Here to help you get into the holiday spirit is Vincent Price, reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven. This scene comes from a 1985 television special that was called The Teller and the Tale.
Category Archives: TV
Horror On TV: Fear Itself 1.1 “The Sacrifice” (dir by Breck Eisner)
Produced by Mick Garris, Fear Itself was an attempt to bring the Masters of Horror format to network television. Each week, a different director would present a tale of terror. The series aired on NBC. 13 episodes were filmed but only five were broadcast before the show was put on hiatus for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympics eventually ended but Fear Itself never returned.
The first episode of Fear Itself featured Jesse Plemons as one of four criminals who finds themselves holed in an isolated fort with three mysterious women. The women are not what they seem and the criminals soon find themselves fighting for their lives.
The Sacrifice first aired on June 5th, 2008. It was directed by Breck Eisner, who went on to direct the 2010 remake of The Crazies.
Great Moments In Television History #43: The Premiere of Alfred Hitchcock Presents
71 years ago today, Alfred Hitchcock Presents premiered on CBS. Produced and hosted by Alfred Hitchcock, this series featured stories of suspense and real-life horror and set the standard for the anthology shows that followed.
Revenge, the first episode, was directed by Hitchcock himself. Elsa Spann (Vera Miles) is a housewife who is recovering from a mental breakdown. When a man breaks into her home and assaults her, the police struggle to come up with any leads. Elsa’s husband, Carl (Ralph Meeker), takes Elsa on a vacation to try to help her heal. While they’re driving through town, Elsa spots a man in a gray suit and says that he is the man who attacked her. Carl stalks the man and then murders him, beating him to death in a motel room. Later, while driving through another town, Elsa spots another man and says that he was the one who attacked her. Carl realizes that he may have murdered an innocent man. He turns himself in to the police and goes to jail while Elsa is sent to a mental asylum.
When I was a kid, one of the local stations used to air a nightly block of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. I think I was ten or eleven when I first saw Revenge and it made such an impression on me that I still haven’t forgotten it. The scariest thing about this episode? The man who attacked Elsa and started all of this was probably still out there, walking free.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents ran for ten seasons. It all started 71 years ago, on a night in October.
Previous Moments In Television History:
- Planet of the Apes The TV Series
- Lonely Water
- Ghostwatch Traumatizes The UK
- Frasier Meets The Candidate
- The Autons Terrify The UK
- Freedom’s Last Stand
- Bing Crosby and David Bowie Share A Duet
- Apaches Traumatizes the UK
- Doctor Who Begins Its 100th Serial
- First Night 2013 With Jamie Kennedy
- Elvis Sings With Sinatra
- NBC Airs Their First Football Game
- The A-Team Premieres
- The Birth of Dr. Johnny Fever
- The Second NFL Pro Bowl Is Broadcast
- Maude Flanders Gets Hit By A T-Shirt Cannon
- Charles Rocket Nearly Ends SNL
- Frank Sinatra Wins An Oscar
- CHiPs Skates With The Stars
- Eisenhower In Color
- The Origin of Spider-Man
- Steve Martin’s Saturday Night Live Holiday Wish List
- Barnabas Collins Is Freed From His Coffin
- Siskel and Ebert Recommend Horror Films
- Vincent Price Meets The Muppets
- Siskel and Ebert Discuss Horror
- The Final Scene of Dark Shadows
- The WKRP Turkey Drop
- Barney Pops On National TV
- The Greatest American Hero Premieres
- Rodney Dangerfield On The Tonight Show
- The Doors Are Open
- The Thighmaster Commercial Premieres
- The Hosts of Real People Say “Get High On Yourself”
- The 33rd NFL Championship Game Is Broadcast In Color
- The Sopranos Premieres on HBO
- Eisenhower Hosts The First Televised Press Conference
- The Twilight Zone Premieres On CBS
- The Wolverines
- Johnny Carson Talks To Vincent Price
- Christopher Lee Introduced Meat Loaf
- The 1983 Macy’s Fireworks Show
Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 4.13 “To Tell The Truth”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.
Has John Doe finally discovered his real identity?
Episode 4.13 “To Tell The Truth”
(Dir by Mark Tinker, originally aired on January 15th, 1986)
Last week’s episode ended with an abortion protester hiding a bomb in a custodial cart. The majority of this episode features various characters pushing that cart around the hospital, leaving us to wonder if and when the bomb is going to go off. At one point, even Dr. Craig gives the cart a frustrated shove. When the bomb finally does go off, it’s sitting outside the hospital gift shop. The hospital survives. An orderly is seriously injured. And Morrison gets to yell at the bomber (Rob Garrison).
