JohnHopper
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- John Hopper
“To work for the Perfect Order is to live in harmony and peace with oneself. To live in harmony and peace is Man’s highest goal.”
—The Voice of Propaganda
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What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Bryan^H
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“To work for the Perfect Order is to live in harmony and peace with oneself. To live in harmony and peace is Man’s highest goal.”
—The Voice of Propaganda
JohnHopper
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2010
- Messages
- 3,468
- Real Name
- John Hopper
QUINN MARTIN AND GLENN CORBETT
Glenn Corbett guests in some QM series like 12 O’Clock High (2), The FBI (2), Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones (2), The Manhunter, Caribe, Bert D'Angelo/Superstar.
tsodcollector
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- matthew baduria
Growing pains,season 1 is one of my all time favorites.i order it on impcl.org.
phil silvers season 1,50th anniversary compliation,great show,one of television's first blockbuster hits,and the first miltary sitcoms on television,weren't for phil silvers,there won't be no mchale's navy,f-troop,hogan's heroes,they were the first.
phil silvers season 1,50th anniversary compliation,great show,one of television's first blockbuster hits,and the first miltary sitcoms on television,weren't for phil silvers,there won't be no mchale's navy,f-troop,hogan's heroes,they were the first.
Glenn Corbett Birthday Tribute
I want to take a moment to express my appreciation to all of you who participated in making our tribute to Glenn Corbett a success!!
Thank you, Neal
I want to take a moment to express my appreciation to all of you who participated in making our tribute to Glenn Corbett a success!!
Thank you, Neal
Doug Wallen
Senior HTF Member
Been sick with a stomach virus that has totally decimated me and my wife. Comments will be few and far between for this listing. Too busy watching episodes to think of many useful comments.
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
The Blizzard Makers (1.13) Werner Klemperer, Milton Selzer, Kenneth MacDonald. Surgical trickery in order to hypnotically control a Scientist/colleague acquaintance of Admiral Nelson's. An espionage tale that fully utilized Selzer's persona – nervous and twitchy.
The Ghost Of Moby Dick (1.14) June Lockhart, Edward Binns. Excellent use of mammoth whale model/puppet. Underwater the model pretty believable, traveling along the surface, not so much. Decent examination of how grief and intelligence can create obsession. Nelson was not immune.
Long Live The King (1.15) Michael Pate, Carroll O'Connor, Sara Shane, Michel Petit. Interesting “Christmas” tale that didn't lean to hard in the fantasy element. The “King” was just this side of obnoxious before Old John (O'Connor) settled him down.
Hail To The Chief (1.16) Viveca Lindfors, James Doohan, Malcolm Atterbury, John Hoyt, Edward C. Platt, Berry Kroeger. I sure hope White House conferences are more secure than what this episode presented. The cast was good but the “bad” guys were more competent than the “good” guys. Their ease with all of their tricks (radio glasses, convenient motorcycle sabotage, killing a prominent doctor, copying the secret orders) just seemed a bit too proficient to the point of hurting the story in my opinion.
The Waltons
The Romance (3.6) David Selby. Olivia must fend off a younger art teacher with delusions of educating her in Paris.
The Ring (3.7) Mary Ellen “borrows” a cherished heirloom from a widow and then loses it. John-Boy and family become involved in trying to recover the ring.
The System (3.8) Richard Masur, Jacques Aubuchon. If writing doesn't work out, John-Boy could have a career as an attorney.
The Spoilers (3.9) Linda Purl, Barbara Carson, Mark Miller, David Gruner.
The Marathon (3.10) Lennie Weinrib, Charles Haid. Dance marathon for a full week. Can John-Boy manage?
Gunsmoke
The Good Samaritans (14.24) Brock Peters, L.Q. Jones, Sam Melville, Robert DoQui, Rex Ingram, Lynn Hamilton, Davis Roberts. Matt is chased by villains, wounded and taken in by pacifist black settlers.
The Prisoner (14.25) Jon Voight, Ramon Bieri, Ned Glass, Kenneth Tobey. A kind young man (Voight) is being accused of murder by a town boss (Tobey), with the law in his pocket, gunning for him.
Exodus 21.22 (14.26) Steve Ihnat, Lane Bradford, William Bramley, Kaz Garas. A former lawman (Ihnat) is chasing the men who killed his wife and unborn child, looking for revenge.
End of Season 14.
Rawhide
Incident On The Road Back (3.16) Gene Evans, Jeanne Cooper, Arch Johnson, Lane Bradford, Mark Tapscott, Brian G. Hutton, Adrienne Hayes. A blind lawman (Evans) is being manipulated by an unscrupulous rancher (Johnson) who has stolen the cattleman's purse from the drive that has just finished.
