MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night
- Thread starter JD
- Start date
I don't think it's actionable, but Galactica is definitely a Star Wars rip off. Compare it to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which existed because of Star Wars success, but in no way imitated it.
Still not airing on MeTV:
The Incredible Hulk
"Wax Museum"
Originally aired February 13, 1981
Events in the news the week that the episode aired:
New on the charts that week:
"Being with You," Smokey Robinson
(#2 US; #4 AC; #1 R&B; #1 UK)
"Just the Two of Us," Grover Washington, Jr. (vocals by Bill Withers)
(#2 US; #2 AC; #3 R&B; #34 UK)
"Morning Train (Nine to Five)," Sheena Easton
(#1 US the weeks of May 2 and 9; #1 AC; #3 UK)
_______
The Incredible Hulk
"Wax Museum"
Originally aired February 13, 1981
Events in the news the week that the episode aired:
New on the charts that week:
"Being with You," Smokey Robinson
(#2 US; #4 AC; #1 R&B; #1 UK)
"Just the Two of Us," Grover Washington, Jr. (vocals by Bill Withers)
(#2 US; #2 AC; #3 R&B; #34 UK)
"Morning Train (Nine to Five)," Sheena Easton
(#1 US the weeks of May 2 and 9; #1 AC; #3 UK)
_______
Not exactly Smokey's best.
This one feels like leftover late 70s lameness.
Nooo! Make it stop!
Well, that's what you get for turning your nose up at a perfectly good Smokey song.Nooo! Make it stop!
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A faded shadow of his glory days. One of the pillars of what was called "Adult Contemporary"/Yuppie programming blocks.
Another staple of the "Adult Contemporary"/Yuppie blocks, but not offensive enough for 1981 listeners to toss the stereo out of a window when hearing it.
A few months away from her most notable work, the title song from the best of Roger Moore's Bond films, For Your Eyes Only.
^ Getting a bit ahead of the times, tossing around the "yuppie" label in 1981.
Guess I'll just take my yuppie Smokey and go home....
Guess I'll just take my yuppie Smokey and go home....
The Incredible Hulk
"Wax Museum"--
GAMBLE WAX MUSEUM--David Beckwith is hired by Walter Gamble to assist his sculptor niece, Leigh. Walter warns David to take it easy on her, as she's suffered psychological trauma after the museum fire that killed her father, requiring several visits to psychiatric hospitals. This comes as the museum is set to open in three weeks, with bank loans shadowing their every move. Meeting Leigh, David notices how distracted and nervous she seems to be...and her reliance on prescription drugs. Leigh also suffers from hallucinations--imagining her wax figures coming to life, usually for dark purposes.
At Carlton Financial Bank, the Gambles sit frustrated at loan officer Kelleher's inflexible position on the bank taking the title on the museum property; Walter promises the attraction will open on time, telling Kelleher how important it is to honor the memory of his late brother's work in the museum. Kelleher reminds the Gambles of the offer from Consolidated Entertainment to buy the museum, which would pay off the debt to the bank, and leave them with a good profit. The Gambles refuse the offer, instead showing a portfolio of new displays--only to discover pages of smeared ink. Leigh is shaken (as she expected the sketches to be in the portfolio), and hustled back to the museum, with uncle and niece having no idea how the smeared pages found their way into the portfolio. As Leigh defends her father again, another side of kindly Walter emerges as he blurts out that Leigh's father was no saint..
Leigh believes she was responsible for the fire that killed her father, blaming herself for failing to work her way through the fire to save him, only she could not see another figure moving her way... While telling the story, she's so transfixed on a wax burner, that she nearly burns her hand reaching for the flames, until David stops her. Bristling at any sympathy, she snaps at David...
Later, Leigh apologizes for her behavior, then shows David her latest wax figure--a perfect recreation of David, leaving Banner awestruck...and seriously concerned. Thinking quickly, Banner convinces Leigh to change the figure into his lifelong fantasy...of becoming an old world styled pirate, adding facial hair, eyepatch--the works. That evening, Walter and David uncover Leigh's latest display and are shocked to see two figures of her father torturing her own likeness on the rack. Walter speaks of Leigh's guilt being the inspiration of the display, and how she's not properly dealt with the tragedy.
When Leigh assumes Walter made plans to take her to the ballet, but he has no idea what she's talking about, the woman becomes agitated--believing she's cracking from the pressure--and spilling her medication. In a big time Undercover Doctor moment, David is curious about her prescription, and takes a pill to be analyzed.
