AIRING TOM SNYDER

As soon as I fired up the computer this morning, and went 'online', the first headline that grabbed my attention was, "Film Director Ingmar Bergman Dies". The next headline was, "Tom Snyder Dies". I will need more time to collect my thoughts on the great Swedish film director but can reference Snyder now as I saw little of his shows. The Tomorrow Show (with Tom Snyder) was something I first saw in TV Guide back the mid 1970s. It really caught my attention in 1976 when I saw this in said magazine: "(channel 17) 'Tomorrow'... The Star Trek phenomenon." I should mention that our television cable service did not carry PBS at that time. I was a little frustrated as I was an old Trekker, even then. Years later, in 1995, a friend of mine gave me a VHS tape he had compiled of archived television shows. This Trek-themed Tomorrow episode was on the tape so I finally got a chance to watch it. (By this time, I was looking at the show as a historical document... my youth was in the past.) There was Tom Snyder in his flared pants. He was smoking a lot; you don't see that anymore. James Doohan, Walter Koenig, and Harlan Ellison were some of the guests. Harlan occasionally mocked the cast -- right to their faces -- by calling Star Trek "crap", or something to that effect. He was laughing as he dispensed this wisdom. Good 'ol Harlan! Superb writer he is. Snyder let this all happen and, as I remember it, broke out with that great laugh of his. I was just speaking with a friend of mine a few minutes ago. He told me that Suspect Video (here in Toronto) has a DVD which contains four episodes of Tomorrow. This disc is in the music section of the store as the basic theme of the disc is 'Punk, and other such music' -- Snyder had various guests on from this movement. This disc will soon be rented... and I should look for that VHS tape with the Tomorrow episode.

'FAN FILM' QUESTION

I'm all for creativity and making films. One interesting phenomenon is that of the 'fan film'. Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who are all victims of this type of filmmaking. I admit I have checked some out over the years and some display real filmmaking prowess. But, my attitude is if you are going to expend so much energy making a film -- and it takes a lot of effort to do this, even for the simplest and shortest film -- why not make something original? It's heartbreaking to see these things and realize that these energies are so misguided. I guess if it gives you pleasure, then go for it, but the reality is a lot of these people think they are going to be swept off their feet and asked by some 'power that be' to make a film for them. Good luck. Originality counts for a lot, believe it or not. I remember seeing an interview a couple of years ago with Star Trek's brilliant production designer, Walter 'Matt' Jefferies: He recounted the story of some guy sending him beautifully drawn blueprints depicting the original Trek's studio sets. (This fan had taken the time to reference different sources to draw these.) Jefferies went on to say that he responded to the sender by boldly stating, "great job... now do something original!"