Fellow genre entertainment fans, as fellow blogger Ken G. has noted, today marks the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek: the Next Generation. An essay that I wrote and he edited is among the posts at Showbits.net commemorating the influential space opera series.

Speaking of genre television, while I haven't yet watched last night's season premiere of Smallville (which I expect to be fairly predictable anyway), I plan to catch Doctor Who, Midnight, and Stargate: Atlantis tonight. I'll also record Avatar: the Last Airbender. As I noted to Steve M.R., I'll cut back a bit on viewing once I've seen a bunch of premieres.

Of the new shows I mentioned in my previous post, NBC's Journeyman and the CW's Reaper were the most promising, with the SciFi Channel's Painkiller Jane and Flash Gordon earning the dubious honor of being the weakest. We'll have to see how good supernatural dramas Midnight, Pushing Daisies, and New Amsterdam are, although it's worth noting that relatively few programs avoid swift cancellation. Live long and prosper…

In addition to hosting Dexter V.H. and meeting Jacqui M.D. during the past week, I've been busy watching the season premieres of various genre television shows.

The BBC's revived Doctor Who (also on the SciFi Channel and PBS; pictured above) is winding down, but David I.S., Janice, and I have felt that the third season (or series, as they say in the U.K.) has been very good, balancing horror and suspense with a sense of wonder and allegorical social commentary.

I like Freema Agyeman as the Time Lord's latest companion Dr. Martha Jones, and the most recent episodes have been suspenseful, as more classic foes have returned. Although spin-off Torchwood hasn't yet transcended its roots in Doctor Who (or The X-Files, for that matter), I've been enjoying it on BBC America.

The other Friday night program that I recommend to all fantasy fans is Nickelodeon's Avatar: the Last Airbender, which just started its third season. This animated series continues to challenge its young heroes as they try to master the elements in adventures loosely inspired by Chinese mythology. I took a quiz to see which character I most resemble. Stargate: Atlantis returns with a cast shakeup this Friday.

On Saturday mornings, Kids WB's Legion of Superheroes has also toughened its young metahumans by introducing DC Comics villain Imperiex, although I'm less certain about the inclusion of Superman (legal difficulties prevent it from using "Superboy") and a clone. Speaking of young heroes, we'll see how faithful the next takes on Spider-Man and Wolverine and the X-Men are in spirit to Marvel Comics' source material.

The Batman has steadily improved, with the quirky redesigns of various villains gradually giving way to better stories after the introduction of sidekicks Batgirl and Robin. This season is off to a strong start with a cameo by Superman (and his supporting cast voiced by the same people who were in the Dini/Timm animated series) and will feature another version of the Justice League (for whom a live-action movie is in the works).

In slightly more mainstream fare, NBC's Chuck on Monday nights was reasonably amusing, although the stereotyping of "geeks" or "nerds" is annoying, especially when those they show are both more physically attractive and less intelligent than those I know in real life. USA Network's Burn Notice similarly spoofs spy shows, but with a bit more subtlety, no doubt due to a slightly smaller budget.

The second season premiere of Heroes was a bit scattershot as existing and new metahumans were shown in multiple parallel storylines. I hope the sophomore show can avoid over-reliance on melodrama. Still, my favorite character remains time traveler Hiro Nakamura, played by Masi Oka. There have been several connections to the Star Trek franchise, including cameos by George Takei, the announcement of Zachary Quinto as Spock in J.J. Abrams' cinematic revival, and upcoming visits by Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in the original 1960s series.

Speaking of time travel, Journeyman more closely resembles Quantum Leap than Doctor Who, Heroes, or Trek, but feels more like an adult drama. In the series premiere, Kevin McKidd was ruggedly believable (as he was in HBO's Rome) as a journalist who struggles with his new power and tries to convince family and co-workers that he isn't insane, even as he tries to solve the mystery of why he's jaunting through time and how that's connected to his supposedly dead ex-girlfriend.

While I haven't been able to watch much of the SciFi Channel's Eureka (which would be at home at sister network USA next to Psych and Monk), Reaper was one of the better comedies I've seen so far this autumn. The premiere was directed by Kevin Smith, and indeed, the use of slackers dealing with the devil is reminiscent of his hilarious film Dogma. Yes, more stereotypes are used here, but there was a greater self-awareness and quicker timing than on other shows.

On Tuesday nights, I'm usually running my D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy game. The six role-players and I skipped this week because we played in Dexter V.H.'s fun D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition one-shot. Next week, the group may have yet another prospective member, Sara.

