StarTrekking: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 4 - “Off-Hour"

So we're halfway throught season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds so let's take stock of the first 5 episodes.

#5 - "Human Best Friend"

This is the first true mis-fire of the season so far. Other than furthering the relationship of Ortegas & Scotty, the episode offers little of value and the broad comedy of having the entire cast be intoxicated falls flat.

#4 - "The Griffin Incident"

I feel a little bad for ranking this so low as it a well made horror tale, something that is atypical for Star Trek. But I have to admit that this sort of thing is not in my wheelhouse.  

#3 - "Level-Five Transporter Accident"

I know, I know, the infamous puppet episode. Whatever the question of whether this should have even happened or how it happened, the thing is I like the Muppets and Jim Henson's Creature Shop does an amazing job with the puppets on this episode and what can I say? Muppets are in my wheelhouse.

#2 - "Valles Marineris"

I'm a little surprised I'm ranking this at #2. I mean, it had spacey-wacey, timey-wimey and a classic Star Trekkina moral dilemma at it's core. 

#1 - "A Case of Chiaroscuro"

What can I say? My love of classic black & white film noir and anything that puts the spotlight on Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley has my attention.  Yeah, doing the episode in B&W is a gimmick but damn, it's a gimmick done very well in terms of story and style. 

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That's all in the past.  This week was episode 6 as we move into the back half of season 4.

"Off-Hour" presents a tense and frantic episode as the Enterprise runs into some unexpected cosmic hooziwhatzit that cripples the ship and puts everyone in danger.

The Enterprise is not dead in the water but caught in a sort of warp slipstream in an every increasing acceleration towards the warp threshold. When the Enterprise hits that threshold, the whole ship will fly apart.

(Or the crew will be turned into salamanders. Click here for more about that.)  

The obvious call back for Trekkers is to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster" where the Enterprise runs into some unexpected cosmic hooziwhatzit that cripples the ship and puts everyone in danger. Which I wrote about here. 

The biggest medical emergency in "Disaster" is Worf has to serve as midwife when Keiko O'Brien goes into labor.

In "Off Hour".  Nurse Christine Chapel, faced with diminishing resources and time, has to scramble for solutions when Dr. Joseph M'Benga gets cut in half!  

OK, that's some serious shit! 

It's a very powerful moment for Chapel who has not gotten a lot to do this season.  

This episode hurts a lot of people besides M'Benga: 

• Pike gets electrocuted.
• Una's leg is shattered.
• Spock and La'An get zapped with lots of radiation.

Of particular interest in this episode is Scotty's development. Far from the "miracle worker" of the original series, Scotty is overwhelmed by the rapidity of the Enterprise's collapse. For every one thing he fixes, 3 other things break.  

The older Scotty we know has an abiding love for the Enterprise.

Young Scotty is pissed that this bucket of bolts is actively trying to kill him. 

Pelia guides Scotty towards thinking that starships are capable of miracles.

There's a line from Scotty's appearance in the TNG episode "Relics" where he tells Capt. Picard, "I could tell you the speed that we were traveling by the feel of the deckplates."

In "Off-Hour", with the Enterprise rapidly approaching it's breaking point, Scotty reaches out and silently places his hand on a deck plate, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he reports to Capt. Pike, "The Enterprise will hold. She'll keep us alive."

It's a powerful moment towards this Scotty becoming the Scotty we will come to know, the miracle worker engineer. 

I know this fan boy got a shiver up his spine at that moment.  

For everyone bugged by puppets, horror, comedy and black & white, "Off Hour" is a return to form: the crew of the Enterprise being smart and brave, sciencing the shit out of an intractable problem.

That is that for this week's Star Trekking.

Until next time, live long and prosper, y'all! 

Movie Time: The Sheep Detectives

Sometimes in describing a movie, it helps to compare it to another movie but add a twist to the premise.

It’s like Star Wars but if Darth Vader was the abusive music instructor from Whiplash.

It’s like Steel Magnolias but the beauty shop is on the submarine from The Hunt For Red October.

It’s like Titanic but the cruise ship is the tech company from Office Space.

 

OK, none of those movie match ups exist but shouldn’t they?

 

Today’s post is about a movie match up that does exist.

 

It’s like Knives Out but with the animals from Babe and Benoit Blanc is a sheep.

 

It’s…Movie Time!