Fiscus isn’t in the hospital when the bomb goes off. Instead, he’s out doing his Westphall-mandated community service. Fiscus is sent out on house calls, visiting elderly patients in their homes and doing follow-up exams. Fiscus hates it, and it’s easy to see why. For the most part, the old people are stereotypes. This episode is a rare case of St. Elsewhere trying too hard to be sentimental.
(And yes, when Fiscus complains, you can be sure that Westphall is ready with a long monologue about the time he spent in Ethiopia.)
The Valeres (George DelHoyo and Deborah May) are both getting frustrated with their inability to conceive. With Dr. Turner currently visiting her hometown in Mississippi, Ehrlich and Chandler have taken over the case. Ehrlich recommends that the Valeres consider adoption. Chandler, however, tells them that they should continue with IVF.
After a long day in court, Lucy slaps Helen, declares them to be even, and then drops her lawsuit.
Finally, Ramsey Headley (Ellis Rabb) and Lucinda Ferrare-Headley (Carrie Nye) show up at the hospital and claim that John Doe No. 6 is their long-lost brother and the heir to their family’s fortune. John Doe No. 6, who had been experimenting with being Shakespeare, says that he knows them and that he now realizes that he is Thomas Headley of New Orleans. Auschlander is happy that John has found his identity, but he’s still sad to see him go. (Auschlander does not seem to notice that the Headleys all speak like characters in a bad Tennessee Williams play.) After John leaves, the hospital gets a call from a “New Orleans sanitarium,” informing them that two of their patients have escaped and are heading to Boston. Yikes! If John returns next week, this will be a funny little incident. If he doesn’t, I’m never going to forgive Auschlander for letting him leave with two obvious charlatans.
This week’s episode was .… well, it was okay. It had its good moments, like the suspense with the custodial cart and the John Doe storyline. But it also got a bit too sentimental with the old people, and I’m at the point where I’m going to scream if I have to listen to another Westphall lecture about life in Ethiopia.
Let’s just be happy that the show didn’t kill Santa Claus again.
“They Have Awakened”, AI Short, Review by Case Wright
Last year, I reviewed A LOT of AI horror films and yes…most were terrible. It is sad that these films exist and someone spend time making them. However, there are some that are not the worst.
“They Have Awakened” by Ethan is a super short film on Antarctic explorers who find a cave that is just chock full of Cthulhu…Cthulhus(?)…Cthulhossiers(?). Cthulhossiers are like other Cthulhus, but they’re mostly into college hoops.
The explorer team finding Cthulhus is essentially a sub-genre; the stories are always the same, BUT some times the rendering is slightly better. I am actually tired of explorers continuing to unleash Cthulhus- can’t they be like the other Antarctic scientists that I’ve met and just turn to alcoholism and amphetamines?
The film is aggressively mediocre, but it’s only 4 minutes and change; so, have an oat-forward pancake and spend four minutes watching.
Lisa Marie Reviews The Amazing Race 39.2 “Are Tomatoes Good For Skin Care?”
Up until I checked the schedule to see whether or not the Big Brother finale was going to be two hours, I didn’t realize that CBS was going to be airing the second leg of The Amazing Race on Friday. Since I already had something else planned for Thursday night, I didn’t get a chance to watch the latest episode of The Amazing Race until this morning.
I was really happy about the second leg taking place in Madrid. My maternal grandmother was born in Spain and came to the United States after World War II. (Growing up, I was usually the only girl in any of my classes who knew who General Franco was.) I love Spain, even if it is currently being governed by a smug Socialist.
My sister Erin Nicole and I often joke about trying out for The Amazing Race and I think we would have done well during this leg. I would have let her do the Roadblock with the tomatoes. We definitely would have been able to tell the difference between Puerta del Sol and Puerta del Sur. I would have totally dominated the Slice of History detour. Along with the fact that our grandmother was born in Spain, I’ve got a degree in art history and I’m a big history nerd in general. I would not have needed to ask the locals who Picasso was and who Dalí was. We would have made it to the pit stop without having to use the express pass and I totally would have hugged Phil when he said that we were team number one.
I rolled my eyes a bit when Ann-Marie and Riley decided to form the Boss Lady alliance with Ali & Joanna, Jody & Jenn, and Dafina & Saran. I always cringe whenever the people on this show, Big Brother, or Survivor try to do the “all-girls alliance” thing because it always starts with everyone going, “Girl power!” and it always ends with people getting mad over the pettiest of things. We saw some of that during last night’s episode, when Ali ignored Dafina at the roadblock. I also noticed that, for all the talk of women supporting other women, they didn’t bother to invite Katie & Charlotte to join the alliance. In truth, The Amazing Race is not a game that really benefits from alliances. I can think of one season in which an alliance really worked and most of the viewers hated that season because the alliance members were all so unlikable.
