Rate The Last TV Show Episode You Watched

[Eric Paddon]

I traded in some DVDs I wasn't watching and never inclined to watch and in the process the gift card allowed me to get the Blu Ray set of Twilight Zone for $47!

Just watched "The Time Element". I still had the one-shot TV Land broadcast from the late 90s when the channel debuted (back when TV Land MEANT something!) but it was great to upgrade this and even get Desi's integrated ad with Betty Furness for Westinghouse. The chief problem with the episode is that it tends to drag a little and really in the end there is no real reason for why Bendix's character is being subjected to this time travel experience (in the process confirming why it helped that TZ became a half-hour show). Where it works is setting up how the kind of sci-fi writing that Serling would specialize could work in the TV medium.

[Eric Paddon]

Well, after "The Time Element" I sampled these episodes from the Blu-Ray set.

"A Penny For Your Thoughts" (Season 2) 7 of 10
-One of the few successful comic episodes of TZ thanks in large part to Dick York showing the great sense of comic timing that landed him immortality in "Bewitched." Considering that his previous TZ episode was the heavily serious "The Purple Testament" though, this shows what a very good and versatile actor he was.

"The Invaders" (Season 2) 8 of 10
-A classic, but IMO is marred only by the ridiculous Michelin Man style dolls used to denote the "invaders". The best moments of terror come when we can't see what they're doing and it would have been better to keep them hidden a bit more toward the end. This episode gets THREE separate audio commentaries altogether, and in one of them, I get a reminder of how I have always found Marc Zicree to be more than a touch arrogant (the write-up he did for the episode "The Mirror" in his book may be rank as one of the most insipidly stupid pieces of drivel ever put down in a TV history book). The Gary Gerami commentaries (the second one with John Burlingame about Goldsmith's score) are generally much better.

"The Odyssey Of Flight #33" (Season 2) 10 of 10
-Rates in my top five of episodes because of the professional realism Serling used in depicting how a real jet crew would have reacted to this incredible situation that in the end sells the terror of the premise of being lost in time. It tantalizingly leaves you hungry for more at the end, but all that is left to your imagination. The 1990s audio drama that is presented as a bonus is a classic case of what happens when an adapter stupidly employs a plodding literalism to the material and then tries to superficially update it. The dialogue establishes the story as taking place in the present, but in order to keep following the original 1960 script, he retains the absurdity of the plane having a cockpit crew of five. Had this episode been made five years later, there would have been only three cockpit crew members (no more navigators and radio men) while if they were remaking it today we'd only have a captain and co-pilot (as flight engineers are gone too).

"The Midnight Sun" (Season 3) 10 of 10
-Another one of my favorites with its compact end of the world drama, tense Van Cleave score, and then its great reverse twist. And Lois Nettleton, all sweaty and parading about in a slip is IMO the most beautiful female in the whole five year history of the show! (I was shocked to later find out she was 35 when she did this episode. She comes off a decade younger as she did throughout her entire life right up to her death)

[Eric Paddon]

A couple more TZ episodes from the Blu-Ray.

"The Long Morrow." 7.5 of 10. It's strengths come from the fact that it plays more like an intimate stage drama because if they'd tried for too much authenticity with bigger sets, more extras etc. then all the internal scientific absurdities of the episode would have stood out more. It's able to work as a character piece. I do have to say that if Skelton and Benson's other commentaries are anything like the one they did for this episode, they're established as the worst of the three "experts" employed for these commentary tracks with lots of Bio 101 details that they're clearly reading off Internet listings and little thoughtful commentary overall.

"The Lonely". 9.5 of 10. Similarly themed and superior episode from S1. It occurs to me also, how TZ was fortunate to exist at a time when you could write sci-fi on the fantasy level where accuracy of premise was not necessary and you could concentrate on the storytelling. You simply couldn't do that any longer a decade later because stories of asteroids with atmospheres 9 million miles from Earth just wouldn't fly by then (and certainly not today!)

[Eric Paddon]

After getting the Trek book, I took a look at a pair of S1 episodes I hadn't watched in years and were never among my favorites. Even now that I know more of the details of production, they still don't rate high with me.

