Tread Perilously is a podcast in which hosts Erik Amaya and author Justin Robinson watch the “worst” episodes of popular TV shows, attempting to determine if they would continue to watch the series based on the most off-key moments.

This Week: Starman‘s “The Return”

Tread Perilously begins a Grab Bag Month early with their first look at Starman, a sequel series to John Carpenter’s 1984 classic film.

When Starman receives a telepathic message from his son Scott Hayden, he returns to Earth just as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Paul Forrester dies on the side of a fictional volcano in Washington state. Taking Paul’s form, Starman soon finds Scott Hayden in a Seattle youth home, but immediately discovers 14 years have passed since his first visit to Earth, and his son knows nothing about him. Meanwhile, Federal Security Agent George Fox never stopped looking for Starman and manages to appropriate enough funding to locate Scott. Will he get to him before Starman can convince him of their bond?

Erik once again mispronounces the name of director Charles S. Dubin. Justin questions why television adaptations of films generally reboot the premise. They debate the merits of jellyfish as the ultimate form of evolution and recap the plot of the film. It’s kind of important. A discussion of the show’s bizarre timeline leads to a survey of Cardassian literature and the time jumps in the Terminator, Omen, and Friday the 13th franchises. Erik has a hard time keeping actor Robert Hayes’ name straight, and the pair introduces a new product: Man Power Pills.

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