[narfstar]

I rewatched the anime CHOBITS. I enjoyed it the second time also. Interesting scifi and romance. It has some weak points but overall a good watch.

[josemas]

Well Orphan Black wound up last night and Revolution's season finale is tomorrow leaving me only Warehouse 13 as a regular watch.  For the moment...

However several shows are starting up soon that I'll be checking out-

In the Flesh- a BBC zombie series will be running over three nights starting Thursday June 6 on BBC America.

Continuum-  Syfy begins airing season two of this Canadian series on Friday June 7.

Falling Skies-  returning to TNT for another 10 episodes on Sunday June 9.

Primeval: New World-  Syfy starts airing this 13 episode Canadian spinoff of the original Primeval on Monday June 10.

666 Park Avenue-  ABC airs four new episodes of this already cancelled supernatural series beginning Saturday June 22,

Copper-  BBC America brings us season two of this original series starting Sunday June 23.

Being Human-  the final season of the original British version begins airing here on BBC America begining Saturday July 13.

Unforgettable-  On Sunday July 28, well over a year after it was cancelled, CBS brings back this cop show featuring the heroine with ability to remember everything.


Other than these I'm sure I'll also be catching up on some other series via DVD collections.

Best

Joe

[jimmm kelly]

Oh good, three shows I watched last year coming back this summer, even if for a short time. Thanks for the heads up.

Now if only SHERLOCK would come back.

[narfstar]

Revolution has been OK but not as good as I had hoped.
Orphan Black is interesting.
I really look forward to Falling Skies!
Copper looks like it is pretty good but I never watched from the start.
666 I will automatically stay away from.
I am really not a Zombie fan but I do like Walking Dead.
Continuum bored me.
I liked Primevel at the start but lost interest.
Being human did not catch my interest.

[jimmm kelly]

The three shows that I watched last year that are returning now are: BEING HUMAN (UK), 666 PARK AVENUE, and UNFORGETTABLE.

I also watched REVOLUTION--up to a point. I could have continued with it--it was an all right adventure (like some TV shows I enjoyed in the '60s and '70s). But I don't want to watch too many ongoing TV shows and when I saw a door I took it. That door for me was when a certain blonde young person died (not to give away too much of a spoiler). I saw that person as being central to the quest for all the episodes prior and it kinda made it seem pointless that all these characters had been wasting their time for nothing.

I only saw the previous season of BEING HUMAN (UK). Haven't seen the US (or really the Canadian?) version. I got into it without knowing anything about the previous UK seasons and I feel like I don't need to know.

I watched 666 more out of habit than anything else. It wasn't as good as I hoped, but it wasn't as bad as it might've been. I'm interested to know where it might have gone with its story.

I watched UNFORGETTABLE for a strange reason--besides its premise (Marilu Henner must be some kind of real life superheroine--she ages well and has total recall). The show fits in with some other shows: THE MENTALIST, BONES, CASTLE. Probably a few others that I don't know about.

I like to compare and contrast how all these shows work. At the center is a cop team--one male, one female. One--either the male or the female--has some special ability that makes for the conflict between the two.There's some spark between them, but it's not always resolved. They are backed up by a crew of characters. One or more of the back-up characters is a visible minority--usually one of the back-up characters will get married or have a baby or both. There's always a forensics character in the mix (of course, most of the characters in BONES are forensic types--Booth is the odd man out). One or both of the two leads has suffered some trauma in their childhood, so they're damaged goods. Commitment is a problem.

I don't know if anyone has ever written about the common themes in all these shows. Is there a handy label for them? They aren't just buddy cop shows. It's the combination of the male-female dynamic and the oddball character that seems to define the sub-genre.

[narfstar]

Sounds like something you need to explore and write the article yourself Jimmm

[narfstar]

Good for action by I give it an overall thumbs down. Too many contrivances and silly things.

[Captain Audio]

I also watched REVOLUTION--up to a point. I could have continued with it--it was an all right adventure (like some TV shows I enjoyed in the '60s and '70s). But I don't want to watch too many ongoing TV shows and when I saw a door I took it. That door for me was when a certain blonde young person died (not to give away too much of a spoiler). I saw that person as being central to the quest for all the episodes prior and it kinda made it seem pointless that all these characters had been wasting their time for nothing.

You bailed out way too soon.
Remember the small electronic device they removed from the corpse?
This is very important to the story and how things got where they are.

[profh0011]

from the CAPTAIN COMICS board...


"If you're supposed to be the superior race in the universe. why not try climbing after us?"  Smartarse.

Ever since the early 60's, Daleks-- at least n the COMIC-STRIPS-- were shown to be able to HOVER.  But we didn't get to see this on TV until a VERY-BADLY-DONE shot in "Revelation of the Daleks" (I had to see it 3 times to be sure, and that was only after reading about it).  We got to see a Dalek properly coming up the stairs in "Remembrance of the Daleks". Because the earlier shot was so badly done, I bet most WHO fans thought the shot with McCoy was the first time we'd ever seen them hover.

Wouldn't it have been a GREAT moment in "Destiny", if, right after The Doctor said what he did, the Dalek he was taunting had suddenly started hovering upward toward him? Imagine the look on his face if that had happened, especially right after he said what he did!

"He may be mad, but his computer skills are almost as good as mine."

I LOVE the pained expression on Romana's face after he says this.

"I'm a very dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing."

Another great line.  Now, WHY do I think all the best lines in this story came from Douglas Adams, NOT Terry Nation?

Having dug out "The Key To Time", without having watched ANY other WHO stories for months (well, except "The Gunfighters"-- heehee), I pondered whether to then watch the following season, if only because, as lame as some of the production was, it's slowly become one of my favorite seasons, mostly because it's just so damn much FUN to watch.  So I did.  It's a shame someone felt compelled to do "Destiny of the Daleks".  The best thing I can say is, awhile back when I decided to watch ONLY the stories I LIKED, and skip any I didn't, I actually wound up watching EVERY Tom Baker story... EXCEPT "Genesis of the Daleks", which, like "The City on the Edge of Forever" (another "fan favorite") is just too damn DOWNBEAT, depressing and hopeless. Plus, I've seen it too damn many times, and after the previous run when I watched EVERY single story in my collection, I decided that that was the LAST time I would probably EVER watch "Genesis".  So, yes, crazy as it no doubt sounds to some, I find "Destiny" more watchable than "Genesis".   That doesn't mean I don't wish Michael Wisher had been in it.  Replacing Michael Wisher, AND John Leeson, AND Mary Tamm, ALL in the same story... well, it was a bit too much.

On the down side, I now definitely like "The Power Of Kroll" MUCH more than this story.  (Isn't that a shock?)

Which makes me think... I wonder that nobody thought to replace Michael Wisher's voice with Phillip Madoc's? HE might have made a terrific Davros. (Then again, he might have made a FANTASTIC Master.  As would Peter Jeffrey.)

I've always liked the design of The Movellans, although they don't necessarily make the most impressive baddies. Watching last night, it struck me-- I think it was the hair, color scheme AND material of their outfits-- that they looked VERY much like they might have been a design left over and unused from the intended (and never-filmed) 2nd season of UFO.  That was supposed to take place 19 years further into the future (yes-- "1999"). Imagne if the women crew at the expanded SHADO moonbase had been dressed like that!  Even the interior of their spaceship screamed "SHADO" to me.  It looked much more "Gerry Anderson" than "BBC".

To understand what happened with Romana, one has only to watch "Planet of the Spiders".  (See Kam'Po and Cho-Je.)  To know WHY... well, that's a bit more difficult.  But it's clear Romana got to like and admire The Doctor the longer they were together, but perhaps felt her personality was getting in the way.  At least, that's what some fan writing into the DW Magazine once suggested, and I've always like that idea.  Her messing with him by wearing first, the same outfit he had, and then, a variation on it, seems to suggest that's exactly the case.

[Captain Audio]

I don't remember much about the actress that played Romana, but I remembered seeing her in the horror film "Vampire Circus". Something about her persona just never set right with me.

[profh0011]

Lalla Ward often seemed to be a contradiction in terms.  She had looks I'd describe as "cute", and could be very sweet, almost like a 60's WHO girl. But then she could fire herself up and be arrogant and "imperial", like a "real" Time Lord.

By comparison, Mary Tamm often seemed to be playing herself...!   


