Dusty Abell’s Officially Licensed “Star Trek” Original Series Poster

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If you’re a fan of the original Star Trek you’ll get a kick out of Dusty Abell’s authorized tribute poster.  

Dusty has 123 people and items for super Star Trek fans to identify.  Here’s a larger version of the poster so you want have to strain your eyes.  If you need some help, you can see an answer key chart /Film.  

If you really like the poster you can buy a copy at Dusty’s site.  And Star Trek fans will want to be on the lookout because word is that Dusty’s poster is being turned into a 1,000 piece puzzle.

11 Fun Facts About “My Three Sons”

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Kara Kovalchik and Mental_Floss present 11 Fun Facts About My Three Sons.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE STAR MANAGED TO NEGOTIATE A SWEET SET OF WORKING HOURS FOR HIS SCHEDULE.
Fred MacMurray was a well-established film star when he was approached by executive producer Don Fedderson about starring in a TV series. MacMurray agreed with two conditions: one, that he would own a percentage of the show, and two, that he only would be required to work three months of each year. In reality, MacMurray was a dedicated family man, and after years of being away on movie sets had planned to retire early and spend the majority of his time at home with his wife and four-year-old twin daughters. But the money Fedderson offered him was too tempting to pass up—and would secure his children’s future—so he signed on to play the widowed patriarch on My Three Sons.

MacMurray’s “three month” stipulation meant that the writers had to have each season’s scripts ready in advance so that MacMurray could film all of his scenes in one fell swoop and have them edited into the various episodes of the series after the fact. Years later, several other actors caught on to this concept and agreed to star in a project only if it was filmed in “the MacMurray Method.”

4. BILL FRAWLEY CARRIED A GRUDGE … TO GREAT LENGTHS.
That there was no love lost between former I Love Lucy co-stars William Frawley and Vivian Vance was certainly no secret in Hollywood, but Frawley had been willing to set aside any personal differences when Desilu proposed a spin-off series starring Fred and Ethel Mertz. Vivian Vance absolutely refused, however, and Frawley never forgave her for denying him a steady paycheck.

“On the third season of our show, lo and behold, Lucy decided to do The Lucy Show and they were on the next stage over from ours,” Stanley Livingston recalled. “She probably picked that stage knowing Bill and Vivian would have to pass each other. When Bill saw Vivian, he’d yell some sort of obscenity at her. He got me to participate in a couple of his pranks. When she was doing a scene, he’d get us kids on the show to sneak in and knock over a stack of empty film cans or throw them like a Frisbee to make a big racket and ruin her scene so she’d have to do it again.”

8. THE SERIES CHANGED NETWORKS MIDWAY THROUGH ITS 12-YEAR RUN.
My Three Sons was effectively cancelled by ABC in 1964 because the network was bowing to pressure from rival networks and slowly converting their black-and-white prime time shows to color. All things considered, in their opinion the added expense of filming My Three Sons in color was not worth it, so they axed the show from their schedule. CBS, however, thought the series still had some legs so they picked it up for the fall 1965 season (and continued running it through 1972).

Twilight Zone: The Very Best of the Series

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Thanks to last year’s SYFY Twilight Zone Marathon which ran every episode in order, I can now say with complete certainty I’ve seen every Twilight Zone episode.  Rod Serling deserves all the praise he’s received for creating not only the best television anthology series but one of the overall best tv series ever.  Sure, there were some episodes which didn’t quite work, but overall the excellent episodes outweighed those that fell short.

There were eleven episodes that earned my top rating.  These are the episodes that can be watched repeatedly without losing their impact.  Here they are…

  • Time Enough at Last [Season 1, Episode 8]
    Poor little, nearsighted, henpecked Henry Bemis [Meredith] loves to read.  Reading is his passion but sadly life deprives him of it.  A twist of fate provide Bemis with time enough at last to read to his heart’s content… until another twist of fate proves this is The Twilight Zone.

 

  • The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street [Season 1, Episode 22]
    It’s a beautiful summer afternoon until a strange sound and vibration brings neighbors outside.  Paranoia soon takes over as the thought of an alien invasion takes hold.  Who among them isn’t human?

 

  • The Howling Man [Season 2, Episode 5]
    David Ellington [Wynant] while on a long hike alone in the woods in Europe becomes ill.  Ellington stumbles across a monastery.  Initially told he cannot stay, Brother Jerome [Carradine] allows him to stay until he is well enough to travel.While recuperating, Ellington hears a man howling in pain.  The screams lead to a cell where a man is being held prisoner.  Before Ellington can release him, Brother Jerome arrives and explains that the thing in the cell is not a man, but the devil!

