So, I was up half the night watching, in some cases re-watching, old episodes of The Twilight Zone on YouTube. Again. (For one thing I was struck by how much some of the best episodes of the new Doctor Who borrow heavily from these old episodes).

I couldn’t find the particular episode I was looking for – Walking Distance, where a tired ad exec yearns for escape and finds himself back in his old hometown – when he was a child. It’s a ‘you can never go home again’ story.
I was interested to see this again as I feel Mad Men paid homage to it in the second season.

Anyway, here’s one I hadn’t seen before. I like dramas that are set in confined spaces of only a few rooms. Like the Hancock classic, The Bedsitter, this is set in just one, with a cast of (well, almost) one. An insecure gangster, lying low in a scuzzy one-room apartment, is harrassed by his own reflection.
For one reason or another, it chimed with me like a struck bell.

Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room

The word that Mrs. Bronson is unable to put into the hot, still, sodden air is “doomed,” because the people you’ve just seen have been handed a death sentence.

One month ago, the Earth suddenly changed its elliptical orbit and in doing so began to follow a path which gradually, moment by moment, day by day, took it closer to the sun. And all of man’s little devices to stir up the air are now no longer luxuries – they happen to be pitiful and panicky keys to survival. The time is five minutes to twelve, midnight. There is no more darkness. The place is New York City and this is the eve of the end, because even at midnight it’s high noon, the hottest day in history, and you’re about to spend it in the Twilight Zone.

I think a giant kid with a magnifying glass came and melted my Sly and the Family Stone tape – it was the only one in the car that suffered. Or maybe the sun is just racist.

“Hot Fun in the Summertime” (I know it’s not from “Stand!” but I can’t help myself.)

“Everyday People”

Norma en Arthur Lewis, een jong stel dat in de buitenwijken woont, krijgen een simpel houten doosje cadeau. Een vreemdeling komt langs met het bericht dat de eigenaar van het doosje $1.000.000 zal krijgen als die op een knop drukt. Maar de druk op de knop zorgt er ook voor dat ergens anders op de wereld iemand sterft, iemand die ze niet kennen. Met de doos maar 24 uur in hun bezit, zitten Norma en Arthur met een dilemma.

De film is van de hand van Richard Kelly, regisseur van het fantastische ‘Donnie Darko’. Zijn vorige film ‘Southland tales’ flopte nochtans grandioos en haalde ondanks zijn selectie voor het Cannes Film Festival 2006 vrijwel nergens de bioscopen in ons land. In ’The Box’ acteren o.a. James Marsden, Cameron Diaz en Frank Langella. Een trailer van de film kan je hier vinden.

De trailer geeft helaas een verkeerd beeld van de film. Er wordt geïnsinueerd dat de film is opgebouwd rond de keuze die het koppel uiteindelijk moet maken, terwijl veeleer de gevolgen van hun beslissing in beeld worden gebracht. Dan nog is deze prent geen makkie voor mensen die van hapklare dingen houden. De film haalt nergens het niveau van ‘Donnie Darko’, daar is dit verhaal (dat losjes is gebaseerd op een aflevering van The Twilight Zone), écht wel te mager voor. Nochtans zitten er best aardige momenten in de film (de bibliotheekscène bijvoorbeeld), maar de regisseur tracht te vaak David Lynch te plagiëren en zoals iedereen ondertussen weet is het origineel meestal stukken beter dan de kopie. Zo dacht ik een paar keer bekende Twin Peaks koppen te herkennen, de meest frappante was toch wel een agent die op het einde tijdens de inval te zien is, die leek als twee druppels water op Deputy Andy Brennan. Heeft de regisseur het erom gedaan? Geen idee.

Mijns inziens houdt de acteerprestatie van Frank Langella de film uiteindelijk nog recht. De uitwerking van het scenario had volgens mij beter gekund. Met ‘Donnie Darko’ maakte Kelly reeds een meesterwerk, met ‘The Box’ zal hij dat kunstje wellicht niet kunnen herhalen. Het is allemaal té middelmatig, te gewoontjes. Hoogstens voor een gezellig bioscoopavondje, helaas is het geen klassieker geworden!

Way back in the days of black and white television one not-to-be-missed show was The Twilight Zone. It was remade not so very long ago, but the results were nothing like the original. Those shows were imaginative, weird, sometimes unsettling, but always carried a twist, some quirky fact revealed at the end that brought it all together as a drama and as insight into the culture of the day. The message was clear: we, then and there, were living in The Twilight Zone.

I thought of this yesterday as I read about Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the White House state dinner gate-crashers.

How often have we seen the anonymous and super-courageous Secret Service men leaping out of limousines to surround the president as he steps out to greet people. There they are, with their little color-coded lapel pins, walking ahead and behind, staring into the crowds for the nut-job assassin. They are at the front-line of sudden sacrifice.  Magnificent.

