Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 7, 2020 20:02:54 GMT -5
Doctor Who
Season 1 - The Edge of Destruction
The Edge of Destruction - After the TARDIS malfunctions, the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are left stranded, weary, and suspicious of each other.
The Brink of Disaster - The tensions between the quartet grow as the mystery behind the malfunctioning of the TARDIS unravel.
I like the idea of this two parter, and I think certain moments are effective. Susan's anxiety and paranoia around Ian and Barbara had some strong tension, and some of the heated interplay between characters shows promise. But the result is a bit underwhelming, as Edge of Destruction is a bit too bare-bones to be a fully interesting story. If it fleshed several things out, such as the amnesia aspect and the effects the TARDIS was having on the passengers, and maybe play the tensions between the characters as more heated, there could be something richer here.
The episode feels like an attempt to address Ian and Barbara's place in this journey, because they are unwilling companions who are whisked away by this strange man and they just want to get home. It also wants to address the strained relationship between them and the Doctor. After being kidnapped, can they be friends or just unwilling comrades? I wish the episodes were a little smarter about putting these ideas forth, but I'm glad they were addressed at all.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 11, 2020 21:04:55 GMT -5
Doctor Who
Season 1 - The Keys of Marinus
The Sea of Death - The TARDIS lands on a planet where the sea is acid and the beach is glass. The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara explore but are soon enlisted to retrieve five keys to a supercomputer that will decide the fate of the world between two warring races.
The Velvet Web - The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara teleport to Morphoton, which appears to be a Utopia. But Barbara breaks out of a hypnotic spell and discovers their all being brain washed by mind controlling creatures.
The Screaming Jungle - Susan, Ian, and Barbara teleport to the next location along with indigenous companions Altos and Sabetha. When Barbara becomes lost in a temple, Ian stays behind while Susan, Altos, and Sabetha teleport to the next location in case Barbara did. Reunited with Barbara in the temple, the remaining duo fight booby traps and a living jungle to find the next key.
The Snows of Terror - Ian and Barbara teleport to the next location to meet Susan, Altos, and Sabetha but are greeted by intense cold and a snowy landscape. They are saved by a shady trapper who may or may not know where their missing friends are.
Sentence of Death - In the fourth location, Ian attempts to take the final key, but finds a dead body and is knocked out. Upon awakening, he discovers the key stolen and that he is under arrest for murder, in which on this planet he is deemed guilty until proven innocent. The Doctor acts as his attorney as he, Susan, Barbara, Altos, and Sabetha try to solve the mystery.
The Keys of Marinus - The Doctor, Susan, Barbara, Altos, and Sabetha solve the murder mystery and free Ian. Now in possession of all five keys, the group returns to Arbitan, unaware that he has been murdered by the Voord.
One...two...skip a few...
Well, I reached my first batch of episodes I couldn't watch, as all six episodes of the Marco Polo serial are lost. There were a few avenues I could consider, like a surviving audio recording or an 80's novelization of the story, but I just jumped ahead to episode 21, which already makes me halfway through season one. I wish I could feel more accomplished than this.
I like the idea of this serial, as The Keys of Marinus sees the Doctor and his companions on a lengthy MacGuffin quest, and each episode has its own trial to overcome before the group can move on. It's a pretty smart usage of the serial storytelling format, but the serial itself could use some spit and polish. I find myself wishing the trials could be a bit more interesting, as really the most interesting one is dropped first and then it somewhat limps out as it goes. I don't think the aliens who project a Utopia is ideally executed, as I was a bit confused how Barbara was there for seconds before the rest but acted as if she were there for days when everyone else arrived. None of the companions question that, but as the plot unfurls, I found myself going "Sure, I guess." The quests then go from a jungle temple to an Arctic wasteland, the latter of which sees our heroes pretty much stumbling on the key by pure chance rather than them actually know what they're doing.
After that we get a murder mystery trial. Don't ask me why. The transition into the court episodes is strange, because Ian, Barbara, Susan, Altos, and Sabetha teleport out together, only to hard cut to Ian by himself trying to steal the last key from a facility. It's a disorienting transition that left me a bit lost as to where we were in the story. The rest of the trial story is mostly fine, and had it been a story by itself I think it would be solid, some of the story mechanics and plot twists are pretty swell, but as a part of this particular ongoing serial it's odd and out of place.
The serial is a bit underwritten, as well. With goofy exchanges such as...
"Is it frozen?" "Impossible at this temperature. Besides, it's too warm."
But I very much enjoy the crappy but resourceful special effects in this serial, where the Voord are played by men in wet suits and the teleportation is portrayed in the most obvious split screen you'll ever see (at one point Ian's arm crosses the split and his entire hand disappears). And the finale is a hoot, where we see a Voord wearing a cloak over his awkward costume trying to hide his identity, casually having a conversation with Ian and Susan.
But probably the one lingering aspect about the serial that might hurt it is that William Hartnell is absent for two episodes. What is Doctor Who without the Doctor? I don't particularly think it hurts it, as I liked the isolation of Ian searching for Barbara in a temple and the snow caves (also a snow rapist). A little research suggests Hartnell was allowed a vacation from the series, and these two episodes had to drop him.
The Keys of Marinus feels like it could be better, but it's rocky and uneven. It's cheesy enjoyability is still present though, and I liked it better than Edge of Destruction at least.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 15, 2020 0:02:40 GMT -5
Doctor Who
Season 1 - The Aztecs
The Temple of Evil - The TARDIS arrives in an Aztec temple in 15th century Mexico. Found leaving a tomb that they can't re-enter, Barbara is mistaken for a reincarnated priestess and plays along to buy the group time to find a way back to the TARDIS. However, her ethics come into conflict with her new role when she's asked to oversee a human sacrifice.
The Warriors of Death - Barbara is accused of being a false goddess for interfering with a sacrifice. Meanwhile, in exchange for the temple plans, the Doctor concocts a way for a warrior to win an honor match, unaware that his opponent is Ian.
The Bride of Sacrifice - High priest Tlotoxl plans to poison Barbara to prove she is mortal just as Barbara prophesizes the end of the Aztec race. Meanwhile, the Doctor accidentally gets engaged.
The Day of Darkness - Ian discovers a way into the tomb, but is soon framed for an attack on a priest. As the Doctor and Barbara plan their escape to the TARDIS and away from the civilization that wishes them dead.
There are some similarities between this serial and the first, as the crew finds itself on Earth among an ancient tribe of humans and must find a way to walk among them until they can return to the TARDIS. Ultimately The Aztecs is less repetitive than An Unearthly Child as it holds more storytelling diversity among episodes. There is nothing as monotonous as the constant plea to "MAKE FIRE," Barbara is less of a load (she actually does a lot in this serial), and the whole team itself is a more efficient machine than they were when they started.
But of course, like those cavemen, for some reason the Aztecs can speak perfect English.
