So I’m running through the entire series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine again for old time’s sake.  It really is the best of the Trek series for my money.

The characters are so much deeper and the plotlines so much more involved.  It honestly makes TNG look like a walk in the park, full of privileged brats.

But that’s not why I’m writing.  Instead, I’m commenting on a particular episode in the second season called “Paradise.”  What?  Don’t have every Star Trek episode memorized?  I’ll sum up.

Be warned: If you haven’t seen The Village and don’t want to be spoiled, you should probably stop reading.

Basically, Sisko and O’Brien go galavanting onto some planet where they find a colony of crash-landed humans who have been living planetside for 10 years.

They haven’t left or contacted anyone for help because none of their technology works thanks to some sort of interference field that they surmise is some sort of naturally occuring phenomenon.

But then we find out that that natural occurrence is actually a technological device placed there and hidden by the leader of the colony because she abhors technology.  So she hoodwinked a few dozen people for 10 years so that she could live out her fantasy of a “better life.”

Fast Forward over 10 years later in real time, and Shymalan releases The Village to mixed reviews.  I actually liked the movie a great deal and really wish people would move past The Sixth Sense to appreciate him as a filmmaker.

But it occurred to me as I watched this episode that The Village is practically the exact same story.  Sure, the macguffin is different but the goal is the same — crazy purist seeks to destroy lives by forcing them to live a ’simpler’ life.

I’m not naive enough to think that the DS9 writers came up with this sci-fi plot device all by themselves, and I even admit that Shymalan could have gotten his inspiration from a wholly different source.

But where from?  I find it interesting how some stories are so familiar yet so new at the same time.  Both Trek and Shymalan likely pulled on some earlier source that probably also pulled from an even earlier source.

Not being well-versed in sci-fi literature and media, I open it to you.  Where did this story get its start?

The other day I posted about how I had recently been inundated with the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210.

In an effort to be witty, I lovingly titled the post “WTB Luke Perry.”

Lo and behold, I flipped on my Amanda Bynes show and what did I see?

A guest appearance by Luke Perry as Valerie’s (played by Jennie Garth) high school fling.

They had an extrememly humorous 90210-themed flashback complete with really goofy 90s garb.

And people think God doesn’t listen…

It would seem that I am being haunted by ghosts of TV past.

I’ve recently started working out, and that has led me to seek out good television between the hours of 4 and 5pm.

For the record, good television does not exist during this time.

Still, I have settled on ABC Family to watch a long forgotten show called “What I Like About You.”

It’s really not very good, but Amanda Bynes has a lot of charisma and the show tickles me in that “Saved By the Bell” kind of way, so I watch it.

Aside from Amanda Bynes, “What I Like About You” also stars Jennie Garth from 90210 fame. She’s actually a lot less annoying in adulthood, and kind of cute despite her unnaturally little nose.

To add to Jennie Garth, I watched a show the other day with Jason Priestley in it. He is more annoying in adulthood, and he is not cute despite his perfect nose.

Then last night I was watching Terminator and what to my wondering eyes did appear? Why Brian Austin Green from the future so near.

Turns out little Green is playing the brother of Kyle Reese, John Connor’s father. That makes him John’s uncle in one of the more surprising and entertaining twists of the series.

So what can all this mean? Why are my airwaves being inundated with the actors from Beverly Hills, 90210? Why do I actually like them showing up on my television? Is it a sign of the coming apocalypse?

Only time will tell.

And how it screws everything up.

I’ve talked about Time Travel before. Everyone knows that I’m not necessarily a huge fan of the concept in movies and television.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a good Star Trek episode with time travel. Episodes like ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’ and ‘Trials and Tribble-ations’ are too much fun to pass up.

But the beauty of Star Trek time travel is that each movie and each episode is self-contained. Star Trek was never a serial drama, so the fact that cast and crew went whipping through time last week really had no bearing on what happens this week.

When time travel is put into a story that does matter, though, it almost always screws up the story in one way or another.