But, what happened? How did the guard get so let down? What instructions had been issued to allow the Salahis to walk in, get their photo taken with the vice-president, beaming as ever?

Thank goodness their objective was a photo “shoot.”

No doubt all this will be looked into and answers will be forthcoming and, presumably, heads will roll.  But, for me, it was a twilight zone show. Here’s what I mean.

The twist is this: we pride ourselves on many things and security is one of them. We assume that the President of the United States is secure moving amongst a crowd, in a US city or one abroad, in a much-anticipated appearance let alone one of those unannounced visits to a war zone. We believe that.

Based on what?

The recent climate change debacle brought on by hacked emails has ripped apart much of the alarmist community’s credibility. It seems as if their analysis was not so much based on analyzing facts as distorting or fantasizing about them, The basis for believing in man-made global warming has shifted, if not crumbled.

What do we base beliefs on?

C. E. Peirce , one of America’s great philosophers and the “father” of Pragmatism, wrote extensively about beliefs, what they are and what can hold them up. At root he connected them with things that “work.” In some sense the Secret Service’s security the other night did not “work.”

What works for you? I mean really. Over all, in the long run? Finally? Ultimately?

It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Are you already back in “the twilight zone?” Back into the world of topsy turvy-ism, of uncertainty and the terrifying surprise? What gate-crashers are you unable to cope with should they show up uninvited into your life?

Belief needs a basis that cannot move; will not shift as culture’s sands heave; offers security that lasts; has been tested and found to “work.”

Twilight Zone or Eternal Light?

Welcome to Issue 3 of “Dig, Dug, Damn!”, titled “Sci X, X“, where I will speak on some of my favorite ladies in science-fiction/fantasy that I want all to myself but am forced to share with the world.  Now, I’m no Joss Whedon or anything, but I am a big supporter of women and take great delight in the strength of broads.  Even better is strong fictional women in science fiction/fantasy, because as said in the opening title sequence of The Twilight Zone where Rod Serling would say, “…the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge”, these genre stories mirror our world and to put our sexy foot forward first in these properties is more than a social commentary on the growing domain of women- it’s a proclamation that, well, maybe the girls can do it better than the boys.  Sometimes, but here are a few that cannot be topped.

Tank Girl

Very much like my undying affection for Howard the Duck is my love for all things Tank Girl, including the admittedly subpar but still a blast-movie (yo, anytime you have Jeff Kober as one of the main good guys you know what you’re watching is special [in a good way or bad is up to you]).  The lovechild creation of Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl is one of the ten best comic characters ever created, fueled by the manic, unstructured origins of every original story in Deadline magazine.  She can reinvent herself between panels if so desired, and change her attitude even quicker, and blow something up quicker still.  The marsupial loving lady really pulls at my heart strings because no matter her allegiances she’s good in a fight, making her story truly her own.  Nowhere else in comics have I ever seen such a punk-mentality manifesto of energy, wit, insanity, and nicotine buzzes, and I don’t ever expect I will.  She is so unapologetically herself that her books and stories are instantly refreshing, the market filled with lead characters of hidden identities, traumatic childhoods, and ever-so prevalent melodrama.  She is a fashion icon, too (if you were born in the 1990’s you probably didn’t see this much as you were busy listening to The Backstreet Boys and being a simpleton in diapers), and my memory is filled with rough n’ tumble girls with mohawks and other weird hair styles sported by our heavy metal heroine.  Let me just put it this way- if you know a character with more character or wit or dynamite than my girl here, you’re full of crap. (site: tank-girl.com)

The Powerpuff Girls

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice- these were the ingredients chosen to make what is in my opinion the best animated science fiction action-comedy of all time, and it might beat even the best of the live action supreme.  Blossom, the straight-laced Nancy Drew type, Buttercup, the butch girl who loves to fight, and Bubbles, the quintessential toothache-sweet bundle of sunshine.  How in the world Craig McCracken took his original idea, “The Whoop-Ass Girls”, and turned them into what is probably the most successful American cartoon of the last 20 years is beyond my comprehension, but it’s truly genius.  Being in my mid-20’s, I have a youthful sensability and, believe it or not, this is the prime time to watch, finally capable of catching every joke, hidden reference and easter egg, like episode “Mommy Fearest” where Professor Utonium goes on a date with villian Sedusa, and it is implied that Buttercup gives him condoms, or the episode that is nothing but an awesome homage to The Big Lebowski (another McCracken’s show, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, had cameos by Dude Lebowski, Walter Sobchak, and Theodore Donald Kerabatsos in an episode based around bowling, of course).  Where in the world the idea was created that the show, about 3 children created by science, who are in kindergarten, and are superheroes against monkeys and monsters, was a program for girls is baffling.  It’s as much about girls, having 3 main female characters, as it is about the word “the”, which is in the title of the show.  It’s a silly thing, and I would love for the show to make a come back amongst the youth as it’s an excellent program techincally and is one of the funniest cartoons made in my lifetime. (site: cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/ppg/)

