Top 5 Series from the Sylvester McCoy Years

After the dust settled from all the backroom infighting, Doctor Who survived for another season. The only casualty being Colin Baker was out and Sylvester McCoy was in as the Seventh Doctor.

McCoy was older, and reminds me more of a cross between the quirkiness of Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor, the flamboyance of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, and the darker moods of Peter Davison’s Fifth Doctor.

There certainly was a dark undertone to the Doctor in most of the scripts during the McCoy era. This might be a byproduct of using so many writers who had never written for Doctor Who before. Additionally, there was a new Script Editor.

It’s a shame that the show ended when it did. Special Effects were pretty minimal at best, and looked pretty bad compared to other shows of its time; Star Wars being a perfect example. A large part was due to the shoe-string budget producers were stuck with.

Something changed with Season 26 because things didn’t look as dated. A perfect example were when the Daleks shot people. I had to double check whether I was watching a special DVD with new effects, or not. They looked crisp.

* * *

1 – REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS - The best Dalek themed series in quite some time. The pace kept me interested pretty much from beginning to end. Not nearly the campiness in some of the earlier McCoy series. Neat Easter eggs if you know much of the series history and pay attention to it.

2 – BATTLEFIELD - King Arthur in present day! Been done before in TV. But, the twist being they’re aliens. Worked very well to keep me entertained. Just the right length for what they had. When Ace pulled the sword I wondered where they were going with it.

3 – TIME AND THE RANI - So much better than the very first “Rani” program. According to the DVD extras, the authors wrote this series for Colin Baker, which makes me wonder what had to be cut to make room for the regeneration skit. The wardrobe part of the regeneration seemed dumb. With Tom Baker it worked. With Sylvester McCoy it seemed just like a copy of the first.

4 – PARADISE TOWERS - Too much campiness with this one. The cleaners are dressed in uniforms that resemble Nazis, and the head guy looked like he had a Hitler mustache in Episode 1, which becomes a full mustache by the end of the series. Plot isn’t too bad. Wonder if New Who’s “Beast Below” drew upon this for inspiration. Sure wouldn’t mind seeing having the Doctor visit this place again to see how things changes, especially with the 13th Doctor being a female now. A bit of a Road Warrior vibe to it.

5 – SURVIVAL - Pretty simple mystery plot, morphing into a story of survival (hence the title). Sure wish we’d visited the cheetah people on a different circumstance. I think they’d be kind of cool to get to know, especially if it had been the Fourth Doctor. The Master skates through yet again. Wish they’d come up with a way to leave him dead. An OK way for the series to go out (though they might not have known about it at that time). Not great. But, not horrendously bad either.

6 - Delta and the Bannerman
7 - The Happiness Patrol
8 - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
9 - Silver Nemesis
10 - Dragonfire
11 - The Curse of Fenric
12 - Ghost Light

* * *

And so this ends my end-to-end run through of all episodes of Classic Doctor Who. It took three months, and that was pretty much most of what I actually watched.

There were many enjoyable episodes. But, it was clear that the longer the show ran, the longer in the tooth it started becoming. I suppose that’s to be expected. How many different plot lines could there actually be? Additionally, the BBC saddled them with a meager budget, which didn’t match pace with other science fiction shows of the time.

The final series DVD, Survival, briefly mentioned some plans for Season 27, which were intriguing. (Ace going off to Gallifrey to be trained as a Time Lord). But, had the show continued, it’s quite possible it might have died a few more episodes down the line, and prevented the relaunch of the series with Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor.

* * *

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 1996’s The Doctor Who Movie. But, I have issues with it, and am glad it never made it to series form.

After a few attempts to entice the BBC into restarting the series, the American Fox Broadcasting Network approached them about possibly restarting the series for American television. This idea was rolled back to a 90 minute movie which would serve as a pilot to judge interest.

So much was changed when compared to the original series. Kudos to them for bringing back Sylvester McCoy for a regeneration sequence. But, it had such a violent ending to the Seventh Doctor, albeit typical of American television.

We were introduced to Paul McGann, as the Eighth Doctor. His portrayal, for the most part, made me think of past Doctors, and I see myself easily getting used to him. But, I wish they hadn’t introduced the whole love interest aspect (two things American television is good for, sex and violence). Judging from the ending, Had the movie spawned an American television series, he would have apparently had a difference companion, which means they wasted the time sexualizing a character who had been pretty asexual for over 30 years.

Taking nothing away from Eccleston, I really wish McGann had had the opportunity to return to his role when the BBC restarted the series. He would have still been young enough. At the very least, I would have liked to have seen a regeneration sequence, though I can imagine Russell T. Davies decided that it would have confused most viewers who had never seen Classic Who.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around The Master being some kind of snake creature that takes over bodies, more like the Mara in Kinda and Snakedance, than another Time Lord. Eric Roberts played the human character well. But, it was strange.

the movie felt too American, if that makes any sense. There was a flavor to Classic Who, which was British, and it goes beyond the accents and locations to make up that flavor. It just didn’t feel right.

Top 5 Series from the Colin Baker Years

Colin Baker holds the distinction of being the first person to play a character in a Doctor Who episode, and then eventually take on the lead role. (Peter Capaldi did the same when he appeared in the Fires of Pompeii and later became the 12th Doctor).

When we’re first introduced to him the confused Doctor is not nearly as bad as with Davison, and we’re hoping things are getting better. Sadly, we are introduced to the mean side of the Doctor as we’d never seen before, when he attacks his companion, Peri, accusing her of being a spy. He even goes as far as grabbing her by the throat and throwing her around.

This didn’t sit well with me, and apparently not with the audience when it aired back in the mid-1980s, garnering complaints from parents and watchdog groups.

Matching this chaotic nature of the Doctor was his choice of outfit. The cricket sweater was discarded for an eclectically colored jacket, which even the companion joked about it resembling a “coat of many colors” like the Holy Bible’s Joseph had.

Not to be outdone, Peri, his first companion dawned a tight pink number, which could’ve just as easily been spray painted on, and must’ve cause some consternation for parents being that the show was moved back to the Saturday afternoon time slot it enjoyed during the first four Doctors.

Two things to note when judging the Colin Baker era. There was a concerted effort to cancel Doctor Who by the new BBC Drama chair Michael Grade. After much fan hatred, they backed off, and brought back after an 18 month hiatus. This lopped off a whole year’s worth of Doctor Who series, and is the main reason why Colin Baker’s run is only 11 series long.

Secondly, is the underlying behind the scenes disagreements that the DVD extras talk about. Producer John Nathan-Turner had a preference not to bring back veteran series writers for whatever reason.

This came to a head during The Two Doctors and The Ultimate Foe. Robert Holmes, considered by many as the best Doctor Who writer of the time.

During writing The Ultimate Foe, Holmes was unable to complete the two episode series, and so script editor Eric Seward wrote one of them. But, disagreements with Nathan-Turner caused him to pull out of the project, leaving the production in a bind.

The married writing team of Pip and Jane Baker were called in, given pretty much nothing from the first script, and then commissioned to write the final episode with three days time.

* * *

1 – TIMELASH - Pretty good. Pretty obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are, and it keeps the interest all the way till the end. Good resolution, and I love the twist at the end.

2 – VENGEANCE OF VAROS - Apparently this one was controversial due to all the violence that’s running pretty much beginning to end. But, it is an important part of the plot. Sil is a bizarre character. I liked him at first. But, the more I heard his gurgling voice throughout the show, the more annoying it became. Very glad this was only two episodes (albeit the new 45 minute versions).

3 – TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS - This was the best of the “Trial of the Time Lord” series. It harkened back to the better Doctor Who series, and could’ve stood on its own without the ‘Trial’ wrapper. The Vervoid costumes weren’t that particularly bad. The new companion with no backstory was pretty jarring.

4 – REVELATION OF THE DALEKS - This was kind of a fun one. The DJ guy was the best character in the show. The new Davros was a bit trippy though. Surprised Doctor Who made a whole series wrapped around the subject of death, though it didn’t stay maudlin all the time, which helped.