That evening, Leigh continues to hallucinate about the wax figures coming to life; as she fills a head mold from a hot wax vat, the lever becomes locked in the "on" position, spilling boiling hot wax on the floor. David tries to help, but slips, rolling under the faucet...his legs covered by the wax--triggering a Hulk-out--with Leigh watching the entire transformation. The Hulk flings the wax vat through a wall, and eventually busts out of the brick walls, disappearing into the night.
Leigh is not certain if the Hulk was real--or part of her deteriorating psychological state. That--and the damage to the property leads Walter to press her to reconsider opening at all. Leigh goes home--place under sedation by her doctor, while David discovers the threads of the spigot have been worn down--the reason he could not shut off the valve during the wax accident. Walter recalls Leigh not paying for a repairman, and under the financially strapped circumstances, wonders if they should close the museum, leaving David wondering about all that's happened...
Checking with the drug analysis company, David learns Leigh's medicine is K-73-51--90% sugar, and 10% LSD-25, which the analyst confirms can cause hallucinations (intensifying over long term use) and making whatever one fears appear real--the very thing troubling Leigh.
Leigh returns to the museum, but is distressed that Consolidated raised their offer--and Walter is considering taking it, arguing that they should live their own lives instead of pushing on in memory of Martin (her father). Walter adds that between her sketch disaster and seeing "green men," he fears she will end up in a hospital--taking him along with her.
At the local newsstand, Jack McGee shows up announcing himself to the busy owner--
McGee: "Morning. Jack McGee. Jack McGee--The National Register? The National Register..The ...here...here. The newspaper that's gonna pay you a $10,000 reward for your information leading to the capture of the Hulk."
Man: (irritated) "Mister, I don't know what the Hell you're talking about!"
Eventually, the man guesses that McGee spoke to Reuben--his boss--but also believes old Reuben was taking one drink too many during the previous, cold night, if he thought he saw a green man. McGee heads to museum, leaving the man shaking his head with continued irritation with McGee.
Walter meets Kellher to arrange the sale of the museum--adding that Leigh is going away...
At the museum, Leigh sculpts a rather accurate figure of the Hulk. Although David is--once again--left disturbed by Leigh's work, he questions her about the damaged spigot (whether or not Walter ever asked her to fix it) and her medication. David warns she should stop taking it immediately, after learning her uncle was always responsible for filling the prescription. Walter interrupts, trying to convince Leigh to see her doctor, but there's no breaking her determination to open the museum.
Walter gives David two week's pay and lets him go, citing the sale of the property; just as David rounds a corner, he spots McGee talking to Leigh. Banner hides behind a wax figure, just missing being spotted by McGee. Leigh (swallowing three of the K-73-51 capsules) denies knowing who the man is that becomes the Hulk--screaming at McGee that she made him up and/or it was a hallucination. McGee's unrelenting harassment causes the fragile woman to break down--fighting tears, as she sends him to look for Walter. The K-73-51's hallucinogenic effects take their toll on Leigh, as she mistakes the real David with a raging Hulk, the photo of her father, memories of her father's fiery death...
Walter (tense and annoyed) escorts McGee to the exit--
Walter: "I'm sorry, Mr. McGee, but I'm very busy here, and I--I just don't have time to discuss my niece's fantasies with you. So, if you'll excuse me, I'd appreciate your not harassing her anymore!"
With McGee off the property, Walter heads back to Leigh, where he overhears her trying to take her to someplace safe. Walter hits David with a blunt object, stunning him, and tried to force Leigh to sign her part of the sales agreement, using David's condition against her by suggesting she hit him. Even in her wildly erratic, drug-addled state, she refuses to give up on her father's legacy--the breaking point for Walter--
Walter: "I hated him! I was more of a father to you that he ever was! You never saw that!
Leigh's mind returns to her father's death--now seeing who warned her back from the direction of her father: Walter.
Leigh: "It was you...it was you!"
Walter: "I saved you, Leigh!
Leigh: (sobbing) "No....you killed my father. You hit him like that! You let him die! ...and t-then you blamed me! All this time...it was you!! Oh..."
Walter: "We were trapped by him. Both of us. Oh...oh, he was a genius, all right. But he made me feel inferior. Once I saw you had his talent, I knew I didn't need him any longer...that we could get along just fine! But now you've become just like him..."
As he speaks, Walter squeezes a can of turpentine all over the shelves and floor...