Rikku (of Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2)

Those of you in the know may already be wanting to ask, “But why just her?  Why not just say ‘YRP’ and get a picture with Yuna and Paine in it as well?”  To you I say, “Dang, you’re pushy and a busybody!  Leave me alone,” because you didn’t even let me explain myself.  The reason is what one might call a “crush”, though I prefer to call it “blind and giddy admiration”.  I mean, the swirly green Al Bhed eyes, the tiny frame and flowing locks of hair are enough to get anyone’s attention (assuming she were more real and less fictional), but what a hero she is, helping save the world twice, and doing so the second time mainly in support of a friend.  Don’t quote me on this, but I don’t know if I could hero up like that, especially when you’re putting yourself in harms way just for a friend’s happiness.  Final Fantasy X-2 is an all-time favorite of mine and truly all 3 of the ladies were amazing examples of a woman’s power (even LeBlanc lol), but Rikku stands out to me for her expertise and fun loving, playful attitude.  Especially cool for me, Rikku was voiced by Tara Strong who has already appeared in this list, also being the voice of Bubbles on The Powerpuff Girls.  She’s sexy and talented and blonde, making the two very similar.  Plus, Al Bhed is an awesome language (that I hope to one day learn), so Rikku is hot, tough, funny, foreign, and polygonal.  I wish I could meet a down ass chick like her! (site: na.square-enix.com/games/FFX-2/)

]]> http://marczicree.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/talking-myself-hoarse-the-horror-the-horror/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:42:06 +0000 Marc Scott Zicree http://marczicree.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/talking-myself-hoarse-the-horror-the-horror/ http://caitlinkrisko.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/i-3-local-news/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:01:58 +0000 The Broadcast http://caitlinkrisko.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/i-3-local-news/

As everyone knows there are a few things in life I am absolutely obsessed with. Those things being: The Twilight Zone, avocados, and of course…local news stories.

It honestly just doesn’t get ANY better than this. Thank you YouTube, for yet again sucking me into your video portal world of wonderment and giving me a nice solid chuckle this morning!

"The Box" Movie Poster

Oh, my. I wanted to like “The Box” so much. I am, you see, a huge Richard Kelly fan. Notice I didn’t say a “Donnie Darko” fan, even though I absolutely love that flick and feel it’s one of the few “cult sensations” truly worthy of its devoted fan base. No, I’m a Richard Kelly fan, because not only do I seriously dig Donnie D., but I think his much-maligned follow-up feature, “Southland Tales,” is even better.  Yes, it’s messy, unfocused, scattershot, overly ambitious, self-indulgent and, in many ways,  even juvenile.  But to my mind it’s also ambitious to a fault, multi-layered, challenging, funny, thought-provoking, ambitious, and even downright groundbreaking. Kelly’s “sins” with “Southland” can all be categorized under the “trying to do too much” category, as opposed to, say, Lars von Trier (I really should learn to leave him alone, I suppose),  whose chief failing with “Antichrist” is doing very little while employing obvious and insulting sleight-of-hand in broad daylight for the purpose of trying to hoodwink the audience into thinking he’s doing a lot.

After “Southland” tanked at the box office in spectacular fashion, Kelly apparently decided — or was forced — to pare down his ambitions considerably, and to concentrate his efforts on a tight little story that would play to his strengths while refusing to indulge his purported weaknesses. Would the result be an effectively creatively neutered Kelly or a sharpened, focused one?

Actually, neither. “The Box” is just a bland, lifeless time-waster.

Based on Richard Matheson’s short story “Button, Button,” the first third or so of “The Box” plays out well enough, and definitely has a “Twilight Zone” feel to it, with two efficiently-established and well-played characters,  schoolteacher Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz), and her NASA scientist-husband, Arthur (James Marsden) staring into a financial black hole largely of their own making in the mid-1970s. Then, a mysterious stranger with a fucked-up, partially decimated face named (and you gotta love this handle for a Rod Serling-type mystery man) Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) shows up at their door with a box and an offer : push the button on top of the said box within 24 hours and you’ll get a million dollars in cash. There’s just one catch : somebody, somewhere in the world (who, he assures Norma, neither she or her husband knows) will die.

It seems like a horrible joke, in a way — the box is empty, therefore it can’t possibly do anything, so pushing the button must be meaningless, right? Hell, the money is probably even counterfeit.

Except Arthur tests the hundred-dollar bill that Steward left with his wife in the lab at work and guess what? It’s real. But the box itself — it can’t have any actual power, can it?

The trepidation  builds as Norma and Arthur weigh the decision to push or not to push in their minds, and this dramatic tension is really the highlight of the film. Unfortunately, once they do, in fact, make up their minds, the whole movie goes to pot.

