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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi.
And welcome to…

Prisoners of Gravity: The Reunion.

Five people joined Troy and David for this
35th anniversary show…

Host / Co-Creator: Rick Green
Producer / Co-Creator: Mark Askwith
Producer / Director: Gregg Thurlbeck
Associate Producer: Shirley Brady
Most Frequent Guest: Robert J. Sawyer

We hope you enjoy!

BIOS

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RICK GREEN

People may know Rick Green from his days with The Frantics comedy troupe, and as ‘Bill’ on The Red Green Show, which he co-created.

Rick also created History Bites. And, of course, he was ‘Commander Rick,’ host of Prisoners of Gravity.

He is a member of the Order of Ontario and The Order of Canada for his contribution to Canadian culture and mental health.

Rick’s most recent work on his YouTube channel is, ‘Rick Has ADHD.’

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MARK ASKWITH

Mark Askwith is a writer, interviewer, and Television Producer.

After graduating from the University of Toronto, he worked at Coach House Press. From 1982-87 he managed Silver Snail Comics. He left to write comics, and to work on the award-winning documentary Comic Book Confidential.

In 1989 he approached Daniel Richler, tv Ontario’s Head of Arts, and pitched a popular culture show, and Prisoners of Gravity was the result.

In 1997 he became a Founding Producer of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction Channel.

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GREGG THURLBECK

Since retiring from TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, back in 2019, Gregg Thurlbeck has focused on a range of interests including swim coaching and photography.

Gregg was an exhibitor in the Contact Photography Festival and contributes to the international photography site, 52Frames.com. Gregg is also a coordinator with the Life Institute Photo Club, associated with Toronto Metropolitan University.

Gregg coaches the Alderwood Masters, is the VP of Masters Swimming Ontario and was Meet Manager for the 2024 MSO Masters Provincials swim meet in Markham.

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SHIRLEY BRADY

Shirley Brady (Story Editor, Associate Producer, and NanCY!) joined Prisoners of Gravity (POG for short) in season one, with roles including book wrangling, bookcase building, research, booking guests, interviewing and sneaking puns into scripts.

After POG’s untimely demise she moved to Hong Kong, working for Discovery Channel and TIME, and then continued her career as a writer / editor / producer in New York, where she still lives with her family.

She adds: R.I.P. to Lorna Toolis and Sally Millar!

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ROBERT J. SAWYER

Robert J. Sawyer, a member of the Order of Canada, was the most-frequent guest on PRISONERS OF GRAVITY.

He has won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, all for best science-fiction novel of the year, as well as Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards, known as “Auroras,” – He has more of these than anyone else in history.

The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name. 

His latest novel is THE DOWNLOADED.

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PRAISE FOR THE SHOW THAT WAS NOT AIRED
(we have included the praise that David read during the taping, so those involved in PoG heard this and were very appreciative, but, due to time constraints, we were not able to include these in the audio for the podcast episode)

Mike McKeever:
I wish I remembered when I stumbled upon Prisoners but from that moment on I watched faithfully. Was already a fan of Rick from the earliest days of the Frantics on CBC radio. I learned so much about all the topics and genres discussed. Congrats and looking forward to listening when the pod drops

Bob Milne:
OMG, so many memories! I used to watch that on the old b&w TV in my room, picking up TVO from UHF. Seeing him again years later on Red Green took me right back.
Happy 35th, Rick & Nan-Cy!

Rob McLennan:
that was such a great show

Lloyd Penney:
I was interviewed about Star Trek clubs in the first season…our best to Commander Rick and Mark and Gregg and Shirley, and to all who worked on that great show. I think it needs to be revived.

Shirley Meier:
I loved the interviews done on war and peace. I was talking about bad human designs (Why Things Still Don’t Work) and said you want to give monkey the button? Cut to Jerry Pournelle talking about his fave new weapons system.

Carol Robinson:
I remember having the “So Long Earth” postcard. I have moved a couple of times so I don’t know exactly where it is, but I don’t throw away precious things…
(I am now picturing the final (warehouse) scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark… )

David Simmons:
Amazing show, the interview lineup was unbelievable

Nancy Baker:
One of my favorite shows. It introduced us to so many great writers and creators over the years.

Patrick James Asselin:
I’ve been calling Prisoners of Gravity a proto-podcast for years!

Larry Hancock:
A lot of on screen graphics for the first season came from my collections. I was living in an apartment just a couple blocks away from TVO and they borrowed a lot of items for images.

Ira Nayman:
This is a fantastic idea. I hope it goes very well!

Cally Specht:
Oh how cool

Andre Lieven:
Back when he was doing Harlan Ellison’s Watching for the SciFi Channel in the US, Harlan also expressed his appreciation of PoG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvLevjVX50

Matthew Cimone:
This show shaped so much of my career and career aspirations! Just left a big emotional message already on Robert’s wall about this but suffice it so say, I will definitely be keeping an ear out for this episode! Thank you all.

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2001: A Space Odyssey.

This is the second part of our look at the film.

We realized that, with two guests, and a big movie like 2001, we would need two parts to do the movie justice.

