Lost in Space *Official* Blu-ray Release Thread -- See Post #273 for Complete Details (1 Viewer)

[Professor Echo]

I'll only myself that while I know that Middle America has its propensity for flawed moral behavior as much as Hollywood does, I doubt very much that the percentage levels are equal.

In the case of Roddenberry, his fanbase likes to write adoringly about his romance with Barrett and diminish the hell he put his first wife through into non-existence. Other people associated with Trek had their own marital problems during this period (Shatner went through his first divorce at the time) but Roddenberry, by giving such adoring attention to his mistress who had very minimal talent was no different than Daryl Zanuck littering many of his big-screen films with his mistresses of the moment like Bella Darvi and Irina Demich, and that isn't behavior we hold him in high esteem for. Ultimately it's not that Roddenberry was a sleaze that's the issue so much it's the fact that he intruded his sleaziness into the workplace environment.

Never mind reality. As long as there is a moral utopia in your imagination, you'll be fine.

I'm actually surprised at how much knowledge you seem to have of the subject given your disdain and aversion toward it. I never knew any of this stuff about Roddenberry until I read your posts!

But by all means, feel free to cast the first stone.

 

[TravisR]

There's messed up people everywhere. There's good people everywhere. They're not all located in one place.

 

[Jack P]

I don't think it's being part of a "moral utopia" to have a negative view of a boss abusing his stature as "the boss" to give favors to a mistress in the work place. That's the kind of behavior that many a Hollywood writer will pontificate about if the "boss" is someone from the business world (isn't that what the whole theme of "The Apartment" is about?) so I don't think its being part of some overly judgmental "utopia" to express disdain for the fact that Roddenberry chose to intrude that into Star Trek. I can't frankly think of another notable TV show where a boss gave that kind of blatantly favorable treatment to a mistress. And the end results IMO showed to the detriment of any Trek episode where we had to suffer the presence of Nurse Chapel.


As for how I happen to know this, all I had to do was read one book, the Solow/Justman memoir which dutifully records his exploits and also exonerates NBC from the charge of sexism over rejecting Barrett from the pilot. It had nothing to do with getting immersed in scandal shoot reporting, and just stemmed from reading a good book about the inside history of the show.

 

[Professor Echo]

Unconditionally judge any fiction by the non-fiction surrounding it and you will most likely be disappointed.

Unconditionally judge any non-fiction by your own ideals of fiction and you will most likely be disappointed.

As I said, cast the first stone.

 

[youworkmen]

I was not "comparing" it to Star Trek as an equal, I simply made the quite legit point that Trek is not quite as profound as its biggest advocates make it out to be and suffers from its own cases of bad writing that for me stick out more because whereas with Irwin Allen shows you're not expecting higher pretensions of greatness, but because Trek presumes to be so innately superior then that's when they IMO should be held accountable for delivering some truly awful examples of writing in their own right.

To be fair its really only the third season which suffers on a regular basis where the stories are often poor but even then they're more intelligent than anything Lost In Space offered.

The second season of Trek has a few inferior ones but they only stand out because of the outstanding quality of season one.


Irwin Allen shows were not meant to be the same sort of thing which unfortunately makes them less watchable on multiple occasions


As for the constant whinging about Roddenberry's affairs - who really cares ?

 

[Jack P]

Unconditionally judge any fiction by the non-fiction surrounding it and you will most likely be disappointed.
Unconditionally judge any non-fiction by your own ideals of fiction and you will most likely be disappointed.

As I said, cast the first stone.

If I choose to judge a certain aspect of Star Trek (and not the whole show) based on the fact that the producer indulged in some behavior that you would *not* consider appropriate in another type of workplace environment, that is my prerogative and there's nothing illegitimate in my doing so. I don't use it as an excuse to not watch the show, but when I see some episodes dragged down as a result of the presence of someone who had no business getting that kind of favored treatment its as legitimate a point to make as many film critics have done in noting how the presence of mistresses in certain film productions dragged them down.


And incidentally, if you were to read further the account where "cast the first stone" came from, you would find that phrase stems from the matter of what kind of punishment to mete out and not the matter of expressing approval or "tolerance" of a behavioral practice.

 

[jimmyjet]

How so unlike you to speak for every facet of humanity and impose your judgments upon same with broad flourishes of assumption and presumption, disguised as fact. I guess if we all had your profound insight on the behavior of everyone everywhere we need never look anywhere else.

you can look this up anywhere on the net. it is available. it does not require any profound insight.


the average day person does not act this way. just why do you think it was covered up from the masses ?