5 – MIND WARP - Tough one to watch. Sil is back. But, his unique laugh is grating on the nerves this time around. Some second tier characters which appear and then just disappear. Knowing Peri was going to die before seeing this series made me sad as she was one of the more fun companions to watch, though they apparently changed the very ending after some pressure, and both her and the King’s characters didn’t really die. I love Brian Blessed’s character. Another larger than life portrayal. But, why’d he have to yell so much?

6 - The Two Doctors
7 - Attack of the Cybermen
8 - The Mysterious Planet
9 - The Twin Dilemma
10 - The Mark of the Rani
11 - The Ultimate Foe

Top 5 Series from the Peter Davison Years

Getting used to Peter Davison after spending a month watching Tom Baker was really hard.

It was interesting that the idea of the bumbling discombobulated Doctor really came into play with Davison. Yes, there was a bit with Tom Baker. However, it was nothing compared to what the viewer went through at the beginning of Castrovalva.

Over Davison’s run the Doctor never seemed to click like he did during Tom Baker’s term. The Tardis seemed to be constantly breaking down, or simply going where it wanted to.

It was also during this time, that companions seemed to grow on trees, having three of them at a time being commonplace. Unfortunately, having so many people share the spotlight with the Doctor just watered down things. Plus, none of the companion characters seemed to be as well developed as Tom Baker’s Sarah Jane Smith.

But, beyond that, they introduced Turlough, who I think had to be one of the worst companions ever. The whole premise that we was supposed to be killing the Doctor is reminiscent of The Master, only with a yellow streak which had him running away from danger every time anything went wrong.

* * *

1 – CAVES OF ANDROZANI - Tightly written. Has a lot of qualities of the Phantom of the Opera, including Jax’s mask. Everything looked good except the scene where the Doctor is retrieving the spider venom. That was pretty hokey. Davison had nowhere near the run that his four predecessors did, and I think it says something that his final show was what many consider his best.

2 – THE FIVE DOCTORS - Much better than the first “reunion” show though it was disappointing that Tom Baker wasn’t really in it, only using unaired footage from Shada. The stand-in for William Hartnell as amazing. Too bad that Jamie only had a cameo part due to contract conflicts. Wish it was another half hour in there, and they’d delved more into the tomb of Rassilon.

3 – FOUR TO DOOMSDAY - Such a rich story from nearly the very beginning. Sets were great. No real “monsters” per se so makes it easier to enjoy without the hokey makeup. One of the better ones in a long time from beginning to end.

4 – CASTROVALVA - Very nice start to the new Doctor. The script wanders for quite some time. But, it keeps busy. Very pretty looking. Constant music bed in the background is definitely different that what was done before.

5 – PLANET OF FIRE - Finally wrapped up Turlough, even though he was weak in this show too. Good backstory that was rolled into the plot line. Sure looked like the Master was finished off, though we all know he’ll eventually come back.

6 - Black Orchid
7 - Snakedance
8 - Enlightenment
9 - Warriors of the Deep
10 - Kinda
11 - The King’s Daemons
12 - Frontios
13 - Mawdryn Undead
14 - Terminus
15 - Resurrection of the Daleks
16 - The Visitation
17 - Arc of Infinity
18 - Earthshock
19 - The Awakening
20 - Time-Flight

Top 5 Series from the Tom Baker Years

Tom Baker was probably the very first Doctor I was exposed to thanks to KQED, in San Francisco. I can vaguely remember watching the show. I think it was on Saturday afternoons on the local PBS channel, KQED.

With his flowing multi-colored scarf and oversized floppy hat, Baker took the character to flamboyant levels high above that of the dapper Pertwee. It was the 1970s, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise.

Each week enriched the character of the Doctor, keeping even the most ardent fan interested.

Sadly, midway through the Tom Baker era, the Doctor seemed to be a little tired at times. Gone were his trademark outfit, and even his delivery seemed to be not as crisp. (Yes, he had a scarf. But, it was nearly the same color as his new jacket, so wasn’t as noticeable).

* * *

This Doctor took quite a while to go through as he was the longest running of any of the actors to play the role. In all Tom Baker appeared in 172 episodes. To keep that in perspective for NuWho fans, David Tennant only had 47 episodes. The Top 10 were really hard to finalize. I ranked things as I went along, and then when it came time to publish this list a few of them were shifted up or down depending on what I remembered.

1 – SEEDS OF DOOM - Very tightly written and keeps the interest from beginning to end. Almost wish this was a six part series. Effects were great, which helped carry things along.

2 – GENESIS OF THE DALEKS - Love/hate relationship with this one. The Kelads clearly are a symbol of the Nazis, which I get. But, the Thralls seem to be a representation of Israel and the IDF. Nice tight script by Terry Nation which explains how the Daleks came to existence. Now the episode where the Twelfth Doctor meets the young Davros makes a bit more sense.

3 – THE SUN MAKERS - I can see why this is Louise Jamison’s favorite series. Leela spends a lot of time on camera, including when not with the Doctor. K-9 is growing on me. Plot line keeps bouncing around so keeps the interest.

4 – THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA - Pretty well done historical piece with the sci-fi injected in. The first few minutes had me scratching my head, especially when they ended back in the 1500s. But, the it was blended well, with no over acting on anybody’s part.

5 – ROBOT - So far this is the best first episode for any of the first four Doctors. Despite being hokey at times, it keeps the interest. Probably helped having former script editor Terrence Dicks write the story.

6 - Planet of Evil
7 - The Talons of Weng-Chiang
8 - The Brain of Morbius
9 - The Ribos Operation
10 - The Androids of Tara
11 - The Horns of Nimon
12 - State of Decay
13 - Horror of Fang Rock
14 - The Robots of Death
15 - The Face of Evil
16 - The Hand of Fear
17 - Warriors’ Gate
18 - Logopolis
19 - City of Death
20 - The Keeper of Traken
21 - Terror of the Zygons
22 - The Pirate Planet
23 - The Stones of Blood
24 - The Power of Kroll
25 - The Destiny of the Daleks
26 - The Invasion of Time
27 - The Armageddon Factor
28 - The Ark in Space
29 - The Invisible Enemy
30 - The Deadly Assassin
31 - Underworld
32 - Shada
33 - Pyramids of Mars
34 - Creature from the Pit
35 - Full Circle
36 - The Android Invasion
37 - Image of the Fehndahl
38 - Meglos
39 - Nightmare of Eden
40 - Revenge of the Cybermen
41 - The Sontaran Experiment
42 - The Leisure Hive

Top 5 Series from the Jon Pertwee Years

With Patrick Troughton deciding to not renew his contract as the Doctor, several changes were made.

Jon Pertwee assumed the role, becoming the third Doctor. Where Troughton was short, dark hair and frumpily dressed most of the time, Pertwee was taller, dressed like a dandy with a grey bouffant hairdo. The two couldn’t look any further apart.

It was also decided to return the Second Doctor’s two assistants to the place in their lives where they first met the Doctor, effectively wiping their memories of any adventures they’d had with him.

Besides the clean slate of actors, another major change was the switch to color. The previous six seasons had been filmed in black and white, which made the 1960s seem so much longer ago than the rest of Classic Doctor Who.

With all the monsters and exotic sites in glorious color, it was sure to be a feast for the eye. Unfortunately, due to BBC belt tightening, it was decided to have the Doctor banished to Earth. Rather than the Doctor going to the monsters, the monsters would have to come to him.

While they did loosen up on that requirement a bit, the Pertwee Years definitely do not have the variety of sets of any of the other Doctors.

I was a bit disappointed that his first companion, Liz, was only around for a few series. But, their writing her off was providential because the actor turned out to be pregnant and would have had to leave anyways. Whereas Liz was a brilliant scientist in her own right, Jo Grant was ditzy, and got on the Doctor’s nerves immediately. However, by the time she left the series, she’d matured quite a bit.

* * *

Unlike the Swiss Cheese availability of the previous two Doctors, all episodes are accounted for from the Pertwee Years. If DVDs are not available, they can be viewed on the Britbox streaming service.

1 – THE TIME WARRIOR - A really simple script, and a great mashup of historical and science fiction genres. The first appearance of the Sontarans, and not overdone. Almost wish it had another episode just to give us more information on the Sontarans.

2 – PLANET OF THE DALEKS - A good game of Cat and Mouse from beginning till end. At first I thought it was the same planet as in Mission to the Unknown. But, it’s not. Looked like Jo was a goner.

3 – THE DÆMONS - This would be a good one to watch on Halloween. Very unusual compared to most Doctor Who series that were done back then. The Master looked particularly creepy when dressed in the robes. Azal looked a bit on the fake side. But, that was more than made up for by Bok, his little silver colored henchmen! One of my favorite extra characters in the whole series!

4 – THE SEA DEVILS - Another episode which seemed pretty unique. Loved the fortress location, and the Sea Devil creatures. Seemed rather pirate-like. The connection with the Silurians is still not believable for me. But, I can get past that one. One of the better scenes is where they’re emerging from the sea, in a chain mail type outfit. The whispery voice was funny.

5 – THE CURSE OF PELADON - Loved some things in this series. Hated other things. The Ice Warriors reminded me of Marvin the Martian from Disney cartoons, and were really dumbed down. Didn’t seem right compared to previous treatments of them. While Alpha Centuri looks just as comical, it was fresh with no backstory. Kudos to David Troughton. He played the conflicted Peladon nicely. I think my favorite part of the series was the Doctor’s hypnotic song when encountering Aggedor.

6 - The Monster of Peladon
7 – Doctor Who and the Silurians
8 – Invasion of the Dinosaurs   
9 - Colony in Space
10 - Planet of the Spiders
11 - Terror of the Autons
12 - Carnival of Monsters
13 - The Green Death
14 - The Mutants
15 - Inferno
16 - Death to the Daleks
17 - Frontier in Space
18 - The Three Doctors
19 - The Time Monster
20 - The Claws of Axos
21 - Day of the Daleks
22 - The Mind of Evil
23 - Spearheads from Space
24 - The Ambassadors of Death

Top 5 Series from the Patrick Troughton Years

In 1966, due to William Hartnell’s failing health, a change was made in who played the Doctor.

There was concern with recasting such an iconic character, and so producers came up with the unique idea that Time Lords regenerate at the point where their bodies are weak and cannot continue, rather than dying off.

Replacing Hartnell was Patrick Troughton. The final episode sees Hartnell falling to the ground, with his face awash in a white glow as it slowly morphs to that of Troughton in an extreme close-up.

Unfortunately, video of this regeneration is lost, and only snippets of it exist.

* * *

As bad as Hartnell’s missing series count was, Troughton is even worst, with a huge portion missing.

Once again I’ve had to rely on recons heavily to be able to view all of Troughton’s series.  Below of the Top Five series, followed by a numerical listings of the remaining series.

Unlike the Hartnell Years, there was no bottom group which stood out are particularly bad. The War Games is a good example. It’s looked upon as one of the iconic series of classical Doctor Who. I ranked it as low as it is on a good part that it was way too long in my eyes compared to most series (it bulges out to 10 episodes!).

1 – THE MOONBASE – The Cybermen are back after their home world of Mondas had been destroyed in the previous season. By this time Jamie, the Scotsman from the 1700s is still getting us to the idea of traveling through time. It’s funny to see his reactions during this trip to the Moon. Like a kid in a candy store he goes bounding about, and ends up knocking himself silly. His first meeting with the Cybermen is comical as he rationalizes that they are the “Phantom Piper” a legend from his own place and time.

2 – THE POWER OF THE DALEKS – At the beginning we can tell there’s something big coming up. But, we’re not quite sure what. Then they make their appearance! Despite the humans acting like they have the situation firmly under control, you just knew it was going to go bad for them, with the Doctor having to bail them out. The pace of this Dalek series was much better than the previous attempts. Its such as shame the original recordings have been lost and we’ve had to rely on animations and reconstructions to watch this series.

3 – THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN – Another one of those rather unique looking episodes, being set in a Tibetan monastery. The Yeti were not the main bad guys. But, rather filled the henchmen role, and looked nothing like the real Yeti is supposed to be like. The big balls of fur with chicken feet and not real face gave them a comical appearance as they slowly lumbered towards their targets.

4 – THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN – A flavor of a dig in Ancient Egypt with the sterile environment of a laboratory. When the actual actors come wriggling out of their individual sarcophagus it sends a shiver down the spine. The one thing I didn’t like was the costume change of the Cybermen. The leader looked like a rigger with a hardhat.

5 – THE ICE WARRIORS – Our introduction to those formidable reptilian Martians who seemed so invincible. The fact the Earth society is so advanced, yet can’t seem to fight off the attack from the Teutonic looking Ice Warriors is what does it for me.

6 - The Underwater Menace
7 - The Web of Fear
8 - The Wheel in Space
9 - The Enemy of the World
10 - The Mind Robber
11 - Fury from the Deep
12 - The Seeds of Death
13 - The Krotons
14 - The Space Pirates
15 - The War Games
16 - The Evil of the Daleks
17 - The Invasion
18 - The Faceless Ones
19 - The Macra Terror
20 - The Dominators
21 - The Highlanders

Top 5 Series from the William Hartnell Years

After the July’s season finale with Peter Capaldi, I came to realize it’s going to be a long time before this year’s Christmas Special, and then a lot longer until Jodie Whittaker’s debut as the 13th Doctor, sometime in the Fall of 2018. What would I do?

To ease the withdrawals, I decided to visit the classic Doctor Who seasons, broadcast between 1963 and 1989. (Doctor Who episodes since 2005 are nicknamed NuWho to differentiate them from the original shows).

When I was growing up the local Public Broadcast System stations had carried the early Doctors, and I can vaguely remember watching some of them on Saturday afternoons with my father. But, I couldn’t tell you which ones we’d watched. They were most likely from the time of the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.

Besides that, I’d only seen a handful of episodes when I rented some DVDs from the local library a few years ago, so there was a vast amount of Classic Who waiting to be discovered.

As luck would have it, the Alameda County Library System has a huge collection of Doctor Who DVDs available.

On July 8th I took up the task to watch every Classic Doctor Who episode in order, from the pilot (An Unearthly Child) to Survival, when Doctor began what is known as “The Wilderness” by Doctor Who fans. At that point, the show went on a long 16 year hiatus, with only the American-based Doctor Who Movie (1996) to quench the thirsts of fans.

*  *  *

On November 23, 1963 an event happened which would effect the world in years to come. The British Broadcasting Corporation premiered a brand new Saturday afternoon television program, Doctor Who. Cast as the lead role was veteran actor William Hartnell.

Ratings much lower than hoped for, along with a more famous event from that date, nearly scuttled the program as quickly as it began. Fortunately for us, BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, had faith and didn’t cancel the show.

Originally, they had figured the show would run for only a few weeks. An addition to the Saturday children's programming time. they had no idea it would become the hit that it would, and so many people would be talking about the show nearly sixty years later!

* * *

Here are my Top Five series from the William Hartnell era. To rank them I watched all available DVDs for those seasons which are still fully intact, along with fan reconstructions posted to the internet.

Unfortunately, the price of video tape was at a premium during the early years of Doctor Who, and the BBC management had a general feeling that once a show was broadcast, it would not be rebroadcast. As a result many first and second Doctor episodes were wiped for reuse in taping other programs.

Thanks to diehard Doctor Who fans who audio taped the sound, along with taking photographs off their TV screens, we have Recons, where the missing episodes were reconstructed to reflect what the show looked like. The recons made by Loose Canon Productions, are considered some of the best efforts out there.

My rankings are generally based upon story-line, and not production qualities.

1 -  THE WEB PLANET – Probably not a Number One choice for many people. For me, the relationships between the regular cast and alien creatures works very well. It has a Magnificent Seven feeling to it.

2 – MARCO POLO – It’s really sad this is one of the series where the original episodes have been completely lost. The Recons give the richness of this series, and color production photos that exist portray all the glory of the sets, with their color and details.

