2023-09-26 18:32
I'm going to here review a a very recently published, nearly 500-page time travel novel -- Chris Cosmain's Novikov Windows: A Time Travel Novel (that's the sub-title) -- I've just read, in t… Read More
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reviewing 12 Monkeys, American Crime, Billions, Black Sails, Bloodline, Bones, Bosch, Colony, Deutschland 83, Fargo, Fear TWD, Game of Thrones, Hell on Wheels, Homeland, House of Cards, Humans, Marseille, Masters of Sex, Mr. Robot, Peaky Blinders, Outlander, Ray Donovan, Rectify, The: Affair, Americans, Girlfriend Experience, Man in the High Castle, Walking Dead; Tyrant, Vikings +movies, music, politicsGeorge Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.
2023-09-24 01:18
Stranger Things meets Hunters: that's what came to mind after seeing the first three episodes of Harlan Coben's Shelter (that's its name) on Amazon Prime Video back on August 18th, and I fel… Read More
2023-09-20 18:32
Here's an AI-generated translation of my English into Hindi by Emon Hassan -- it's of me talking about my 2006 time-travel novel, The Plot to Save Socrates, in 2010 (AI by Hey Gen; from an i… Read More
2023-09-15 04:09
Well, you probably won't be surprised that I have mixed feelings about the Foundation Season 2 finale, just up on Apple TV+ tonight. And, if you've been reading my reviews of thi… Read More
2023-09-14 16:35
Read "The Beatles and Podcasts," FREE, over here. And the whole rest of the issue, free, over here.And here's "It's Real Life" -- free alternate history short story about The Bea… Read More
2023-09-09 16:30
I just saw Reinventing Elvis: The ‘68 Comeback. The new documentary, narrated by Steve Binder -- about Elvis Presley's Comeback Special that aired on NBC back on December 3… Read More
2023-09-08 21:35
[Spoilers ahead ....] The high profile thread in Invasion 2.3 is Mitsuki hacking the invaders' code, with the result that a whole bunch of their ships (seven -- of course not all) fall… Read More
2023-09-08 03:34
The next-to-last episode of season 2 of Foundation on Apple TV+ -- episode 2.9 -- was riveting and brilliant. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Even though the story it tol… Read More
2023-09-04 05:15
I just finished watching the 8th and final episode of the first season of Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount Plus, and here's my shot at a mostly non-spoiler review.To begin with, this is a s… Read More
2023-09-01 03:08
Well, finally an episode of Foundation -- 2.8 -- that's really firing on all cylinders. By which I mean, the Trantor parts and the other parts were nearly equal in power, and that powe… Read More
2023-08-31 02:56
Episode 2.2 of Invasion had two good, non-intersecting stories about Jamila in the UK and Trevante in the USA.[Spoilers ahead ... ]I thought Jamila's story was tighter at this point than Tre… Read More
2023-08-29 23:21
Some really good news came in this morning: "It's Real Life" (my alternate history story about The Beatles) has been nominated for the prestigious Sidewise Award (short form) for Alternate H… Read More
2023-08-25 04:23
Another excellent episode of Foundation -- 2.7 -- which may be the best episode so far this second season, which means maybe the best episode so far in the series.I'll address three issues h… Read More
2023-08-23 15:48
a nearly two-hour interview by Greg Shanks about my music, with details I haven't written or talked about before Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2023-08-23 04:25
Invasion -- the latest narrative that explores an H. G. Well's War of the Worlds scenario -- is back on Apple TV+ with the first episode of its second season. It's entitled "Something'… Read More
2023-08-18 04:29
Well, I thought Foundation 2.6 was one of the best episodes so far. Here's why:[Spoilers ahead ... ]1. Young Hari -- both as a boy and a young man -- was pure gold. It was a neat… Read More
2023-08-17 18:44
Jay Kensinger's trailer for The Chronology Protection Case, adapted from my novelette, on Amazon Prime Videowatch the movieread the story Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2023-08-14 18:53
I was a guest this past Saturday on the Stars End Podcast talking about the Foundation series on Apple TV+, episode 2.5 Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2023-08-12 02:28
