When Critics Applaud and Attack SFTV
by Have an effect Phillips
When Frank Garcia and I wrote our book, Science Fiction Television Series in the 1990s, we covered the histories of 62 SFTV series produced between 1959-1989. This ranged from the sombre, such as Aaron Spelling's The New People, to famous hits such as Bionic Woman and Quantum Leap. We tried to shroud each show as objectively as possible, without including any reviews written by the media. But now, we thought sharing these old reviews would be intriguing, from when Daily Variety said Star Trek "wouldn't work" and famed rocketeer Wernher von Braun "recommended" Duration 1999 as a good show. Some reviews are controversial, others insightful, some amusingly contradictory and a few plain ludicrous. Here is how some in the media perceived, praised or crucified these 62 SFTV shows since 1959.
When CBS launched Men into Span in 1959, it was to capitalize on the space race between America and the Soviet Union. William Lundigan played Col. William McCauley, an astronaut whose low-key adventures took him to the moon and Mars. Verifiable-life scientists and Air Force officials provided technical advice. But The New York Times rapped the show as, "Hokum in outer interruption," while The Chicago Tribune drew a bead with, "It's a fine show - for children. The miniature rocket ships and margin stations employed are absurd." TIME magazine was initially doubtful. "It can be as updated as tomorrow's astronauts or yesterday's funny strip." But a month later, TIME sang a different tune. "This series is made up of the best make of SF stories, where careful research turns them into documentary-like tales of tomorrow. The action is always trimmed closely to virtuoso predictions and this show could spin into orbit."
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