A programming reminder: The remaining Adventures of Superman episode that was skipped over on the first run-through, "Star of Fate," is scheduled to air this Saturday (April 11) at 6 PM Eastern.
MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night
- Thread starter JD
- Start date
Unless they skip it again. IIRC, it was also listed the first time around.
Sure, but if they do show it, I don't want to miss it.
Absolutely, and thanks for the heads-up.
Who is it? 
She kind of resembles....
....but I'm not sure.
She kind of resembles....
....Loretta Swit....
....but I'm not sure.
So...one last mess of an Adventures of Superman episode....
The people of Metropolis are written as idiotically as ever...thrice opening the box, two of those times telegraphed by a warning not to open the box.
It was hard to be sympathetic to Whitlock when he was in the habit of leaving the box's victims lying on the floor with no concern for their welfare.
Egypt is days away by "even by jet"? That seems like a bit of an exaggeration even for the 1950s. Maybe if they knew offhand that a flight to Egypt wasn't going out anytime soon.
And Clark's ID is saved by such a lame handwave of an excuse that they needn't have bothered having him explain it at all.
The people of Metropolis are written as idiotically as ever...thrice opening the box, two of those times telegraphed by a warning not to open the box.
It was hard to be sympathetic to Whitlock when he was in the habit of leaving the box's victims lying on the floor with no concern for their welfare.
Egypt is days away by "even by jet"? That seems like a bit of an exaggeration even for the 1950s. Maybe if they knew offhand that a flight to Egypt wasn't going out anytime soon.
And Clark's ID is saved by such a lame handwave of an excuse that they needn't have bothered having him explain it at all.
Superman: "Star of Fate": I know I shouldn't have expected more from this episode just because I was kept waiting so long, but it really isn't very impressive. A lot doesn't make sense. Why didn't Lois tell anyone she saw Barnak holding a gun on Whitlock, even afterward when he wasn't there to threaten her? And how come he didn't have the gun in his hand a second later when he wrote on the notepad? Why were Lois and Jimmy so concerned with calling an ambulance for the secretary, yet then forgot all about her to argue with Barnak? How come Whitlock told Barnak he was putting the box where no one could find it, and then told him exactly where that was? How could someone accustomed to working with nitroglycerin be so careless as to leave it lying around? How come Clark called the doctor "Wilson" when it said "Anderson" on his door?
And then there's that whole "pyramid plant" thing. A plant that grows only at the base of the Great Pyramid? Umm, you mean in the middle of the Sahara Desert? Even the stock footage made it clear that it's a pretty barren area. I liked the gag of Superman lifting up the corner of the whole pyramid to get at the plant, though.
And clearly a scene was cut out here, since Clark and Lois were talking in the car about a whole puppet show that we didn't see. Usually the edits aren't so obvious.
"Fine Finny Fiends/Batman Makes the Scenes": A bit convenient that Bruce and Dick just happened to be in the study when Alfred wasn't there to answer the Batphone. Might've made an interesting complication to see what would happen if they weren't there.
If the Penguin Box never fails, how come Pengy's never brainwashed anyone before?
In-joke alert: The first two "criminal types" whose photos Alfred was shown in the Batcave were producers William Dozier and Howie Horwitz.
That shot at the start of Part 2 with Julie Gregg bent forward with the henchmen pumping that big bellows behind her was probably the most blatant sexual innuendo this show ever did. Although I didn't recognize that as a kid, of course...
This is kind of an inconsistent story. Penguin et al. aren't surprised at all to learn that Batman and Robin are still alive (unless there's a cut scene). And Finella is inconsistently characterized; if she's just an innocent who wanted to win a contest and doesn't have the stomach for serious crime, why was she so thrilled by the deathtrap?
Also: "Boss, we can't go back to the pier, the cops know all about it!" "I know, but we can't afford to build another set, so let's pretend it's brilliant because it's the last place they'd look!"
All in all, not the strongest ending to the season. Fortunately, the Penguin would have a much better showing in his next appearance, Batman: The Movie. (I'm tempted to track down a copy of that and watch it in sequence. Although it didn't come out between seasons; apparently it was released on the same day the first episode guest-starring Liberace was aired.)
Wonder Woman: "The Bushwhackers": Texas, a bastion of multicultural inclusion? Well, I guess that's about as plausible as a magic lasso...
Not a great episode. With all the cute kids dominating the story, I'm having flashbacks to Galactica 1980 and the Super Scouts. And while I like the idea of using the mob as heavies for a change from Nazis, doing it secondhand with cattle rustlers as the main bad guys rather undermines it.
Still, I quite liked Wonder Woman's ensemble at the ranch, with the red blouse and white slacks along with her usual boots, belt, and tiara. It worked quite well and was very fetching.
Man, Wonder Woman has got to stop telling everyone about her magic belt. Either that, or she's got to redesign the fastener so it's harder to take off. After all, she can change clothes just by spinning.