Outlander 7.8, the midseason finale, was superb on many levels. And it amply continued what I said about 7.7: it provided a vivid example of the insanity of war.[Spoilers ahead … Read More
2023-08-11 03:16
I'm not going to review every episode of the second season of Foundation, unless it strikes me as adding something really important to the story. So, I didn't review last week's Founda… Read More
2023-08-10 16:21
A superb season 2 finale to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, concluding a superb season, putting Strange New Worlds securely up there with the best Star Treks ever, i.e, TOS and TNG.Here… Read More
2023-08-05 22:50
Here's my one-line, non-spoiler review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2.9, which was, literally, an operetta: I liked a lot of it.[Spoilers ahead ... ]Here's more:I thought the story… Read More
2023-08-02 04:34
Hey, if you're a fan of Idris Elba, check out Hijack, a seven-episode mini-series just concluded on Apple TV+. Even if you're not a fan, if you have a pulse and an intellect, you… Read More
2023-07-31 19:42
A deeply powerful and disturbing episode 7.7 on Starz this week -- indeed, one of the most disturbing in the series, for several reasons, which I tell you about, after I warn you about spoil… Read More
2023-07-29 01:50
After last week's episode 2.7, which had almost as much good comedy as "The Trouble with Tribbles," Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returned with episode 2.8, about as deadly serious and ethic… Read More
2023-07-28 05:35
Bel Riose and Hari Seldon don't meet in Foundation 2.3, but they are accorded the most compelling treatment in the latest episode up on Apple TV+, so I thought I'd focus on them in this revi… Read More
2023-07-25 22:55
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2023-07-23 23:14
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds from its inception was a boundary-breaking Star Trek, daring to launch a whole series about a character who had appeared in a crucial two-part episode in the or… Read More
2023-07-22 20:35
Here's a list (which I'll be adding to) of all the places I've been talking about Robots Through the Ages, the new anthology which has my story, "Robinson Calculator":Captain Phil's Planet o… Read More
2023-07-21 06:08
Well, I thought Foundation 2.2 was much better than 2.1. Here's why:[Spoilers ahead ... ]It introduced, at this very early stage of the story -- by the standards of the Asimov trilogy… Read More
2023-07-21 03:09
An excellent episode 2.6 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+ tonight, in which we get to see much more of James T. Kirk, introduced in this episode as Jimmy, as he helps Uhura sav… Read More
2023-07-14 05:19
Foundation is back on Apple TV+ with the first episode of its second season. Here's a review, with no big spoilers.Here's what this first episode of the second season is most like: the… Read More
2023-07-14 05:15
Last week's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2.4 was about forgetting, and it's not that I forgot to review it, I was just a little too busy, and I just saw 2.5, and that was so good, so specia… Read More
2023-07-02 21:01
Well, not time travel, but communication from the past to the future, was a central -- and endearing -- part of Outlander 7.3.[Spoilers follow ... ]Of course, if you think about, written mes… Read More
2023-07-01 22:25
Well, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues not to disappoint, with a strong episode 2.3 that serves up time travel ala "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Assignment Earth", two of the ver… Read More
2023-06-30 04:17
Well, it's there is Silo 1.10 -- the season one finale -- but it's precious little. The truth that we see, that is.[Spoilers ahead ... ]So let me make sure I have this right. Jul… Read More
2023-06-27 04:46
Outlander is back for its seventh and next-to-final season, with two superb and very different kinds of episodes, 7.1 and 7.2, on Starz last week and this.[And big spoilers ahead ... ]Episod… Read More
2023-06-24 01:00
I knew it![Spoilers ahead ... ]I said in my review of episodes 1.1 and 1.2 of Silo (I haven't read the books) that the display of what was outside the silo might have been what we would… Read More
2023-06-23 18:47
One of the great things about the original Star Trek back in the 1960s was how it addressed then current issues like racism and fascism. The crew encounters a humanoid species with fac… Read More