3 – THE TENTH PLANET – Our introduction to the Cybermen, who might be my favorite of the major reoccurring bad buys. It’s entirely possible this one shows up as high as it does because of the recent reappearance of the Mondasian Cybermen in NuWho, with their heads looking more like something out of a surgical theater than a steel machine. The voices are creepier than the mechanical ones as well.

4 – THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER – The Doctor and companions are in peril from a powerful enemy, who tantalizes them with the possibility of escape simply by solving some riddles or games. The unique part about this one is that the Companions take up most of the screen time, rather than the Doctor due to Hartnell being on vacation at the time of shooting.

5 – THE GUNFIGHTERS – I’m pretty sure there are plenty of people scratching their heads over this one, or saying I’m crazy. At first the ballad, which seemed to play every few minutes drove me up the wall. But, after a while it it grew on me. This episode is tight from beginning to end, and very unique compared to most historical Doctor Who series.

The remaining Hartnell Years series are listed below. It should be said that a good chunk of them are very close in ranking, and could easily have jumped places for very little reasoning. The bottom seven were definitely disappointments to me, and probably won’t be watched again unless there was a specific reason.

6 – The Daleks
7 – The Myth Makers
8 - The Aztecs
9 - The Savages
10 - The Reign of Terror
11 - The Time Meddler
12 - The Romans
13 - The Rescue
14 - The Crusade
15 - The Ark
16 - The Daleks’ Master Plan
17 - The Smugglers
18 - The Sensorites
19 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth
20 - The Chase
21 - The War Machines
22 - An Unearthly Child
23 - Galaxy 4
24 - Planet of Giants
25 - The Space Museum
26 - The Keys of Marinus
27 - The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
28 - The Edge of Destruction
29 - Mission to the Unknown

They're different…yet the same

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States. I like to publicly thank every veteran, as well as current military personnel for their service to our country. Without it, this country would never have grown to be what it has become, nor would we be enjoying the rights that many take for granted.

Recently a Facebook friend posted a photo which lambasted the media because

"…Memorial Day is not about Veterans. Memorial Day is about those that did not come home to become veterans."

The very first comment said, "Same Dif…semantics!" suggesting they were the same; which was followed by back and forth dialog on whether there was a difference between the two holidays.

After doing some reading on the subject, it's become obvious that it's not as crystal clear as that photo suggested.

* * *

Unofficially Memorial Day is the older of the two holidays. The exact origin of Memorial Day is somewhat clouded, with groups of people both north AND south of the Mason-Dixon Line, claiming to have been the first.

In those days it was known as Decoration Day because loved ones would decorate the graves of fallen soldiers who gave their all during that family squabble known as the American Civil War.

It wasn't until 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day an official national holiday.

The day is generally filled with parades brimming with soldiers and floats, as well as air shows commemorating past conflicts, and the soldiers who took part. Unofficially it's also filled with BBQs marking the start of Summer.

California doesn't have the same fervor as the East Coast. That's probably because we have been lucky enough to have escaped military conflict on our soil, and invasion by foreign powers.

One of the most spectacular events takes place at America's National Cemeteries. But, it's a simple thing that probably escapes most people's thoughts today.

For several days beforehand thousands of volunteers go gravestone to gravestone making sure a small American flag graces the front of the marker.

If you have never visited Golden Gate National Cemetery on Memorial Day, you should. The utter silence with 140,000 tiny flags flapping in the breeze is awe inspiring.

Frankly, its more serene sight with quiet contemplation does more to commemorate our nation's sacrifice than any parade.

* * *

In 1919, WWI was fresh in the minds of many Americans. It's generally considered the first modern war due to many technological advances of the time such as tanks, airplanes and mustard gas.

On the one year anniversary of the end of WWI, President Calvin Coolidge declared every November 11th  a day to commemorate the end of hostilities.

(The official armistice went into effect 11-11-18, and because someone somewhere had a macabre sense of humor it took place, not at Midnight, but, at 11pm)

However, it wasn't until 1938 when Congress officially named it a Federal holiday.

Much to people's horror, WWI turned out not to be the War to End All Wars, to be joined in people's consciousness by the first true global war, WWII, and not to go unmentioned the Korean War.

Congress changed the holiday's name in 1954 to Veterans Day, to be inclusive of all veterans from all conflicts past and present.

What's forgotten by most, myself included until I was doing research for this post, was that Coolidge's original proclamation was not to celebrate those that returned live from the front, but to remember those that did not.

"To us in America, the reflections of armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

Arguably, Veterans Day is not observed nearly as much as Memorial Day. Probably, in part because of it falling two months after school has started, during the tail end of the Fall harvest and when BBQ weather has left much of the country.

Besides that, it's not part of a three day weekend, despite it originally becoming one under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Only four years after moving five holidays to Mondays; to create long weekends; Congress chose to move Veterans Day back to it's original date.

It should be noted that while Memorial Day is truly an American national holiday, "Veterans" Day is commemorated around the world in multiple nations, albeit under different names.

* * *

Today, I turned on the History Channel while having breakfast After all, it's Memorial Day. Surely they're going to have lots of historical goodness I could lose myself in today. Just ending was some program on WWII, only to be followed by episode after episode of Pawn Stars.

God bless Big Rick, Corey, Chumlee and the Old Man. But, little historical blurbs about items being pawned or sold just shouldn't cut it on Memorial Day.

I found a blog Tech Crunch editorial  frustrated by this as well, only to realize it was from 2011.

At least H2 (formerly known as History International), is running four episodes of Patton 360, a 2009 series on Gen. George S. Patton.

But, that's not even the full series.  They aired 3 episodes; then stuck an odd-ball episode of Target Earth about climate change, before repeating the same episodes! Thing is it's a 10 part series. Would it have killed them to have aired the whole thing today?

Thankfully, if a person has HBO or Amazon Prime Video, they have access to Band of Brothers and The Pacific; with NO commercial interruptions.

Sigh…

Olympic detox…Part Deux

 
Well, it's time for my biennial case of withdrawal from watching nearly wall-to-wall Olympic coverage for the last couple of weeks. Last time it was London. This time it's Sochi.

The Winter Olympics have always been my favorite. Don't get me wrong. I can just as easily get lost in the Summer Games. But, it's the Winter Games that I'm especially fond of. Not sure if it's the hockey, the skiing, or just the scenes of clean white snow that seems so pure, especially back growing up as a 10-year-old kid.

Up until 1998, we were pretty much stuck with whatever they were broadcasting on NBC (or CBS and ABC before that). Every Olympiad would add additional hours of coverage. But, it was still only a single channel.

Then, in 2002, coverage expanded exponentially by use of their family of channels; namely adding MSNBC, CSNBC. More channels equaled more coverage. Simple as that.

However, that was yet another proverbial drop in the bucket. As the Internet reached its maturity, they realized they could offer a virtual cornucopia of coverage by streaming events.

I was able to watch the local cable channel on the TV, while streaming something else on my computer. This included some sports not normally covered on broadcast TV.

You could probably count on one hand the amount of hours devoted to curling in 1998. Now, with streaming, you could watch whole matches, and ALL matches if your heart desired it!

Absolute Olympic Nirvana!

But, with NBC's ever expanding coverage came the realization that NBC's coverage could be pretty bad, leaning towards events where Americans had a good chance of taking a medal, and flipping from event to event without regard to continuity. And don't forget the commercials!

Last time around, during the London Olympics, I decided to let technology take its course, and add the BBC's coverage of the London Summer Olympics to my viewing regimen.

Absolute night and day when compared to what NBC offered. Mind you, I still watched NBC. However, my laptop was hooked into the BBC on a daily basis.

It wasn't perfect because if I joined a live event and then scrolled back to the beginning, I'd lose the feed all of a sudden when the live program ended. Then I'd have to wait till the event was cataloged before I could see how it ended.

Still, they were full events, with ALL competitors, and was commercial free! I think I watched every route of archery in 2012.

But, things were a bit complicated this time around because I did away with my television cable package in late 2012.