(Interestingly enough, Ann-Marie and Riley also suggested that all of the players doing the Slice of Ham roadblock should work together as well. Ann-Marie’s definition of working together appears to be that everyone else should do all the work while she benefits. If I seem to have issues with Ann-Marie, it’s just because I can imagine her being the passive-aggressive HOA president from Hell. Of course, if I was actually running the Race, I would want to get Ann-Marie eliminated because there’s only room for one Marie.)
In the end, the main lesson of this week’s episode was to always make sure that you’re on the right train. Katie and Charlotte got on a train going to Puerta del Sur instead of Puerta del Sol and it basically led to their elimination.
Here are my thoughts on how each team is looking after this leg.
Coming in first were the soccer players, Ali and Joanna. Ann-Marie and Riley really want to work with the soccer players but I never really got the feeling that Ali and Joanna really wanted to work with them. Ali and Joanna are too competitive for that. I personally would not enter into an alliance with Ali. It’s hard for me to trust someone who won’t stand up for her own country’s national anthem.
Coming in second were Michelle & Matthew. Michelle and Matthew are a strong team, even if Michelle did go a little bit overboard while yelling at Matthew during the Roadblock. So far, they’ve finished 3rd and 2nd and they’ve done it without wasting an express pass.
Coming in third were Cody and Jaime. Cody and Jaime used their express pass to get out of doing Slice of Ham. They seem like a strong team and I was touched by their backstory. I’m hoping for the best for them.
Coming in fourth were Ann-Marie and Riley. Initially, I liked the mother-daughter team but, after tonight’s episode, I just see them as being the type of neighbors who smile when they visit and then make fun of your furniture when they think you’re not listening.
Jody and Jenn came in fifth. They totally wasted their express pass to get out of doing the Slice of History detour. Jody said that, as a history teacher, she was embarrassed. She should have been. Seriously, I’ve got no respect for that team now.
Daisha and Dalton used their express pass to get out of doing the Roadblock and they still only came in sixth. If I were them, I would be worried.
Erin and Javi came in seventh. I actually liked Erin and Javi more during the second leg than I did the first. They work well together.
Coming in eighth were Anuar and Andrea. My main impression of them is that Andrea is one bad leg away from having a massive meltdown.
Conner and Garrett finished in ninth place. I was a bit surprised that they finished so far back. Conner and Garrett seem like a strong team, though. I expect they’ll be around for a while.
Doug and Dylan came in tenth. I like Doug and Dylan but they’ve really struggled and they no longer have an express pass. I don’t think they’re going to be racing for much longer.
Dafina and Saran came in eleventh. They were doing well until they hit the Slice of History detour. They no longer have an express pass but I think they’re still stronger than they seemed to be last night.
Finally, Charlotte and Katie came in last and were eliminated. They got on the wrong train and it cost them.
Six express passes have been used. The express passes are only good through the sixth leg. Here’s who still has them:
- Ali & Joanna
- Michelle & Matthew
- Ann-Marie & Riley
- Anuar & Andrea
- Conner & Garrett
Next week, the teams head to Morocco and discover a whole new twist!
Previous Amazing Race 39 reviews
Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 2.4 “Rich Girl”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!
This week, Hunter and McCall investigate a rich girl for murder.
Episode 2.4 “Rich Girl”
(Dir by James Whitmore, Jr., originally aired on October 19th, 1985)
When an elderly millionaire named Ralph Flagg (Robert Rockwell) is shot and nearly killed, his much younger wife, Ginger (Lois Hamilton), is arrested for the crime. Even though she’s acquitted, McCall and Hunter continue to believe Ginger tried to kill her husband for his money. When Ginger plunges off a balcony, they start to have their doubts. What if the mastermind behind the violence is actually Ralph’s daughter, Cynthia (Dorian Lopinto)? Hunter goes undercover as a former basketball player turned golf hustler and gets close to both Cynthia and her loutish boyfriend, Bradley (John Calvin).
The plot doesn’t provide as many twists as one might hope. From the start, it’s made clear that Cynthia and Bradley are the murderers. Bradley may be the more openly evil of the two, but Cynthia is definitely the mastermind. When it starts to seem as if Bradley is going to turn on her, Cynthia shoots him and then claims it was self-defense. When it appears that Cynthia is going to get away with that murder as well, Hunter and McCall convince Ralph to change his will so Cynthia must confess to her crimes if she wants to inherit his fortune. Cynthia responds by going home, grinding a couple of pills into her ice cream, and then apparently committing suicide while a tear rolls down her cheek.
Agck!
That ending really took me by surprise. Cynthia went from being the episode’s villain to an almost tragic figure. That said, I’m not really a fan of Hunter and McCall hounding people into suicide. I would much rather they just make good arrests, but that’s not their style.
At least this episode didn’t end with Hunter saying, “Works for me.”
