Frequently Asked Questions

by David E. Sluss

    
1. What happened to "Cynics Corner Interactive?" Where's the tap system menu? Why did you shrink the text on the review pages? Etc.

Answer: There were reasons for all of these changes. Read about Our New Home to learn more.

1a. Interactive? Tap System? What the hell are you talking about?

Answer: If you don't already know, you don't want to.

2. How do I interpret the Cynics Corner Rating? How do I know if an episode is supposed to be good or bad, based on the number assigned by The Cynic?

Answer: Read the explanation of the Cynics Corner Rating System.

3. Why do you watch and review <insert show here> when it's obvious that you hate it?

Answer: Generally speaking, I don't hate any of the shows I review. There are individual episodes that I hate, but I watch the shows because I get some level of enjoyment from them, and I review them as a public service to the internet community. :) The fact that every review is negative in tone just means that I have chosen to accentuate the negative. That's why we call it the Cynics Corner.

4. Shouldn't there be an apostrophe somewhere? Shouldn't it be either Cynic's Corner or Cynics' Corner?

Answer: No. I realize it doesn't seem grammatically correct, but the Cynics Corner name has a history in the "real world" going back more than a dozen years, and while you'd have to have been there in order to get it, I think of it as a "corner in which there are cynics" as opposed to a "corner belonging to cynics." That's why I don't use the possessive "Cynics'" or "Cynic's." Besides, the logos look better without the apostrophe. :)

5. Are you ever going to go back and review older episodes of <insert show here>?

Answer: Possibly. It all depends on time and level of interest.

6. Are you going to start reviewing <insert show here>?

Answer:  For the 2002-2003 season, I intend to review only Enterprise on a regular basis. Other irregular or "special project" reviews may be posted as time permits..

6a. Do you watch Farscape? Will you review Farscape?

I do not watch the show, and so I cannot review it. It seems to get high praise from a lot of people, but it's never caught my attention, and in any case I barely have time to crank out the reviews I'm already committed to.

7. How'd this all begin, anyway?

File it under Just One of Those Things. I used to participate in Star Trek and other SF newsgroups pretty heavily. In September 1997, I wrote a post regarding Voyager's fourth season premiere, "Scorpion, Part II" which wound up having the now-patented "so-and-so of the week" format and called it a Cynics Corner Review, and the rest is history. The Cynics Corner website came into existence in October 1997, though with the exception of the background image, it looked nothing like what we have now, and was admittedly a crude affair consisting of links to .TXT files containing my newsgroup-posted reviews. Several design upgrades later and one big move later, we're still here, and still churning it out.

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This article is copyright © 2000-2002 David E. Sluss