 

 Today’s post is about a movie that came out in May of this year, The Sheep Detectives.

 

A herd of sheep must band together to solve a case of... MURDER! 

Here’s the set up:  George Hardy is a bit of a loner, a misanthrope to the people of the small English community of Denbrook.

 

But George is a kindly soul to the sheep that are in his care.  Living in a caravan trailer, he tends to all their needs for food and medicine.  He has a name for each of the sheep.

 

And he reads to them.  He likes to read murder mysteries to them.

 

Lilly, the sheep others in the flock regard as the smartest sheep in the world, follows along and is usually very good at solving who the murderer is before George gets to the end.  

Another of the sheep, Cloud, always has the same guess: "I think the maid did it!" (Even if the story doesn't have a maid!) 

The sheep live a life of blissful ignorance. Death is just something that happens in the stories George tells. 

Sheep believe that they themselvs do not die, they become the clouds in the sky.

And they cling to this idyllic perspective with an uncanny ability to will themselves to forget anything unpleasant. 

Except for Mopple, the one sheep who remembers everything.

The idyllic existence of shepherd and sheep takes a tragic turn when George is murdered.  

Cloud: "I think the maid did it!" 

There is no maid but there is no dearth of suspects in Denbrook.

• George's solicitor Lydia Harbottle
• Reverend Hillcoate
• butcher Ham Gilyard
• innkeeper Beth Pennock
• neighbouring shepherd Caleb Merrow
• Rebecca Hampstead, George's long lost daughter  

He also had a son,  Peter Van Vuuren, who is in South Africa.  

Tim Derry, the town's only police officer, would rather make things easy for himself and assume poor George died of natural causes.  But visiting reporter Elliot Matthews guides the reluctant officer to re-visit George's caravan and consider the clues that indicate George's death was murder.

The trail of clues leads Tim to Rebecca Hampstead! 

No! It can't be! She seems like a nice girl. But there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that points to Rebecca to having the mean, the opportunity and motive to kill her long absent father.

Cloud: "I think the maid did it!" 

The case seems like a lock but Lilly ain't buying it.

She's heard enough of George's murder mysteries and solved them to know something isn't making sense.  

But how can Lilly, a mere sheep, find the clues and communicate that to Tim to exonerate Rebecca and find the real killer?  

What follows is an intricate puzzle as Lilly explores and watches to piece together the real story of what happened to George.

Lilly is forced to confront a lot of harsh truths.  Such as death is real.  

Lilly realizes she must have witnessed many sheep die and she willed herself to forget them all and believe in the myth they become clouds.

Lilly is heartbroken to realize that Mopple does remember every one of them and cannot forget.  

I think Julia Louis-Dreyfus does an extraordinary job as the voice of Lilly, creating a character of warmth and innocence, one also fractured with fear as Lilly is forced to do things she has never done before.

Such as leave the pasture. 

And cross a road.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To show a sheep how it's done! 

The sheep also contemplate the existence of God.

OK, let's be real, it's no weirder than what kids learn in Sunday School.

Cloud: "I think the maid did it!" 

The Sheep Detectives is a very funny movie but it's also filled with deep moments of loss and longing.  

The "It's That Person Who Was NOT In That Thing"  Department

The part of Rebecca Hampstead was played by Molly Gordon. Andrea kept insisting she looked familiar.

Andrea: "I've seen Molly Gordon in something, I'm sure of it!"

A quicky review of Molly's Wikipedia page and her IMDB page of every recorded TV show and movie she's ever been in found NO show or movie either of us has seen that features Molly Gordon.  

The "It's That Person Who WAS In That Thing"  Department

The part of Caleb Merrow was played by Tosin Cole who was Ryan SInclair on Doctor Who.  

The Sheep Detectives is a unique film even as it's influences from other movies are clearly felt.  The talking animals evokes Babe and the murder mystery at the center of things is worthy of RIan Johnson's Knives Out films.  But the amalgamation of these influences molds The Sheep Detectives into it's own delightful and profound thing.      

Andrea and I enjoyed The Sheep Detectives quite a lot. 

And that is that for this week's movie post.

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Cloud: "I still think the maid did it!" 

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Andrea: "I've seen Molly Gordon in something, I'm sure of it!"

Your Friday Video Link: Banana Ball Is Frozen! (And Wicked! And Dirty!)

