Category: TV

Fringe Twofer

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Fringe, which is now entering it’s third season is going to make a bold change.  The show, which deals with alternate universes and X-Files-like investigations is going to…

…give fans a healthy dose of both universes in which the show now takes place (the producers call them “over here” and “over there”), episodes will alternate between them for the entire third season…

How cool [and daring] is that?  Since the alternate universe characters and their motivations are very different from our universe, we’re in for some interesting stories.  I can’t wait.  [I wonder if my doppelganger  feels the same].

Lost in Space Trivia

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I was a fan of Lost in Space.  It was a wonderful concept – a family sent on a space mission and thanks to a cowardly stowaway traitor, they get thrown off course and, well, lost in space.  The robot was the coolest and I have to admit that I thought Penny was pretty cute too.  Plus the dad was the guy who played Zorro!

If you are/were a Lost in Space fan, then you might be interested in some little known facts:

  • Carroll O’Connor, who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family, was initially considered to play the role of Dr. Smith.
  • The pilot episode cost $600,000. At the time, it was the most expensive TV pilot to date, with the exception of Star Trek’s $630,000 first pilot episode “The Cage.”
  • The strongly campy nature of the second and third seasons was, by the way, entirely intentional. A year after Lost in Space debuted, the TV series Batman became a spectacular ratings success. Irwin Allen noticed and attributed its ratings to the show’s playful tone. He altered Lost in Space accordingly.

You can learn even more little known Lost in Space facts if you check out this post at Neatorama.

Boris Karloff’s Thriller

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If you’ve read the ZONE for any length of time, then you know about my love of monster movies, drive-in theaters, horror movie hosts like Sammy Terry, as well as scary [well at least they were when I was a kid] tv shows like The Twilight Zone, The Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and The Invaders.

One show that fits into the horror genre but you’ve never heard me talk is Thriller. Hosted by the legendary, Boris Karloff, Thriller ran for 67 episodes from 1960 to 1962. From all accounts Thriller featured episodes that had some of the best scares and creepy stories that could be found anywhere. Stephen King called it,

“Probably the best horror series ever put on TV.”

Yet, for some reason it never showed up in reruns and only appeared with sporadic episodes on VHS and laser disc. That’s changed now that Thriller -The Complete Series is available on DVD with tons of extras.

If you’re like me, you’re hesitant to plunk down your hard-earned bucks without knowing more. Well, we’re in luck because at A Thriller a Day, one episode of the series is reviewed, you guessed it, each day. Even if I end up not purchasing the series, I’m going to enjoy reading about it. The two guys running the site have a good banter going, they’re refreshingly honest {they’ll call a clunker story, just that] and yet they also have an obvious love for the genre. If I was to make any suggestions to them it would be to change their rating system. Now they rate each episode from one to four Karloffs like this…

Perhaps it would be more horrific if they rated the episodes like this…

Big Monster News

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Harry Knowles at AICN recently announced that AICN is going to present and run the Famous Monsters of Filmland.com website.  This is especially exciting news because Harry has a passion for horror films.  He also has a huge fan base that he can attract to the site.

I love horror/monster movies and when I was a kid Famous Monsters of Filmland was always a fun read.  But up until Harry’s announcement, I wasn’t even aware that there was a Famous Monsters website.

In other monster news, /Film posted a report that Tim Burton is developing a 3D film called Monsterpocalypse.  Tim Burton and the title alone make it worth a look.

What’s More Suprising?

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Today’s post is about a few things; one of which you may find surprising.  But first, some introductions, the handsome fellow on the left is professional wrestler [and best selling author] Mick Foley aka Mankind, Cactus Jack, etc.  The lady on the left is Linda McMahon, wife of billionaire and WWE owner, Vince McMahon.  There will be another post, later this week, about Mick Foley.  Today’s post concerns Linda McMahon.

Last year Linda McMahon stepped down as CEO of the WWE.  It wasn’t part of a storyline or a gimmick to do with the professional wrestling company. Ms. McMahon decided to run for the US Senate.  Really.  Here’s her website.  I kid you not.  Kinda surprising, right.

Today TVGuide.com posted a piece on Ms. McMahon’s campaign ad that calls professional wrestling,,,

“a soap opera that entertains millions each week”.

TVGuide says that in the ad Linda McMahon…

…lets it slip that the wrestling “isn’t real.”

The article goes on to say…

That sound you hear is grown men all over the country weeping.

Will someone please send Gina DiNunno, the author of the article, word that pro wrestling fans have known for years that professional wrestling is scripted.  Make that decades.  If this was the 1950’s, 60’s or even the 70’s, perhaps some fans would think that pro rasslin’ was real, but c’mon, let’s get, uh, real.  Professional wrestling is scripted.  Anyone who doesn’t know that probably doesn’t have the intelligence to read the TVGuide article.

So what’s more surprising:

  1. Linda McMahon is running for the US Sentate
  2. Linda McMahon called professional wrestling a “scripted soap opera”
  3. TVGuide and Gina DiNunno think that Linda McMahon’s statement is a “Shocker”

My vote is for #3.