THE GIANT EARTHSIP ARK, DRIFTING THROUGH DEEP SPACE OVER EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FAR FUTURE, ITS PASSENGERS DESCENDANTS OF THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE DEAD PLANET EARTH, LOCKED IN SEPARATE WORLDS HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION... The Starlost (1973). The most controversial Sci Fi Television series ever made. It began with high hopes, created by Harlan Ellison with participation by such luminaries as Ben Bova and Ursula K. LeGuin, featuring special effects by 2001: A Space Odyssey's Doug Trumbull, starring 2001's Keir Dullea. Somehow it all went wrong, Harlan Ellison denounced his creation, and the series became legendary as “the worst ever!' But was it really? Produced in Canada, constrained physically and financially, the show began to reflect Canadian issues and sensibilities, at a time when Canada and Canadians were going through a national identity crisis, forming a nation, building a culture and confronting challenges from regionalism within, to the overwhelming presence of the United States without. What was Canada? What did it and its people stand for, and where were they going? The Starlost became a mirror of national concerns and preoccupations as the stars confronted alien and interlopers, industrialization, pollution, militarism, ethics and morality and ultimately humanity's place in the world. This extensively researched work, written with dry humor and deep insight, draws on interviews and correspondence with stars Robin Ward and Gay Rowan, series writer Norman Klenman, and features a comprehensive episode guide with detailed reviews encompassing behind the scenes information and thematic analysis, as well as a full section on the production process and making of the show. STARLOST UNAUTHORIZED is the most comprehensive and detailed work ever produced on this unique and controversial television series.

LEXX Unauthorized, Series 4 - The Little Blue Marble. The final chapter in the saga of LEXX, and its crew: Kai, an undead assassin, Zev, a combination of love slave and cluster lizard, Stanley Tweedle, a hapless security guard and 790, a robot head, careening through space together a stolen, planet destroying, biological warship shaped like a dragonfly. The fourth series came along at the 11th hour with a last minute purchase by the US Sci Fi Channel. The fourth series once again sees a radical reinvention of the show, and a season of more episodes than ever before, for less money. The LEXX, having destroyed heaven and hell, finds another planet on the opposite side of the sun - Earth, a world which they can't seem to get away from, as they encounter Divine Executioners, Mummies, Militias, Porn Stars, Prisons, Druids, Cowboys, Mad Scientists, Morticians and the most bizarre elements of American society. LEXX was one of the strangest most surreal series ever conceived, owing as much to Barbarella and Bunuel as to to Star Trek and Star Wars. It was unique and unforgettable, mixing black comedy and absurdism with epic drama, and an astonishing visual sense. Backstage, the story of the creation of the series was even more extraordinary, a tale of regional Atlantic film makers, renegade artists, cult film makers, wild experimentation, Canadian cultural nationalism, German entrepreneurs, new computer generated imagery technologies and backstage chaos intersecting in wildly unpredictable ways, to create truly exotic images and stories. The product of years of research and dozens of interviews, this is a 'must buy' for any fan of the show itself or of science fiction movies television generally, and an eye opening insight into film and television production, especially Canadian and international productions. The fourth chapter follows the frantic history of a production pushing the outer limits of possibility, and the decline and fall of the production company, Salter Street, that birthed it.

LEXX Unauthorized, Series 2 - The continuing story of Kai, an undead assassin, Zev, a combination of love slave and cluster lizard, Stanley Tweedle, a hapless security guard and 790, a robot head, careening through space together in the LEXX, a stolen, planet destroying, biological warship shaped like a dragonfly. In the second series, the crew travel through space, searching for a new home, or at least a good time, while in their wake a mysterious force is destroying the universe. LEXX was one of the strangest and most wildly surreal space operas ever conceived, owing as much to Luis Bunuel and Alejandro Jodorowsky as to to Star Trek and Star Wars. It was unique and unforgettable, mixing black comedy and absurdism with epic drama, and an astonishing visual sense. Backstage, the story of the creation of the series was even more extraordinary, a tale of regional Atlantic film makers, renegade artists, cult film makers, wild experimentation, Canadian cultural nationalism, German entrepreneurs, new computer generated imagery technologies and backstage chaos intersecting in wildly unpredictable ways, to create truly exotic images and stories. The product of years of research and dozens of interviews, this is a 'must buy' for any fan of the show itself or of science fiction movies television generally, and an eye opening insight into film and television production, especially Canadian and international productions.