Without giving away the choice they make, let’s just say it has consequences and leads to a completely uninvolving mystery that eventually comes full circle. We learn everything there is to know about Steward and his freaky little contraption, every question we have is answered (and even some we don’t), and the ending completes our little 360-degree loop in much the same way that Lynch’s superb ending for “Lost Highway” did. Unfortunately, there is none of the expertly-crafted ambiguity nor any of the multiple levels of meaning and interpretation along the way that make “Lost Highway” an effective and absorbing surrealistic mini-masterpiece. Kelly’s film ends up feeling more like a map of the unknown than a journey within it. All is linear, defined, and hopelessly constricting. Our guy Richard doesn’t trust the audience enough to make up our own minds as individuals as “Donnie Darko” and, to an even greater extent, “Southland Tales” did. In fact, the lesson Kelly seems to have learned from “Southland” is that we just aren’t smart enough to draw our own conclusions.

This doesn’t mean I think that he has emasculated himself creatively, for the ideas at play here are, in fact, suitably offbeat and unexpected. But they’re all laid out so directly and succinctly that they fail to capitalize on their potential to keep us guessing. It’s as if Kelly feels he has to answer each new question that arises in the order that they appear, preferably  within a ten minute (or so) time frame,  before moving on to the next one because our attention spans can’t handle leaving more than one thread unresolved  at a time.

We’re smarter than Kelly gives us credit for with “The Box.” And so is he.

Hello! It’s Sunday. And Sundays, well, Sundays are boring, right? Right.

Went and saw 2012 yesterday, as promised. It was, well… Hmm.

My first reaction to it: Ehhhh. Not horrible, but not great. It’s exactly what’s advertised on the tin, I’ll put it this way. You’ve got a lot of real actors doing some cartoon shit while the world goes to hell all around them. The cast, when you think about it, is actually quite impressive. Also, Woody Harrelson’s in the mix too.

My second reaction to it: Why the fuck didn’t this come out in the middle of the summer?

Third reaction: Comedy of the year, hands down.

Especially in a year when, if you think about it, the big comedy was… what? The Hangover? Right? Get serious. I never saw the movie, I won’t lie, but for a lot of reasons. Primarily, things like the trailer. Did you see it? It looks like it was made for retarded boys. But, you know what’s even worse than the trailer? Listening to people who actually liked the movie. They sound like retarded boys, don’t they? Anyway.

But I really feel like 2012 deserves a good proper Counterforce review. It really does. It’s really our kind of movie, and I mean that in the best and worst possible ways. I don’t know that I’m the man for that job. Benjamin Light, I’m looking at you. Are you the man for that job?

Anyway, I went and saw the film yesterday with Conrad Noir and walking out of the theater, still buzzing from all that ridiculousness, we saw this:

And we thought, “Dear God, who gave that man wings.” Much less Wings Of Desire and much more Red Bull: The Movie.

But then we got into a little conversation, talking about this and that and action heroes of the 80s, mostly cause we’ve been watching a lot of that horrendous/wonderful action movie fare from that decade, and we were talking about how action stars back then were so… foreign seeming. And maybe that contributed a lot to their allure. Maybe it also made some of the ridiculousness easier to stand, too?

For example there, Benjamin Light and were discussing a week or so ago what a remake of The Terminator would look like – since the franchise is up for sale, and should be sold to Joss Whedon, of course, cause why not? – And I brought up the question, “Does the killer robot from the future have to be Austrian?” Commander Light emphatically assured he that it indeed had to be. I’m taking his word for it.

Anyway, so Conrad and I, discussing action stars today, talking about guys like Dwayne Johnson, and how, in our minds, he’s not really latched on with America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the idea of a “non-conventional” action star quite a bit, i.e. a non white guy running around screaming at people, doing high kicks, and blowing copious amounts of shit up. So why hasn’t “The Rock” caught on with us? I posit two possibilities:

1. In a grab for “credibility” or attempting to “not being as big a joke as he is,” he ditched his silly little wrestling moniker, “The Rock,” and went with his real name: Dwayne Johnson. Except, we can’t root for a guy named Dwayne.

2. Not foreign enough? Perhaps? I suggest investigating this has merit. Especially since it seems American action-loving fans get a bigger hard on from a ponce like Jason Statham than Dwayne Johnson.

Then, walking out of the theater, Conrad and I were looking at the various posters on display, the coming soons and the current releases. Part of me still wants to see This Is It. I’m a Michael Jackson fan, I won’t hide it.  But I’m also a huge Richard Matheson fan, and while I have serious reservations about the movie, I also kind of want to see The Box.

But I don’t know that I trust Richard Kelly anymore. Donnie Darko was okay when it first came out, before you put it through any real tests of serious thought or logic and saw through it’s masturbatory philophosizing. It’s a glorified remake of Last Temptation Of Christ that doesn’t fully pan out. But Kelly also went on to make – speaking of Dwayne Johnson – the gloriously bad Southland Tales.