This meant that I only had access to the local NBC affiliate. This also meant NO hockey coverage from Sochi since they usually aired that on the NBC Sports Channel, a cable only channel.

I think the final insult was that NBC would allow anybody to watch their streaming coverage. However, if you could not prove you were subscribed to a cable or satellite provider, your signal was abruptly cut after 30 minutes, forcing you to log back in again.

With that in mind, I returned to alternate methods to get my Olympic fix. Unfortunately, the VPN I signed up for this time seemed to have problems giving me a quality signal from the BBC.

There were a couple of options to take off to the Great White North, and so I experienced my first Canadian television, other than when I used to watch Hockey Night in Canada with the NHL Network.

While the CBC does have commercials, they don't seem to be as numerous as on American television. Plus, I could stream all events on their website, only I didn't have to directly prove I was Canadian or have a Canadian cable subscription.

For the most part, the announcers were very well informed and could hold a candle to any of their American counterparts. And they knew when to simply shut up and let the pictures do the talking.

I was able to watch the whole Opening Ceremonies, and watch them live.

Not only did NBC not offer the festivities live, NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus insulted the intelligence of every American viewer, suggesting "…the colorful ceremonies would not make sense without description."

Mr. Lazarus kindly explain why you couldn't have aired it live with commentators, just like every other event you streamed…including the Closing Ceremonies!!

So this time around I never did watch any NBC coverage. It was all CBC, and even though I had started watching events live, it eventually devolved to all tape delayed as a few days of watching till the wee hours of the morning started wrecking havoc with my sleep cycle.

I will have to admit, there were times I wanted to throttle my computer, especially during any US hockey game coverage.

An American women's game didn't go by without having to hear about the "battling Lamoureux Sisters" or how Jocelyne Lamoureux played with a chip on her shoulder and liked to "mix 'em up." (a reference to the two fights that occurred during pre-Olympic action with Canada).

Then there were Glenn Healy's idiotic remarks, such as that Team Sweden didn't know who they were playing against, when referring to Sydney Crosby. This despite the fact that all but one Swedish player came from NHL teams.

Technologically, signal quality did vary from time to time, especially if I was using my laptop over a wireless connection.

I will readily admit I missed NBC's traditional end of the Olympics highlight reel set to Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Every time I'd watch it I'd well up in tears because of the realization the Games were over and it would be a couple years before they'd be on again. (It even happened watching the YouTube clip linked above and thinking how 1996 seems just like yesterday).

Also missing was all the cultural fluff. By steaming the events it became all about the events, and not the locale. I do enjoy the cultural and historical aspects we're sometimes given, though in moderation.

So now comes the two year wait before the 2016 Summer Games, in Rio de Janeiro. With Rio being only four hours ahead of San Francisco, I'll be bombarded with lots more live coverage during a more sane part of the day. Of course, I'm sure there will be new unforeseen challenges.

I just have 892 days to figure exactly how to accomplish it all!

Happy 4th and Thank You For Your Service

As I write this I am about a half way through a DVD marathon of the HBO mini-series The Pacific.

In years past, any Patriotic themed holiday had usually seen me watching that other WWII epic, Band of Brothers. While at the Albany Public Library recently, it dawned on me I could finally see this other series.

Unlike Band of Brothers, through the first two episodes, this has been mostly surrounding combat on Guadalcanal. (In fact, the DVD extras said the first three episodes take place during that one campaign.)

However, despite all the attention to make this series as authentic/realistic as possible, it's still not the real thing, and so I want to stop and thank everyone who has ever dawned a uniform, domestic or abroad, in the service of our country.

Without your service I might be writing this in any of a number of other languages, unfamiliar to American shores today. That is, if I'd even be allowed to post my thoughts - unmolested by any government censor.

* * *

Many years ago, my father and I were attending a local monthly meeting of the East Bay Amateur Radio Club. It was some holiday weekend, though which one has faded from memory.

One member, who I think must have escaped with his family from southeast Asia in the early 1970s, decided it might be interesting to visit how other members had served their country over the years. He had proudly spent time in service to his adopted country, and wanted to publicly thank anyone else there who might have done the same.

One by one he went around the room point blank asking each member if they'd ever served. It was a rather uncomfortably long period as veterans, very reluctantly, shared little tidbits of their experiences. That is, if they said much at all.

After what must've been over 30-40 minutes we finally moved on to Ham Radio topics, and you could almost hear a collected sigh of relief throughout the room.

* * *

In my family I can probably count on one hand the few I know took part in actual combat. Thankfully, nobody died in the service of their country.

I don't recollect any of them sharing their experiences; apparently even to their most intimate connections (wives, children, etc.) it was too uncomfortable even after all those years.

One particular uncle had done service in the Army Air Corp many thousand feet over the country where his wife came from so it's easy to understand.

Presumably there's always one exception to this rule, and our exception was my great-grandfather, who serviced in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

My grandmother had stories of how he'd tell the family about how they'd fire the guns and cannons at the Italian soldiers on the other side of the front lines, only to trade rations and socialize with them at night.

Apparently, it was a more civilized war front back during WWI, though this didn't alleviate any fears my great-grandmother had because she would break down and cry every time she heard the sound of the big guns echoing down the mountain passes of the Karawanken Mountains.

My father never served. Depending on one's point of view, he was lucky or unlucky to have been born in 1935, making him too young for WWII.

Should he have been born at a different time, and been eligible to serve, I have no idea whether he would have taken up the opportunity.

We never really talked about service, though he was none too happy when I received a call at home from Sergeant Johnnie, of the local Marine Recruitment Center, during my Senior Year in high school.

Like several of my high school friends I had considered the military. This was back after President Carter reintroduced the requirement for 18-25-year-olds to register for the Selective Service System.

I'm not particularly sure why it was the Marines other than perhaps because one of my best friends was firmly intending to take that route virtually his entire high school career.

He'd always said he'd join the Marines and see the World. Ironically, after joining pretty much all he saw of the World during his three year hitch was the Concord Naval Weapons Station; 31 minutes drive time away!

Had my friend and I actually seen any armed combat it would have been limited if you compare it to service seen by the current generation.

* * *

As each new generation is introduced to war, they experience it with more refined technologies which are supposed to bring precision and clinical methodology to the art of war (was famed military minds Sun Tzu and Carl Von Clausewitz euphemistically called it).

But, in a nutshell, it's no different than many an American conflict from years gone by. Men, and now women, are forced into situations to do thinks they would never do under normal circumstances for their country. Blood is just as red, and a person's spirit leaves the body just as fast.

So, as you're out there watching some parade today, or taking in a fireworks extravaganza this evening, say a prayer for those who have served, as well as those around the World currently serving.

May they may come home safe and sound so their family cannot experience what it's like to make the ultimate sacrifice, as too many have during our country's existence.

Go Westeros Young Man!

DISCLAIMER: This blog entry DOES contain spoilers for anyone who has never seen HBO's Game of Thrones television series and never read any of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series.

* * *

• 9 1/2 weeks
• Five books
• 4300 pages
• 1.7 million words

Let the withdrawals begin!!!

To be perfectly honest, I can't believe I'm already done with all the books. When I took up the task of reading George RR Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, I figured it would take all Summer before I'd be done; just in time for the next book to hit the shelves.

Or so I thought. Martin is nicknamed The Great Bearded Glacier for good reason! He writes at his own pace, and is reluctant to acknowledge estimated release dates. It now looks as if the soonest The Winds of Winter will be released is sometime during Spring 2014.)

* * *

February 2012, I signed up for Comcast's Triple Play Package, and the deal included free HBO. Until that time I had a vague understanding of the Game of Thrones TV series. But, didn't know much of else about it.

Like some unexpected addict-to-be I surfed the On Demand menu until I found Game of Thrones.

Watching the first episode, I was intrigued. By the time I got through the second episode I was floored. I think it took me about three days to work through the entire season, only to find out Season Two wasn't due for several weeks.

Fast forward to late April 2012. I was eagerly anticipating the new season, and what would one do in that case? Well, naturally watch the entire Season One all over again to refresh their memory.

