Gilligan’s Island, if done today
An evening pause: As expected, this silly 1960s comedy has to become a predictable formula horror vehicle, filled with lots of AI and CGI slop. Quite funny, until you think about it for awhile.
Hat tip Wayne DeVette.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
An evening pause: As expected, this silly 1960s comedy has to become a predictable formula horror vehicle, filled with lots of AI and CGI slop. Quite funny, until you think about it for awhile.
Hat tip Wayne DeVette.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Mary Ann, and it’s not even close.
John: agreed. Although Mrs. Thurston Howell the Third doesn’t look too bad, here.
Pretty much any formula TV series, where the end of the episode must reset everything, can be read as horror if you think about it a little.
Imagine if the characters actually remembered the events from episode to episode.
“We’ve made 97 attempts to try to get off this island and failed every time.”
On the other hand none of the characters got seriously injured (again, they’re fine by the end of the episode), so there’s that.
Dawn Wells remarks on “The Question”
Archive of American Television (October, 2013)
https://youtu.be/ZQywkCcibpg
(1:32)
Oh lordy… please do not give Hollywierd any ideas.
We will be subject to yet another reboot of an IP that is not needed.
sippin_bourbon;
“Friends” as a ’70’s Grindhouse Horror Film
AI Film Forge (March 2025)
https://youtu.be/QrvUCQ5mkt4
(1:52)
John,
Yep. They’re both among the great beauties of the age, but Ginger is just too high-maintenance.
Blair Ivey,
Yeah, “Lovey” has definitely had some work done. She looks more than a bit like 1960s-era Leslie Parrish. Yummy!
Another comparable departure from the appearance of the original cast member – but in the opposite direction – is the Skipper. Alan Hale Jr. has been swapped out for Stephen Lang.
sippin_bourbon,
It’s probably inevitable. Hollywood has been officially out of new ideas for at least a couple of decades now. The only things we haven’t seen before, like Game of Thrones or Project Hail Mary, come from original source material that originated outside of Hollywood entirely.
No one should panic, yet– this is a YouTube video; it’s not the sizzle reel for a new project. Hollywood has been redoing the same 7 Stories for like’, 100 years.
[Sherwood Schwartz characterized all his series’ as “fish out of water stories.”]
Dick–
Yeah– Ginger definitely came across as high-maintenance. I doubt I could afford her, or the therapy sessions she would inevitably require.
Mr. Z.,
You ever write any movie scripts that could be classified as “grindhouse?”
[“characterized by their low budgets, sensational content, and often controversial themes. They were typically shown in “grindhouse” theaters, which specialized in double features of exploitation films.”]
Grindhouse- “Death Proof” (Trailer)
Quentin Tarantino (2007)
https://youtu.be/QABR2sE0jXc
(1:28)
Typical white male Patriarchal sexist objectification of the female, and of course the people of color are villainized.
When will you all see exactly what you are?!
(Italian on Friday with Ginger. And Sushi with Maryann on Sunday. And you can use your filthy Patriarchal white male minds as to what happens after dinner. You all disgust me! Then peace and no drama for the rest of the week and repeat until you go broke and hope your memory stays intact until you draw your last breath. :)
Wayne asked, “You ever write any movie scripts that could be classified as ‘grindhouse?'”
My movie career was sadly confined almost completely within the bad horror film world of the 1980s, which is simply a variation of “grindhouse.” And yes, I wrote a few bad scripts in that context. The rule the producers would give me is that someone must die horribly every ten minutes or so, preferably after sex.
I think my readers will understand thus why I switched careers and began writing histories about the human exploration of space.
Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 – December 6, 1985)
“Best known as a professional Magician, ghost-writer for his friend Harry Houdini, and creator of the (Street & Smith Publications) pulp-fiction character, “The Shadow.” A compulsive writer, Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote 282 of the original 325 ‘The Shadow’ novels/novellas during the 1930s/1940s, each twice-monthly story averaging 75,000 words. At his peak, he is said to have authored over 1.5 million words in a year utilizing multiple Dictaphones and a small staff of stenographers and was one of the highest paid pulp-fiction authors in the world.”
I hate to say it, but this looks far more entertaining than 90% of the movie trailers I’ve seen over the past few years.
As punishment for all the abuse he visited upon Gilligan (who went on to direct Taken Good), Skipper woke up in the Backrooms/Poolrooms.
The Professor works at SpaceY
Ginger is under a viaduct
Mary Ann ascended as a new Q
TH III sadly passed away from the shock that his wife turned out to be a Yale man
Next time on Sora Theatre…a double feature
The Three Stooges vs The Marx Brothers
Then, watch how Bruce Lee sobs like Joe Besser when he can’t endure the Moe Howard triple-slap, and Curly makes Chuck Norris tap-out.
wayne,
The new trailer at least addresses one question about the original series – why wouldn’t a millionaire like Thurston Howell III have long since traded in “Lovey” for a trophy wife?
