Conference noted::sf

    I watched it. And, as usual, television ruins S/F.
    
    Major gaffes:
    
    	1. Humans populating the galaxy with supralight spacecraft 
    	   contemporary to 1988 earth. Hmm, what's wrong here? There
    	   is considerable evidence that humans (Homo Sapiens Terra)
    	   evolved on earth. This conflict has to have a real explanation,
    	   or I'm not interested (I suspect it won't).
    
    	2. A "human" who has an alcohol-like reaction to caffiene? No
    	   way. Even *sand-fleas* react to caffiene like humans.
    
    	3. A medical technician on a prison ship who explains her knowledge
    	   of American English with "All of us who involved with Earth
    	   contact must know 5 of your languages." What _is_ her job,
    	   anyway? Medtech or human contact expert? Earth can't possibly
    	   be that important without more explanation (which, again,
    	   we almost certainly won't get).
    				- HBM

    Some more gaffes ...
    
    The female alien resembles a female human mammal down to the mammary
    glands which the viewers last night had titillating (sorry) glimpses
    of. Yet she apparently has no knowledge of the sexual act, making
    one wonder what all that equipment is for (kinda like fins on a
    Chevy).
    
    Why do all the aliens speak AmerEnglish among themselves (total
    immersion?)?

    Re .2
    
    I didn't see it, but the usual reason for foreigners speaking English
    among themselves in a movie is so the audience can follow them,
    with a translation implied.  Otherwise, you have to fall back on
    subtitles (as indeed the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" movies sometimes
    do).  Of course, if our earthly cop OVERHEARS the aliens chatting
    among themselves, and understands it, without having learned Alienese,
    then we have a gaffe.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

< Note 615.2 by NUTMEG::BALS "The Trash Heap has spoken. Nyaaah!" >
<    Why do all the aliens speak AmerEnglish among themselves (total
<    immersion?)?

See how well it was done? You never even noticed the babel fish hidden in the 
amplifier of your TV.  ;^)

Dave

    	Do you think that SIOT was made just so that they could get
    some more use out of the expensive props from V?
    
    	And why do I have the bad feeling that this piece of garbage
    masquerading as SF is going to get turned into a series?
    
    	Larry
    

    Well, there were a few inconsistancies, but for mindless entertainment
    (how I define TV) it wasn't bad.  It did seem like a 2 hour movie
    stretched to 4....
    
    Minor details:
    
    When she took off after the creature, she brought along this laser
    rifle that (at close range) can cause it pain.  Are they going to hurt
    it until it leaves the planet? 
    
    They have been listening to satellite and broadcast voice so they know
    English, but they don't know our auditory range, as evidenced by the
    fact that she couldn't believe he couldn't hear the scanner. I have
    visions of them speaking with a 19KHz pilot tone and L-R information in
    an inaudible (to us) subcarrier.   :+)  BTW:  The stereo effect was a
    bit exagerated.... 
                                  
    She can read minds but doesn't seem to be able to understand anything
    he says to her, or why people "do that with their bodies".  She has
    never had coffee before but then wants to go out for cappacino(sp?).
    The creature seems to not only be a shape-changer, but a
    mind-controller, energy being, immensely strong, and just about
    omniscient.  I have grave doubts about their stopping it without a
    convenient miracle. 
    
    All in all, though, (like V and Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers
    and Star Trek: Next Generation on and on) it's better than average
    quality for TV.  Not up to the old Star Trek or Max Headroom, but
    no contest against Married_with_no_brain, or The Charmings, or...
    
    Willie

>    < Note 615.2 by NUTMEG::BALS "The Trash Heap has spoken. Nyaaah!" >
>    Some more gaffes ...
>    The female alien resembles a female human mammal down to the mammary
>    glands which the viewers last night had titillating (sorry) glimpses
>    of. Yet she apparently has no knowledge of the sexual act, making
>    one wonder what all that equipment is for (kinda like fins on a
>    Chevy).

    Well, no, not really. Breasts aren't related to the sexual act,
    but to the feeding of young.

    I can't believe I sat through the whole thing!
    
    This program was a bad combination of Alien/s, Invasion of the Body
    Snatchers, and all the (numerous) episodes of Star Trek where something
    "took over" the body of one of the crew.  The nits are innumerable,
    and the production quality was totally in how it looked -- the script
    was sad!
    
