Gorshin. I thought it was interesting that The Batman (which is a good show in it’s own right) introduced the Riddler for the first time in it’s stories this week. I doubt it was timed like that on purpose, but I thought it turned out to be a nice little tribute.

*That’s it for another week. We may have some regularly scheduled interruptions in the coming two weeks while I travel for work. I’ll try to get something posted, but since I won’t be able to guarantee internet access, I’m not sure I’ll get something posted.

So in the words of Yakko….Goodnight everybody!

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