Nostalgic Scifi, Fantasy and Horror!...remembering "the old days"

[shavedape]

ITV has been really weird about its ownership. It took ages before it was allowed to be on VHS and then more years before it was available on DVD and a bluray version was just released. I don't understand why they've resisted having it on Netflix.

To digress a bit I just have to say how annoying it is that in 2012 there are still such weird licensing issues for TV shows. A friend of mine is really into music and there is a ton of stuff on old TV shows that exists but the license holders just don't want to release it. For instance, The Midnight Special had some great performances on it but all you can get is some lousy DVD compilation that only shows brief clips. And God forbid you want shows from Dinah Shore or Mike Douglas, etc. Those all still exist somewhere but they only have released really, really lame clip shows.

I foresee a day when we'll be able to "dial up" whatever we want online and watch it. The technology exists already so it's only a matter of time. I just can't see the license holders not wanting to make money on what they hold title to. That just doesn't make sense. At any rate, I'm sure the lawyers will get things cleared up.

 

[Illiterati]

Well, without the Moon, you're going to have some interesting natural reactions where things such as the tides are concerned.

I'm curious. A human female's cycle is 28 days, just like that of the Moon. Would something happen to that, as well?

 

[Overmind One]

To digress a bit I just have to say how annoying it is that in 2012 there are still such weird licensing issues for TV shows. A friend of mine is really into music and there is a ton of stuff on old TV shows that exists but the license holders just don't want to release it. For instance, The Midnight Special had some great performances on it but all you can get is some lousy DVD compilation that only shows brief clips. And God forbid you want shows from Dinah Shore or Mike Douglas, etc. Those all still exist somewhere but they only have released really, really lame clip shows.

I foresee a day when we'll be able to "dial up" whatever we want online and watch it. The technology exists already so it's only a matter of time. I just can't see the license holders not wanting to make money on what they hold title to. That just doesn't make sense. At any rate, I'm sure the lawyers will get things cleared up.

A few of my faves have this problem too:

Land of the Giants
The Invaders
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Lost in Space
Time Tunnel



With the exception of The Invaders and Time Tunnel, I think that Land of the Giants and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would do great. The Invaders was actually one of the first scifi-dramas I can remember. Much more drama than science fiction, but not soapy. Time Tunnel is too close to SG-1 and Primeval in premise to be different, but why do they lock these shows up under licensing when the owners are not allowing new stuff to be made using those ideas?

At least this one is coming back. Im wondering how they will do the whole escaped Moon thing though...scientificallly speaking, the moon being removed from Earth's orbit would completely destroy the biosphere, and many animals would be severely affected. Many circadian rhythms in our bodies are based in lunar cycles. Tides would be severely reduced. Many plants would perish. Just sayin...

 

[Illiterati]

A few of my faves have this problem too:

Land of the Giants
The Invaders
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Lost in Space
Time Tunnel



With the exception of The Invaders and Time Tunnel, I think that Land of the Giants and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would do great. The Invaders was actually one of the first scifi-dramas I can remember. Much more drama than science fiction, but not soapy. Time Tunnel is too close to SG-1 and Primeval in premise to be different, but why do they lock these shows up under licensing when the owners are not allowing new stuff to be made using those ideas?

At least this one is coming back. Im wondering how they will do the whole escaped Moon thing though...scientificallly speaking, the moon being removed from Earth's orbit would completely destroy the biosphere, and many animals would be severely affected. Many circadian rhythms in our bodies are based in lunar cycles. Tides would be severely reduced. Many plants would perish. Just sayin...

I think that I've watched every show in that woodpile of yours except The Invaders, but I could be wrong about that.

I know that at least four of them were made by Irwin Allen, so what does that say about the sci-fi we watched when we were young(er), OM1?

 

[Overmind One]

I think that I've watched every show in that woodpile of yours except The Invaders, but I could be wrong about that.

I know that at least four of them were made by Irwin Allen, so what does that say about the sci-fi we watched when we were young(er), OM1?

Um...er....my dad watched them and told me of them. You know, way back in the old days. Seriously though, Irwin Allen made some seriously good scifi shows, at least in premise. The Navy wanted a flying sub so bad at that time. They still do.

 

[Overmind One]

when the scifi channel was first on they ran all of those great old scifi shows. look at the crud the new syfy is showing! yuck!



It was GOOD scifi! I admit to watching them- I even admit to watching the planet of the apes tv series & the six million dollar [strike]hunk[/strike] man! I also saw the invaders in reruns...my mom loved the actor. (yep that is where I get "it" from! )



wouldn't you want a flying sub?

I watched the planet of the apes series too! T watched the Six Million Dollar Man, The Six Million Dollar Woman, Mission Impossible, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek TOS, Invaders, Outer Limits (yes, the black and white versions too!), Night Gallery, Twilight Zone, and who could forget the Abominable Dr. Phibes movies? :laughingattv: Im scaring myself....black and white TV....wow.

 

[Illiterati]

Lemme see...

Planet of the Apes (CHECK! Woot! Roddy McDowall on TV!!)
Six Million Dollar Man (CHECK!)
The Bionic Woman (CHECK! They said her price was classified in the opening credits )
Mission Impossible (CHECK! BOTH of them. Loved them both!)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (CHECK! Loved David "The Fly" Hedison)
Star Trek (all its iterations, INCLUDING the animated series)
Outer Limits (all iterations)
Night Gallery (some of those episodes scared the bejeebuz out of me)
Twilight Zone (all iterations, but the original was the best)

And yes, all the Phibes movies.

Phibes was one of the first "bad guys" you actually rooted for during the course of the movie.

 

[Overmind One]

Lemme see...