It's a stretch, but I suppose one might compare their acting styles this way-- 
William Hartnell / Mary Tamm
Patrick Troughton / Lalla Ward

[profh0011]

Watching Daleks this week. "DESTINY" (mildly amusing), "RESSURECTION" (horrible, overly-complicated, utterly soulless,cold-blooded and excessively violent), "REVELATION" (sick, twisted, brilliant, but with a terrible sound mix and one REALLY bad effects shot-- made up for by one of the coolest characters to ever appear on the show, "Orcini", a Knight of the Royal Order of Oberon). Tomorrow night: "REMEMBRANCE" (the story that single-handedly turned the whole show around, and to my complete shock, actually made me like "Ace").


Naturally, after all this, the only sensible thing to watch Saturday night will be...
Peter Cushing.   



"Doctor, there's something I don't understand.  That police box!  Outside, it's perfectly normal, but inside, well..."
"Very good, young man! I like an inquiring mind..."

[Captain Audio]

Ever notice the resemblance of the first Dr , William Hartnell ,and Peter Cushing?
They don't really look alike but the bone structure of the face is so similar its like a family resemblance. I wonder if they are distant cousins.
In some scenes where Hartnell looks ill or worn down by events and a bit worried the resemblance is striking.

If this shortcut works compare Hartnell's profile, cheekbones , and eyes to photos of Cushing in his later years

http://wifeinspace.com/2011/01/marco-polo/

[profh0011]

It would have been SO easy to have made up Peter Cushing for his movies to look and act exactly like William Hartnell's Doctor.  But they took him in such a different direction.  If anything, he reminds me of Boris Karloff's character from THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (heehee). 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1PsmU2vP5mk/TSUuUTBJ-qI/AAAAAAAAA5k/0z_OtBk2hhQ/s400/boogieman3.jpg

It's funny that, right after the 2nd Cushing film, Patrick Troughton took the character in a much more humorous direction, even as Cushing already had.

Strange but true: apparently, when Troughton announced he was leaving, they actually asked Peter Cushing to take over from him!!! While he had done a TV series just recently (SHERLOCK HOLMES, where he took over from Douglas Wilmer), I believe by the time he was offered WHO he was concerned about his wife's health, and indeed, she passed away not that long after.  I read he was deeply depressed over this, and almost gave up acting entirely, until some friends of his urged him to get back to work to keep himself occupied.  I think the first thing he did after his wife passed away was TALES FROM THE CRYPT, where he played a widow. His wife's photo appeared in the film.

I haven't seen in in decades, but someone online pointed out that the character Cushing played in AT THE EARTH'S CORE (opposite Doug McClure & Caroline Munro) was virtually the SAME one he played in the 2 Daleks movies.  All 3 films were made by Amicus...   

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yBq9OrOX8FM/T7z6sXUOTDI/AAAAAAAACfk/CHBXgHwesbg/s1600/BUNNY+p004.jpg

[narfstar]

I saw AT THE EARTH'S CORE at the theater. I remember enjoying it then. I have not seen it in several years. The nice thing about watching it years later is that Caroline Munro will look as good as I remember 

[profh0011]

I saw AT THE EARTH'S CORE on TV.  Sadly, I wasn't too impressed.  Many years later, I saw THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (same company, same director, same star) on TV.  Ditto.  A few years after that, I saw it again, on TCM-- in widescreen.  Suddenly, it was MUCH better.  The story hadn't changed, but apparently, so much of the film was purely visual, that not seeing it in widescreen REALLY hurt the film.  (I've found this to be true of many, if not most films, as the years go by.)

Crazy but true: at the same time I saw AT THE EARTH'S CORE on TV, the TARZAN newspaper strip (which my Dad was getting from a friend at work who lived in the next COUNTY, nobody in our area has ever run that strip) was doing "Black Moon Of Skarteris", in which Tarzan returned to the center of the Earth, and met up again with David Innes, etc. etc.  Even though it was "only" a comic-strip, Russ Manning (in one of his final stories of his run) managed visuals that totally blew that movie out of the water.  As I read each weekly installment, I kept thinking, "Now THIS is what that movie SHOULD have looked like!!"


On the other hand, as I look at old photos, my impression is that Caroline Munro NEVER looked as hot as she did in that film!!  (Though "GOLDEN VOYAGE" came close.)

[Captain Audio]

My favorite image of Caroline Munro is the stable scene in Captain Kronos, where she wears nothing but strategically placed shadows and moonlight.

[narfstar]

She refused to appear nude and turned down Playboy or any role that required her to actually be nude

[profh0011]

Today: the last really great episode of THE AVENGERS...  "The Gladiators".

