Starbase 66

Amid a hailstorm of technical gremlins Ro, Camille, and the Admiral manage to discuss Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the DC Batwomen debacle.

We're all over the map as we catch up on what happened during our summer break.

The Admiral is joined by Boz and Goggs of The Little Pod of Horrors to talk about their wonderful podcast.

The crew are joined by Ari from the Do Ask Don't Tell podcast to talk about first contact in genre fiction.

Our good friend Alice from Down Under joins the Admiral for a chat about fandom and cons in Australia.

Scott Matteson of the Through the Jumpgate podcast joins us to discuss the recent film, and Superman in general.

In this episode Camille, Unkk, and Rick attempt to make a dent in the mountain of backlogged email.

The Admiral is joined by Mary, Mike, and Shane to discuss, with many spoilers, the ups and downs of the Doctor's latest exploits.

Richard Smith joins us to talk about Star Trek Into Darkness, a film so important even Kennedy comes out of hiding.

After welcoming Camille as a permanent member of the team, the crew reminisce about the fantastic contributions of Ray Harryhausen to the art of film making.

Do you love 'em? Do you hate 'em? Well we invited the Nerd Hurdlers, Jakob and Mandi, and our editor extraordinaire, Mike Mould to join us in a chat about spoilers. (oh, and be warned, there be spoilers aplenty this week)

In honor of Ro Karen's recent nuptials the valiant crew take on the subject of love and relationships in genre fiction.

Once again the denizens of Starbase 66 are thrilled to be joined by the ever effervescent Suzie Plakson as she tell us all about her wonderful new audio/ebook The Return of King Lillian.

Join Unkk, Karen, and Rick as they explore the ways Science Fiction deals with, or doesn't deal with death. Show notes: An unsettling confluence of tragedies inspired this week's topic, as history marks three space-related anniversaries: the Apollo 1 launch pad fire on January 27, 1967; the Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986; and the Columbia explosion on February 1, 2003. In light of the real sacrifices made by these astronauts, the Starbase crew ponders the treatment of death within the fictionalized worlds of Trek and other genre fictions. First, however, the Admiral blows off a bit more steam over the continuing Abramsgate saga. What is it this time? Abrams is now signed on to direct whatever new Star Wars movie will be coming down the pipeline. After he unequivocally stated he would not be directing the next Star Wars movie. Shocking that Abrams would lie to people, eh? The Admiral then made the mistake of referencing one of the Bajoran's favorite musical groups and she completely lost the gist of the conversation while this song played in her head: Oh, those bad boys of hard rock. Those Toxic Twins. Those...woah. WTAF? What the hell were we talking about? Oh yeah. Star Wars. And something about 3-D. And prequels. Or not. And how to bootleg 3-D movies. Or not. Then more space talk. Iran. Iran so far away. Far enough to kickstart the American program again? Who knows? Super Nick Cage and Amazon Wonder Woman? Emo teen Dawson's Smallville. Arrow. CW fun. But, hey, Wonder Woman, eh? Then comes the main event. How do some of our favorite genre shows handle (or avoid handling) death? Flippantly? [P.S.--Want this shirt? Go see the Geeks.] Futilely? Ham-fistedly? Snoringly? Lamely? Poignantly? Pointlessly? Eternally? Assignment from the Admiral: Read this book. You'll learn something valuable. And on that note, we bid you adieu. And we salute the missing Kanadian and that animated hero Duck Dodgers with this festive one-two punch:

Welcome to our first show of 2013(yeah, we're still playing catch-up here)! Karen, Unkk, and Rick shoot the solar wind as they chat about what they did during the break, and what's to come in the near future. Show notes: The Admiral kicks things off with an explanation as to why this might or might not be a properly numbered episode, giving Ro cause to question his empathy for the Starbase's OCD contingent. [All listeners will be pleased to know that all "lost episodes" were properly retrieved and have already been posted...therefore, rejoice! This episode truly is Episode 118!] The Admiral then shocks his crew by declaring that...he has read a book! An honest-to-goodness, paper-and-ink, checked-out-of-the-library book. The book in question? John Scalzi's Redshirts. Listen as his book review devolves (as most discussions on the Starbase are wont to do) into talk of sweaty, sex-crazed aliens, before morphing into graphic novel talk from Ro...which was really just a rehash of a loopy lupine review already posted elsewhere. Starbase 66: The International Polyglot Podcast! More discourse on that ER doctor's Disney movie, while the crew once more ponders if it would be at all possible to improve the prequels and Jar Jar. I think we know what the answer is. Oh yeah, Disney owns the Dark Side now. Or maybe the Dark Side has finally just reclaimed its long-lost Sith. We're not quite sure. We do know that George Lucas might still be a questionable writer and director, but he's now officially off-limits for life for this small act of kindness. [Oh, and there's also some obviously now outdated speak of Abrams douchery of old, which has now been replaced with Abrams douchery of new, specifically pertaining to switching franchise loyalty. The Bajoran wishes him godspeed and good riddance. May the Force be with him as he eviscerates someone else's franchise.] So what does the Disney purchase mean for the future of Star Wars? More movies? Post-quels? Will that television show finally happen? Are the other Disney princesses ready for this particular rabble-rouser? The Admiral then puts to recording one of the most dangerous questions imaginable. Hobbit speak ensues briefly before the Admiral drops this "special" surprise on Ro, which admittedly leads to a bit of confusion at first for the Bajoran. Things made exclusively for women and called something like "floral kiss" do not automatically make her think of netbooks. Just sayin'... Will there even be a market for any netbooks anymore? Is it necessary to have a special PC for women? Why not? There's a special Diet Dr. Pepper for dudes! Hey, have you seen this? Now you have: UNKK then launches into his list of things that he believes will become obsolete in 2013. What's on the chopping block? What might survive the year, just in a diminished capacity? What might continue to flourish? What might make a rebound? What do the other crewmembers think? What do you think? Ro follows up with some of the movies of 2013 that might actually lure the curmudgeonly crowd-hating Bajoran out into a theater to see. Lots to see,