NOOOOOOO! I thought, as they flashed the 2013 release date for Season Three at the end of Episode 10.

One of my bigger frustrations when I decided to cut the cord was the thought I would be missing Season 3 of HBO's Game of Thrones television series.

Shortly thereafter, I found a couple of Barnes & Noble gift cards, forgotten and collecting dust.

I figured maybe it would be a good idea to dive into the original novels since, at that time, HBO didn't offer their current season through iTunes or Amazon, and a Season Three DVD release was nowhere on the radar (and still isn't).

So in April I took the plunge, and downloaded the sample.

I found the first novel very readable and didn't want to put it down. When I reached the end of the sample there was no question I would buy the series.

A word of caution. If you decide to get the eBook versions, I highly recommend buying the INDIVIDUAL books, rather than the special 5 book collection.

While the $10 savings might seem attractive, it's not worth the headache while reading. The collection is ONE VOLUME with all five books smooshed together so it takes over six minutes to open every time you want to read it! And it doesn't matter if you might be on the fifth book. You STILL have to load the first four books into memory.

* * *

Anytime something gets translated to the screen there's bound to be some changes. Sometimes it follows the source material pretty close. But, sometimes about the only thing left are the names of the characters and the title of the book.

Fortunately, for fans of the novels, this hasn't turned out to be the case. The first book was pretty close to what made it to my TV for Season One. Material left out really didn't hurt the continuity. This is a direct benefit of having Martin take an active role in production of the series.

Overall, the TV show has aged most of the main characters a bit, especially the younger characters, who Martin placed in their early to mid teens. While a young teenage King Robb Stark might be believable in a book format, which relies on the reader's imagination, I don't think it would have translated very well to the TV.

But make no mistake in thinking these are a series of children's fantasy books. While there are wolves, princes and princesses throughout, there is also blood and gore at every turn, as well as a major plotline of incest running though out.

Had the producers stuck with the youthful ages I'm fairly certain they would have run afoul of groups who found the visualizations objectionable.

But, I will readily admit that perhaps my perception of what the characters should look like was clouded by watching the series before reading the books. Martin goes at great lengths to describe physical characteristics of his characters, and a good portion of them do not match what made it to TV.

Seasons Two and Three (which I watched in one 10 hour sitting thanks to someone who still has HBO) have some major diversions for some of the characters as compared to the original source material.

A couple of characters have been combined, who had passages in the book, which had them doing things in different parts of the world at exactly the same time.

This will make for some tough editorial decisions down the road since I think they both might become important parts of the novels' story line in the remaining two unreleased titles.

Another thing which caught my eye were the cities in the opening credits. These stylized credits zoom over a map showing us which cities are likely to be visited in that particular episode.

Yunkai and Meereen are two cities that have very important storylines in books 3 and 5. However, there seems to be no room on the map for the latter city. We will have to wait until April 2014 to see if this was just a glitch by the animators, or whether we diverge even further from what Martin created.

There's a very detailed wiki which collects all the differences between the books and the TV show.

* * *

So am I glad I went ahead and read the books, effectively knowing where the TV series will be going over the next three seasons? Yes.

The world that Martin created is so rich, that there's a lot of stuff that simply won't make it to the screen. And the producers have already said they don't see it being stretched to ten seasons, which would be necessary to save some of the less important stuff.

Can a person get by with only watching the TV series? Sure. But, you're cheating yourself of the fuller experience.

* * *

if you are still looking for something to do between TV seasons, I highly recommend subscribing to The Boiled Leather Audio Hour podcast.

These guys make a super detailed examination of all facets of the world Martin created! Be forewarned every episode is basically loaded with spoilers if you've not read all five books.

Great Game, As for the Commercials??

You'd have to be stuck somewhere in the Back Woods not to know that last Sunday was the Super Bowl; the end of the National Football League's season, and the beginning of a wasteland for those that watch nothing but football.

Most people are probably watching it for the game. But, there are plenty who watch for the commercials, using the play clock to make trips to the kitchen.

In last year's Super Bowl blog I wrote that the game was one of the most boring I'd ever watched. However, I had really enjoyed many of the commercials. This year's rendition was reverse.

Of course, it probably helped a lot that the San Francisco 49ers were involved for the first time in 18 years. I'm normally a Raiders' fan. However, I'm perfectly happy to cheer on the 49ers if they're the only Bay Area team involved.

Unfortunately, the commercials were not up to par. In fact, they were pretty disappointing when considered collectively. Considering they cost $3.8 Million per 30 second spot, you'd have expected to have your socks knocked off with amazing creativity.

I was also surprised at the amount of promos for CBS programming and the NFLEVOLUTION.COM. I have to wonder if these were fill-ins used because some spots went unsold due to to the outrageous price tag.

* * *

Here are some of my dislikes and likes from this year's crop:

DISLIKES

GO DADDY "PERFECT MATCH" – In the past, Go Daddy has run a campaign of showing us commercials that teased sexy subjects, and then said to go to the Go Daddy website to see the unrated versions.

Now I wish they'd kept it up. This year's commercial featured Israeli super model Bar Rafaeli kissing a pudgy wild haired computer nerd, named Walter, and how Go Daddy is the perfect match (presumably symbolized by this couple).

Perhaps kissing was too mild a description. They were full blown making out, including slurpy sounds that reminded me of the Carl's Junior $6 hamburger ads where people got all sorts of sloppy stuff on their faces. I'm sure that the FCC and CBS had plenty of hate calls over this one.

CALVIN KLEIN "FOR WOMEN ONLY" – This ad had no business being on during the Super Bowl, when it's a given that plenty of young children will be watching. I'm no prude, but this was way over the top. A female friend suggested it was finely time the NFL recognized they had women watching. While I understand the sentiment, I just think it was no more appropriate, for that time of day, than if there'd been women wreathing around in bikini briefs and underwire bras.

SUBWAY "CONGRATS JARED" – First off congrats to Jared Fogle for keeping the weight off for 15 years. I've been involved in a constant battle with the waistline so can really appreciate this amazing feat. With that said, it got monotonous hearing "Congrats Jared" over and over and over again.

To add insult to injury, this commercial, along with the Bud Light "Lucky Chair" commercial ran in two back-to-back commercial breaks. Not sure if the power outage had something to with it.

DODGE "FARMER" – I'm probably going to get flak for this one. This one was voted the best commercial by several polls. It's easy to understand. That wonderful haunting voice of Paul Harvey singing the praises of the American Farmer.

Why didn't I like it? First off, it was way too long. Secondly, it wasn't readily obvious what was actually being sold till the very very end, when we got a brief glimpse of a RAM Truck; almost an after thought. Had they had some work trucks out in the fields, or inside the barns, it would have probably made my Likes list.

* * *

LIKES

OREOS "WHISPER FIGHT" – Lord I hope most of that was done in only one take because they pretty much destroyed the set! It reminded me of one of those Rube Goldberg machines where you trigger one item, which starts a chain reaction of other odd chain reactions until some simple task is completed. I will say the idea borrowed liberally from the Miller Lite Great Taste, Less Filling campaign of the 1970s and 1980s.

TIDE "MIRACLE STAIN" – A well done parody on all the incidents of people seeing Jesus in their toast, spaghetti, screen doors, etc. Then at the end his empire comes crashing down as his wife, a Ravens' fan, obliterates the lucky stain by using Tide!

BUDWEISER "BROTHERHOOD" – It wouldn't be a Super Bowl with a visit from the Clydesdales. Here baby horsey leaves the nest to join the team. His trainer sees him in a parade, but is sad because the horse doesn't recognize him. All is not lost though. He hears a horse apparently getting away and helps capture it. He then realizes the horse is his long lost friend coming to say, "Hi" with a big nuzzle. Sweet ending!

WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT – A very worthwhile program (taking care of our Vets), and I hope they got lots of donations from people. Thankfully, CBS donated the airtime as a Public Service Announcement. If they hadn't this would have probably been a financial disaster.

