TV Series or Show You're Watching

[pogopossum]

Well, in the 50s & 60s "saucer fever" was a thing, wasn't it? Some pulp magazines depended on that for their sales:

And then there were the Shaver stories....

I remember that in the 70s.

I was as a youngster obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle, just before Close Encounters came out - it may have been as a result of the Arthur C Clarke Mysterious World TV series, which was about then as well.

I read a book that went through each case logically explaining what had happened and why they might have been lost. All very logical:

But it is fun - and most definitely not to be taken seriously!

Got a notice of a new post on this thread and glanced back at this oldie.
Even as a long time reader Iwas too much of a skeptic for Bermuda Triangle, UFO or other mysterious phenomena stuff.
I was heartily pleased when the above book came out. Even more pleased when I learned that it was written by a reference librarian who basically went back and checked the sources of Triangle stuff and discounted or explained almost all of them. A credit to my profession!!!
The author Kusche went on to be a co-founder of the group that became The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry along with Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, James Randi, Phil Klass and a host of others. I actually joined a some point a couple of decades ago but never followed through with any participation.

 

[Hobbit]

I was heartily pleased when the above book came out. Even more pleased when I learned that it was written by a reference librarian who basically went back and checked the sources of Triangle stuff and discounted or explained almost all of them. A credit to my profession!!!

I was young and was perhaps more interested in why people thought such a thing possible than actually a believer, I think. Though the idea of something 'unknown' was quite intriguing at that age. Didn't realise he was a librarian, though: kudos!

I also liked the idea that there was a solution through science & research, I guess.

 

[ArthurFrayn]

My last big TV thing was a binge on the whole run of Mr Robot, which I highly recommend, even though it's prescient about current events in a creepy way...

 

[Hobbit]

My last big TV thing was a binge on the whole run of Mr Robot, which I highly recommend

I got through the first Season, but couldn't get further. It was well acted and all, but I just lost interest... but I'm told it picks up again later?

 

[ArthurFrayn]

I got through the first Season, but couldn't get further. It was well acted and all, but I just lost interest... but I'm told it picks up again later?

It goes way past the first season in terms of an involved plot. A real Lynch vibe to a lot of it. By me, it's well worth the trouble. Keep in mind at the end of the first season, I was compelled to go further. So if your reaction was the opposite...maybe not so much...

 

[Trollheart]

@Hobbit re VQ: Crap. I'm not in the least surprised though. It was cool, sexy, hip, funny, irreverent, had action, pathos, a great story --- of course it was going to be cancelled. Watch Love Island CCXXI you ingrates!

 

[Hobbit]

Sorry to be the bearer of the news, TH. There's no accounting for taste, is there?

 

[Trollheart]

There isn't. God damn them. Well I have the comics now so I guess that's something. That series could have been so... ah, what's the point? Time to head to my "cut down in their prime" thread where I can really rant...

 

[blailock]

I got through the first Season, but couldn't get further. It was well acted and all, but I just lost interest... but I'm told it picks up again later?

I was the same on Mr. Robot. Perhaps if I had been binge watching it, I would feel differently. When season 2 came out, I just had no interest in continuing. I am open to giving it a shot at some point though.

 

[Trollheart]

Yeah, the guy's monotone droning voice just turned me off. I get that he's acting the part, but man was it boring. Pass. Also too technical; didn't understand what the hell was going on, and more importantly, didn't care. Didn't he do something really crazy involving jails without thinking it through? Not wishing to put in spoilers so won't get specific, but anyone who's seen it will know what I mean.

 

[AMatlin]

Back to Project Blue Book. Nicely done for the period sets and clothes, but I thought, "Why bother?" The flying saucer began in the United States in 1947 due to a newspaper reporter. There is much good evidence from the military and other trained personnel but that got neatly swept under the rug in January 1969 with the paperback release of the Condon Report, at over 1,000 pages. There is something to it.

Otherwise, virtually nothing to watch.

 

[Trollheart]

There's Aidan Gillen. Always worth watching him.

 

[AtramentousFlux]

1963 original version, that is. S01E01 The Galaxy Being. In glorious monochrome Blu-ray x265.

I haven't seen this series since as a child in the 1960s and now that it's available in Blu-ray quality, thought it was time to re-watch.

A rather severe technical problem with Einstein's second postulate (and some other major issues as well) aside, I quite enjoyed the first episode. A little bit of The Day the Earth Stood Still feel at the end.

 

[AMatlin]

The Outer Limits was my favorite SF show. The mood, the atmosphere, and the music. Like really good writing, it crossed the boundary between reality and being somewhere else. Like a movie that stops being a movie and that becomes real for a time. When Star Wars first came out, I watched it again that night as it replayed, never leaving my seat. I would love to see a TV show with that level of awe.

Rewatching has shown that the storytelling and cinematography still hold up for the most part.

 

[Hobbit]

I finished re-watching the Second Season a couple of month's ago- just before lockdown. It became my late-night Saturday night treat - one a week (occasionally two!), in order, until I finished both seasons.

There are places where I thought it was better than The Twilight Zone - and certainly better than the hour long season of the TZ. There were some episodes of The Outer Limits that felt a little too long, a little slow, or where they became "Monster of the Week", but there are some gems in there.

I was surprised how good the DVD copies were: I'd love to see them on Bluray. I thought the difference between the DVD and the Bluray versions of the Twilight Zone was very good, so if these are up to the same standard...

 

[AMatlin]

I never liked the Twilight Zone much. There were only a few episodes that I thought were good.

 

[Trollheart]

When it was good it was very, very good, but unfortunately a lot of it was really terrible. Anyone remember One For the Angels, or have you all blocked it from your memories? Wouldn't blame you.

 

[blailock]

I will be watching The Outer Limits soon. I remember watching a few random episodes as a kid, but it never seemed to be on regularly. Thanks for the recs, guys.

 

[Hobbit]

Really hope you like them, blailock!

I remember watching a few random episodes as a kid, but it never seemed to be on regularly.

Here (and I don't know which part of the world you're in, so apologies if you know this already) I believe some were shown in the UK in the 1960s-70s, but I was too young to remember them. I originally caught it on TV in the 1980's, late night Saturday on BBC2. (We had three or four national channels at that point.) It wasn't all of them, but a select few.

But at least they were shown. The Twilight Zone was never shown on UK TV until a couple of years later (again, a select few). So I saw The Outer Limits before The Twilight Zone.

 

[Hobbit]

And talking of The Outer Limits, this just appeared: https://io9.gizmodo.com/surrender-control-and-watch-these-10-essential-classic-1844133995

Would also recommend this book to go with your watch, but I don't know how easy it is to get. Had a copy for a few years, now. It's an updated version of an older book, which I still have somewhere as well: