I've enjoyed reading Fire Breathing Dimetrodon Time's account of his son watching the Doctor Who classic story "Planet of the Spiders," the farewell tale for Jon Pertwee. One of his earlier posts refers to detractors, who see the story's several chase scenes as padding to make sure it lasts six episodes, but I've always thought that hogwash. I think that makes it all the more poignant; since Pertwee's Doctor regenerates at the end of the story, it's as if his victories in all the chases and confrontations only put off the inevitable. I'm glad his son enjoys it.
Keeping with the British theme, Cult TV Blog looks at The Avengers* episode "Killer." It's a nifty episode, with a "new" Avengers girl (Jennifer Croxton, a one-episode stand-in for Linda Thorson) and a cracking story. It reminds me that it's been a couple of years since we concluded our run of The Avengers; might be time to reintroduce it to the rotation.
*By the way, let it be known that there is only one Avengers. That superhero story may have the same name, but one can't really compare the two, can one?
David at Comfort TV has an interesting rumination on episode titles. I highly approve of them myself; while there was a span of time in the late '50s and early '60s when the titles could be somewhat pretentious (as our own Mike Doran points out in a comment), I've always thought they were a proper part of a TV episode, and I try to use them when I can. Having said that - I couldn't pass David's quiz at the end. Can you?
It's another issue of The Twilight Zone Magazine over at Twilight Zone Vortex, a good issue from the looks of it. Of particular interest - Gahan Wilson's movie reviews (John Boorman's Excalibur and Oliver Stone's The Hand), and Allan Asherman's article, “Forerunners of ‘The Twilight Zone’.”
At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's latest Hitchcock Project continues a rundown on the contributions of Francis and Marian Cockrell: this time, it's the second season episode "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole," adapted by Francis Cockrell and directed by Robert Stevens. Isn't that a wonderful name, "Ottermole"? You'll find that it carries a symbolic meaning, as well.
'Tis the season for looking back as well as ahead, and at Christmas TV History, Joanna runs down the five most popular posts of the past year. Some very good ones there; if you didn't catch them the first time, now's your chance to go back and read them. If you've already done so, why not do it again?
Jodie at Garroway at Large shares a couple of clips from 1952 of the Master Communicator, pre-Today, appearing with comedy legends Bob and Ray, and Fred Allen. Very fun and very funny as well, and it's always interesting to see Garroway in the time immediately before he became a legend.
At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shares his visit to Morgan White Jr.'s radio program on WBZ. It's all worth listening to, including the role of YouTube (Andrew nails it: while it has many good points, "There is also, of course, a great deal of junk on YouTube--including a lot of offensive junk--yet the site's virtues are substantial."), along with some tidbits from The Wizard of Oz.
And Martin Grams celebrates the New Year with his own take on the SI swimsuit issue, to good effect. Can't think of a better way to kick off 2018 - keep it going by coming back here tomorrow for a new TV Guide. TV
Thanks, Mitchell. Looking forward to your talk at the convention next fall.
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