The United States government discovers, to its horror, that the creatures featured in animated cartoons are not fabrications but real beings. Fearing the social and political consequences of the discovery being made public, they proceed to exile them off Earth to another planet. However, things do not go according to plan... A new novel from Canadian author David Perlmutter

Animation has been part of television since the start of the medium but it has rarely received unbiased recognition from media scholars. More often, it has been ridiculed for supposedly poor technical quality, accused of trafficking in violence aimed at children, and neglected for indulging in vulgar behavior. These accusations are often made categorically, out of prejudice or ignorance, with little attempt to understand the importance of each program on its own terms. This book takes a serious look at the whole genre of television animation, from the early themes and practices through the evolution of the art to the present day. Examining the productions of individual studios and producers, the author establishes a means of understanding their work in new ways, at the same time discussing the ways in which the genre has often been unfairly marginalized by critics, and how, especially in recent years, producers have both challenged and embraced this "marginality" as a vital part of their work. By taking seriously something often thought to be frivolous, the book provides a framework for understanding the persistent presence of television animation in the American media--and how surprisingly influential it has been.

"There has never been a craze like Beanie Babies. The $5 beanbag animals with names like Seaweed the Otter and Gigi the Poodle drove a large swath of America into a greed-fueled frenzy as they chased the rarest Beanie Babies, whose values escalated weekly in the late 1990s. Just as strange as the mass hysteria was the man behind it. Sometimes called the "Steve Jobs of plush" by his employees, he obsessed over every detail of every animal his company ever released. He had no marketing budget and no connections, but he had something more valuable - an intuitive grasp of human psychology that would make him the richest man in the history of toys. The Great Beanie Baby Bubble is a classic American story of people winning and losing vast fortunes chasing what one dealer remembers as "the most spectacular dream ever sold.""--Back cover.

Michael McCarty interviews masters of the fantastic, including: Harlan Ellison, Whitley Strieber, Laurell K. Hamilton, Harry Turtledove, Boris Vallejo, Joe R. Lansdale, Max Collins, Charles Grant, The Amazing Kreskin, Richard Matheson, and many more

The ultimate oral history of the only gentleman secret agent with a license to kill... and thrill...telling the incredible, uncensored true stories of the James Bond franchise and spy mania. For over five decades, the cinematic adventures of James Bond have thrilled moviegoers. Now, bestselling authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross take you behind-the-scenes of the most famous and beloved movie franchise of all-time filled with reflections from over 150 cast, crew, critics and filmmakers who reflect on the impact of this legendary movie franchise as well as share their thoughts about their favorite (and least) favorite 007 adventures and spy mania which gripped fans the world over in the wake of the success of the James Bond films. From Russia--with love, course--to Vegas, from below the bright blue waters of the Bahamas in search of a missing nuclear weapon to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, from below the seas in Stromberg’s new Noah's Ark of Atlantis into orbit with Hugo Drax, Nobody Does It Better: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of James Bond tells the amazing, true story of the birth of James Bond through the latest remarkable James Bond adventures as well as the Spy mania classics that enthralled the world. It’s Bond and Beyond from the critically acclaimed authors of the bestselling The Fifty-Year Mission and So Say We All. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Isaac Asimov's death on April 6, 1992, was a great loss to literature, science, and freethought. The vision of one of America's most prolific authors is unmatched today, and his pointed honesty shines through in this fascinating collection of essays, now reissued in this special tribute edition. Asimov demonstrates his extraordinary skill at disseminating knowledge from across the spectrum of scientific disciplines as his roving mind ranges from the polemical to the persuasive, from the speculative to the realistic. The sixty-two essays in this volume include such subjects as creationism, the distinction between real science and pseudoscience, censorship, the population explosion, technophobia, the social consequences of technological progress, cloning, the possibility of contacting extraterrestrial life, and the wonders of the cosmos. There are also thoughts on his style of writing, stories about his personal life, and recollections of family history - all written in the clear and elegant prose for which Asimov was noted.