SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 12 March 2026
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
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Dexter's Laboratory
US animated tv series (1996-2003). Cartoon Network, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky. Directors include Robert Alvarez, John McIntyre, Rob Renzetti, Chris Savino and Genndy Tartakovsky. Writers include Walt Dohrn, Zeke Kamm, Seth MacFarlane, Cindy Morrow, Jason Butler Rote, Michael Ryan, Chris Savino and Genndy Tartakovsky. Voice cast includes Christine Cavanaugh, Kathryn Cressida, Eddie Deezen, ...
Planetary Romance
Any sf tale whose primary venue (excluding contemporary or Near-Future versions of Earth) is a planet, and whose plot turns to a significant degree upon the nature of that venue, can be described as a planetary romance. For the term to apply properly, however, it is not enough that a tale simply be set on a world: James Blish's A Case of Conscience (September 1953 If; exp 1958), for instance, ...
Far Out Space Nuts
Juvenile tv series (1975-1976). Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises for CBS-TV. Created by Sid and Marty Krofft (see The Krofft Brothers) with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Directors include Claudio Guzman, Wes Kenny and Walter C Miller. Writers include Chuck McCann, Earle Doud and Duane Poole. Cast includes Bob Denver, Patti Maloney and Chuck McCann. 15 25-minute episodes. Colour. / Two inept maintenance workers at a ...
Chubbchubbs, The
US short animated film (2002). Sony Pictures Imageworks. Directed by Eric Armstrong. Written by Jeff Wolverton. Voice cast includes Brad Simonsen and Jeff Wolverton. 6 Minutes. Colour. / Fired and kicked out of the Alien karaoke bar where he worked as the janitor, Meeper (Simonsen) is warned by another alien that "the Chubbchubbs are coming" – and, indeed, Monsters can be seen approaching. The bar clientele flee; Meeper ...
Watkins, William John
(1942- ) US poet, author and academic, associate professor then full professor of English at Brookdale Community College, New Jersey (now retired). For early work up to 1980 his working name was William Jon Watkins [see Checklist below for byline distinctions]. He was initially active as a poet, his first book being Five Poems (coll 1968 chap). His first sf novel, with Gene Snyder, was Ecodeath (1972), a ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...