Incident Of The New Start (3.17) John Dehner, Burt Douglas, Jan Harrison, Bill Erwin. Rancher (Dehner) has placed himself as the trail boss and Mr. Favor as the ramrod on the new drive.
Incident Of The Running Iron (3.18) Addison Richards, Darryl Hickman, Frank Wilcox, William Schallert, Kenneth MacDonald, John Erwin. Gil's friend (Richards) seems to be a cattle rustler.
Incident Near Gloomy River (3.19) John Cassavettes, Leif Erickson, John Ericson, Rosemary DeCamp, Anne Helm. Soap opera between warring neighbors. There is a terrible dark secret to be tossed into this Romeo and Juliet type story.
The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet
The Traffic Signal (1.21) Who really is responsible for the new traffic light?
The Dental Receptionist (1.22) Is Ozzie really flirting?
The Speech (1.23) Ozzie explains speeches to his family.
The Safecrackers (1.24) Practical joke gone wrong.
Brother Beesley's Philosophy (1.25) Shopping spree after tax season.
The Bowling Alley (1.26) Ozzie still stays clueless.
The Orchid And The Violet (1.27) A florist gets helpful and inadvertently angers Ozzie.
The Pancake Mix (1.28) Ricky gets a refund.
Whistler's Daughter (1.29) Door to door saleswomen.
The Fish Story (1.30) A great example of how stories get started.
Three/fourths of the way through this first season. Still enjoying my time with the Nelson's. Such a laid back show that is the perfect antidote for our world today. Thanks again for this recommendation. Such a wonderful show.
The Fall Guy
Three For The Road (1.20) Josh Bryant, Judy Landers, Judith Chapman, Scott Marlowe. The things we do for love. It never works out.
The Silent Partner (1.21) Mitch Carter, Mickey Gilley, Jenny Sherman, Tracey Walter, Del Monroe, Kenneth Kimmins, Susan Backlinie. Country singer with a temper and a slow witted employee.
Scavenger Hunt (1.22) Jan Murray, Doug McClure, Heather Locklear, William Bryant, Terry Carter, Gary Lockwood, Christopher Stone, Herve Villechaize. Season finale.
This season set has been completed. Maybe (???) the upcoming movie will free up the rest of the seasons.
Ellery Queen
The Adventure Of The Blunt Instrument (1.11) Keene Curtis, John Dehner, Richard Jaeckel, Eva Gabor, Dean Stockwell, Joanna Barnes, Clyde Kusatsu, Ellen Weston. Don't trust Army doctors.
The Adventure Of The Black Falcon (1.12) Roddy McDowall, Howard Duff, William Schallert, Signe Hasso, Tab Hunter, John Hillerman, Lewis Charles. It's all about the wine's location.
The Adventure Of The Sunday Punch (1.13) Lloyd Nolan, Robert Alda, Dane Clark, Ken Swofford, Janet MacLachlan, Otis Young. Obligatory boxing episode.
The Adventure Of The Eccentric Engineer (1.14) Ed McMahon, David Hedison, Arthur Godfrey, Dorothy Malone, Bobby Sherman, Ann Reinking. Model trains, I like trains.
4 more excellent episodes of this clever, period detective series. Any series that has Hillerman and Swofford as part of the supporting cast is just priceless. Two characters who are just perfect.
Daniel Boone
To Slay A Giant (5.13) Torin Thatcher, Don Pedro Colley. Racism in Boonesborough.
A Tall Tale Of Prater Beasley (5.14) Burl Ives, Lyle Bettger, Jeff Donnell, Willis Bouchey. Tall tales and folk music with a singular minded father who is embarrassed by his “crippled” son.
Copperhead Izzy (5.15) Vincent Price, Elena Verdugo, Butch Patrick, Sheldon Collins, J. Pat O'Malley, Olan Soule. Price as a colonial Fagin who kidnaps Israel and is running to leave town before the authorities discover his activities.
Three Score And Ten (5.16) Burgess Meredith, Paul Fix, James Wainwright, Warren Vanders, Clint Ritchie. An examination of our older members of family/society (Meredith, Fix).
Jonah (5.17) Yaphet Kotto, Jimmy Dean, Sean McClory, Sidney Clute, Booth Colman, Joseph V. Perry. Learning to understand how every “man” is different as well as the same.
