The Krypton Club?
Bill van Heerden
Can someone PLEASE tell me what the Krypton Club is?
Bill
--
Bill van Heerden
bv...@freenet.toronto.on.ca
"Two guys walk into a bar which is really stupid 'cause you figure if the
first guy walked right into it, the second one would've seen it" Howie Mandel
Colonel X
>Newbie alert!
>
>Can someone PLEASE tell me what the Krypton Club is?
A rather classy online fan club run by some opinionates who deem it
"fact" that "Never on Sunday" (which was very good, remember that)
was possibly the worst episode of the series. That lil' hiccup aside,
their site (and back issues) are well worth visiting. Yahoo has a link
to the site.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On assignment in Athens, Georgia,
Colonel X.
Expect the unexpected.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CraigByrne
newsletters 2-3 times a week about the show. The newsletters feature
reviews, interviews, top ten lists, trivia, ratings reports, and other fun
L&C stuff.
To subscribe, you can e-mail me at Kryp...@aol.com. You may also want
to check out our Web page, where many of the newsletters are posted, at
http://www.tst-medhat.com/~windsong/krypton/krypton.html
Craig Byrne
President of the L&C Krypton Club
Rachel Smith
: >Can someone PLEASE tell me what the Krypton Club is?
: A rather classy online fan club run by some opinionates who deem it
: "fact" that "Never on Sunday" (which was very good, remember that)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I think NOT! Horrible episode! No humor! (Except a little bit in
the teaser--blue and orange plates?--and heat vision to dry the
dishes.) I recorded the next episode over my copy, I abhorred it so
much! So much agony and pain and despair...*very* un-L&Cish! Great
acting job, but horrible content. I'd rate the WHAMs at a 9.8 and the
plot at a -3.5. The Lois-stuck-in-the-plane thing at the end didn't
work too well, and except for Jimmy's first-day-of-kindergarten-naked
experience, I didn't like the episode. (Little waff after the attack
on Clark in his apartment...with Lois.)
Very un-L&Cish! Not witty, just heavy and painful. Blahh.
--
---------------
Rachel Smith
clar...@wpi.edu
Colonel X
>Colonel X (GOG...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU) wrote:
>
>: A rather classy online fan club run by some opinionates who deem it
>: "fact" that "Never on Sunday" (which was very good, remember that)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>I think NOT! Horrible episode! No humor! (Except a little bit in
>the teaser--blue and orange plates?--and heat vision to dry the
>dishes.) I recorded the next episode over my copy, I abhorred it so
>much! So much agony and pain and despair...*very* un-L&Cish! Great
>acting job, but horrible content. I'd rate the WHAMs at a 9.8 and the
>plot at a -3.5. The Lois-stuck-in-the-plane thing at the end didn't
>work too well, and except for Jimmy's first-day-of-kindergarten-naked
>experience, I didn't like the episode. (Little waff after the attack
>on Clark in his apartment...with Lois.)
Hence my putting the word "fact" in quotes. You didn't like the episode,
neither did Craig or Dan and you are all welcome to your opinions. I
do, however, take issue to the use of the phrase "possibly the worst
episode of the series" in the synopsis of the episode. Synopses should
provide only factual information, with the negative or positive remarks
left to one side (as the authors did, one giving the episode {I think}
a D- and one an F in their grades). If there was no doubt in *anyone's*
mind that the episode was a stinker, or at the very least quite
widespread fan consensus that it's the worst (a la "Spock's Brain,"
"Time and the Rani," the Columbo eps with Ed McBain plots, any Fred
Frieberger/Charles Woodgrove "1999," etc) then maybe I could see its
hammering in the synopsis, but there is none. By far the majority of
people I've spoken with really liked that episode.
>
>Very un-L&Cish! Not witty, just heavy and painful. Blahh.
If "L&Cish" equates to an hour of hugging and feeling good, then I want
none of it. I can get that any weekday afternoon on any network.
"Never on Sunday" was heavy, but intriguing, with a great villain,
fabulous acting and the best dialogue Grant Rosenberg's written for
the show. I concede the point about the sloppy direction amid the
plane sequence (and said so in my review of the episode just after it
aired), but for goodness sakes, give me variety. An occasional "heavy
and painful" ep, by anyone's standards, should be welcomed to break
the usual happiness. (Besides which, surely you don't think "Never on
Sunday" was even a bit as "painful" as the last 5 episodes?)
Baron Sunday was the first comic villain adapted for TV to be thoroughly
and unmistakeably evil, with no camp, no silliness, no overacting, no
cloying celebrity guest star. (Metallo *almost* made it, but Scott
Valentine was still a bit silly.) It was dark and menacing and I was
so happy to see someone with superpowers other than the same ones that
Superman has...I loved it to itty bitty pieces.