I have posted before about the phenomenon of Banana Ball, a wild and wacky variation of minor league baseball which combines the game with episodes of theatricality.

Like what happened at Coors Field stadium in Denver on August 16, 2026.  

Kristen Bell surprised fans at the Savannah Bananas game in Denver with a live performance of “For the First Time in Forever” from Frozen. 

Broadway star Derek Klena joined her on the field for a medley of songs from Wicked and Dirty Dancing.

Your Friday Video Link provides a record of that performance.

That show was awesome and the Dirty Dancing lift was epic.

Here is Banana Ball Commissioner Jesse Cole discussing the work and planning that went into that performance.

And that is a wrap on this week's edition of Your Friday Video Link.

We're back tomorrow with Movie Time! 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another. 

Comic Book Retro 50: August 1976

 Welcome back to Comic Book Retro 50 where I look back at what a young Dave-El was buying off of the spinner racks a half century ago.  

What pray tell did I buy in August 1976?

Picking up where we left off in  June 1976, it's Freedom Fighters#5 with a cover by cover by Rich Buckler & Vince Colleta. 

In the previous issue written by Marty Pasko, Wonder Woman was called on to intervene in capturing the renegade super team and winds up on the wrong end of a presumably killing blow from a big bad called King Samson.  

"The Rise and Fall of King Samson" now pairs up new incoming writer Bob Rozakis along with returning artists Ramona Fradon and Vince Colletta as the Freedom Fighters need to figure out how to cure Wonder Woman of her case of death.  

Bob Rozakis was a frequent go-to writer for a lot of DC Comics in the 1970's.  He would continue as the writer for Freedom Fighters for the rest of it's run until it's end in 1978.  

After ending with issue #43 back in November 1972, Teen Titans returned to the DC line up with issue #44 as of August 1976 with a cover by Ernie Chan & Vince Colletta. 

"The Man Who Toppled the Titans" was co-written by Paul Levitz and Bob Rozakis (him again) with art by Pablo Marcos & Bob Smith.

Long time non-super hero member Mal Duncan adopts the super hero indentity of the Guardian in this issue.  IMHO, I think it was a clever use of established lore from other comics. (The costume and name came from the super hero who helped the Newsboy Legion in Jack Kirby's run on Jimmy Olsen.) 

Mal Duncan's time as the Guardian will regrettably come to an end in issue #44 to be replaced by a really stupid idea. 

Meanwhile, back to issue #43...

Long time foe of the Justice League Dr. Light comes after the junior heroes as a stepping stone to defeating the JLA.  He does not succeed and this defeat at the hands of a bunch of kids will continue to haunt the villain, saddled with reputation of "defeated by kids".  Subsequent appearances in JLA and Suicide Squad will inevitably bring up Dr. Light got beat up by kids.  

Until Dr. Light's rep was replaced with "rapist" in 2004 in Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis series.  So THAT is what he became known for after that.  

OK, this nostalgic look back at comic books took a dark turn.

Let's look at more super team action with Justice League of America #136, part 2 of the 3 part annual Earth 1 Justice League/Earth 2 Justice Society crossover with the Fawcett Comics super heroes of Earth S tossed in as well.  

Fun fact about this cover by Ernie Chan & Frank Giacoia: this is the first time the Batman of Earth 2 has been featured on a comic book cover since...

BEGIN....COMIC BOOK NERD ALERT! 

While the line of demarcation for Earth 1 super heroes is clear for some characters like Barry Allen/The Flash (Showcase#4) or Hal Jordan/Green Lantern (Showcase#22), the switch from what we know to be Earth 2 to Earth 1 is less clear for heroes who remained in continuous publication from the Golden Age to the Silver Age.  

What is the point where the Batman character starring in his own book and in Detective Comics became the Silver Age version? 

One such dividing line was when Julius Schwartz took over as Batman's editor and slapped a yellow oval around the bat on Batman's chest in the spring of 1964.

But an oval-less Batman had already been appearing next to Silver Age compatriots in Justice League of America.

Other considerations on when Batman switched from the Golden Age version to the Earth 1 Silver Age version involve calculating what issues of Batman and Detective were on sale concurrent with Showcase#4 and maybe in even going further back to when Jack Schiff took over as editor and the titles became less dark and further removed from the character's

Golden Age roots blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

END....COMIC BOOK NERD ALERT! 