Look, I’m not going to talk about the Philip K. Dick pastiche that was Southland Tales here. I’m just… not. I’m not going to do it. All I’ll say is I went into that movie wanting to like it. And I sit here now feeling like I’m a veteran of that war. It’s like Richard Kelly is George W. Bush and I was some dumb kid who supported the Iraq war until I went into the fucker and got my bits and pieces all cut off. Now I’m shell shocked.

But, yeah, there’s The Box, directed by Richard Kelly, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, based on the Richard Matheson story, “Button, Button,” and was previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. We’ll see if I ever see it.

And again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Tomorrow’s the start of the “work week.” I’d love to Weeks In Review here at Counterforce, but lately it’s just me rambling and I’d feel bad directing the two and a half readers of this site back to more of me rambling. Poor fuckers. Oh yeah, the season finale of Mad Men was last Sunday. And we had a Friday the 13th happen this past week as well. There you go. Oh, and: Young women having sex with sea creatures. Now there you really go.

But again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see… Oh! Tonight was the airing of the latest Doctor Who special over in the UK, “The Waters Of Mars,” the start of the end of David Tennant’s run as #10. You can catch it online if you’re good, if you’re very good, and it’s dark. And a bit sad. And leaves you kind of sweaty and breathless too.

Also tonight is AMC’s remake of the classic 60s show, The Prisoner. I’d watch it, but I’m not sure I want to see my childhood get raped so thoroughly and with such production values. Ian McKellen is a good choice for just about anything, but Jim Caviezel? I think I hate you for that, AMC. Honestly, Jim Caviezel makes Keanu Reeves look like Marlon Brando to me.

Oh well, here we are. The weekend’s almost over. I went to the movies to watch the end of the world as we know it and…

Long before Ingmar Bergman, Sam Shepard, Sidney Lumet, August Wilson, LeRoi Jones, Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, Emily Mann, Charles Dickens…before any of these people impacted or influenced my artistry…

…it was William Shatner and a Venusian alien.

One of my first childhood memories – and maybe this will give you some unwanted insight into my childhood development – was William Shatner’s frightened face as he peered out through his spaceship’s portal and saw the gruesome visage of an alien creature emerging from the thick, gaseous atmosphere of the planet Venus and slithering towards him.

It’s the thrill of seeing where something new is going.

Eminem

From PTINews.com

Rapper Eminem is about to give his rap career a new turn as he is set to act in a 3-D hip-hop horror movie named ‘Shady Talez’.

The 37-year-old performer will star in the film which is a horror anthology described as a cross between ‘Creep Show’ and vintage TV programme ‘The Twilight Zone’, reported BBC.

Announced last year, ‘Shady Talez’ will feature three stories offering a hip-hop spin to classic horror films.

The film is being produced by DJ Classicz, a division of Davis Entertainment, the US company behind the ‘Garfield’ and ‘Aliens vs Predator’ movies.

Since Eminem, also known as alter-ego Slim Shady, loves comic books and horror flicks, the project will also incorporate a four-issue ‘Shady Talez’ comic book series, due out in 2010.

The rapper, real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III, topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic earlier this year with his latest album ‘Relapse’.

Amazon Specials!

Continuing this blog’s fiftieth-anniversary coverage of The Twilight Zone, I turn your attention to one Archible Ernest “Buck” Houghton, Jr., the producer of the series’ first three seasons.  On September 25 and 26, 1998, I spoke to Houghton on the phone for some time, on the subject The Twilight Zone and also about his work in television before and after that series.  At the time, Houghton’s non-Zone career had not been documented very well, apart from a few paragraphs in Marc Scott Zicree’s Twilight Zone Companion.

For some reason that I can no longer remember, the Houghton interviews were not recorded.   But I took good notes, and I offer a summary of them below, in the hope that a few of these tidbits may not have not been captured elsewhere.

*

The earliest TV project that Houghton mentioned was the Schlitz Playhouse, which he worked on in 1951-1952.  Houghton did not discuss many of his other fifties shows, which include China Smith and Man With a Camera.  But he did cite Wire Service as his favorite of his pre-Twilight Zone shows, because its hour-long format permitted more elaborate storytelling.

Houghton told me that William Self, who had been his boss on Schlitz and had developed the Twilight Zone pilot for CBS, hired him to produce the series.  Houghton screened the pilot and read some early scripts before he met Rod Serling for the first time.  Houghton stood 6’3” tall, and during their first encounter, Serling asked, “Don’t they have any short producers?”

I asked Houghton briefly about some of the other major Twilight Zone contributors as well.  He felt that George Clayton was “as crazy as a march hair” and recalled that the underrated Montgomery Pittman was physically heavyset and “very social . . . a good storyteller.”  Of the Twilight Zone directors, Houghton liked to assign “character-driven” scripts to Douglas Heyes, and to use Don Medford for episodes that were heavy on “action, action!”  As most fans consider John Brahm’s brooding imagery a perfect fit for The Twilight Zone, I was surprised to learn that Houghton valued the German emigre mainly for his efficiency.  Brahm could be counted on to bring his Twilight Zones in on schedule.

