MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night

[JD]

The second hour of BSG was pretty good. It still had it's cheesy moments, but there was actually pretty good moments, like Apollo's confrontation with Soli Uri, and Adama's talk with Athena in his quarters. The journey through the minefield was also pretty good.
The stuff with the mine and the casino was a nice little mystery, and I am legitimately curious to see how it's resolved next week.
I have to admit, I though the insect aliens and the four eyed/two mouthed singers were pretty cool designs. Even if the executions aren't great, I also find designs that try something different a lot more interesting than the forehead aliens in Treks.
My only problem with this one was the introduction of the robotic Muffit II. I'm against the use of apes in entertainment, so it was a little hard to watch knowing they had a chimp stuck in the suit.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Incredible Hulk, "Wax Museum"


...and that he was so obviously the bad guy. I smelled his scam coming way back in December.

With no clear antagonist established up front, I think anyone would look to a family member as the root of Leigh's problems. The interesting part is how far he would go, and to audiences just leaving such a drug-battered decade as the 1970s, using LSD as a means of destroying someone carried more weight than just the typical [Little Old Lady]"Here, deary...drink this special tea..."[/Little Old Lady] kind of family-on-family crime.

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!

At least the stock shot could be any alley in America, instead of series like the notoriously cheap Man from U.N.C.L.E. using the same street over and over and over and over again, serving as places all over the map...

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....

If I were in David's position, that would be something to consider, since he's always trying to avoid being spotted in the same area as a Hulk sighting.

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.

Yep. Besides, there are so many different effects from various forms/concentrations of LSD, that his descrption could have been correct.

Does anyone know who that was? I thought he looked kind of like the actor who played D. W. Banner at the time.

D.W. Banner was played by John Marley (right), and he's as facially removed from the actor head shot used for Leigh's father as you can get!

The horror! David would never do such a thing! Oh, wait....

David never broke into a place because he's some self-serving rag-slinger looking for a story at the expense of others, so, there's that....

I'll thank you never to reference that Sgt. Pepper again. To do so in the wake of the 50th anniversary is downright insulting!

C-cannot r-resist....

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[Christopher]

The stuff with the mine and the casino was a nice little mystery, and I am legitimately curious to see how it's resolved next week.

People tend to criticize the "space casino" part as evidence of the show ditching its apocalyptic premise in favor of cheesiness, but I see it as a necessary part of the story, a Land of the Lotus Eaters temptation threatening to lead the survivors astray. There's plenty of random cheesiness to come later on, but this isn't an example. Well, not mostly.

 

[The Old Mixer]

C-cannot r-resist....

I was gonna say, "You can post it, but I don't have to click on it"...but, morbid curiosity. Ye gods, that was even more painful than I could have imagined. Aerosmith and Earth, Wind & Fire were decent, but I already knew that. The late '70s needed to leave the '60s the hell alone!

 

[JD]

People tend to criticize the "space casino" part as evidence of the show ditching its apocalyptic premise in favor of cheesiness, but I see it as a necessary part of the story, a Land of the Lotus Eaters temptation threatening to lead the survivors astray. There's plenty of random cheesiness to come later on, but this isn't an example. Well, not mostly.

Oh, yeah I can see that.

C-cannot r-resist....

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I was gonna say, "You can post it, but I don't have to click on it"...but, morbid curiosity. Ye gods, that was even more painful than I could have imagined. Aerosmith and Earth, Wind & Fire were decent, but I already knew that. The late '70s needed to leave the '60s the hell alone!

At least Across the Universe was able to prove you can do a good musical with The Beatles music.

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[Mr. Adventure]

The final product is the problem--and the accurately charged ripoff. There's not that many original ideas in the entertainment business, and jumping on the next big thing is a common, expected practice that continues to this day. It does not matter how long Larson had been trying to sell his oriignal idea--once that was bought and developed, it became a Star Wars ripoff in several ways as the clear copy+paste designs seen in BG would not go in so pointed a creative direction if Star Wars never existed--

Death Star...Base Star.--both off white/gray massive vehicles for the main enemy. The name similarity goes without question.
Cylons undoubtedly took 90% of design cues from both Vader and the Stormtroopers.
The X-Wing's appearance, right down to the single pilot cockpit and red/orange stripes on a white body. Well...
Take a Star Destroyer, add the U.S.S. Enterprise nacelles, and with minimal tinkering, you get the Galactica.

