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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2022 19:20:07 GMT -5
Need another reason to watch Columbo? I just watched Spock murder Honey West, to keep her from revealing that he is attempting to murder Grandpa Walton, who gets his medication delivered to him by Helen Krump, while Honey West's roommate is Marya, the Russian spy who occasionally works with Colonel Hogan, and Spock also tries to induce an overdose in Steve "Dusty" Farlow (aka Varian, aka Dr Harrison Blackwood).
Heck, I'm only on season two and Kelly Robinson (aka Agent Bill Maxwell) has murdered the Please Don't Eat the Daisies mom and Adm Al Calavicci!
Can't wait for John Drake (aka Number 6) to show up!
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 3, 2022 6:10:31 GMT -5
I joined a website called TV Vault awhile back that's been in operation for many years. It's users have uploaded tons of TV content including rarities never released on physical media. Probably stuff people had on VHS tapes in their private collections. Found something I've been searching for a long time which I'll watch again when I have a chance
Partners In Crime [1984] Starring Lynda Carter and Loni Anderson running a detective agency. Only lasted for 13 episodes.Eileen Heckart co-starred and guest stars included David Carradine, Vanessa Williams and John Vernon
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2022 12:02:05 GMT -5
I joined a website called TV Vault awhile back that's been in operation for many years. It's users have uploaded tons of TV content including rarities never released on physical media. Probably stuff people had on VHS tapes in their private collections. Found something I've been searching for a long time which I'll watch again when I have a chance Partners In Crime [1984] Starring Lynda Carter and Loni Anderson running a detective agency. Only lasted for 13 episodes.Eileen Heckart co-starred and guest stars included David Carradine, Vanessa Williams and John Vernon Used to find stuff like that on eBay and iOffer, before they cracked down on "piracy". I got the old Cliffhangers series, that Kenneth Johnson did, at NBC, which was done as a serial. You had "Dracula," Stop Susan Williams," and "The Secret Empire." Dracula had the vampire living in modern San Francisco, teaching medieval history and dazzling young coeds, while a Van Helsing chases him. Stop Susan Williams had Susan Anton as a journalist, investigating a vague conspiracy. The Secret Empire was a remake of the old Gene Autrey serial, The Phantom Empire, with Mark Lenard as the villain and a few cliffhangers swiped from Flash Gordon (as well as the Ranger 3 spaceship, from Buck Rogers). NBC canceled it, before airing the final episode, so only Dracula completed the airing of the full story. The entire series was broadcast in Canada and the UK, which was the source of these recordings, so I got the finales of the other two segments. I also got the Sable tv series, based on the Jon Sable, Freelance comic, some Avengers episodes (before they put out series sets), Challenge of the Super Friends (again, before commercial sets), Return to the Planet of the Apes and the Legends of the Superheroes specials. I used to see listings for things like A Man Called Sloane, Fantastic Journey, Otherworld, The Phoenix, Logan's Run, etc. I used to get episodes of Battle of the Planets that way, plus other Japanese shows, like Ultraman and Kamen Rider. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 3, 2022 17:01:34 GMT -5
I joined a website called TV Vault awhile back that's been in operation for many years. It's users have uploaded tons of TV content including rarities never released on physical media. Probably stuff people had on VHS tapes in their private collections. Found something I've been searching for a long time which I'll watch again when I have a chance Partners In Crime [1984] Starring Lynda Carter and Loni Anderson running a detective agency. Only lasted for 13 episodes.Eileen Heckart co-starred and guest stars included David Carradine, Vanessa Williams and John Vernon Used to find stuff like that on eBay and iOffer, before they cracked down on "piracy". I got the old Cliffhangers series, that Kenneth Johnson did, at NBC, which was done as a serial. You had "Dracula," Stop Susan Williams," and "The Secret Empire." Dracula had the vampire living in modern San Francisco, teaching medieval history and dazzling young coeds, while a Van Helsing chases him. Stop Susan Williams had Susan Anton as a journalist, investigating a vague conspiracy. The Secret Empire was a remake of the old Gene Autrey serial, The Phantom Empire, with Mark Lenard as the villain and a few cliffhangers swiped from Flash Gordon (as well as the Ranger 3 spaceship, from Buck Rogers). NBC canceled it, before airing the final episode, so only Dracula completed the airing of the full story. The entire series was broadcast in Canada and the UK, which was the source of these recordings, so I got the finales of the other two segments. I also got the Sable tv series, based on the Jon Sable, Freelance comic, some Avengers episodes (before they put out series sets), Challenge of the Super Friends (again, before commercial sets), Return to the Planet of the Apes and the Legends of the Superheroes specials. I used to see listings for things like A Man Called Sloane, Fantastic Journey, Otherworld, The Phoenix, Logan's Run, etc. I used to get episodes of Battle of the Planets that way, plus other Japanese shows, like Ultraman and Kamen Rider.