Not that Natalie Schafer couldn’t have played such a part herself in her prime. This still photo seems to date from her first credit, a short subject entitled ‘The Poor Fish’ on which she was third-billed. She started in the business quite late, at 30, then had no more credits until she was 41, after which she worked regularly until her death at 90. Bit of an odd career arc, perhaps explained by the missing decade being the Depression years. At the time she was playing Lovey, she was at conventional retirement age but kept going for another quarter-century. Late start, but a real trouper.
Didn’t know about Mr. Gibson before. As a prolific author, he ranks right up there with Isaac Asimov and the Stratemeyers.
Shane,
Sadly true. I’m a life-long movie fan, but the pickings have gotten starvation thin the past 20 years or so. I was once an eager watcher of all of the awards shows, but haven’t watched any of them in more than 10 years what with all of the gratuitous woke political crapola. I don’t figure I’m missing much as I generally don’t even recognize the titles of most of the nominated films anymore and have typically seen none of them. We really are in the midst of what I hope proves an ultimately transitory dark age where the arts are concerned – especially film and music.
I believe it was Herman Cohen, an American International Pictures (AIP) executive responsible for most of the teen-horror/sci-fi pictures in the 1950’s, who was fond of creating an enticing Title first, and then producing an entire movie around it.
—–
Shane–the reason the “trailers are always good!” is because making the Trailers for these (actual real) movies was primarily the responsibility of “National Screen Services,” formed in 1919 it monopolized Trailer production by the 1940’s, and produced the majority of all movie advertising Posters, Lobby Cards, Stills, and Pressbooks. They had their own production facilities, distribution, and at their peak were producing 100’s of trailers each month. It was broken up as a monopoly in 1955 and eventually acquired by Technicolor in 2000.
Lawlor v. National Screen Service Corp., 349 U.S. 322 (1955)
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/349/322/
————
Dick–
“Walter Gibson (“Maxwell Grant”) -tasked with creating a new print Title for Street & Smith to publicize their radio program “Detective Story Hour,” he originally wrote 4 of “The Shadow” stories for the new quarterly pulp magazine (300K words total). Within 6 months, it was so popular Street & Smith began issuing it twice monthly. Gibson was originally paid 6 cents per word for the first 4 stories and then placed on salary and provided with a secretary and 3 stenographers. His work required little editing, and he often wrote 3 stories at once.”
(Had him sign one of my Shadow pulps in 1980 at the Detroit Triple Fan Fair when he made one of his last appearances at a fan event. Small guy with glasses, very pleasant, told us all, “Everything you want to know about me, is in those stories.”)
My favorite two years of movies was 1979 and 1982.
Jeff Wright,
Both good years.
1979 had Alien, Apocalypse Now, Moonraker, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, The Warriors, All That Jazz, Rocky II, Breaking Away, Hair, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Great Santini.
1982 had Blade Runner, The Thing, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, First Blood, Conan the Barbarian, Rocky III, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 48 Hrs. and An Officer and a Gentleman.
wayne,
Given what you said about Herman Cohen, the first title that popped into my head was ‘I was a Teenage Werewolf,’ and, sure enough, that was one of Cohen’s.
The second film in Cohen’s list of credits as an associate producer was ‘Kid Monk Baroni’ about an Italian-American gang kid trying to get out of Hell’s Kitchen via the prize ring. The title character was played by, of all people, Leonard Nimoy.
Dick–
Never underestimate a good Title, a great Trailer, and Lobby Posters.
Great Nimoy find!
Related–an un-credited but speaking appearance:
Nimoy’s Early Bit Part In “THEM!” (1954)
https://youtu.be/yefPZQU8Y_M
(1:05)
He was in Zombies of the Stratosphere…a Commando Cody deal. Red rocket with a fin and turret up top IIRC.
Jeff–
You are correct, sir!
Zombies of the Stratosphere
Chapter 1 of 12
https://youtu.be/d2csabQTilo
(20:02)
1982 was just a stonking year at the cinema. I saw several of those in theaters as a wee lad — I didn’t know how good I had it.
That was, alas, a lot of the reason why THE THING and BLADE RUNNER bombed — a lot of competition for the same audience (young 15-35 year old white males). Fortunately both ended up finding their audience on cable and VHS (and eventually, DVD and Blu-Ray) before too long.
“Three’s Company Meets Cthulhu” -As 1970s Grindhouse Horror
A.I. Film Forge (September 2025)
https://youtu.be/99_ApUyGjk0
(1:56)