There are other examples, but this geta the message across that at the end of it all, the SW rips were approved. One can argue that a studio demanded it as a way to cash in on SW, but no matter how it happened, or who approved what, the end result is the problem.

Did Lucas get revenge by ripping off the starfighter from Buck Rogers for the snowspeeder?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Did Lucas get revenge by ripping off the starfighter from Buck Rogers for the snowspeeder?

I'm not sure. Someone could check the dated, illustrated conceptuals for both ships and track their evolution to the model stage and see which ship arrived at a certain design first. In any case--

Well, there's certainly similarities....

 

[Nerys Myk]

C-cannot r-resist....

You are an evil man.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I was gonna say, "You can post it, but I don't have to click on it"...but, morbid curiosity. Ye gods, that was even more painful than I could have imagined. Aerosmith and Earth, Wind & Fire were decent, but I already knew that. The late '70s needed to leave the '60s the hell alone!

Try seeing in the theater in 1978!!!!!!
I liked Aerosmith, Earth, Wind and Fire and Alice Cooper's songs. But the rest were pretty bad. And the plot. Who thought that up?

 

[Christopher]

...And that's the last of my Kolchak reviews, unless I figure out how to retrieve data from a crashed hard drive. Or, well, rewatch the episodes, but my local MeTV affiliate doesn't show them.

Good news! I tried reinstalling my crashed drive just on the off chance that it might miraculously start up and let me access the lost files, and the miracle happened. So I now have the remainder of my Kolchak reviews, and so here are the last four all at once:

“Legacy of Terror”: Okay, now Ramon Bieri does his second turn as a police captain, but with a different character name. Weird.

For a while, I thought this episode was going to be an exception to the pattern. Cultists keeping Aztec sacrifice alive is a fanciful idea, but not a supernatural one. Until the mummy woke up toward the end, this could’ve been the one episode without any SF/fantasy element, since all the murders were committed by human beings. But I guess that would’ve been against the rules. Anyway, I recognize the basic idea of the Aztec “perfect victim” from Doctor Who: “The Aztecs,” and the depiction is actually fairly authentic, at least according to Wikipedia’s article on Aztec sacrifice -- although the sacrifice to Tezcatlipoca got four women instead of three. Budget cuts, y’know. (And is it just me, or did the hanger-on called Nina look kind of like Emma Stone?) The main departure was the addition of four preliminary, unwilling victims -- necessary to fit the idea into the show’s format, since the previous killings were necessary to get Kolchak onto the trail. It’s also a clever idea to use staircases as a substitute for the steps of an Aztec pyramid.

Still, I found the episode overly padded, with too many distractions that didn’t advance the story -- like Kolchak having to go to two different unhelpful “experts” before finding the one guy who could tell him what he needed to know. Sorrell Booke did a good job as the taxidermist, but the scene with the commercial attache at the consulate was a total waste of time.

--

“The Knightly Murders”: Kolchak finally meets his match! John Dehner is fun as the legendary captain who beats Kolchak at his own doubletalk, leaving him too nonplussed to get anywhere. Maybe the other captains-of-the-week need to try that -- it’s the only thing that slows him down. Although it turns out that Dehner’s captain has more aggressive methods later on. Plus we get Hans Conreid as the curator Boggs, also entertaining. It’s lucky for Kolchak that he didn’t turn out to be the killer. If Kolchak’s fight with the ghostly knight had turned out to have a Scooby-Doo reveal with Conreid inside the armor, that would’ve been impossible for Carl to talk his way out of.

And isn’t it convenient that there’s always exactly one thing that will destroy the monster, and that it just happens to be something Kolchak can get his hands on in time for the climax? What if the blessed axe had been in a different museum than the cursed armor?

Bootleg telephones? What the heck? Is that some ‘70s thing that I’m too young to remember, or just some kind of absurdist comedy bit? I think the show has been playing up the comedy more as it’s gone on. There’s a lot of silliness in this one.

--

“The Youth Killer”: Amusing to see Cathy Lee Crosby playing a figure from Greek mythology just a year after she played a version of Wonder Woman. Anyway, I doubt that the historical Helen of Troy, if any, would’ve looked remotely like Crosby, since she would’ve been from the Eastern Mediterranean. (Though it’s an interesting coincidence that Helen’s assumed surname here, Surtees, is pronounced like the surname of Marina Sirtis, who would later become known for playing a character named Troi.)