In the back alley, McGee attempts his usual breaking and entering move, only to find a locked door. He finds a service entrance, and sneaks into the building...
Inside, the drugged Leigh tries to stop Walter, but is useless. Walter starts a fire--indenting to kill Leigh and David--
Walter: "I'm sorry, Leigh--I'm sorry! And its your own fault!!"
David--still stunned--also fails to stop Walter and crashes into a burning rack, just as McGee runs in the room. Thinking on his manipulative feet, Walter acts as if a terrible accident occurred, and once McGee moves past him, Walter locks him in the burning room with Leigh & David. The rising flames block David from view; The coughing McGee tries to move Leigh away from the worst of it, but he & Leigh pass out. David's pants are caught by the blaze--the agony triggering yet another Hulk-out. Instinctively, the creature runs to save Leigh first, then returns to carry McGee away. In the exhibit room, the Hulk confronts Walter, sending the man soaring into the figures of his murdered brother, then crashes out of the storefront window...
Sometime later, a recovered Leigh has repaired the damage to the museum, and is preparing for opening day. McGee is back in town and not at all interested in her story of recovery and a new life. Instead, he still badgers her about the Hulk and John Doe--
Leigh: "So, have you come back to give us a write-up?"
McGee: "Ahh...well...its not exactly my kind of story."
Leigh: "What--a woman who's given another chance to lead a normal life? Sounds pretty good to me."
McGee: "It's nice...commendable, heartwarming stuff ..but the thing that I really found heartwarming--personally--is that John Doe--my John Doe, the man that I have been following for three years saved your life. Now come on, Miss Gamble. M-maybe we could manage a couple of columns..."
Leigh: "Well, that would be very nice, but you saved my life, Mr. McGee. My uncle was giving me LSD. I was hallucinating. There was no green man. And the only other person who was there was my assistant, who disappeared after the fire."
McGee: "What was his name??"
Leigh: "B...Beckwith. I really don't remember much from then. Its so vague."
McGee: "Do you know where he's gone?"
Leigh: "No, I don't."
Leigh gives McGee a lifetime pass to the wax museum. McGee's expression could not register more disinterest in her generosity--the same as his quick "thank you" for the pass.
On some highway, David moves on.
NOTES:
This is not a cure-related episode.
Running theme: the Hulk's strange reactions to statues, or in this case, wax figures. I guess their resemblance to living people--but failure to respond as he expects sets him off.
The newsstand employee not only did not know who McGee (or his tabloid) was, but was visibly dismissive of him. Well, that's what you get for "writing" for a rag.
McGee seems sort of surprised that the Hulk saved Leigh, and from the dialogue, assumes the creature was not responsible for saving his life. If he believed the Hulk saved him that information could have prodded Leigh to open up...or not.
McGee is a habitually unrepentant man--he has no moment of hesitation in trying to illegally enter the museum. Its that kind of behavior that led to his causing the Southwest Lab explosion. Yes, he does not know he caused that earlier tragedy, but he had no business breaking into--anywhere.
This must be a Hulk first: David burned twice, each incident triggering Hulk-outs.
Talk about a rare production artifact--the Hulk mold!
Truly a one-of-a-kind item, but no word on whether it survived TIH's production years, or in the hands of former staff members.
GUEST CAST:
Christine Belford (Leigh Gamble) returns to TIH. Her first visit was in season two's oil rig drama "Wildfire" (1979) as Banner love interest Linda Calahan.
"Wax Museum"--
GAMBLE WAX MUSEUM--David Beckwith is hired by Walter Gamble to assist his sculptor niece, Leigh. Walter warns David to take it easy on her, as she's suffered psychological trauma after the museum fire that killed her father, requiring several visits to psychiatric hospitals. This comes as the museum is set to open in three weeks, with bank loans shadowing their every move. Meeting Leigh, David notices how distracted and nervous she seems to be...and her reliance on prescription drugs. Leigh also suffers from hallucinations--imagining her wax figures coming to life, usually for dark purposes.
At Carlton Financial Bank, the Gambles sit frustrated at loan officer Kelleher's inflexible position on the bank taking the title on the museum property; Walter promises the attraction will open on time, telling Kelleher how important it is to honor the memory of his late brother's work in the museum. Kelleher reminds the Gambles of the offer from Consolidated Entertainment to buy the museum, which would pay off the debt to the bank, and leave them with a good profit. The Gambles refuse the offer, instead showing a portfolio of new displays--only to discover pages of smeared ink. Leigh is shaken (as she expected the sketches to be in the portfolio), and hustled back to the museum, with uncle and niece having no idea how the smeared pages found their way into the portfolio. As Leigh defends her father again, another side of kindly Walter emerges as he blurts out that Leigh's father was no saint..