"Miri" (2 of 5). The chief problem with this episode is that it feels bloated at an hour. Maybe it would have worked as a compact half hour but instead we got a lot of talky build-up stretched out over a long stretch of time in some static locales (the decaying hospital). And here's my biggest problem. The episode hinges on the unbelievable conceit that *all six* of the landing party would have been so foolish as to leave their communicators on the table and allow the kids to steal them. No security guards get zapped this time out but you'd think at least one of them would have kept his on his belt! The episode just lacked a lot of forward momentum I felt (and the way Kirk ingratiates himself to the teenaged Miri comes off as a little creepy frankly).

"Dagger Of The Mind" (2 of 5). The book helps me understand why this episode comes off as dull. You know from the get-go that the twist we're going to be given is that Woodward is not insane and that James Gregory is the real bad guy. The script takes 40 minutes to finally show Gregory dropping the facade and revealing his evil intent and we never get an explanation as to *why* this respected genius in the field is doing this. Well, the book clears up that mystery. Shimon Wincelberg had Gregory give a speech about how his pessimistic view of mankind in general, combined with his feeling unappreciated in general gave him this tyrranical complex of running his ownj little personal kingdom in the penal colony where he would control everyone so thoroughly. But Roddenberry, silly fantasy Utopian that he was, objected to the idea of anyone having such an attitude about mankind in this era so he cut the whole scene of exposition and Wincelberg (who wrote some of the best episodes of the Irwin Allen sci-fi shows; so much for the idea that Trek was so instinctively better than anything the Allen series could turn out) was so angry that's why he used his pseudonym on the final print.

Marianna Hill is great to look at, but she is a most unconvincing staff psychiatrist. One other amusing item from the book is that Wincelberg's first draft called the villain Dr. Asgard becaue he was going for a whole bunch of metaphors about the penal colony as another kind of Asgard, but Justman had the name changed believing that some viewers might think the name referred to a kind of quote "rear end protection"!

[Mike Skerritt]

My wife and I have just started watching BROADCHURCH, and while the story is grim, the acting is impeccable and the central mystery is enormously involving. We're a few behind but new run eps are still airing on BBC America.

The plot is set in motion when an 11 year old boy is found dead on the beach in Broadchurch, a small seaside town in England. It's a tight knit community where everyone knew the boy and/or had a reason to know something about his death. Part of the series tracks the ever blooming grief of the family, which is deftly handled and often harrowing, but the bulk of the action follows the ensuing police investigation. Former Dr. Who and Barty Crouch Jr, David Tenant, plays the brooding (of course) lead detective just assigned to the division, while Olivia Colman (in the best and trickiest performance in the show) plays his partner who is a local and longtime friend of the dead boy's family. It's all done with cinematic visual flair and a fine, melancholic score by Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds.

[Paul MacLean]

I just started watching The Palace, a series about a fictitious (but present day) British royal family. The king has unexpectedly died, and the eldest son Richard, a irresponsible, twenty-something playboy, suddenly finds himself king.

It's a great premise, but after one episode I'm skeptical if will live up to its potential. Intrigues, back-biting and clandestine affairs with non-royals are already off and rolling, giving the show a slightly "soapy" feel. Admittedly, these kinds of scandals have always plagued the real-life royals, but the tone of the series feels more Dynasty than The King's Speech.

Production values are not high -- scenes of royal pomp are nonexistent, and even the king's funeral didn't have more than twenty extras on screen (the series was also shot in Lithuania to same money).

It's a likable show in some ways, but doesn't seem at this point like it's going to pan-out.

[John Johnson]

My wife and I have just started watching BROADCHURCH, and while the story is grim, the acting is impeccable and the central mystery is enormously involving. We're a few behind but new run eps are still airing on BBC America.

The plot is set in motion when an 11 year old boy is found dead on the beach in Broadchurch, a small seaside town in England. It's a tight knit community where everyone knew the boy and/or had a reason to know something about his death. Part of the series tracks the ever blooming grief of the family, which is deftly handled and often harrowing, but the bulk of the action follows the ensuing police investigation. Former Dr. Who and Barty Crouch Jr, David Tenant, plays the brooding (of course) lead detective just assigned to the division, while Olivia Colman (in the best and trickiest performance in the show) plays his partner who is a local and longtime friend of the dead boy's family. It's all done with cinematic visual flair and a fine, melancholic score by Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds.