On Wednesday nights, I had caught Kelsey Grammer's Back to You and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but last night's premiere of The Bionic Woman was OK. The lead actors are veterans of other genre shows — Witchblade: the Series, Robocop, and most importantly, the revisionist Battlestar Galactica (which won't return until next year).

The setup was fairly standard for the empowered female protagonist now familiar to watchers of Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, Dark Angel, and a host of other shows. The somber tone, similar to Galactica thanks to shared producers, may turn off viewers otherwise attracted to Bionic Woman's premise, cast, or action scenes, which were better than in the original Lindsay Wagner series.

I'll be recording the latest premiere of Smallville, which will introduce Supergirl while continuing to eliminate older characters. On Thursdays, I've been playing City of Heroes online or running the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" teleconferencing team anyway. Tonight, I'll again be meeting Jacqui and other co-workers for dinner, probably at "Not Your Average Joe's" in Needham, Massachusetts. This coming weekend, my town will have street fair.

On the one hand, like The Batman, I've approved of the gradual shift toward the comic book continuity fans know and love, but on the other, the show's overuse of the "Kryptonite monster of the week" and soap opera aspects have annoyed me. Let's hope that Smallville's own cameos of Justice League members will continue to help it. There are more shows yet to debut, including supernaturally-themed Midnight and New Amsterdam.

Speaking of guest appearances, I've written a retrospective on Star Trek: the Next Generation for co-worker Ken G. at Showbits.net. It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years since I met Janice and other friends such as Dexter, not to mention the premiere of the influential space opera! Feel free to post comments there or at this blog.

Although the warm, dry weather may suggest otherwise, a busy autumn has arrived. Congratulations to Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y. on their new townhouse!

I took Friday, 21 September 2007, off from work to prepare for Dexter V.H. and Byron V.O.'s visit. Unfortunately, Byron had to return home to St. Louis from New York prematurely due to family illness, but college chum Dex still came up from Brooklyn to the Boston area.

Janice left for a weekend in Maine, and I did some housecleaning and moved our lawn. Dexter arrived via bus and train by midafternoon, and we decided to quickly drive to Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fortunately, early rush-hour traffic wasn't too bad.

Thomas K.Y. came over at about 6:00 p.m. for dinner at Bertucci's Brick Oven Ristorante, which out-of-towners such as Dex, Byron, and former co-worker Jacqui M.D. like to eat at when they visit. We hung out at my place afterward. Thomas suggested watching a video or going into Boston, but Dexter was a bit tired, and we couldn't agree on a movie. We did watch Dex's DVD of the unaired pilot episode for NBC's Heroes, which was pretty interesting.

On Saturday, Dexter and I watched some cartoons (more on that in my next posting), and we had lunch with Thomas at the Minado sushi buffet near where I work in Framingham, Mass. We met Beruk A. at a nearby Newbury Comics, and Thomas left before Dexter's D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition one-shot game at my second duplex in Needham Heights, Mass.

We were pleasantly surprised at attendance for the space opera scenario. Although the role-players trickled in over the course of a few hours, the streamlined rules system and everyone's familiarity with George Lucas' universe made character creation simple. If this is indeed a preview of Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition, I'm there next summer!

I played Sullustan Scout "Gevo," and Beruk rolled up a human Scoundrel named "Yanik." Brian W. then created Duros Fringer "Dor," Greg D.C. was Jawa Commando "Jesek," and Byron eventually dialed in as Bothan trader "Raynor." Our team met and fought Imperial forces in the period at the end of Star Wars [Episode III]: Revenge of the Sith.

I thought the game was among our more fun occasional weekend one-shots, not least because I got to play rather than act as Game Master for a change. More information on that and our regular D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" and "Holy Steel" fantasy sessions can be found at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

Alas, Dexter didn't get to go sightseeing in Boston, partly due to numerous telephone calls and text messages from friends and family late into the night, but we did watch more season premieres on DVR. After brunch at Friendly's (another local chain), Dex caught a ride with a friend back to metropolitan New York. I didn't get online for the City of Heroes supergroup, but I wrote my update for the previous night's game.

I met Jacqui, who was in town from Des Moines for business, at her hotel. We ended up stopping by the Borders Books in the Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton before grabbing dinner at Bertucci's (again, for me). We chatted about travel, health, work, and television. We'll probably go out again with co-workers Michele L.D'F. and Bob R. tomorrow night.

On Monday, I continued catching up on reading and writing, if not on sleep. Janice returned by midday, and we had lunch at Acapulco's in Newton. Janice and I then shopped for groceries and watched the previous weekend's shows and premieres. After a summer with several houseguests, I'm looking forward to more time with Janice and some genre entertainment conventions in the coming months.