Houghton explained that he left The Twilight Zone at the end of its third season because of the lengthy arguments about extending the series to an hour-long format.  Houghton did not approve of the change.  He left the series and accepted an offer as a sort of producer-at-large at Dick Powell’s Four Star Productions.

Houghton’s timing was bad, and his experience at Four Star disastrous.  He got along with Powell, but fought with the executive in charge of business affairs for the company.  (Houghton could not remember the man’s name, but it was probably Thomas J. McDermott.)  The problem was that Powell was dying of cancer; he would expire on January 2, 1963, one day before the hour-long version of The Twilight Zone debuted on CBS.  During Powell’s illness, Four Star Productions fell into chaos.  It was top-heavy with executives and contracted talent, and light on new projects to which they could apply themselves.  This was year that then-collaborators Sam Peckinpah and Bruce Geller spent playing cards in their office, and the season when Christopher Knopf, the co-creator of Big Valley, traded his interest in the show to get out of his Four Star contract.  Houghton emerged with only a single credit to show for his year at Four Star.  He produced an unsold pilot called Adamsburg, USA, which was broadcast as one of the final segments of The Dick Powell Show under the title “The Old Man and the City.”

Houghton told me that Rod Serling wanted him to return to produce the final season of The Twilight Zone, but that the network overruled him.  (At the time, CBS had an inside man, former network executive Bert Granet, in place to oversee Serling’s anthology.)  Instead, Houghton moved from Four Star back to MGM to produce The Richard Boone Show for the 1963-1964 season.  He was working on the same backlot that was still home to The Twilight Zone, and using in for Richard Boone just as expertly as he had on Serling’s series.

The Richard Boone Show was an ambitious attempt at creating a modern repertory theater on television.  It was home to two giants, Boone and story editor Clifford Odets.  Houghton was brought in by both of them together, although (like nearly everyone else in Hollywood) he soon clashed with Boone.  Houghton found the actor autocratic, and felt that Boone thought he should’ve been a bigger star (and a star in movies, not television).  Like Powell, Clifford Odets would pass away just months after Houghton went to work for him.  According to Houghton, the famed playwright found that he disliked story editing and ended up concentrating almost entirely on the two original scripts he wrote for the series.

For the next two decades, Houghton passed through a number of well-known shows without finding a permanent home.  Houghton labored briefly on Lost in Space, but (like nearly everyone else in Hollywood) he disliked its executive producer, Irwin Allen.  He spent a few months commuting between Los Angeles and the Tucson location of High Chaparral, which NBC hired him to produce on the theory that Chaparral’s creator, David Dortort, would spread himself too thin between the series.  NBC was wrong, and Houghton moved on.  Later he spent a half-season on Harry O and a full season producing Hawaii Five-O.  Houghton left that series because (like nearly everyone else in Hollywood) he couldn’t get along with Jack Lord.  A few made-for-television movies rounded out Houghton’s producing career.

*

There’s a reason why I called Buck Houghton in 1998.  Together with a friend and fellow historian, Stuart Galbraith IV, I had come up with the idea of staging a sort of Twilight Zone reunion.  We would invite some of the show’s surviving creative team to lunch, record the proceedings, and write them up as a feature for some film or science fiction magazine. 

For obvious reasons, Houghton was first on our list of guests to approach, and I’ll never forget his response.  Politely, Houghton declined our invitation, and when I pressed for a reason he said that he would “prefer to remember everyone as they were then.”  Then he added something even more touching: that he would be willing to participate anyway, if it would help my career as a freelance writer.

Naturally, I couldn’t accept Houghton’s generous offer on those terms, and without his involvement our reunion idea fizzled out.  Only nine months later, in May 1999, Houghton died, and his obituaries recorded a laundry list of ailments as the cause.  (Variety reported “complications from emphysema and ALS.”)  If Houghton, who said nothing to me about his failing health, was willing to battle those illnesses just to help out a stranger, then he had to have been one very classy guy.  I’m sorry we never met for that lunch.

KT is of peace.  Always.

V:  1.01 “Pilot”

Given that (a) I’m a dork and (b) alien invasions are a classic Hollywood storyline, have you ever wondered what a real first contact would be like?  Do they crash-land and need our help?  Do we exchange radio messages and set up a safe meeting place out by Pluto?  Are we the ones scaring the daylights out of them when we show up in orbit?  Or does it happen like this, where New Yorkers stand in the streets and stare, but this time not at something lost, but something gained, for better or worse?

V’s creative team have mentioned in interviews that they had set out to recreate the show for a post-9/11 world, and as the best sci-fi can, they’re clearly trying to tackle the fears and concerns of this decade.  The 9/11-ish arrival of the visitors — an event after which the world doesn’t look the same any more — and the concern over terrorist sleeper cells are blended with a charismatic new leader and suggestions of universal health care.  However V fares as a story, it is unmistakably a product of its times.