The pre-credit sequence has a KGB agent whose specialty is unarmed combat addressing a line of picked men.  He describes how, at the start, there were 112 of them, but it's been narrowed down to 4.  And for the mission he has in mind, he only needs 2.  How to choose?  Simple.  They split into pairs and prepare to fight.  TO THE DEATH.

Right from the start, you know this is one REALLY SICK M*****F*****!!!

It cracked me up no end when, a few years ago, I realized the actor who played the KGB guy later played Jamie's father on MAD ABOUT YOU.   



By the way, of the 4 final episodes, this is only REALLY good episode of "The New Avengers In Canada".  Laurie Johnson ressurected the "Cybernaut" music for the score.

[Captain Audio]

She refused to appear nude and turned down Playboy or any role that required her to actually be nude

That's the reason for the shadows covering the goodies.
Many films have used tricks of lighting and "nude suits" to give the impression of nudity on screen, and also the use of body doubles.
If you ever want to see Catherine Bell in the nude just watch an uncut copy of "Death Becomes Her", Bell was the body double for Isabella Rossellini in that film.

[josemas]

Some DVD collections watched recently-

Castle: Season Two- (2009-2010)  Delightful chemistry between the two leads, a good supporting cast and generally decent writing this go-round will have me coming back for season three.

H.G. Wells' Invisible Man: Season One- (1958)  Never saw this British series while growing up although I suppose it probably did get shown here in the States.  I would have been all over it if I had the chance back then.  Good blend of sci-fi elements with crime and espionage story lines.  FX are well done overall for its day.  Only 13 episodes this first season.  Have the second  (also 13 eps) season in my "to be watched" clique.

The Tick: The Complete Series- (2001-2002)   Hilarious and much too short-lived superhero spoof series.  I can't help thinking that it was ahead of its time and would do better if given a chance now-a-days.

Dr. Who: The Keys of Marinus- (1964)  My exposure to Dr. Who was very piecemeal over the years.  First caught a stray episode or two in the late 1970s and although intrigued was much too busy between school and work to follow any television show on a regular basis.   
Cut to the later 1980s/early 1990s and I finally managed to catch some of the Dr. Who movies that had been cobbled together from the episodes on my local PBS station. A hodge-podge of the various different Doctors in no particular order.
Never followed the individual episodes until a friend lent me season three of the new series a few years back.  Since then I've been following it regularly on BBC America where I've also managed to catch a number of the new series episodes I had missed. 
It's only recently that I've started checking into the older series via a sampling of the DVD collections that my local library has. This is the earliest storyline I checked out so far and was happy to find William Russell (whom the Lil Missus and I very much enjoyed in The Adventure of Lancelot) was a regular during this period.  One thing that surprised me was the Doctor's disappearance for a couple of episodes in the middle of this storyline.  I found it odd that the main character would step offstage for such a length and leave the going ons to the supporting cast.  Other than that it was an interesting six-part serial.  DVD extras included commentary tracks, an interview with the set designer and a stills gallery.

Ark II: The Complete Series- (1976)  A Saturday morning sci-fi show that shot its 15 episodes during the summer of 1976 and originally aired them that fall.  I don't remember catching it back then.  Work and school were taking up increasing amounts of my time and I just wasn't catching much Saturday morning stuff anymore.  The Dvd has a number of extras which give a good deal of background on the series.  Apparently all of the jet pack footage was shot in just a few days and then incorporated into all of the episodes later.  Some fine guest stars also enlivened the series most notably Jim Backus and Jonathan Harris. 

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

We love Castle.  All that you write about it, i agree with.
The Invisible Man.  I'm old enough to remember seeing bits of it originally but it was later than '58 as we didn't have commercial t.v. on our set then but I remember Peter Brady and the bandages coming off and nothing under them.  Really spooky at the time.  I have a dvd of a selection of episodes but have to watch them on my own as Linda thinks it's daft.
I saw Keys of Marinus when it was broadcast and was thrilled by it.  Hartnell did disappear for bits of serials, sometimes holidays but also because he was ill from time to time. Looking at it now, the scenery creaks and the effects, at times are poor but it still enthralls me. At times, there is a real feel of danger.
William Russell was a guest star in Coronation St. some years ago.
When I saw the title, "The Ark", I though for a moment you meant the Doctor Who episode.  At some point we should all have a chat about it.
I recently re-watched (for the umpteenth time) Quatermass and the Pit - probably the best one.  This is the t.v. serial with Andre Morell, although the film is also very good.  You can watch on youtube and here's Ep. 2:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWMMv_1lXF8

[narfstar]

I don't know how a big site like youtube gets away with some shows. They are clearly not public domain. My guess is that it is like I have said about comics. It amounts to advertising. I liked the show Space: Above and Beyond. It is not on Netflix or Hulu so I tried youtube and there it was. The concurrent show that I liked was Earth 2 which is now on Netflix.