    How could the devil be held in a cell?  Are the monks insane?  If so, Ellington is in danger as well.  Isn’t his duty to help the man escape?  These are the thoughts that race through Ellington’s mind before he makes a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

  • Eye of the Beholder [Season 2, Episode 6]
    Janet Tyler [Stuart] is lying in her hospital bed, her head and face totally covered by bandages.  Tyler nervously waits for her doctor to remove the bandages hoping that her latest (and last) surgery will make her look normal.Sadly Tyler is hideously ugly and lives in a society where the less desirables are sent away.  As the bandages are removed her worst fears are revealed.
  • Nick of Time [Season 2, Episode 7]
    While driving through a small town heading for their honeymoon, Don [Shatner] and Pat [Breslin] Carter’s car breaks down.  The mechanic says it will take a few hours to repair, so the newlyweds head into a small cafe for lunch and to pass the time.Don is nervous to hear about a possible promotion but is afraid to call his boss.  There’s a little penny fortune-telling machine at their table, so Don jokingly puts in a penny to get the answer.  When it appear that the machine got the answer correctly, Don asks more and more questions and the machine answers with startling accuracy… or does it?
  • The Invaders [Season 2, Episode 15]
    An old woman who lives alone in a rural shack with no modern conveniences finds herself under attack when small visitors from another planet land on her roof.  Contains one of the best Twilight Zone twist endings of all.

 

  • Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up? [Season 2, Episode 28]
    On a dark, snowy night, two deputies respond to a call about a crashed spaceship.  Tracks lead to a remote dinner where seven bus passengers and the diner’s owner are waiting out the storm.  The funny thing is there were only supposed to be six passengers on the bus and strange things are starting to happen at the dinner.  Coincidence or is there an alien among them?

 

  • The Shelter [Season 3, Episode 3]
    Several families from the neighborhood have come together to celebrate a birthday.  Just as toasts are made with everyone expressing their friendship, an emergency warning announcing an imminent nuclear attack is broadcast.As each family prepares for the incoming bombs, they realize that one of the families has a bomb shelter.  Sadly it is not big enough to hold everyone.

 

  • It’s a Good Life [Season 3, Episode 8]
    Little Anthony Fremont [Mumy] has extraordinary mental powers.  Anthony has made all of the world outside of his small farming town disappear.   He’s done the same or worse to anyone of anything that displeases him.
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    Anthony demands that everyone think happy thoughts.  The town people live in fear that they will displease Anthony and they will be next.Tonight is Anthony’s birthday.  Let’s hope he’s not disappointed.

 

  • To Serve Man [Season 3, Episode 24]
    Aliens come to earth promising peace and shared technology. They seem to be making good on their promise to turn earth into a paradise, yet some doubts linger…  This is one of the best Twilight Zone episodes made.

 

  • Nightmare at 20,000 Feet [Season 5, Episode 3]
    Bob Wilson [Shatner] and his wife are flying home.  Wilson has just recovered from a nervous breakdown and a storm is making the flight less than comfortable.  Wilson becomes alarmed when he sees a creature on the wing of the plane tearing at wires.  His wife and others think Bob is suffering a relapse but he’s not…

 

 

15 Chest-Bursting Facts About “Alien”

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Kristen Hunt and Mental_Floss presents 15 Chest-Bursting Facts About Alien.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. IT WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED STAR BEAST.
When Dan O’Bannon was drafting the screenplay that would become Alien, he had a more unusual title: Star Beast. He didn’t like it, but struggled to find a better replacement until one late-night writing session. As he was typing dialogue in which the crew members discussed the alien, that word jumped out at him. He promptly ditched Star Beast for the more simplistic title, which he loved because it was a noun and an adjective.

5. RIPLEY WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE A WOMAN.
O’Bannon and Shusett wrote the entire cast as men, but they left a note in the screenplay that “the crew is unisex and all parts are interchangeable for men or women.” Shusett admits they never dreamed of the lead being a woman, though. The producers made that call, believing a female Ripley would be more unique but also more palatable to their bankrollers. As Brandywine producer David Giler remembered, “Looking it over, [producer Walter Hill] and I thought, ‘Here’s this one character who’s not too interesting.’ And this studio—I hate to say this, but for very cynical reasons—this studio [20th Century Fox] is making Julia and Turning Point and they really believe in the return of the woman’s movie. [We’d] probably get a lot of points if we turn this character into a woman.”