Horror On TV: The Curse of Degrassi (dir by Stefan Brogren)
Can you believe it? The first day of Horrorthon is nearly over! I’ve got tears in my mismatched eyes.
You may remember, from previous horrorthons, that I like to end each day in October by sharing a classic example of televised horror. Much as with the the horror movies that I share at the start of each day, it should be remembered that I’m a bit at the mercy of YouTube here. If YouTube decides to yank down a video after I share it on this site, there’s nothing that I can do about it. That’s why I encourage everyone to watch these now! Don’t wait until 2035. Who knows if YouTube will even still be a thing in 2035?
Let’s start things off with The Curse of Degrassi!
This is a special episode of my favorite TV show of all, Degrassi: The Next Generation! Originally airing on October 28th, 2008, The Curse of Degrassi features Degrassi’s then-main mean girl, Holy J Sinclair (Charlotte Arnold), getting possessed by the vengeful spirit of deceased school shooter, Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Chaos follows! Fortunately, Spinner (Shane Kippel) is around to save the day. As any true Degrassi fan can tell you, only Spinner has a chance against the forces of the undead.
Enjoy The Curse of Degrassi!
A Blast From The Past: Count Floyd Brings You Whisper Of The Wolf
Starting last month, I’ve been watching SCTV on Netflix. Probably to the surprise of absolutely no one, Count Floyd (played by the wonderful Joe Flaherty) is my favorite character and Monster Chiller Horror Theatre is my favorite SCTV “show.”
In today’s blast from the past, Count Floyd brings us something “pretty scary!” From 1978, here’s Count Floyd and Ingmar “Burgman’s” Whispers of the Wolf!
Seriously, it takes a special guide of genius to accurately satirize not just cheap horror hosts but also Ingmar Bergman in the same sketch.
I also love the fact that, even though it’s never specifically stated, Count Floyd is obviously meant to be straight-laced newsman Floyd Robertson, doing double duty at the station.
“Wasn’t that scary, kids!?”
Retro Television Review: Blood Ties (dir by Jim McBride)
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! This Thursday, I will be reviewing Blood Ties, which aired its only episode on Fox in 1991. The pilot film can be found on Tubi!
Episode 1.1 “Blood Ties”
(Directed by Jim McBride, originally aired on May 27th, 1991)
In Long Beach, California, there is a thriving community of Carpathians. Eli Chelarin (Patrick Bauchau) is the patriarch, a businessman who builds skyscrapers, makes deals, and flies into a rage whenever he learns of anti-Carpathian prejudice. Harry Martin (Harley Venton), born Harlevon Martinescu, is the reform-minded journalist who thinks it is time for the Carpathian community to start mingling with the rest of America. Celia (Michelle Johnson) is Eli’s sultry sister. While Eli is making big business deals and Harry is preaching coexistence, Celia and the younger generation are having a good time.
And then there is Cody Puckett (Jason London), who grew up in small-town Texas and was barely even aware of his Carpathian heritage. That all changed when a group of Carpathian hunters (led by Bo Hopkins) killed Cody’s parents and burned down his house. Cody flees Texas and ends up in California, where he hooks up with his distant relatives.
Harry reveals to Cody that the Carpathians are actually vampires, but that does not mean what Cody initially assumes. Yes, the Carpathians are directly descended from Lilith, and yes, they do have a taste for blood. However, they are not immortal (though they do tend to live to be at least 120). They can go out in the sunlight. They cannot turn into bats. They cannot be stopped by a cross. A wooden stake only kills them because it would kill anyone. The Carpathians are stronger than the average human, but they are not super-strong. (Cody nods and then asks if Carpathians are better at sex than average humans.) In short, the Carpathians are vampires who do not actually get to do any of the fun vampire things. To me, that defeats the whole purpose of being a vampire. Harry and his relatives spend so much time scoffing at misconceptions about vampires that they seem to miss the point: vampires are only interesting as long as they are doing vampire stuff. Vampires that turn into bats will always be more entertaining than vampires who just happen to live a long time.
Blood Ties was a made-for-TV movie that also served as a pilot for a potential series. It is easy to see the direction the series would have taken. Blood Ties mixes 90210-style teenage antics with older adults debating the best way to protect their community. Eventually the Carpathian hunters show up in Los Angeles, and the vampires make quick work of them. Presumably Bo Hopkins would not have been a series regular. Jim McBride’s direction is stylish, and the pilot is well acted, especially by Michelle Johnson. That said, it is hard not to feel that the pilot sabotaged itself by focusing on how the Carpathians were different from traditional vampires. The film rather cavalierly dismisses a lot of things that most horror fans love about vampires. Making the characters vampires who are not really vampires just feels kind of pointless.
Perhaps fortunately, Blood Ties did not become a regular series. If nothing else, that left Jason London available for Dazed and Confused. It is a fair trade.
