acky Genre TV started out as an e-mail discussion list and has mushroomed into a site which promotes, examines and celebrates any program that, as its creators put it, "operates within the realm of the fantastic." Pitting itself against the conventional idea that good TV cannot contain SF or fantasy elements, WGTV heaps a good dose of literary criticism into its ongoing conversation about its favorite shows. (Where else on the Web can you see Buffy characterized as a Byronic hero?) This is not, however, some kind of hypertext popular culture textbook. The people behind WGTV are fans, and they know plenty about having lots of irreverent fun.
The programs covered on the site are arranged more by flavor than anything else. There is a listing of WGTV favorites, a Wayback Machine that talks about canceled programs from The Night Stalker and Wild Wild West to American Gothic, and a section devoted to Battling
Babes. Visitors can find Brimstone in the Recently Deceased section and rants about Star Trek's ubiquitous "funny-headed aliens" in the Funhouse.
What's more, great care has been taken with the look of each section of the site, making every essay and photo gallery a visual treat. There is no unified look to the sub-pages. Each has been designed to match the show under discussion. In some cases, this is carried off so well that browsers might think they have stumbled onto a program's official site!
Wacky Genre TV could use a good update—there is nothing in it on Smallville or Farscape, for example, but the high caliber of
its writing and its stellar attention to visual design make it a delight to visit.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—February 4, 2002
illing itself as the largest Blake's 7 site on the Web, this fan page is a terrific source of late-breaking news on B7 events, actors and fandom. With everything from television listings that help would-be viewers find the show to Lego renderings of scenes from the 1978 BBC program, this
page is well organized, comprehensive and extremely good-humored.
The site includes a "Sevencyclopaedia" filled with facts and figures on the show. It also has a large archive of fan fiction, statistics on which characters killed the most people and screen shots containing major kissing moments from the program. On a more serious note, convention listings, fan club contact information and mailing lists are all provided to help fans get together.
There's more: connections to B7-related merchandise, such as books, audio tapes and CDs (including a multi-part Doctor Who recording which features actor Gareth Thomas), make it easy to purchase collectibles. And for those seeking unofficial tie-ins, Blake's 7 is a gateway to a database containing an exhaustive number of 'zines.
Finally, for those who come away from this information-rich site without having sated their curiosity, Blake's 7 has an up-to-date and well-annotated list of links to other Web shrines to the program.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—January 28, 2002
he next World Science Fiction Convention may be a good eight months away, but hotel bookings could open in as little as three weeks! This is just one of an array of useful Worldcon-related facts available on the official page of this mammoth convention, set to proceed on Aug. 29th in San Jose, Calif.
Worldcon pages have been evolving since the mid-'90s, and this is one of the most complete, prettily designed, and user-friendly, with information on everything from acquiring a convention membership to
biographies of its guests of honor—Vernor Vinge, David Cherry, Bjo and John Trimble and Tad Williams. As in previous years, the con's progress reports are available for download in PDF format, and data is available for those interested in renting space in the dealer's room or art show.
The Conjose page is undergoing constant revision, with new postings in subsections dealing with child care, special needs guests, sites of interest about San Jose and much more. As of yet there is nothing specific available about programming, but visitors can fill out a questionnaire about what they would like to see. As a result, Web surfers interested in attending the convention should consider this the first—perhaps the only—stop on the information-gathering trail.
— A.M. Dellamonica
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