I've noticed that at least some scenes in these MeTV-aired episodes are sped up to fit in more commercials, but it was really noticeable in the last half of this episode, more so than usual. I'm starting to wonder why I watch these episodes cut up and sped up on MeTV instead of just getting the DVDs from Netflix. I guess it's because I only get one DVD at a time, and having an alternate source for old shows lets me get through them faster.
And then there's that whole "pyramid plant" thing. A plant that grows only at the base of the Great Pyramid? Umm, you mean in the middle of the Sahara Desert? Even the stock footage made it clear that it's a pretty barren area. I liked the gag of Superman lifting up the corner of the whole pyramid to get at the plant, though.
And clearly a scene was cut out here, since Clark and Lois were talking in the car about a whole puppet show that we didn't see. Usually the edits aren't so obvious.
"Fine Finny Fiends/Batman Makes the Scenes": A bit convenient that Bruce and Dick just happened to be in the study when Alfred wasn't there to answer the Batphone. Might've made an interesting complication to see what would happen if they weren't there.
If the Penguin Box never fails, how come Pengy's never brainwashed anyone before?
In-joke alert: The first two "criminal types" whose photos Alfred was shown in the Batcave were producers William Dozier and Howie Horwitz.
That shot at the start of Part 2 with Julie Gregg bent forward with the henchmen pumping that big bellows behind her was probably the most blatant sexual innuendo this show ever did. Although I didn't recognize that as a kid, of course...
This is kind of an inconsistent story. Penguin et al. aren't surprised at all to learn that Batman and Robin are still alive (unless there's a cut scene). And Finella is inconsistently characterized; if she's just an innocent who wanted to win a contest and doesn't have the stomach for serious crime, why was she so thrilled by the deathtrap?
Also: "Boss, we can't go back to the pier, the cops know all about it!" "I know, but we can't afford to build another set, so let's pretend it's brilliant because it's the last place they'd look!"
All in all, not the strongest ending to the season. Fortunately, the Penguin would have a much better showing in his next appearance, Batman: The Movie. (I'm tempted to track down a copy of that and watch it in sequence. Although it didn't come out between seasons; apparently it was released on the same day the first episode guest-starring Liberace was aired.)
Wonder Woman: "The Bushwhackers": Texas, a bastion of multicultural inclusion? Well, I guess that's about as plausible as a magic lasso...
Not a great episode. With all the cute kids dominating the story, I'm having flashbacks to Galactica 1980 and the Super Scouts. And while I like the idea of using the mob as heavies for a change from Nazis, doing it secondhand with cattle rustlers as the main bad guys rather undermines it.
Still, I quite liked Wonder Woman's ensemble at the ranch, with the red blouse and white slacks along with her usual boots, belt, and tiara. It worked quite well and was very fetching.
Man, Wonder Woman has got to stop telling everyone about her magic belt. Either that, or she's got to redesign the fastener so it's harder to take off. After all, she can change clothes just by spinning.
I've noticed that at least some scenes in these MeTV-aired episodes are sped up to fit in more commercials, but it was really noticeable in the last half of this episode, more so than usual. I'm starting to wonder why I watch these episodes cut up and sped up on MeTV instead of just getting the DVDs from Netflix. I guess it's because I only get one DVD at a time, and having an alternate source for old shows lets me get through them faster.
And not just Texas, but Texas in the 1940s...and those kids looked very 1970s.
Also, this was one of those occasions when they made a big deal about referring to Steve Trevor as a "war hero"...which implies that he's seen action overseas. When?
OTOH...Roy Rogers!
On that note, for you and any other MeTV watchers out there, there's a new retro cable channel launching called Decades that's owned by the same parent company and has access to the same programming as Me. From what I read, they're supposed to be doing theme days of various programs with some segments between programs to add historical perspective. Right now they're doing something called "Countdown to Decades", which involves showing "Series Binges" of one program at a time, airing every episode of a series over the course of days. They've been doing a Mission: Impossible binge for the past few days, and it looks like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is up next starting on Monday night.
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Ah, cute. That's a cool idea.no, she is...
Cathy Lee Crosby, the original Wonder Woman!
Maybe the place they were going to in Egypt was days away from the airport?
Nice! I'll see if Comcast is carrying it. Thanks for the heads up.
It was the Great Pyramid. That's right next to Cairo. Not that far from the airport. (Well, next to downtown Giza, but that's part of Greater Cairo.)
On my Comcast it's 233...buried in a part of the lineup where I was lucky to stumble across it. I wasn't sure what it was about from the channel itself..."Countdown to Decades" seemed like an awkward name for a cable network...but I got curious and found a wiki article.
So much for that excuse then.
233 is Destination America on mine. That Wiki page lists it as a sub-channel of the local CBS affiliate since February, but I don't see it on the Comcast lineup. More research is needed. I don have their other sister channel, Movies!, though.
