Tonight’s uncovered treasure: binders full of Cinefantastique Magazine’s annual Star Trek double issues. CFQ, as it was abbreviated, was a nifty magazine whose editors seemed to espouse an ethos of “we like this stuff, and we say so, but when we see a great big overbaked turkey, we’ll call a spade a spade”. Rob Heyman and I used to eat these issues up, especially when Mark A. Altman took over stewardship after the late 1989 issue. I’m not sure it can be overstated how influential these CFQ issues were on theLogBook.com’s own editorial “outlook.” Back around 1994-95, when theLogBook went through its brief incarnation as a print ‘zine, I’m unafraid to admit that we borrowed CFQ’s 4-star episode rating system and more than a little of Altman’s writing style. (At least for a while – I’m also unafraid to say that this was a “phase” for both of us.) It was the gospel according to Altman, and It Was Good.
Why bother with these when I was waxing rhapsodic just yesterday about Starlog’s official TNG magazines? Altman had a very fair but firm critical approach, and his behind-the-scenes pieces were wonderful warts-and-all profiles. Despite the descriptions of conflicts of personalities, egos, creative agendas and styles, they made both of us want to write for television all the more. Unlike the Starlog magazines, which were vetted by Paramount, CFQ would seek the opinions of pissed-off former TNG writers like Tracy Torme and Herb Wright, who often had perfectly legit axes to grind. Neither of us really exactly wound up going in that direction, but we have both served our time in the trenches of journalism – so Altman may have wound up being more of an influence on our lives than Michael Piller or Ronald D. Moore, though we didn’t realize it at the time.
As wasn’t uncommon for that point in my life (early 90s), I carefully removed the staples from each issue, gently separated the pages, and put each Trek-related page in a page protector in the binders. So these aren’t exactly “intact.” But if anyone’s interested in taking the binders off my hands, give me a shout. The 1989 issue has already been claimed by a friend of mine, but the rest of them (1990-94/95) are up for grabs.
Why is it that whenever you make one of these posts, I feel the desire to make a pot of spaghetti?
Altman was briefly in charge at Sci-Fi Universe, right? I seem to recall them using similar starred episode guides for DS9 and B5 in a handful of issues of that I picked up.
Yes, Altman moved on to become editor-in-chief first for Cinescape (which seemed to catch a lot of hell if only for being a Larry Flynt publication) and then at Sci-Fi Universe.
I’m glad to finally know someone who was obsessed with these issues as much as I. I always regarded them to be THE definitive source on the Star Trek shows. Every year, I always looked forward to the CFQ Star Trek issue. (They also did a kick-ass job with the Babylon 5 issue (the one after the series ended and they rated all five seasons’ worth of shows).) I usually felt that their ratings were fairly on the mark and only had minor issues with a few (though I remember they gave Night Terrors one star, I think, and that episode wasn’t all that horrible). The one and only time where I disagreed so much that I thought they were on crack was when they gave Genesis FOUR stars. It still blows my mind. I remember thinking that that one was a one-star show. Still, great issues, good times.
I chuckle at them devote a HUGE chunk of space to The Outcast, which they hailed as being a huge step for addressing gay rights in a dramatic form…which I’m just not sure I’ve ever been able to agree with. I always thought that episode soared like a lead balloon. I don’t disagree that the issue needs to be tackled, but I’m not sure that a lumpen, ham-fisted allegory really did justice to such a complex issue. It was like a very special episode of Blossom or something – it practically screamed “HEY GUYS, THIS IS THE GAY EPISODE” and then didn’t belly up to the bar and deliver the goods in any meaningful way.
And then there’s Imaginary Friend. Oh God. I’d rather watch Shades Of Gray ten times in a row.
You’re dead on the money, Earl. The Altman reviews were enormously influential and a big reason why I wanted to get into film/TV reviewing at that point in my life. Altman had a wonderful way with words–he could be sarcastic and sympathetic in the same sentence, because you could tell this guy really liked the show, even with all its faults. It’s almost rather embarrasing, looking back, how my TNG reviews for the Logbook borrowed so heavily from his style. They had another reviewer take over for Altman somewhere in the sixth season I think, and as hard as he tried, he just couldn’t be Altman. I also loved how those CFQ’s went right for the juggular when it came to the show’s music scoring. I never kept it a secret in those days how much a despised what TNG did with its scores after the fourth season. It was great seeing that the magazine felt the same way.