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
The Blizzard Makers (1.13) Werner Klemperer, Milton Selzer, Kenneth MacDonald. Surgical trickery in order to hypnotically control a Scientist/colleague acquaintance of Admiral Nelson's. An espionage tale that fully utilized Selzer's persona – nervous and twitchy.
The Ghost Of Moby Dick (1.14) June Lockhart, Edward Binns. Excellent use of mammoth whale model/puppet. Underwater the model pretty believable, traveling along the surface, not so much. Decent examination of how grief and intelligence can create obsession. Nelson was not immune.
Long Live The King (1.15) Michael Pate, Carroll O'Connor, Sara Shane, Michel Petit. Interesting “Christmas” tale that didn't lean to hard in the fantasy element. The “King” was just this side of obnoxious before Old John (O'Connor) settled him down.
Hail To The Chief (1.16) Viveca Lindfors, James Doohan, Malcolm Atterbury, John Hoyt, Edward C. Platt, Berry Kroeger. I sure hope White House conferences are more secure than what this episode presented. The cast was good but the “bad” guys were more competent than the “good” guys. Their ease with all of their tricks (radio glasses, convenient motorcycle sabotage, killing a prominent doctor, copying the secret orders) just seemed a bit too proficient to the point of hurting the story in my opinion.
The Waltons
The Romance (3.6) David Selby. Olivia must fend off a younger art teacher with delusions of educating her in Paris.
The Ring (3.7) Mary Ellen “borrows” a cherished heirloom from a widow and then loses it. John-Boy and family become involved in trying to recover the ring.
The System (3.8) Richard Masur, Jacques Aubuchon. If writing doesn't work out, John-Boy could have a career as an attorney.
The Spoilers (3.9) Linda Purl, Barbara Carson, Mark Miller, David Gruner.
The Marathon (3.10) Lennie Weinrib, Charles Haid. Dance marathon for a full week. Can John-Boy manage?
Gunsmoke
The Good Samaritans (14.24) Brock Peters, L.Q. Jones, Sam Melville, Robert DoQui, Rex Ingram, Lynn Hamilton, Davis Roberts. Matt is chased by villains, wounded and taken in by pacifist black settlers.
The Prisoner (14.25) Jon Voight, Ramon Bieri, Ned Glass, Kenneth Tobey. A kind young man (Voight) is being accused of murder by a town boss (Tobey), with the law in his pocket, gunning for him.
Exodus 21.22 (14.26) Steve Ihnat, Lane Bradford, William Bramley, Kaz Garas. A former lawman (Ihnat) is chasing the men who killed his wife and unborn child, looking for revenge.
End of Season 14.
Rawhide
Incident On The Road Back (3.16) Gene Evans, Jeanne Cooper, Arch Johnson, Lane Bradford, Mark Tapscott, Brian G. Hutton, Adrienne Hayes. A blind lawman (Evans) is being manipulated by an unscrupulous rancher (Johnson) who has stolen the cattleman's purse from the drive that has just finished.
Incident Of The New Start (3.17) John Dehner, Burt Douglas, Jan Harrison, Bill Erwin. Rancher (Dehner) has placed himself as the trail boss and Mr. Favor as the ramrod on the new drive.
Incident Of The Running Iron (3.18) Addison Richards, Darryl Hickman, Frank Wilcox, William Schallert, Kenneth MacDonald, John Erwin. Gil's friend (Richards) seems to be a cattle rustler.
Incident Near Gloomy River (3.19) John Cassavettes, Leif Erickson, John Ericson, Rosemary DeCamp, Anne Helm. Soap opera between warring neighbors. There is a terrible dark secret to be tossed into this Romeo and Juliet type story.
The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet
The Traffic Signal (1.21) Who really is responsible for the new traffic light?
The Dental Receptionist (1.22) Is Ozzie really flirting?
The Speech (1.23) Ozzie explains speeches to his family.
The Safecrackers (1.24) Practical joke gone wrong.
Brother Beesley's Philosophy (1.25) Shopping spree after tax season.
The Bowling Alley (1.26) Ozzie still stays clueless.
The Orchid And The Violet (1.27) A florist gets helpful and inadvertently angers Ozzie.
The Pancake Mix (1.28) Ricky gets a refund.
Whistler's Daughter (1.29) Door to door saleswomen.
The Fish Story (1.30) A great example of how stories get started.
Three/fourths of the way through this first season. Still enjoying my time with the Nelson's. Such a laid back show that is the perfect antidote for our world today. Thanks again for this recommendation. Such a wonderful show.
The Fall Guy
Three For The Road (1.20) Josh Bryant, Judy Landers, Judith Chapman, Scott Marlowe. The things we do for love. It never works out.
