What are you watching right now?

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Criminal Minds: "Amplification"

[Doctor Hmmm?]

(Perhaps a little too much) Ultra Q.

This show is both fun and (slightly) addictive.  But every once in awhile it's just flat out bonkers.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Ultra Q is a delight. I need to go back and re-watch it one of these days, but Shout Factory keeps putting out more Ultraman series. 

BONANZA: I just moved on to season twelve.

THE RIFLEMAN: We just moved on to season four.

Weeks ago, Tracy mentioned to her boss that we were watching The Rifleman. He decided to watch them, too, barreled through all five seasons and has now decided to collect the comic books. (Dell published 20 of them, including a try-out in Four-Color.) He had a bid of $40 for one on eBay and asked me if I thought that was too much to pay. No, as long as you're going to read it. He plans to collect all 20, but I doubt he'll follow through. Personally, I wouldn't pay that much for a Dell TV property ($40 is guide for the condition it's in), but I know some people who collect only TV comics. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

BONANZA SEASON 12: Bonanza has a whole different look to it this season. I hadn't been too pleased with the new arrangement of the theme for seasons 10 and 11, but 12 has a whole new song. Also gone is the "riding toward the camera" motif of previous season. (They would have had to do that sooner or later, anyway, when the ranks of the Cartwrights were reduced to just Ben and Little Joe.) An arsonist burned down most of Virginia City in the season opener, and the show is being filmed on a different set. The "replacement Adam," Candy, is gone in favor of a young replacement, Jamie, playing "Ernie" to Hoss and Joe's "Robbie" and "Chip." 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Updates on our "binges":

RIFLEMAN: We have moved on to the fifth and final season. Lou Mallory has replaced Millie Scott as  Lucas' love interest. 

BONANZA: Tracy and I together are on season six; solo I'm on season 13.

Two continuing storylines converged at the end of season five: Adam's courtship of a widow with a young girl and the addition of Cartwright cousin Will (played by Guy Williams) to the cast. At the end of the season [SPOILER] Adam's girl left with Will (but it was mutual). [END SPOILER] 

I continue to be disappointed that Pernell Roberts left the show, even though it happened decades ago. Too bad they never brought back Will as his replacement. Of the three "replacements" (Will, Candy and Jamie), Guy Williams is by far my favorite. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Inspired by reading The Autobiography of Mr. Spock, I watched a few relevant television episodes.

"JOURNY TO BABEL": The introduction of Sarek.

"SAREK": 100 years after first setting foot aboard the Enterprise, Sarek steps aboard a different Enterprise with a different captain. 

"UNIFICATION": Part 1 features the death of Sarek; Part 2 the last of Spock before his disappearance. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"Yesteryear" and "Amok Time" (both dealing with the ramifications of events from Spock's childhood). 

[ClarkKent_DC]

The Ion channel does daylong marathons of various shows. I'm binging Chicago Fire. Even though I've seen them all when first run, it's a little jarring to see how different it was in earlier seasons, mostly in seeing actors who aren't with the show today.  

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN: Inspired by the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely comic book series, I watched the cartoon adaptation by Dwayne McDuffie. It's a decent adaptation, but it's all plot with none of the nuance (not to mention art) of the original version. I would recommend it as a supplement, but by no means a replacement. 

[Captain Comics]

I might have mentioned this before, but I've been plowing through the original Twilight Zone. It's good. It's damn good.

But I doubt These Kids Today(tm) would agree. Most of my joy comes from re-living a time when there was no F/X, and writers and directors had to count on actors to carry the show. That might be too slow and boring for the video game generation.

But if you ARE of my generation, or shortly thereafter, this is the goods. Great writing, directors who leave the actors to work, and the best It's That Guy Again actors of the '50s and '60s.

And, it should be mentioned, a show that re-used the common sets of the time (Western, Prohibition, deserts as "alien planets") that you really can't see authentically any more. They were cheap and common at the time!

Then look at these names: Martin Landau, Robert Ryan, Jeanne Cooper, Martin Balsam, Dan Duryea, Ed Wynn, Malcolm Atterbury, Ken Lynch, Doug McClure, Ken Lynch, Jack Warden ...

