I see Klingons are familiar with Voyager as well.
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And, yet, still the best Trekā¦
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SaƧma!
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decided to take a chance with The Wire.
so far, so good.
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It gets better, as well! The final (5th) series isnāt as strong but itās still worth watching to see how it all plays out into the next generation.
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Yeah, itās a really good show. Then watch Treme.
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I want to talk about tonightās the Orville, but I posted too soon. Iām erasing it to repost tomorrow, or a little later, when my brainās doing better with the words and stuff. 
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Having seen Episode 3, all I can say is The Orville is Seth MacFarlane doing Star Trek. Not a parody of Star Trek. This is Seth MacFarlane as showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 8.
People who think that sounds awesome will love this show.
If it makes you feel deeply confused, then youāre not alone.
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Yeah, Iām liking it better than I thought I would, and that does confuse me. The first few episodes were rough and awkward, but tonightās episode made me feel like the showās starting to come together into something thatā¦ doesnāt completely stink.
In factā¦ I think I like it. 
Oh, itās definitely Next Generation Trek with the serial numbers filed off. Tonightās concept wasnāt new (a generation ship where the inhabitants no longer remember theyāre in space), but it was solidly executed, with a sense of wonder from both the Orvilleās crew and the aliens that helped sell the story. In fact, I felt like it ended too soon. Without getting too spoilery, what the crew did is bound to have a profound impact on the alien society, and I wanted to see it play out. This episode actually left me wanting more. Wow!
It wasnāt perfect. IMHO, most of the jokes still fall flat, but theyāre starting to feel more like organic reactions from the crewmembers and not just random crude attempts at humor. Iād prefer less anachronistic pop-culture references, yet I grinned at the Friends quip. And the characters are beginning to develop, if only a tiny bit, into more than one-dimensional stereotypes tailor-made for the lulz.
Iām starting to think the Orville is finding its footing, and it just might grow into a show worth following. And yes, thatās confusing me, considering itās from the same person who made Family Guy. But Iām intrigued enough to keep watching and see what happens next.
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Having not had a chance to see it or the new Trek yet, itās been very interesting watching the reactions of friends on social media.
Before:
Oh holy crap! I canāt wait for the new Star Trek series! It looks so good!
This Orville show looks godawful. is it Seth MacFarlaneās Galaxy Quest? Hard pass.
After:
The new Star Trek is all wrong. The tech is wrong. Itās ugly. Itās boring. Itās awkward. No thank you.
So, the Orville is my new Star Trek now. Fake Trek is actually better than legit Trek.
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I missed the first half-hour of Discovery, so I canāt fully judge it. It seemed pretty interesting, and if it was airing on broadcast Iād follow it, but Iām not signing up for CBS All Access just to watch it. Itāll eventually get syndicated or released on DVDs. Iāll catch it then.
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I was excited for it, but I didnāt even watch the pilot, because fuck CBS, Iām not paying extra for that.
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Totally with you on that.
However (temples fingers) they have a ātry it freeā option, at least for Canada right now. Itās tempting to let several episodes stack up and then watch them, then cancel the subscription.
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cough bāitātoārrāent
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Sure, if I can find one ā which doesnāt happen lately. Never was very good with that.
Iād rather just wait. Like other people have said, is not going to go away
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I think the guys who do the wire are doing a new show? The Deuce, about times square in NYC in the 1970s, if I remembering correctly.
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I watched the Rourouni Kenshin musical at the anime convention weāve been going to this weekend:
I have to say, it was pretty fucking amazing. I donāt think you can get it in the states on blue ray or DVD with subtitles, etc. The people who had it ordered it from Japan and did the subtitles themselves. Also, the theater troupe that did it were all women - so all the roles were played by women and there were 3 extra musical numbers at the end for no discernable reason.
In some ways that might be even more alien and unlike the present than Boardwalk Empire.
Especially if they want to get really weird. There was a lot of weirdness hiding in the corners of America in the '70s and '80s, before there were computers and cameras everywhere.
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Never mind.
The Good Place actually has more in common with The Truman Show, or The Prisoner.
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Iām listening to this:
The Lawfare Podcast: Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro on āThe Internationalistsā
The Kellogg-Briand Pact is often remembered as a failure. Signed in 1928 to outlaw war, it was followed in just over a decade by one of the deadliest conflicts in history. But Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro see the pact differently. In their new book, āThe Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World,ā they argue that though it did not successfully end all war, the pact changed the way states resolve disputes, reduced the likelihood of conquest, and set of a chain of events that led to the modern world order. On September 11, they sat down with Jack Goldsmith at the Hoover Book Soiree to discuss their book and its implications.
Itās more interesting than it sounds. One thing I found interesting is that before 1928, the kind of measures that are associated today with the avoidance of open conflict (economic sanctions, for one) were illegal, and that should change my understanding of wars prior to the Kellogg-Briand pact.
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