STARSHIP TROOPERS,
Two Years in the Making

The new series ROUGHNECKS: STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES made it's television debut on screens last Monday, August 29. The series depicts the adventures of "Rasczack's Roughnecks"; a squad of Mobile Infantry Troopers fighting in the "Bug Wars" against the ferocious Arachnids. The show's based on both the book STARSHIP TROOPERS and the movie STARSHIP TROOPERS If you're not already watching it, you should be. ROUGHNECKS: STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES is one of the best shows on television.

Most of the major characters from the movie STARSHIP TROOPERS appear in the series. These characters include: Jean Rasczack, Dizzy Flores, Johnny Rico, Carl Jenkins, Zander Barcalow and Carmen Ibanez. The new characters for the series include: Sgt. Brutto, "Doc" Lecrox, Jeff Goddard, and Robert Higgens. Higgens plays the shows narrator and FED-NET correspondent. For some reason, Ace Levy, is absent from the show.

The most interesting item of note of the show is how it combines both elements from the book STARSHIP TROOPERS and the movie STARSHIP TROOPERS. In the book, there is a whole other race of beings that the Mobile Infantry are at war with, the SKINNIES. This race, which looks like a "stretched out human being" did not make an appearance in the movie due to budgetary concerns. The SKINNIES, do, however, show up in the television show as the nemesis of the ROUGHNECKS. Other elements from the book that do show up in the show are; the Power Armor, and the planet Pluto.

Just as elements from the book are in the television show, so are elements from the movie. Such as; Dizzy is a man in the book (who is killed in the opening sequence) but is a girl in both the movie and television show, male pilots, and the lack of Neo-Dogs.

I really believe that the animated version of STARSHIP TROOPERS might be better than the movie version. I believe this to be the case because where as the movie was essentially "JOHNNY RICO, BOY MOBILE INFANTRYMAN", the television series is more of an ensemble piece with no one character being dominate over another. You're also not left wondering why the Federation's fighting. In the movie, there's only a dim reality that the "Bugs" are enclosing on the human species. Although the "Bugs" home planet is on the other side of the galaxy, there are mentions that certain human colonies have been attacked and overrun.

In the television series, the bugs have landed on Pluto and established themselves there in great numbers. If allowed, they would reproduce billions of Warrior Bugs to attack the Earth. It is the job of the Mobile Infantry to remove that threat to the Earth.

Hopefully, the series will shine bright for years to come and not burn out after just one season, see SPACE, ABOVE AND BEYOND. Just in case, I've got my VCR set to capture all of the episodes on tape to enjoy them for years to come.

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