Leigh believes she was responsible for the fire that killed her father, blaming herself for failing to work her way through the fire to save him, only she could not see another figure moving her way... While telling the story, she's so transfixed on a wax burner, that she nearly burns her hand reaching for the flames, until David stops her. Bristling at any sympathy, she snaps at David...
Later, Leigh apologizes for her behavior, then shows David her latest wax figure--a perfect recreation of David, leaving Banner awestruck...and seriously concerned. Thinking quickly, Banner convinces Leigh to change the figure into his lifelong fantasy...of becoming an old world styled pirate, adding facial hair, eyepatch--the works. That evening, Walter and David uncover Leigh's latest display and are shocked to see two figures of her father torturing her own likeness on the rack. Walter speaks of Leigh's guilt being the inspiration of the display, and how she's not properly dealt with the tragedy.
When Leigh assumes Walter made plans to take her to the ballet, but he has no idea what she's talking about, the woman becomes agitated--believing she's cracking from the pressure--and spilling her medication. In a big time Undercover Doctor moment, David is curious about her prescription, and takes a pill to be analyzed.
That evening, Leigh continues to hallucinate about the wax figures coming to life; as she fills a head mold from a hot wax vat, the lever becomes locked in the "on" position, spilling boiling hot wax on the floor. David tries to help, but slips, rolling under the faucet...his legs covered by the wax--triggering a Hulk-out--with Leigh watching the entire transformation. The Hulk flings the wax vat through a wall, and eventually busts out of the brick walls, disappearing into the night.
Leigh is not certain if the Hulk was real--or part of her deteriorating psychological state. That--and the damage to the property leads Walter to press her to reconsider opening at all. Leigh goes home--place under sedation by her doctor, while David discovers the threads of the spigot have been worn down--the reason he could not shut off the valve during the wax accident. Walter recalls Leigh not paying for a repairman, and under the financially strapped circumstances, wonders if they should close the museum, leaving David wondering about all that's happened...
Checking with the drug analysis company, David learns Leigh's medicine is K-73-51--90% sugar, and 10% LSD-25, which the analyst confirms can cause hallucinations (intensifying over long term use) and making whatever one fears appear real--the very thing troubling Leigh.
Leigh returns to the museum, but is distressed that Consolidated raised their offer--and Walter is considering taking it, arguing that they should live their own lives instead of pushing on in memory of Martin (her father). Walter adds that between her sketch disaster and seeing "green men," he fears she will end up in a hospital--taking him along with her.
At the local newsstand, Jack McGee shows up announcing himself to the busy owner--
McGee: "Morning. Jack McGee. Jack McGee--The National Register? The National Register..The ...here...here. The newspaper that's gonna pay you a $10,000 reward for your information leading to the capture of the Hulk."
Man: (irritated) "Mister, I don't know what the Hell you're talking about!"
Eventually, the man guesses that McGee spoke to Reuben--his boss--but also believes old Reuben was taking one drink too many during the previous, cold night, if he thought he saw a green man. McGee heads to museum, leaving the man shaking his head with continued irritation with McGee.
Walter meets Kellher to arrange the sale of the museum--adding that Leigh is going away...
At the museum, Leigh sculpts a rather accurate figure of the Hulk. Although David is--once again--left disturbed by Leigh's work, he questions her about the damaged spigot (whether or not Walter ever asked her to fix it) and her medication. David warns she should stop taking it immediately, after learning her uncle was always responsible for filling the prescription. Walter interrupts, trying to convince Leigh to see her doctor, but there's no breaking her determination to open the museum.
Walter gives David two week's pay and lets him go, citing the sale of the property; just as David rounds a corner, he spots McGee talking to Leigh. Banner hides behind a wax figure, just missing being spotted by McGee. Leigh (swallowing three of the K-73-51 capsules) denies knowing who the man is that becomes the Hulk--screaming at McGee that she made him up and/or it was a hallucination. McGee's unrelenting harassment causes the fragile woman to break down--fighting tears, as she sends him to look for Walter. The K-73-51's hallucinogenic effects take their toll on Leigh, as she mistakes the real David with a raging Hulk, the photo of her father, memories of her father's fiery death...