Fun fact about this cover by Ernie Chan & Frank Giacoia: this is the first time the Batman of Earth 2 has been features on a comic book cover since in a very long time.  

"Crisis on Earth-S"  continues to shenanigans created by just here for a good time plotter E. Nelson Bridwell and really wishes Julie Schwartz did not have his phone number scripter Martin Pasko with stalwart JLA artists Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin doing their damnedest to make it all look good.

As I noted in last month's Comic Book Retro 50, Pasko was not a willing or joyful participant in these proceedings.  IMHO, a lot of the dialogue and captions still read more like Bridwell's voice than Pasko's.  

Long time Captain Marvel nemesis King Kull is doing... things.

Evil things.

Things... of evil.

Meanwhile, what is up with the good Captain? Where is he in all this chaos?  

So all the fandom at DC wanted to see a team up of the Captain Marvel cast with the classic DC heroes and Bridwell writes them out of this story?  

By the way, props to Dillin for drawing Billy Batson in the classic C.C. Beck style.  

Meanwhile the Joker (of Earth 2) and the Weeper (of Earth S) are doing... things.

Evil things.

Things... of evil.

Mr. Scarlet (of Earth S) stops the Joker.

With an Infra-Red Ray Pistol! 

OK, I'll bite: How does an Infra-Red Ray Pistol work?

Very well, thank you! 

Meanwhile The Shade (Earth 2) and Dr. Light (taking a break from getting his ass kicked by the Teen Titans on Earth 1) are doing...   you know... things.

Evil things.

Things... of evil.

There's some fuckery being caused by satellites (of EVIL!) which Hawman (Earth 1) and Bulletman (Earth S) cause to collide in a spectacular BWAAAAADOOOOMMM! 

Good show, Dillin and McLaughlin.  

For even MORE Info on this insane issue, check out Alan Stewart's blog for his own 50 year look back at JLA#136.  

Elsewhere on Earth 2 brings us to All Star Comics#63 with a cover by Rich Buckler & Wally Wood  

With Gerry Conway back at Marvel, it's up to Paul Levitz to go solo and write the "The Death of Doctor Fate", wonderfully illustrated by Keith Giffen & Wally Wood.  

The JSA is being attacked by the Injustice Gang.

So Levitz is making a boo-boo here! The super villain team on Earth 2 is the Injustice Society.  "Injustice Gang" is the sobriquet of the super villain team on Earth 1.  

Speaking off criss-cross multiple Earth chicanery, after being defeated on Earth 1 in Superman#301, Solomon Grundy is back on Earth 2 to get his butt kicked by Superman again, this time the Golden Age version.  

Keith Giffen and Wally Wood with colorist Carl Gafford continue to evoke classic Joe Shuster in their delineation of the Golden Age Man of Steel.  

Hey, the cover does not lie: Doctor Fate dies! 

But at the same time the Injustice Gang Society Whatever is causing grief, Earth is beseiged by the supernatural menace called Zanadu.

Sadly, this would be Keith Giffen's last issue as penciller on All-Star Comics.  Giffen would move over to Marvel for a year long stint pencilling The Defenders.  

Writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen would reunite on Legion of Super Heroes in 1982.  

Elsewhere and elsewhen on Earth S, we arrive at Shazam#26  under a cover by Ernie Chan & Kurt Shaffenberger.

Billy Batson (who makes a passing reference to the events of JLA#135-#137) is on his cross country tour which brings him to Washington DC  and the "The Case of the Kidnapped Congress"  by  E. Nelson Bridwell and Kurt Schaffenberger.

The dinosaur Captain Marvel is slugging on the cover? It's Sen. Mitch McConnell.  

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Because Mitch is really... really old.  

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Cmon! That's funny! 

Shazam was not the only TV show to get a comic book series. 

 

Welcome Back, Kotter #1 is a thing that existed and a thing I shelled out 30 cents for. 

Under a cover by Bob Oksner, the issue contains a story Elliot S. Maggin, Jack Sparling & Oksner

I was a big fan of the show and I used to memorize Gabe Kaplan's end of episode bad jokes. 

After ALL these years, I still use the "tongue growing a mustache" line when I don't feel well.  

Flash #245 comes our way with a cover by Ernie Chan.  (We are coming near to the end of Chan's run as DC's go-to cover artist.)   

