In May, SFX magazne released its 1998 reader's poll results, in which a bunch of British SF fans spouted opinions about SF. As usual, I ended up throwing the magazine across the room in exasperation, but it did spark some thought. Thus I give you my lis

THE LEOLA ROOT AWARDS

In May, SFX magazne released its 1998 reader's poll results, in which a bunch of British SF fans spouted opinions about SF. As usual, I ended up throwing the magazine across the room in exasperation, but it did spark some thought. Thus I give you my list of awards, in honour of the highs and lows of the 4th season of Voyager. If you agree, that's wonderful. If you don't, don't hurt me.

BEST COMEDIC EPISODE
NOMINEES: Message in a Bottle, Demon
THE WINNER: Message in a Bottle, in light of the fact that it was *intended* to be funny.

BEST ACTION EPISODE
NOMINEES: Nemesis, Year of Hell, The Killing Game
THE WINNER: I really liked Nemesis, but for sheer spectacle it has to be The Killing Game.

BEST MUSHY EPISODE
NOMINEES: The Gift, Day of Honour, The Raven, Unforgettable (Say what you will, it *was* mushy)
THE WINNER: The Gift, because I was a Kes fan.

BEST EPISODE OVERALL
NOMINEES: Year of Hell 1, Message in a Bottle, The Killing Game, Living Witness
THE WINNER: For being the first Voyager episode to leave me disturbed -- Living Witness

BEST ACTOR IN AN INDIVIDUAL EPISODE
NOMINEES: Robert Picardo (Living Witness, Message in a Bottle et al), Ethan Philips (Mortal Coil)
THE WINNER: I suspect I'll be murdered if it's not Robert Picardo. (Right, Cheryl?)

BEST ACTOR OVERALL
NOMINEES: Robert Picardo
THE WINNER: One guess, hold the fries.

BEST ACTRESS IN AN INDIVIDUAL EPISODE
NOMINEES: Kate Mulgrew (Year of Hell, Prey et al), Jeri Ryan (The Gift, Prey et al)
THE WINNER: Jeri Ryan, because she got the most screentime

BEST ACTRESS OVERALL
NOMINEES: Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan
THE WINNER: Kate Mulgrew, because the coin came down heads.

BEST GUEST ACTOR
NOMINEES: Leland Orser (Dejarren, Revulsion), Kurtwood Smith (Annorax, Year of Hell), Andy Dick (Doc 2, Message in a Bottle), Tony Todd (Hirogen, Prey), Ray Wise (Arturis, Hope & Fear)
THE WINNER: Andy Dick. In a season of essentially tragic male guest stars, a bit of humour will go far.

BEST GUEST ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Jennifer Lien (Kes, Scorpion 2 & The Gift)
THE WINNER: Jennifer Lien (and a respectful request that guest actresses put some more effort in)

And now for the fun stuff...

WORST EPISODE
NOMINEES: Random Thoughts, Vis a Vis, Unforgettable, Demon
THE WINNER: Where Random Thought and Vis a Vis were fairly inoffensive in their mediocrity, and Demon at least featured some humour (even if it was through the efforts of the audience), Unforgettable tried to be meaningful ... and failed miserably.

WORST PERFORMANCE BY A REGULAR ACTOR
NOMINEES: Robert Duncan McNeill, Vis a Vis (I had hopes that they would replace him with Dan Butler permanently), Robert Beltran, Unforgettable
THE WINNER: Robert Beltran. Normally I'm fond of him, but even I couldn't forgive this travesty.

WORST PERFORMANCE BY A GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS
NOMINEES: Whats'ername who played Nimira in Random Thoughts, Virginia Madsen, Unforgettable
THE WINNER: Are you seeing a trend here? Everybody, say it with me: I HATED UNFORGETTABLE!!!

Well, with that out of my system, you can all rest quiet until at least December. What happens in December? The last episodes of Season 5 are released in Australia, meaning that I can make a start on the next list! Until then, have fun and try not to laugh too much at the Star Wars fans who, after years of deriding Trekkers as "obsessive", are queuing for Episode 1.

Questions, comments, amusingly snide remarks and money can be emailed to elizabeth_barr@yahoo.com.au

Star Trek ® is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Star Trek: Voyager is a trademark of Paramount Pictures.