    For those who were smart enough to read through the showing, (rather
    than watch), I feel compelled to warn you that the evil Alien, which
    had already survived several explosions, was "destroyed" by crashing
    the prison spaceship into the (earth) ocean -- a crash which our
    human heros survivied without a scratch.  I can't help but be
    suspicious that they will test the ratings and decide whether to
    make this a weekly invasion into prime time.  The protagonists are
    nice to look at, but I can't say much more in favor of regular viewing!
    
    Isn't it sad that they managed to lure some of us unsuspecting sf
    fans, probably all the Stephen King-type horror fans, certain suspense
    show lovers and maybe the generally curious with promos that were
    better than the show itself?  Now we may be inflicted with even
    more third-rate tv.  With all the wonderful sf short stories (or
    longer works) out there to draw from, all the great effects possible
    now, and a large audience of readers and viewers who would love
    something great, you'd think somebody would see a profit in making
    sf worth watching!  (H-m-m-m, the DEC Production Company???)
    
    Oh, Well,  maybe next time...
    
    Sherry

	I had a feeling of deja vu through the entire show (of course I'm
	one of the fools that watched the whole thing) like I was seeing
	parts of other stories. Even the bit with the hands seems like a
	joke that has appeared in a SF story I've read before. 

	I agree there were too many nits that didn't make sense. If the 
	creature is so fast it could kill and autopsy a human in 20secs
	why couldn't it kill them in the sewer before they knew where it
	was. Lucky for earth that omnipotent aliens are too dumb to ever
	win. But then again, bad guys with machine guns can never hit the
	A-team either. liesl

    	Having sex using only the hands goes back to BARBARELLA and
    STAR TREK, at least.
    
    	Larry
    

    The point that got to me was, if the creature was so dangerous why
    even keep it around at all?  Why not drop it into a black hole or
    give it a one-way ticket to the surface of star?  It didn't seem
    like the girl's culture had qualms about killing.
    
    For example, if you had the last pod (from Alien, Aliens) would
    you preserve it or destroy it?

    I really couldn't deal with the ending.  How do you kill an alien,
    relentless, mind_controlling, shape_changing Zenomorph that can
    dig through concrete faster than a man can run, can survive impacts,
    explosions, laser pulse rifles and even portable laser cannon? 
    Why you just hold it's widdow head under water till it dwowns....
    
    Crash it into the ocean?  That had to be the most hare_brained idea
    ever.  How about the surface of the moon?
    
    Willie

    Thank you, one and all! I watched maybe 15 minutes of this and walked
    out, convinced it would be a mixture of "The Terminator" and "Alien".
    However, having been produced for TV, it would show no imagination
    and at best, a bunch of second-hand special effects.
    
    It appears from your comments that I guessed right!
    
    - Richard

    
    I hate to admit it, but I watched the whole thing too.  One point
    occurred to me and am sure others thought of it as well, but those
    people never proved that they killed the xenomorph, and can you
    say sequel or series -itis?  Sure, I knew you could.  Not being
    familiar with the TV world or anything, but maybe the mini-series
    was also being considered as a pilot or something. 
    
    brad's two cents worth

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Path: decwrl!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!ll-xn!husc6!m2c!ulowell!cg-atla!granger
Subject: Ripping Apart "Something is Out There"
Posted: 10 May 88 13:14:50 GMT
Organization: Compugraphic Corp. Wilmington, MA
  
    Well, I finished watching "Something is Out There" last night.
Nothing more than an abysmally bad rip-off of "Aliens" and "The
Hidden", if you ask me. The only thing that I liked was the
interaction between the cop and the cute alien. Unfortunately, this
looked like a series pilot, disturbingly reminiscent of "V". Anyway,
here is a list of gripes about the film, in hopes that someday,
someone will make a movie and remember what I don't like :-). 
 
1. Simple math error. The genius alien says it's about 5 kilometers to
the shuttle. When asked for it in miles, she says it's 2 miles. Last I
knew, 5 kilometers was 3.1 miles. 
 
2. When she was abandoning the ship, we heard the alarm system say "4
minutes to decompression, 10 minutes to turbo-nuclear purge." Okay,
what the heck is a turbo-nuclear purge? Maybe it was thermo-nuclear,
but it's still stupid. And why was she so worried about decompression
once she was in the shuttle? Doesn't that just mean the ship is losing
atmosphere? Apparently not, since during decompression there were
explosions all over the place. If the ship blows up when it
decompresses, why warn people about the foobar-nuclear purge, anyway? 
 