2023-06-18 19:07
It's been 50 years since Martin Cooper famously put in a call in his handheld cellphone in April 1973. And I've now been interviewed twice about how this now ubiquitous device has revo… Read More
2023-06-17 02:16
A stunning ending to the excellent episode 1.8 of Silo up today on Apple TV+. And I won't say anything more until I alert you about the Big Spoilers ahead ...***Ok, the question is wha… Read More
2023-06-16 04:03
Great to see Star Trek: Strange New Worlds back today with the first episode of its second season, even if it has little of Pike, who may be becoming my favorite Star Trek captain. I s… Read More
2023-06-14 23:25
Edison and his first phonographEverybody's talking about Paul McCartney's comment in a BBC interview that AI was used in the creation of the "last" Beatles record, based on a demo John Lenno… Read More
2023-06-11 01:52
I'm reviewing episodes 1.6 and 1.7 of Silo together because they're very closely related, and revolve around two themes: the book and the water.[Spoilers ahead ... ]Episode 1.6 has Juliette… Read More
2023-06-10 17:09
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 354, in which I join Captain Phil on WUSB-FM Radio (Stony Brook, New York), Marybeth Ritkouski, and Michael Rizzo, in a 2-hour in-depth, fun discus… Read More
2023-06-02 22:45
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 353, in which Captain Phil and I discuss the new anthology Robots Through the Ages -- with stories by Ambrose Bierce, Philip K. Dick, and othe… Read More
2023-05-30 19:07
Fatal Attraction -- the new 2023 series -- finished its 8-episode first season on Paramount on Sunday. Yes, it's the same story as the 1987 pathbreaking movie, retold and refigured in… Read More
2023-05-27 03:02
Well, I held off reviewing the final three episodes of the first season of Citadel (on Amazon Prime Video) until I'd seen the sixth and final episode -- which I just did -- because events we… Read More
2023-05-26 05:31
Well, I said last week that I thought Marnes would survive, and[Spoilers ahead ... ]I was wrong. As we quickly found out at the start of Silo 1.5, just up on Apple TV+ tonight, he succ… Read More
2023-05-22 15:53
on Audible, Amazon, Apple, Spotify, etcMy alternate history short story about The Beatles -- "It's Real Life" (which you can read for free here) -- has been made into a radio play… Read More
2023-05-19 20:37
The excellent episode 1.4 of Silo up on Apple TV+ today is entitled "Truth," no doubt after the word inscribed on the back of Holston's sheriff badge, now in the possession of Juliet. … Read More
2023-05-16 19:17
available for pre-order hereBeyond honored and delighted to announce that my 2019 novelette, "Robinson Calculator," will be in Robots Through the Ages, an anthology with stories by Ambrose B… Read More
2023-05-15 19:45
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 352, in which I interview Spencer Hannabus, who sang "If I Traveled to the Past" at the end of the It's Real Life radio play adapted from my a… Read More
2023-05-12 06:11
A thrilling edge-of-your seat episode 1.3 of Silo, that felt a lot like Chernobyl, except the damaged generator is ... repaired.And, of course it had to be, because if it wasn't back up and… Read More
2023-05-11 01:45
Just saw the first two episodes of Silo on Apple TV+, show-run by Graham Yost, whose previous impressive credits include The Americans, Sneaky Pete, and Justified, based on the Wool series o… Read More
2023-05-07 03:47
I binged the final four episodes of the first season of The Ark -- again, I was busy talking about the radio play of my alternate history story about The Beatles, "It's Real Life" -- and I'm… Read More
2023-05-06 00:47
So, I said in my review of The Diplomat that it had elements of James Bond. Citadel, an outright spy thriller, set in the future, of course has elements of Bond, too. And tonight… Read More
2023-05-04 01:34
Well, I stopped reviewing Picard Season 3 after the 3rd episode of that season in March. Why? A combination of work on the radio play of my alternate history story about The Beat… Read More
2023-04-30 02:55
Saw the first two episodes of Citadel on Amazon Prime Video -- all that are available this week. Very good, recommended, and --[Spoilers ahead ... ]The key ingredient in this series so… Read More
2023-04-24 06:04