Also, if Helen’s restored youth only lasted a day or two before she needed to kill someone else, how come the rash of unexplained old-people deaths only started now? In past episodes (and the second movie), they’ve justified it in terms of the killer needing to sacrifice a set number of people at a set interval, but there was no such justification here, so it didn’t hold up. Also, on top of the coincidence of Kolchak just happening to be assigned to a swinging-singles story that leads him by chance to a supernatural killing spree, why would a crime reporter like Kolchak be assigned to do a swinging-singles story in the first place? (Okay, better him than Ron or Emily, but they can’t be the only reporters at INS.)

Finally having a police contact willing to be friendly to Kolchak was a nice change, but Dwayne Hickman was quite dull in the role. Anyway, it further underscored how Kolchak is the author of his own problems; Orkin was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Kolchak blew it by stealing evidence and breaking into an apartment and then not even doing a competent job of hiding the fact from Orkin.

By the way, one of the two young men filling out applications when Kolchak was trying to get an interview at the dating service was Reb Brown, who would play Captain America in two 1979 TV movies. So this episode features both Wonder Woman and Captain America, but it’s the lame versions of both.

--

“The Sentry”: Well, this was a pretty effective season finale, with a nicely suspenseful (if somewhat padded) opening in the middle of the chase, with Carl narrating the story as a potential final testament. The story’s sort of “The Devil in the Dark” with the Gorn in place of the Horta, but it also has a bit of a classic Doctor Who feel, with a prehistoric lizard monster from deep beneath the Earth like the Silurians, and a “base under siege” flavor with the underground facility being the primary setting. The treatment of Kathie Brown’s Lt. Lamont is kind of chauvinistic, in that she relies on her looks and feminine wiles, but she manages to come off as capable and effective nonetheless, and Browne is as charming as she was in Star Trek’s “Wink of an Eye.” The monster costume is kind of silly when we get a good look at it, but fortunately director Seymour Robbie keeps it mostly hidden and unlit, which makes it more effective.

--

So that’s it for Kolchak. Overall, an uneven but fairly entertaining series, relying overwhelmingly on Darren McGavin’s charm and wit and Kolchak’s tricksterish, dissolute personality. I think the premise worked better as a movie than a weekly series, because it’s inconceivable that Kolchak would manage to keep his job or even stay out of jail for very long, given the way he acts. And it’s implausible that he’s constantly running into supernatural murder sprees. It’s one thing when he’s using his police radio and butting into any weird-sounding case, but there were too many episodes where he was on some mundane story and just happened to run into a monster. But that was the nature of a lot of shows from the era, to do a lot of weekly variations on the same premise without really considering how they fit together.

 

[JD]

So he always just stumbles into the supernatural situations then? I knew the ones I saw worked out like that, but had assumed the majority were him specifically being sent in to investigate supernatural stuff.

 

[Christopher]

So he always just stumbles into the supernatural situations then? I knew the ones I saw worked out like that, but had assumed the majority were him specifically being sent in to investigate supernatural stuff.

There are some that he finds out about because he's always monitoring the police radio band for newsworthy stories like lurid and mysterious murders. But there are a fair number that he just happens to stumble across when assigned to something unrelated. But he was never specifically "sent in" to investigate something supernatural; on the contrary, his boss Tony refused to believe his claims of supernatural elements, and he rarely actually managed to get his stories published.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Christopher: although ME-TV is not airing the original Kolchak TV movies, do you have an interest in reviewing them?

 

[RJDiogenes]

The second hour of BSG was pretty good.

Crap. I completely forgot about BSG. I'll try to catch it this week.

C-cannot r-resist....

Yikes. How young they all look.

The late '70s needed to leave the '60s the hell alone!

Most of the late 70s are best forgotten.

Try seeing in the theater in 1978!!!!!!

I did.

I liked Aerosmith, Earth, Wind and Fire and Alice Cooper's songs. But the rest were pretty bad.

I got a kick out of Steve Martin.

And the plot. Who thought that up?

Plot?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Sir Not-Appearing-on-MeTV:

The Incredible Hulk
"East Winds"
Originally aired February 20, 1981

Unbeknownst to David, his apartment in San Francisco's Chinatown contains hidden gold sought by gangsters.

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Events in the news the week that the episode aired:

February 17-February 22 – Pope John Paul II visit to the Philippines.