3. The alien is "a xenomorph - a shape-changer". Gee, sounds familiar,
doesn't it? Of course, as discussed here a while back, a "xenomorph"
is a new or unknown form. I don't know what the proper term would be
(weak on my etymology sometimes), but I would have been more convinced
by "polymorph", "multimorph", "transmorph", or if they really wanted
to get cute, "deltamorph" (after all, delta is often used to show
change, although this could also mean it's triangle-shaped). 
 
4. The alien claims that she's fluent in English. In fact, she's so
good, she uses expressions like "Why on Earth...", and yet she's never
heard of pajamas, which is a fairly common word. 
 
5. Even more ridiculous, she claims to be human, but doesn't
understand sex as we know it. Come on, even if they use strictly "in
vitro" birth techniques, chances are they still have reproductive
organs, and *not* in their hands. Besides, even if they don't have
Earth-style sex themselves, they should have learned about it by
watching all that Earth television. 
 
6. Why does the creature, which previously moved at incredibly high
speeds and killed in seconds, stand there and bellow when it finds
them in the sewers? Oh, right, it wanted to "take her mind". And
later, at the labs, when it was chasing them, they managed to outrun
it? Sure. 
 
7. And that detector gadget she had. Why did she have to wave her hand
over it the whole time? Granted, such a design might be possible, but
it's also stupid. I mean, if I was using a detector like that to track
a dangerous creature, I'd want a weapon in the other hand. 
 
8. How did the creature dispose of enough bulk to fit inside a human,
and then regain it at will? Right, it curled up real small. I mean,
suspension of disbelief is one thing, but that's ridiculous. 
 
9. When it broke into the apartment, why didn't it destroy the pulse
rifle? It was obviously intelligent. 
 
10. When it was inside the male scientist's body, it seemed to have
trouble speaking, yet a few minutes (maybe a couple hours?) later, it
was using the woman's body completely naturally. 
 
11. How did the stun pistol blow up the chemical/fuel tanks? Okay,
maybe it had different settings, like phasers on STAR TREK. But how
did Jack know which one to use? 
 
12. How could something as big as the alien prison ship ("as big as a
battleship") hang around in orbit without drawing a lot of attention?
In fact, what were they doing over Earth in the first place? Prison
ships wouldn't usually be doing research on other planets. 
 
13. If the ship decompressed (at least in the normal sense), why were
all the bodies intact when they went back up? [Actually, it is a myth
that human(oid) bodies explode when exposed to the vacuum of space. In
reality of course it would kill you, but your body would essentially
mummify instead of going to pieces. - LK] 
 
14. Why crash the ship into the ocean? Why not the Moon? Why not send
it into the Sun, or deep space (well, maybe the creatures could have
taken it over in that much time). 
 
15. The ship sinks like a rock, but the two humans get out with no
oxygen or decompression. And if they were so confident they could get
out alive, why didn't they think the creatures would? 
 
16. If something the size of a battleship dropped into the ocean from
orbit, wouldn't it make some waves? The water looked pretty calm when
they broke the surface. 
 
17. Lastly, why would the normal ships be heading directly toward the
crash site? I would think that if a UFO the size of a battleship
suddenly fell out of orbit, the idea would be to proceed with caution,
not full speed ahead. 
 
    Well, call me a nitpicker, but these were just to much to
overlook, either technically or in terms of bad plotting. Did anyone
else make the mistake of watching this movie? What did you think? 

   Pete Granger            ...!{decvax,ulowell,ima,ism780c}!cg-atla!granger

    "Why do you always serve venison and fish on Valentine's Day?"
    "Because I love you hart and sole."
 

    Re .15
    
    Good nits.  To answer the linguistic one, "xenomorph" is composed
    of Greek roots and would decode to English as "strange shape." 
    To Hellenize "shape-shifter," you'd call it a "metamorph," as in
    "metamorphosis," a Greek synonnym for the Latin "transformation."
    You could therefore call the thing a "transformer" and run the risk
    of law suit from a toy manufactuer.  "Polymorph" and "multiform" 
    (both meaning "many-shape") would also do.
    
    As to crashing into the sea, yeah, I'd have picked the moon too.
    But I *think* I heard them blurt something about finding a housing
    on the ship that would survive the crash.  Presumably this protects
    them while the BEM gets smashed.  Not that this looked plausible,
    given how gentle the crash looked and how tough the BEM looked.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    RE .14(?)
    