The Aztecs is one of the better serials so far. It plays with interesting themes of challenging beliefs and trying to alter a group's way of life will not have a desirable outcome. The serial also plays with the concept of altering time, which it doesn't really follow up very well. When you think about it, Barbara shouldn't just be thinking of the well being of the Aztecs, but that her actions could alter the course of history. She sees no repercussions of her good intentions, other than "NO, WE DON'T WANNA!" though she's playing with a fire more dangerous than the serial is alluding.
Probably the MVP of The Aztecs is Jon Ringham as the villainous Tlotoxl, who hams it up and is full Snidely Whiplash mode. The mad grinning, scenery chewing villains are always my favorites. He's just amped to 11 the entire serial.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 16, 2020 7:07:23 GMT -5
Doctor Who
Revival Series 2 - Part 2
The Girl in the Fireplace - The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey find a derelict spacecraft, and in it time windows to the life of a woman from 18th century France named Reinette, the future Madame de Pompadour. The Doctor travels through the window at various points in her life to find her in danger of cybernetic beings. As the Doctor drifts in and out of her life, Reinette falls in love with him.
Rise of the Cybermen - The TARDIS breaks down in a parallel universe and the group has 24 hours to explore before the TARDIS is recharged. Rose seeks out her parallel parents, Mickey is questioned by his double, and the Doctor discovers that this world is about to give birth to a new breed of Cybermen.
The Age of Steel - After narrowly escaping a Cybermen rampage, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey infiltrate the conversion factory to destroy it.
The Idiot's Lantern - The Doctor and Rose land in 1950's London where an incorporeal alien has invaded broadcast waves to steal the energy of television viewers in an attempt to gain physical form.
Another thing that was lost as television evolved into a serialized format was the shining individual episode. Episodes that rely too heavily on what comes before and after rarely have the opportunity to be anything special, something we revisit over and over again because it's that one episode where you sat down to relax to just another episode of your favorite show but instead it just floored you with how good it was. Stretching one story to season length is at a disadvantage if it aims to do this because episode stories become threadbare and individual episodes lack an entire experience. But if you have a premise for a show that allows a different adventure every week, the potential is far greater. Granted you'll see some poopie along the way, but the beautiful flowers will be worth the view.
I say this because I loved, loved, loved, loved LOVED The Girl in the Fireplace.
It's been a really long time since I've seen an episode of television that made me stop what I was doing (in this case I was moving, and really shouldn't have stopped) and just watch it play out. God that feeling is just irreplaceable. And the episode in question, a tragic romance through time, has several flaws in its villains' concept (several of which are questioned throughout the episode), but the strength of the relationship between the Doctor and Reinette keeps the episode engaging.
After that, the series goes full Sliders by visiting a parallel dimension. I wasn't too into part one, which was mostly a "Rose with daddy issues" episode. We've already seen that episode, and it was done well last time, so I didn't really need another. Then it abruptly turns into zombie outbreak/"We are the Borg, resistance is futile" by reintroducing the Cybermen into Doctor Who, and the remainder of the story is chaos. Part two is quite a bit stronger than part one, as it's exploration of the tragedy of the Cybermen aims squarely for the remorse center of your brain and is mostly successful.
We also bid a seeming farewell to Mickey, who stays behind on the parallel world with little hope given by the Doctor of returning. He was a decent companion for the few episodes that he lasted, but Rose always has the best interplay with the Doctor so if one had to go, I'm glad it was him.
Then we conclude this batch with a killer TV that sucks people's faces off. 'Kay.
Wait...wasn't this the Riddler's plan in Batman Forever?
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 21, 2020 23:37:13 GMT -5
Swamp Thing
2019 Series - Part 1
Pilot - Dr. Abigail Arcane and biologist Dr. Alec Holland investigate a epidemic in a Louisiana swamp and discover it may be related to dangerous mutated plantlife that has been growing and killing people.
Worlds Apart - After losing Alec in the swamp and seeing a humanoid plant monster, Abby assumes the worst. But she is forced to venture into the swamp again to search for Susie, a little girl who contracted the Green Flu illness.
He Speaks - Now believing the Swamp Thing to be Alec, Abby believes he is the only hope to understanding more about the Green Flu as it gets worse. Meanwhile, a corpse in the swamp is brought back to life by a swarm of insects.
Darkness on the Edge of Town - After a corpse is found in the swamp, an infection is passed from person to person showing the carrier's worst fears.
I'm not quite sick of Doctor Who yet, but I've got some other, shorter shows that I want to get through real quick now that they're on blu-ray.
Of all the shows on DC Universe the one that was going to make me hunker down and actually purchase a membership was Swamp Thing. Swampy is a childhood favorite of mine, and a new series featuring him excites me. Let's face it, the 90's one that aired on the USA network was pretty bad, much worse than the two feature films that preceded it (and those weren't very good either). A more respectable, less goofball version of the character would have been welcome to me, because Swamp Thing can be the source of some pretty powerful stuff, as well as awesome monster mayhem.
But the writing was on the wall, and Swamp Thing was cancelled almost immediately after its first episode aired and before I could even put a credit card number in. After that, I just shunned the service. Titans looked awful, and while I've loved what I've seen of Doom Patrol and Young Justice so far, I wasn't going to reward the service that pretty much admitted it was never going to give the show a chance.
But you know what cheeses me off in retrospect? This show got ten episodes. The last one had seventy-two. How in the hell did that show get seventy-two episodes? Why is that the successful Swamp Thing show?
flapjacks.
At least this show lasted longer than the animated series, which only had five episodes (and a kickass toyline). But even that show was better than the 90's live action one.
flapjacks.
Now I'm finally sitting down to watch it. This show is awesome.
flapjacks!
The previous Swamp Thing series relied on camp and oddity to sell itself, which has some amusement value, but sells Swampy even shorter than the 60's Batman series did to the Caped Crusader. Swamp Thing has a very dark and twisted lore that should be embraced, and giving the series a horror vibe takes the idea in the right direction. The original, 80's Swamp Thing film was directed by horror legend Wes Craven, who infused more pulp and folklore-like flavor into the film than actual chills. Meanwhile, its sequel ramped up the kitsch to the point where the opening credits jammed to "Born on the Bayou." This really hadn't been an approach anyone had tried, even though the property is begging for it.
It all clicks into place. The look of the series is flashy and moody without being overwhelmingly so, and while the chills can suffer from TV budget syndrome, they're mostly played smartly and effectively. The cast is wonderful, with Derek Mears playing the title role as well as can be hoped, gentle and soft one minute and a badass the next (the only other live action Swamp Thing was Dick Durdock, who was good, but I think I'm team Mears). Crystal Reed is probably the best screen version of Abby Arcane we've seen, surpassing the lovey dovey Heather Locklear and the bizarre I-don't-know-what-this-is character that Kari Wuhrer played with the greatest of ease. Reed's Abby is allowed to be smart and cunning, at the very least a match to keep up with Swamp Thing and be his eyes and ears on the townsfolk who do nasty things to the bayou.