Walter (tense and annoyed) escorts McGee to the exit--
Walter: "I'm sorry, Mr. McGee, but I'm very busy here, and I--I just don't have time to discuss my niece's fantasies with you. So, if you'll excuse me, I'd appreciate your not harassing her anymore!"
With McGee off the property, Walter heads back to Leigh, where he overhears her trying to take her to someplace safe. Walter hits David with a blunt object, stunning him, and tried to force Leigh to sign her part of the sales agreement, using David's condition against her by suggesting she hit him. Even in her wildly erratic, drug-addled state, she refuses to give up on her father's legacy--the breaking point for Walter--
Walter: "I hated him! I was more of a father to you that he ever was! You never saw that!
Leigh's mind returns to her father's death--now seeing who warned her back from the direction of her father: Walter.
Leigh: "It was you...it was you!"
Walter: "I saved you, Leigh!
Leigh: (sobbing) "No....you killed my father. You hit him like that! You let him die! ...and t-then you blamed me! All this time...it was you!! Oh..."
Walter: "We were trapped by him. Both of us. Oh...oh, he was a genius, all right. But he made me feel inferior. Once I saw you had his talent, I knew I didn't need him any longer...that we could get along just fine! But now you've become just like him..."
As he speaks, Walter squeezes a can of turpentine all over the shelves and floor...
In the back alley, McGee attempts his usual breaking and entering move, only to find a locked door. He finds a service entrance, and sneaks into the building...
Inside, the drugged Leigh tries to stop Walter, but is useless. Walter starts a fire--indenting to kill Leigh and David--
Walter: "I'm sorry, Leigh--I'm sorry! And its your own fault!!"
David--still stunned--also fails to stop Walter and crashes into a burning rack, just as McGee runs in the room. Thinking on his manipulative feet, Walter acts as if a terrible accident occurred, and once McGee moves past him, Walter locks him in the burning room with Leigh & David. The rising flames block David from view; The coughing McGee tries to move Leigh away from the worst of it, but he & Leigh pass out. David's pants are caught by the blaze--the agony triggering yet another Hulk-out. Instinctively, the creature runs to save Leigh first, then returns to carry McGee away. In the exhibit room, the Hulk confronts Walter, sending the man soaring into the figures of his murdered brother, then crashes out of the storefront window...
Sometime later, a recovered Leigh has repaired the damage to the museum, and is preparing for opening day. McGee is back in town and not at all interested in her story of recovery and a new life. Instead, he still badgers her about the Hulk and John Doe--
Leigh: "So, have you come back to give us a write-up?"
McGee: "Ahh...well...its not exactly my kind of story."
Leigh: "What--a woman who's given another chance to lead a normal life? Sounds pretty good to me."
McGee: "It's nice...commendable, heartwarming stuff ..but the thing that I really found heartwarming--personally--is that John Doe--my John Doe, the man that I have been following for three years saved your life. Now come on, Miss Gamble. M-maybe we could manage a couple of columns..."
Leigh: "Well, that would be very nice, but you saved my life, Mr. McGee. My uncle was giving me LSD. I was hallucinating. There was no green man. And the only other person who was there was my assistant, who disappeared after the fire."
McGee: "What was his name??"
Leigh: "B...Beckwith. I really don't remember much from then. Its so vague."
McGee: "Do you know where he's gone?"
Leigh: "No, I don't."
Leigh gives McGee a lifetime pass to the wax museum. McGee's expression could not register more disinterest in her generosity--the same as his quick "thank you" for the pass.
On some highway, David moves on.
NOTES:
This is not a cure-related episode.
Running theme: the Hulk's strange reactions to statues, or in this case, wax figures. I guess their resemblance to living people--but failure to respond as he expects sets him off.
The newsstand employee not only did not know who McGee (or his tabloid) was, but was visibly dismissive of him. Well, that's what you get for "writing" for a rag.
McGee seems sort of surprised that the Hulk saved Leigh, and from the dialogue, assumes the creature was not responsible for saving his life. If he believed the Hulk saved him that information could have prodded Leigh to open up...or not.
McGee is a habitually unrepentant man--he has no moment of hesitation in trying to illegally enter the museum. Its that kind of behavior that led to his causing the Southwest Lab explosion. Yes, he does not know he caused that earlier tragedy, but he had no business breaking into--anywhere.
This must be a Hulk first: David burned twice, each incident triggering Hulk-outs.
Talk about a rare production artifact--the Hulk mold!
Truly a one-of-a-kind item, but no word on whether it survived TIH's production years, or in the hands of former staff members.