    I overheard on _Entertainment Tonight_ (yes yes I know ... quality
    source) that a series has already been planned. 

    Well, I watched it and thought it was pretty good.  I've seen worse
    (Japanese Godzilla movies and the like).  I was disapointed with
    the creature and the way it changed it's shape.  It didn't actually
    change shape.  It just used bodies as covering for it's original
    shape.  I did like the effect of the peoples eyes changing black
    just before it burst out.
    
    It was still good SF entertainment, not great, but o.k..  I managed
    to get past all the inconsistancies.  If it becomes a series I'll
    probably watch if it's not up against something I like better. 
    
    With my luck, it will probably be put on opposite a show I really
    like, mean while there will still be a couple of nights that there
    will be nothing on that I want to watch.
    
    Kathy

    I didn't watch it and from the first couple of descriptions in
    this topic I had hoped it would be a visualization of Hal
    Clement's _Needle_.  _Needle_ would make a great miniseries/series
    both from a F/X standpoint (letters crossing the host's visual
    field, a couple of pounds of green jelly oozing into/out of the
    skin, wounds the don't bleed, etc.) as well as being a potentially
    good story - a classic detective framework.

	Mike

    	Last year's SF film, THE HIDDEN, is based on Hal Clement's story,
    NEEDLE (See Topic 540), and I am assuming that SIOT was an attempt
    to copy and cash in on THE HIDDEN.  I seriously doubt those people
    who made SIOT know about Clement's NEEDLE, or even Clement for that
    matter.
    
    	Larry
    

    re:.19
    
    THE HIDDEN was *not* "based on" NEEDLE. It may have imitated
    the book to the point of possible plagiarism (Ellison thought
    so enough to call Clement about it), but it was not "based on"
    the novel.
    
    --- jerry

    A friend of mine figured out how the creature might have miraculously
    survived the destruction of the ship.  All it had to do was to Zenomorf
    [sic] into a human, and since it was obvious that humans could survive
    the crash.........  :+)
    
    Willie

Of course it stunk (most of us seem to agree on that) but there are a few
points that defuse some of the objections.

1) The cop and the woman crashed into the ocean rather than the moon
   because they had no shuttle to leave the ship.  Rather than do the 
   honorable thing and die while killing the creature, they chose a plan
   that would return them to earth.
2) They planned to survive the crash by hiding in the strongest part of 
   the ship, the cell the creature had occupied, but they also planned 
   to blow out the back end of the cell to escape drowning.
   Also, how did they close the maximum security cell from the inside?
   The old "slip through the doors before they quite close" cliche
   came through again.
3) Let's also say that part of their job was earth research, 
   since they were going to be in the neighborhood.

The biggest gaffe I saw hasn't yet been mentioned:  They return to 
a "decompressed" ship to find things can still burn and mist and smoke
hang liesurely in the air.  Also, was the artificial gravity still
working in the defunct ship while it orbited?

The rip-off source I recall is a late 40s/ early 50s short story about a guy 
who illegally imports a ravenous "xenomorphic" extraterrestrial creature 
that escapes and is about to breed.  The illegal researcher dispatches a clone
of himself to track it down and kill it.  The subplot is how the clone 
decides to displatch his prime as well and take over.
Anybody remember the story I mean?

- tom]

    It was related in today's BOSTON GLOBE that the SOMETHING IS OUT
    THERE series is on NBC's Fall schedule.
    
    Fred

    Re .23
    
    I recall a story about a monster-hunting clone on the old "Outer
    Limits" series.  I believe it was called "Good Night, Mr. Henderson."
    The clone only had part of the original's memories copied over and
    so had no copy of the last few years of dissipation and corruption.
    As a result, he was a rather nicer person than the original (plus
    or minus a homicidal tendency or so, but then the original was going
    to blow HIM away when his function was over).
    
    The monster, as I recall, looked like a ground sloth with a buzzard's
    head and did not have any gruesome or subtle tricks -- it was just
    fast, tough, strong, and cunning.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Yes, but the original didn't do it, his friend at the duplication
    agency did.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    re: .23
    
    There's a flaw in your logic, but maybe chronological continuity
    isn't required of TV. :+)  The original plan was to set the ship
    on a collision course with something that would destroy the creature
    [I'd still go for the moon myself], destroy the shuttle that the
    xenomorph had been using, and escape in the remaining shuttle. 
    Unfortunately, the cop destroyed the 'good' shuttle when he attacked
    the xenomorph in the landing bay, so they had to ride the ship down.
    
