Glen here...

A while back, some people working on the CGI animated series Starship Troopers told me not to expect a very substantial "push" for the series once it hit the airwaves.

I remember them saying this, but I took it with a grain of salt. After all, given the show's pedigree and brand recognition, I could not conceive that Sony would discharge this production onto the airwaves as if it were hocking out a piece of troublesome throat flim.

God, was I wrong.

Would you like to know more?

Seems the Starship Troopers CGI series...now called Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles...will debut THIS FRIDAY...AUGUST 27...at 7:30am on the Sci Fi Channel. CLICK HERE to see for yourself! The show will begin airing on the Sci Fi Channel daily in that timeslot starting Monday August 30.

A search of TV GUIDE.COM reveals the series will also begin airing in wide syndication on Monday August 30 - which means it will air on different stations (at different times) across the country. So, I can't tell you precisely when and where Roughnecks will be showing in your area: that part's up to you. But this does (at least) mean you might have a chance of seeing the show if you don't receive the Sci Fi Channel.

So call your local stations...overrun some Internet search engines...and scope-out when you can see Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles!

And to think Columbia / TriStar's legal department gave me grief for being too detailed in my past coverage of this series. Turns out, my coverage was the most advertising this show would receive - and they didn't have to pay a cent for it!!!

I had a chance to see a completed episode of Roughnecks last night.

I was very impressed by the sheer quantity of the CGI used (I know it's an all CGI series. Read on to see what I mean...). Where CGI series often feel like they were conservative with the number of cuts, cutaways, angles, etc. used to tell their story, Roughnecks does not have that feel. It feels very full.

As a whole the show looks dazzling, although I had some problems with a few of the voices (they sounded inorganic with the characters). The sound-mix (guns firing, explosions, etc.) is downplayed quite a bit - diminishing the overall sensibility and impact of the episode's numerous action sequences. A big mistake in my book.

The show is well-designed, and the series' over-all ambiance (atmosphere, design, technology, etc.) is effective - despite competition with juvenile scripting and an occasionally horrendous score which sounds like video game background music (I am told the score is wildly variable throughout the episodes - and can sometimes be rather good).

The particular episode I saw felt a bit childish (although the essence of it's story was good: the Roughnecks have to capture, wrangle, and bring back a baby Plasma Bug for research. There's a cool little Wages of Fear / Sorcerer pseudo-homage as the troops try to drive their platform truck across a marginal bridge, hauling unstable Plasma Bug as they go). Despite my criticism of this particular episode being slightly more juvenile than I would have liked, I am assured that...over the course of the series...Roughnecks will see some of its main characters killed, and head into more mature territory from time to time.

So there you have it. It's geeky fun - I would have died for this series when I was a kid. Go watch it...decide for youselves...and come back to COAXIAL on Monday when I'll open the "Reader reaction: Roughnecks" TALKBACK.

Good luck - and enjoy!!!