The Silent Partner (1.21) Mitch Carter, Mickey Gilley, Jenny Sherman, Tracey Walter, Del Monroe, Kenneth Kimmins, Susan Backlinie. Country singer with a temper and a slow witted employee.
Scavenger Hunt (1.22) Jan Murray, Doug McClure, Heather Locklear, William Bryant, Terry Carter, Gary Lockwood, Christopher Stone, Herve Villechaize. Season finale.
This season set has been completed. Maybe (???) the upcoming movie will free up the rest of the seasons.
Ellery Queen
The Adventure Of The Blunt Instrument (1.11) Keene Curtis, John Dehner, Richard Jaeckel, Eva Gabor, Dean Stockwell, Joanna Barnes, Clyde Kusatsu, Ellen Weston. Don't trust Army doctors.
The Adventure Of The Black Falcon (1.12) Roddy McDowall, Howard Duff, William Schallert, Signe Hasso, Tab Hunter, John Hillerman, Lewis Charles. It's all about the wine's location.
The Adventure Of The Sunday Punch (1.13) Lloyd Nolan, Robert Alda, Dane Clark, Ken Swofford, Janet MacLachlan, Otis Young. Obligatory boxing episode.
The Adventure Of The Eccentric Engineer (1.14) Ed McMahon, David Hedison, Arthur Godfrey, Dorothy Malone, Bobby Sherman, Ann Reinking. Model trains, I like trains.
4 more excellent episodes of this clever, period detective series. Any series that has Hillerman and Swofford as part of the supporting cast is just priceless. Two characters who are just perfect.
Daniel Boone
To Slay A Giant (5.13) Torin Thatcher, Don Pedro Colley. Racism in Boonesborough.
A Tall Tale Of Prater Beasley (5.14) Burl Ives, Lyle Bettger, Jeff Donnell, Willis Bouchey. Tall tales and folk music with a singular minded father who is embarrassed by his “crippled” son.
Copperhead Izzy (5.15) Vincent Price, Elena Verdugo, Butch Patrick, Sheldon Collins, J. Pat O'Malley, Olan Soule. Price as a colonial Fagin who kidnaps Israel and is running to leave town before the authorities discover his activities.
Three Score And Ten (5.16) Burgess Meredith, Paul Fix, James Wainwright, Warren Vanders, Clint Ritchie. An examination of our older members of family/society (Meredith, Fix).
Jonah (5.17) Yaphet Kotto, Jimmy Dean, Sean McClory, Sidney Clute, Booth Colman, Joseph V. Perry. Learning to understand how every “man” is different as well as the same.
I've often wondered how you watch the quantity of stuff that you do watch, but how on earth did you watch all this with a stomach virus? Hope you and your wife recover soon.
Btw, recently there were a couple of extremely negative comments made here about The Waltons and I couldn't have disagreed more. I love the series. It is perhaps the greatest family drama in the history of television.
Doug Wallen
Senior HTF Member
As I have said before, I am retired and just have a small part-time job (15-20 hrs. weekly). I am an amateur photographer and the weather in the South has been truly oppressive so I am home a lot.
Since I find most modern shows full of language I don't use, pushing agendas aggressively and just not quite my cup of tea, I have plenty of time to watch "classic" television (at least my version of it anyway). I generally drop in one disc and go all the way through it. If I am still awake, I will begin a 2nd disc and sometimes finish it. I am amazed when I am listing what I have watched and see the volume. I watch on my television that is not hooked up to any machine that could capture images. I am not savvy enough to do the photo essays that so many of you are excellent at completing.
So, since I just watch, I can get a lot in each day.
This is just a fancy explanation when I could have just said I am a couch potato
.And, I agree with you, I have a particular fondness for The Waltons. My father is from Eastern Kentucky (coal mining country) and the attitudes of the mountain folk remind me of my grandparents and the mountain culture. Like stepping in a time machine to see what his childhood was like. I just ignore the opinions (everybody has them) on the show that are not favorable.
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Sorry to hear about you and your wife's stomach virus troubles, Doug. Nothing wose than a stomach bug, as far as I'm concerned. Hope you both get well soon.
And thanks for sharing your great line-up of classic television shows. Especially gratified to hear that you are still enjoying The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Hope you'll have a chance to pick up seasons 3 and 4 soon.
Doug Wallen
Senior HTF Member
I have season 3, still trying to figure out when I can pick up season 4.