[jimmm kelly]

I suspect that it depends on who owns the show that's being posted on youtube. Some shows you can't find at all--probably because the rights owners are aggressive in demanding that they be taken down. While other shows stay without dispute.

I could find some Doctor Who shows on youtube, but finding shows with Daleks proved difficult. Not with all Dalek stories, but with some popular stories. And even using my go-to sites like dailymotion and various foreign language sites didn't always work. I was able to piece together most episodes, by looking around for different parts.

Last year, trying to find the Monkees' head, I had to piece the movie together by going to different sites. But just recently I found the whole movie was up.

In most cases, I'm sure, that shows get posted and stay up until youtube takes them down. So there's a window of opportunity to see them.

Youtube is a useful service for movies that just aren't available in North America. And you're taking your chances if you order overseas--as the DVD is likely to be incompatible (unless you know how to break the code).

If I see something I really like on youtube--or one of the other sites--I will order the DVD, if there's a DVD to be gotten.

Last year watching youtube, I got on a Michel LeGrand/Catherine DeNeuve/Jacques Demy kick and after seeing Les Parapluies de Cherbourg--which I've seen several times over the years--I went on to watch Les Demoiselles de Rochefort--although this was only in bits and pieces (and only some parts with subtitles)--the full movie not available. And after that I watched the whole of Peau d'ane.

Seeing that I could get DVDs of Les Parapluies... and Les Demoiselles... on amazon.ca, I ordered them. But alas, when they arrived they were both in French without subtitles. I can struggle through them--and I pretty much know the stories from memory. Mais--c'est impossible pour d'avoir des DVD en anglais, je pense.

I'm still happy to have those DVDs--because you don't need to understand a word to appreciate the beauty of the women, the music and the dancing--but it's a shame that foreign language movies get so little play in North America. I'm grateful for youtube and those other sites.

[profh0011]

In many ways, for the first 2 years of DOCTOR WHO, Ian Chesterton (William Russell) was the show's HERO!  The Doctor started out as a mysterious trouble-maker who tended to pull things out of the fire, after he threw them into it in the first place.  Think of it this way...

Ian Chesterton -- John Robinson
Barbara Wright -- Maureen Robinson
The Doctor -- Dr. Smith
Susan -- Penny



This is especially noticable in the first 13 episodes (before The Doctor finally becomes friends with Barbara and stops being almost a villain).  When I finally got to see those early episodes (around 1985?), the similarities with certain aspects of LOST IN SPACE (as well as THE TIME TUNNEL) made me believe that unlike most Americans, Irwin Allen probably HAD seen DOCTOR WHO and was (ahem) "inspired" by it.

I would say the point where The Doctor really becomes the show's hero was in the 2nd part of "The Rescue".  Susan is gone, he no longer has to worry about protecting her.  In the climax, he confronts the baddie single-handedly, and projects an aura that just seems to scream at me that the character audiences tend to recognize from later seasons has finally arrived.

"The Keys Of Marinus" is one of my favorite Terry Nation stories.  It's got so much going on, so many ideas, great pacing (for once for such an early story).  Watching it in the mid-80's, it also struck me that a TON of things in it inspired things done later on the show (and not just "The Key To Time").  My only problem is, the ending is a total let-down and cop-out, and makes you wonder, what was all that about anyway?



Just watched INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D. (again!).  It's got not only "Professor Van Helsing" (Peter Cushing) but "Professor Quatermass" as well (Andrew Keir).  I also get a kick out of Philip Madoc's brief role as the black market guy, who comes to a BRUTALLY violent end, a few years before he first turned up on the TV show (he guested on the show 4 different times... twice in the 6th season!).

It's funny that in this, they mention the Daleks burrowing down to the center of the Earth... and some years later, Peter Cushing starred in AT THE EARTH'S CORE, seemingly playing the SAME character (under a different name).


Tomorrow I'm planning to see the other "Dr. Who" film... the one made IN JAPAN!