Old TV

[kengr]

Been watching some TV from my childhood.

An episode of Beany & Cecil (which had ads for the fall TV schedule). Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, and Voyage to the Bottom of the PlotSea

I am *appalled* at the writers. We have a US Navy ship firing on an unidentified aircraft with no attempt to contact it.

We have several planes crashing into the ocean, and no attempt to recover the wreckage (or the flight recorders). Heck, one of them gets raised from the bottom to rescue the crew and there's *still* no attempt to examine it to determine why it crashed.

A blast on the surface of the Arctic ice cap, and a subn at *600* feet being hit by chunks of ice *sinking* and battering at it.

I could go on. But yeesh, I thought current shows were bad.

Then again, we *are* talking about Irwin Allen, and Gerry Anderson.

Comments

[seawasp]

Be comforted. Seaquest DSV had the explosion causing ice to fall onto a submarine business, decades after Voyage did the same thing.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

A small but significant chunk of my retirement has been spent recreating my childhood. Or, rather, reacquiring it. Books (Elizabeth Enright was responsible for a surprising amount of my childhood enjoyment) TV shows, movies, music, comics (Dark Horse Books be praised!)...

_Lost in Space_ was always science fantasy rather than science fiction, but that first season had so much promise. There were all these clues laid out for a unified explanation behind the strange events on the world where they crashed, only a few of which were followed. Were the spores which caused the giant pea pods also responsible for the Cyclopes? As well as the fruit which turned the Bloop and Smith into giants?

Were the spores and weird creatures they encountered leftover biological weapons from the war which laid waste to Preplanis, warped its orbit and forced the survivors underground? Why was the memory backup in the mask of that warlord left behind? Were his people sick of war after finally defeating Preplanis and just wanted to be rid of him?

[kengr]

Just imagine what could have happened if they'd cast somebody *other* than Jonathon Harris as Dr. Smith.

[seawasp]

My "remember fondly from childhood/early adulthood" stuff has been a mixed bag. The Six Million Dollar Man remained just as awesome as I remembered it, as did Jonny Quest. Kung Fu, on the other hand, was dull and slow; stuff that has followed it has done the job so much better (and without yellowface) that it's really hard to watch it except as a historical artifact. Airwolf, stunningly, turned out to be STILL a very fun and watchable show, while MacGyver, which I'd expected to kick ass, falls utterly flat on its face. Star Trek: TOS remains pretty good, but even more uneven than I recalled; some episodes I remembered fondly end up DOA, while other episodes retain their power undimmed by time.

[xander-opal.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree regarding MacGyver. Never seen Johnny Quest or Kung Fu. I've only recently watched The Six Million Dollar Man, and rate it 'not bad,' partly because some of the 'amazing feats of strength', I've done myself. Notably, pull a fencepost out of sandy ground and a bale of straw that far.
Admittedly, I couldn't have thrown said fencepost through the side of a panel van.

Hm. Need I do more than merely mention Knight Rider?