I believe Fox are remaking it for the U.S.

[AndyDursin]

Fox is indeed hot on remaking that for the U.S. I'm watching it also, I'm 2 episodes in so far (it's tough because it's a show you have to pay attention to, and it's not exactly "light" viewing at bedtime).

[John Johnson]

My wife and I have just started watching BROADCHURCH, and while the story is grim, the acting is impeccable and the central mystery is enormously involving. We're a few behind but new run eps are still airing on BBC America.

The plot is set in motion when an 11 year old boy is found dead on the beach in Broadchurch, a small seaside town in England. It's a tight knit community where everyone knew the boy and/or had a reason to know something about his death. Part of the series tracks the ever blooming grief of the family, which is deftly handled and often harrowing, but the bulk of the action follows the ensuing police investigation. Former Dr. Who and Barty Crouch Jr, David Tenant, plays the brooding (of course) lead detective just assigned to the division, while Olivia Colman (in the best and trickiest performance in the show) plays his partner who is a local and longtime friend of the dead boy's family. It's all done with cinematic visual flair and a fine, melancholic score by Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds.

I believe Fox are remaking it for the U.S.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... rch-597961

[mkaroly]

Just watched "Sarek" and "Menage A Troi" from ST:TNG Season 3. What can I say about "Sarek" - powerful episode that is so well acted. Mark Lenard gives a heck of a performance, an I love how TNG respected the character of Sarek. Well written; great episode. However, I wish that Spiner would have looked a little more competent playing the violin! "Menage A Troi" was a bit silly but the payoff is Stewart getting to quote Shakespeare and act like he's in love. TNG is a great show...just ordered season 4 off of Amazon...price is down to $59.99!

[Paul MacLean]

So far I find Broadchurch decent, but a little slow-moving and a bit "soapy", and not nearly as good as an average episode of Wallander or Endeavor.

I also find it ironic that it would selected to be "remade" as an American series, since it is one of the more "American"-style shows that's been produced in the UK.

[Eric Paddon]

Sampled some various episodes of some 60s classics, "Adam-12" and "The Rat Patrol." The latter is a good case of a nice compact war series that had an amazingly long syndication afterlife despite only lasting two seasons. The CD liner notes said it was cancelled primarily due to costs and not low ratings.

I also finished up a rare case of an American series I had to buy a foreign region import of because there's been no US R1 release and that's the short-lived "Murder She Wrote" spinoff "The Law And Harry McGraw" (1987-1988) which starred Jerry Orbach as a seedy but brilliant Boston P.I. I have to admit I liked Orbach in this role more than I did "Law And Order" because his Lennie Brisco could be so off-putting at times, in contrast to the more likable family-man cops played by Paul Sorvino and George Dzunda in the earlier seasons. On this lighter show, Orbach's persona comes off better (plus there was the added bonus of the always engaging Barbara Babcock as his co-star).

One thing about this R4 DVD release is how it also offers a rather sad insight into what was lost in the Universal fire of 2008. The prints they used are stated in a disclaimer as the *only* set of extant tape transfers available for the show and they are in very subpar quality for a late 80s show looking at times like off-air VHS recordings with the flaws they have. But the only way to do anything better would be to remaster the show from original elements which Universal is not going to spring for, ever.

But this show is lucky to have one set still around for a DVD release because word has it that these Universal shows are never going to see the light of day again unless a cable channel cuts a syndication deal for them to justify remastering which might lead to a DVD release in future. This includes shows that were on TV Land as recently as the early 2000s like "Baretta" and "Switch." And any Universal show from the 70s-80s that was entirely videotaped is now likely gone forever as well.

[Eric Paddon]

Columbo S1-"Murder By The Book".

-A TV classic in that it was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Stephen Bochco. It also gave us the first of Jack Cassidy's three guest killer appearances and also shows Peter Falk as Columbo at a time when the character had not yet become a phenomenon. As a result, Falk gives us a much more level-headed character (as he did in the two pilot movies and in other S1 episodes) that can be seen more as brilliantly eccentric and not the more broader caricature that the character became in later years. As time went by, there were too many instances of self-consciously playing Columbo for laughs.