Planet of the Apes (CHECK! Woot! Roddy McDowall on TV!!)
Six Million Dollar Man (CHECK!)
The Bionic Woman (CHECK! They said her price was classified in the opening credits )
Mission Impossible (CHECK! BOTH of them. Loved them both!)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (CHECK! Loved David "The Fly" Hedison)
Star Trek (all its iterations, INCLUDING the animated series)
Outer Limits (all iterations)
Night Gallery (some of those episodes scared the bejeebuz out of me)
Twilight Zone (all iterations, but the original was the best)

And yes, all the Phibes movies.

Phibes was one of the first "bad guys" you actually rooted for during the course of the movie.

Even today, it is still very entertaining The stories in The Twilight Zone original and The Outer Limits were so cerebral. Today, most kids would be bored because their little heads would start hurting from all that thinking. Such great social mirroring, so many cool actors played in them.

The Bionic Woman was so much fun to watch! Moreso than Six Million Dollar Man IMO. Both were very cool. Man, did they ruin the lastest version . Oh, and lets not forget the original V series!

 

[Illiterati]

The funny thing is that the original version of The Outer Limits succeeded in scaring the crap out of us, even though they were working on a ridiculously tiny budget at the time.

The ants with "joker" faces scared the bloody crap out of me, as a kid.

 

[Joelist]

The big difference between then and now is writing.

Back then they wrote the shows MUCH better. characterization was consistent and even the sillier stories were internally consistent. Remember these Made for TV films:

Genesis II

Earth II

City Beneath the Sea (from Irwin Allen)

They all featured well written stories supported by excellent character acting. SFX were average (although in the case of Earth II they were really slick for the year it was made in - 1971).

 

[Overmind One]

The funny thing is that the original version of The Outer Limits succeeded in scaring the crap out of us, even though they were working on a ridiculously tiny budget at the time.

The ants with "joker" faces scared the bloody crap out of me, as a kid.

OMG!!!! That particular episode STILL makes me jump. The specific episode name I do not remember, but it had this little ship with those ant/joker faces in it, and Martin Landau was walking out of a building and they were coming down the wall. RIGHT THERE. Still makes me jump.

Im looking forward to this Space 1999 if they preserve some of the simplicity of it. If they overcomplicate it or use too many special effects, it will not go far. Im thinking they may do it right. Still, the whole moon thing...

You know what? The best science fiction deep space series that was never made was...Silent Running. That movie could have spawned SEVERAL shows, and nobody has tapped it yet? . The original "Green" movie.

 

[Joelist]

And the episode achieved that with no blood, gore or fancy SFX. Just effective writing and proper directing that set the MOOD on the set properly.

Remember the film THEM? Same idea - great writing and well thought out directing set the mood of fear (like the death of the patrolman - all we see are shadows).

 

[Overmind One]

And the episode achieved that with no blood, gore or fancy SFX. Just effective writing and proper directing that set the MOOD on the set properly.

Remember the film THEM? Same idea - great writing and well thought out directing set the mood of fear (like the death of the patrolman - all we see are shadows).

LOL! Them....THEM.....THEM! And that weird jungle/insect sound they made. What about the original Blob?

 

[Joelist]

True, the Blob also did not rely on SFX.

Them was especially clever in that it transitioned seamlessly from fright film to detective story to sort of a war movie. Really well done.

 

[Overmind One]

True, the Blob also did not rely on SFX.

Them was especially clever in that it transitioned seamlessly from fright film to detective story to sort of a war movie. Really well done.

I actually prefer the 1958 version to the more recent one that came in the late 1980s. It was just scarier. Also, the music was more fitting. Back in those days, the music was played by orchestras (with REAL instruments) while they watched the movie/show. Now 1958 was actually way before my time, but those earlier films are amongst my favorites. Mysterious Island was a special effects orgy, but was cool. Both the Captain Nemo movies.

Maybe this nostalgic stroll in these posts need to be their own thread?

 

[Joelist]

I agree this could use its own thread. Also that the original Blob was better than the awful remake.

 

[Overmind One]

I agree this could use its own thread. Also that the original Blob was better than the awful remake.

We are in a new thread. I hated the second Blob. But the first one is STILL good, despite its age. One remake they did which was better than the original was The Thing. And what about the uber-cheesy Creature from the Black Lagoon, Swamp Thing, and the original The Fly!

 

[Joelist]

I like the original Fly better than the remake - again it is because the original achieved the horror, fear and tension without any need for the gore of the remake.

 

[Overmind One]

I like the original Fly better than the remake - again it is because the original achieved the horror, fear and tension without any need for the gore of the remake.

I agree. The MUSIC in those films was such a huge element of the overall feel of the movie. Star Trek TOS got the benefit of this sort of soundtrack treatment. Most every show in the 1960s had orchestrated music. But at that time, the first sound bites (loops) were used, hence the classic "scene themes" of certain types of situations in the shows. Whenever Kirk was kissing a woman on TOS, there was a certain musical sound bite played. Same with ships chasing each other, or hand to hand combat. The movies had more leeway.

 

[shavedape]

I often wonder if we're now "desensitized" to good storytelling. I don't know if it's the way we're educated these days (or not educated that is) or what the problem is but there truly seems to be a "dumbing down" of the average intellect nowadays. Back when all these shows that we are discussing were running they required the viewers to actively participate in the story telling. You had to pay attention, you had to be able to grasp themes and issues that were larger than just "Does Starbuck love Anders or Lee?". You had to be able to actively employ your imagination instead of passively relying on SFX for every single super power used or scary moment depicted or spaceship maneuver shown. Now that stuff is shoved down our throats.

As it is I'm all for good SFX being used nowadays but they need to be used effectively, not just because there's room in the budget for a green screen.