[profh0011]

Crazy but true: the last time I watched my Jeremy Brett collection, I alternated between it and episodes of the Ronald Howard series.  Every other episode.

And I enjoyed Ronald Howard's series MORE!  Didn't see that coming.   

[profh0011]

Well, the annoying scuffle of teeny-tiny feet is once again heard in my ceiling. And so, having checked the weather forecast, and with NO further rain on the immediate horizon, I have just returned from my back yard where I once again set up my LIVE ANIMAL TRAP to catch a squirrel.

I put both in this time-- Cinnamon Life AND Cap'n Crunch. And I set it up where the STOOOOPID kids next door can't see it from their yard, and won't be inspired to INTERFERE (as I believe one of them did last month).

We'll see how this goes...

Oh. Yeah. And I started a brand-new DOCTOR WHO marathon a few minutes ago. This should be fun!

[Coleoptere]

Do you guys talk about Comic Book movies in this thread? I've only watched X-Men: Days of Future Past recently, but that got my interest well enough. I sometimes wonder if Marvel might might plan a live action TV series of this.

[profh0011]

I think any kinda tv or movies is up for grabs here.

I've been watching my collection of HUNTER, first time in ages.  Unfortunately, I'm missing a number of the early episodes, including about half the 3rd season. But from the 4th to the 6th I have all of 'em, and half of season 7.

I just got to the last episode I taped in season 7.  It had 2 stories that had no connection whatsoever.  In one, Hunter investigates a complicated case involving a serial-killer who's been stealing expensive antique coins, and has also bumped off a part-time call girl who apparently made off with one not realizing its true value.  In the other, Chris Novak (Lauren Lane) helps a friend of hers (Denise Crosby) who's been assaulted and robbed (and wound up with a broken arm), which turns out to be the work of an 18-year-old who used money he stole to take his friends to ball games and sit in the expensive seats.  NO, REALLY.  The kid's mother begs leniency, saying "He's a good boy!", and, SHOCKINGLY, Novak goes along with her, convincing her friend, who says she "wishes she had a gun" when it happened, to try and see HIS side of things.

Since HUNTER started out as TV's answer to DIRTY HARRY, this offended me when it was first aired SO MUCH, I stopped watching-- AND TAPING-- the show then and there.  I must not have been the only one offended by all the many changes they made to the series that year.  2 weeks later, TV GUIDE announced NBC had yanked the show off the air in mid-season.  To this day, I still have no idea how many episodes they made that never got run (or if they were run, when).

I guess it shows how much I despised these episodes, as, when I later got hooked watching THE NANNY, I had no idea I'd seen Lauren Lane ("C.C. Babcock") before-- on a show I was watching & taping every week yet!

[josemas]

I've never seen a single episode of Hunter but given how cheap some of the DVD sets of the show are ($5.00 for the complete season one at Amazon) I may check it out one of these days.

BTW, epguides.com shows the series ran 153 episodes over 7 seasons (20-23 episodes per season).

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Some shows and collections recently watched-

Rectify Season 1 (2013)-   Man convicted of a murder is released from prison, after sitting on death row for years, when new evidence raises doubts about his conviction.  Follows his troubles adjusting to life on the outside as well as those of others, some who feel he should not have been released.   Well done.

H.G. Wells' Invisible Man Season 2 (1959-)  Just as good as the first season.

Hannibal Season 1 (2013)-  Creepy series about the serial killer made famous in book and film.

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle- 16 episodes (1955-56)-   Irish McCalla is perfectly cast in this adaptation of the famous comic book heroine.  I'd like to see the remaining 10 episodes of the series turn up.

Life on Mars Series 2 (2007)-  The original Brit series has a very different wrap-up from the American series but I like them both.

The Good Life Series 1 (1975)   Great Britcom with wonderful cast (Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith) which I haven't seen in over three decades.  It was originally shown over here in the states as Good Neighbors.  Looking forward to re-watching more of these.

Cowboy G-Men- 10 episodes (1952-53)   Pleasant sampling of this early 1950s western series starring Russell Hayden and Jackie Coogan.

The Fabulous 50s-2003-  Documentary of the decade covers some of the high-lights using primarily motion picture newsreel and television footage from the period.

Best

Joe

[bowers]

Ahh- The Good Life. One of the first Britcoms I ever watched, and still one of the best! Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

I believe the Good Life came on after Doctor Who and that is how I got started watching it. I loved it and it was paired in the hour with Fawlty Towers. Summer break and I have been catching up on series that I got behind on during school. Got caught up on Vikings and almost done with Tomorrow People. I plan on starting Orphan Black season 2. I am anxious for Falling Skies to start back it is one of my favorites.