And those nasty things bring the f'ed up poopie that Swamp Thing is known for. I only have ten episodes of this and so far they're making them count.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on May 13, 2020 13:09:32 GMT -5
House M.D.
Season 1 - Part 1
Pilot - A kindergarten teacher (Robin Tunney) collapses in class and is referred to Gregory House, an arrogant but brilliant doctor who specializes in diagnosing diseases that have suspicious causes.
Parentage - House takes on a case of a lacrosse player who suffers night terrors, while he and his team take bets on whether or not his father is his biological father.
Occam's Razor - A college student collapses after having sex with his fiance. Without one disease explaining all of his symptoms, House deduces that he may have two separate diseases that hit him at the same time, which Foreman disbelieves and tries to disprove.
Maternity - When infants start getting sick immediately after birth, House suspects the hospital may have a life-threatening epidemic in the maternity ward.
I've been having some issues lately. I've needed some comfort food content. I've been watching the Three Stooges during my lunch breaks at work, which relaxes my head and gives me a solid belly laugh when I need it the most. I've also dusted off some old DVDs of House to watch after hours. On the surface level, this doesn't seem to be one of my go to shows, but I'm fond of it for several reasons.
My mother is a medical drama fiend. She's watched everything, way back in the day she'd watch every episode of shows like E.R., Chicago Hope, Nip/Tuck, and even down to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. She's also one of the women you have to thank for the endless run of Grey's Anatomy, of which she never misses. I think we all have a go-to genre of TV, and that's most certainly hers (me? I'm more of a sci-fi adventure guy). While I would occasionally watch an episode of whatever show was on with her, very few really caught my eye. The one that did was House. It was formatted differently, had more interesting characters, a more biting sense of humor, and it kept me engaged with each episode I caught.
This is also a show that me and my ex used to watch together, because she was fond of it too. You would think that this would taint the show for me in retrospect, though sitting down and watching the latest episode is actually a fond memory of the period. That's also the reason I have the DVDs, because I bought them so we could bingewatch together.
It's been a while since I've watched some of these early episodes. I remember bits and pieces about them. I remember the coloring on the pilot bothering my then-GF, who said that everyone looked weird in it. She was right and it's hard to unsee once you've noticed it. I remember looking up what was up with the color in that episode and I came across something on Google that pointed out that the episode was originally filmed in black and white, but Fox refused to air it in black and white, so they had it colorized. It looks really, really bad. Everyone has an orange-ish tone to their skin color, which is kind of funny because there is a character who's skin color is supposed to be orange, but he looks like everyone else! One thing I noted on this rewatch is that the episode isn't entirely supposed to be black and white. A good amount of it is filmed in color, and I'm not sure whether it was because they stopped filming in black and white somewhere during filming or if the show was supposed to have black and white sequences interchanged with color sequences, but there seems to be no thematic match between what was color and what wasn't. Dramatic scenes are in both formats and comedic scenes are in both formats, while sometimes the episode can jarringly juggle the format in places where I'm not sure what the hell I'm looking at. It's also possible that the color scenes are reshoots, and I'm overthinking this. It was silly to think a network television station would air something in black and white anyway.
I also remember my partner at the time had issues watching the fourth episode, which she said she didn't want to watch again, because she had emotional trouble with the story killing an infant halfway through. Because of that, I've always remembered this episode, but I didn't remember it came so early on. It is a bit of an upsetting episode for sensitive viewers and it doesn't shy away from grim details, such as a baby autopsy and sequences of sick infants wailing. While it does get across that House isn't a sugar-coated show, this is a pretty extreme episode to be airing as it's fourth. It seems like an idea that should have been saved for a third season.
Observations watching these episodes now: There seems to be an uncertainty of how much this series is going to play into medical drama conventions and juggling that tone with House being an asshole. I think they eventually realized Hugh Laurie was the show's biggest asset and would soon play him up more, but it's almost as if the show wants to warm viewers up to him and lets them ease into it with the Foreman, Cameron, and Chase characters, who are more in line with what a medical drama would offer, and we get a lot of scenes of their bedside manner. One can also see the wheels churning hard trying to establish character relationships as hard as it can, with Foreman's distrust of House's arrogance laid on thick, Chase's admiration of him (he literally says "He thinks outside the box!" at one point. Thanks for pointing that out, because I wouldn't have noticed), and sexual tensions between House and Cuddy because of course they want each other but she's his boss and HOUSE GETS ON HER NERVES. Then there is Cameron. She's a lady. She worked hard to get where she is. Yep. Because of that, these episodes get a little more tiresome, because they're not quite at their formula yet.
The diagnosis detective aspect is still fun though, and that's a huge part of what made House great. That's why we burned through these like House did with Vicodin back in the day, and that's why I want to watch more now.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on May 14, 2020 16:43:46 GMT -5
House M.D.
Season 1 - Part 2
Damned if You Do - A nun is inducted into the hospital, of which House's treatments of her prove ineffective and maybe even life-threatening. Cuddy boots House from the case and takes over his team herself, but that doesn't prevent House from trying to come up with his own diagnosis.
The Socratic Method - A mentally-ill mother is inducted into the hospital, because of a blood clot, but it is discovered that she also has cancer. House begins to suspect that she may be less mentally ill than she appears when she calls social services to take care of her underage son.
Fidelity - A woman suffers personality disorder, of which House suspects may be African Sleeping Sickness. Unfortunately, she could have only contracted via sexual transmission, which means either her or her husband has had an affair, which they both deny as her condition worsens.
Poison - A teenager collapses of illness during a test, and House's team is given the case. Most of their diagnoses involve potential bad habits or wrong-doing of the boy, of which his overly protective mother denies and interferes with House's treatment of her son.
It occurs to me that some of the writing for Cameron so far should raise a lot of eyebrows as it feels like "female character written by men" at times. I don't quite remember what was considered outdated female archetype when House debuted, but she sure seems to be checking a lot of boxes. Her character development to start out with was basically token women of the group, and what we knew about her was she was a woman and because of that she worked twice as hard as a man because glass ceiling. In this batch of episodes she's making flirty-flirty eyes with House because of course she is. Can't have a female character unless she's attracted to the lead.
To put it simply, House and Cameron are a crap romantic pairing and whoever pairs them together should be ashamed. Pornographic slash fiction? Sure. But this is a couple that would need mad counseling after a week of dating, and that's just based on the fact that technically Cameron's hitting on her boss. Taking personality issues into account, the thought of them as trying to be a couple is an implosion waiting to happen.
To be fair, the writers do steer in an interesting direction with this later that adds to Cameron's characterization, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Also, I want to point out that Cameron chases down a dude who leaves his wife after finding out she cheated on him and is all like "She made a mistake! She loves you!" You know, usually it's some dude trying to justify cheating on a spouse with "C'mon babe! It was an accident!" Hearing it come out of her is just odd and/or "woman is written by male writing staff." It's attempted to be justified with her bleeding romantic heart, which is fleshed out a bit with some info of her marriage to a dying man years back, but still, it seems like she's ignoring a line that shouldn't be crossed. Unless she had a knack for infidelity herself, that is. Maybe her hubby couldn't get it up on his death bed.