GUEST CAST:
Christine Belford (Leigh Gamble) returns to TIH. Her first visit was in season two's oil rig drama "Wildfire" (1979) as Banner love interest Linda Calahan.
- The Sixth Sense (ABC, 1972) - "Face of Ice"
- The Groundstar Conspiracy (Universal, 1972)
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1974) - "Survival of the Fittest"
- Wonder Woman (ABC, 1976) - "Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther" (first regular episode of the series)
- Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (CBS, 1977) - "Devil Pack"
- Battlestar Galactica (ABC, 1978) - "Gun on Ice Planet Zero" (2 parts)
- Beyond Westworld (CBS, 1980) - "The Lion"
- The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1981, 1983) - "The Beast in the Black" and "Thirty Seconds Over Little Tokyo"
- Christine (Columbia Pictures, 1983)
- Freddy's Nightmare (Syndicated, 1989) - "Dreams That Kill"
- Mann and Machine (NBC, 1992) - "Prototype" and "Mann's Fate" (as the voice of Rose)
- Indestructible Man (Allied Artists, 1956) - with Lon Chaney Jr.
- The Monster That Challenged the World aka The Kraken (United Artists, 1957)
- The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1961) - "It's a Good Life" as Pat Riley
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Universal/Paramount, 1978) - Technically, not fantasy, but this was so out-there, it only fit in the realm of the fantastic
- One Step Beyond (ABC, 1960) "Call from Tomorrow"
- Invasion of the Bee Girls aka Graveyard Tramps (Dimension Pictures, 1973) - Nicholas Meyer's first produced screenplay
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1975) - "Return of the Robot Maker" & "The White Lightning War"
- Barbary Coast (ABC, 1976) "Mary Had More Than a Little" (not a fantasy show, but it starred William Shatner in his first regular series post Star Trek. He would guest on Shatner's next series, T.J. Hooker)
- Gemini Man (NBC, 1976) - "Suspect Your Local Police"
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1979) - "Life on the Line"
- The Beastmaster (MGM/UA, 1982) - as Dar's father
Adequate, but not worthy of him.
Not when they were listening in their car, anyway.
I think the Buck Rogers Thunderfighter was going to be the Viper early on--what with the fanglike double-prow.
Misc
http://space1970.blogspot.com/search/label/Battlestar Galactica
http://space1970.blogspot.com/2012/02/buck-rogers-lost-tv-series.html
The Viper we got was--to me at least--the coolest starfighter on screen.
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The Incredible Hulk, "Wax Museum"
So...my memory of the specifics is fuzzy at best now, but I made some pretty interesting notes. Stuff about being able to tell that the mime is a person, not a statue; and the garbage bag men hallucination being unintentionally funny...
But...obligatory humorous FHO padding. The ATM was starting to go on the fritz when he was just pushing buttons.
And I started to wonder if David deliberately leaves windows unlocked so he can sneak back into his Lodgings of the Week after a FHO....
I found the chemist's description of the effects a little too colorful, but acknowledged that they had set up his character's informality in his first scene.
_______
Next week on Heroes & Icons (H&I):
Looks like they're too chicken to split "Married" across two weeks.
_______
So...my memory of the specifics is fuzzy at best now, but I made some pretty interesting notes. Stuff about being able to tell that the mime is a person, not a statue; and the garbage bag men hallucination being unintentionally funny...
...and that he was so obviously the bad guy. I smelled his scam coming way back in December.
unintentionally funny
I found this to be a good hook and thought that Bixby did solid wax figure acting...but the final pirate version looked nothing like him, and didn't even have the same posture.
cha-CHING!
-27:41. For once, the FHO served a good story purpose, and put the John Doe angle in play...and that's exactly what the Hulk's supposed to do when he finds himself indoors...bust the hell out into the stock alley shot!
But...obligatory humorous FHO padding. The ATM was starting to go on the fritz when he was just pushing buttons.
And I started to wonder if David deliberately leaves windows unlocked so he can sneak back into his Lodgings of the Week after a FHO....
I found the chemist's description of the effects a little too colorful, but acknowledged that they had set up his character's informality in his first scene.
The episode's money figure.
Does anyone know who that was? I thought he looked kind of like the actor who played D. W. Banner at the time.
I found that to be a little too on-the-nose.
-05:07.
It looked like the Hulk dropped the morning star at his statue's feet rather than his own.
A generic LM, but not a glaringly mismatched one as we too often get.
Schlepping!
