MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night

[Christopher]

In POTA, the chimpanzees are thoughtful, the gorillas warlike, and orangutans politicians.

While in real life, chimpanzees are warlike and violent, gorillas are placid unless provoked, and orangutans are solitary and less social than other great apes. As I've said before, PotA basically got everything about ape behavior backward.

Although in its defense, it didn't originate the stereotypes it uses. The myth of gorillas as vicious predators was invented by a horrible person named Paul Du Chaillu, the first European to confirm the existence of gorillas, which he did by shooting them in cold blood and stuffing their corpses for display, and making his slaughter more palatable by pretending he was defending himself against murderous monsters. And we've all seen plenty of TV shows and movies portraying chimpanzees as cute, clownish little critters, probably because of the comical appearance of their faces and expressions -- although every one of those chimps we've seen onscreen has been an infant or juvenile, since adult male chimpanzees are far stronger and meaner than humans and impossible to train or control. And at the time the original book and movie were written, chimps were still generally believed to be herbivores, as I said. As for PotA's portrayal of orangs, I guess it put them in the role of elders and leaders because they looked the part, although PotA's orangutan makeup doesn't look much like real male orangs due to the absence of the cheek pouches.

I'm glad the current PotA movie series has been portraying ape behavior far more authentically.

Gabrielle was the hero of the piece to me--seeing the worth of old and new. The young men I viewed as no different than book-burners or any other fundamentalist.

I think that's overly harsh. To all indications, the museum did take the artifacts from Navajo land without tribal permission, which is straight-up theft and appropriation. And David didn't seem bothered in the least by the fact that he was personally desecrating a burial ground. So the youths had every right to be angry about that, even if their response was excessive. Note that both sides bent at the end -- Professor Williams announced that they'd be opening a new museum on tribal land, so that the artifacts would stay where they belonged. So he admitted that he and his museum had been in the wrong there.

And the book-burner analogy doesn't work, because book-burners are usually members of the elite group wishing to suppress subversive ideas that would challenge their cultural or political power. The power dynamic was the other way around in this case.

By the same token, yes, there are members of oppressed groups who make negative generalizations about the group that oppressed them, but that's kind of understandable under the circumstances. It's very different from the negative generalizations that the oppressors invent to justify their oppression. It's not symmetrical when there's a fundamental difference in the power dynamic. A victim's hate for victimizers is not a good thing, no, but it's not nearly as bad as a victimizer's hate for their victims. The former is a reaction to being deprived of power, the latter is an excuse for abusing power.

I wonder if anything would be left in museums if everyone wanted everything back--from the Elgin Marbles to the Nefertiti Bust, no taxes for public museums and libraries.

Plenty of artifacts end up in museums through consensual arrangements with the people who have a rightful claim to them, whether through donation, tours, or outright purchase. So it makes no sense to defend the outright theft of artifacts as some sort of cultural necessity. Consent makes all the difference.

Now it was probably just the damsel role that she was being fit into, but I actually got a bit of a vibe in the climax that Gabrielle was being a tad manipulative. When David was trapped in the case, she was urging him to do something (change into the Hulk, basically, since he was clearly helpless as Banner), and then she went out of her way to provoke her captors in order to trigger a change.

I think any manipulativeness there was on the writers' part. Gabrielle did say before that she found the creature terrifying. The Hulk might have saved her before, but that didn't mean she'd be comfortable with summoning him again. Especially since, as an archaeologist, she'd be reluctant to risk damage to the museum's collection.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Time Tunnel
"The Day the Sky Fell In"
Originally aired September 30, 1966

Unless there's an historical allusion that I'm unaware of, that seems like a pretty generic title that would have fit better with last week's episode. Why not "Day of Infamy"?

I don't think the details about the Japanese fleet movements on December 6 were accurate, though.

Likewise the Navy's relief at their feint, as if they were expecting an impending attack...or wouldn't want to know what those carriers were going to be up to.

Also, did the Japanese ambassadors even know about the sneak attack IRL? Even if they did get a warning, they seem to know too much about overall fleet plans here.

Not to mention that the first time that Team Tunnel looks back to see the Japanese fleet on the move, the only ships that we see aren't carriers. And while I assume that the mass on-foot exodus to the countryside was footage from a movie, was there really such an exodus?

The part about Tony's dad having to warn the Enterprise to turn back must certainly be inaccurate. IRL, the carriers simply weren't at Pearl...and if they were at sea and that close, I'd think they'd want to engage the Japanese and defend Pearl, not turn tail.

Say...the Enterprise--Isn't that the name of the spaceship on that new show I've been catching Thursday nights?

If you're looking for a more solid Trek connection--young Tony was played by the kid from "A Piece of the Action."

though Tony was certainly trying to make a change (though he only ended up confirming the immutability of history by ensuring his own younger self's survival)

At least not knowing the fate of his father gave Tony a rationale for mucking with his own past. For a short bit there it seemed like they didn't want to expose the attack...but then they wasted no time in doing so. And blurting out about the atomic bomb was just a very bad idea. Also, why would Tony refer to his father by rank and surname when under the effects of truth serum?