12. THE ACTORS WERE GENUINELY SHOCKED BY THE CHESTBURSTER SCENE.
For the iconic scene where a chestburster shoots out of John Hurt’s torso, Scott wanted the best possible reaction from his cast. So he deliberately kept details hidden from all the actors, aside from Hurt. They knew a creature would emerge, they had seen the puppet, and they were more than a little suspicious of the raincoats they’d been given. But they had no idea what kind of gore was in store. Their reaction to the bloody burst is completely genuine. According to The Guardian, Yaphet Kotto (Parker) shut himself in his room right after the scene and wouldn’t talk to anyone.

Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” [Season 5, Episode 36] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” [Season 5, Episode 36]
Original Air Date: June 19, 1964

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Mary Badham, Dee Hartford and Tod Andrews.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Two young children of self-centered divorcing parents who are always fighting find a portal at the bottom of their swimming pool that takes them to a better place.

Rating:

11 Facts About Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 11 Facts About Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE TITLE CAME FROM AIRPLANE SALT AND PEPPER PACKETS.
By the time The Beatles took a three-month vacation in the latter part of 1966, they were all tired of being The Beatles. McCartney and tour manager/assistant Mal Evans ruminated on this problem as the two traveled together, ending their international adventures in Kenya. On their flight back to London, McCartney was developing an alter ego for the band for their next record.

“Me and Mal often bantered words about, which led to the rumor that he thought of the name Sergeant Pepper,” McCartney explained to author Barry Miles about how he came up with the name. “But I think it would be much more likely that it was me saying, ‘Think of names.’ We were having our meal and they had those little packets marked ‘S’ and ‘P.’ Mal said, ‘What’s that mean? Oh, salt and pepper.’ We had a joke about that. So I said, ‘Sergeant Pepper,’ just to vary it, ‘Sergeant Pepper, salt and pepper,’ an aural pun, not mishearing him but just playing with the words.” McCartney then added “Lonely Hearts Club” to “Sergeant Pepper,” and figured it would be a “crazy enough” band name, “because why would a Lonely Hearts Club have a band?”

5. RINGO REFUSED TO SING ONE LYRIC.
The song originally began with the hypothetical, “What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?” Starr remembered what happened years earlier when fans constantly threw jelly babies on stage, after Harrison mentioned that he liked them. The drummer worried he would just be asking for it and take tomatoes to the face and other parts of his body for the rest of his life, and informed Lennon and McCartney there was”not a chance in hell” he was going to sing the line as written.

8. “SHE’S LEAVING HOME” WAS WRITTEN ABOUT A TEEN WHO REALLY RAN AWAY FROM HOME, AND HAD MET THE BEATLES YEARS EARLIER.
McCartney wrote “She’s Leaving Home” after reading in the local newspaper about 17-year-old Melanie Coe, who went missing without her car, checkbook, or any spare clothes. It turned out that Coe was shacked up with a croupier she had met at a nightclub, and ended up coming home 10 days later. What McCartney never realized was that he actually met Coe on October 4, 1963, when she won a miming contest on the TV show Ready Steady Go!. McCartney was the judge.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson – R.I.P.

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Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson died yesterday from heart complications at the age of 42.

Ferguson rose to fame after a series of videos showing him participating in one-on-one backyard brawls for money became an internet sensation.  Because of the popularity of the fight videos and his charismatic personality, Ferguson was able to become a professional MMA fighter (for EliteXC, UFC and Bellator), an undefeated professional boxer and even a movie actor.  People tuned in to see Ferguson fight and his bouts were always entertaining.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson’s family, friends and fans.

Twilight Zone: “The Fear” [Season 5, Episode 35] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Fear” [Season 5, Episode 35]
Original Air Date: May 29, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Peter Mark Richman and Hazel Court.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A woman in a remote cabin.  A state trooper sent out to check on her.  Strange sounds and the trooper’s patrol car turned over as night sets in and you have the right set-up for The Twilight Zone.

Rating:

14 Breathless Facts About Marilyn Monroe

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Stacy Conradt and Mental_Floss present 14 Breathless Facts About Marilyn Monroe.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. SHE OFTEN REFERRED TO “MARILYN MONROE” IN THE THIRD PERSON.
Actor Eli Wallach once recalled that Monroe seemed to flip an inner switch and turn “Marilyn” on and off. He had been walking on Broadway with her one evening, totally incognito, and the next minute, she was swarmed with attention. “‘I just felt like being Marilyn for a minute,’” Wallach remembers her saying. Photographer Sam Shaw often heard her critiquing “Marilyn’s” performances in movies or at photo shoots, making comments like, “She wouldn’t do this. Marilyn would say that.”