I’m still working out how I feel about most of the characters.  Most seem okay, but a little flat to begin with.  Seventeen-year-old Tyler is the only one who actively annoyed me — and since it looks like he and his mom will be an important part of the plot, I hope that changes.  I did like FBI mom Erica’s relationship with her partner, but when Alan Tudyk was credited as a guest star I already knew it couldn’t last.  At first I figured he would just get killed off, but when they kept putting emphasis on “Wow, it’s like the terrorist cell was tipped off!” I knew he had to be the mole.  What is it with Alan and roles where he’s not who he appears to be this year?

What I didn’t foresee was Ryan (who bought the engagement ring) turning out to be involved with V resistance, and I certainly didn’t expect him to be a V himself!  I figured he had a dark criminal past he had run away from, but this twist was much better!  He’s one of the few characters I’m really interested in after this episode.

I’m also interested in how reporter Chad will deal with his conscience, his career, and his V contacts.  And maybe it’s just because Firefly’s Morena Baccarin is playing the part, but I think Anna is a fascinating enigma as well.  I’m also enthralled by her shiny, shiny spaceship.  Ships, in the plural, actually.  I hope they remember all those other ships and all those people around the world who may be reacting differently than our New Yorkers.  While I don’t want a Heroes-sized cast, let’s do remember that New York isn’t the capital of the planet.  A look at the reaction in Paris or Moscow or Tokyo could be an interesting wrinkle.

I am glad that they put the reveal about the V’s true appearance and intentions up front in the first episode.  I’ve never seen any of the ’80s series, but it’s hard to find a description of the show — the new or the old one — that doesn’t read “Aliens come to Earth offering friendship and new technology, but turn out to be sinister reptile creatures!”  So, glad that cat wasn’t meant to stay in the bag for long.

In the next three weeks, and then when the series comes back in March, it looks like we’ll be watching Erica, Father Jack, Ryan, and Georgie begin to build the resistance despite inevitable conflicts in their personal lives, while Tyler and Chad help us get a closer look at the V’s themselves.

And what exactly is it the V’s need from Earth?  Are we the entree, as in the Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man”?  Or is something more complex going on?

"Mirror Image"; "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; "The Hitch-Hiker"

Errant kid-carrying balloons, planes that overshoot the runway by 150 miles — these days, preternatural occurrences are the stuff of cable news. But 50 years ago, viewers tuned in to “The Twilight Zone” to get their weekly eeriness fix. Before the “The Twilight Saga,” and before “Paris Hilton’s My New BFF” became the creepiest show in TV history, Rod Sterling’s groundbreaking sci-fi series premiered on a Friday night in October 1959. Not only did it offer far-fetched premises and unexpected twists; there was also a heavy dose of social commentary shrouded in all of the fantasy and suspense.

This month has been full of “Twilight Zone” 50th anniversary commemorations across the country. Regional theaters in places like Tuscumbia, Alabama and Ben Lomond, California have produced stage versions of some of the show’s classic episodes. Binghamton, New York, Sterling’s hometown, hosted its own celebration. And if you’re reading this from Los Angeles, consider checking out tonight’s panel discussion and screening at the Egyptian Theatre. There’s also a lot to look forward to: Warner Brothers, in conjunction with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, is developing a new “Twilight Zone” feature film for 2011.

And on a different sci-fi note, “Studio 360″ is planning its first ever live show in WNYC’s Greene Space on November 17, and it’s about time. The time travel-themed show will feature astrophysicist David Goldberg and forward-thinking funk singer Janelle Monae (along with her alter-ego Cindi Mayweather). We’ll broadcast the show later in the year, so you’ll literally be glimpsing into the future by joining us: tickets info here.

– Jordan Sayle

A. 50  10/29/09

Well it’s not even officially Halloween this year, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s holiday. Last year I started thinking about my Halloween costume for this year the day or two after Halloween. I had just gotten my new job with the FAA, and thought it would be oh-so-appropriate to dress up as Amelia Earhart. I searched all year for the perfect Bomber Jacket. I ended up purchasing the perfect jacket less than a month before Halloween this year.

So as of last night, October 28th, I have decided upon my costume for Halloween next year. (I know, I’m crazy. I realize that some people don’t even think about their costume until at most, a month before the holiday.) But I was very inspired by yesterday’s post about Walt Disney World’s ride, The Twilight Zone’s Tower of Terror. I have always liked the costume/uniforms the ride workers wear for operating that ride. So somehow I’m going to figure out how to create a 1940’s bell hop…

I love the fun, retro  look. And I think I could make a pretty convincing and still cute costume. YAY. I’m so excited for next year’s Halloween. Hahaha…

Happy 2 More Days Till Halloween Countdown!