DORITOS – Doritos decided to hold a contest where the people voted for their favorite out of eight finalist videos. Brilliant idea. Most of them were pretty funny, and the two chosen were amongst the best. I would have loved to have seen the Noah commercial. But, they purchased only two spots.

KIA SORENTO "SPACE BABIES" – This was probably my favorite. Sure, it didn't really sell the car. But, it had me laughing from beginning to end. The punch line at the end when they interrupt the kid telling his friend where babies really come from was awesome.

Kia has been criticized that their ads really didn't tell us about their cars. Unfair because pretty much all the car commercials told nothing about the actual products.

* * *

If you missed any of the spots, or you just want to relive them, there's a wonderful collection of commercials from days gone by, including this year's spots, at
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org

Cutting Cable without getting Sliced

Recently I had an opportunity to see what it's like not to have cable television in the house. Just the thought sent shivers down my spine. I admit it. I am a television junkie.

It was through that recent trial separation that I thought about it. How many of those zillions of channels did I really watch on a regular basis, and how many were things I could watch elsewhere, or watch alternatives to?

Last Friday I jumped in Cold Turkey, and am going through a bit of an adjustment period.

* * *

As my street is graced with overhead power lines, I've never been able to successfully use a rooftop antenna. In fact, I found that the higher my antenna, the worse the reception was. I actually got better reception with the antenna sitting six feet off my back deck. Not an optimal installation as I also nearly blinded myself by walking into one of the elements while letting the dog out after dark!

It had been a stop gap measure so I could watch the San Jose Sharks' magical 1994 playoff run; back when the team actually broadcast over the air on KICU-TV (Ch. 36). Ironically, I ended up calling Century Cable just in time to catch the Sharks' final playoff appearance that year.

That started 15 years of relationship with cable television, interrupted by a three year affair with DirecTV; blindly shelling out money to watch a fraction of what was actually available.

* * *

If you're a person who can live with simple over the air broadcast signals, that's awesome. All you may need are a set of cheap rabbit ears and perhaps a digital-to-analog converter box if you're still using an older television set.

We're blessed because most places in the westernmost East Bay have Line of Sight coverage from Sutro Tower - that 1000' tall erector set high atop San Francisco's Clarendon Heights.

In my circumstance the only programming I regularly watch over the air is The Amazing Race and Survivor. Both on the local CBS affiliate, KPIX-TV (Ch. 5).

Most of the time my cable box lived on Syfy, BBC-America, CNN and the Encore movie channels, with HBO and Starz joining the cast after being enticed with a special deal which recently expired and became not so financially special in the blink of an eye.

All is not lost. In our current Internet age a lot of what you might watch on cable is available online. (CBS now has full episodes of the above mentioned TAR and Survivor streaming immediately after they've aired in the Pacific Time Zone.)

If you're one of those people that prefers episodic television, Hulu is a fantastic option, with many of its programs available for FREE! $7.99 per month gets you lots more content, including many shows from the current broadcast season. Granted you have to live with commercials. But, that's not any different than live TV.

They also offer the chance to relive shows which just didn't cut it for whatever reason. But, were entertaining none-the-less.

While Hulu does offer movies, Netflix made its claim to fame there. Their streaming option is also $7.99/month. Unfortunately, you will have to rely on their DVD option for most newly released titles, which is an additional charge.

For the occasional new title, there's always your local RedBox kiosk.

While live sports programming used to never be available without a cable or satellite provider, that's not the case anymore. The NHL, NBA, MLS and MLB all offer live content by subscription in some form through the use of either a computer, Internet-ready TV and/or streaming device. While the NFL doesn't offer live content they do offer a package of games available once they've completed.

* * * 

While the late Sen. Ted Stephens (R-AK) was generally off base with much of his Series of Tubes tirade, you can think of your personal Internet connection that way.

The more things you are doing at one time, the bigger that tube needs to be. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Pandora, World of Warcraft, etc. all suck up bandwidth, and if you're watching a movie while your kids are in their bedroom streaming music or playing some MMORPG, you're all fighting to pull your content through that same tube.

Even something as simple as accessing your email uses bandwidth, albeit one small chunk at a time.

Notice that "AT ONE TIME" part mentioned. If you're in a one-person household, a basic connection is probably good enough for you. For the rest of us, we're going to need a bigger tube.

It was a no brainer I'd have to come up with some type of internet connection, not just for the additional streaming load, but for everything else web-related, as my email address is more useful than my home phone!

Not widely known is that Comcast will sell you an Internet only subscription. In my experience I'm getting insane speeds on Comcast compared to other providers. As long as they don't go back to enforcing their data cap, I'll be happy. Otherwise it'll be time to go shopping for a new service provider.

* * *

Is this plan perfect? Certainly not. There are some things to consider.

Most of your viewing pleasure is at the mercy of your Internet connection.

CNN has decided to marry themselves to cable and satellite providers so you can't watch CNN, nor its sister network HLN, live unless you're a subscriber.

Lastly, and perhaps a deal breaker for some, there's no option but to go without premium channels, such as HBO and Showtime, as they currently don't offer a la carte subscriptions. (April 2013 is going to be rough in my household when Season Three of Game of Thrones premieres!),

Good luck to anyone that takes up this venture. Your pocket book may just thank you!

To Endeavour is to Succeed

I hope everyone had the opportunity to see the last aerial hurrah of Space Shuttle Endeavour last Friday. It didn't matter that it would be hitching a ride on the back of a modified 747. It would still be amazing.

The local news had hyped up the flight for days. Rightfully so as once the shuttle hit the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport, it was destined for a slow ground crawl to its final resting spot, the California Science Center.

When I woke up I turned on KRON-4. I figured they would have the best news coverage, and not be hindered by network affiliation. Amazingly, they stayed live with the flight all the way from its take-off from Edwards Air Force Base.

Another amazing thing was that NASA actually delayed the flight by one hour because they wanted to make sure the any fog hand burned off here in the Bay Area. How cool is that?

Getting close to the estimated 9:30a appearance in the Bay Area, I grabbed my camera and zoom lens. I hadn't shot anything in months and couldn't find my tele-extender, which irked me a little. But, you make do with what you have.

I also didn't know from where the shuttle would appear because the FAA was keeping quiet the exact flight path Endeavour would be taking. Some armchair investigators had cobbled together approximate routes based on available info and people they knew. The most common route would have her fly out over the bay from Emeryville. Fortunately, I saw another one that showed her flying over land all the way up the East Bay to Richmond.

Due to delays coming up the Central Valley and parading around Sacramento, the shuttle didn't actually reach central Contra Costa County until around 10am.

I headed outside to take a position on the other side of the street from my house and then checked Twitter once more. Someone had just posted she was over the Rockridge BART station.

One of my neighbors was leaving his house and came over as his car was parked next to where I was standing. I told him what I was waiting for, nervous Endeavour would sneak up on me while we were talking.

Suddenly, I could hear the dull roar of the engines. But from where???? Then a gray blob appeared off in the distance, somewhere over Berkeley.

The plane slowly sauntered over the cities, lower than any plane of that size which I could remember. While I had a good view, it must have been stellar for anyone further up Solano Avenue. I can only hope teachers in the Albany schools let their students out to watch.

I was able to fire off, give or take, 20 shots. Many were garbage, with autofocus catching an errant wire or phone pole. Some people say it spoils to watch something through a camera view finder. In this circumstance it was a help, not a hindrance.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone; headed towards Richmond, and then over to the Marin Headlands for a couple of loops before pointing South.

* * *

My first introduction to the Space Shuttle program was somewhere back about 1972. Every week I looked forward to receiving the newest copy of My Weekly Reader, a topical newspaper given out to students when I attended Fairmont Elementary School. The issue I'm thinking of talked about the upcoming Skylab program.

On the back was a diagram about future space programs and had Skylab (1973), Apollo-Soyuz Mission (1975) and the Space Shuttle program (1980). That seemed so far off at the time.

Fast-forward to April 1981, and the maiden space flight of Columbia. This was in the days before my family had a VCR. We had a movie camera though, and I had recently discovered a half dozen Kodak film cartridges!! I was determined to record this for prosperity (Ignore that fact it was silent film!).