New on the U.S. charts that week:

"Angel of the Morning," Juice Newton

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(#4 US; #1 AC; #22 Country; #57 Rock; Originally a hit for Merrilee Rush in 1968)

And reaching the top of the charts the following week:

"I Love a Rainy Night," Eddie Rabbitt

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(Charted Nov. 8, 1980; #1 US the weks of Feb. 28 and Mar. 7, 1981; #1 AC; #1 Country)

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Angel of the Morning," Juice Newton

This is nice, but there's not much to distinguish it from the original. I love Juice Newton, though. Saw her in person once.

"I Love a Rainy Night," Eddie Rabbitt

Not bad, I guess, but not very memorable.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

"Angel of the Morning," Juice Newton
(#4 US; #1 AC; #22 Country; #57 Rock; Originally a hit for Merrilee Rush in 1968)

Not as heartfelt a delivery as the original.

"I Love a Rainy Night," Eddie Rabbitt
(Charted Nov. 8, 1980; #1 US the weks of Feb. 28 and Mar. 7, 1981; #1 AC; #1 Country)

Ahh, the short "time" of Eddie Rabbit as a semi-musical fixture. In addition to this track, the other big from Horizon was "Drivin' My Life Away" -- both radio staples lasting well into the spring of '81.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Incredible Hulk
"East Winds"

SAN FRANCISCO's China Town--At the East Winds Club, an elderly Chinese man is knocked out long enough for a man to steal a list detailing a shipment of gold; later, that same man is pursued through the back alleys by local Chinese crime figure Kam Chong (who owns the East Winds Club). While climbing a building's rear exit stairs, the man jumps to his death, but Kam Chong is pleased to find another shipping manifest on the man's body. Always turning screws, Kam Chong berates William, his young assassin--

Kam Chong: "Dead, he can tell me nothing, William. Only he had access to the manifest?"
William: "Yes."
Kam Chong: "Your instructions were to question him first, then he was to die."
William: "I didn't think he would jump."
Kam Chong: "You must get inside your enemy's brain--think as he thinks."
William: "Is that the rest of the shipping manifest?"
Kam Chong: "Yes. Hmm, it seems my good fortune overrides your blunders.
William: "I'm sorry, Kam Chong."
Kam Chong: "Don't worry, William, your ineptitude works to your advantage. If I were to hire a more experienced assassin, I might well be risking my own life. With you, I feel perfectly safe."
William: "But I found the rest of the manifest for you!"
Kam Chong: "This manifest is only the treasure map. I want the treasure. Get me that gold!"

William informs Kam Chong that one of the locations of the gold shipment is hidden in the apartment of a loner--David Barrett. Kam Chong believes David has the gold, and as a result, is in a positon of power, which makes him a threat...

The loner in question returns to his apartment, being chatted up by Ms. Huyn, who always tries to play matchmaker with David and eligible women in the area. David cheerfully declines the offer, being more interested in the chemicals he buys for well known reasons. David and Huyn spot see a crowd gathering around as a Chinese man is arrested by Sgt. Jack Keeler--who seems to be distracted by a young woman in the crowd. Thanks to his arrest of the man, Keeler's partner warns that friendly community relations may be lost; acknowledging this, Keeler adds relations would only grow worse if he's deported....

Bill Meening--Keeler's partner--accuses the man of having a less than honorable interest in this mystery woman (named Tam); Keeler denies and untoward behavior. That evening, Keeler (in plain clothes) watches a young woman enter the building where Ms. Huyn and David live; Huyn takes the woman to David's apartment, announcing that Tam is his new mail order bride, courtesy of the Floating Lotus Company! David is completely confused by the situation (and ignorant of the fact that the mail order bride business is alive and well in America), and refuses to accept Tam. While Huyn jokes with David about his not being the monk-like character he appears to be, both are unaware of Tam taking a long look at David's chemicals...

As David tries to explain the impossibility of taking Tam as his wife, Keeler shows up (flaunting his badge) looking for the girl. Laying eyes on Keeler, Tam tears out of the apartment. Interested in David's connection to Tam, Keeler takes Banner to--of all places--the East Winds Club. There, Keeler points out Tam--now dressed in a manner suggesting she's an escort. Suddenly, William (Chong's assassin) presents the men with Yellowtail fish--compliments of the house. Upstairs. Kam Chong, Tam & William discuss the Keeler problem, and thanks to Tam, are convinced David has the gold--and is using the chemicals for testing purposes...

Downstairs, David eats the Yellowtail, while Keeler is content to drink; Tam leaves the club, shooting a concerned look over at the duo. Kam Chong--taking no chances on how much Keeler knows / needing any opposition eliminated--reveals he had his chef mix the pufferfish's (rather, its tetrodotoxin-loaded organs) with the Yellowtail, with the intended effect of killing Keeler & Banner.