 

[jimmyjet]

There's messed up people everywhere. There's good people everywhere. They're not all located in one place.

hi travis,


i dont think anyone ever said they were all in one place.


my only comment was that sexual promiscuity is WAY HIGHER in hollyweird than it is with the average joe.

 

[Professor Echo]

If I choose to judge a certain aspect of Star Trek (and not the whole show) based on the fact that the producer indulged in some behavior that you would *not* consider appropriate in another type of workplace environment, that is my prerogative and there's nothing illegitimate in my doing so. I don't use it as an excuse to not watch the show, but when I see some episodes dragged down as a result of the presence of someone who had no business getting that kind of favored treatment its as legitimate a point to make as many film critics have done in noting how the presence of mistresses in certain film productions dragged them down.

And incidentally, if you were to read further the account where "cast the first stone" came from, you would find that phrase stems from the matter of what kind of punishment to mete out and not the matter of expressing approval or "tolerance" of a behavioral practice.

If you're addressing me when you say "you" with regards to how I react to Roddenberry's behavior, it is presumptive, ill informed and condescending. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you weren't given that you don't know me in the slightest. For the record, I've seen very few episodes of STAR TREK and couldn't care less about the production of the show and how it reflects or doesn't reflect in its episodes. To be honest, I tend to stay away from backstage gossip or gossip of any sort. It's a cliche to say I have more important things to clutter up my brain with, but it's true for me.

I also tend to stay away from naively seeing the world in black and white and pronouncing holier than thou dictates upon not only how someone behaves, but about how they SHOULD behave. I'm not saying you do as I only know you from the forum and an incident related to me by a trusted friend. I'm just saying that I don't. That was the intended point in the reply I made to JimmyJet earlier. Opinions stated as facts and facts as opinions doesn't sit well with me.

 

[Professor Echo]

you can look this up anywhere on the net. it is available. it does not require any profound insight.

the average day person does not act this way. just why do you think it was covered up from the masses ?

Disney's Fantasyland is a hell on earth compared to your fantasy land, Jimmy.

 

[DaveF]

Disney's Fantasyland is a hell on earth compared to your fantasy land, Jimmy.

Let's all stop the personal insults and move the conversation to a less hostile topic. If that's not possible, the thread will be locked. I think this is pushing past where people lose posting privileges for a period, so any more and that will happen too.

 

[Mark Collins]

I just logged on tonight. I cannot believe why LIS of all shows would cause all this. I had just posted on Mannix but now I am going to say the same thing I said there. I cannot understand why TV show threads make everyone so angry. I think that should be posted as a topic for a thread. We might gain some real insight once cooler heads prevail.


I hate this sort of thing. I hate to see it here. I read enough and do not intend to read them all. I had joined an Irwin Allen fan group and was going to post a link over the weekend but I am now very glad I did not.


This is not the HTF I would want them to see.


Mark

 

[Bryan^H]

I just logged on tonight. I cannot believe why LIS of all shows would cause all this. I had just posted on Mannix but now I am going to say the same thing I said there. I cannot understand why TV show threads make everyone so angry. I think that should be posted as a topic for a thread. We might gain some real insight once cooler heads prevail.

I hate this sort of thing. I hate to see it here. I read enough and do not intend to read them all. I had joined an Irwin Allen fan group and was going to post a link over the weekend but I am now very glad I did not.

This is not the HTF I would want them to see.

Mark

That would be my fault. I started the discussion of Roddenberry. I sincerely regret it, as this is a great thread. It was not my intention to derail it into an ugly moral discussion of right/wrong. I apologize to all the members on this thread.
Bryan

 

[Professor Echo]

I just logged on tonight. I cannot believe why LIS of all shows would cause all this. I had just posted on Mannix but now I am going to say the same thing I said there. I cannot understand why TV show threads make everyone so angry. I think that should be posted as a topic for a thread. We might gain some real insight once cooler heads prevail.

I hate this sort of thing. I hate to see it here. I read enough and do not intend to read them all. I had joined an Irwin Allen fan group and was going to post a link over the weekend but I am now very glad I did not.

This is not the HTF I would want them to see.
R
Mark

Well said, Mark.

I believe at least some of the prevalent anger stems from aging, but still potent resentments left over from an old thread that ventured into politics and religion and seemingly revealed a lot of intolerance amongst certain members. That was the worst I've ever seen HTF get and it caused me to stay away from here for months. When that kind of attitude seems to rear its ugly head again it definitely causes me to lose my patience and post in reactionary haste. And for that, I'm sorry. I agree with Dave that personal insults should have no place here and I'm glad he stepped in and allowed me time to cool off. I rarely engage in such behavior here anymore, but a nerve was touched yesterday and I failed to rise above it. For that I am also sorry.

