![]() ![]() Then again, Gilligan’s Island has been defying the odds (and especially the critics) since its 1964 debut. But to take that same concept and give it not only a comic but a silly twist did not seem to be something that would connect with the audience on an ongoing basis. And that version of the idea has been done over the history of Classic TV. Seven people on a three-hour boat tour ending up shipwrecked on a deserted island and having to learn to survive sounds like the premise of a drama. Each of them thought they were perfectly normal as well, all the problems they encountered coming from society. The Munsters (which had fun with its horror movie history) consisted of Frankenstein monster Herman, vampiress wife Lily Lily’s vampire dad, known as Grandpa (who we were led to believe is actually Dracula) Herman and Lily’s son, Eddie “Wolfgang” Munster, who’s a werewolf and their beautiful, perfectly normal-looking niece Marilyn, who is considered the freak of the family. Although that version didn’t stick, it nonetheless inspired this revised version by writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. Coon (a guiding force on the original Star Trek) and Lester Colodny came up with a script that was a true satire of typical sitcoms, modeled after The Donna Reed Show. By the early 1960s, those films were no longer in production, and the head of the studio, Lew Wasserman, was wondering if there was a way to exploit them on television. The Munsters was actually born out of Universal Pictures classic monster films that terrorized audiences of the 1930s and 40s with characters like Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Frankenstein’s Monster (Boris Karloff) and the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.). Ratings began to drop and never recovered, though, again, the show did last over 500 episodes. But the biggest star was the one that began with the show: Mia Farrow.įor the first two years, the show was a phenomenal success, but in 1966 Mia wanted out and then husband Frank Sinatra applied some pressure and she was released from her contract. Its cast over the years includes Ryan O’Neal, Constance MacKenzie, Lee Grant and Leigh Taylor-Young. The show’s setting is the small New England town of Peyton Place, whose peaceful exterior masks what’s really going on behind the scenes, including extramarital affairs, shady business deals, scandals and murder. Running from 1964 to 1969, it aired, initially, twice a week, reached as many as three times a week, and dropped back down to twice, amassing a total of 514 episodes. It began with the 1956 novel Peyton Place by author Grace Metalious and was followed a year later with a film version, but this was television’s first prime time series and it was a massive success. The final episode of the original series, in which Kimble finds the one-armed man, remains one of the highest rated shows in television history. Then, of course, there was the 1993 film starring Harrison Ford and the 2000 TV reboot with Tim Daly as Kimble. It’s a premise that has certain similarities to Les Miserables, but it also inspired a number of shows that took a similar concept of a man on the run, notably The Immortal and the Bill Bixby series The Incredible Hulk. Freed him to run before the relentless pursuit of the police lieutenant obsessed with his capture.” Kimble, as played by David Janssen, was forced to move from town to town in search of justice, where he would get involved in the lives of the people he encountered. Freed him to search for a one-armed man he saw leave the scene of the crime. Freed him to hide in lonely desperation, to change his identity, to toil at many jobs. Falsely convicted for the murder of his wife, reprieved by fate when a train wreck freed him en route to the death house. ![]() Richard Kimble, an innocent victim of blind justice. The best way to sum up the premise of The Fugitive, comes from the show’s opening narration: “Dr. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |