All The Science Fiction – Page 23

Sci-fi tv show book – “The World of the Orville” (Titan Books, 2018) – Jeff Bond interview

Jeff Bond has written multiple books on science fiction shows and movies. He was executive editor of Geek magazine, Senior Editor at CFQ, and he writes about film music for the Hollywood Reporter. We talked about his recent book on the show The Orville.

0:52 – Jeff talks about how he got into writing a book on The Orville. He’s been a sci-fi fan since he was a kid.

4:01 – Jeff talks about how Star Trek has become it’s own genre.

5:47 – Jeff talks about how the producers of The Orville were not trying to make a

Galaxy Quest kind of show.

10:03 – Jeff talks about the tone and goals of the show. The producers drew from Star Trek TOS and the Twilight Zone.

13:08 – Jeff talks about the actors and acting in the show.

16:29 – Jeff talks about how good Adrianne Palicki is in the show.

21:00 – Jeff talks about Seth as the captain of the ship and the set of The Orville.

23:59 – Jeff talks about how they did the casting and how they’ve brought in a lot of people who have worked on various Star Trek projects.

27:19 – Jeff talks about how he organized the book and his interviews with the production people on the show. The book is sort of a “making of” and also a bit of a technical manual for the show. Jeff talks about how the ship was designed.

33:13 – Jeff compares the show to Star Trek TNG.

35:45 – Jeff talks about the show’s budget and also the design of the set, lighting, costumes, and make-up.

42:06 – Jeff talks about technical differences the show has from other tv shows.

44:43- Jeff talks about the writing process for the show.

57:05 – Jeff talks about the design and music of the credit sequence.

58:39 – Jeff talks about the music on the show.

Links of interest

https://titanbooks.com/9462-the-world-of-the-orville/

https://twitter.com/lazymodeler?lang=en

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Jeff Bond

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, sci-fi, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, television, The Orville, Seth MacFarlane, spaceships

Classic science fiction – “The Forever War” (Titan Comics, 2017) – Joe Haldeman interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Joe Haldeman is a prolific sci-fi writer who has won numerous awards for his work. His most significant novel is The Forever War which also had two follow on novels. His trilogy has recently been released in comic book form and I spoke to him about his time in Vietnam and about his writing.

1:13 – Joe talks about why he writes sci-fi and what he enjoyed in sci-fi.

1:57 – Joe talks about how Vietnam inspired Forever War.

4:00 – Joe was told he could choose a job when he was drafted but instead they made him a combat engineer-Pioneer. He cleared paths for troops.

8:00 – Joe talks about how Vietnam affected how he wrote about character interactions in the Forever War.

10:24 – Joe talks about the sexuality of the novel and mentions a gay couple he knew in Vietnam, two medics who shared a tent.

13:47 – Joe talks about the serious wound he received in Vietnam and the hospitals he went to in Vietnam. He ended up in charge of the library and the game room.

18:16 – Joe was in Vietnam from February 1968 to February 1969 and was in the Central Highlands in places like Pleiku. His unit moved around in helicopters but they used trucks to move their whole base about three times.

20:13 – Joe talks about booby traps used in Vietnam.

21:36 – Joe talks about the wound he received. He talks about what he did while recovering.

31:57 – Joe doesn’t want people to feel pro-war feelings when they read Forever War.

35:06 – He and his wife went to Mexico after the war.

44:00 – Joe and his wife started the ICON convention 43 years ago and still attend.

45:40 – Sci-fi convention and writing has made Joe more of a public speaker.

51:06 – A lot of magazines used to fill their pages with stories that were made to order.

54:04 – Joe loves reading about new solar systems and planets.

58:04 – Joe talks about how he felt when the US landed on the moon. He was in mexico at the time.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Joe Haldeman

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, writer, novelist, Forever war, sci-fi, war, vietnam, wounds

Star Trek history – “Star Trek: A Cultural History” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) – M. Keith Booker interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

M. Keith Booker studies and teaches culture and literature. He worked as an engineer for many years before turning to the literary arts. He also has a passion for Star Trek and “nerd” stuff and we spoke about his latest book on Star Trek.

0:43 – Keith talks about how he got into writing on Star Trek. He’s been a fan for decades and has also studied cultural history for many years. He started as an engineer.

3:43 – Keith has written on high brow literature but also on comic books, film and tv.

4:47 – Keith talks about the book and says that it focuses on the Original Series. But he also touches on the other Star Trek series’ and how the Original Series influenced them.

6:23 – Keith talks about Irwin Allen.

6:53 – Keith talks about NBC’s plans for Star Trek.

10:00 – Keith talks about the Prime Directive in the show.

13:07 – Keith talks about the writing in the Original Series and how Roddenberry reached out to sci-fi writers.

17:38 – We talk about Spock and his parents.

19:45 – We talk about the fan mail the series got.

21:08 – Keith talks about why the third season had problems.

23:40 – Keith talks about the research he did for the book.

27:40 – Keith talks about the X-files where they had stand alone episodes but also a running plot line.

31:39 – We talk about Star Trek conventions and how they came about.

34:45 – Start Trek was made for adults rather than preious sci-fi which was made for kids.

36:30 – Science fiction in general was becoming more adult in this period.

55:50 – We talk about the Coen brothers.

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Keith Booker

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, star trek, the original series, x-files, irwin allen, gene roddenberry, spock, discovery, CBS, NBC, lost in space