The horror! David would never do such a thing! Oh, wait....
I'll thank you never to reference that Sgt. Pepper again. To do so in the wake of the 50th anniversary is downright insulting!
_______
Next week on Heroes & Icons (H&I):
- The Incredible Hulk, "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break" (originally aired Apr. 28, 1978)
- The Incredible Hulk, "Life and Death" (originally aired May 12, 1978)
- The Incredible Hulk, "Earthquakes Happen" (originally aired May 19, 1978)
- The Incredible Hulk, "The Waterfront Story" (originally aired May 31, 1978)
- The Incredible Hulk, "The Antowuk Horror" (originally aired Sept. 29, 1978)
Looks like they're too chicken to split "Married" across two weeks.
_______
I actually thought the waxworks were the real deal and not merely "freeze" acting!
Good point from yourself and good idea by the writers. I think this started in Bring Me The Head Of The Hulk. In Season four they show more of David's lodgings - Dark Side and in the following episode "East Winds" where he burns the dinner.
“Wax Museum”: A fairly routine job-of-the-week episode, and one of David’s most unusual jobs, an assistant at a wax museum. It’s a pretty standard and predictable take on the Gaslight plot, a woman being manipulated by a devious man into thinking she’s going mad. It’s an interesting twist on the formula to have someone witness David’s transformation and not believe it’s real. Otherwise, nothing extraordinary. Aside from the fact that the writer is Carol Baxter, the two-time guest actress recently seen as Charlene in “Prometheus, Part II.”
I’m also getting tired of all these episodes where nobody’s ever heard of the Hulk. By now, he should be a pretty well-known urban legend up there with Bigfoot. I can accept that most people wouldn’t believe he was real, but at least they should be aware of the idea of the Hulk, and I wish more scripts reflected that.
Apparently this was the first episode produced in season 4, which explains something -- a lot of the music, especially the ominous music as Max Showalter was browbeating Christine Belford just before the climax, was based on a melody used in a recurring cue that’s been showing up all season, but developed much more fully. So I guess that cue was excerpted from this episode’s score, and we didn’t hear the whole score until now because it was shown out of order.
I’m also getting tired of all these episodes where nobody’s ever heard of the Hulk. By now, he should be a pretty well-known urban legend up there with Bigfoot. I can accept that most people wouldn’t believe he was real, but at least they should be aware of the idea of the Hulk, and I wish more scripts reflected that.
Apparently this was the first episode produced in season 4, which explains something -- a lot of the music, especially the ominous music as Max Showalter was browbeating Christine Belford just before the climax, was based on a melody used in a recurring cue that’s been showing up all season, but developed much more fully. So I guess that cue was excerpted from this episode’s score, and we didn’t hear the whole score until now because it was shown out of order.
Depended on whether they had to move or not.
It's not every episode that has the garbage bag men!
In commemoration of Adam West's passing, I watched this movie just now. It really is one of my favorite '60s comedy films, and that's largely due to West, who really committed to playing the most absurd situations with total dramatic conviction and sincerity, even more so than anyone would later on in Airplane! or other films like it. Truly, his services to superhero-dom shall never be forgotten.
I have to say, though -- I never realized just how brutal this film is toward aquatic life. A shark, a noble almost-human porpoise, and an octopus all meet explosive ends. At least the ducks were spared.
Also, it never occurred to me until now to wonder -- just what the heck does dehydration have to do with making whisky?
"The drinking water dispenser is clearly marked."
The one bit that isn't in stylistic sync, though, is the opening title sequence, with its very noir-ish feel. A suspicious trenchcoated figure running through alleys, past a smoking mystery woman, with searchlights sweeping the area? Feels more like a Dick Tracy opening than Batman.
It also seems very tightly edited at times, like some bits were trimmed to the bone for the sake of running time. There's a bit where the United Underworld villains are having an argument and there's an abrupt cut in the middle of the Riddler's lines. I also wonder if the in medias res narrated opening was cut down from a longer introduction to Bruce and Dick. And any lines Aunt Harriet might've had were completely removed.
In retrospect, sure, but not too uncharacteristic of the comics' Joker of that era, who'd become basically just one more gimmicky thief out of many. It's interesting to see that the Joker was basically the voice of reason in the group, a gadfly challenging the Riddler's self-defeating compulsion to drop clues for Batman and the Penguin's overenthusiastic nautical roleplaying. It's a reminder that Mark Hamill's Joker is more a descendant of Gorshin's Riddler than Romero's facial-haired harlequin.