A. 49  10/28/09

This Halloween is a monumental one for me, because I just realized it is the first time I will be spending Halloween in Washington, D.C. All other years, I have spent my favorite holiday in Maryland. Even in the past few years after going to college in Baltimore, I have still opted to spend All Hollow’s Eve in Baltimore, specifically, Fell’s Point.

This year, however, my usual Baltimore buddy is going to Cleveland, OH, leaving me to my own hometown for a change. I think it’s funny how I’ve lived in (or near) D.C. for the majority of my life, and yet, I have yet to spend a Halloween in the city. So far, D.C. has not disappointed me.

For today’s Halloween special, I am bringing you Disney’s Tower of Terror ride pre-boarding video.

This is one of my all-time favorite rides, partially because of one memorable experience I had at Disney World. A few year ago, I went on this ride by myself while the rest of my family stood in line for a live show of, Aladdin. As a single rider, I got to go through the usually long line with ease. I rode the ride (for possibly the 3rd time in a row that day) and everything went great. Then, at the end of the ride, everyone’s seat belts wouldn’t open for us to escape the ride. There was a glitch and something was for real, wrong. We had to sit in the ride for a few mysterious minutes, fumbling with our seta belts, until a ride operator came in to inspect the problem. More minutes past, and the ride started to move as we could see some of the inner workings to the ride. Finally the ride was fixed and we were released from our seats. As an apology for the inconvenience, we were given the option to ride the ride again with no more line. So I took them up on it. It was pretty cool to see the long line of people waiting, and just go right in front of them for another go around. The other people were confused, but I just smiled, thinking about this great new experience and story I had to tell.

Happy Halloween Countdown of 3 more days!

Comme j’adore le mois d’Octobre, l’Halloween et les films d’horreur, j’ai décidé de faire le premier Horreur-o-thon des Bipolaires! En effet, j’écouterai un film de peur par jour jusqu’au 31, alors revenez lire mes critiques quotidiennes…si vous en avez le courage! MOUAHAHAHAAA!

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Comme mentionné dans ma critique de Creepshow, j’aime bien les anthologies d’horreur.  Par contre, Twilight Zone n’inclut pas seulement des histoires d’horreur, mais des contes fantastiques ou de science-fiction.  Dans les 4 histoires réalisées respectivement par John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante et George Miller, les genres se mélangent avec des résultats plus ou moins

Prologue: Dan Aykroyd et Albert Brooks chantonnent des thèmes d’émissions de télé (incluant “Twilight Zone”) pour passer le temps durant leur voyage en voiture.  Mais, Dan Aykroyd a une surprise pour Albert Brooks…Une bonne intro et un saut efficace à la fin. 8/10

1- Un homme raciste et xénophobe (Vic Morrow) se retrouve soudainement dans la peau d’un Juif en plein occupation Allemande, un Noir capturé par le KKK et un Vietnamien au centre de la Guerre du Vietnam.  Le concept est intéressant, mais on fait le tour vite.  Par contre, la fin abrupte et la continuité étrange peut avoir un lien avec la mort subite de Vic Morrow et deux enfants vietnamiens durant une cascade d’hélicoptère qui a mal tournée…(un 23 juillet, ma date de fête! oh!)  6.5/10

2- Steven Spielberg met en scène Scatman Crothers (le vieux monsieur dans The Shining) qui envoûte les résidents d’une maison pour personnes âgées afin de les rajeunir.  C’est très kétaine et sirupeux, avec une prémisse mince et déjà vue.  Bad move, Steven! 5/10

3- Une institutrice arrive dans un petit village et se fait accueillir par la famille excentrique et nerveuse d’un petit garçon rencontré plus tôt.  Elle se rend compte rapidement que le garçon possède un pouvoir effrayant et que sa “famille” en est terrifié.  Plutôt réussi, ce segment possède une réalisation extravangante et colorée, en plus d’effets spéciaux originaux (des personnages de cartoon deviennent vivants). 7/10

4- Pendant une tempête féroce, un auteur connu (John Lithgow) panique lorsqu’il aperçoit une créature sur l’aile de l’avion dans lequel il se trouve.  Son anxiété augmente de plus en plus alors qu’il voit la créature démolir les moteurs de l’appareil un à un! La meilleure histoire. L’ambiance claustrophobe rajoute à l’horreur et le concept est bien accompagné par la réalisation énergique et la performance très crédible de Lithgow. Et la bébitte fait un peu peur aussi! 8.5/10

Bref, bel effort, mais trop de facteurs ont fait que ce film plein de potentiel est finalement tombé à plat.

Note finale: 6.5/10

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Meilleure citation: “There’s a man on the wing of this plane!!!!!!”

Meilleure mort: Y’en a pas.

Y’as-tu des tits?!: (voir “meilleure mort”)

Saviez-vous que…: Le créateur de l’émission de télé “Twilight Zone” est aperçu brièvement dans l’oeil de l’intro du film. Eh ben.