I really enjoyed the show – it reminded me what a powerful influence Heinlein has been in so many aspects of my personal life, as well as in the lives of all Americans – and beyond. The live actor recreations of moments of his life and work were wonderful, and I really appreciated the verisimilitude they created.
I understand that they necessarily had to dip shallowly into Heinlein’s body of work, and they hit the high points, but during the segment about his bomb shelter, I was surprised that they didn’t even mention Farnham’s Freehold… and I was most surprised that they spent time with For Us, The Living, which, while of interest to serious students of Heinlein, is not even close to the top echelons of his work.
Of course, the main thing that the show will likely accomplish is at least some revival of interest in his books, which will bring in a new generation of readers… how I envy them the voyage through his tales!
As a show trying to make the case that Heinlein was a prophetic voice in both culture and technology, I was a little surprised that they didn’t spend a little more time with the many things that Heinlein invented in the course of his writing… of course, I am a bit biased on this topic….
I’ll second Deb’s comments about the Archives – they are a spectacular resource for learning more about how Heinlein approached his writing, what influenced his viewpoints, and how his work evolved over the course of the writing and editing process. Too, it contains nuggets of unpublished Heinlein – treasures beyond compare to those of us who’ve already run through all of his published works!