Mass media musings and pop culture nonsense filtered through the brainpan of yours truly, with a special focus on the line of dialogue most used in film!
We'll look back at 1982 with a quick video clip of a night of late night programming being offered on the CBS network - in this case a rerun of Hart to Hart from the ABC network, and what appears to be the broadcast premiere of a little-known Western comedy called Shame, Shame on the Bixby Boys.
I didn't watch this telecast but I do think I've seen the Hart to Hart episode. I have definitely not seen the movie - but I like the genre and star Monte Markham so I'm on the lookout for it now!
Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (American International, 1966)
Leonard Maltin says the fatigue is palpable by this entry in the series, and I can't exactly deny it - but any movie with that cast is always going to be at the very least watchable, and I've always had a soft spot for these movies anyway.
West of Singapore (Monogram Pictures, 1933)
I have no idea what this one is all about or who Betty Compson was to rate having her name above the title is same size font but I guess she was a big star.
The Black Windmill (Universal Studios, 1974)
I haven't seen this one but I don't see how the pairing of Caine and Pleasence could go wrong.
Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
George Kennedy certainly would - and as the only actor to appear in every film in the series, he's the perfect choice for tonight's very special...
Saturday Night at the Movies Dusk 'til Dawn Show:
The Airport Franchise!
First up - one video clip of all four trailers....
And then we'll get in the posters:
Airport was the movie that touched off the disaster movie craze in 1970, and became the only disaster franchise - the only other disaster flick to even make it to a second entry was 1972's The Poseidon Adventure with Beyond the Poseidon Adventure in 1979. The other nice thing about the four Airport movies is that they span almost the entire 10 years the genre originally lasted - the final film's release in August 1979 putting it just six months ahead of the movie that ended the disaster run - the aptly titled When Time Ran Out in March 1980.
And for this quartet - I have all four movies in a swell "Universal Studios' Franchise Collection" box set - and you could join me to watch the all star casts swing from movie stars to TV actors across the four flicks at any time - even this very evening - if you would care to fly over to my place.
And until the next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
Okay, here's a look back at a couple of posts that did not suffer a lack of traffic - but what the heck - let's feature them again and see if we can drum up some new traffic.
Below the picture you'll find the links to a two part look back at my experiences with the pop culture phenomenon known as Elvira - Mistress of the Dark,
In the early 1980's a California TV station was working on bringing back the notorious Vampira character from 1950's television with a new actress to play her. However, the station manager found working with Vampira's demanding creator and original performer Maila Nurmi too difficult, and they broke off the negotiations.
Shortly after, the station announced auditions for a new horror character called Elvira. A young woman named Cassandra Peterson nailed that audition, and soon after Elvira was born!
Initially conceived to be played as a cold and aloof female vampire - like Vampira - Elvira was eventually molded into a hip occult Valley girl persona - which Peterson played to a T. The show started out as a local Los Angeles program - but soon expanded nationwide. Eventually Elvira became the Queen of Halloween - hosting Halloween programs, making appearances in Halloween episodes of TV series, appearing in comic books and movies, and being the spokeswoman for several products, including Coors beer.
Elvira continues to be a strong force in entertainment - and still makes my heart go aflutter every time I see her.
That's the basics - and some nice pics of the lovely lady - but if you are really charged up to know more of her history - as filtered through my experiences as her fan - then you can check out these two links to an earlier two part Elvira series. They are considerably longer as I am quite the wordy cuss - as you'll definitely see if you follow the links...
Julie Newmar would under most circumstances, so we'll go with this one as tonight's choice...
At the Mad Monster Party convention in Charlotte NC in March 2015 I was delighted to hear Burt Ward announce that he and fellow convention guest Adam West would be supplying the voices for a new animated Batman film to be released in 2016 for the 50th anniversary of the original series' premiere.
It looked iffy for a while as there seemed to be no news of the film being in production or finished - but it was all true, and the finished film even played theaters as a one evening only Fathom Event on Monday, October 10th, 2016.
I attended that screening, and thoroughly enjoyed this very loving anniversary movie. Both West and Ward return to their roles with verve and enthusiasm, and they are joined by Julie Newmar, reprising her Catwoman role.
The other main villains here - Riddler, Joker, and Penguin - are voiced by new actors - but they all do nice jobs - though their success in capturing the flavor of the original actor go in the order I listed them in.
All in all if you enjoyed the old show - you're bound to enjoy this new movie. I promptly added the Blu-Ray to the video vault - and we could be watching the Caped Crusaders make their return at any Bat Time on my Blu-Ray player's Bat Channel - if you care to jump in your Batmobile and zoom over to my place.
Until next post, You Can BatPoke me with a BatFork, Cause I Am BatOutta Here!
Firstly, I certainly want to wish everyone a very...
Happy Thanksgiving!
The classic monsters are sitting down to their turkey and fixins while we get down to business...
Okay, let's keep things hopping in this resurrected blog - I introduced this new regular department as a way to look back at the 1000+ posts in this blog - specifically the posts that had little traffic and seem to have passed under the radar.
Well, now I'm thinking that Throwback Thursday can also be where we look back at and throw the spotlight on moments in pop culture - something that has always been this blog's bread and butter.
So this very day I'm watching a DVD of one of my lost lamented 80's favorites - a spy show called Masquerade that had a brief run in 1983 and 1984. The DVDs I have of this show are a very unofficial grey market rip from VHS where someone taped them off television when they aired.
So as the end credits of the episode air, you get ABC's famed announcer Ernie Anderson intoning what would be coming up the next Tuesday evening on two of ABC's shows. First up Jack's in hot water dating a sex therapist on Three's Company. Okay. That's a long running show. But then ol' Ernie says something about "Danny feeling his age on Shaping Up." Shaping Up? What was that? I was a devoted TV watcher back on those days, and I had no memory of this one. Time for some research. Hello, IMDB!
Shaping Up starred Leslie Nielsen as an aging health club owner. The show featured Jennifer Tilly, Shawn Weatherly, and Jake Steinfeld. It never caught on and only managed five episodes aired before being cancelled.
Here's a run of commercials from a January 1984 Hardcastle and McCormick episode that does feature the promo for the series premiere a couple of days later.
A couple more pictures from the show and we'll wrap this one up.
I still don't remember the show - don't remember if I ever even checked it out. I would love to see it now for the nostalgia factor and Nielsen's presence.
Do you remember this one?
Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