"Who Put the Zing in the Flash?" by Cary Bates, Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin is 10 pages of nonsense I barely remembered without doing some research first.  

What is more significance is the Green Lantern back up,  "Perilous Plan of the Plant-Master" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin & Terry Austin.

While Green Lantern's own title had been revived a few months back, he was sharing that space with Green Arrow and there were still some solo tales that needed to be burned off in The Flash.  (The next issue will mark the end of GL's run as a back up in this title.)  

The bad guy in this story is Jason Woodrue, the Plant Master, a old enemy of the Atom.  In this tale, Woodrue would mutate into the Floronic Man, a monstrous form he would maintain from here on out. 

Alan Moore would make clever use of Woodue's Floronic Man in Swamp Thing.   

Ernie Chan provides the cover to Superman#305 which marked the return of the OG Toyman by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan and Bob Oksner.  

From Superman to Superboy, it's the Legion of Super Heroes in Superboy#221 with a cover by Mike Grell 

"The Trillion-Dollar Trophies" by Jim Shooter, Mike Grell & Bob Wiacek introduces the Legion to the twin threats of Charma...

And Grimbor!

Charma seduces men and Grimbor chains them up. Their home planet is a leather bar.  

Ostensibly, Grimbor is out to capture the Legion so their super rich benefactor R.J. Brande will pay a hefty ransom. But Grimbor is so proud of his handiwork, he wants to keep the chained up Legionnaires as trophies instead of taking the money. 

There is some disturbing kinky BDSM shit going down in this issue.

More Legion solo action with Karate Kid #5 with Mike Grell's inks salvaging an Ernie Chan cover.   

"The Tomorrow Thief" by Barry Jameson, Ric Estrada

& Joe Staton is about something. 

I know I bought it but I can't remember a thing about it and this post has gone on too long for me to care enough to research it.  

Batman's in action with Detective Comics #465 with a cover by Ernie Chan.   

"The Best-Kept Secret in Gotham City" by David V. Reed, Ernie Chan & Frank Giacoia is a clever tale about an emergency plan Batman has if anyone gets the big idea to kidnap Commisioner Gordon to learn Batman's secret identity.  

Bruce is maintaining an office with a secretary for an imaginary man. Bruce knows that if someone actually comes calling for Mr. Merrick, he knows Gordon is in danger. Merrick is the name Batman told Gordon to give if ever threatened to give up Batman's secret I.D.

The Calculator strikes again, this time against Elongated Man

"The Elongated Plague" is by Bob Rozakis, Ernie Chan & Terry Austin, following up on the 2 previous issues where Calculator took on the Atom and Black Canary.  

With a cover by Ernie Chan, Batman Family#8 runs into another daughter of a Bat-villain, this time Catgirl, the alleged offspring of Catwoman.  

In "The Copycatgirl Capers", Bob Rozakis, Irv Novick &  Vince Colletta expose that this "Catgirl" is not ANOTHER duplicitous daughter but the same one as before.

Yep, it's the Joker's Daughter who had bedeviled the Teen Wonder back in Batman Family#6.  

Seriously, who is this clown? 

Give us a couple of months. The answer is forthcoming in Batman Family#9.

The issue is rounded out by a reprint from Batman #129 in 1960.

And just before Barbara Gordon leaves Gotham City to serve in Congress, we also got a reprint from 1972,  Detective Comics #424, "Batgirl's Last Case".

Not quite her last case. After a couple of guest appearances in Superman, Batgirl regains a regular berth in Batman Family.  

August 1976 Books I Did NOT Buy

Batman#281 

Action Comics#465

Despite the enticement of a Steve Lombard back up  

Although I was buying other TV tie ins like Shazam, Isis and Welcome Back Kotter, I did not pick Super Friends#1. 

By August 1976, the DC banner was gone except for one hold out:  Our Army At War#298. 

So that was my world in comics books in August 1976. September is coming and it's time for Li'l Dave-El to go back to school.

But I still found time for comic books and we'll find out what I bought in next month's Comic Book Retro 50: September 1976.

Next week: I recently purchased a facsimile edition of a classic comic from 1963.  

From Batman#156, "Robin Dies At Dawn!" 

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Thanks to The Tom Breevort Experience, the Grand Comic Book Database. Attack of the 50 Year Old Comic Books and Mike's Amazing World of Comics.