-It's fascinating too, to watch this episode and see Spielberg at work trying to be innovative in ways for television that hadn't been done before. The opening shot of eventual murder victim Martin Milner at work on a typewriter of an upper story office that looks out and we zoom in to Cassidy's car making its way up toward the parking entrance of the same building. No outside noises or sounds other than the clacking of the typewriter. Given how Universal was so notorious for using its backlot that could become so overly familiar on its TV productions, it had to be refreshingly different for TV viewers to see this kind of approach at the time that was more cinematic in nature. Spielberg also shows some brilliant but chilling restraint when Cassidy commits his second murder (the tragic Barbara Colby, who herself would be murdered several years later). A close-up of her screaming but with no sound other than the ominous music chord as we go to commercial.

-The one weakness of the episode is an insufficient payoff clue that lets Columbo nab the killer. One of the keys to the Columbo formula is giving us that last "gotcha" clue that lets Columbo crack the case and unfortunately in this episode they don't come up with a good one that justifies Cassidy's copping to it in the final scene. But the overall sense of style from Spielberg's direction, the great guest performances and seeing Falk at his best as Columbo more than compensates for that.

[jkholm]

Columbo S1-"Murder By The Book".

-A TV classic in that it was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Stephen Bochco. It also gave us the first of Jack Cassidy's three guest killer appearances and also shows Peter Falk as Columbo at a time when the character had not yet become a phenomenon. As a result, Falk gives us a much more level-headed character (as he did in the two pilot movies and in other S1 episodes) that can be seen more as brilliantly eccentric and not the more broader caricature that the character became in later years. As time went by, there were too many instances of self-consciously playing Columbo for laughs.

-It's fascinating too, to watch this episode and see Spielberg at work trying to be innovative in ways for television that hadn't been done before. The opening shot of eventual murder victim Martin Milner at work on a typewriter of an upper story office that looks out and we zoom in to Cassidy's car making its way up toward the parking entrance of the same building. No outside noises or sounds other than the clacking of the typewriter. Given how Universal was so notorious for using its backlot that could become so overly familiar on its TV productions, it had to be refreshingly different for TV viewers to see this kind of approach at the time that was more cinematic in nature. Spielberg also shows some brilliant but chilling restraint when Cassidy commits his second murder (the tragic Barbara Colby, who herself would be murdered several years later). A close-up of her screaming but with no sound other than the ominous music chord as we go to commercial.

-The one weakness of the episode is an insufficient payoff clue that lets Columbo nab the killer. One of the keys to the Columbo formula is giving us that last "gotcha" clue that lets Columbo crack the case and unfortunately in this episode they don't come up with a good one that justifies Cassidy's copping to it in the final scene. But the overall sense of style from Spielberg's direction, the great guest performances and seeing Falk at his best as Columbo more than compensates for that.

I started watching Columbo on Netflix streaming a few weeks ago. I was excited to learn that Spielberg had directed an episode and then realized Netflix does not include Murder by the Book through streaming. They also don't have the pilot movies or the Season 1 episode "Blueprint for Murder." I wonder why? I like the show so I guess I'll rent the actual discs.

[Eric Paddon]

Just at random I found an amusing example of how TV writers in the "good old days" would recycle scripts or script elements on other TV shows. First a Season 9 "Perry Mason" episode from 1966 and then a Season 3 "Mannix" episode from 1970. Both of them use the same device of how the murderer commits a crime. In both episodes, the killer is a talk show host (radio on Mason, TV on Mannix) who calls up their victim and then gunshots are heard during the conversation giving the host the perfect alibi (all the listeners or viewers). In reality, the call was staged with recordings spliced in to create a fake conversation when the victim had been killed earlier.

In the Mason episode, the radio host/killer (exposed at the climax) is the young "Dan Travanty" who became better known as Daniel J. Travanti of "Hill Street Blues" fame. On Mannix, the host/killer is Don DeFore, best known as the flustered "Mr. B" on "Hazel". And this kind of guest casting in both cases, seeing a future star in one, a past star going against type in another, is one of the things that makes classic TV viewing so much fun and so much better than anything TV can do today IMO.