Broadcast

For the Duration:

Initially launched as a comedy show set on the fictional deWulf warship dWS Michael Diel, a Hawking-class Light Cruiser, For the Duration morphed into a show that both helped portray the sobering aspects of space warfare while remaining lighthearted. Each episode begins with a steady crawl of the ship sailing by; if the Port side is shown, it will be a more serious episode. Starboard, more comedy. The show has gone on for seven seasons now (outlasting the initial war the show was set in), with a steady rotation of cast as crew members are assigned “for the duration” (hence the original name of the show, and a recurring phrase in the dialogue).

The deWulf Navy officially states that the show’s “unabashed descent into farce is a mockery of the proud service of the many Fenren who serve.” Unofficially, more than a few officers have commented that not only are serious episodes a realistic representation of daily naval life, but that more than a few of the comedy episodes are truer than the Navy Administration would like to admit.

There has been no comment from either party on the plausibility of deWulf Section Commander Leonard Hofseth and his perpetual attempts to ship an assault shuttle home, one console at a time.

Surely You’re Joking :

Now in its twelfth season, this popular trivia show has no signs of slowing down. Set up as a panel show that openly courts comics, scientists, and the generally “too smart to know better”, the theoretical object of the game is to collect the most points. Unfortunately the scoring system is opaque, the answers are seemingly arbitrary and the straight and direct answer is almost always wrong. Lateral thinking is required to even have a chance (though you risk getting called out for two dimensional thinking), but often being able to just defend your argument gets you as many points as the answer. Last season’s running joke “What is the largest known aquatic creature?” seems poised to continue into the next with just as much screaming.

Space on Ten Credits:

A popular travel show that highlights the less known (and far cheaper) places in known space. The name comes from the host’s goal of finding a place to rest on only ten credits a night (which she is surprisingly able to do). The show always begins and ends at a spaceport, each episode covering a single out of the way location. There are usually a few interviews with locals, and often times the host tries his hand to earn a few credits at their jobs (The episode on Nordhausen is often cited, as the host tries her hand at chlorine farming with predictably disastrous results). Made on what feels to be a tape-roll budget, the rough cuts and authentic feel add to the charm. The outtakes usually do the rest.