[bowers]

Yeah, the new season of Vikings was pretty good, and looks to get better in the next season. Falling Skies has been off for way too long- I'm also ready for the new season. Go 2nd Mass.! Cheers, Bowers

[josemas]

Since many shows wrapped up their seasons last month I'm only following a few right now -Orphan Black, Crossbones, Salem, The 100, and In the Flesh and those later two are ending their seasons this coming week.
I'm also looking forward to Falling Skies and will probably pick up a few more this summer.  The Bridge, Under the Dome, The Musketeers, Extant and The Strain are all possibilities.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Crossbones is nothing like a Black Beard I was expecting and I have really enjoyed it so far. I do look forward to Extant also. My wife and I watch Under the Dome together. I will try Musketeers and the Strain I had not heard of The Bridge is it scifi?

[Captain Audio]

Crossbones is nothing like a Black Beard I was expecting

The premise seems to be that these events take place some years after Black beard was supposedly killed, Edward Teach is the ultimate survivor and having faked his death , possibly setting up a lookalike, he intends to reinvent himself and rise to the level of a king of the pirates, controlling the shipping lanes.

There were many who believed Black Beard had not been the man killed in that epic fight, and stories of his beheaded corpse swimming three times around the ship looking for its head.
His penchant for blasphemy and rituals, like forcing the crew to sit with him in the hold while sulphur bombs used to drive rats out were burning led many to believe he had made a deal with the devil.

I will try Musketeers and the Strain I had not heard of The Bridge is it scifi?

"The Strain" is based on a trilogy of books , I've read the first two. It should be a very good mini series.
If "The Bridge" is the series I'm thinking of its a crime drama with many twists and turns. The Bridge of the title is between the U S And Mexico, and where the first of many victims is found.

[josemas]

I believe that the first season of The Bridge is available at Hulu if you want to sample it.

Best

Joe

[mr_goldenage]

Currently watching season 2 of My Hero TV show... can only watch a few shows at once ... Thermoman gets to be a bit of a bore. Season 1 was better.

RB

[jarrodmon]

I love My Hero! We are currently loving Acorn TV, we can watch shows that it can be hard to find in the US. Murdoch Mysteries and Midsomer Murders. Just started Republic of Doyle. On NBC, Undateable cracks me up, but it is probably only going to get the one season.

[josemas]

Feature films watched the last couple of months-

Keep 'Em Flying (1941), Black Dynamite (2009), Captain Phillips (2013), Murder in the Air (1940), The Case of the Black Cat (1936), Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942), Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012), World War Z (2013), Mountains of the Moon (1989), Hop-along Cassidy (1935), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), In Harm's Way (1965), The Little Colonel (1935), Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Count Dracula (1977), The Eagle's Brood (1935), Curdled (1996), Punishment Park (1971), All-Star Superman (2011), The Neanderthal Man (1953), The Mighty Peking Man (1977), Law Beyond the Range (1935), A Hijacking (2013), Bar 20 Rides Again (1935), Yesterday and Today (1953), I Married a Witch (1942), Machine Gun Preacher (2011), Heart of the West (1936), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), My Boy (1921), Now You See Me (2013), Call of the Prairie (1936), Texas Cyclone (1932), August: Osage County (2013), Cloud Atlas (2012), The Book Thief (2013), Three on the Trail (1936), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Code of the Fearless (1939), Red Riding-1980 (2009), Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), The Trouble with Girls (1969), Transatlantic (1931), Dead Tone (2007), Thor: The Dark World (2013), 12 years a Slave (2013), Mystery Plane (1939), and Defendor (2009).

I finished up my Saturday morning run of the first six Abbott and Costello films and followed it with the first six Hopalong Cassidy films.  All very handsome productions with some great locations shooting,  Definitely among the upper tier of B westerns being produced back then.  From Hoppy I've moved on to the four Tailspin Tommy movies produced by Monogram. Just watched the first one yesterday.
Also squeezed in the final Brass Bancroft movie, another Perry Mason flick (Ricardo Cortez takes over the role from Warren William), the next Charlie Chan movie (the series is really hotting its stride now) and Peter Sellers last Pink Panther movie (his parts being comprised of out-takes and "best of" clips from previous films) which despite being an awful hodge-podge of a movie had me laughing more than I thought it would.
Aside from that its my usual mix of older and newer and a variety of genres.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Some series and collections recently watched-

Police Squad!- the Complete Series (1982)  A comment is made on one of the extras that the reason this worked as a movie series but not as a television series was because so much of the humor is visual and in a movie theater people are "trapped' and forced to watch the film while with television people are often multi-tasking and not watching the picture closely and thus missing lots of the humor. 

In Plain Sight- Season 2 (2009)  Season ends on a cliffhanger.

Stories of the Century- 18 episodes (1954-55)  This syndicated (39 episode) series has railroad agent Matt Clark (played by Jim Davis) chasing such real life characters as Quantrlll, Geronomo, Jesse James , Billy the Kid and Tom Horn.  Events take place anywhere from the 1850s into the 1900s and yet Clark is always the same age!

