Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

Do you like history?

Do you like space?

Do you like watching great Americans do great things?

Do you like watching ordinary Americans do great things?

Do you want to see a nation that believes in itself pushing the boundaries of technology and exploration?

If any of those are true, try to get to a showing of the “Apollo 11” documentary, a 90-minute compilation of recently discovered footage covering the first moon landing in 1969 from launch to splashdown. THEY HAD GIANT COLOR FILM SITTING IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND NO ONE KNEW ABOUT IT.

This plug may be a little late, unfortunately. It’s only playing in a few theaters, and it’s possible that Collins Road Theatres in Marion is the only place in Iowa you can see it after today. Or, when the DVD comes out, go get it — but it won’t be the same as on the big screen.

(And phooey on this putz at the New Yorker who spoiled a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.)

It’s probably understandable that a 25th-century spaceship crew doesn’t know what a newspaper is. It’s not understandable that a 21st-century production design and/or prop team can’t be accurate.

In last week’s episode of “The Orville” (a show I have fangirled about here before), one of the crew falls in love with a 21st-century woman after resurrecting her iPhone from a 2015 time capsule. (It is reminiscent of not only the Star Trek TNG episode “The Booby Trap,” but also “11001001” where Riker falls in love with a hologram.) Also in the time capsule was a copy of USA Today, but an entirely wrong one.

Here’s where someone missed the boat twice over. First, the paper is close to accurate on font and design for early 21st-century editions of USA Today until September 2012, when the paper got an entirely new design for its 30th anniversary. I guess the “Cool Balls” aren’t cool enough to stick in people’s minds, or the people in charge of wrangling/creating that prop hadn’t seen a copy since then. As much as I hate periods being used in date stylings, the current design of the paper would’ve provided a clear scene-setting beacon.

Now the other part: You’re doing a science fiction show … referencing a newspaper … from 2015. The most blindingly obvious Easter egg is sitting there for the taking — use the actual USA Today from October 21, 2015. For the record, here’s what the top of the front page looked like that day. Or, if that’s too subtle, use the paper from October 22, which referenced the sci-fi significance of the previous day.

A newspaper in a time capsule probably would had to have been vacuum-sealed to even attempt to be white and non-brittle after 400 years. (It’s not shown on screen that way, but the handling of the capsule’s contents is portrayed incredibly sloppily by everyone including Trek alumnus Tim Russ.) Here’s what a copy of the Des Moines Register looked like after 50.

But the fake USA Today had other facets of weirdness, too, referring to a “Port Authority” with a picture of the U.S. Capitol, headlines with the capitalization style very few papers have used for decades, and a sports promo for “gridiron picks for the cup.”

Based on the comments on the recap linked above, the writers/continuity team also flubbed an area code that wasn’t around until 2017. Getting the immediate past right is hard, I guess.

Finally, if a three-week hiatus is baked into the schedule, why in the world do you not start it on opening day of the NCAA Tournament?