From: clayson@xenomorph.Eng.Sun.COM (Mathew Clayson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv
Subject: Space Rangers info
Date: 27 Jan 1993 19:55:36 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: clayson@xenomorph.Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: xenomorph

I recieved this in reply by Email to an earlier post. The included text isn't the same as what I read in a local TV guide. If you like the show write to CBS at the address below.

CBS Network           Attn: Programming
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY  10019  



<<BEGIN INCLUDE>>

From pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com Tue Jan 26 11:07:37 1993
From: Paul Dorweiler <pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Space Rangers is _good_ )short(
To: clayson@xenomorph.Eng.Sun.COM

In article <lm8l8cINNim8@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, you write:
|> Well I must say "Star Drek:Deep shit 9" does have more action then
|> "Star drek: the nodding generation". However they are both a big yawn
|> compared to "Space Rangers".

Agreed.

|> I read local TV guide artical about the show, in it the creator of the
|> show said he modeled it after bomber crews from WWII. I'll try and bring
|> a copy of the artical in to post to the net.

I suspect what I'll attach below is the same thing.  I typed it in for some
friends who are also Space Rangers fans.

BTW, I'm trying to get people to write letters to CBS to encourage them to
keep this show going after the first six episodes, which is all CBS ordered
from the production company.  If you're interested, here's the address to
send to:

CBS Network           Attn: Programming
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY  10019  

--
Paul Dorweiler
Hewlett-Packard Company
Fort Collins, CO
email: pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Science Fiction Revival Comes to Television
by Mike Hughes, Gannett News Service

(this is an unauthorized reprint)

This is TV at its most energetic.

Shows keep searching for new worlds, new ideas, new concepts.  They also keep
having things blow up in louder and messier ways.

In short, it's the science-fiction revival, coming to a TV near you:

-- "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," in syndication.  It's like the other "Treks,"
only with twice the whoosh and 10 times the rage.

-- "Space Rangers," at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS, filled with boom-bang fantasy.
"Like a Saturday-morning show, it's going to play a lot in the imagination,"
says Jeff Kaake, who plays the hero.

-- "Time Trax," in syndication.  It hurls Dale Midkiff back to our time.  "He
is an idealist who's thrust into a hostile environment," says producer Harvey
Bennett.

The first two are heading into their second episodes, and "Trax" plans to
premiere January 20.  But why is all that happening now?

To "Space Rangers" creator Penn Densham, people have a need for large tales.
"There is a biological receptivity to story-telling in human beings."

To his partner, John Watson, it's what TV needs: "It has to be an event --
exciting and spectacular."

Both are part of a generation that grew up with big dreams.

In England, Densham was inhabiting libraries.  "I devoured science fiction.
You could stand on a planet and be the first to breathe its air."

In Michigan, Kaake was savoring cowboys.  "I'd watch John Wayne, "The
Rifleman," that sort.  It's a guy thing."

Others were watching sci-fi.  They saw George Lucas' "Star Wars," Steven
Spielburg's "E.T.," Bennett's "Six Million Dollar Man," and "Bionic Woman."

Then the genre vanished.  "Star Trek: The Next Generation" prospered in
syndication, but the network shows went thud.

What was missing?  "It's called character ...," Densham says.  "Spielburg and
Lucas knew that.  First and foremost, they had a human being -- bemused,
befuddled, in a bewildering situation."

Trilogy -- the company linking Densham, Watson, and Richard B. Lewis --
produced "Backdraft" and "Robin Hood," with big budgets and big booms.

Still, Watson says, the special effects weren't what counted most. 
"Essentially,  'Backdraft' is still a story about two brothers."

So that was the first step, Densham says, when he started pondering a space
series.

"My inspiration was the Flying Tigers of World War II.  Our characters will be
salt-of-the-earth types."

These aren't the unruffled Starfleeters of "Trek" fame.  "My guy's human,"
Kaake says.  "He stumbles, he falls, he makes mistakes."