Rant over. Pretty good batch of episodes, though I doubt we needed something as blatant as House treating a nun to establish that House was an atheist (I don't think anybody ever assumed he was anything but). There is some more interesting tidbits with his staff's beliefs, with Cameron also being an atheist and Foreman being agnostic (I would have almost expected it to be the other way around). Chase's take seems to be cut short just when it's getting juicy, as he resents the nuns because he went to Catholic school but is willing to pray with them if they need their faith. But faith debate doesn't drown the episode like a lesser series would let it (House saves his big atheist rants for later). Most of the episode is about House getting reckless and Cuddy trying to cut him down a peg, before House goes out and solves the case anyway.
I liked the moral dilemma in the Socratic Method, where there is a child trying to care for his mother and clearly can't handle it, but wants to do it out of love and obligation. And the episode Poison sadly has an all-too-true interpretation of an over-bearing parent who believes they know better than professionals.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on May 14, 2020 19:41:17 GMT -5
I'm posting this because I can.
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Post by Torgo on May 15, 2020 17:14:58 GMT -5
The Three Stooges
1934
Woman Haters - Tom (Moe), Jim (Larry), and Jack (Curly) are fed up with women and join the Woman Haters club, a group that has sworn off interaction with the fairer sex. Unknown to Tom and Jack, Jim is secretly engaged to a woman he just met.
Punch Drunk - Violinist Larry plays Pop Goes the Weasel in a diner, sending waiter Curly into a blind rage, punching everyone in sight. Boxing manager Moe takes Curly and Larry under his wing with the intention of turning Curly into K.O. Stradivarius, the hopeful next boxing champ.
Men in Black - Moe, Larry, and Curly finally graduate medical school because they were there for too long. The newly appointed Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, and Dr. Howard are then set loose on the unsuspecting patients of Los Arms Hospital.
Three Little Pigskins - Moe, Larry, and Curly get jobs advertising football, but due to their football uniforms they are mistaken by a group of gangsters for a trio of college superstar players. They are hired to push the odds of a professional football game in the gangsters' favor to win a bet, though the Stooges don't know how to play football.
Technically this isn't a TV show, but the Stooges are such a TV staple I might as well create an entry for it.
I've been down for a few weeks. Work has been a gauntlet and just stressful in general. But when I'm down, I always have to remind myself: I live in a world where the Three Stooges exist. If anybody in the world could break a depression, it's these guys. While their act may be simple slapstick, their execution and craft are exemplary. Maybe less masterful than Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, but considering the Stooges had less tools at their disposal than the silent greats, they managed to craft quite a lot.
The early shorts feature the Stooges shaking up Columbia's short subject department for the better. Their first short, Woman Haters, is a part of an entirely separate series called A Musical Novelty, which was later adopted as an "official" Three Stooges short when the trio became the department's hottest ticket. Punch Drunks is them seeing the previous short didn't suit them and building a formula from the ground up into something spectacular. This leads into their next short, Men in Black, which has their brand of chaos in such a full swing that their work was actually nominated for an Academy Award. It lost, to a musical short called La Cucaracha, but the recognition is worth noting, especially in a year that legitimized Columbia Pictures as more than a Poverty Row studio with its Best Picture win for It Happened One Night (which is also pretty great).
As much as can be said about those previous two shorts, my favorite of this batch might be Three Little Pigskins, which features some solid Stooges antics where they look for work, chase women, and get in deep with gangsters. It closes with a wild third act that sets the Stooges loose on a football field, with hard hitting results.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on May 19, 2020 17:07:13 GMT -5
House M.D.
Season 1 - Part 3
DNR - Foreman treats the a legendary jazz player's pneumonia, while House attempts to prove the patient doesn't have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, like it has been long been believed. But House eventually gets into legal trouble when he breaks the patient's Do Not Resuscitate order with the hospital.
Histories - Wilson admits a homeless woman who is having seizures into the hospital, to Foreman's dismay as he believes the woman to be faking illness for a roof over her head and an easy meal. When House takes her case, it soon becomes clear that she is seriously ill.
Detox - During his latest case, House accepts a bet with Cuddy to go off his Vicodin pain medication for a week in exchange for a month off of clinic duty. Due to his withdrawal symptoms, Cameron fears House is misdiagnosing the patient, which leads into conflict with the patient's father.
Sports Medicine - A pitcher in the majors is admitted into the hospital for a broken arm, of which House believes steroid abuse may contribute to his condition, which the patient denies. When the patient's kidney's shut down, his wife offers to donate one of hers, which would mean aborting her pregnancy.
First mention of Lupus! I forgot that it actually had a big role in that episode as a misdiagnosis that Cameron just insists on. It kind of makes the "It's never lupus" running gag funnier, because it almost is like they're rubbing Cameron's nose in it. And the one time it actually was lupus was a case after she left the team, so she's never vindicated.
Despite her being annoyingly wrong and getting a patient's father to punch House in the face, House eventually asks Cameron to go see a monster truck show with him, because romantic!
Pretty great batch of episodes here, as the series is really starting to jive with its tone and characters. House's predicament in DNR has some creative turns and Detox is a wonderful establishment of his Vicodin addiction. And then there is Histories, which starts out by just being a story about Foreman being a jackass and evolves to the point where it can just destroy the viewer with its gutpunch of an ending.
And the fourth episode has a cameo by producer Bryan Singer, who filmed it when he wasn't off directing X-Men movies or raping little boys.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jul 28, 2020 0:51:39 GMT -5
The Twilight Zone
2019 Season 1 - Part 1
The Comedian - A failing comedian takes advice from his idol about putting his life into his act, but with every aspect of his life he adds to his act, he finds it disappears from existence.
Nightmare at 30,000 Feet - A writer listens to a podcast on an airplane that seemingly details the plane's demise as it happens in real life. He frantically tries to warn the passengers and save the plane, only to be labeled a lunatic.
Replay - A woman discovers her camcorder can rewind time, but no matter how she changes time she and her son find themselves harassed and threatened by a police officer.
A Traveler - A mysterious prisoner appears in an Alaskan holding cell. He begins revealing secrets about the guests of the department Christmas party. But what is the truth and what is a misdirect?
Here's the thing, if there is something anybody who runs a version of The Twilight Zone today should have learned about this franchise it's that an hour long format hasn't been kind to it. Notoriously, the fourth season of the original series was expanded to an hour to desperately fill a CBS programming void after one of their shows was swiftly cancelled. The episodes aren't well thought of and they get tiresome to watch, and with the fifth and final season, Rod Serling put his foot down and insisted Twilight Zone was a half hour show. Previous revivals in the 80's and early 2000's expanded Twilight Zone to an hour as well, but they played it smart. The 80's series used a presentation of multiple stories of varying lengths during its episodes, allowing the storyteller what time they needed. All stories on the 2002 series were a half hour long, and they were paired up as double features. The actual quality of these revivals is debatable, but their use of Twilight Zone as hit and run weirdness is agreeable.