What years did that Dracula series air? I was just trying to look it up but couldn't tell which of the many different Dracula tv shows it was.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2022 17:19:36 GMT -5
Used to find stuff like that on eBay and iOffer, before they cracked down on "piracy". I got the old Cliffhangers series, that Kenneth Johnson did, at NBC, which was done as a serial. You had "Dracula," Stop Susan Williams," and "The Secret Empire." Dracula had the vampire living in modern San Francisco, teaching medieval history and dazzling young coeds, while a Van Helsing chases him. Stop Susan Williams had Susan Anton as a journalist, investigating a vague conspiracy. The Secret Empire was a remake of the old Gene Autrey serial, The Phantom Empire, with Mark Lenard as the villain and a few cliffhangers swiped from Flash Gordon (as well as the Ranger 3 spaceship, from Buck Rogers). NBC canceled it, before airing the final episode, so only Dracula completed the airing of the full story. The entire series was broadcast in Canada and the UK, which was the source of these recordings, so I got the finales of the other two segments. I also got the Sable tv series, based on the Jon Sable, Freelance comic, some Avengers episodes (before they put out series sets), Challenge of the Super Friends (again, before commercial sets), Return to the Planet of the Apes and the Legends of the Superheroes specials. I used to see listings for things like A Man Called Sloane, Fantastic Journey, Otherworld, The Phoenix, Logan's Run, etc. I used to get episodes of Battle of the Planets that way, plus other Japanese shows, like Ultraman and Kamen Rider.
What years did that Dracula series air? I was just trying to look it up but couldn't tell which of the many different Dracula tv shows it was.
Cliffhangers aired from February 27-May 1, 1979, on NBC. The Dracula sequence was called "Curse of Dracula," and was popular enough that it was repeated on Sundays. They later edited the episodes into a feature film, for television, Dracula 79 and a follow-up, World of Dracula. You can find it (in so-so quality) on Youtube.... It looks like an episode is missing; but, that is the first episode of the series. You were dropped into the middle of things, with each segment, then the actual serial plot unfolded. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 3, 2022 18:28:41 GMT -5
What years did that Dracula series air? I was just trying to look it up but couldn't tell which of the many different Dracula tv shows it was.
Cliffhangers aired from February 27-May 1, 1979, on NBC. The Dracula sequence was called "Curse of Dracula," and was popular enough that it was repeated on Sundays. They later edited the episodes into a feature film, for television, Dracula 79 and a follow-up, World of Dracula. You can find it (in so-so quality) on Youtube.... It looks like an episode is missing; but, that is the first episode of the series. You were dropped into the middle of things, with each segment, then the actual serial plot unfolded.
Thanks, might have to give it a try one of these days.
edit: Sorry, missed that you had already said it was part of the Cliffhangers series.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2022 20:31:47 GMT -5
Dracula is actually fairly good, with a nice mix of classic stuff and a more modern take on the loneliness of being immortal and seeing loved ones die.
Secret Empire isn't bad, either and features Peter Breck, of The Big Valley, as one of the villains, along with Mark Lenard. The guy playing the Marshal makes a decent hero and Lenard's daughter is a Princess Aura type, who later morphs into a pre-Hunter Stephanie Kramer. It's a bit more traditional in the stunts and cliffhangers, but, with modern trappings, though they use a mall or some kind of shopping complex as the underground city and it looks it, even more then Logan's Run. Peter Breck is a hoot, though. Only thing missing is the gimmick of having to return to the Radio Ranch to record the show or lose the ranch, from the original Phantom Empire.
Stop Susan Williams was the worst of the bunch, despite Ray Walston. Susan Anton had all of the acting ability of tapioca and dating Dudley Moore didn't help this. She's not helped by the fact that the conspiracy is kept pretty vague, until the last couple of episodes and there is no real plot moving things along. Each episode pretty much consisted of resolving the cliffhanger from the last one, moving to a new locale, and falling into a new trap, without ever really learning anything new about this conspiracy or the people behind it. Anton is easy on the eyes; but, that made her a dime a dozen, in Hollywood.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2022 20:38:08 GMT -5
ps along the same lines, I picked up the comedy series Quark, with Richard Benjamin and Tim Tomerson, created by Buck Henry. It was part of the sci-fi craze that followed Star Wars, mixing in a bit of Star Trek and a little Flash Gordon. Not as funny as Spaceballs; but, it has moments and got better as it went along. If memory serves it eventually got a dvd release.
