History Channel Ticking Me Off!!!

[Robert_Hall]

Thanks, Alixz, I have just spent the past 2 hours watching old Twilight Zone episodes.   Not a waste of time, I might add, they were good TV and classics. One episode leads to another.....

[Alixz]

Some of the episodes seem cheesy to us now, but in light of the Cold War and the fact that WWII had only ended about 15 years before, the mind set of the time shows in the many layered story lines.

I don't know if it was a Twilight Zone or one of its imitators, but I always remember a museum where a Nazi war criminal realized that he could go into one of the paintings and escape the present.  He chooses a beautiful bucolic scene where everything is bright and sunny and always summer.

He makes his plans and goes into the museum at night.  He finds his painting and walks into it. 

The next morning we see the museum has rearranged some of its works.  The Nazi is now in a painting but we see him hanging on a crucifix in agony.

[Robert_Hall]

Oh, I do not know that one. Sounds interesting. Yes, those shows were dated, but, IMO timely. and very inventive. Acting was top shelf and the writing  almost Pulitzer. Remember the one with Agnes Moorehead,- pure masterpiece.  TV today,  for the most part, bores the tears out of me. But thanks to YouTube, I can revisit the "golden oldies".

[TimM]

Old Twilight Zone

Willoughby, next stop Willoughby.

I remember that one

[Robert_Hall]

Join the growing crowd, Tim.
 Outer Limits was also a good series/anthology. A lot of the same writers.

[Alixz]

When I read some of the sci fi of today, I always think about how good the writers were back in the 1930s -1960s.  Those writers had, of course, a lot more to sci fi about than we do now because of scientific advancements.

I love the works of Jack Finney and Poul Anderson.  I know that Heinlein and Asimov and Arthur C Clarke were celebrated, but there were others who were just as good but not so well known.

One of my favorite books is called The Third Level.  It is an anthology of short stories by various writers and every story is a one of a kind.  I believe that a lot of the work done today is based on the work of those early writers.

I am going to look for the name of that episode with the painting.  As I said, I don't remember if it was Twilight Zone or one of its imitators.

[Alixz]

It was a Night Gallery episode and from what I can tell, one of the original three paintings in the first installment.
  

November 8, 1969


THE ESCAPE ROUTE   A Nazi war criminal finds refuge from his pursuers - and a fitting justice for his crimes - by wishing himself into a painting. Cast: Richard Kiley, Sam Jaffe.  

http://www.nightgallery.net/episodes.html

[Robert_Hall]

Oh yes, Night Gallery was  a great one for spooky.  There were not that episodes as I recall and we were not allowed to watch it a the school I was at. I saw most of them anyway. Odd, they let us watch the insipid Batman but stuff from Rod Serling and his ilk were taboo.
 Another show of that era, was ILKE SHAMS PARU ALAKHANS.
 Hope some one knows  the actual title, but that is what I remember. It was a detective show from Iran, at the court of a Qajar Shah.  The only reason I got away with watching that was because no one understood the language. It was  sort of Persian DALLAS. Lots of intrigue, murder and romance/sex.  Hot stuff for the 60's.

[bestfriendsgirl]

Oh yes, Night Gallery was  a great one for spooky.  There were not that episodes as I recall and we were not allowed to watch it a the school I was at.

My mom wouldn't let me watch this, and most of the kids in my class were allowed to ... I've probably been a little too lenient with my own kids because of this kind of stuff.

[Robert_Hall]

What is the point of censoring kids now anyway ? They can watch whatever they want by so many means. Especially if you tell them they can't.

[Alixz]

I hardly censored Nicholas at all.  Even when Eminem was at his profane best, I still believed that "forbidden fruit" only causes more want.

So Nicholas was never told that he couldn't try beer or wine or watch TV shows with horror or Sci fi.  He has turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, and he is into body building - no smoking or drugs or alcohol - his body is a temple.

He writes sci fi and fantasy and makes it into video games and video game movies.

He is graduating with his ITech certificate in October and was just hired for his internship in computer hardware.  He plans on working for about three years and then buying a condo.  After that he will continue to work and run his own business out of his basement for a while.

All in all, forbidden fruit ain't what its all cracked up to be.

[Robert_Hall]

Sounds like your Nicolas is on his way, Alixz.
 I put a good young friend through Berkeley for his masters in IM.  I was so proud of him at graduation [I was not the only one supporting him].  Sadly, he is out of work now in his home country.
  But, we all move on, don't we ? He is doing well until something else in his field comes along.
 It is interesting to note what influenced us in our younger days and still influences us today.
 For instance,  I was in Quebec some years ago and witnessed a demonstration for l'indenpendence  por Quecqouis [sp]. I was intrigued. To this day, that intrigues me. Recently watched a docu. on the subject and thought, "I was there "!
  Another timely TV show might be  the sitcoms of the  50-60s.  Not just Lucy but all the  fake family stuff. How  did that screw up a whole generation ?  Father did not know best, niether did Donna rRed, etc.

[TimM]

Looks like I'm around your ages too, I'm 44.

It was a Night Gallery episode and from what I can tell, one of the original three paintings in the first installment.
 

November 8, 1969


THE ESCAPE ROUTE   A Nazi war criminal finds refuge from his pursuers - and a fitting justice for his crimes - by wishing himself into a painting. Cast: Richard Kiley, Sam Jaffe.

   


I've seen that too.  That was the third segment.  The first involved Roddy McDowell being haunted by a painting. The second had Joan Crawford as a blind woman who would give anything to see again.  The Joan Crawford segment was the directorial debut of Steven Spielburg, who was in his early 20's at the time.

I always think about how good the writers were back in the 1930s -1960s. Those writers had, of course, a lot more to sci fi about than we do now because of scientific advancements.

That is true.  One of my favourite Ray Bradbury stories is called The Long Rain.  It was written around 1950, and was set on Venus, which was depicted as a planet where it rained all the time.  There were jungles and such.

When this story was adapted for the Ray Bradbury Theatre TV show in the early 1990's, we knew that Venus was nothing like that, so the setting was moved to another planet in another solar system.

[Robert_Hall]

Sorry Tim. I have a few years on you. But, I do not remember the Ray Bradbury series. Shalll look for it on YouTube.
 Currently, casually, I am doing some research about Ottoman  court intrigue.  [see previous post aboy the Qajars].  I have no control over what goes into the script but just come up with names and dates. Descriptions of the palaces, etc. The writers work from that.
 No idea how this will turn out, if it ever does, but I have seen the process.  The writers make the story.
 Now, it seems, flash sells.

[TimM]

But, I do not remember the Ray Bradbury series. Shalll look for it on YouTube

It was hosted by Mr. Bradbury himself.  He's one of the last, if not THE last, surviving author from the Golden Age of Science Fiction (the 1930's to the 1950's).