Only over 55s?  I'm 34 and listening to that crap is like an express ticket to dreamland.

The problem with the Beren and Luthien story is that it would require a lot of backstory - the forging of the silmarils, Morgoth stealing them, the oath of the sons of Feanor, the fall of Valinor, etc. Otherwise it wouldn't make much sense when Beren is asked to bring back a silmaril - which was intended to be…

@avclub-9024f9f0a80d2d248c7c6efb2e715c37:disqus - I agree that the stories themselves are epic and grand and really beautiful. What they lack are relatable characters, which were what made the Lord of the Rings stories good. The Hobbits brought everything down to earth enough that you could be engaged in the stories…

@avclub-05504937cdc07f36babc5831fbf2e119:disqus yeah but that screenplay would need a huge overhaul from the source material. The characters and dialog in the Butlerian Jihad books are so stilted and wooden they would make Atlas Shrugged (Part 1) look like high art by comparison.

@avclub-d80126524c1e9641333502c664fc6ca1:disqus But seriously, how stupid is Elros?

It gets better. You have to think about it more as mythology than novel though, since that's more of the structure that it follows. There's very little dialog and not much reason to get attached to any characters, since they come and go. If that's not your thing though, definitely don't bother.

Hrm… not sure how I feel about that. Seems a little too close to two of the famously overpowered characters in Heroes

Hrm… not sure how I feel about that. Seems a little too close to two of the famously overpowered characters in Heroes

Wondering the same thing - I haven't watched the first season since it aired, but I feel like I would have remembered another main character and just don't. Regardless, Alphas far exceeded my expectations in season 1 so I'm cautiously optimistic for season two.

Wondering the same thing - I haven't watched the first season since it aired, but I feel like I would have remembered another main character and just don't. Regardless, Alphas far exceeded my expectations in season 1 so I'm cautiously optimistic for season two.

In all earnestness, you missed out on a really fun experience. My university had a very good football team - we didn't win national championships but usually went to a bowl game - and watching the games every weekend was a great time.

Well then, you missed out on the riveting descriptions of her grocery lists, and the entirely believable tales of the sexual exploits of the protagonist, a man who is remarkably like the author of the book in every way and is also irresistible to all women.

Really?  I don't know man, to me, nothing conjures up the excitement and danger of humanity taking its first steps into interstellar space like an elevator-music version of an 80s rock ballad with vaguely religious undertones!

Really?  I don't know man, to me, nothing conjures up the excitement and danger of humanity taking its first steps into interstellar space like an elevator-music version of an 80s rock ballad with vaguely religious undertones!

@avclub-641e167f974d1dd076c0886d17271975:disqus - Ethan Philips, the actor who played Neelix, is actually a fairly solid character (I remember first seeing him on Benson and he's consistently worked since then, so that says something at least.) But the writers really gave him absolutely nothing to work with - his…

@avclub-641e167f974d1dd076c0886d17271975:disqus - Ethan Philips, the actor who played Neelix, is actually a fairly solid character (I remember first seeing him on Benson and he's consistently worked since then, so that says something at least.) But the writers really gave him absolutely nothing to work with - his…

Print Screen?  Scroll Lock?  Pause?  I think Caps Lock comes out much further ahead than you're claiming.

I think there's an entirely different dynamic in the discussion when you pick embarrassing roles that an actor did early in his career who then went on to become more successful vs. embarrassing roles an actor who used to be more successful takes later on in his career because he's struggling to make ends meet.  That…

I think there's an entirely different dynamic in the discussion when you pick embarrassing roles that an actor did early in his career who then went on to become more successful vs. embarrassing roles an actor who used to be more successful takes later on in his career because he's struggling to make ends meet.  That…

@avclub-095543c425d38265455b460a8b71ee8f:disqus I actually thought it was "General Grievous" from the Star Wars prequels - aka "Villain McBadguy"