An episode about the event that brought the U.S. into World War II....The appropriate James Darren song cross-reference would have to be:

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[Christopher]

Unless there's an historical allusion that I'm unaware of, that seems like a pretty generic title that would have fit better with last week's episode. Why not "Day of Infamy"?

Maybe because the focus was more on Tony losing his father. "The Day the Sky Fell In" is a very apt description for that feeling.

Also, did the Japanese ambassadors even know about the sneak attack IRL? Even if they did get a warning, they seem to know too much about overall fleet plans here.

Apparently a notification message was transmitted to the Japanese embassy in DC to be delivered to the US government just before the attack, but it didn't get delivered until it was just too late, although it seems there were many in the military who didn't want the US notified. So there's some question of whether it was even meant to be a sneak attack.

And blurting out about the atomic bomb was just a very bad idea.

Yeah, that was a very reckless thing for a time traveler to do.

Also, why would Tony refer to his father by rank and surname name when under the effects of truth serum?

Maybe he had a very strict father.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Gabrielle was the hero of the piece to me--seeing the worth of old and new. The young men I viewed as no different than book-burners or any other fundamentalists.

How so? They were protecting their history--forms of communication (art), graves, you name it--from exploitation at the hands of those outside their tribe/community. Considering the treatment of the Navajo people in the U.S., they were justified in their complaints, while dismissive, racially insensitive people like McGee were not.

 

[Skipper]

And if they could bring a bomb back to the present, why the heck can't they bring Doug and Tony back?

Wasn't it implied in the following episodes the tunnel didn't return the travellers because they had a job to do? Or It was Quantum Leap..?

 

[Christopher]

Wasn't it implied in the following episodes the tunnel didn't return the travellers because they had a job to do? Or It was Quantum Leap..?

That was Quantum Leap.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Time Tunnel
"The Last Patrol"
Originally aired October 7, 1966

See, this is why we have typecasting! I can't see freakin' Carroll O'Connor pop up in an old show and not think, "OMG, it's [insert iconic role here]!"

For a super-secret project, they sure bring enough guest stars into the facility...and the guest stars never seem as surprised as they should be about the whole time travel thing. Wanna risk changing history? All you have to do is call in a favor!

I knew as soon as Tony said that they couldn't change the outcome of the battle, they'd change the outcome of the battle.

This will be my last TTT unless Decades does a Binge or something. This is the part where I'd normally post a James Darren song cross-reference, but when the episode features Carroll O'Connor traveling back to the past, how can I resist...?

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[The Old Mixer]

And tonight, on The Incredible Hulk:

"The Confession"
Originally aired May 4, 1979

An inexperienced reporter is assigned to help Jack McGee with his pursuit of the Hulk. But to McGee's dismay, she does a story about a shy man who claims to be the Hulk's alter ego.

Events in the news during the hiatus between episodes:

April 10

• A tornado hits Wichita Falls, Texas, killing 42 people (the most notable of 26 tornadoes that day).
• Cambodia recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

April 11 – Tanzanian troops take Kampala, the capital of Uganda; Idi Amin flees.
April 13 – The La Soufrière volcano erupts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
April 15 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A major earthquake (7.0 on the Richter scale) strikes Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.
April 17 – Schoolchildren in the Central African Republic are arrested (and around 100 killed) for protesting against compulsory school uniforms. An African judicial commission later determines that Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa "almost certainly" took part in the massacre.
April 20 – President Jimmy Carter is attacked by a swamp rabbit while fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, USA.
April 22 – The Albert Einstein Memorial is unveiled at The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
April 23 – Fighting breaks out in London between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group; protester Blair Peach receives fatal injuries during the incident, now officially attributed to the SPG.

May 1 – Greenland is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own Parliament sitting in Nuuk.
May 4 – Counting in the previous day's British general election shows that the Conservatives have won and Margaret Thatcher becomes the country's first female prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.

New on the U.S. charts since the last episode:

"When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman," Dr. Hook

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(Peak positions: #6 US; #5 AC; #68 Country; #1 UK)

"Honesty," Billy Joel

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(Peak positions: #24 US; #9 AC)

"Hot Stuff," Donna Summer

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(Peak positions: #1 US; #1 Dance; #3 R&B; #11 UK; #103 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

"I Want You to Want Me," Cheap Trick

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(Peak positions: #7 US; #29 UK)

"We Are Family," Sister Sledge

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(Peak positions: #2 US; #30 AC; #1 Dance; #1 R&B; #8 UK)

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[RJDiogenes]

See, this is why we have typecasting! I can't see freakin' Carroll O'Connor pop up in an old show and not think, "OMG, it's [insert iconic role here]!"

I saw Alan Hale Jr in an episode of Zane Grey Theater yesterday and I kept expecting him to hit somebody with his hat.

New on the U.S. charts since the last episode:

Ow. Ow. Ow.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Ow. Ow. Ow.