Keeler explains his interest in Tam--

Keeler: "When Tam first got to the States from a refugee camp in Thailand, she came to the department for help. It seems she has four sisters back in the camp, and some shyster told her that he could get them to the States....for the right price, of course. Now most refugees are scared of going to the police. I mean, they're nervous about it, but not Tam. She's a real gutsy lady. Well, I helped her get the money back, and we became friends. One thing led to another. First thing I knew, we were more than just..ah...just friends. I guess I should have known better."
David: (rapidly suffering from the pufferfish) "Keeler..."
Keeler: "I am not exactly the Romeo type. Girls don't fall for guys like me. Hardly ever, anyway. Until Tam came along, I was a pretty lonely guy."

David is sluggish--barely moving--

Keeler: "What's the matter with you?"
David: (struggling) "My arms...are...numb. My legs...."
Keeler: "You had too much to drink. Oh, you gotta watch this rice wine. It'll sneak up on you."
David: "No...something's wrong."
Keeler: "Well look, we'll go out, we'll get a little fresh air. What do you say? Boy, you really can't hold your liquor at all, can you? Hey, wait a minute--you weren't drinking anything. I think I'd better get you to a hospital. Let's go!"

Carrying the near completely paralyzed David to the exit, but leaves him to get more immediate help; as David slumps to the floor, barely responsive, William and a henchman grab Keeler, attempting to force feed the pufferfish to him. Banner (overhearing the conflict) and his total loss of any physical control triggers as Hulk-out. The creature busts into the kitchen, and after William cuts the Hulk with a butcher knife, the Hulk punches at William, his fist tearing through a metal pot. The henchmen scramble out of the back exit, with the Hulk in pursuit. Keeler cannot believe what he's witnessed. Outside, the Hulk causes a panic as he runs through Chinatown's evening streets.

With the police on the scene, Keeler points to a calm Kam Chong, accusing his henchman of attempted murder; despite his fiery account of the Hulk's attack, David's plight, the fact Banner is nowhere to be seen (frankly unusual for an allegedly paralyzed man) provides the cover of disbelief for Kam Chong, who watches the scene without an ounce of concern, and adds insult to injury by suggesting Keeler was drunk over unrequited love for Tam.

Later, Kam Chong orders Tam to kill Keeler; she refuses, but instead of a direct threat, Kam Chong uses the "common background" angle--

Tam: "You sit there so quietly, thinking one of your promises or threats will make me do it. That is what you think, isn't it? ISN'T IT?!?"
Kam Chong: "I'm trying very hard to understand you, Tam. Perhaps it would serve us both if you try to understand me. You're not the only one who has ever suffered I too come from a background of poverty and hardship. Life has taught us the same lessons. That's why I wanted to help you and your sisters."
Tam (insulting): "You can't help them. Even your organization can't help them....paper tiger. You're not so powerful. My sisters are still in that refugee camp! But then, there is good even in that. At least they're beyond your reach!"
Kam Chong: "Even the most devoted of followers sometimes needs to see a miracle."

With that, William brings Ying Tai--one of Tam's little sisters--into the room; Kam Chong twists the screws for all its worth--

Kam Chong: (staring at the child) "Pretty little Tai. Soon, the whole family will be together again. Your other sisters are staying with friends of mine. Good friends. Friends who would do anything I ask...anything."

Tam understands the many implications of that "anything" and defeated, agrees to kill Keeler with a knife dressed as a decorative hairpin.

David returns to his apartment--watched by Kam Chong and his men. Surprised that he survived the pufferfish poison, Kam Chong expects Keeler to join David--a situation the gangster cannot allow. He sends one of the club hostesses to the police station, baiting Keeler with a meeting with Tam--the trap.

David cleans his still-bloody knife wound, which was serious enough even the Hulk's recuperative powers did not fully heal it. As expected, he packs his bags, read to leave yet another city...

Keeler meets a pensive Tam at her home. He questions her about the mail order bride act she put on at David's apartment, but she flatly tells him its her business--not his. But just as quickly as she's cutting Keeler off, she tries to play on his feelings for her--which is met with rejection. Keeler is incensed that Tam works for Kam Chong (in whatever suggested capacity), feeling her request to meet him is part of a set-up. Tam accuses Keeler of walking away from her--which was true--but due to her only involving herself with him to aid her sisters, but adds--.