In Part 2, Troy and David and Mark and Rob spend more time on the film, doing a deeper dive than in Part 1.

Rob refers to the film as “a paradigm shift.”
Mark refers to the film as “a landmark.”

Stanley Kubrick wanted to make the first great SF film.
Mark and Rob mention other films that predated 2001 that were great SF films.

Would Star Wars have happened without 2001?

The Schrödinger’s Cast is looked at, which is taking the cast from the original film, and replacing them with people you may not suspect.

Mark Askwith is a writer and Television Producer. He has covered the Science Fiction genre for over 30 years.

Mark is the creator of the award-winning Prisoners of Gravity, and he is one of the Founding Producers of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction and Fantasy Channel.

He has also produced dozens of half-hour television movie specials, featuring interviews with stars like Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, and Sigourney Weaver. As well, he has interviewed dozens of scientists and astronauts including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Buzz Aldrin, and Chris Hadfield.

Neil Gaiman called him The Secret Master of Science Fiction. So, I guess that’s no longer a secret.

Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history—and the only Canadian—to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name.

His latest novel is The Oppenheimer Alternative.

A member of both the Order of Canada and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, he lives in Mississauga, Ontario.

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2001: A Space Odyssey.

This film is arguably the whitest film since Birth of a Nation. White actors playing white astronauts in a white spaceship trying to discover, on board a spaceship called Discovery One, the secrets of a black monolith.

Many consider this the greatest science fiction movie of all-time, despite its lack of diversity.

The movie itself did not get a great reception. Many walked out of the premiere screening. For those who left early, and those who stuck it out to the end, many thought “What the hell was that about?”

Most reviews were harsh.

Stanley Kubrick cut 20 or so minutes from the version of the movie that opened, and over time, the shorter (but still long) film found an audience. The film was far ahead of its time, and, like most films that are revolutionary and cutting edge, people just didn’t get it.

The amazing special effects, that still stand up today, and the classical music, the sets, the story, all added together to make something that many would not soon forget.

Troy and David will look at the movie, and discuss it with two special guests: Mark Askwith and Robert J. Sawyer.

Rob was the special guest for Season 1 Episode 2: Planet of the Apes
Mark was the special guest for Season 1 Episode 4: The Prisoner Series

Troy and David welcome back Mark and Rob, who had both listed 2001: A Space Odyssey as their fave genre movie.

We realized that, with two guests, and a big movie like 2001, we would need two parts to do the movie justice.

In Part 1, Troy and David ask Mark and Rob to provide answers to their favourite genre things that were not asked of them before (over the past year more categories were added), and review their previous answers.

Mark and Rob talk about their first experience seeing the film.

The Dream Casting will look at these roles, played by these actors:

Character	Original Star
Dr. David Bowman	Keir Dullea
Dr. Frank Poole	Gary Lockwood
Dr. Heywood Floyd	William Sylvester
Dr. Andrei Smyslov	Leonard Rossiter
Moonwatcher (the chief man-ape)	Daniel Richter
HAL 9000	Douglas Rain (as the voice of…)
The Monolith	[visual effect]
Star Child	[visual effect]

Mark Askwith is a writer and Television Producer.

He has covered the Science Fiction genre for over 30 years.

Mark is the creator of the award-winning Prisoners of Gravity, and he is one of the Founding Producers of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction and Fantasy Channel.

He has also produced dozens of half-hour television movie specials, featuring interviews with stars like Tom Hanks, Christian Bale, and Sigourney Weaver.

As well, he has interviewed dozens of scientists and astronauts including Neil Degrasse Tyson, Buzz Aldrin, and Chris Hadfield.

Neil Gaiman called him the Secret Master of Science Fiction. So, I guess that’s no longer a secret.

Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history—and the only Canadian—to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.

The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name.

His latest novel is The Oppenheimer Alternative.

A member of both the Order of Canada and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, he lives in Mississauga, Ontario.

The Prisoner series from 1967-68, is the topic of this episode.

The Prisoner series ran 17 episodes, and is considered one of the greatest series of all time. Its star, Patrick McGoohan, came up with the concept: a secret agent, not unlike John Drake, the character McGoohan played in “Danger Man” (1960 – 1968) retires, and those in charge want to know why he retired. He is drugged and wakes up in a place known as “The Village” and he is assigned a number: No. 6. He wants to escape, but can he?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on The Prisoner, with special guest Mark Askwith (see author bio below).

Mark Askwith

Mark Askwith is a writer, Producer, and interviewer.

He is one of the Founding Producers of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction and Fantasy Channel, where he co-created in-house shows including InnerSpace. He produced dozens of movie and television specials, including The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special; Watchmen; and, Orphan Black.

Prior to SPACE he was the creator of the award-winning Prisoners of Gravity, a consultant on the Genie Award-winning documentary Comic Book Confidential, and the manager of the Silver Snail.

His comic book stories have been published by Caliber Press, Spiderbaby Grafix, DC Comics, and Image Comics. Mark co-plotted and dialogued DC’s authorized sequel to The Prisoner.