Frankly, I find your lack of "photo essays" to be a breath of fresh air. Those have become quite tiresome... These days, yours and Russ's comments about shows you've watched are just about the only ones I bother to read any more because they're not full of photos.As I have said before, I am retired and just have a small part-time job (15-20 hrs. weekly). I am an amateur photographer and the weather in the South has been truly oppressive so I am home a lot.
Since I find most modern shows full of language I don't use, pushing agendas aggressively and just not quite my cup of tea, I have plenty of time to watch "classic" television (at least my version of it anyway). I generally drop in one disc and go all the way through it. If I am still awake, I will begin a 2nd disc and sometimes finish it. I am amazed when I am listing what I have watched and see the volume. I watch on my television that is not hooked up to any machine that could capture images. I am not savvy enough to do the photo essays that so many of you are excellent at completing.
So, since I just watch, I can get a lot in each day.
This is just a fancy explanation when I could have just said I am a couch potato
And, I agree with you, I have a particular fondness for The Waltons. My father is from Eastern Kentucky (coal mining country) and the attitudes of the mountain folk remind me of my grandparents and the mountain culture. Like stepping in a time machine to see what his childhood was like. I just ignore the opinions (everybody has them) on the show that are not favorable.
That's a good explanation as to why you are able to watch a much greater quantity of programming than myself. I probably do spend a great deal of time screen capping, time that would otherwise be used for watching stuff I haven't gotten to yet. But I am also a huge MLB fan and unlike most I am a New York Baseball fan so watching two games per day (Yankees & Mets) on almost a daily basis can be very time consuming though I never watch anything live. I DVR it all in order to shorten that time commitment.
Hah! I think a true couch potato are guys that rip everything to digital copies so they don't even need to get up and insert a disc into their player.This is just a fancy explanation when I could have just said I am a couch potato
Well I can be fairly opinionated myself at times having recently ripped into Gomer Pyle and Fantasy Island, but even though the culture I was brought up around was nothing whatsoever like The Waltons I was drawn into it like a magnet, binging to massive amounts of episodes at once.
One last thing Doug, I know how much you like Ozzie and Harriet and I strongly recommend The New Loretta Young Show which I just purchased and announced here. It has a sentimental sincerity similar to The Nelsons.
ScottRE
Senior HTF Member
Ugh, sorry to hear you and your wife have been so sick, Doug. I hope you both feel better soon.
The Blizzard Makers is a great episode, very fast paced with some great performances. Very strong entry.
The Ghost of Moby Dick - Man I can see why Irwin cast June Lockhart for Lost in Space based on her performance. It's extraordinary. Sadly, she'd never be asked to do such heavy lifting on that series. A classic episode but for some reason, it's not a favorite of mine.
Long live the King: Carroll O'Connor is amazing and it's nice to have a Christmas themed episode, but otherwise, this one is a slog for me.
Hail to the Chief is, for me, one of the single most dull and stolid episodes of the season. Give me a rampaging sea monster any day. The cast, while not energetic, is certainly filled with TV legends.
ScottRE
Senior HTF Member
While I totally respect your opinion and would defend to the death your right to it, I don't think comments like this are necessary or helpful - or even nice, to be equally frank. I'm sure we all have types of posts we gravitate towards and enjoy reading more than others. I know I do, there are plenty I breeze by because I'm not interested. And I could absolutely list the types which annoy me or make me roll my eyes, but I don't see the point in making my fellow members feel badly over their efforts. I think there's room here for all of us to post what we like and the manner in which we enjoy for those who do appreciate it.
I'm a "read what you like and ignore what you don't" kind of person. Unless it's over the line offensive or some kind of harassment, I just let them go by.
Anyway, no hard feelings here, but it did bug me a little. This is a nice place to post, I'd hate to see it change.
Flashgear
Senior HTF Member
Doug, as others have already said, I hope you and your family recover from illness soon! A terrible stomach bug, especially in the midst of the terrible summer heat, is insufferable and unfair. The nausea and other things especially. Where I am in Canada it's been about 97F everyday for almost two weeks, though without the humidity which you undoubtedly contend with in Georgia. And I've been assisting an elderly neighbor with her errands who is recovering from chemo and radiation and is beset by nausea. So, my sympathies to you and your family!As I have said before, I am retired and just have a small part-time job (15-20 hrs. weekly). I am an amateur photographer and the weather in the South has been truly oppressive so I am home a lot.
Since I find most modern shows full of language I don't use, pushing agendas aggressively and just not quite my cup of tea, I have plenty of time to watch "classic" television (at least my version of it anyway). I generally drop in one disc and go all the way through it. If I am still awake, I will begin a 2nd disc and sometimes finish it. I am amazed when I am listing what I have watched and see the volume. I watch on my television that is not hooked up to any machine that could capture images. I am not savvy enough to do the photo essays that so many of you are excellent at completing.