Keeler: "Tam...I was never concerned with what people said or thought about you and me--"
Tam: "...until I wanted to get married. Then it mattered that I wasn't a blonde, blue-eyed, all-American girl. Suddenly, I wasn't good enough!"
Keeler: "The only reason you wanted to marry me was to help your sisters get to this country. You were using me! But let's not worry about that...I was...I was using you. Yes, yes, I went along with it, but I never really believed that you loved me. "
Tam: "Loved you? How could I love you? You're old and ugly. Every time you touched me, I wanted to die!"

Keeler slaps her, but instantly apologizes. Tam is shocked by the violence (never experiencing that with Keeler before), and while embracing, she reaches for the hairpin knife, and prepares to stab him, but drops it, running off. Tam admits Kam Chong is holding her sister in exchange for Keeler's death. She also tells the truth: she loves Keeler (the "ugly" line only used to force her emotional separation from him). Now knowing Kam Chong is after one million dollars worth of gold--alleged to be in David's apartment, Keeler rushes to prevent a murder.

At David's apartment, he continues packing his experiments when he hears Cantonese outside his door; suddenly, Kam Chong and his men break in, with David rushing to lock himself in the bathroom. It isn't long before William and his men break down that defense, and after unsuccessfully questioning David, bind his hands and legs, then throw him in the tub--now filled with scalding water. As Kam Chong patiently sits in the living room, David transforms. Soon, the raging Hulk pushes his two tormenters to the floor, grabs the tub and sends it crashing through the wall--and into a cowering Kam Chong. William plasters himself against a wall, petrified with fear just as Keeler, Menning and Tam break in; Keeler stops Menning from shooting the Hulk, allowing the creature to run off. Kam Chong-once mocking Keeler for seeing "green men," cannot find the words for what he's experienced, but he still gropes the bathtub for his "beautiful" gold....

Morning--Keeler shuts down the East Winds Club with a packed David ready to leave.

Keeler: "Kam Chong's on his way to 20 years for smuggling and extortion. And Kam Chong's tub is on its way back to China. You know that gold tub is a lot like many of these people--refugees...no home, no country....you can spot them every time. Which way's your bus headed?"
David: "South. I really have to get going, too."

Keeler hints he's having better luck with Tam, then--

Keeler: "Goodbye David. And I hope you find your safe place. Your refuge.
David: "Thank you."

NOTES:

This is only marginally a cure-related episode, with David buying various chemicals to treat his condition.

Jack McGee does not appear in this episode. Speaking of McGee, "East Winds" is the second and final TIH episode directed by Jack Colvin.

Mrs. Huyn expresses a concern with parallels in real life for immigrants (particularly if here illegally); from taking advantage of 5th amendment rights, to the fear of being deported. Coming from Los Angeles, this was a common line of discussion for immigrants (in similar positions) of various ethnicities. Smart touch to add this to the dialogue, in building the backdrop to the local situation. We also get a view into Tam's thinking she--as an Asian woman--would never be the first choice of a white American man, believing tastes are all about the "blonde hair/blue eyes" idea. Typical of TIH, the subject handled in a sensitive manner.

Often, we discuss who figures out David is the Hulk--or should know from the number of connected sightings. This time around, its sort of suggested Keeler knows when he hopes David finds his "safe place" and "refuge"; on the surface, and considering the plot, it seems he's talking about immigrants being safe, but directing that at David almost reads as if he knew the creature & David were the same being.

During the kitchen fight, the Hulk actually throws a punch. As seen in many an episode, if he wanted to disarm an enemy, he could easily slap a weapon from the hand, but in this case, he was angry enough to punch at William, and no part of his Banner side gave him pause or considered not using what would be (in the Hulk;s case) lethal force.

True to life, the organs of pufferfish, particularly the skin, liver and ovaries contain a level of tetrodotoxin powerful enough to cause the symptoms seen with David, and can be lethal if not treated immediately.

David still hanging around California.


GUEST CAST:
Of all of William Windom's (Sgt. Jack Keeler) notable fantasy credits, its not a stretch to say he will be best remembered for the role of Commodore Matt Decker from Star Trek's "The Doomsday Machine" (NBC, 1967), and the Emmy nominated "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar"--a first season episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery (NBC, 1971). Like Bixby, Windom appeared in two episodes of the Serling anthology (see below).