That's all my *opinion* of course, and when you one day in the future
see a book on the shelves called _The Encyclopedia of American TV
Fantasy_ written by my real-world persona (it's a ways off, though) and
turn to the "L&C" section, look up "Never on Sunday." You will only
see guest stars, writer, director and what happened in the hour...no
hyperbole pro or con. That's the way synopses should be and that's the
point I was issuing.
KalElFan
writes:
>Colonel X (GOG...@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU) wrote:
>: >Can someone PLEASE tell me what the Krypton Club is?
>
>: A rather classy online fan club run by some opinionates who deem it
>: "fact" that "Never on Sunday" (which was very good, remember that)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>I think NOT! Horrible episode! No humor! (Except a little bit in
>the teaser--blue and orange plates?--and heat vision to dry the
>dishes.) I recorded the next episode over my copy, I abhorred it so
>much! So much agony and pain and despair...*very* un-L&Cish! Great
>acting job, but horrible content. I'd rate the WHAMs at a 9.8 and the
>plot at a -3.5. The Lois-stuck-in-the-plane thing at the end didn't
>work too well, and except for Jimmy's first-day-of-kindergarten-naked
>experience, I didn't like the episode. (Little waff after the attack
>on Clark in his apartment...with Lois.)
>
>Very un-L&Cish! Not witty, just heavy and painful. Blahh.
>
>--
>---------------
>Rachel Smith
>clar...@wpi.edu
Well, Rachel, I'm with the Colonel on this one and thought it
was a very good episode. I've yet to see any rational explanation
for why some people seem to hate it. I've come to the conclusion
they must have had some instinctively negative reaction to it for
some reason I can't put my finger on, and have spent their time
since then trying to find rational justification for that initial
knee-jerk reaction.
You say it didn't have any humor but then say "except for". So
you did find some humor, and remember L&C isn't supposed to
be a comedy. If it is (and I don't think so), then comedy comes
fourth on the list after romance, fantasy, and action/adventure
(quite possibly in that order but they're close and there's a big
gap between those three and comedy, IMHO).
The episode did have romance and WAFFs. You cite one example
(and you also cite a few other things you liked about the ep, in
fact more things than I'd expect to see for a "Horrible episode").
And you didn't mention the use of the ring at the end which was
*mega-waff* and extremely well done. So you've got the romance.
Fantasy was certainly present. Magic and the occult are one
of Superman's very few weaknesses (pre-crisis it was that and
kryptonite, not much else). I thought the villain therefore qualified
as a "supervillain" (also did a very good acting job), and his
motivation tied directly in to Clark's past. Those kinds of villains
make the best ones, where it's personal between them and
Superman. In fact here it was between him and Clark, which
made it an even *more* refreshing change and a very good
one considering this series is entitled Lois & Clark.
In fact the action/adventure element was present with the voodoo
and the suspense that created, the mystery surrounding the history
and identity of the villain. The plot was much better and more
intricate than the vast, vast majority of L&C episodes (I'm not
trashing the other eps, but this one was very well conceived, written
and executed). What more could you want? Except that snake coming
back again in season 4, which I hope they aren't scared off of
based on the seemingly irrational comments of this episode's
detractors.
Finally, I've mentioned several times that they need to focus more on
good, self-contained stories and less on the soap opera stuff. After
the current arc I think most FoLC would agree with that. This episode
fit that bill very well, and still managed to work in all the elements
I've identified. NOS would probably make my top ten list rather easily.
I hope we see more like it, and I only wish I knew what instictively
turned *some* people against this episode. Maybe it's fear of black
magic or something.
Karen Fung
Oh, stop bragging. Just because you and Dan got your name on the well
does not mean you are the club. ;-) Besides, I thought it was the
KRYPTON club, not the L&C Krypton Club.
Karen Fung, Talking Extraordinaire
gf...@unix.dsoe.com
Canada
I am weird.
CraigByrne
wrong, maybe something negative was said in the episode guide or
something), the only place where we said it was "possibly the worst
episode" was in our reviews, not synopses. Reviews are meant to be
opinions =^)
I didn't like "NoS" because the character continuity was inconsistent and
the villain was too unbelievable (for me, at least). But remember, that
was just an opinion, and not meant at all to be fact.
Craig
KalElFan
(CraigByrne) writes:
>About "Never on Sunday"... as far as I can remember (and correct me if
I'm
>wrong, maybe something negative was said in the episode guide or
>something), the only place where we said it was "possibly the worst
>episode" was in our reviews, not synopses. Reviews are meant to be
>opinions =^)
Don't know if the Krypton Club's guide has opinions or not. The one that
I have is Jeff Sykes'. I haven't looked at every single blurb in it, but
it
looks like it takes a "just the facts ma'am" approach without exception.