Next time: SFTV roundup!

Avast, mateys! As some co-workers and fellow Yahoo blogger Steve M.R. have observed, today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day," hence the photo above (from my Halloween party in 2002).

Speaking of silliness, on Friday, 14 September 2007, I enjoyed the latest season finale of USA's Psych, which featured Kevin Sorbo as guest star. In addition to the sleuth comedy, it was fun to see Sorbo the next day in a SciFi Channel rebroadcast of Kull the Conqueror, closer to his roots in Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. Yes, the fantasy shows of the 1990s were campy, but they also had heart and started out with decent writing, acting, and special effects.

In preparation for this coming weekend's premiere of the final episodes of Avatar: the Last Airbender, I watched the extras on the animated series' Season 2 DVDs. The use of Chinese mythology, real-world martial arts styles, and strong voice acting and plotting have made this the one of the best shows on television, period: http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=18897

David I.S., Janice, and I disagree with some of the British magazines and fans who've found Series 3 of Doctor Who to be inferior to its predecessors. The recent "weeping angels" episode was excellent and continued demonstrating Doctor Who's themes of the paradoxes of time travel, creepy foes, and common folk rising to extraordinary challenges. We'll see if conspiratorial spin-off Torchwood can leave the shadow of its long-running parent show.

On Saturday, I watched the Highlander: the Source TV movie. I've been a fan of that modern fantasy franchise since the original movie ("There can be only one!") and the strong television series. Unfortunately, The Source more closely resembles the end of the series and the later movies in quality.

While it was nice to see Adrian Paul return to the role of the immortal "Duncan MacLeod" and other characters such as "Methos" and "Joe Dawson," there was no explanatory introduction to this chapter, Queen's classic rock music was used very little, and the overall story was a downer, even if the ending was hopeful. I wonder if the production in Eastern Europe ran out of money, hence the lack of character-development scenes and an aborted cinematic release. I'd give this only a 5 out of 10.

We'll have an embarrassment of riches with new genre TV in the next few weeks with the return of Legion of Superheroes and The Batman this coming weekend, as well as Heroes and Smallville. More water-cooler conversation fodder! I'll cautiously give the "re-imagined" Bionic Woman a try, and I look forward to the cast shakeup on Stargate: Atlantis.

The Boston-area role-playing group is also settling down after some seasonal turnover. We miss Paul J./"Rache," Bri/"Rhiannen," Alex J./"Karril," Serena, Byron V.O./"Kemosh," and James B./"Ib," but new members Ben R./"Slink" and John C.M./"Nebi" have gotten along fairly well with the rest of the "Broken Chains:" Beruk A./"Kunal," Greg D.C./"Killian," and Brian W./"Mumtaz."

In that D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" Arabian fantasy campaign, the current Tuesday night party has fought devils in the Halmed Desert and arrived at the city of Falit, where allies and enemies await… http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/

The now-Thursday night "Holy Steel" teleconferencing team of Byron/"Ibrahim" and Dexter V.H./"Faelonia" is still working to overcome technical difficulties. Byron's Paladin and Dex's Drow Ranger have set out from the seaport of Sileran and are headed south, toward Falit. But first, the higher-level adventurers must cross the contested Bay of Ethalgo…

In other gaming news, I've continued participating in City of Heroes, although I fear that I'll fall further behind David I.S., Shari S., Kim A.G., Steve M.R., and Thomas K.Y.'s online characters, since they play more often than just Sunday mornings.

On Sunday, Sept.16, Janice and I took advantage of the cool, clear weather and went to the King Richard's Faire in Carver, Mass. The Renaissance festival was as entertaining as ever, even if prices for admission and food have increased. Performers and attendees walking around in (sort of) period garb, merchants of impressive blades (Starfire Swords and Angel Sword), and of course, fair food made for a pleasant afternoon.

The Emmys that evening were a relief after the mess that was the MTV Video Music Awards the previous weekend. While my favorites (Heroes) didn't win, the number of good actors in most categories and the more polished production numbers were easier to watch. However, fewer viewers tuned in than in past years.

On Monday night, we attended a Needham Adult Education class: "Cooking With Dave at Sweet Basil." It has been some time since Janice and I took such a class, which we used to enjoy when we were members of the Smithsonian Associates back in Virginia.

Chef Dave was friendly and informal in his small restaurant, preparing a hearty mushroom hot and sour soup, a fresh salad of field greens with roasted chicken and maple curry vinaigrette, and braised beef with stewed tomatoes, Gorgonzola cheese, and roasted potatoes. The demonstration and presentation were wonderful, and I particularly liked the stew-like soup. Most of the ingredients were locally produced. The dinner was a bit rich (lots of extra virgin olive oil), but I would definitely recommend Sweet Basil for an occasional treat.