So, since I just watch, I can get a lot in each day.
This is just a fancy explanation when I could have just said I am a couch potato
And, I agree with you, I have a particular fondness for The Waltons. My father is from Eastern Kentucky (coal mining country) and the attitudes of the mountain folk remind me of my grandparents and the mountain culture. Like stepping in a time machine to see what his childhood was like. I just ignore the opinions (everybody has them) on the show that are not favorable.
Your heartfelt, informative and detailed posts and admirably varied viewing is very much appreciated by all of us here! No need to take screen caps, as everyone should just follow their own style in expressing the central and only important thing here...our enthusiasm, if not love, for our classic and vintage TV viewing!
Spreading the joy of our weekly viewing and perhaps inspiring others is what this thread is all about! HTF has been around for decades now, with many moribund and inactive threads devoted to specific shows or 'wants', but it's amazing that it wasn't till 2015 when Bryan started this all-encompassing thread as a centralized forum for sharing our enthusiasm, knowledge, opinions and roster articulating our weekly viewing of MANY shows that so many members have embraced to share our common love of all things classic and vintage television.
Flashgear
Senior HTF Member
Beautifully said, Scott! Your reasoned eloquence (and your enthusiastic posts about your own favorite shows) is greatly appreciated! As is our general tolerance and support of other members. As you said, the imperative in keeping this thread as a nice place to post is all that will keep this thread from going by the wayside into the oblivion of ten thousand other threads on HTF and across the net, forgotten and not missed at all. If intolerance, contempt and dismissive and negative attitudes are all somebody has to offer here, they themselves will surely not be missed. But there's always room for reasoned and respectful critiques too, but of the shows themselves and not of the personal style found in other members' honest and heartfelt contributions.
JohnHopper
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2010
- Messages
- 3,468
- Real Name
- John Hopper
The cream of the crop remains:
“The Blizzard Makers”
The first brainwashing entry and a good episode, especially the first part before the discovery of the island. The Atlantic coast of America undergoes a severe blizzard and Nelson meets climatologist Dr. Charles Melton at his home and agree to take measures. The car of an enemy agent parks nearby and the operative calls his superior Frederick Cregar who orders him to abduct Dr. Melton. A telephone repairman steps into the house to check out the line and tricks one phone. The most expressive scene remains the gloomy conditioning of Dr. Melton in a black operation room: during the night, the phone rings and releases a knockout gas that stun the Meltons in their beds. Cregar supervises at a remote distance the brainwashing of Dr. Melton by two surgeons who apply an electrodes helmet connected to a computer to the skull of the scientist to program his mind and stick a mini radio receiver to his belly with tapes so that he responds to immediate orders. The main surgeon tells Cregar that Melton’s right frontal lobe is neutralized. Cregar tests Melton’s willless twice: first, he tells him that a flask is Nelson and orders him to gun him down and then Cregar grabs a radio handset and orders him to commit suicide with the handgun but stops him.
To kill Nelson, Melton treats his written notes into a chemical bath so that they will blow up at a higher altitude. After returning home, Melton visits Nelson at the Seaview and gives him a box of notes and slides to transport to Washington by jet. At the military airport (M.A.T.S.), Melton leaves Nelson and feels a tiny guilt. Fortunately, Nelson receives an unexpected call and his jet blows up in the air while Melton watches it and reports back to his home where Cregar gives him the handgun to commit suicide when the bell rings and Nelson appears. Both men go to Seaview. Melton continues his assassination attempt, booby traps a pen in the lab and throws it out in the bed of Nelson which sets on fire. Saved by Crane, Nelson orders to sample dead fishes and some water from the southern Caribbeans and discovers a trace of radioactivity and later a whip antenna-buoy and a long chain leading to an atomic bomb located at the bottom of the sea. They locate the origin of the signal of the antenna: an island where four men explore, find a cave and one sailor is gunned down. Crane, Jones and Ski are held prisoners in a cell: they pinpoint a bug planted to a ceiling light. Crane takes off from his socks a mini blowtorch to force the door open. Crane warns Nelson about the bomb and to go near the island. Melton continues his deed, fires at the radio unit and at the helm transmission. He is mastered and sent to sick bay where the doctor removes the receiver from his belly. Note that Werner Klemperer’s performance is just fabulous.