You might find the similar posts that I've been doing for the weekly TOS 50th anniversary rewatch threads a bit more to your liking:

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/50th-anniversary-rewatch-thread.283256/page-3#post-11733490

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/50th-anniversary-rewatch-thread.283256/page-4#post-11738706

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/party-like-its-1966.283039/page-4#post-11749342

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/party-like-its-1966.283039/page-6#post-11762573

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/party-like-its-1966.283039/page-8#post-11772653

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/party-like-its-1966.283039/page-8#post-11778621

 

[JD]

I watched the Batman '66 movie this morning on Netflix and since we a talked about the show earlier, I figured this was a good place to post my thoughts.
I really was a bigger episode of the show, which was great.
I was really hoping for a bigger version of the credits, so I was disappointed when all the credits were was the characters in colored spotlights.
Haha, the Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, I was wondering which story that came from.
Does anybody know why Lee Meriwether played Catwoman instead of Julie Newmar?
I was really surprised they actually killed the goons who were dehydrated.

 

[The Old Mixer]

and since we a talked about the show earlier, I figured this was a good place to post my thoughts.

FWIW, I've been reviewing the two episodes a week that H&I's been showing in The Classic/Retro TV Thread...started it here, but there was so much other, newer review business going on in here with Me's Saturday night lineup change. I've even been cross-forum necro-quoting from @Christopher 's old reviews.

 

[JD]

Ah, I hadn't been to that thread.
One other thing, were the different actors playing the same villains supposed to be the same character? I could maybe buy that with Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether, but it's a little harder to buy when you throw Ertha Kitt into the mix, and Frank Gorshin and John Astin too. I think the three Mr. Freezes looked very different, and I think they also wore totally different suits.

 

[The Old Mixer]

It's hard to say...I was always under the impression that we were supposed to think of them as being the same characters played by multiple actors, and the show didn't do anything to break that illusion that I'm aware of...but then there's the awkward business of Batman not recognizing Catwoman without her mask in the film.

 

[Christopher]

Haha, the Shark Repellent Bat-Spray, I was wondering which story that came from.

It also shows up in "Surf's Up, Joker's Under" in season 3.

Does anybody know why Lee Meriwether played Catwoman instead of Julie Newmar?

Newmar was unavailable for the film due to other commitments. That's also the reason she was missing from season 3 -- she was filming the movie Mackenna's Gold at the time.

One other thing, were the different actors playing the same villains supposed to be the same character? I could maybe buy that with Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether, but it's a little harder to buy when you throw Ertha Kitt into the mix, and Frank Gorshin and John Astin too. I think the three Mr. Freezes looked very different, and I think they also wore totally different suits.

I think the intent with Meriwether, Astin, and the Freezes was that they were the same character. Astin was certainly trying to do a Gorshin impression (not very successfully), and Mr. Freeze is the result of a unique accident, so there are unlikely to be three of them. It's possible that Kittwoman could be an inheritor of a legacy mantle, but the show was resolutely agnostic on that point.

...but then there's the awkward business of Batman not recognizing Catwoman without her mask in the film.

Except that Catwoman only appeared once in the show before the movie came out, and I believe she kept her domino mask on in all the scenes where she interacted with Batman there.

There's also the fact that the movie was originally meant to come out before the show, both to build interest for the show and to let them use a film budget to create more props, vehicles, stock footage, etc. which they could then recycle for the show, but ABC insisted on an earlier premiere date for the show and they had to postpone the movie. (That's why we don't see the Batcopter and Batboat until season 2.) So perhaps the movie was written with the assumption that Batman and Catwoman hadn't met before.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Except that Catwoman only appeared once in the show before the movie came out, and I believe she kept her domino mask on in all the scenes where she interacted with Batman there.

Hmmm...I'll have to watch for that.

There's also the fact that the movie was originally meant to come out before the show, both to build interest for the show and to let them use a film budget to create more props, vehicles, stock footage, etc. which they could then recycle for the show, but ABC insisted on an earlier premiere date for the show and they had to postpone the movie. (That's why we don't see the Batcopter and Batboat until season 2.) So perhaps the movie was written with the assumption that Batman and Catwoman hadn't met before.

That's a reasonable theory...especially as I've been noticing some pretty loosey-goosey chronological continuity in the regular episodes...one two-parter will take place in July, the next in April. That certainly leaves wiggle room for the movie to take place whenever the hell it wants to.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

"The Confession"--

At the Santa Clara Medical Center, evening custodian David is locked away in the Computer Analysis Room, using the X-3700 computer in conjunction with his portable recorder, vial and syringe...

David: "Alright. I'm ready to begin the test on experimental drug S-27 for possible effect on adrenal function. The serum antidote S-27A to be used in the event of a hypertensive episode."

