Aug 08
Emster Comments: The interspecies sensitivity training course got off to a tough start.
Published 1986
(Average: 6.25 out of 10)
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Emster Comments: The interspecies sensitivity training course got off to a tough start.
Published 1986
(Average: 6.25 out of 10)Loading...
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Lastest Tweet
August 8th, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Christopher Columbus’ clone visits a new world
August 8th, 2023 at 2:55 pm
I know Gary Glitter, Kim Wilde and Climie Fisher appeared on ‘Gilbert’s Fridge’ but I must have missed the Sacha Distel episode.
August 8th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
The working environment on the Muppets from Space set was more hostile than most.
August 8th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
The new Marlboro Man.
August 8th, 2023 at 3:09 pm
Retief is a real eye-catcher.
August 8th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
I’m sure the Groaci are complaining loudly about Retief’s need for more sensitivity training, yes. That’s kinda the tone of the series, diplomatic comedy of manners meets superspy.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
Based on their uniform logos, Retief is just suppressing Communists.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:27 pm
Retief’s disappointed. When he was told he was going to meet a trio of “green good lookers” he was expecting Orion slave girls.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Chuck Woolery tries a new hard core approach to try to boost his Love Connection‘s fading ratings. Predictably, it will fail.
August 8th, 2023 at 9:09 pm
@Ryan: Now we see the violence inherent in the system.
Retief looks a bit on the old side and perhaps a bit world-weary, like he’s done this “beat up goofy-looking aliens, save his fellow diplomats from their own stupidity” schtick one too many times.
(Speaking of Wayne Barlowe, he’s a fine artist (his guide to extraterrestrials was one my favorite SF books back in the early 1980s) and makes some genuinely alien-looking aliens, but also some pretty damn goofy looking ones. But that may be working for him here.)
August 8th, 2023 at 10:49 pm
@Bruce: Judging by the lower left corner, this summit is going on in or sponsored by Canada.
But you’re correct, these are comedies with serious bits in, and some of the aliens needed their eyestalks grabbed to achieve Earth’s goals.
I think this isn’t a bad likeness of him, and the aliens are well-done.
@Ryan: Since Retief likes the finer things in life (wine, women, song, food, etc) he definitely wouldn’t hold with Communists — which is who the Groaci are based on.
Leave it to GSS’ “favorite” publisher to take the just-barely-subtext and make it blatant in the artwork “SEE! SEE! THEY’RE THE USSR! ISN’T THAT CLEVER?!”
Yeah, guys, I got that when I was 10-12, didn’t need it on the cover.
August 8th, 2023 at 11:18 pm
@GSS xN: See, this is where Baen failed their readers.
When they didn’t need to accurately depict the contents, namely Corbin Bernsen suppressing communism on the front cover, they did so blatantly.
However, I recall that many of the Baen books I purchased as a teen in the early 80s featured well-endowed heroines on the cover illustrations. Or space warriors, or omnipotent tanks, or suave space-spies, etc. Oftentimes I acquired these books in the hope that the story would accurately and completely justify the inclusion of these buxom babes et al, but quite often Baen only provided a disappointing return on these naive investments.
Now I admit that my reading experience was probably less prurient as a result of this bait-and-switch, but that doesn’t mean that an apparently accurate cover such as this one is reasonable compensation for what was very frequently false advertising on the part of Baen.