That is the whole joke, of course -- the absurd leaps of deduction. But it's a bit of a plot flaw that they seem to go through the realization process twice -- first after the press conference ("at sea! See? C for Catwoman!") and then after the first sub battle when the Riddler's missile clues point to Catwoman working with the other three. It's a bit repetitive.
"Careful, careful! Every one of 'em has a mother."
Always one of my favorite lines, and I strongly suspect Meredith ad-libbed it.Whereas I found it hilarious that Batman was wearing his utility belt over his scrubs.
Land of the Giants: “Our Man O’Reilly”: Skip-per! Alan Hale, Jr. appears on a show about seven stranded castaways -- imagine that! Anyway, Hale plays the title character, a stereotyped Irish giant that Fitzhugh cons into believing the Little People are leprechauns whose every command he must obey. Wait, seriously? Whatever happened to this being on an alien planet? Okay, it’s an alien planet where they speak American English, but there used to be an attempt to portray its culture as somewhat exotic, like inventing the Night of Thrombeldinbar as a surrogate for Christmas. But now they’re not even trying. Everything is exactly like Earth, just 12 times bigger. Alan Bergmann’s villain Krenko has a name that could fit the old giant naming scheme, but it’s also a real Ukrainian surname. And all the other giant character names, including the names on the phone book page, are perfectly ordinary names like Harry and Cunningham. There’s even a moment where O’Reilly gets guilty on seeing a jewelled crucifix in the jeweler’s shop he breaks the LP into to steal tools. That raises so many theological questions. Episodes like this sometimes made me wonder if they’d abandoned the conceit of being on an alien planet and had quietly retconned it into an alternate Earth that just happened to be bigger somehow.
And though Alan Hale is as amiable as ever, his character is too much of a gullible, superstitious stereotype, and his “Irish” accent comes and goes at random. Still, it’s kind of interesting the way the LP’s manipulation of the basically decent O’Reilly leads him to have moral qualms about the things he ends up doing on their behalf, even though it turns out all right in the end. Not one of Jackson Gillis’s better scripts, but it has its moments.
In fact, it’s kind of surprising just how well it does turn out for the Spindrift crew. Usually, when they’re going after materials for repairing the ship, they fail in one way or another, since the premise requires them to stay stranded. But here, they get everything they need. They’re in a much better place at the end of the episode than they were at the start, even though their arrangement with O’Reilly is ending. Of course, it will not be reflected in any later episodes.
Meanwhile, the reality warp that had temporarily erased Betty from existence these past few weeks has reversed itself, as Heather Young is back from maternity leave. I’d almost forgotten about her myself. She seems to have gotten a new sweater in the process, anyway.
And though Alan Hale is as amiable as ever, his character is too much of a gullible, superstitious stereotype, and his “Irish” accent comes and goes at random. Still, it’s kind of interesting the way the LP’s manipulation of the basically decent O’Reilly leads him to have moral qualms about the things he ends up doing on their behalf, even though it turns out all right in the end. Not one of Jackson Gillis’s better scripts, but it has its moments.
In fact, it’s kind of surprising just how well it does turn out for the Spindrift crew. Usually, when they’re going after materials for repairing the ship, they fail in one way or another, since the premise requires them to stay stranded. But here, they get everything they need. They’re in a much better place at the end of the episode than they were at the start, even though their arrangement with O’Reilly is ending. Of course, it will not be reflected in any later episodes.
Meanwhile, the reality warp that had temporarily erased Betty from existence these past few weeks has reversed itself, as Heather Young is back from maternity leave. I’d almost forgotten about her myself. She seems to have gotten a new sweater in the process, anyway.
You know, when I was a kid I watched some few episode and I was under the impression that they traveled to the past and the process somehow miniaturized them. Evidently I missed the first episodes where they made clear that it was another planet.
In the first couple of episodes (production order), the giants didn't even speak (except indistinctly in the distance) and their books and signage were labeled in some alien script, implying they didn't speak English. This was quickly dropped as impractical to do on a weekly basis. But I think the later practice to treat the giants' world as just "Earth, but bigger" was simply the creative laziness that normally overtook Irwin Allen productions after a while.
Just imagine if a modern show did something similar: the Internet would EXPLODE!
Just imagine if a modern show did something similar: the Internet would EXPLODE!
"Imagine?" The Arrowverse shows do it all the time. The way time travel works from show to show and season to season is even more inconsistent than it was on The Time Tunnel.