    Like I said, after the first part I thought it had possibilities
    and was worth watching, but after that silly ending I think I'll
    find something else to do with my time when the series is on.
    
    Willie

re: .26, .27

That's exactly the story I remember, but I didn't want to include the 
spoiler ending in my description.  Anybody have a name or author for it?

re: .28

Yeah, the order is questionable - when did she program the autopilot
and when did they destroy the other shuttle?
Actually, the order lends some creedence to the story.  If they'd
known what to do, they wouldn't have destroyed either shuttle
until after they had committed the ship to crash, just to protect their
escape.  Suppose the creature had sneaked around behind them
and stolen their shuttle?  The way they did it (stupidly) reflects the 
pressure they were under, and the shoot-from-the-hip way their plan was
developed.

- tom]

>> That's exactly the story I remember, but I didn't want to include the 
>> spoiler ending in my description.  Anybody have a name or author for it?
    
    Yhea, that was pretty tacky of me...  I'm usually good at the formfeed
    spoiler warnings but my mind must have been OTL.  I've deleted the
    reply.
    
    Sorry about that, folks...
    
                                    Roak

    re:.29
    
    I haven't been following this note, since I didn't watch the movie
    in question, and since .26 has been deleted, I'm not sure what story
    was mentioned in it.
    
    However, assuming that it's the same story that Earl mentioned in
    .25 that was adapted for THE OUTER LIMITS, then the story is "Good
    Night, Mr. James", written by the recently late Clifford Simak.
    It originally appeared in GALAXY, March 1951, and has been reprinted
    in two of Simak's collections: ALL THE TRAPS OF EARTH (a.k.a. THE
    NIGHT OF THE PUDDLY) and SKIRMISH: THE GREAT SHORT FICTION OF CLIFFORD
    D. SIMAK. It also appeared in a few anthologies. Incidentally, the
    OUTER LIMITS adaptation was titled "The Duplicated Man".
    
    --- jerry

    The order went something like:
    
    1)	While he shot up the control panel of the Xenomorph's shuttle,
    she was off programming the autopilot and then locking the course
    in.
    
    2)	They both went to the weapons locker for some more ineffective
    firepower, and when they arrived in the shuttle bay the monster
    was there ahead of them.  Mush_for_brains then wildly cut loose
    with his pulse-cannon, and since he seems incapable of hitting the
    creature, took out the one remaining shuttle instead.
    
    Willie

    Yes, this really is a series, NBC has announced the premiere dates
    for its fall season, and _Something..._ is in there.
    
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    

    	Did anyone see the premiere of SIOT Friday night?  If not, don't
    worry, you didn't miss a thing.  Take away Ta'ra, the attractive
    blond extraterrestrial (aren't they all?), and you have a sub-standard
    MIAMI VICE clone, not a science ficiton series by any means.
    
    	To pick just a few nits, as the series deserves little attention 
    otherwise:  I was amused at how Ta'ra and her human male cop partner
    left the laser pistol and bullet/laser-proof suit just laying together 
    on a table in the warehouse they use for making such devices (to end 
    up being stolen by the villain in the process), then Ta'ra coming back 
    later and desperately trying to find them.  Her partner asks if she 
    misplaced it, and Ta'ra answers "Do you think I'd be so careless with 
    such a weapon?!"  Which is why she left it in the open in the first 
    place...
    
    	The other amusing thing is, once the villain (Oh, how they tried
    to make him like the Terminator) is wearing the suit, which does
    not cover his head, no one thinks to shoot him in his one most
    vulnerable area, even after repeated attempts to shoot through his
    suit!
    
        One article written up on SIOT by TV GUIDE made me really laugh:
    You see, Ta'ra's race "does it" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) exclusively 
    with their hands (I presume they use the old fashioned method for 
    making little ones?), and the magazine commented that Ta'ra and 
    her male partner will no doubt have their hands full. :^)

    	Someday the networks will make an intelligent SF series again...
    
    	Larry
    

>    	Someday the networks will make an intelligent SF series again...
    
	Uh oh, now you've crossed over into Fantasy :-)

    I believe that SIOT has been cancelled.
    
    
    See...the marketplace does work!