In Chicago, at the National Register building, McGee grumbles about being drafted to take part in a student training program; at that moment, he meets Pamela Norris, and instantly butts heads with the young reporter-to-be--

Pamela: "I'm the student assigned to you on the work/study program."
McGee: "Ah-hah....well...Pam--"
Pamela: "Pamela--please!"
McGee: "Well...Pamela, be here at 6 a.m...that's not 6:15."
Pamela: "Listen, I understand you're not too happy about this Mr. McGee, but I just want you to know I've completed four years of college, and my master's thesis, and I was the first woman editor--"

With that, the annoyed McGee interrupts--

McGee: "Frankly, Pamela, I'm not too interested in your diplomas. All I'm interested in is do you have what it takes to make a good reporter...and being myself an ace reporter, I could not help but observe that you are indeed a woman! Now there's your first lesson: never comment on the obvious! See you in the morning."

In a small apartment, nebbish computer research employee Harold Milburn sets a place for one at his dinner table, then leaves...

At the Santa Clara lab, David records computer monitor data readout of his vital signs, then injects S-27 into his arm..

David: "Decreased adrenal gland function should control the metamorphosis...second stage completed. Blood sample analysis now being programmed."

Outside, Harold walks to his job at the medical center.....

In the lab, David sees his blood pressure, respiration and pulse suddenly rise to dangerous levels--

David: "...cardiac overload imminent!"

Suffering from a form of extreme hypertension bordering on full arrest, the shaking David tries to inject antidote 37-A to counter his adrenal gland overreaction to S-27, but the effects quickly overwhelm him. Clutching his head in pain, he transforms into the Hulk, and immediately tears consoles apart in a pain-induced rage, just as Harold enters the lab--obviously astounded by the sight. The Hulk holds his head in pain from S-27, but breaks his way out of the medical center--Harold retrieving David's shirt, and chasing after him.

Harold tracks the Hulk to a bowling alley (the patrons ran in panic at the sight of the Hulk), but loses the creature.

The next day, McGee--with Pamela--fly to California, on the trail of the latest Hulk sighting. Pamela knows her presence is not welcome--

Pamela: "The Hulk was spotted in Santa Clara and you don't want to take me along. I understand how you feel. I asked to apprentice at The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times--real newspapers--so the National Register was not my first choice!"
McGee: "Well, at least we have something in common."

Recovered, David calls the medical center pretending to be Dr. Benton, asking about the X-3700 computer; confirming his belief that the Hulk destroyed it. David fakes his way into the building records room and copies the data tape file number taken during his session....

At the California office of the National Register, McGee still tries to sideline Pamela--

McGee: "So while I'm out on the streets, you can stay here and man the phones, that way I can call stuff in--like a bay station."
Pamela: "Bay station?? This is a newspaper article, not war correspondence! I came here to work, Jack!"
McGee: "Pamela, you were supposed to be here to help me, not play Brenda Starr!"

Pamela notices Harold sitting in a corner, eyeing McGee, and alerts the reporter; Harold claims he is the Hulk. McGee laughs him off, telling Pamela that he does not resemble the man he spent time with (in "Mystery Man). Pamela does not want to dismiss Harold so quickly, which McGee uses to occupy her time, while he heads off in pursuit of the "real" Hulk story.

Harold takes Pamela to his apartment, where he has pinned Hulk photos--and crudely colored bodybuilder photos to the wall, along with a map of the U.S., marked for various Hulk sightings. Slowly, a character profile is formed: Harold displays his high school R.O.T.C. marksmanship certificate, and admits he once wanted to be a police officer, but he blames his failing to make the cut on being too short. As evidence for his being the Hulk, he produces Banner's torn shirt...

McGee questions the medical center's publicity representative Alan O'Neil about the computer room's destruction--

O'Neill: "I have you word, McGee--the article will call this vandalism."
McGee: "Yeah, sure, sure, sure...of course, off the record, you and I both know that its the Hulk."
O'Neil: "Hah! I don't know that..and neither will the board of directors, who happen to be deciding on a grant for the computer department."
McGee: "Oh, I see..its what's good PR for a bowling alley isn't necessarily good for a medical center."
O'Neill: "You're sharp, McGee. Listen, do me a favor--come and see me when you get tired of running after big, green monsters."

David arrives at the medical center lobby, asking about the security area, but runs into Pamela, announcing her employer--and the presence of McGee at the center. David beats a path away from the premises.

In the computer room, McGee tries to hide from, then sneak up on Pamela, only for the capable young woman to use a basic martial arts move to twist McGee's arm and send him into a console. McGee's bruised ego aside, Pamela shares her own investigative work--

Pamela: "I followed the trail."
McGee: "What trail?"
Pamela: "The Hulk's trail. Isn't that how you got here? You know, Jack, I think Harold is very interesting."
McGee: "Maybe..."
Pamela: "No, I think he'd make a terrific human interest story."
McGee: "Listen! Human interest stories do not make front page!"
Pamela: "I disagree--I think a good human story could sell a lot of papers! You know, he works here--I think he might know a lot more than he's letting on."
McGee: "He lost a lot of credibility when he claimed that he was the Hulk!!"
Pamela: "Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions??"
McGee: "LISTEN, YOU!! I've tolerated you so far because the boss told me I had to, but don't make the mistake of assuming that you and I are a partnership!!! TO PUT IT BLUNTLY, PAMELA--YOU'RE A LOT MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU'RE WORTH!!"

