From: cq401@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Robert C. Ritter)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv
Subject: Re: Time Trax
Date: 21 Jan 1993 20:32:49 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
Reply-To: cq401@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Robert C. Ritter)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, KitchenRN@SSD0.LAAFB.AF.MIL () says:
 
 
>>  Actually, I sort of enjoyed this show, but how much of the 
>>  future will we get to see in upcoming episodes?  If it sticks to 
>>  1993, it's going to be pretty much just another cop show.  
 
That's what it IS a cop show set in 1993 with a few SF GIMMICKS.
 
>> Will Annie be returning?  You can probably bet on it.  I give 
>> it a C+.
 
>> But, several questions came to mind as I watched this show:
 
>> 1 - Why did they insist on calling it the Smithsonian Institute?  
>> It's the Smithsonian *Institution*.
>>
>> 2 - It's the Museum of American History, not the Museum of History.
>> (or else the Museum of Natural History, but that's not really a 
>> history museum.)
>> 
 
 
You think H. Bennett actually did any research on Washington?
 
 
>> 3 - How did the door of the bathroom stall that Damien (sp?) 
>> materialized into get locked from the inside?

It was just a YATI (Yet another Trek inconsistency)  You have a show from 
a Trek writer you get a show from a trek writer/producer. 
 
>> 4 - That red brick building they kept showing as the "Museum of 
>> History" is an administrative building, not a place that has 
>> displays (well, I think there are some small displays, but the 
>> "History Museum" is on the other side of the Mall.)

(see #'s 1 & 2)
 
>> 5 - If whites are a despised minority, why are all of the 
>> cops white?  
 
How about they are considered EXPENDABLE! 
 
>> And they're all male, also.  (Well, there was that one brief 
>> appearance of a black female cop showing Elissa (sp?) into 
>> Damien's office, but she seemed more like an usher than a cop.)
>>
>> 6 - 200 years from now, they still use *paper* mail?!
>>
 
Would YOU let ANYONE in ISOLATION have access to a COMPUTER NET? 
 
 
>> 7 - They still have books?  The dust jackets and everything else 
>> about them looked just like modern books do.  Nothing will change 
>> in the publishing industry in 200 years?
 
Why Not.  There is Far More to a Book than just the information. 
 
James T. Kirk had BOOKS, His LAWYER PREFERRED THEM TO Data Files 
on a computer.
 
>> 8 - Why didn't the National Archives have those old newspapers 
>> on microfiche, microdot, or some form of computer storage (CD-ROM)?
 
We know little about the world of Time Trax's time.  It seemed to me
that is wasn't a brighter and better world.  But it also seems to me, 
that the DATA STORAGE of NEWSPAPERS would have been for the STORIES 
and NEWS NOT THE CLASSIFIED ADS.  Perhaps the Classified Ads were not 
stored in the data files. 
 
 
>> Would they really allow just anybody to walk in off the street 
>> and ask to play around with the originals of 200-year-old 
>> newspapers?  
 
No, BUT THEY DIDN'T DO THIS IN THE SHOW, EITHER. 
 
The Doctor was a noted scientists and scholar.  The Library/archives CALLED
HIM and TOLD HIM THE MATERIAL HE REQUESTED WAS NOW AVAILABLE. 
 
>> And what are newspapers doing in the National Archives anyway?  
>> They should have gone to the Library of Congress, 
>> or even to the Washington Post itself, if it still exists in 2193.
 
 
Another YATI.  The year 2193 is not important to the story.  Yes it would be
WONDERFUL if everything made sense and was consistent, but we're not
getting HILL STREET BLUES or even KOJAK here.  
 
>> 9 - How come Doctor S (never could figure out his name - Sahmbi?) 
>> needed the machine to go into the past, but Sepp the Nazi didn't?  
>> Sepp just licked the envelope, and he was gone.

Sepp needed the machine see related comment below. 
 
 
>> 11 - Why did they badmouth Aaron Burr?  He wasn't a traitor!

I'll have to check back on the tape, but what I remember them saying was 
his GUN was the one that Killed Lincoln.  (used by Booth).
 
12 - The chronology of Damien's popping into the Smithsonian went all askew.  
Selma said he arrived sometime after 9:00 PM, then Annie says something about 
how they've grilled him for several hours, then they go out to dinner 
(breakfast, maybe, but not dinner!), and the waiter says, "I go home at 
eleven, sir."  Get the time straight!

>> 13 - The Secret Service guy just took a stranger's word for it that
>> he was CIA, just because he flashed a badge?  And then goes on into 
>> detail about the President's schedule?  What's the CIA doing there, 
>> anyway?  It is illegal for the CIA to be involved in domestic situations.
  
The CIA has been involved in Domestic matters (even though illegal) for 
YEARS...  I don't see them stopping now.  
 
>> 14 - What was that about Sepp getting three doses of that drug?  He 
>> had one when he popped into 1993, and one when he popped out.  Where 
>> did the third one come from?
 
Trip # 1 from the CELL to TIME TRAX (a RECALL)
 
Trip # 2 from TIME TRAX TO 1993. 
 
Trip # 3 (Possibly fatal) From 1993 to 2193 (Time Trax).
 
 
>> Well, we'll see about the next episode.  If it turns into just 
>> another cop show, I'll stop watching.
 
What this show needs from the viewers is for them to look at it like the 
Adams Family.  Enjoy it for the laughs.   
 
-- 
 Robert Ritter  G E I  diplomatic Outpost by way of 

     cq401@cleveland.freenet.edu