5. SHE HAD A THING FOR INTELLECTUAL MEN.
Her marriage to writer Arthur Miller probably tells you that, but there’s more evidence. Monroe was once roommates with actress Shelley Winters, who said they made a list of men they wanted to sleep with, just for fun. “There was no one under 50 on hers,” Winters later reported. “I never got to ask her before she died how much of her list she had achieved, but on her list was Albert Einstein, and after her death, I noticed that there was a silver-framed photograph of him on her white piano.”

9. SHE HELPED ELLA FITZGERALD BOOK THE MOCAMBO CLUB.
The rumor has long circulated that Ella Fitzgerald was originally denied due to her race, but according to one biographer, race wasn’t the deterrent for nightclub owner Charlie Morrison; Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Dandridge had already played there. The problem was that Morrison didn’t believe Fitzgerald was glamorous enough for his patrons. A huge Fitzgerald fan, Monroe promised to be in the front row every night if Morrison would book her, guaranteeing massive amounts of press for the club. He agreed, and Monroe was true to her word. “After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again,” Fitzgerald said. “She was an unusual woman—a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it.”

Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me” [Season 5, Episode 34] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me” [Season 5, Episode 34]
Original Air Date: May 22, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Anthony Wilson

Starring: Gary Crosby, Bonnie Beecher and Jonathan Bolt.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Floyd Burney [Crosby], the “Rock-a-Billy-Kid”, drives way off the beaten path in hopes of finding a real country song that he can turn into a hit.  He finds the song and his destiny in the deep woods.

Rating:

10 Things You May Not Know About The Monkees

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MeTV presents 10 Things You May Not Know About The Monkees.  Here are three of my favorites…

ONLY PETER TORK AND MICKY DOLENZ APPEAR IN EVERY EPISODE OF THE TV SHOW.
Don’t worry, the other two had good excuses. Davy Jones had to be written out of an episode so he could attend his sister’s wedding. Michael Nesmith missed three shoots due to a tonsillectomy, the birth of his son Jonathan and a family trip to Texas.

PAUL WILLIAMS AND STEPHEN STILLS AUDITIONED TO BE MONKEES.
More than 400 young actors and musicians auditioned for the four roles. Stephen Stills and Paul Williams were among those who did not make the cut, as were Danny Hutton (of Three Dog Night) and Harry Nilsson. The original idea was to cast an existing act, specifically the Lovin’ Spoonful. Both Stills and Spoonful frontman John Sebastian bristled at the idea of turning over their song publishing rights to the studio. Contrary to urban legend, Charles Manson did not audition.

MICKY DOLENZ AND MICHAEL NESMITH BOTH AUDITIONED TO PLAY THE FONZ ON ‘HAPPY DAYS.’
Hey, hey, we’re the Fonzies / People say we Fonzie around… There is no bigger “What If?” surrounding Happy Days than the potential casting of Arthur Fonzarelli. The creators were keen on Dolenz, and even Henry Winkler thought his chances were slim when he spotted this adorable pop star at an audition. But it came down to inches. Six of them. Dolenz was deemed to be too tall, towering over his costars. Nesmith also auditioned and was considered too tall. The 5′ 6″ Winkler fit the frame perfectly. Aaaaaayyyyy!

Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples” [Season 5, Episode 33] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples” [Season 5, Episode 33]
Original Air Date: May 15, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Richard Deacon, Paul Newlan and Ted de Corsia.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Wallace Whipple [Deacon] looks to automate his company in every way possible to save money.  Firing long-time dedicated employees is a small price to pay to increase profits.  His goal is to automate every position possible… but of course he’s in the Twilight Zone so he should be careful what he wishes for.

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Gene Gonzalez Wins the Title with Rocky, Too

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The extremely talented, extremely nice, Gene Gonzales created his take on Sly from “Rocky II” at the last Heroes Convention. Gene is funny, knowledgeable and really nice.

At every show he attends Gene is constantly signing autographs and sketching for fans, so I was happy to find he could fit me!

You can see more of Gene’s work at his blog.  Gene is also available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable.

Thanks again Gene!

Muhammad Ali – Rest in Peace

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Muhammad Ali, Olympic Boxing Gold Medal winner, three time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and world icon passed away yesterday.  Ali had suffered for 32 years with Parkinson’s disease.  He was 74.

Before I went to bed Friday night the reports were coming in that Ali was in the hospital on life support.  Things didn’t sound good, but Muhammad Ali had overcome great odds before.

I can’t say I was shocked (that would come later) when my wife woke me at about 2am to say that Ali had died.  We had fallen asleep with the bedroom tv on and she woke up to the news.