This is supposed to be a forum to discuss things that ostensibly make us happy, but time and again it deteriorates into petty squabbles. Besides the reason I cited above, I also wonder if perhaps in recent times it's an offshoot of not having a lot to discuss given that the TV on DVD subject has been steadily fading away. This may cause bored people to post in threads they normally wouldn't have before and express undesirable views just to foster activity or detour established threads with digressions just to have something to post.

In any event, such irrational contributions should not be welcomed here and I will try very hard to ignore the members I've allowed to get on my nerves and instead focus on the ones whose contributions I consistently enjoy and who inspire the better angels of my nature, to quote Lincoln.

 

[Mark Collins]

Glen what a great post. Hey we all have been there. You raise some very great points too. Like I said it would be quite something if someone would just create a thread with the topic Why do TV shows on DVD cause so much anger between members on HTF?

You really hit all the points I wanted to say. Your insight to the problems I believe is quite correct. I also know that some TV series such as Star Trek can bring out problems. I mean if you should say anything negative about the show. I am not saying there is negative things to say but my gosh there has never been a perfect show on TV.

I Love Lucy has it's problems but we who love Lucy do not give it much thought. Same with the shows I love. I happen to a big Irwin Allen Fan. I love the Star Trek movies and have them all. I never have watched but two or three episodes of the original but loved TNG and my favorite DS9.

I remember once a great friend warned me that if I even dared to compare Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea with the original Star Trek that I would be burned at the stake here and he did not want to see that happen to me.

I was planning to compare the Voyage and Star Trek in a humorous way and I explained that to my friend in a PM. He just repeated please Mark do not do this. So I listened to his sage advice.

I thought perhaps he is right. I guess jokes about peoples favorite shows can be looked at as insults. The other point is posting is like emails. People can really get the wrong idea of what you really mean. We have lost that communication I am afraid because we do not speak face to face or on the phone with a voice not texting.

New world and it is hard for me to sometimes adjust to it. I just love HTF and want to see this element as you spoke of Glen curtailed if possible. Cannot not we moderate ourselves without someone coming in.

I always remember one thing about emails. Once you write it and send the email it is there forever. I also remember a good friend I had here who loved both Irwin Allen and Star Trek.

He would always tell me take the high road Mark and never swallow the bait if you think a conflict will come out of it.

Mark

 

[Professor Echo]

I've seen some STAR TREK TOS and all of LIS and have enjoyed them both very much. Outside of the decade in which they aired and the genre and the setting, I really don't see a lot to base a comparison on, much less a competition, so I was not aware of any conflicts between the two camps. It seems rather silly as the shows are so different, one being more of an adult show and the other geared toward families, but these "which one is better" contests can get pretty ridiculous no matter what the subject.

 

[Jack P]

I believe at least some of the prevalent anger stems from aging, but still potent resentments left over from an old thread that ventured into politics and religion and seemingly revealed a lot of intolerance amongst certain members.......This may cause bored people to post in threads they normally wouldn't have before and express undesirable views just to foster activity or detour established threads with digressions just to have something to post.

You can "believe" anything you want. It isn't going to make it so, in this case. The subject of Trek came into the thread and a POV regarding the series totally independent of whether it was better than LIS or not was then brought into the discussion in the normal course of events that in most contexts usually results in a perfectly civil discussion with differing opinions that I think on the whole HTF has done a great job of having in letting us express that diverse sentiment of thought and which was only taking place again from my standpoint. There was no regard for any past threads or discussions that took place except in the minds of some people who choose for their own reasons to harbor their own feelings of prejudice and intolerance. Which will have to remain their problem.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And enough is enough!


That's the last word on this subject.


From here on in there will be no more talk of Star Trek--as this is a thread on Lost in Space. There will be no more finger-pointing at or baiting of other members.


Those who engage in any such side discussions know the risk: temporary or permanent loss of privileges.


This will stop NOW.


This thread will, instead, focus on potential releases of Lost in Space and a discussion about that program. And that is all.

 

[youworkmen]

Apparently at this weekends cast reunion it was said that September was not guaranteed and that releases being considered were season sets several months apart.

 

[Harry-N]

Apparently at this weekends cast reunion it was said that September was not guaranteed and that releases being considered were season sets several months apart.

That would mirror the way Fox handled the DVD releases. First they came out with the full-season one set and were charging $79. With sales poor, it led to Seasons Two and Three being split into two half-season volumes so they could lower the price to around $40, which was what everyone else was selling full TV seasons for at that time.


If they came out with a full-series set on Blu-ray, it would put them back in the stratosphere for list prices. So splitting the series into three might allow them to set a lower, but still high price for each one. It would also allow those who only care about Season One to buy just that.


Harry