As it happens, "Trek" was also interested in ruffling things.

"Gene Roddenberry created characters who had very little conflict between
them," says Rick Berman, who has taken over the "Trek" empire.  "Deep Space"
has a conflict overflow.

The by-the-book Starfleeters were plunked into a space station just outside
the planet of Bajor.  "The Bajorian people are extremely mystical," Berman
says.  "Magic is important to them."

The commander (Avery Brooks) and his Bajoran first officer (Nana Visitor) snap
at each other ... and at the sneaky Ferengi bartender (Armin Shimmerman).

Sandwiched in there are waves of mysticism ... plus stunning special effects.

That's possible in the computer age, Densham says.  "I can lift up Mount Fuji
and put it on another planet.  It's just amazing."

Still, all three shows insist the characters will reign.

At "Deep Space Nine," there are the usual verbal riffs.  Brooks ("Spenser For
Hire") is a stage-trained actor, like "Trek" star Patrick Stewart.

In "Time Trax", Midkiff debates his mini-computer.  "She's prickly and
opinionated," Bennett says.  "They quibble, they rescue each other... 
Essentially, this is a buddy show."

Bennett, 62, produced most of the "Star Trek" movies and his most success with
the fourth, flinging everyone back to the 20th century.  This character adds
the benefits of evolution.

"He has a 206 IQ," Bennett says.  "He runs the 100 in 8.86 seconds.  That's
just a projection of the changing times in the Olympics since the 1900s."

And in "Space Rangers," there are all the variations.

Kaake plays the standard hero, but Marjorie Monaghan plays someone even more
macho.  Jack McGee is filled with faulty parts that Clint Howard (Ron's 
brother) tries to repair.

Meanwhile, the big boss is played by Linda Hunt, the tiny Oscar-winner.  "The
fun part was trying to explain it to her," Densham says.  "I probably talked
for a half-hour and she said, 'OK, I'll do it.' "

In sci-fi, everything is possible.  Mt. Fuji can move, time can bend, and
Linda Hunt can be a space ranger.

--end of reprint


From pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com Tue Jan 26 11:07:37 1993
From: Paul Dorweiler <pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Space Rangers is _good_ )short(
To: clayson@xenomorph.Eng.Sun.COM
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 11:08:16 MST
Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85]
Content-Length: 5729
X-Lines: 147
Status: RO


In article <lm8l8cINNim8@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, you write:
|> Well I must say "Star Drek:Deep shit 9" does have more action then
|> "Star drek: the nodding generation". However they are both a big yawn
|> compared to "Space Rangers".

Agreed.

|> I read local TV guide artical about the show, in it the creator of the
|> show said he modeled it after bomber crews from WWII. I'll try and bring
|> a copy of the artical in to post to the net.

I suspect what I'll attach below is the same thing.  I typed it in for some
friends who are also Space Rangers fans.

BTW, I'm trying to get people to write letters to CBS to encourage them to
keep this show going after the first six episodes, which is all CBS ordered
from the production company.  If you're interested, here's the address to
send to:

CBS Network           Attn: Programming
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY  10019  

--
Paul Dorweiler
Hewlett-Packard Company
Fort Collins, CO
email: pjd@hpespjd.fc.hp.com


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Science Fiction Revival Comes to Television
by Mike Hughes, Gannett News Service

(this is an unauthorized reprint)

This is TV at its most energetic.

Shows keep searching for new worlds, new ideas, new concepts.  They also keep
having things blow up in louder and messier ways.

In short, it's the science-fiction revival, coming to a TV near you:

-- "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," in syndication.  It's like the other "Treks,"
only with twice the whoosh and 10 times the rage.

-- "Space Rangers," at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS, filled with boom-bang fantasy.
"Like a Saturday-morning show, it's going to play a lot in the imagination,"
says Jeff Kaake, who plays the hero.