I also picked up a lot of European and old cult favorites via ebay and iOffer, like the 60s Fantomas movies, the Kommissar X films, The 3 Fantastic Supermen, Bite the Bullet (with James Coburn and Bruce Boxleitner), Dien Bien Phu (French film), Operation Leopard (about the French Foreign Legion rescue mission, in Africa, in the late 70s), the Frank Langella Mark of Zorro, from tv, some of the Fu Manchu films, Kriminal, the Ken Clark Agent 077 films, the James Tont spoofs and the two 7 Golden men caper films.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 4, 2022 6:07:13 GMT -5
My wife and I are watching a 1978 French mini series (Le mutant), a slow-burn conspiracy/SF story where, to my utter delight, laboratories look like actual labs and what little technobabble there is is factually correct.
As fate would have it, it's also the second appearance of French actress Fanny Ardant on screen, at least according to the imdb. It's funny to see such a big name star in what was no doubt a very low-budget production.
A smart script and good actors really compensate for dated sound effects and the lack of VFX. I'm not sure the slow pace would satisfy the taste of today's audiences, though (something I noticed with old Captain Harlock cartoons too).
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Post by berkley on Jul 4, 2022 7:11:45 GMT -5
My wife and I are watching a 1978 French mini series ( Le mutant), a slow-burn conspiracy/SF story where, to my utter delight, laboratories look like actual labs and what little technobabble there is is factually correct. As fate would have it, it's also the second appearance of French actress Fanny Ardant on screen, at least according to the imdb. It's funny to see such a big name star in what was no doubt a very low-budget production. A smart script and good actors really compensate for dated sound effects and the lack of VFX. I'm not sure the slow pace would satisfy the taste of today's audiences, though (something I noticed with old Captain Harlock cartoons too).
I'd like to try that one myself if I can find a sub-titled version.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 4, 2022 8:13:33 GMT -5
My wife and I are watching a 1978 French mini series ( Le mutant), a slow-burn conspiracy/SF story where, to my utter delight, laboratories look like actual labs and what little technobabble there is is factually correct. As fate would have it, it's also the second appearance of French actress Fanny Ardant on screen, at least according to the imdb. It's funny to see such a big name star in what was no doubt a very low-budget production. A smart script and good actors really compensate for dated sound effects and the lack of VFX. I'm not sure the slow pace would satisfy the taste of today's audiences, though (something I noticed with old Captain Harlock cartoons too).
I'd like to try that one myself if I can find a sub-titled version.
It's on Youtube, but the automatically translated subtitles are, unfortunately, mostly gibberish. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2022 12:08:06 GMT -5
I'd like to try that one myself if I can find a sub-titled version.
It's on Youtube, but the automatically translated subtitles are, unfortunately, mostly gibberish. Human-generated subtitles can be just as much gibberish. I went to a Honk Kong Cinema film festival, back int he 90s, with 5 films (Hard Boiled, City on Fire, A Chinese Ghost Story, A Better Tomorrow, and Once Upon a Time in China V). On at least 2 or 3 of the films, the subtitles were near literal translations and made absolutely no sense. I later read that Hong Kong and other Asian films are often translated by students, studying the language of the subtitles, leading to rather bizarre things. It's done on the cheap, so no one contextualizes the translation. However, I still prefer to hear the dialogue in its original form and have subtitles, as bad dubbing spoils a performance far more. I saw La Femme Nikita in the dubbed form first; but later saw the subtitled form and it was so much better to hear the actor's voices and the emotion they gave to the lines, vs the dubbing (which wasn't bad, but didn't serve some characters as well as the original actors' voices). |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2022 15:41:07 GMT -5
I buy a lot of world cinema DVDs in HMV. They have an entire section for it. I prefer natural dialogue and subtitles.
I watched some dubbed films in my youth. Bad. The voices never seemed to “match” the face. You’d be watching, say, a Spanish horror movie - and a character, played by a guy who was probably 65-70, had an English voice that sounded like the voice of a 20-25-year old. Just never seemed to work.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2022 15:52:19 GMT -5
I buy a lot of world cinema DVDs in HMV. They have an entire section for it. I prefer natural dialogue and subtitles. I watched some dubbed films in my youth. Bad. The voices never seemed to “match” the face. You’d be watching, say, a Spanish horror movie - and a character, played by a guy who was probably 65-70, had an English voice that sounded like the voice of a 20-25-year old. Just never seemed to work. Yet, when there is a consistency to the dubbing, it can fool you. Between Goldfinger, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Those Magnificent Men And Their Flying Machines and Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (aka Blast Off, aka Those Flying Fools), I thought that was how Gert Frobe sounded, until I saw The 1000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse, in German, with subtitles. |
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Post by berkley on Jul 5, 2022 6:10:25 GMT -5
I'd like to try that one myself if I can find a sub-titled version.
It's on Youtube, but the automatically translated subtitles are, unfortunately, mostly gibberish.
I might try it anyway. Sometimes just a hint is enough - even if it's wrong, it gives me an idea of what they're actually saying.
What other good French SF shows are there? Or good French shows in general - I have an idea of the more recent stuff but anything older than 2010 was mostly off my radar.
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