Category: TV Terror Guide
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Verdict from Space/Blunder
Writer | Theodore SturgeonDirector | Leonard Valenta As the episode opens, we land smack dab in the middle of a trial where, the announcer tells us, a man is fighting for his life. We know it’s the middle because the judge orders that there be no more interruptions. The bully prosecutor (William Lally) argues that…
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The House & the Brain (1973)
“The House & the Brain”(1973) is “inspired” by a novella by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton called, “The Haunted & the Haunters; or, The House & the Brain,” which is why the only thing they have in common is a house. In the TV-movie version, the house isn’t even haunted. Instead, it’s occupied by a young woman…
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Tales of Tomorrow… Today (Introduction)
Two and a half years before the peak of the television sci-fi space operas we’ve been discussing the last couple of months, writer Theodore Sturgeon and film and television producer Mort Abrahams contacted Robert Heinlein about a plan to… …put together a league of sci-fi authors to write television screenplays for a new proposed TV…
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The Haunting of Rosalind (1973)
“The Haunting of Rosalind” (1973) has perhaps the strongest cast of any tale yet from The Classic Ghosts. The character of Dita is played by Academy Award winner, Susan Sarandon. The character of Mother is played by Academy Award winner, Beatrice Straight. And the character of Dr. Soames is played by the man who portrayed…
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Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954)
If you were watching television in February of 1954, you would have had your choice of five different sci-fi adventures. You would already be watching Captain Video (although it was winding down), Space Patrol, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers (also winding down), and a new show called, Rocky Jones Space…
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And the Bones Came Together (1973)
Mr. Shim (Herbert Berghof) is being evicted from his home for an urban renewal project… and he doesn’t want to leave. All his friends and neighbors have gone and one is even used by the developers to try to convince him. Most of “And the Bones Came Together” is a drama about the battle of…
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Captain Z-ro (1951-1953 +)
While similar in some ways to every other 1950s sci-fi space opera we’ve discussed in this series, Captain Z-ro came to us a bit differently. It was originally a 15-minute children’s show produced locally in California, airing only on KRON-TV in San Francisco and KTTV in Los Angeles. While its run lasted for two years,…
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The Screaming Skull (1973)
I’ve never seen The Screaming Skull (1958) and didn’t realize it was an adaptation of the short story by F. Marion Crawford. Of course, now that I’ve seen the 1973 version from “The Classic Ghosts” that I knew was an adaptation, I’ll have to watch it. I’m curious if it shares the same flaws, although…
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The Classic Ghosts (1973)
We’ve mentioned The Wide World of Mystery several times as we’ve discussed the TV movies The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr.Hyde, The Invasion of Carol Enders, and The Werewolf of Woodstock. Also buried within the first year of ABC’s efforts to counter program Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show was a set of five…
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Flash Gordon (1953-1954)
When have you ever heard Flash Gordon say, “I’ll be in my office taking care of some work?” I’m no expert on the character, but the statement seems odd to me coming from the famous space adventurer. Such is the case in an episode of the 1954-55 series, Flash Gordon, called, “Akim the Terrible.” Syndicated…
Classic Horrors Club 