My wife and I just binged the first season of The Diplomat and loved it.[Spoilers ahead ... ]To begin with, it seemed like for most of the first episode -- in fact, until to the very end of… Read More
2023-04-09 23:56
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 349, in which I visit Captain Phil's Planet on WUSB Radio (Stony Brook University) where he plays and we discuss the radio play "It's Real Lif… Read More
2023-03-31 19:44
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 348, in which I interview YouTube star cover artist Anne Reburn, who did the cover of John Lennon/The Beatles' "Real Love" in the It's Real Li… Read More
2023-03-30 04:31
The wife and I binged The Night Agent on the Netflix the past few nights, and enjoyed it. Both the story, and the fact it was streaming rather than spun out episode by episode over ten… Read More
2023-03-26 06:31
Checking in with a review of The Ark 1.8. If it seems that I'm posting this review a little later than usual, you may be right. On the other hand, that may just be your per… Read More
2023-03-22 04:09
My alternate history short story about The Beatles -- "It's Real Life" (which you can read for free here) -- has been made into a radio play, which you can listen to for free, anytime here… Read More
2023-03-16 21:02
The Ark 1.7 offered a dazzling array of concepts and developments, and was the best episode so far in this new series. If I've said this before, that's an indication of how good The Ar… Read More
2023-03-14 06:45
So, I just watched Press Play on the Hulu. I don't know why I didn't come across this movie sooner. It has the two most important elements in my pop cultural life, time travel an… Read More
2023-03-13 04:16
Well, the season one finale of The Last of Us, just up on HBO Max tonight, was everything it could be and even more.[And there will be spoilers ahead ... ]So, first, here's what happened.&nb&hell…Read More
2023-03-12 03:30
I just saw Luther: The Fallen Sun -- the continuation of Idris Elba's Luther TV series, in a 2+ hour movie on Netflix, and thought it was excellent, in all sorts of ways, for all kinds of re… Read More
2023-03-11 23:43
read all about them here Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2023-03-11 18:09
Well, I entitled my review of the first half of You Season 4 on Netflix, "So Far, Less than the Previous Seasons," so, in all fairness I entitled this review of the second half of Season 4… Read More
2023-03-09 06:19
I thought I'd review episodes 1.5 (on last week) and 1.6 (on tonight) together, because their stories are closely connected, or, more closely connected than usual.[Of course, spoilers ahead… Read More
2023-03-06 05:17
Well, tonight's next-to-last episode -- 1.9 -- of The Last of Us -- was everything it should be.[Spoilers ahead ... ]Ellie was at her absolute best so far in this series. She progresse… Read More
2023-03-03 03:48
Well, Star Trek: Picard 3.3 finally got down to brass tacks -- maybe "finally" is not warranted, since this is only the third episode of this new and final season -- but ...[Spoilers follow]… Read More
2023-03-01 17:41
On the evening of February 15, 2023, I talked via Zoom to the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County about alternate history stories on TV and in the movies.Among the shows… Read More
2023-02-27 05:39
[Spoilers ahead ... ]Well, first of all, I was glad to see that Joel was alive at the beginning and conclusion of The Last of Us 1.7, fulfilling what I said in my review of 1.6 last week, th… Read More
2023-02-26 00:15
This seems to be a season for non-linear neo-noir caper thrillers set in the New York area. A few months ago, Kaleidoscope appeared on Netflix, so linear you were invited to watch the… Read More
2023-02-25 18:33
[Spoilers ahead ... ]We found out at the end of Picard 3.1 that Beverly Crusher has a son in addition to Wesley. And we find out at the end of Picard 3.2 that Jack Crusher's father is… Read More
2023-02-25 03:42
Your Honor 2.7 was so good, so satisfying, so complete, it almost could have been a finale. But I'm glad it wasn't, because I want to see more.[Spoilers ahead ... ]Probably the single… Read More
2023-02-24 23:12
[Spoilers ahead ... ]Well, I guessed early on that the source of the hallucinations in The Ark 1.4 was the water from the comet -- the giveaway was in the everybody drinking up (or down) the… Read More
2023-02-20 03:33