As a huge fan of the original Twilight Zone, nobody wants a revival to work more than I do. Its expansion to an hour long format doesn't entice me though, as it doesn't play to Twilight Zone's strengths. It may be an effort to compete with Netflix's anthology series Black Mirror, which has a very expansive runtime for each episode. I haven't seen Black Mirror, heard great things (but then again, I've heard great things about other "must see" mediocre Netflix shows as well), but if they really want to compete in the anthology department, they would do best to let Black Mirror be Black Mirror and let Twilight Zone be Twilight Zone. I personally wouldn't mind a return to the format of the 80's series, featuring several storylines, sometimes a main one, and a few quickies tossed in.
My worst fears are mostly realized with the opening episode, The Comedian, which is drawn out and kind of dull. The episode is an odd mixture of The Butterfly Effect and Death Note, as the main character realizes he can erase people from his life with his stand-up routine, so he starts joking about people he hates and erases them from history, having a ripple effect on the timeline. After stewing on the episode for a little bit, I think I understand the metaphor of using friends and family for your own gain could alienate them from you, but it seems like a metaphor that will most likely resonate with entertainers more than the Average Joe. (If this isn't the moral of the story, I have no clue what the hell this episode is about)
Long story short, The Comedian is a really lousy episode. Not to mention, even when the main character is "funny" onstage, there seems to be little effort in making what he actually says humorous, as a lot of what we hear are just rants. If the episode had worked on that, it might be passable. But it didn't and it's not. What a garbage premiere.
The second episode promises to be a remake of the classic "There's something on the wing of the plane!" episode starring William Shatner (and remade for Twilight Zone: The Movie with John Lithgow), but instead takes the concept of a perceived ranting madman on an airplane and reinvents it. Instead of a gremlin tearing apart the wing, our main character listens to a podcast that seemingly narrates the voyage of the flight, promising doom at the end. This is an imperfect episode, but there is enough suspense to hold the hour long format, and it's a step up from the previous. While I don't think the story is fully involving, the one thing I will note about this version of the story is how the danger on the flight comes from within and not some random monster on the outside. It makes for a stronger theme about the chaos of spreading panic rather than the ending of "The end justifies the means" from the previous versions of the story.
The third episode, Replay, is another step in the right direction. I found myself mostly swept up in the main plight and wishing the protagonists safe passage. Yet, at the same time, while the racism subtext is easy to pick up while watching the episode, the episode often seems to allude the antagonistic cop has a more complicated motive than skin color. A lot of my intrigue in watching the episode came from that, but when we get to the ending...nope, racism. The cop is just a dick. The "stand up to bullies" and "You can't hide from us" ending is a bit thick with cheese as well, making this mostly good episode fail to stick the landing.
Then we get to A Traveler, which for better or worse feels the most like classic Twilight Zone. I think certain things about this episode run a bit archaic, as if plot developments and twists would have played better in the 1960's, but as is I'd call it the episode I faulted the least with what it was trying to do. If I were to hard critique it, it would be that I think it's too long, as are all of these episodes, but if it paced its mystery and intrigue better than it does, it would have passed that. The Walking Dead's Steven Yuen carries the episode though, and he's pretty terrific.
I think Twilight Zone can work in modern day, but this new series is crawling too slowly out of the shadow of its predecessor. It's possible it can turn it around with just one episode that's firing on all cylinders, though these four aren't it. Some are better than others, but I'm going to continue to see where it goes.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Sept 3, 2020 19:28:10 GMT -5
Star Trek: Picard
Season 1 - Part 1
Remembrance - Twenty years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and in the aftermath of the destruction of Romulus, Jean-Luc Picard has resigned from Starfleet. A woman mysteriously linked to Commander Data appears at his doorstep evading assassins who are after her, sending Picard on a mission to learn where she comes from.
Maps and Legends - Picard seeks clearance from Starfleet for a ship to seek out Data's other "daughter." When Starfleet refuses, he must seek other means of returning to space.
The End is the Beginning - While putting together a small crew for the La Sirena, Picard finds himself the target of an assassination attempt.
Absolute Candor - Picard and the La Sirena crew travel to a planet housing Romulan refugees to recruit a Romulan warrior named Elnor. But Elnor's refusal to join them and the refugees' resentment of Starfleet complicates the mission.
We intended to go through Star Trek: Picard a while back at my friends' house, but the show almost became incomprehensible through her screaming children, so it's been put on pause. Hell, we even put on TNG a few days ago for some relaxation watch and I couldn't tell you what episodes we watched because I couldn't make out a word. At long last, we're pushing hard to get through the show before season three of Discovery hits. Meanwhile, the children seem more entertained by the bright colors of Lower Decks, which surprisingly is the most child friendly Trek show right now.
During it's airing, I heard some rotten rumblings about how Picard is killing Star Trek or whatever, but this kind of perked me up on the show because I can't help but think to myself "Oh good, that means it's a Star Trek show!" Star Trek is a lot like Star Wars in that things have been constantly "ruining" it for decades. Even TNG, which is the most beloved series in retrospect, faced backlash because A) it's first two seasons are kind of ass and B) because it had a new cast of characters. "No Kirk and Spock? Not TRUE Star Trek!" Deep Space Nine took a different approach with more grey morality and taking place on a motionless space station. "No optimistic space exploration? Not TRUE Star Trek!" Voyager was bad, dumb, and boring. "Not TRUE Star Trek!" Enterprise had a pop song in the opening credits. "Not TRUE Star Trek!" The Kelvin films were action blockbusters. "These movies are about action and Star Trek isn't about action! Not TRUE Star Trek!" The fact that CBS All Access incarnations aren't "true" Trek either means little to me, because the loudest fans are the most pissy.
Star Trek means different things to different people, though. Most don't want it to stray far from Gene Roddenberry's idealist view of the future. My view is different. If it stays that basic then it should have died with Roddenberry. Longevity means evolution, and long form storytelling shouldn't mean telling the same story over and over again, otherwise each Star Trek series becomes an NCIS spin-off. If Star Trek wants to maintain relevancy with its themes, it needs to realize Utopia isn't attainable but it always must be strived for, and the characters on Star Trek must work for it rather than be the result of it, otherwise they're unrelateable. Some people like that perfection, but it's something that needed to be shot in the head. Humanity isn't perfect, it never will be. It will try though, and that's what Star Trek is to me.