Most of these people showed up in other Stuff You Love, like original Star Trek and North by Northwest and Maverick and Rawhide and even The Simpsons.

If you're under 40, it's probably nothing to you. But to me, it's putting me in a world that is long gone, and that I miss.

And, let me say again, some of the best writing television has ever seen.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I'm with you! My absolute favorite TV show. I bought the Blu-Ray set awhile back, and my wife and I have made a habit of watching for an hour every Saturday night.

Captain Comics said:

I might have mentioned this before, but I've been plowing through the original Twilight Zone. It's good. It's damn good.

But I doubt These Kids Today(tm) would agree. Most of my joy comes from re-living a time when there was no F/X, and writers and directors had to count on actors to carry the show. That might be too slow and boring for the video game generation.

But if you ARE of my generation, or shortly thereafter, this is the goods. Great writing, directors who leave the actors to work, and the best It's That Guy Again actors of the '50s and '60s.

And, it should be mentioned, a show that re-used the common sets of the time (Western, Prohibition, deserts as "alien planets") that you really can't see authentically any more. They were cheap and common at the time!

Then look at these names: Martin Landau, Robert Ryan, Jeanne Cooper, Martin Balsam, Dan Duryea, Ed Wynn, Malcolm Atterbury, Ken Lynch, Doug McClure, Ken Lynch, Jack Warden ...

Most of these people showed up in other Stuff You Love, like original Star Trek and North by Northwest and Maverick and Rawhide and even The Simpsons.

If you're under 40, it's probably nothing to you. But to me, it's putting me in a world that is long gone, and that I miss.

And, let me say again, some of the best writing television has ever seen.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I've been watching episodes of The Adventures of Superboy and the 1996 animated Superman. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

I never miss the SyFy channel's annual Twilight Zone marathon on New Year's Day, which usually stretches halfway into the following week as they show all the episodes, but in some very random order.

I haven't seen them all, but one thing I love about the show is its versatility. Often they are morality tales, and most of them are very suspenseful, but some of them are slice-of-life stories, and some are comedies.

One year, I enticed the rest of the family to watch the New Year's Twilight Zone marathon and they were so creeped out by "Living Doll" (the one starring Telly Savalas contending with a creepy doll) that they swore up, down and sideways "never again. To get them to watch "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," I promised that if they did, I would never ask them to watch another episode. 

There have been three stabs at reviving The Twilight Zone, in 1985, 2002, and 2019. None lasted more than three seasons.

The first revival began with one-hour episodes but switched half-hours for the second and third seasons. The second revival told two stories in each one-hour episode. The third revival told one story in each one-hour episode. It makes me wonder, as I have before, why the half-hour drama doesn't exist any more. (Original Twilight Zone went to one-hour episodes for a season, but thought better of it and switched back to half-hours.)

Captain Comics said:

I might have mentioned this before, but I've been plowing through the original Twilight Zone. It's good. It's damn good.

But I doubt These Kids Today(tm) would agree. Most of my joy comes from re-living a time when there was no F/X, and writers and directors had to count on actors to carry the show. That might be too slow and boring for the video game generation.

But if you ARE of my generation, or shortly thereafter, this is the goods. Great writing, directors who leave the actors to work, and the best It's That Guy Again actors of the '50s and '60s.

And, it should be mentioned, a show that re-used the common sets of the time (Western, Prohibition, deserts as "alien planets") that you really can't see authentically any more. They were cheap and common at the time!

Then look at these names: Martin Landau, Robert Ryan, Jeanne Cooper, Martin Balsam, Dan Duryea, Ed Wynn, Malcolm Atterbury, Ken Lynch, Doug McClure, Ken Lynch, Jack Warden ...

Most of these people showed up in other Stuff You Love, like original Star Trek and North by Northwest and Maverick and Rawhide and even The Simpsons.

If you're under 40, it's probably nothing to you. But to me, it's putting me in a world that is long gone, and that I miss.

And, let me say again, some of the best writing television has ever seen.