Enter Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

There’s a writer’s strike going on and I have few choices in entertainment. Terminator isn’t exactly my kind of show, but I like Summer Glau enough to stick with it.

Last night’s episode kills me, though. If you haven’t watched it yet, stop reading now because I’m about to talk all about the plot.

The basic premise in this episode is that a Terminator has been sent back from the future to store off some metallic alloy in a bunker so that when the apocalypse comes, Skynet will have tons of material from which to build its army of evil.

Our heroes, John, Sarah, and River, are going to save the day by making sure that the alloy doesn’t get stored in the bunker, and the Terminator army isn’t as strong in the future. Sounds like a major blow to the whole future war, right?

There’s just so many problems associated with this, though, that it hurts my head to think about it.

First off, when Skynet opens up the bunker in the future, it’s going to know that its terminator failed and when said terminator is reactivated it will also know that John, Sarah, and River stopped it from succeeding.

So then Skynet knows that John, Sarah, and River are at that place and time. So then Skynet can send back terminators to deal with that. Or it can reprogram the first terminator to be watching for them.

Regardless of the outcome, Skynet has to know that its alloy is never stored away. And since its alloy is never stored away, why did it even bother sending someone into the past to store it? It has to, of course, because if it hadn’t then it would never know that it wasn’t stored.

So Skynet had to make the illogical decision of sending a Terminator back to store some alloy that it knew wasn’t going to actually get stored.

Furthermore, Skynet had to have made the illogical decision to not even let said Terminator know that it was going to fail at its mission at the hands of the person they’re all out to kill — John Connor.

John Connor delivered himself into their hands, and Skynet was too stupid to capitalize on it. Skynet’s not so bright. I don’t understand why the resistance is having so much trouble with it.

I started watching Chuck because of Adam Baldwin. I stayed for Yvonne Strahovski, but it was Baldwin who really made me think, “this show may just be worth watching.”

Aside from my fandom of Keri Russell, I watched Waitress because Nathan Fillion was a supporting character.

What can I say? I have a soft spot for the cast of Firefly, and I like to support them in whatever they do. Together, they were one of the most impressive casts in television history so its only natural that my loyalty to them extends to other endeavors.

Enter Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Besides the absurdly long name, Summer Glau stars in this series based on the 1984 Schwarzenegger flick.

Summer Glau plays River in Firefly, and a Terminator in this show. She certainly knows how to pick’em.

At least Adam Baldwin had the good sense to get away from the network that ruined Firefly. Let’s hope Summer doesn’t get burned twice by the network who is notorious for mismanaging its sci-fi.

I’m not usually one for pure action.

As good as they may be, I get little joy out of the Bourne movies, double-oh seven, Dirty Harry, or even the hallowed John McClane.

Terminator leaves me at a crossroads. I want to support Summer Glau. In fact, I think she did an amazing job being a kick-butt robot chick from the future.

But at the end of the day, I just don’t think Terminator is my kind of show. I don’t get excited about explosions and gunfights between indestructible machines. And we all know I don’t get excited about time travel.

My bias against action shows aside, the first episode of this tale wasn’t bad – if you like this sort of thing. It certainly blew the Bionic Woman out of the water.

The action was decent, the special effects were believable, and the acting was adequate for the type of show it’s trying to be.

If I had one complaint it would be how heavily it leans on its source material.

I haven’t watched any of the Terminator movies in years, and my wife has never watched them. I found myself more confused than not, and I had to continually pause to explain something that I had just remembered about the movies.

Being based on a franchise that has long since died, it’s suprising to me that they wouldn’t do at least a little bit more recap. Perhaps they could have even used some footage from the films to lend credence.

Also, Lena Headey is no Linda Hamilton. And really, could you expect her to be? As the titular character of the series, I think she’s going to have to find a way to not be upstaged by her 16 year old son and his hot teenage robot.

Overall, if you think you’d like Terminator: TSCC, then I think you probably will. In these television starved times, it’s is a worthwhile expenditure of time.