- My Favorite Show of All Time
Hands down it’s KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER which ran on CBS-TV from 1974-1975 before being cancelled and finding a whole new life on what was called CBS Late Night back in the days before all the networks filled late night with second rate comedians and inane talk shows.
I love KOLCHAK, I refrain from watching it because there are only 20 episodes and I know them all by heart. Not only do I love Darren McGavin’s Carl Kolchak but the supporting cast and side characters the best of which can best be described as oddballs. It keeps things very interesting.
The best episodes of THE X-FILES (a series creator Chris Carter came up with because Kolchak was also his favorite) echo the great elements of what made Kolchak work. I’d recommend X-Files Season Five episode BAD BLOOD for an example of how horror and chills came together perfectly.
For Kolchak- of the 20 episodes none are bad, but some are a little weaker than the rest. The best ones off the top of my head;
- THE RIPPER
- THE VAMPIRE
- THE WEREWOLF
- HORROR IN THE HEIGHTS
- SPANISH MOSS MURDERS
- KNIGHTLY MURDERS
- CHOPPER
- The (Not Quite So) Amazing Spider-Man 1977
CBS-TV released THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN as a TV movie back in 1977– it was a combination of being a faithful adaption of the Spider-Man comics and a TV Cop show like STARSKY & HUTCH.
The show featured Peter Parker, a news photographer played by Nicholas Hammond who looked the part but was perhaps 10 years too old for the role. I don’t think Peter was a high school kid in this series and it’s been so long since I’ve seen the Pilot Movie I don’t even remember if Uncle Ben is in it to be killed due to Spider-Man’s casual attitude towards criminals at the time.
The costume is what sold it– it was just close enough to be accurate and just off enough to be interesting. As kids we would make our own Spider-Man masks and learned the art of silk screening to add the webs. The eyes were a challenge, at first we used white t-shirts for the eyes but it made visibility virtually zero– we eventually figured out how to insert mirrored sunglasses into the mask (I bet my Mom was thrilled when she found her empty frames at some point).
It was a fun show that sadly didn’t include any villains and suffered the cliche of many mid 70s cop shows with grizzled Police Officials and cardboard supporting characters, but I tuned in whenever the show was on– and that was the other challenge- the show never had a time slot– it would just suddenly appear in TV Guide so it never found it’s audience.
Lately the series has been getting some respect in terms of merchandizing including a very expensive action figure from Hot Toys in Hong Kong. The series and the pilot film have never had a full release– there were a few VHS tapes back in the day, but to date no DVD or Blu Ray or Streaming appearances. I have the series on a bootleg that I picked up at a comic convention many years ago but if it ever officially got released I would certainly plunk down my hard earned sheckles for it.
- When Darth Vader Enjoyed His Cup of Joe
These kids today can’t imagine growing up without STAR WARS– that first movie was such a phenomenal success we gobbled everything up. This page from the Marvel Comics Adaption by then young artist Howard Chaykin has one of my favorite goofs on it– Darth Vader apparently using the force to summon a hot cup of Joe into his mitts.
I’d love to see how he drank this.
Chaykin said they had very little to go on when he was working on the book, the movie hadn’t come out yet and a lot of the action was based on stills taken on the set. Nobody expected it to be the blockbuster that it was.
- Wait, What?
I recently read an article that some people are upset by legislation that would restrict welfare access to non-citizens. Wait.
Are you kidding me?
I’ve long thought about moving to Japan, and it may still happen, one of the reasons the country is so well run; they have very strict criteria as to who can relocate there. IF I were to apply to become a permanent resident I have to show that I have enough of an independent income that I will not have to rely on subsidies reserved for Japanese Citizens and I’m 100% okay with that– I would never expect a host nation to help me because I choose to live there.
But here in the USA you can come here as a non-citizen and get a handout paid for by we the people?
If you’re one of these people who wants tax dollars to go to non-citizens step into a quiet place and shake your head real hard.
Hear that sound? Those are rocks in your head and you should really think about getting some help. US Taxpayer dollars should fund US Citizens and if we can eliminate the rampant fraud and waste there will be no single mom, no veteran, no elderly person struggling to make ends meet.
And before you launch into “this country was built on immigrants”– totally true– but by LEGAL immigrants who not only didn’t have their hands out but who often worked harder than many of the established American citizens. You want to come here for a better life– live the American dream? Go for it– work hard and you’ll have it.
Stop letting guilt guide you and try common sense.
- COLUMBIA PICTURES ‘THE BATMAN’ (1943)
In late 1942, Columbia Pictures announced its serial offerings for the 1942–43 season, which would include The Secret Code, The Valley of Vanishing Men, The Fighting General, The Phantom, and The Batman. The Batman serial was promoted as being “by the creators of Superman,” and based on the exploits of the popular Batman magazine cartoon character. Casting was quickly drawn from Columbia’s roster of contract players. Lewis Wilson was cast in his first leading role, with Shirley Patterson as his girlfriend, Linda Page; Douglas Croft as his ward, Dick Grayson; and J. Carrol Naish as Batman’s archvillain, the Joker.