“Hail to the Chief”
Another president/Red threat episode featuring an assassin/infiltrator played by a female scientist Dr. Laura Rettig, carrying protective triangular sunglasses, and looks like a raven. The prologue shows an injured president lying on his bed. Kowalski is hired as a courier on bike from the conference room to the Seaview and carries a steel bracelet containing a microfilm concerning the operation of the president but he is intercepted by enemy agents (thanks to a tight wire stretched across the road) who take a X-Ray pictures of his bracelet inside a truck. The harsh Laura Rettig, the assistant of Dr. Taylor, lets him die by car accident and makes a demonstration of the MG-Q ray machine to her foreign control by turning the contents of an egg into powder. A surgical team of four persons comes aboard the Seaview to operate the president and Dr. Rettig tests the MG-Q machine by increasing the power which creates a strong magnetic field that unbalances the instruments of the sub and therefore hits an underwater mountain range.
To prevent the destruction of the sub, sailor Clark crawls in the wet and hot Emergency Valve (electric sparks-laden) to free the blocked gear with a wrench. After unscrewing a bolt, Clark stucks his hand in the rotative mechanism and Crane goes rescue him: the finest and bleakest scene of the whole episode, shot hand-held in the tight vent, which reminds the hopeless “Submarine Sunk Here”. A diving bell is got down from a destroyer to the escape hatch to bring the president on a stretcher. Nelson spots the origin of the magnetic field in Frame 60 and rushes to thwart the assassination attempt of Dr. Rettig who overloads the machine through a secret button. Notice the flashy appearance of Susan Flannery as the stenographer who eavesdrops on the conference with her spectacles and calls her control with it (nice fade over on her eyes) and Nancy Kovack, carrying a black wig and sunglasses and driving a white Jaguar, who pretends to help injured Kowalski. The film-making of Gerd Oswald is noteworthy. The subplot of the brain killing machine operated by an evil lady scientist foreshadows a season 1 episode of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” entitled “The Brain-Killer Affair”.
Find my selection of good episodes:
Episode #25
“The Prisoner”
It’s a good, engrossing and ambiguous Film Noir entry about a so-called woman’s killer and centered around Miss Kitty that is enriched by a suspenseful poker game scene ending up with a high card and good performances by the two guest actors (Jon Voight, Ramon Bieri). The cast of the Mathison County characters consists of: Kenneth Tobey as Bob Mathison, Ramon Bieri as bounty Hunter Jarvis, Paul Bryar as Sheriff Ryan. The episode title was already used during season 7. Louie socializes with another wino named Pink Simmons (actor Ned Glass) who sells out to Mathison.
Episode #26
“Exodus 21:22”
It’s a good revengist entry about redemption that is well-served by the magnetic performance of actor Steve Ihnat and the moral dilemma between justice and friendship is interesting. One scene explains the driving force of Reardon when he lies in bed and talk to Doc about “Exodus”, Chapter 21, Verse 22. Because of the one-man on a crusade theme, you can file it with the season 12 “Old Friend”. After “Slocum”, “Lobo”, find another friend of Dillon this season. The cast of the riders characters consist of: William Bramley as Cane, Kaz Garas as Keith, Brandon Carroll as Lloyd, Lane Bradford as Bradford. It’s an early season episode because John Mantley is still producer. In the DVD edition, you can notice a color/sharpness issue when Dillon talks to Readron at 22:49.
Flashgear
Senior HTF Member
I think Doug's posts are great also! And I enjoy the wry humor that Russ specializes in. Pictures are optional and not at all required to make an already well thought out and informative post any better. But you could rightfully compliment Doug without sideswiping other members' hard work and enthusiasm. I don't know what you regard as a "breath of fresh air", but something stinks to me...Unlike Scott (and God bless him for being kind), I hold no respect for your recent contribution here. And I do have hard feelings. If all you have is intolerant negativity in expressing your irritation (your past words) and how "tiresome" you find some other members' personal style to be (including mine), you're not just ignoring decorum, but the central precept of this thread, which is to discuss our weekly viewing of classic television itself, in whatever heartfelt, respectful and positive format that we choose. And many of the members that irritate you put an obvious amount of effort and genuine love into their posts. You might learn a thing or two from them!
I'm going to be 67 in about 4 months. From your many, many, many posts forum wide (about 5X as many posts as myself, and I've been a member longer), I happen to know you're even older than myself. Have you noticed something about the level of celebration or actual DISCUSSION about various shows in the TV on DVD forum? (not want lists and bemoaning what the studios will or won't do for us) It's DYING! By a natural process, both biologically natural in our corporeal selves and market driven in the evolution of home video, we meet our sunset. But NEGATIVITY and a LACK OF RESPECT kills off this forum faster than anything else!