Judge Roy Bean - 5 episodes (1955-56)  This syndicated (39 episode) western series starring Edgar Buchanan is most notable for being shot in color.

26 Men- 20 episodes (1957-59)  A  well done series that ran for two years (78 episodes) chronicling the cases of the Arizona Rangers in the first decade of the 20th century while Arizona was still a frontier territory (it did not become a state until 1912).  Shot at the Cudia City Strudios (which featured an "old western town") on the east side of Phoenix and in locations around the state.   Cudia City burned down in 1967 but can still be seen in series like this one.

The Secrets of Isis-the Complete Series (1975-76)  This was a Saturday morning series that ran for two seasons (22 episodes) and featured some crossovers with Captain Marvel (who was appearing in Shazam! which was also then running on Saturday mornings).  In the later episodes they kept giving her more and more powers which I think would have been a deficit if the show kept going.

The Munsters Season 1 (1964-65)  A classic! This (and the similarly themed The Addams Family) only ran for two seasons each (with all episodes in black and white) but are two of the best remembered series of the 1960s.

Dexter Season 8 (2013)  All comes to a close.

That's it for now. 

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

I love both the Munsters and Addam's Family but I think most people do. I think they are so well remembered because they did not wear out their humor. Few shows have been able to maintain that type of off the wall humor. The exceptions being Green Acres and Get Smart. I like the humor in Judge Roy Bean. I tried Isis on Hulu but could not get into except for her being nice on the eyes. Police Squad is of course hilarious. Dexter ended up OK I think the comic picks up where the series left off.

[josemas]

There were other 60s comedies will off the wall humor.  Gilligan's Island and It's About Time are two that come immediately to mind.  The former is very well remembered while the later is forgotten by all but those who saw it first run.

I'd like to be able to sample more episodes of Judge Roy Bean.  Buchanan is a likeable lead and easily brings some humor to the role.  Maybe some enterprising PD DVD dealer will put together a complete collection.

Isis is definitely aimed at the small fry with each episode having some little moral it wants to get across.  I found it easier to watch an episode here and there rather then on any regular basis.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Buchanan is the most enjoyable part of Judge Roy series. It's About time was one of my favorites and I have watched some youtube episodes and it is still fun. It's about time and Police Squad and Sledghammer and others are examples of the oddball humor that did not make it or sustain. G Island is another of the rare series that did make it.

[narfstar]

I watched the movie Forever 16 and it was probably a pilot not picked up. I wish it had been. I think it was OK and could have gotten really good

[jimmm kelly]

I've tried to watch IT'S ABOUT TIME, but I find it too clunky to get through it. Maybe I just need to gird my loins and push on through and eventually I'll find the funny. It does have a cast of actors that I like. And it has a really great theme song--as with all Sherwood Schwartz shows--that tells you exactly what the set up is. It would be fun if they could do that for all modern TV shows.

Then again, I never really liked GILLIGAN'S ISLAND either. I'd stare at my siblings and ask why we are watching this. But being the baby of the family, I was overruled and so I had to suffer through all those dumb plots and all that dumb acting and all that dumb canned laughter. Now I have a nostalgic feeling about the show--but that says more about my love for my family, then it does for the actual TV show.

[narfstar]

I started watching Orphan Black season 2 but could not really get into it. I have the episodes of Star Struck and the 100 but have not started watching them. Took awhile to get into the first episode of Falling Skies this year but by the second I am back into it. I was exited to watch Extant but the multitude of various previews has now turned me off to it. I really like watching Under the Dome but am afraid of a LOST type super disappointment.

[josemas]

Then again, I never really liked GILLIGAN'S ISLAND either. I'd stare at my siblings and ask why we are watching this. But being the baby of the family, I was overruled and so I had to suffer through all those dumb plots and all that dumb acting and all that dumb canned laughter. Now I have a nostalgic feeling about the show--but that says more about my love for my family, then it does for the actual TV show.

For me Gilligan was a show that was perfectly cast with wonderfully absurd writing.  As to canned laughter.  It seemed like it was omnipresent in all sitcoms back then.  I just learned to tune it out.

The Sherwood Schwartz show that I never really liked but watched a lot of because my siblings did was The Brady Bunch.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Not a lot as my mother-in-law wasn't doing so well for a while and my sister-in-law has had a major health scare.  This getting old stuff is real rubbish!
However, a cable channel is currently re-running Death in Paradise, so late evening it takes our minds of real world things.  And we watched the final of Only Connect, which is probably the most fiendish quiz on t.v. Plus Victoria Coren.   Don't know if you can view this outside UK but here's the link:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lskhg
Our new t.v. can access youtube and I found 2 films I hadn't seen for ages when we got back from visiting the other night.  Invasion with Edward Judd, and What a Carve Up, with Sid James and Kenneth Connor.