-- "Time Trax," in syndication.  It hurls Dale Midkiff back to our time.  "He
is an idealist who's thrust into a hostile environment," says producer Harvey
Bennett.

The first two are heading into their second episodes, and "Trax" plans to
premiere January 20.  But why is all that happening now?

To "Space Rangers" creator Penn Densham, people have a need for large tales.
"There is a biological receptivity to story-telling in human beings."

To his partner, John Watson, it's what TV needs: "It has to be an event --
exciting and spectacular."

Both are part of a generation that grew up with big dreams.

In England, Densham was inhabiting libraries.  "I devoured science fiction.
You could stand on a planet and be the first to breathe its air."

In Michigan, Kaake was savoring cowboys.  "I'd watch John Wayne, "The
Rifleman," that sort.  It's a guy thing."

Others were watching sci-fi.  They saw George Lucas' "Star Wars," Steven
Spielburg's "E.T.," Bennett's "Six Million Dollar Man," and "Bionic Woman."

Then the genre vanished.  "Star Trek: The Next Generation" prospered in
syndication, but the network shows went thud.

What was missing?  "It's called character ...," Densham says.  "Spielburg and
Lucas knew that.  First and foremost, they had a human being -- bemused,
befuddled, in a bewildering situation."

Trilogy -- the company linking Densham, Watson, and Richard B. Lewis --
produced "Backdraft" and "Robin Hood," with big budgets and big booms.

Still, Watson says, the special effects weren't what counted most. 
"Essentially,  'Backdraft' is still a story about two brothers."

So that was the first step, Densham says, when he started pondering a space
series.

"My inspiration was the Flying Tigers of World War II.  Our characters will be
salt-of-the-earth types."

These aren't the unruffled Starfleeters of "Trek" fame.  "My guy's human,"
Kaake says.  "He stumbles, he falls, he makes mistakes."

As it happens, "Trek" was also interested in ruffling things.

"Gene Roddenberry created characters who had very little conflict between
them," says Rick Berman, who has taken over the "Trek" empire.  "Deep Space"
has a conflict overflow.

The by-the-book Starfleeters were plunked into a space station just outside
the planet of Bajor.  "The Bajorian people are extremely mystical," Berman
says.  "Magic is important to them."

The commander (Avery Brooks) and his Bajoran first officer (Nana Visitor) snap
at each other ... and at the sneaky Ferengi bartender (Armin Shimmerman).

Sandwiched in there are waves of mysticism ... plus stunning special effects.

That's possible in the computer age, Densham says.  "I can lift up Mount Fuji
and put it on another planet.  It's just amazing."

Still, all three shows insist the characters will reign.

At "Deep Space Nine," there are the usual verbal riffs.  Brooks ("Spenser For
Hire") is a stage-trained actor, like "Trek" star Patrick Stewart.

In "Time Trax", Midkiff debates his mini-computer.  "She's prickly and
opinionated," Bennett says.  "They quibble, they rescue each other... 
Essentially, this is a buddy show."

Bennett, 62, produced most of the "Star Trek" movies and his most success with
the fourth, flinging everyone back to the 20th century.  This character adds
the benefits of evolution.

"He has a 206 IQ," Bennett says.  "He runs the 100 in 8.86 seconds.  That's
just a projection of the changing times in the Olympics since the 1900s."

And in "Space Rangers," there are all the variations.

Kaake plays the standard hero, but Marjorie Monaghan plays someone even more
macho.  Jack McGee is filled with faulty parts that Clint Howard (Ron's 
brother) tries to repair.

Meanwhile, the big boss is played by Linda Hunt, the tiny Oscar-winner.  "The
fun part was trying to explain it to her," Densham says.  "I probably talked
for a half-hour and she said, 'OK, I'll do it.' "

In sci-fi, everything is possible.  Mt. Fuji can move, time can bend, and
Linda Hunt can be a space ranger.

--end of reprint