Deep Space Nine - The Visitor

Plot Melanie, an aspiring writer, wants to know why Jake Sisko stopped writing at 40. Jake tells how his father died in an accident and then suddenly reappeared.

Suprisingly, this is one of the hightest rated DS9 episodes. I had high expectations and was very disappointed. I found static, badly acted, and very wordy. Remember the cliche: Show, don't tell? This episode has almost no Show - its all tell. At least 1/2 episode is "Old Jake" talking about what happened. That's the first problem. The second, is DS9's constant weakness, bad/mediocre acting. Both Melanie and "Old Jake" are mediocre actors. Throw in Jake, and Avery Brooks and you have some truly awful acting. Brooks, as usual, is incapable of expressing any deep emotion, and Jake is just as bad.

So why is it so highly rated?  Well, most DS9 fans don't really care about good acting, assuming they can even recognize it.  Further, there's a lot of crying in the episode and lots of sentiment.  It shows the love between Father and Son. And the grief you experience over the loss of a parent.  It must have touched a nerve.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the bad acting, and bad writing.  Good intentions aren't enough.  In TV,  "Its the thought that counts" isn't true.  You need good execution 

Deep Space Nine - Season 2

 To be update later. 

Topsy-Turvey (1999)

Plot: The legendary musical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost split up, before they turn it all around and write The Mikado.

I like G&S mostly. I like their songs, and like Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore in their entirety. But this movie never justifies its 2.5 hour run time. There's some mild humor, some good acting, and some historically accurate set design. But frankly I didn't really care that much. There wasn't enough humor/drama to make up for the snail's pace and paper thin plot. And while the musical numbers were fine, I kept thinking "Why not just go watch The Mikado?"