Pamela is insulted--steaming. She leaves McGee in the lab.

Back at the Register offices, the resilient Pamela continues--

Pamela: "Jack, about Harold..."
McGee: "You don't give up, do you?"
Pamela: "Look what he gave me--and there are pictures, too."
McGee: "I can't believe that you fell for the old torn shirt routine. Pamela, there are Hulk groupies in every city in this country--the only difference with this little guy, he's a bit crazier than the rest!"
Pamela: "I'm telling you, Jack, I think there's a story there!"
McGee: "The story has been written before. It usually has an unhappy ending. He hates his mother--right? He eats alone...he resents authority figures and has feelings of inferiority because he's short...shall I go on?"
Pamela: "But you haven't talked to him, Jack!"
McGee: "..a little shy, perhaps..introverted...longs for the discipline of the military life, but doesn't quite fit in?"
Pamela: "Well, you may be right about a couple of things, but I still think--"
McGee: "Pamela...if you keep giving this guy media exposure, you're setting him up for a Helluva disappointment."

Pamela confesses that the story she sent in--with McGee's by-line--was not his, but her story about Harold. Days later, David sees the story and is disturbed by one detail: Harold may not be the Hulk, but he might have witnessed the actual man transform into the creature...

McGee is not having his best day, as his boss not only loves the story, but thinks McGee & Pamela make a great team. McGee begrudgingly admits Pamela is a good writer--but to support her story, they need more information from the medical center...

David tracks down Harold as David Beeman from View Magazine, with an interest in interviewing Harold; the nerdy man (already trying to profit from the Register piece by printing publicity photos of himself) lights up at the idea, and agrees to meet David at the town square. Later, Harold returns to the Register office, upset that he's not in the follow-up story, and that he's not the man who becomes the Hulk. Harold is hurt--particularly when Pamela gently tells him that he just not the Hulk--

Harold: "It's all lies, isn't it? You lied to me, lied to your paper.."
McGee: "Look, Harold....I'm very sorry, but you can't expect us.."

As McGee reaches for Harold's arm, the man pulls away angrily--

Harold: "The funny thing is...you're right....I'm not the Hulk...but I do know who the man is! I saw the change...just like you said."
McGee: "What does he look like, Harold?"
Harold: "View Magazine is gonna do the story on us!"
McGee: "That's nice. Who is he?"
Harold: "You wanna story? You come to the square by city hall at 12 o'clock noon. I'll give you a story!"
McGee: "Why don't you just tell us now?"
Harold: "You forget it!! I don't need you two--or your crummy paper!!"
Pamela: "Harold, please--I'm so sorry--i didn't mean to hurt you!"
Harold: "...you can't hurt me..."
McGee: (to Pamela) "Look...let's have some lunch--this isn't gonna do us any good."
Harold: "YOU BOTH THINK YOU'RE SO SMART!! Well, View magazine's gonna get a real story!! You'll see!! You can't ignore me anymore!! I'll show you.....I'll show everyone!"

Later, at Harold's home, the disturbed man calls the Channel 6 news--promising the death of a man later that afternoon...

Elsewhere, Pamela uncovers the medical center logs proving Harold was at the facility at the time of the Hulk's rampage...

David goes to the town square, suspiciously scanning the area for Harold, when the man calls to David--from the bell tower. Meeting in the tower, David recognizes Harold (when he was the Hulk), but continues the reporter ruse for information on the computer used in his experiments--

David: "I understand that there was some vandalism to the X-3700 was damaged."
Harold: "It wasn't vandalism. It was the Hulk. I saw him."
David: "But you didn't see the metamorphosis?"
Harold: "I saw the Hulk."
David: "The damage to the computer--how soon do you think it can be repaired?"
Harold: "uhh--i don't know. What does that got to do with anything?"
David: "I'm just trying to get all the information that I can--for example, the security lock-up system...you know about that? Where the used computer tapes are stored?"
Harold: "Yeah...sure. Why?"
David: "It's important."
Harold: "I-I-I..what does that have to do with the Hulk?"
David: "I'm just trying to get as much background as I can, that's all."
Harold: "I know what it is....you don't believe me. No one believes me. Not you...o-or Pamela, or McGee...Channel 6 probably won't even show up."
David: (startled) "Channel 6?"
Harold: "Yeah. There's gonna be a big story here today, Mr. Beeman. I--I told the National Register, too.Harold Milburn's gonna be biog news by tonight!"
David: "Harold, look--I have to go."
Harold: "Y-you can't go! They're all gonna be here!"
David: "I'm sorry Harold, I have to leave!"

As David makes his way to the stairs, Pamela runs up, calling for Harold. David waits for her to pass, then sneaks down the staircase--but is stopped cold by the sight of McGee driving up. Harold moves over the guardrail, with a panicked Pamela trying to pull him back; McGee calls out to the man, trying to talk him to safety. David races up the stairs again--trapped.