• The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1961 / 1963) - "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" & "Miniature"
• Thriller (NBC, 1962) - "Man of Mystery"
• Kraft Suspense Theatre (NBC, 1962) - "In Close Pursuit"
• The Invaders (ABC, 1967) - "Doomsday Minus One" / "Summit Meeting: Part I" & "Summit Meeting: Part II"
• The Mephisto Waltz (20th Century Fox, 1971)
• Escape from the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox, 1971) - as The President; also starring TIH guest Bradford Dillman
• A Taste of Evil (ABC, 1971)
• Escape (ABC, 1971) - pilot for an unsold series
• Rod Serling's Night Gallery (NBC, 1972) - "Little Girl Lost"
• Circle of Fear (NBC, 1972) - "The Summer House"
• Pursuit (ABC, 1972) - Michael Crichton's directorial debut; based on his novel Binary
• The Bionic Woman (ABC, 1976) - "Black Magic"
• The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1983) - "Live at Eleven"
• Automan (ABC, 1983) - "Staying Alive While Running a High Flashdance Fever"
• The Jetsons (Syndicated, 1985) - "Elroy in Wonderland"
• Space Rage (Vestron Pictures, 1985)
• Sky Commanders (Syndicated, 1987) - series regular / voice of Cutter King
• Batman: The Animated Series (Fox Kids, 1992) - "Prophecy of Doom"
• Attack of the 50ft Woman (HBO, 1993) Terrible remake of the equally terrible 1958 film
• Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (video, 1996)
• Raising Dead (Amtron Productions, 2002)
• Dismembered (MovieTech Studios, 2003)
• Star Trek: New Voyages (Cawley Entertainment Company, 2004) - "In Harm's Way"

Richard Loo (Kam Chong)--"East Winds" would be the final role of Loo's long-lived career, one dating back to 1932. Aside from decades of playing some terrible Asian stereotypes, Loo moved on to becoming a solid character actor--the following fantasy roles among them--

• Lost Horizon (Columbia Pictures,1937)
• Around the World in Eighty Days (United Artists,1956) - uncredited as saloon manager
• The Outer Limits (ABC, 1963) - "The Hundred Days of the Dragon"
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (ABC, 1965) - "Time Bomb"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (NBC, 1966) - "The Indian Affairs Affair"
• The Sixth Sense (ABC, 1972) - "With This Ring, I Thee Kill!"
• The Man with the Golden Gun (United Artists, 1974) - as Hai Fat
• The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1977) - "The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin"

Richard Narita (William Chimoda)--

• Airport 1975 (Universal, 1974)
• The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1977) - "Wipe Out"
• Exo-Man (NBC. 1977) - with Jack Colvin Clearly, he had better days ahead of him, but this must be seen to be believed--

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• Wonder Woman (CBS, 1977) - "The Man Who Made Volcanoes"

..and from the wannabe whip crackin' department...

• Bring 'Em Back Alive (CBS, 1982) - "The Pied Piper" (nevermind the 1930 book, the TV series took its cues from a certain film from 1981...)
• Tales of the Gold Monkey (ABC, 1982) - "The Lady and the Tiger"

The rest--

• Suburban Commando (New Line, 1991) - Once again, it must be seen to be believed--

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• Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 (Westwood Studios, 2000) - video game

In the 60s, Del Monroe (Lieutenant) was as well known in the role of Kowalski in the 1961 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea movie and its TV spinoff (ABC, 1965-68) as the stars of the series, arguably on recognition level of Doohan on Star Trek. Monroe joined the list of actors guest starring on most of CBS' live action superhero series.

• The Time Tunnel (ABC, 1967) - "The Kidnappers"
• Longstreet (CBS, 1971) - "The Way of the Intercepting Fist" (no a fantasy series, but its notable as being one Bruce Lee's 4 appearances on the series)
• Ark II (CBS, 1976) - "The Balloon"
• The Amazing Spider-Man (CBS, 1978) - "The Kirkwood Haunting"
• Wonder Woman (CBS, 1979) - "The Richest Man in the World"
• Time Express (CBS, 1979) - "The Garbage Man"
• Medium (NBC, 2005) - "Sweet Dreams"

 

[The Old Mixer]

So where's Rick Springfield, Kung Fu Detective, when you need him? I have a feeling that we'll be getting a career update from him fairly soon....

David Barrett.

His second use of that one.

The loner in question returns to his apartment, being chatted up by Ms. Huyn, who always tries to play matchmaker with David and eligible women in the area.

I found her entertaining.

David cheerfully declines the offer, being more interested in the chemicals he buys for well known reasons.

