ABC’s Masters of Science Fiction #4 The Discarded

In the last of the four episodes airing, out of the six that ABC has of Masters of Science Fiction, we find a group of mutants living on a space ship and slowly going mad. Brain Dennehy stars as a man with a really big arm. John Hurt, best known to sci fi fans as the unfortunate crew member that had the Alien burst out of his chest, here has a whole second person sticking out of his chest. This is science fiction as morality play, but it would be nice if someone in the story had some morals. The…

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Masters of Science Fiction #3 Jerry was a Man

Robert A. Heinlein and Issac Asimov were old army buddies that had a friendly rivalry their entire science fiction writing careers. Heinlein was a best selling author years before Asimov, but Asimov was a genius and his stories were often thought of as better written and thought out. Heinlein was quick to realize that the core audience for his work was horny young men, so almost all of his stories had at least a mild sexual element. Asimov was more of a thinker than a lover, thus his most lasting works involve his famed Three Laws of Robotics. But Heinlein…

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ABC’s Masters of Science Fiction-well, maybe not Masters

What is Science Fiction? It is taking something in the present and thinking about what the future will look like if things keep going the way they are. Science Fiction writing must also contain a strong element of real science, which makes movies about robots science fiction movies and movies about dragons fantasy movies.ABC’s Masters of Science Fiction is following in the footsteps of The Twilight Zone, a show that was not just great science fiction, but was great television. It might help to remember that TV in the late fifties and early sixties was full of anthology shows. There…

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