In fact, as I've noted in previous blog entries about The Phantom Gourmet and various shows on the Food Network, the Boston area and Needham have become more "foodie"-friendly in the years we've lived here, with a variety of cuisines well represented. My only complaint is a lack of diners and delicatessens as old working-class neighborhoods gentrify with "McMansions."

This coming weekend, Dexter and Byron plan to visit from New York and St. Louis, respectively. Janice will be in Maine, so I'll have a weekend with "da boys." I'm using some vacation leave on Friday and Monday. Dex hopes to run a D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition one-shot on Saturday night. I'm not sure that turnout for the weekend game will be strong or that we'll get to proper sightseeing, but we should have time to hang out and catch up. Next weekend, former co-worker and fellow genre fan Jacqui M.D. will be in town from Des Moines, Iowa.

As always, too much to do and never enough time and money! Arrgh, shiver me timbers…

On Friday, 9 September 2007, Janice and I watched the satisfying series finale of Disney's Kim Possible. The light-hearted cartoon about the titular teenaged heroine and her sidekick/boyfriend Ron Stoppable (and his naked mole rat Rufus) was part of a recent wave of science fiction-tinged animation that included Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron.

After enjoying the latest episode of Series 3 of Doctor Who, we checked out spin-off Torchwood on BBC America. Involving less time travel than its parent show, Torchwood's protagonist is "Capt. Jack Harkness," a bisexual adventurer working to stop alien incursions and reverse-engineer their technology.

More adult and slightly darker in tone than Doctor Who, the premiere of Torchwood reminded us of The X-Files or a more serious Special Unit 2. We'll see if Torchwood can develop suspenseful stories and sympathetic characters while trying to get out of the shadow of Doctor Who's reputation as a children's program(me). David Tennant's appearance on Graham Norton's ribald talk show may not have been child-friendly, but it was funny.

While Janice was volunteering at an Animal Rescue League event in Natick, Massachusetts, I continued to catch up on reading, finally filing a few months' worth of comic books. Thomas had again hoped to meet, but I ended up having an early dinner with Janice at "Firefly's Barbeque."

I particularly liked recent issues of the all-female team in DC Comics' Birds of Prey, IDW's Star Trek: Year Four, Marvel's revived Thor, and Dark Horse's Buffy: the Vampire Slayer–Season 8. We liked Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 a bit more than Mice Templar, but both are good anthropomorphic fantasies in the style of Redwall.

It's interesting to note that two of the titles mentioned above are faithful continuations of existing franchises: "Star Trek" and "Buffy." While the "big two" publishers drag on with retconning crossovers — DC's weekly Countdown and Marvel's post-"Civil War" Skrull storyline, among others — some of the best art and writing can be found among smaller studios, even for fans of costumed superheroes.

On Sunday, after playing City of Heroes, I continued filing comic books (photographs and miniatures are next on my to-do list), we also watched the Season 2 finale of Alton Brown's foodie travelogue Feasting on Asphalt. Along with improvisational comedy Thank God You're Here, we've seen a few good shows in the odd period between cable's summer and broadcast television's autumn seasons.

The MTV Video Music Awards, which Janice attended back in the late 1980s, were lackluster this year, starting with Britney Spears' ill-advised comeback performance and Sarah Silverman's weak opening monologue. The decentralized performances, insipid category names, seizure-inducing lineup screens, and lip-synching only reminded me that I'm no longer the teenaged target audience for that television channel.

Hip-hop and pop music dominated, with the only representatives of rock and roll partying with the Foo Fighters, and Tommy Lee and Kid Rock brawling during part of the talented Alicia Keys' act. I do agree with Justin Timberlake's comment that MTV should play more videos rather than reality shows.

Of the nominees, I liked Amy Winehouse's soulful and unfortunately too-personal "Rehab," U2 and Green Day's protest of New Orleans' post-Katrina treatment in "The Saints Are Coming," Carrie Underwood as a woman scorned in "Before He Cheats," and Peter, Bjorn, and John's hypnotically catchy "Young Folks."

Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce/Shakira's "Beautiful Liar" did deserve their awards, as did Black-Eyed Peas alumna Fergie. Chris Brown danced up a storm in the most genuinely entertaining performance of the night, paying tribute to Michael Jackson (who, outside of his scandalous personal life, was an influential musician 25 years ago). What music are you listening to?