[Big spoilers ahead ... ]Well, I should have known when Tess was killed so early in the season of The Last of Us -- played by no less than Anna Torv -- that anyone and everyone was expendabl… Read More
2023-02-19 22:40
Your Honor 2.6 continued on its powerful pace with an investigation of Robin's (Michael's wife's) murder and a shocker of an ending not directly connected to Robin which I'm not going to tel… Read More
2023-02-18 04:12
Well, as I've been expecting and been told, The Ark keeps getter better and better with every episode.[Spoilers ahead ... ]The main event in episode 1.3 is what to do about the next-to-no wa… Read More
2023-02-18 01:42
Good to see Star Trek: Picard back with the beginning of its third (and final) season on Paramount Plus yesterday. All kinds of fun things in this first episode, including Riker back w… Read More
2023-02-15 20:31
So, I watched the first five episodes of the 4th season of You -- Netflix's new way of breaking the streaming of a series season into two parts, as they did with the final season of the supe… Read More
2023-02-15 00:40
Checking in with a late review of The Ark 1.2, which was on the SyFy Channel last Wednesday.And here's what I think: I know a lot of the character interactions are close to sophomoric. … Read More
2023-02-13 05:52
Another superb episode of The Last of Us on HBO Max -- 1.5 -- in what is shaping up, hour for hour, as the best post-biological apocalypse series I've ever seen (and that includes, yes, The… Read More
2023-02-12 20:07
With UFOs in the news and the skies of the U.S. and Canada, and the great sequel to The Man Who Fell to Earth this past Spring and Summer, James Harris's just-shy-of-five-minute film poem, F… Read More
2023-02-11 05:46
A fine conclusion -- episode 16.10 -- to an altogether fine new season of Criminal Minds, with some questions answered and at least one other dramatically hanging.[Spoilers ahead ... ]First… Read More
2023-02-11 03:59
Two powerful episodes of Your Honor on Showtime last week and this -- 2.4 and 2.5 -- with a stunner of an ending of 2.5, which I'm not going to tell you about, certainly not in the first par… Read More
2023-02-07 23:03
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 347, in which I review The Last of Us, episodes 1.1-1.4, on HBO Max. Read this review. Check out this episode! Paul Levinson's books… Read More
2023-02-06 04:23
Well, I of course knew when Ellie took the gun in episode 1.3 that she would use it to save Joel sooner or later, so I was not surprised to see that happen in 1.4. And I was glad… Read More
2023-02-03 06:46
Another superb episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution -- 16.9 -- the best in this outstanding return of the venerable series so far, and I know I keep saying that about just about every episo… Read More
2023-02-03 01:00
So, The Ark debuted on the Syfy Channel last night to a typical chorus of baying critics who carped that the disaster in deep space movie was itself a disaster, and the series was as "imbeci… Read More
2023-01-30 18:56
A letter-perfect, memorable, beautiful episode 1.3 of The Last of Us, in which see how two people can find deep satisfaction in a lasting relationship that flourishes amidst the fungal ruin… Read More
2023-01-28 05:38
The second (and final) season of Your Honor continues to be as riveting and wrenching as the first.[Spoilers follow ... ]Adam and Fia's baby continues to be a moving, beautiful star attracti… Read More
2023-01-27 21:43
Back with a review of the last three episodes of the revitalized Criminal Minds on Paramount Plus -- 16.6, 16.7, 16-8 -- and revitalized is exactly what we got. These three episodes ti… Read More
2023-01-25 22:09
If classic science fiction is your cuppa tea, you might enjoy this in-depth interview about A. E. Van Vogt, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, capped off with a readin… Read More
2023-01-23 06:11
So why would I watch yet another post-apocalyptic series -- apocalypse caused by some biological agent? I mean, aren't Station Eleven, Y, not to mention our real COVID-19 pandemic enou… Read More
2023-01-22 20:44
So how's this for a low-budget movie with actors I've never seen on the screen before, a horror movie that is in effect a nearly two hour PSA (public service announcement) on the dangers and… Read More
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