Harold prepares to jump to his death--

Pamela: "I'm sorry, Harold. Mr. McGee is sorry, too. No one meant to hurt you, we were only trying to be honest. Please come down, Harold!"
Harold: "You're so pretty..a girl like you...would never talk to me.Just...just talk. Just because I'm me."
Pamela: "Yes I would, Harold."
Harold: "No--don't. Don't lie to me! Nobody even cared about me until I got famous.I'm not gonna let you take that away from me! I'd rather be dead!"
Pamela: "Harold, come in here. We can help you. Take care of you. Take my hand. Come on. Please..."

Suddenly, the giant bell rings--its reverberating noise sends Harold over the edge, hanging my his fingertips; Pamela tries to reach for him, but the deafening bell is preventing her from reaching him. A few feet away, David covers his ears in pain, triggering a Hulk-out. The creature dislodges the giant bell, and hurls it to the streets below--the awestruck Pamela finally witnessing that which she doubted. The Hulk rips the concrete railing away, finally pulling Harold to safety, carrying him away.

McGee--in the face of a life and death situation--cannot pass up opportunity, so he (and some volunteer reporters) grab a large "elephant net" from his trunk, and race after the creature (still carrying Harold), missing him after jumping to the surface street. Knowing his enemy, the creature rips the fire escape ladder from the walkway--just as McGee reached for it. As the Hulk runs off, Pamela consoles the shamed Harold.

She retrieved David's notebook with the lab security reel numbers....

The following day, Harold is back at home, phoning his mother, letting her know he's going to be okay.

At the Santa Clara Medical center, McGee, Pamela & O'Neill review the data reel with David's unnamed vitals, but it reveals nothing about why the information was used. Pamela is frustrated because the mystery man was only a few feet away from her, but she missed the chance to learn his human identity. McGee tells her not to be hard on herself.

Pamela admits the national Register was not her first choice, but working with McGee was.

On yet another lonely road (yes, a stock shot), David moves on.

NOTES:

Cure-related episode; there's no established time between "Kindred Spirits" and "The Confession," but it must be considerable, since David had enough time to research & develop serums designed to control his Hulk side.

Continuity: thinking control of his adrenal glands held the promise of a cure was discussed in earlier episodes.

One interesting part of David's own serum is that it causes one of the few times transforming into the Hulk did not protect and/or use the creature's amazing recuperative powers to overcome his reaction/problem, in a timely manner.

Although it is not explored in the finale, usually a suicide attempt with law enforcement on the scene is followed by the person held for observation for 72 hours. In 1979 that time may be different. Harold tells his mother he's alright, so the audience will have to conclude he received (or continued to receive) professional help somewhere down the line.

Superheroes must love shattering bowling pins to dust. The Hulk gets first crack in this episode, and the Man of Steel himself would help Lana's son do the same several years later in Superman III--

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Filming locations were some "backyard" memories--

@32:56 is a quick stock shot of "The Black Tower," the nickname for what was then known as MCA Tower (in Burbank), now owned by Comcast. A lot of Universal's history unfolded in that building and was once one of Southern California's most recognizable landmarks.

The Santa Clara city square was the oft-used Pasadena City Hall, and has appeared in endless TV & movie productions. From certain angles the skyline is still free of the now replaced Plaza Pasadena (mall) which opened one year later, lasting until 2001.

McGee refers to the famed Dale Messick comic strip character, Brenda Starr. This could be the only time the series mentions another comic character.

Markie Post's character had a few good building blocks--enough that she should have earned a return trip to Hulkland, or at least an offhand reference to the character's career in some future episode.


GUEST CAST:

Markie Post (Pamlela Norris) will always be Night Court's Christine Sullivan in the minds of TV fans, but of her few fantasy roles, none standout like the embarrassing, low budget pilot reboot of the 70's Saturday morning series Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (unaired, 2001). Open your eyes to the joy...or terror...

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Other fantasy credits:

• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (NBC, 1979) - the 2-part "The Plot to Kill a City"
  
• The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1981) "The Two-Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Fast Ball"
• VR.5 (FOX, 1995) - "The Many Faces of Alex"
  
• Visitors of the Night (1995)
• I've Been Waiting for You (NBC, 1998)
• Twice in a Lifetime (CTV, 2000) - "It's a Hard Knock Life"
• Ghost Whisperer (CBS, 2005) - "The Woman of His Dreams"
• Transformers Prime (The Hub, 2012-13)

Barry Gordon (Harold Milburn) has a fantasy résumé dating back to his childhood actor days, with a number of jobs from DC Comics adaptations.

• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (NBC, 1960) - "The Day of the Bullet" & "The Contest for Aaron Gold"
• Thriller (NBC, 1961) - "The Man in the Cage"
• Hands of a Stranger (Allied Artists, 1962)
• My Brother the Angel / The Smothers Brothers Show (CBS, 1966) - "The Big Newsboy War"
  
• The Spirit is Willing (Paramount, 1967)
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker (ABC, 1974) - "Horror in the Heights"
• Good Heavens (ABC, 1976) - "I Want Nancy!"
• Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (CBS, 1976 - 1979) - Fillmation's series
• Love at First Bite (AIP, 1979)
• Mr. and Mrs. Dracula (ABC, 1980 / 1981)
• The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (NBC, 1981) as the voice of Captain Marvel Jr. / Freddy Freeman
• Time Warp (Sandler Institutional Films, 1981) - also starring Adam West & Kirk Alyn
• Warp Speed (Sandler Institutional Films, 1981) - also starring Adam West
• The Mighty Orbots (ABC, 1984)
  
• Superman (CBS, 1988) - Ruby-Spears series / "Bonechill" / "The Driver's License"
• Gravedale High (NBC, 1990)
• Spacecats (NBC, 1991)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Fox Kids, 1993) - as Sheldrake in "The Mechanic" &"Blind as a Bat"
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Syndicated, 1993) - "The Nagus"
• SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (TBS, 1993-94)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (CBS / syndication, 1987-1996) as Donatello
• Star Trek: Voyager (UPN, 2001) - "Author, Author"
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon, 2014-16) as "80s Donatello"

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Does anybody know why Lee Meriwether played Catwoman instead of Julie Newmar?

JD, contrary to long-faded misinformation, Newmar was intended to participate in the film. Greenway documents confirm this, but as reported in Variety, Newmar had to back out of the Batman movie production soon after it began (April 18, 1966) due to the recurrence of a severe, chronic back injury.

Being an emergency situation, Lee Meriwether--under contract at Fox--was quickly cast in the role on April 26, 1966. This explains the recasting & Newmar's brief absence, but her availability for the full second season of Batman.

Regarding Newmar not appearing in season 3, Mackenna's Gold went before cameras on May 16, 1967, wrapping in June, so technically, she had time to re-sign for Batman. However, from the Greenway end, during the time she was shooting Mackenna's Gold, Newmar was viewed as occupied with her schedule uncertain. As a result, a Greenway memo announced the casting of Eartha Kitt, which took place on June 14, 1967, making the decision to replace Newmar final.

By September 14, Newmar was on to other things--in Italy--filming the unfinished disaster Monsieur Lecoq,

I was really surprised they actually killed the goons who were dehydrated.

In Batman's 1st season, Zelda the Great's mobster gunmen shot each other (the Dynamic Duo ducked), and in the pilot, the Riddler's moll Molly fell to her death in the Batcave's reactor.

 

[The Old Mixer]

in conjunction with his portable recorder

Another lost opportunity with David making tapes of himself that don't become a plot point.

Clutching his head in pain, he transforms into the Hulk, and immediately tears consoles apart in a pain-induced rage

-39:16. Yet another plot-driven early Hulk-Out.

The next day, McGee--with Pamela--fly to California, on the trail of the latest Hulk sighting.

McGee should just relocate to CA...the Hulk seems to get out there a lot.

Recovered, David calls the medical center pretending to be Dr. Benton

That coulda been a David B. alias, but he never specifies his first name....

McGee: "So while I'm out on the streets, you can stay here and man the phones, that way I can call stuff in--like a bay station."

Base station. (But too small to be a space station....)

along with a map of the U.S., marked for various Hulk sightings.

Have to wonder how accurate that map really is...probably not very, but they may have slipped in some specified locations from episodes.

McGee: "I can't believe that you fell for the old torn shirt routine. Pamela, there are Hulk groupies in every city in this country

I took note of that...clearly he is a phenomenon, but still might be seen as a hoax by the general public and mainstream media.

Days later, David sees the story

Note that the Register is sold in vending machines like a respectable paper. Not sure if that's common for sleazy tabloids.

David Beeman

I might have hung on to Benton if he hadn't produced this one.

Harold: "It's all lies, isn't it? You lied to me, lied to your paper.."

I know the guy's got issues, but that's pretty rich coming from someone who got into that situation by lying...

Harold: "The funny thing is...you're right....I'm not the Hulk...but I do know who the man is! I saw the change...just like you said."

...then immediately follows up with a new one.

Suddenly, the giant bell rings--its reverberating noise sends Harold over the edge, hanging my his fingertips; Pamela tries to reach for him, but the deafening bell is preventing her from reaching him. A few feet away, David covers his ears in pain, triggering a Hulk-out.

-6:38. There's an It's a Wonderful Life joke in there somewhere.

McGee--in the face of a life and death situation--cannot pass up opportunity, so he (and some volunteer reporters) grab a large "elephant net" from his trunk, and race after the creature (still carrying Harold), missing him after jumping to the surface street.

And there's a missed opportunity for a feat of strength, having the Hulk simply evade the net instead of getting caught in it and tearing it to pieces.

Pamela is frustrated because the mystery man was only a few feet away from her, but she missed the chance to learn his human identity. McGee tells her not to be hard on herself.

And he specifically indicated that saving Harold was more important than getting the Hulk's identity. Ponder upon that, if you will.