I've been of the opinion that future Trek shows needed to look to DS9 to see the future of Star Trek. Not to copy it, but seeq what it is and follow its example. It carved out its own corner of the universe and created the most unique Trek series. Perhaps Trek should strive to make each series different and let the fans pick which corners they want to inhabit. Voyager seemed like it was trying to do this in its inception as a Lost in Space take on the franchise with crewmembers of conflicting interests reluctantly putting aside their differences for a common goal, but eventually pussied out into just making a safe TNG clone series. Enterprise was unsure of itself but at least it was more experimental than the previous series, but its caution to jump into the wind may have killed it. The new Trek shows have individual identities so far, and I'm digging it.
If I have one complaint about All Access Trek, it's that it has all been TV-MA so far. I don't have a problem with more adult oriented Star Trek, but I don't think it should encompass everything. Star Trek has always explored adult themes but kept itself a series that can be watched with a family. But modern TV needs to be "edgy" post-Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, I guess, so we get F-bombs and Klingon boobs. I was actually shocked when the new Lost in Space on Netflix had a TV-PG rating. Either a show was for adults or for kids with no in between for so long that I forgot what it was like to have a show for both. And we actually watched that show as a family, and guess what? The family enjoyed it! It's nice to have edgy Trek, but if we're going to have two at a time it would be more enjoyable to have that edgy series and have another aimed at being able to watch it while the kids are in the room. I have some hope that Strange New Worlds might be that show, but I'm not holding my breath.
All of this is my long winded way of saying that fans whining and bitching doesn't sway me. It's not my place to say what is Star Trek and what isn't, and I'm more or less just a fan of the lore and am curious where we're going rather than being bothered by what it's not. But then again, I still don't have the faintest clue what Last Jedi whiners are bitching about.
Anyway, Star Trek: Picard. That's a bangin' first episode, isn't it? The next three, less so, but I enjoyed them.
I'm very glad to see that the show deals with the aftermath of Romulus's destruction, because while that was a major plot point in the 2009 Star Trek film, we never got to see it's repercussions in the reality it actually happened in. And considering the Federation and Romulus seemed to finally be on the course for peace at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, the destruction of the planet is a huge deal. Is there renewed tensions between the Federation and the Romulans? What state is the Romulan Empire even in? I love that the destruction of Romulus is a bit of a divisive issue in the Federation, because it seems like it should be, given the problematic history with the Romulans. I like the refugee portrayals of the Romulans, which were undoubtedly crippled by the event and the look at them trying to survive as refugees. I also really dig how the Federation's handling is a point of contention for Picard, who has had a falling out with it because of it. The weaving of this plot thread into Trek TV is well done so far.
There being a second storyline of about a conflict of cybernetic lifeforms makes the series a little bit cluttered. There are a lot of events to take in since the end of Nemesis. I guess it's natural that a lot happened, though in time jumps such as TOS to TNG there were less big events to take in (the Klingons joined the Federation, that was about it). But we live in a more complicated world of television today, rather than a week to week, status quo, episodic format. So now "synthetics" like Data are banned in the Federation.
Digression: It's weird to hear the word "synthetic" to describe robots like Data in Star Trek. Normally I associate that word with the Alien franchise. But whatever.
The storyline involving the "Daughters of Data" has some interest, though the origin of these synthetic women is mostly what interests me. The romance/conspiracy with the Romulan in the Borg cube isn't compelling to me, but so far it hasn't robbed me with too much screentime.
Mostly the joys of these episodes is its "getting the band together" vibe, which has Picard seeking out a gang of colorful characters one after another, and putting together a new, small-time renegade crew, which includes Scott Pilgrim's Allison Pill and it is my sincere hope that they replace Picard's traditional catch phrase of "Make it so" with "WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" This batch of episodes ends with them face-to-face with Seven of Nine from Voyager, so the collage of new and familiar faces continues to keep pace with the show.
If there is anything particularly wrong with Picard, I'm either not seeing or it's not bothering me, or it's quite possible that I don't care. That last one is probably the most likely, because that's usually my excuse for liking something that's disliked or disliking something that is heavily praised. Something can be a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in it. So far, Picard has my interest. That's good enough for me.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Sept 10, 2020 17:57:41 GMT -5
Doctor Who
Season 1 - The Sensorites
Strangers in Space - The TARDIS lands on a spaceship from Earth orbiting a ship called the Sense-Sphere. The telepathic inhabitants of the planet Sense-Sphere, the Sensorites, have kept the crew of the ship locked in orbit for their own purposes and are able to drive humans mad with their thoughts.
The Unwilling Warriors - The Sensorites prevent the TARDIS from leaving by stealing a lock from the device. The Doctor's attempt to barter with the Sensorites fall on deaf ears.
Hidden Danger - The Sensorites take the Doctor, Ian, and Susan to Sense-Sphere for negotiation become complicated when the race is torn on whether to trust humans.
A Race Against Death - After Ian falls ill after drinking the water, the Doctor deduces that a plague on the planet my be related to a poisoning of the aqueduct. The Sensorites warn the Doctor that it is the home of foul monsters, but the Doctor enters it determined to find a cure to the deadly disease.
Kidnap - A scheming Sensorite murders the Second Elder of the Council, planning to be promoted in his place and place the blame on the Doctor.
A Desperate Venture - As the Doctor and Ian venture back into the aqueduct one last time to discover the mystery of the monsters who dwell within it and poison the water, Barbara and Susan attempt to solve the kidnapping of missing crewmember Carol and unravel the political conspiracy among the Sensorites.
The Sensorites is the last complete serial of Doctor Who's first season, and I'd say it's probably the best. The storyline is a bit of an allegory for tensions between two nations, as the Sensorites and Humans fear each other based on superficial differences and the actions of a few bad eggs. There are some not-too-subtle nods at racism ("They all look the same to me.") and the whole story could be seen as a parable to England's tense relationship with Russia during the Cold War. In many ways it's not too different than how Star Trek would handle its subject matter.
Now that I've completed one full season of both old and new Doctor Who ("complete" being a relative term to this season of Doctor Who), I honestly find myself more drawn to original Who than the relaunch. Both shows have virtues, but I claim more intrigue from the presentation of the original series, in which the pulpy serialized format makes it more unique, even if it looks more crude ("more crude" also being a relative term). I also am quite taken with William Hartnell as the Doctor, who has a fun dynamic with his unwilling companions.
Speaking of companions, Ian and Susan are put to good use here, as Ian's health concern drives portions of the plot and his assistance of the Doctor in finding the source of the disease is a good use of him (I also think Ian's reaction when the Doctor claims he's "learned never to meddle in anyone else's affairs ages ago" is hilarious). Susan has a lot of compassion play, working with both the Solarites and the frightened spaceship crew that thinks they're being terrorized. I'd say everyone here has a juicy role if it wasn't for Barbara, who bows out of the adventure early on in the serial and doesn't appear again until the final episode. While I offhandedly can't find information regarding her absence from the serial, it could stand to reason she was on holiday, like William Hartnell was during The Keys of Marinus. Or she was a supporting roll that was easily cut when the payroll came up too high for the budget. Either or.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Sept 17, 2020 19:22:46 GMT -5
Star Trek
Season 1 - Part 1
The Cage - In the 23rd century, a Starship known as the "Enterprise" is on a mission of exploration commanded by Christopher Pike. The Enterprise investigates a signal from Talos IV, where the science vessel Columbia dissappeared many years prior. Pike leads a landing party and diacovers a group of survivors, including a young woman named Vina. Pike is soon abducted by a group of telepathic aliens who trap him in hallucinations with Vina, illusions for them to live happily in as a new Adam and Eve as specimens in a cage.