Filming began in early spring 1943, but not without controversy. National Comics (now DC Comics) objected to the portrayal of the Joker as the head of a spy ring. In response, the screenwriters simply altered the role being played by J. Carrol Naish, transforming the character into a Japanese prince named Dr. Tito Daka.
Naish nevertheless chewed up the scenery, and the production retained his secret headquarters in a distinctly Joker-like setting: a carnival sideshow. One can only imagine what the performance might have been had Naish been allowed to play the Joker himself.
Lewis Gilbert Wilson was born on January 28, 1920, in Framingham, Massachusetts, a city located approximately twenty miles west of Boston. He grew up in Littleton, Massachusetts, with his parents, Lucile and John Henry Wilson. His father served as minister of the First Unitarian Church from 1927 to 1945.
Wilson attended the prestigious Worcester Academy, an institution with long-standing generational ties to his family. He graduated from the Worcester, Massachusetts school in 1939, continuing a family legacy that spanned multiple generations.
Wilson’s costume has been called cheap with strong objections to the devil ears, but the cowl is shaped very much like the earliest Batman comics– and it’s important to remember the character had only been around for about four years when the serial began production.
At just twenty-three years old, Wilson remains the youngest actor to portray Batman. He brings an unexpected maturity and humor to the role, giving his Bruce Wayne a faint Don Diego–style languor while infusing his Batman with genuine menace.
Douglas Croft as Robin is the only actor to date to actually be a teenager when he played the Boy Wonder– records aren’t clear but he was between 14-16 years old during filming, and he actually behaves like a kid, often causing some frustration with Batman when he makes a mistake. Still the two leads had a nice chemistry and rather than the more associated adult and boy relationship they come across more like brothers.
The serial debuted on July 20, 1943, and ran for fifteen weeks through October. Backed by an extensive publicity campaign, it played successfully in movie houses throughout its run.
Despite their popularity, serials were not considered “legitimate” filmmaking at the time, The Batman did little to advance Wilson’s career. He continued to appear in small roles at Columbia until 1944, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in the European Theater, including participation in the Battle of the Bulge.
Upon returning to civilian life, film roles proved even harder to secure as established actors returned from wartime service. Wilson ultimately turned back to Broadway, where he found a measure of success and frequently performed alongside his wife, Dana, whom he had married in 1941.
In the 1950s, Wilson turned to television, including a regular role on Craig Kennedy, Criminologist. By this time, however, heavy drinking had taken its toll, and his once-boyish good looks had hardened noticeably.
After Lewis and Dana co-starred in Wild Women (1953)—a zero-budget jungle film that would have embarrassed even Ed Wood—the couple divorced. In 1954, Wilson left acting altogether and accepted a sales position with General Foods.
Lewis and Dana had one son, Michael, who would later go on to produce the James Bond film franchise after his mother married Bond producer Cubby Broccoli.
In 1966, a reporter tracked Wilson down in North Hollywood, where he had begun a new family, and interviewed him about the Batmania craze sweeping the country following the success of the Adam West television series. Asked whether he had considered accepting a guest appearance on the show, the forty-three-year-old Wilson replied that he would have welcomed the opportunity to play a villain, though the producers never approached him.
In retirement, Wilson said he never regretted playing Batman, recalling that he had enjoyed the role and the modest notoriety it brought him. He passed away on August 9, 2000, in San Francisco, at the age of eighty. Lewis Wilson remains a pivotal figure in film history as the first live-action Batman and the first DC Comics character to be adapted for the silver screen.
My obsession with the original Batman serial began in 1974, when I first encountered a publicity still from it mixed in with images from the 1966 film and television series. The contrast intrigued me, and I spent many years trying to track down the serial itself.
In the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland, silent 8mm abridged versions of the serial were offered for sale. I was never able to convince my mother to let me buy a projector, and, in truth, I’m not sure I wanted to take on the laborious work such a project would have required anyway.
Eventually I would find grey market copies in the great comic/video store FABULOUS FICTION on Park Ave in the Woo– and I worked extra shifts at a 14 year old to save up the then pricely sum of $90 per serial– and thus my obsession with movie serials would begin. I’ll post a bit more on Fabulous Fiction in another post.
Over the years I’ve commissioned artists to create a 1/6 scale figure of Lewis Wilson, including a very talented artist from Brazil who did a really nice job. I think I’ve owned three and invariably tired of what I considered flaws and sold them off (to nice profits). Well recently I found an artist right here in the states and he gladly tackled the assignment and he hit an absolute home run.
I’m extremely happy with this one– and I may order some other serial figures from him in the future. He even crafted a detailed raygun that Batman uses in some of the earlier chapters that is quite amazing.
Here’s to Lewis Wilson! IMO the Best live action Batman to date.
Welcome to the new Blog– this whole thing is a work in progress, but you’ll get the latest updates here (just click the links above). It was a longtime coming but a short-time putting it together.
More soon and regularly like the old blog.
Thanks for stopping by.
Andy
It's Andy Fish! 