On yet another lonely road (yes, a stock shot)

I thought so!

Cure-related episode

Agreed...while the cure-related activity set up the story but wasn't its central focus, it was definitely more than lip service.

Although it is not explored in the finale, usually a suicide attempt with law enforcement on the scene is followed by the person held for observation for 72 hours.

I was thinking the same thing.

Superheroes must love shattering bowling pins to dust.

I have to wonder about the physics of that...wouldn't they be more likely to just fly away further and harder, perhaps suffering some breakage along the way? @Christopher ...?

Markie Post's character had a few good building blocks--enough that she should have earned a return trip to Hulkland

Agreed. Seemed like a waste to set her up and let her go, when Jack could have used a buddy character to have scenes with and exposit to.

The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1981) "The Two-Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Fast Ball"

Huh...I didn't know to look for her, but they were just showing that one on H&I this morning.

*

 

[Christopher]

The Time Tunnel
"The Last Patrol"
Originally aired October 7, 1966

Hey, exactly one day before the Cybermen debuted in Doctor Who. (Today's their 50th anniversary.)

This was another one that was more dramatic than I expected from this show. Plenty of credit must go to Carroll O'Connor, who was really a fantastic actor. It's surprising that they cast him in a dual role and didn't have the modern General try to impersonate his forebear or something. I was expecting them to yoink the Colonel into 1968 by accident and send the General back in his place.

For a super-secret project, they sure bring enough guest stars into the facility...and the guest stars never seem as surprised as they should be about the whole time travel thing. Wanna risk changing history? All you have to do is call in a favor!

Well, we know that Project Tic-Toc has been underway for about a decade -- and as I've remarked on before, it's an implausibly gigantic project with a larger staff than the entire Pentagon. So even if it's secret from the general public, there must be a lot of people in government, both in the US and its allies, who know about its existence. Presumably Gen. Southall was one of those, given that he and Woody are old friends.

I knew as soon as Tony said that they couldn't change the outcome of the battle, they'd change the outcome of the battle.

But they didn't. As the general explained, his ancestor was known as "The Butcher" because he inexplicably led his troops against Jackson's strong west flank and got them killed even though the investigation showed that the signal rocket indicated that the east flank was his weak point. The whole reason the general felt such an urgent need to go back was so that he could ask his infamous ancestor why he'd made such a disastrous decision. We saw at the end that the signal rocket was accidentally fired in the wrong direction -- but nobody realized that because they were all distracted by fighting Tony and Doug, and presumably Hotchkiss, the one person who did realize it, was mortally wounded and never got to report the fact. So the ending didn't change the outcome, it merely explained the mystery of it.

As far as I know, The Time Tunnel strictly followed the fixed-timeline model. As they said here, anything that was "part of history" is immutable. The only parts that are negotiable are the parts that the history books don't record. They discussed the possibility of changing history from time to time, as we saw last week when they were worried about what would happen to Adult Tony if Child Tony died, but it never actually happened. TV Tropes puts it firmly in "You Can't Fight Fate" territory, with the characters' occasional hope of changing history listed under "Genre Blindness."


The Incredible Hulk: "The Confession": This is a fun one. McGee gets to take center stage, along with the lovely Markie Post as his intrepid apprentice, and David is pretty much in a background role, one that finds him in full Mission: Impossible mode as he sneaks around and tricks people in pursuit of computer assistance with his cure research. David is so monomaniacally focused on his data that he comes off as a lot less heroic and more selfish than usual; normally you'd expect him to be the one trying to talk Harold down from the ledge, but here he just hid out even though he could hear what was happening.

And it's a great focus episode for McGee, who's still a grouch and sometimes a jerk, but who manages to fill the role of antihero pretty well. I always enjoyed these change-of-pace episodes where Jack Colvin got to be the star. And Markie Post is a welcome presence; it would've been nice if she'd become recurring. We also get a guest appearance by Barry Gordon, best known as the voice of the Kwik Rabbit and the original voice of Donatello on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'm not sure that Harold comes off either as funny or as tragic as he was meant to be, although there's a lot of fun stuff in the first Hulk rampage sequence. (I also notice that he has a lot of bodybuilder photos on his Hulk wall as well as bodybuilder magazines beside his lamp. Maybe those were just meant to suggest his aspirations to be big and strong, but I wonder if they might've been implicitly coding him as gay.)

The second Hulk-out was pretty effective too. They sometimes don't give him too much business to show off his superstrength, but here he was trashing a massive bell and tearing stonework apart (although with modern screen resolutions you can clearly see the wires the bell is hanging from when the Hulk throws it). And we got some excitement with McGee forming an impromptu journalist posse to chase after the Hulk. I love it that Jack just happens to carry an anti-Hulk net around in his trunk just in case.

This is a story that never could've been told before "Mystery Man." Not only because of the change with McGee and the public finding out about the Hulk, but because I'm not sure the idea of McGee as the main protagonist would've been seen as viable before "Mystery Man." Sure, he had a fairly central role in "Stop the Presses," but David was still the primary lead there.