The Man Trap - Years after the events of The Cage, the Enterprise is now under the command of James T. Kirk. Kirk escorts a mission to a planet housing a scientist and his wife, former flame of ship physician Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Upon meeting the two, one of the escort team dies mysteriously of salt depletion. Kirk and McCoy scramble to unlock the mystery of the ailment and what it might have to do with McCoy's former lover.
Charlie X - The Enterprise takes charge of the sole survivor of a wrecked ship, teenager Charlie Evans, who has lived alone for fourteen years on the planet Thasus. Charlie grows a fondness for beautiful crew member Janice Rand which borders on obsession. Kirk makes attempts to guide Charlie, but discovers Charlie has a sort of omnipotent power that, paired with his hormones, makes him one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy.
Where No Man Has Gone Before - The Enterprise's attempt to cross the edge of the galaxy finds the ship meeting a barrier of energy that damages the ship, leaving several crew members dead and Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in an unknown condition. Mitchell begins developing telepathic abilities and is seemingly embracing them in an alarming way. Kirk must chose between how to adequately deal with his friend, which may end in Mitchell's demise. But can Kirk destroy a blossoming god?
I think those Star Trek Day panels did their job. While I don't think they revealed anything revolutionary (Q on Lower Decks is pretty neat), it made me want to watch Star Trek. Luckily that's a yearning easily solved, because I have the show at my fingertips, thanks to a combination of blu-ray, DVD, and CBS All Access.
I don't think I have anything groundbreaking to say about the series. People far smarter than I have written books about the show, it's impact, it's philosophy, and every nook and cranny of all-79-episodes-ad-nauseam-yes-including-Spock's-Brain. Star Trek is just my favorite television franchise. I spent a good amount of my time in my youth keeping up with the various shows, and to this day have a powerful fondness for Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Enterprise.
But while I'm very much a second generation Star Trek nerd, one has to appreciate the one that started it all. It's a focal point for science fiction in general. It was one of the first shows to take space travel seriously, with shows like the Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Lost in Space proceeding it, two shows that I also enjoy but for different reasons. One might be hard pressed to find any science fiction that talked to its audiences like they were adults back then in general, like The Twilight Zone or maybe Doctor Who (which could feature intelligent and self-serious writing, though it sometimes demanded a child's imagination to take it seriously). Star Trek is the weilding of a brushed off genre into a strong lightning rod for those who craved it. Star Trek's popularity leads to the unexpected success of Star Wars, and helps pave the way for more space-faring science fiction programming like Space: 1999, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Battlestar Galactica all the way to more modern classics like Firefly, Futurama, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, Farscape, and the Battlestar Galactica reboot, even to small cult stuff like Andromeda, Space Cases, and Dark Matter.
And yes, trash like Tripping the Rift also, but we speak not of that show.
But here we shoot back to the very, very early look we had at the series. I start with the original pilot, The Cage, because of course I did. It wasn't fully released to the public until the 1980's, to cash in off of the Star Trek demand surge that resulted in Next Generation, and for most old school Trekkies it's little more than just a revisit of the episode The Menagerie, for which it was chopped up and used to fill air time in the first season of TOS. The Cage features a mostly different crew than the series we would see, with the only carry overs being Leonard Nimoy as Spock and eventually Majel Berrett (who would also go on to become series creator Gene Roddenberry's wife), who plays the nameless first officer "Number One" here but was given a different recurring role of Christine Chapel on the eventual series. Other potential lead roles belonged to Jeffery Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike (replaced with Kirk), John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce (replaced with McCoy), and a slight role of Yeoman Colt played by Laurel Goodwin, who may or may not have been a one time character. This pilot was famously rejected, while several reasons have been given throughout the years, the most widely spread being that it was "too cerebral" and didn't have enough action (though it barely has much less action than the other episodes here). It's also been attributed to good ol' fashioned 60's sexism, as network executives balked at the idea of the Number One character being a woman in a position of authority. It was probably a combination of reasons, these and otherwise, and for whatever reason Jeffery Hunter wasn't destined to command the starship Enterprise. Hunter eventually died just before Star Trek concluded its run, attributed to a head injury he sustained on the set of a film he probably wouldn't have made had he had a TV commitment at the time. Fate is weird sometimes.
As for The Cage, I'm going to be audacious and say it's the better of Star Trek's two pilots. It's an interesting story about man's view of freedom, and how one man could fight imprisonment even if it's more pleasurable than his reality. And of course, the episode goes into the grey area of what might cause someone to live such a life, which is portrayed with the Vina character, who has her reasons for saying in her illusion. It's very possible to misread the ending though, as it also seems to be saying that if you're deformed and ugly you shouldn't face reality, but her issue is complicated enough as is and we shouldn't dwell on it.
Desilu chairman Lucille Ball (yup, THAT Lucille Ball) convinced the network to order a second pilot, which actually aired third, Where No Man Has Gone Before. If The Cage was rejected for being "too cerebral," I'm not entirely sure what it is here that's less so. Maybe it's a hair less cerebral, but it's still engages the nature of humanity in a thought provoking way. If they wanted more action on the show, really all that it has over The Cage is a fist fight between Kirk and Mitchell at the end (complete with the first of many torn shirts for Kirk). Maybe that was enough. It's a pretty good episode, though the weaker pilot.
Interesting notes: Cast members in Where No Man Has Gone Before that moved onto the regular series include William Shatner as James Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, James Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, and George Takei as Hikaru Sulu. The ship's doctor is played by Paul Fix, who would be replaced by DeForest Kelley when the show went to series.
But the actual premiere to the series, and the reason September 8th is considered Star Trek Day, is The Man Trap. Why it was chosen to go first, I don't know. Big monster? The episode is a solid monster-of-the-week episode with an interesting dilemma for Kirk and McCoy, of which DeForest Kelley makes his first appearance. Also present are Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura and Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand. As the episode the entire legacy of Star Trek bloomed out of, The Man Trap is very ordinary. But it's unfair to hope it's the Alpha and Omega of all things Star Trek. Though I personally find it inferior to both of the pilots, even though the uniforms are a step in the right direction (those sweaters in the pilots are fugly).
That just leaves little Charlie X, the weakest of this earliest batch of Trek. The episode has some rough footing, as the character of Charlie is a grating whiner. The episode is very smartly made however, as it really amps up the tension once Kirk and his crew know what Charlie is capable of, and suddenly Charlie ceases to be an annoying character and becomes an unpredictable loose cannon. The suspense in this episode is pretty killer, but they made the mistake of airing it so close to another episode where the crew of the Enterprise deals with a near-godlike man in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Charlie X was aired first and it has stronger directing, but Where No Man Has Gone Before has the better script.
