From: tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: A Brief History of Reviews (was Re: Lynch's Spoiler Review: "Realm...)
Date: 7 Oct 1992 00:39:26 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu
Keywords: TNG, Barclay, transporters

And here I planned not to get involved in any discussions.  Like most, however,
I can't resist the constant clarion call of my name.  (Good heavens, maybe I
*am* turning into Peter David.  Nah, I haven't automatically responded to 
threads with "Sex" or "Nudity" in the title yet.  :-) )

rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>In <1992Oct06.043524.29581@eng.umd.edu> clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin) writes:
>>In article <1992Oct5.163754.1363@ncsu.edu>, rhballan@eos.ncsu.edu  writes:

>>> Forgive me for my ignorance, but, who is Timothy Lynch?

As I said in private, I'm me.  Who else?  :-)

I'm nobody in particular; just someone who in a weak moment decided to start
writing reviews and has kept at it for the four years since.  Any added 
"attention" you see paid to my reviews over others is entirely the choice of 
those giving it that attention and not due to any special "position" I'm in.
(I am quite gratified and a wee bit amused, however, to note that this thread
has surfaced after I've been all but net.silent.running for two months.  :-) )

>>   I think he's related to David Lynch.

This keeps being raised.  I'll still never tell.  ;-)

>>   Seriously though, he's one of those r.a.s.c. gods who post a
>>review each week on the episodes.   First B.A. in astronomy at
>>Cornell, one of many physics grads at CalTech, as the old
>>signature says.   

Actually, it just said I was a grad student, and it quite properly spelt
Caltech without the InterCaps.  :-)  At any rate, it's also old news.

>Tim Lynch and Mike Shappe, as I understand it, did the first regular TNG
>reviews on r.a.s.  

Half right.  I believe Mike's was the first to arise; certainly, given that
they started about halfway through the first season, they couldn't have had too
much preceding them.  

Mine didn't arrive on the scene until "The Outrageous Okona", at the end of
1988.  They've just never left.  :-)

>I think that Roger Tang and I came next (I'm not sure
>in what order), though Shabang may have popped up before us.  

Indeed she did.  To the best of my memory, Hack-man and the all-seeing Shabang
followed rather quickly on my heels [rassenfrassen coat-tail riders...:-) ],
then followed by Roger.  You weren't until quite a bit later, as you point
out.

>(My first
>review was of "The Best Of Both Worlds".  I think Roger must have done one
>before me, since I think he did one for "Hollow Pursuits".)

Quite a bit; I recall him being around at least sporadically for most of the
third season.  And I'd like to go on record as strongly regretting his absence;
even if I don't agree, his perspective is always decidedly enlightening.

>At any rate, I think that I can reasonably claim credit for introducing
>"negativity" (more accurately, a distaste for TNG, a willingness to say so
>in no uncertain or apologetic terms, and an unwillingness to go away when
>told :-) into rec.arts.startrek.  

Assuming "credit" is really the word you want to use :-), I would differ only
slightly.  Points made slamming individual *episodes* of TNG were around long
before you were and will probably be around long since after.  One need only
to recall my old review of "The Royale" to check that.  (Incidentally, if the
only serious dissension you saw was about Wes at that point, you weren't paying
attention; the Troi-bashing contingent has been around just as long.)

I believe you could reasonably be called the first person to take pride in a
consistently negative outlook who *stayed around*, however.  What the net
effect of this has been is not something I'll comment on, aside from saying
it's had its share of both benefits and drawbacks, like most things.

>>    Eventually folks get tired of the reviewing business.
>>Tim mentioned that he was going to be awfully busy and
>>was going to post his reviews late as well as not get as
>>involved in various debates.  

Aye.  It's not so much getting tired of the reviewing business as it is a
complete and utter lack of spare time.  This week will be an exception; thanks
to me and my students having Yom Kippur off tomorrow, my review of "Man of
the People" will be around shortly, even in time to make Joseph Reiss's 
"S.O.S" summary.

And that's the way it is...:-)

Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET:  tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET:  tlynch@juliet.caltech.edu
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"Science is the only self-correcting human institution, but it also is a 
process that progresses only by showing itself to be wrong."
			--Allan Sandage
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current