R.I.P. Edward D. Hoch

On January 17, the mystery genre lost one of it's true greats. Edward D. Hoch died at the age of 77.

Anyone who has picked up a copy of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is no doubt familiar with his stories. One has appeared in every issue since 1973.

Even to the end, Hoch was writing. He was truly the master of the short story. Probably one of the most versatile writers, Hoch penned over 900 stories; everything from cozies and police procedurals to hardboiled tales. Hoch was also a former president of The Mystery Writers of America as well as a Grand Master.

The writing community has lost a great writer (and from what I understand a fine man as well). I know it's going to take a little getting used to opening up a copy of EQMM and not see one of his stories.

I'll be back. (again and again and again)

Whoever would have thought that three little words in 1984 would become such a part of pop culture? Even if you haven't seen said movie (although, there probably aren't too many who haven't) you know where it comes from.

This of course brings us to the latest spin-off, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The series stars British actress Leana Heady as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as a 15 year old John Connor and Summer Glau as Cameron Phillips, a schoolmate of John's who also happens to be his protector from the future.

Here's a quick rundown. It's supposed to take place not long after the events in Terminator 2. So essentially the over all storyline is the same, protect John Connor from robot assassins from the future so he can eventually lead a resistance against those pesky machines.

I sat down to watch the first of the two night premiere. For a spin-off, it wasn't that bad. (I'm a big fan of the Terminator movies. Well, the first two anyway.) In this first episode, Sarah and John are of course on the run again from yet another terminator. However, they decide to take a stand this time. (you have a feeling that SkyNet's unlimited supply of machines may be coming from the same place Wile E. Coyote shops?) So to stop the machines from taking over, John, Sarah and Cameron jump from the 90's to 2007. As a nod to T2, the line "Come with me if you want to live" is thrown in there.

I'm interested to see how this series will progress, especially with the current writers strike going on.

When a movie or show is successful, there's almost surely going to be a spin off. Sometimes they work, other times...not so much. You can check out more about spin-offs here and here.