All in all, terrible show. I give it five more episodes before it's cancelled and we never hear from it again.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Sept 18, 2020 16:13:20 GMT -5
Ultra Q
Part 1
Defeat Gomess! - Investigative journalist Yuriko Edogawa is flown out by helicopter pilots and teammates Jun Manjome and Ippei Togawa to a construction tunnel at Mt. Konpo, which was evacuated due to a sighting of a giant monster. Once there they learn of an ancient legend of feuding monsters Gomess and Litra, two species who dominated the area. While investigating for a closer look, Yuriko and Jun become trapped in the tunnel with the creature Gomess.
Goro and Goro - Yuriko, Jun, and Ippei investigate the appearance of a giant monkey in the Amagi Mountains. The massive simian's origin is tracked down to the Giant Monkey Research Institute, where a mute custodian named Goro accidentally fed a spider monkey a specialized growth hormone causing it to grow to tremendous size. Now Goro continues to try to care for the oversized primate.
The Gift from Space - Yuriko and Jun witness an unmanned space probe sent to Mars crash into the ocean. Their friend, Professor Ichinotani theorizes that the probe reached it's destination and was sent back to Earth by the Martians. Investigating the probe finds two small golden orbs sent back with the probe as a "gift." The orbs are actually alien eggs and they'll eventually hatch into a massive space slug.
Mammoth Flower - Awakened by mankind's tampering withthe environment, an ancient and giant flower blooms in the streets of Tokyo, with tendrils threatening the helpless citizens in their way. Professor Ichinotani argues for the destruction of the plant, while his colleague, Professor Genda, argues for its preservation.
Penguila is Here! - Jun investigates the disappearance of his friend Nomura in the Antarctic. Eventually they find Nomura's body, as well as Penguila, the monster responsible for his death. And Penguila is heading straight to their station.
Grow Up! Little Turtle - A young boy and his pet turtle are kidnapped by a pair of bank robbers. Eventually the turtle grows to giant size and takes him to the Dragon Palace under the sea.
For the last year I've been collecting Mill Creek's Ultraman sets, if only because they're an affordable way to support the toku genre in the US. Twenty bucks every two months or so? I can swing that! Compare that to Shout Factory's Super Sentai sets, which run in between forty to fifty and, unlike Mill Creek's Ultra discs, are standard definition DVDs...I still don't own all of those. I would like to, but that's a huge commitment that sucks up a lot of money. And they've seem to have stopped production on those, which means the sales probably slacked off for that very reason. The Ultra series, on the other hand, is very easy to keep up with. I haven't fully gotten to watch them yet, but it's definitely on my back catalogue of "stuff to do before my inevitable stroke."
For those who don't know what Ultra Q is, it's a Japanese sci-fi series from the 60's created by Eiji Tsuburaya, the special effects director behind all the great Toho creature features like Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, The Mysterians, and Matango. The popularity of "tokusatsu" (a Japanese term for special effects heavy productions) during the 1960's brought television producers to Tsuburaya's door, hoping he could create a weekly television series with the special effects techniques he brought to those movies. Tsuburaya's company came up with Ultra Q, a near-anthological series of sci-fi and fantasy stories loosely linked by a group of investigators who chase each one. It's kind of like The X-Files in concept, but even though these characters are in just about every episode, they rarely actually get involved in the story that's unfolding. They're more or less a storytelling device to move from one location to another.
Of course, doing a rubber suit monster movie on the small screen sounds simpler than it actually is. Less money and less time becomes a factor, and Tsuburaya's company finds that the easiest way to meet a production deadline is to alter suits they already have in their storage. The very first episode, Defeat Gomess!, is a prime example of this, as Gomess is an altered Godzilla costume from Godzilla vs. Mothra (with walrus teeth, added scales, and matted hair) while his opponent of Litra is constructed on top of an old Rodan puppet. The giant monkey Goro from Goro and Goro is just a modified Kong costume from King Kong vs. Godzilla with a modified head and a tail. The dragon thr little girl rides on in Grow Up! Little Turtle is thr Manda puppet from Atragon. If you ever what happened to these old props, winding up in Tsuburaya's TV productions was usually their final destination. It's kind of like that episode of The Simpsons where Marge gets a bargain on an expensive dress then keeps altering it until it's ruined.
Original monsters featured are some cool space slugs that hate salt water, a giant beastly flower, a man-sized turtle, and an Antarctic monster named Penguila. Penguila might be a rehash of recycled molds and props (I wouldn't be surprised if they used a leftover Varan head for him), but he is pretty goofy looking. He seems to be based off of Antarctic wildlife, maybe a cross between a seal and a penguin. Those flipper wings are a bit much.
On the subject of human characters, there isn't much to say. Yuriko is a Lois Lane, as she exists to be gung ho about a story to get her name on a huge scoop. Jun is the heroic male who tries to keep that damn woman out of trouble. Ippei is the comic relief. None of them have character arcs to speak of and rarely play an active role in the story that's unfolding, and merely exist as a barely there connective tissue. The sole exception is the fifth episode, Penguila is Here!, where Jun adventures to find out what happened to an old friend of his, and even then we don't find out too much about him. If anything, Yuriko, Jun, Ippei, and colleagues like Professor Ichinotani and news editor Seki act as exposition tools, as their primary role in each episode is to watch events unfold and discuss theories about them, or perhaps share breaking information to make sure the audience understands. Their use in each episode is fairly basic and hardly anything and if the show more often used them as involved protagonists, it might be a little more interesting. While for the most part I prefer Ultra Q to Ultraman, one leg up that Ultraman has is that the superhero aspect of the show provided an excuse for the main characters to be at the center of each storyline.
Except for Grow Up! Little Turtle, where they have simple cameos where they don't really do anything. Boy, that episode is an outlier. It breaks the giant monster formula the series has set up and instead tells a fantasy play about a boy who stretches credibility with tall tales, then goes on a fantastical journey that nobody will ever believe. The title is kind of a cute little double entendre, as Grow Up! Little Turtle can refer to the turtle growing to human size or the fact that the boy needs to "grow up" and stop fantasizing. It's a strange episode though, and I didn't really like it all that much.
If one has a fondness for Toho productions of the 1950's and 60's, then I highly recommend Ultra Q. It captures that feel of those films very well, even if it's done a bit cheaper, and it hasn't yet morphed into the formula that toku television would evolve into for a shows that are more like Power Rangers, so if you're not into that particular style of toku, Ultra Q is not that. That particular style would be developed when Ultra Q is eventually reworked into Ultraman the following year. But while Ultra Q is the very first and in some ways the most primitive of these shows, it's probably the most pure-blooded and the most interesting. However, if all this crap looks the same to you there is likely no convincing you otherwise, but to those of us who know the difference, it matters.
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