Maybe it'll turn up.
For anyone who might be getting the channel, it looks like the next Series Binge will be The Man from UNCLE starting early Saturday morning.
For anyone who might be getting the channel, it looks like the next Series Binge will be The Man from UNCLE starting early Saturday morning.
Batman: "Shoot a Crooked Arrow"/"Walk the Straight and Narrow": It occurs to me that this is basically Batman vs. Green Arrow, what with all the trick arrows the Archer uses, and the Robin Hood theme. But man, is Art Carney ever an odd casting choice for the role. Maybe the incongruity of it was the whole idea, but it doesn't particularly work. Carney is just clumsy and annoying in the role.
It's an interesting variation on the format for B&R to actually capture the bad guys in the first episode, only to have to let them go. And we've also got the complication of corruption in the Wayne Foundation.
This is a big episode for Alfred -- he turns out to be a master of archery and gets his first stab at playing Batman. We also learn that he's from Liverpool -- though he's totally lost the accent. (Alan Napier was from Worcestershire.)
And even though this aired before the movie came out, they worked in movie footage of the Batboat launching sequence, even with a music cue from the film. I guess maybe I should've watched the movie before this. Oh, well.
By the way, Robin, it's not exactly "Holy Houdini" for the Archer's gang to disappear when you were wasting time chatting to Dick Clark!
"Wonder Woman in Hollywood": Oh, look! War hero Ted Stryker is here to re-enact the battle over Macho Grande! Although I don't think he'll ever get over Macho Grande...
While Ames's confession was kind of an interesting story, this was otherwise a rather dull finale to the first season and the WWII era of the series -- compounded by the return of the still quite dull Drusilla. The main point of (very mild) interest was seeing the production using Warner Bros.' own studio facilities in-story.
Let's see, Louis B. is Mayer, of course, but I didn't recognize the nickname "J.L." But a little Wiki-ing shows that it was the nickname of Jack Warner, one of the eponymous Warner brothers.
Oh, look, and one of the guys trying to kidnap Robert Hays is Barry Van Dyke.
Programming note: MeTV will not be showing the 90-minute 2nd-season premiere "The Return of Wonder Woman," skipping right to the next episode "Anschluss '77." I'll be renting the episode on DVD as I did with the pilot.
It's an interesting variation on the format for B&R to actually capture the bad guys in the first episode, only to have to let them go. And we've also got the complication of corruption in the Wayne Foundation.
This is a big episode for Alfred -- he turns out to be a master of archery and gets his first stab at playing Batman. We also learn that he's from Liverpool -- though he's totally lost the accent. (Alan Napier was from Worcestershire.)
And even though this aired before the movie came out, they worked in movie footage of the Batboat launching sequence, even with a music cue from the film. I guess maybe I should've watched the movie before this. Oh, well.
By the way, Robin, it's not exactly "Holy Houdini" for the Archer's gang to disappear when you were wasting time chatting to Dick Clark!
"Wonder Woman in Hollywood": Oh, look! War hero Ted Stryker is here to re-enact the battle over Macho Grande! Although I don't think he'll ever get over Macho Grande...
While Ames's confession was kind of an interesting story, this was otherwise a rather dull finale to the first season and the WWII era of the series -- compounded by the return of the still quite dull Drusilla. The main point of (very mild) interest was seeing the production using Warner Bros.' own studio facilities in-story.
Let's see, Louis B. is Mayer, of course, but I didn't recognize the nickname "J.L." But a little Wiki-ing shows that it was the nickname of Jack Warner, one of the eponymous Warner brothers.
Oh, look, and one of the guys trying to kidnap Robert Hays is Barry Van Dyke.
Programming note: MeTV will not be showing the 90-minute 2nd-season premiere "The Return of Wonder Woman," skipping right to the next episode "Anschluss '77." I'll be renting the episode on DVD as I did with the pilot.
Surely you realize that Ted Stryker was an entirely different character...altogether.
Yeah, they skipped the second season pilot film last time as well...which I found confusing until they aired it during a Friday night movie slot that they had going at the time. As I recall, it was largely a retread of the first pilot's origin sequences.
Yeah, they skipped the second season pilot film last time as well...which I found confusing until they aired it during a Friday night movie slot that they had going at the time. As I recall, it was largely a retread of the first pilot's origin sequences.
"Surely you realize that Ted Stryker was an entirely different character." How was that?
And don't call me Shirley.
Probably because it moved to a new network, so it was starting over in a way.
I made it a point to watch Superman for the time travel episode. I was a little disappointed to not see any anachronistic dinosaurs, but we did get cavegirl Lois. And these ace reporters surely do have a blind spot when it comes to Clark and Superman. 
And TV Superman cannot break the time barrier.
And TV Superman cannot break the time barrier.