I'd marked the living room floor with masking tape so I could set the tripod quickly. I thought I was all set. Everything was ready…except there were no nine volt batteries!! Mind you this was something like 3am. Not to be deterred I found a whole bunch of D-cells and some wire. The idea was to use electrical tape to create a circuit between the batteries and camera handle.

(It was probably fortunate that it didn't work as it probably would have shorted out my father's expensive Nizo-Braun S480).

Resolved to just watching the coverage, I received a reprieve when NASA delayed the mission due to weather conditions in Florida. I took this as a sign and silently snuck out of the house and took the Chevette in search of proper batteries. I let the car roll down the steep hill before starting the engine, and I can only imagine how my father would have freaked if he'd seen the car gone.

Scoring batteries from Jay-Vee Liquors, I returned home only to hear the mission was delayed yet again. It eventually flew, and I eventually filmed it. Film which is still sitting in a box somewhere, unprocessed.

* * *

Like most Americans I became complacent as shuttle missions became common and routine. Even broadcast television stopped carrying launches live after a while. Sadly, it took the Challenger and Columbia disasters for many of us to pay any attention to NASA anymore.

Now the Space Shuttle program has come and gone, with no immediate replacement. Adding insult to injury Astronauts are hitching rides to the International Space Station aboard Soviet designed rockets.

Hopefully, America's enthusiasm will be fired up once again by Curiosity's recent escapades, and we will endeavour towards eventual manned flight to Mars.

I have such a BIG hangover today

I have such a BIG hangover right now. No alcohol was involved. I'm dealing with Olympic Overload and withdrawal.

Every two years, I curl up on the couch, remote in hand, to watch as much Olympic coverage as I possibly can, including many events I probably wouldn't think about during most of the waking hours.

The first Games I remember watching were the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. I can still remember the family sitting around the old Hitachi set as Olga Korbut flipped and flew around the gymnastic apparatus; and Mark Spitz giving new meaning to Aqua Man! And who can forget the big Soviet "coal miner" turned weightlifter Vasiliy Alekseyev, with his huge torso shaped like a beer barrel.

Unfortunately, I can also vaguely remember the horrific Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. Fortunately, I don't think I realized what was happening at the time since my parents were pretty good at shielding my sister and I from things like that.

1976 marked the first year I really had any say in whether I'd watch. I say that with tongue in cheek as the Winter Olympics took place in Austria! How could I not watch? My grandmother was born in Austria. I marveled at what I thought was the final Downhill run of the day as Franz Klammer flew down Patscherkofe to win Gold.

I guess I was too young to realize this was a big taste of tape delay and editing for evening Prime Time. We never saw all 74 competitors, including ones from such winter sports hotbeds as Iran and Turkey! ABC treated us to only the Top 15 ranked skiers. They tightly packaged it and I was happy to see what they allowed me to see.

By 1976 I was hooked. I can still remember the shiver when I found out Moscow would host the 1980 Games as my other grandmother was from Russia. For a while I actually posted a drawing of Moscow Olympic symbol with the number of days and the weather on our fridge. I can also remember the depression when I heard that the USA would boycott those Games due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and that NBC would not broadcast them either.

1980 was my first experience of an American Olympic Games, with the Winter Games in Lake Placid, NY. All I have to say is USA! USA! USA! and visions of the Miracle on Ice game probably pop into your head.

* * *

From that point forward, the television coverage expanded at an astonishing rate; from 54 hours in 1980 to over 5000 hours for the recent London, which included the first major use of the Internet to stream events that would otherwise not get televised.

Unfortunately, the hangover came, not only from the amount of hours I watched, but from frustration with NBC's coverage.

It is true that NBC had more live coverage than ever before, especially relying in the CNBC, MSNBC and NBCSN cable networks. However, it is also true that those of us not on the eastern seaboard were treated to tape delays of the supposed live events.

With the explosion of social media, there was a really good chance we'd find out about the results even before they were telecast. This lead one friend to tweet that "The Internet is ruining my Olympics!"

I started watching the internet live streams of the events  the first day. It was awesome! I watched as much archery in the first day as I'd watched in all my previous Olympic viewing COMBINED. There were no commercials; just a banner ad at the top of the browser.

On about the third day it changed. I was greeted with an ad for an upcoming Will Farrell movie. I wrote it off since I had just logged in. HOWEVER, it the same ad popped up about EVERY FIVE MINUTES.

The next day a Citibank ad with Meb Keflezighi droned on. I sent an angry tweet suggesting I'd seen him more with that hour's ads than I probably would during his actual event!

At this point, I started seeing people commenting about the BBC's coverage. No commercials, streaming of every event live, or available in their entirety shortly after completion; and what could be more fitting than British coverage of a British Olympics? I thought, "What's not to like about that? I'm in!"

Well, yes and no. You see, broadcast rights are sold on a national basis, and since I'm in the United States, the only feeds they want me to watch are those from NBC.

I loaded iPlayer and was greeted by a warning page telling me BBC video streaming is only available to residents of the United Kingdom.

When I had searched for iPlayer, I noticed ads proclaiming, "Watch the BBC Olympic Coverage from…anywhere."

Each Internet connection has what's called an IP address. You can think of this as your computer's address, which includes city, state and zip code of where your computer is connecting from. The BBC servers saw my California connection and said "No way, Jose!" 

Those ads were basically for companies offering proxy servers that would allow you to connect to them (for a price). Think of that as being a hotel room where your computer is taking a vacation. Once you connected to their proxy, your computer would then send out an IP address with a British location, and iPlayer would say, "Welcome!"

Coverage of every shot; every stroke, every step! Not just the top athletes, but those who only came to participate. It was INCREDIBLE…when it didn't crash. Unfortunately, it did fairly often. Sometimes it would recover, but more often I was rudely greeted with a message that the feed appeared to not be working, please try again later.

Additionally, if I should decide to watch the event from the beginning, the feed would arbitrarily end with no warning, and the message would say it should be available shortly. In all their British properness they were nice and tidy and ended "recording" the stream immediately upon end of of the event. At least NBC's recording continued for quite some time before ending the live feed.

Sometimes, when I restarted the feed, I'd inadvertently find out the results because they have chapter bookmarks at the bottom. I ruined several beach volleyball matches that way.

By the penultimate day, I had run out of time on the proxy server so I was back to watching NBC. In case you haven't heard, they butchered the Closing Ceremonies pretty badly, not to mention sticking a sitcom episode and the late local news in the end, which delayed the final 10 minutes of the program, the anticipated set from The Who. Makes ZERO sense, and they were taken to task in social media.

* * *

So what are my suggestions for NBC to win me back?

Offer ALL events streaming live online, including the ceremonies. Don't block the more popular events once they're complete so you can save them for Prime Time. Also, I'd be willing to see a banner at the top of the browser page at all times if it meant no commercial breaks that take away from the events. If you must have interruptions, will you please have someone watching the feed, and only insert ads at times when there's no action.

Assuming your cable lineup is still the same 500 days from now, continue portioning out coverage over multiple channels. This coverage should be live, with taped coverage of some events during Prime Time.

I cringe at the idea of tape delayed coverage, but NBC has to make money somehow, and Prime Time advertising is where the best money comes from. They don't have the luxury of the BBC, where all UK households must pay a TV License fee to watch live television.

It sounds funny to say you need a license to watch TV, but it's really nothing more than a tax to pay for public television, something the British have less of a problem doing. The fee is about $228.

Since British public broadcasting is done on a national scope, with only a half dozen channels, they can get away with it. This would never work in the US, with over 1200 stations across the nation, and public funding is a hot button issue.

NBC will need to recognize they need to ratchet back on how many commercials they run. With the World moving to more and more content being available by the web, it's far easier for viewers to turn to alternative methods to get what they want.

NBC will also need to reign in their announcers. Many are great. However, some try to be cute and say stuff that sounds dumb, like when Madagascar was described as an island where a group of movie animals come from, nothing more.

I'm eager to see if NBC takes public comment to heart. But, just in case, my computer is ready to book a vacation in the UK again.