Lip service!

As David tries to explain the impossibility of taking Tam as his wife, Keeler shows up (flaunting his badge) looking for the girl.

I made a note that David's reluctance to be ID'ed was used as a plot point...I assume that was around here.

Downstairs, David eats the Yellowtail, while Keeler is content to drink; Tam leaves the club, shooting a concerned look over at the duo. Kam Chong--taking no chances on how much Keeler knows / needing any opposition eliminated--reveals he had his chef mix the pufferfish's (rather, its tetrodotoxin-loaded organs) with the Yellowtail, with the intended effect of killing Keeler & Banner.
[...]
Banner (overhearing the conflict) and his total loss of any physical control triggers as Hulk-out.

Hulk-Out from bad Chinese food: -23:39.

The creature busts into the kitchen, and after William cuts the Hulk with a butcher knife, the Hulk punches at William, his fist tearing through a metal pot. The henchmen scramble out of the back exit, with the Hulk in pursuit.

One of the hoods randomly falling into a trash can in the restaurant reminded me of hoods knocking themselves out in Adventures of Superman.

David cleans his still-bloody knife wound, which was serious enough even the Hulk's recuperative powers did not fully heal it.

Yet he didn't wrap it. Undercover Doctor, heal thyself.

It isn't long before William and his men break down that defense, and after unsuccessfully questioning David, bind his hands and legs, then throw him in the tub--now filled with scalding water. As Kam Chong patiently sits in the living room, David transforms.

Hulk-Out from hot shower: -04:50.

Keeler: "Goodbye David. And I hope you find your safe place. Your refuge.
David: "Thank you."

Episode-specific LM.

Often, we discuss who figures out David is the Hulk--or should know from the number of connected sightings. This time around, its sort of suggested Keeler knows when he hopes David finds his "safe place" and "refuge"; on the surface, and considering the plot, it seems he's talking about immigrants being safe, but directing that at David almost reads as if he knew the creature & David were the same being.

Or just that he knew David was on the run from something (his reluctance to be ID'ed).

Richard Loo (Kam Chong)--"East Winds" would be the final role of Loo's long-lived career, one dating back to 1932. Aside from decades of playing some terrible Asian stereotypes, Loo moved on to becoming a solid character actor--the following fantasy roles among them--

• Lost Horizon (Columbia Pictures,1937)
• Around the World in Eighty Days (United Artists,1956) - uncredited as saloon manager
• The Outer Limits (ABC, 1963) - "The Hundred Days of the Dragon"
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (ABC, 1965) - "Time Bomb"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (NBC, 1966) - "The Indian Affairs Affair"
• The Sixth Sense (ABC, 1972) - "With This Ring, I Thee Kill!"
• The Man with the Golden Gun (United Artists, 1974) - as Hai Fat
• The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1977) - "The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin"

You missed:

• The Wild Wild West (CBS, 1966) - "The Night the Dragon Screamed" - as Wang Chung

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_______

Next week on Heroes & Icons (H&I):

• "Married: Part 1" (originally aired Sept. 22, 1978)
• "Married: Part 2" (originally aired Sept. 22, 1978)
• "Ricky" (originally aired Oct. 6, 1978)
• "Rainbow's End" (originally aired Oct. 13, 1978)
• "A Child in Need" (originally aired Oct. 20, 1978)

_______

 

[Christopher]

Hulk: “East Winds”: This is Jack Colvin’s second and last directorial effort (on the show or anywhere else), and it’s very unimpressive, though more due to the story than the direction. It’s every bit as racially problematical as it looked going in. At least the Li Sung episodes tried to portray Mako’s character and culture in a positive light despite the exoticism and mysticism. This is pretty much a mass of stereotypes -- aphorism-quoting gang lords and broken-English-spouting landladies and oh, let’s treat sex slavery as a quaint and amusing custom while we’re at it! And even aside from the stereotypes, it’s a weak episode. William Windom’s cop character is just annoying and unlikeable, and his crush on a much younger woman (who was implicitly a prostitute) is more pathetic than sympathetic. And David is barely even involved in the story, just stumbling in on the periphery, a secondary player in an episode of his own show.

The only remotely positive thing I can say about it is that there’s a nice shot in the first Hulk-out where they do a good job fading in a color filter to make it look as if David’s face is turning green. It’s about as convincing as the metamorphosis effects ever got, and much subtler than the older shots where they superimposed an oval of bright green light on his face.