I agree with you that reviews are fine. But even there, no one should
leap to conclusions that their review, or theirs plus five or ten reviews
from other like-minded people, immediately constitute a fan-wide
consensus. (I'm not suggesting the Krypton Club's done that at all,
because I have no idea. I'm just cautioning against that as general
advice.)
There can come a point where opinions reach the level of near-fact. For
example "Spock's Brain" is at or near the bottom of just about everyone's
list, as we know from more than 25 years of debate about such things.
Likewise "City on the Edge of Forever" is known to be at or near the
top of most lists. (it has some competition from The Trouble With
Tribbles, which I thought was good but not in the same league.) With
L&C, the verdict may still be out, especially on the season 3 episodes
like NoS, which we may never have any consensus on.
>I didn't like "NoS" because the character continuity was inconsistent and
>the villain was too unbelievable (for me, at least). But remember, that
>was just an opinion, and not meant at all to be fact.
Before anyone jumps on your "too unbelievable" comment with the
usual "but you believe in Superman and..." response, I'll defend it and
agree that believability is important, within the context of the Superman
universe. There was nothing with Baron Sunday that crossed the line,
IMHO. People all seem to love the Tempus/H.G. Wells episodes and
NoS was certainly no less believable than those. When I turn on L&C,
it hardly surprises me to have a villain who used to be an ordinary
mortal but acquired/learned magical powers. In fact, if his life path
happens to have crossed Clark Kent's such that he holds a major
grudge against him, so much the better. I've got my supervillain, and
it's personal to boot.
And before someone says "I guess you'd like a supervillain of the
week then?" the answer is no. Not all episodes need that, and often
human villains can play well as tools to tell a different story (e.g. the
Intergang crowd). But I guess the reason I liked NoS so much is
because Sunday wasn't a supervillain of the *week*. More like the
season or the series. (Not literally, but I think they should be using
supervillains more often than they have. I'd settle for once a month
or so.)
Colonel X
>In article <4jvqpp$9...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, craig...@aol.com
>(CraigByrne) writes:
>
>>About "Never on Sunday"... as far as I can remember (and correct me if
>I'm
>>wrong, maybe something negative was said in the episode guide or
>>something), the only place where we said it was "possibly the worst
>>episode" was in our reviews, not synopses. Reviews are meant to be
>>opinions =^)
Craig, you'll forgive my following up to KalElFan's response to you,
as my news server did not pick up your own reply.
Anyway, I'm looking at the guide right now, and the synopsis of the
episode reads "In what could be considered to be the worst episode of
`Lois & Clark' ever made, a madman uses voodoo to get revenge on
Clark and make him succumb to his greatest fears. Meanwhile, Lois's
mom decides to help arrange the wedding." I don't see any other
synopsis in your episode guide that includes such hyperbole, although
I may not be looking too closely. (You did mistitle episode 21. It's
simply "The House of Luthor," not "Fall of...".)
Again, I have no objection at all to the D- you gave the episode, nor
the F your partner awarded it. I'm sad that you didn't enjoy the hour
as much as a lot of other people, myself included, did, but I respect
your opinion enough to know that if you gave it a D-, you did so with
as much critical and journalistic insight as a fan of your stature can
do. (Of course, it's a matter of record that no two fans are looking
for the same things in the show, so nobody's opinions can hardly be
expected to match.)
The only problem I have (and it's a small one) with the inclusion of
opinions or grades at all is that you and Dan seem to have remarkably
similar opinions on the episodes and, most of the time, give the shows
very similar grades. Hence, they look redundant. Dreamwatch magazine is
currently doing grades on a 1-10 scale for new programs from five
correspondants, with an overall grade as well. The result is a lot more
interesting to read and gives a broader sense of what fans, as a whole,
thought of an episode. (As an example, a recent Star Trek that guest
starred Joel Grey got a "10" from one correspondant and a "1" from
another. This indicates the broad spectrum of opinions a lot more
readily than yours. Why not either add another fan's opinion or grade
or just drop the thing?)
mike ballentine
> >: "fact" that "Never on Sunday" (which was very good, remember that)
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> >I think NOT! Horrible episode! No humor! (Except a little bit in
> >the teaser--blue and orange plates?--and heat vision to dry the
> >dishes.)
That episode was from "The Dad Who Came in From the Cold".
ellen
CraigByrne
staying though, but the "Possibly the worst..." remark will go. I'll get
to it sometime within the next week. It is NOT a fact, just an opinion,
that "NoS" was bad.
We do try to print as many varying opinions as we can of the episodes...
it's not my fault sometimes we agree on them <G>
Craig