Father time will sort us out in due course. Ponder that for awhile.
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Perfectly expressed, guys. I'm in 100% agreement. Not all posts, or shows/movies discussed, in this thread or elsewhere on this forum, will be to everyone's tastes. Likewise the style or format that those posts might take. That's fair enough. But there's no reason to denigrate others' efforts.
There are these wonderful technological innovations called "page down" keys on keyboards and scrolling wheels on computer mice, which make it oh-so-easy to navigate past photos and screencaps. Pretty simple choice, really: read and engage respectfully, or just ignore and move on. Doesn't seem like rocket science to me.
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Doug Wallen
Senior HTF Member
Guys, thanks for the well wishes. My wife and I are slowly getting rid of our "bug". Our home has received plenty of open air these past two days thanks to an abundance of rain and plenty of Lysol.
It is so reassuring to come here and talk about what we're watching and enjoy diving into discussing our favorite shows. Best medicine I know of to rest with.
Thanks again, this group is special.
It is so reassuring to come here and talk about what we're watching and enjoy diving into discussing our favorite shows. Best medicine I know of to rest with.
Thanks again, this group is special.
ScottRE
Senior HTF Member
DESTINATION MOONBASE-ALPHA
Based on Space:1999
“The Bringers of Wonder” (Two Parts)
Season 2
Written by Terrence Feely
Directed by Tom Clegg
Starring Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell. Featuring Tony Anholt, Nick Tate, Zienia Murton & Jeffrey Kissoon. Guest Starring Toby Robins, Stuart Damon, Jeremy Young, Drewe Henley, Patrick Westwood & Cher Cameron.
Based on Space:1999
“The Bringers of Wonder” (Two Parts)
Season 2
Written by Terrence Feely
Directed by Tom Clegg
Starring Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Catherine Schell. Featuring Tony Anholt, Nick Tate, Zienia Murton & Jeffrey Kissoon. Guest Starring Toby Robins, Stuart Damon, Jeremy Young, Drewe Henley, Patrick Westwood & Cher Cameron.
Commander Koenig while piloting Eagle 10, seems to go crazy, driving like a man on a bender, crashing into the nuclear waste domes. Unconscious and in shock, he is taken to the moon base Medical Center where Dr. Russell hooks him up to an experimental brain stimulator. While he recovers, a Super Swift apparently from Earth arrives manned by friends and family of those on Alpha, Captained by Tony Verdeshi’s brother Guido. Koenig recovers and goes to Command Center to greet their rescuers and sees only vile looking aliens. He snaps and tries to kill them but Helena stuns him. Everyone think Koenig as cracked, but has he? Are these people from Earth or are they aliens there for some sinister purpose? As part one ends, we see Koenig’s suspicions confirmed as one of the aliens arrives in Medical to kill him.
Why am I covering the movie version rather than the original two part episode? Because this is how I remember seeing this one as a kid. Even though I watched the series first run every week, the “Super Space Theater” movie edit is what brought the series back from my rear view. I caught it in the late morning over WTNH channel 8 in Connecticut, thanks to the rotor we had on our antenna. I went nuts when I saw it as I always loved the series but it wasn’t rerun since it left WPIX in 1977.
This episode was skillfully edited with new opening and closing credits created and scored for potential theatrical release overseas. While reports are inconsistent as to whether it was actually run on the big screen, it did play fairly often in the early 80’s on channel 8. It also got an official FOX Home Video release (which I got as soon as I found it).
The episode itself is one of the best of the much maligned second year. Fred Frieberger took over as showrunner after Sylvia Anderson left after the collapse of the Anderson’s marriage. He changed the series drastically from an introspective mood piece to a simpler action/adventure format. He jettisoned most of the cast and took it in a different direction. This bothered a lot of fans, but as a kid, I loved it and to this day, I adore both years equally if differently.
There’s a great feeling of comradery as the alleged families and friends arrive. The first half is a slow mystery build as the aliens’ plan becomes more apparent to the audience. The second half is almost all action as Koenig, Tony and Maya race to stop the aliens from destroying them. Admirably, and uncommonly for this year, there’s a strong philosophical thrust in the story about which is the greater benefit: living in a miserable reality or existing in a joyful dream?
If you don’t like year two, or 1999 in general, this episode won’t do anything for you, but if you like this sorta thing, enjoy!
For those who like screencaps, these are for you. These are taken from the movie version which, while in good shape, was not restored for the original blu ray release.
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