The next morning reports and rememberances of Muhammad Ali were all over the tv and internet.  And rightly so.  Muhammad Ali was the self-proclaimed “Greatest” who later was ready to give up the braggadocio title, but could not because the world had accepted it as reality.  Muhammad Ali transcended boxing.  Especially to those of us old enough to remember his start as Cassius Clay.

In 1960, at the young age of 18, Cassius Clay won the Gold Medal in Olympic boxing.  He was an American Hero and ready to become a professional boxer.  Yet when Clay returned to the states, he was refused service at a diner because he was black.  In 1963, Clay became a American Muslim but kept it a secret.

In 1964, the undefeated Clay (19 – 0) got a title shot against the Heavyweight Champ, Sonny Liston.  Liston was heavily favored because of his knockout power, his intimidating presence and reputation as a thug.  Liston would be a man fighting a boy.  Clay taunted Liston prior to the fight and backed up the taunts with a 6th round TKO.

After winning the title, Clay announced his conversion to the Muslim faith and his name change to Muhammad Ali.  Although this didn’t sit well with some of his fans, Ali stayed true to his beliefs.

Ali gave Liston a rematch and knocked him out in the first round. Ali then went on to win 8 more title matches before being stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing to comply with the draft due to religious reasons.  Ali was convicted of draft evasion and sentenced to five years in prison.  Although released on appeal, Ali was not allowed to fight or leave the country, so he took to the lecture circuit to speak out for civil rights.  In 1971, Ali won his appeal and could once again box.  Still, he had lost 4 years of his prime.

Ali’s comeback fight was against Jerry Quarry.  I remember watching the fight on tv with my dad.  Ali won in by TKO in 3 rounds.  Ali had another fight which he won before challenging Joe Frazier for the title.

The fight against Frazier was the first of their 3 meetings.  It went 15 rounds in what some called the “Fight of the Century” and ended with a unanimous decision for Joe Frazier.  It was Ali’s first loss.

Between 1971 and 1973, Ali reeled off 10 more wins.  Then he fought Ken Norton and lost on a split decision.  Ali went through most of the fight with a broken jaw.  Seven months later Norton and Ali fought again, but this time Ali won the split decision.

In 1974, Ali and Frazier II took place.  I remember listening to the radio for round-by-round updates to learn that Ali won on a split decision.  Ali and Frazier were now 1 and 1.  Ali’s win put him in line for the title shot against George Foreman.

Foreman was 40 – 0 with most of his wins by KO or TKO.  Ali was the underdog, but as we all know won by 8th round KO.  Ali defended his title 3 more times and then was ready for the rematch with Frazier.

The fight went 12 brutal rounds before Ali won by a unanimous decision.  Ali jumped into another brutal battle when 9 months later he took on George Foreman in a bout Ali won by KO in the 8th.

Ali’s next fight (which he won by TKO in the 15th), against Chuck Wepner, inspired Sylvester Stallone to create Rocky.  Ali racked up two more wins and then it was time for the rubber match with Frazier.

Dubbed, by Ali, “The Thrilla in Manila,” the fight went 14 brutal rounds before Ali won by TKO.  Ali would fight six more times including wins over Ken Norton and Ernie Shavers before Ali signed to fight Olympic Gold Medalist Leon Spinks.

The fight was televised and I remember watching it.  Ali didn’t look to be in the best of shape perhaps taking Spinks too lightly.  As the fight went the 15 rounds it became obvious that it would be a close decision… and it was.  Spinks won via split decision and became the new Heavyweight Champion.

The Spinks – Ali rematch was set up 7 months later and Ali came back in much better shape winning a unanimous decision.  Ali retired after that fight only to come back two years later to lose by TKO in the 10th to Champion, Larry Holmes.  The following year Ali lost a 10 round decision to Trevor Berbick and then retired for good.

Most fighters when they finally retire slowly drift away from the public’s consciousness.  Not so with Muhammad Ali who over the years had increased his popularity through displays of his wit and charm with appearances on many entertainment programs.  So people were shocked to learn just a year after Ali had retired from boxing that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

That didn’t stop Ali from traveling the world to promote humanitarian causes.  In 1985 Ali went to Lebanon and in 1990 to Iraq to broker the release of American hostages. When the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996, Ali was chosen to light the Olympic flame.  In 2005, President George W. Bush honored Ali with the Presidential Medal of Freedom which is the highest award a civilian can achieve.

Muhammad Ali was a boxer who transcended boxing. Ali’s popularity wasn’t limited to the United States or people that shared his same faith.  Ali was a man of the world, a true people’s champion.  And it will be a long time before we ever see another like him.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Muhammad Ali’s family, friends and fans.