Merch Spotlight: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet diorama (Bif Bang Pow!)

I received Bif Bang Pow!’s Nightmare at 20,000 Feet diorama as a birthday gift from my good buddy Bill Huelbig about six months ago. I took pictures of it for my intended spotlight… which never quite happened. I have no excuse for this item slipping through the proverbial cracks, other than the fact that writing two blogs for eight months straight has been a bit overwhelming. I’ll attempt to rectify this oversight now.

When the first “Classic Moments” diorama (a San Diego Comic Con exclusive based on “The Invaders”) was announced, one of my initial reservations concerned the size: the promotional pictures made it seem big enough to be a big unwieldy for my purposes (never mind that the damned dimensions were readily available: 6.5” deep x 5.0” wide x 3.5” tall). I also wasn’t a fan of the sculpt (I think eliminating the Agnes Moorehead character entirely and just featuring the Invader and his flying saucer would’ve been way better). Another reservation was the price: $24.99 plus shipping, which seemed somehow unreasonable (however, I had no context to justify this conclusion).  Further, I had grown a bit disenchanted with BBP’s offerings in general, especially since their action figure line had essentially screeched to a halt (see here for the sad tale). When the second diorama (based on “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”) was announced, I found myself quite underwhelmed, and decided at that point to avoid the dioramas completely.

I did experience a bit of regret when the third diorama was announced (from “Eye of the Beholder”), which looked really impressive. But by then the “Invaders” diorama had sold out, and finances prohibited me from paying aftermarket prices (also, the completist in me couldn’t bear to buy some but not all of them), so I stuck to my guns and didn’t bite.

And then--- good ol’ Bill sent me the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” diorama for my birthday, and all bets were abruptly off.

First off, the box is approximately the same size as those that house BBP’s TZ bobble heads, but the actual item itself is much smaller (6.5” wide x 4.5” long x 2.5” tall; again, having never bothered to check the specs, I was expecting it to be quite a bit bigger). I found the compactness quite appealing, and my original (unfounded) unwieldiness argument was immediately shattered. Plus---- well, the damned thing ended up being quite cool in general, so my original underwhelmed reaction was supplanted as well.

Have a look, kids.

If I have a complaint, it’s the fact that the Gremlin is painted the same gray as the plane, which makes him (it?) really hard to see. Just a few brushstrokes of a darker gray would’ve made a big difference (I’m certainly not expecting much detail at this scale). Otherwise---- a really solid piece. After my initial blasé reaction, I’m quite happy to wholeheartedly recommend it. Thanks Bill!

If you want your own (and why wouldn't you?), it's still available from Entertainment Earth. $18.99 plus shipping and it's yours.

So now the inevitable question arises: what about those other two dioramas?  The “Eye of the Beholder” diorama (which is still available for $29.99 plus shipping; I'm not sure why the price point is so much higher) is definitely something I want to pick up at some point. It appears that perhaps the line will stop at three (it’s been over a year, and a fourth diorama still hasn’t been announced), so I suppose I can swallow the aftermarket price of the “Invaders” diorama (I’ve still got some issues with the sculpting but, given the diminutive scale, it may be much less problematic) for completion’s sake.

TZ Promo: “To Serve Man” (3/02/1962)

Season 3, Episode 24 (#89 overall)
Cayuga Production # 4807

“This is the way nightmares begin… or perhaps end: very simple, direct, unadorned. Incredible, and yet so terribly real that even while they are happening, we live them, digest them, and assimilate them.”

That’s Michael Chambers, who we meet lounging uncomfortably in a small compartment in a spacecraft. Chambers is addressing us in voice-over, one of the only times in the series’ five-year run in which a character provides narration (off the top of my head, this device was also used in season two’s “King Nine Will Not Return” and season five’s “The Long Morrow;” there might be a couple others). But it gets better: at the end of the episode, Chambers will break the fourth wall and actually look directly at us while he speaks. Cool!


“To Serve Man” is one of The Twilight Zone’s best-remembered (and most notorious) episodes, and it’s really pretty impossible to discuss it without spoiling the surprise. I’ll try, but I make no promises. Written by Rod Serling (adapted from a short story by Damon Knight; Serling adapted many stories in the show’s third season; a sign of his growing fatigue as the show’s primary contributor of scripts) and directed by Richard L. Bare, “To Serve Man” tells the tale (in flashback) of earth’s first close encounter with an alien species, and it’s a doozy.


The Kanamits arrive en masse and do NOT attack. Rather, they guide the nations of the earth to near-immediate world peace. Almost overnight, hunger, famine and war are rendered obsolete. Diseases are cured, military forces are disbanded, and an apparent new millennium dawns. The Kanamits proceed to institute an exchange program, in which thousands of earthlings make the long space voyage to their home world for a visit.


Spoiler alert: they ain’t coming back.

The side story involves a team of government code crackers, led by Chambers (well played by Lloyd Bochner, with that wonderful voice of his), who are charged with decoding the alien’s language. Their only help in this endeavor is a book, left behind by the Kanamit who addresses the United Nations upon arriving. Halfway through the episode, they decipher the book’s title: To Serve Man. It appears that the Kanamits are just as altruistic as they appear.


You know the punchline. I don’t need to say it.

The various Kanamits seen in the episode are played by Richard Kiel (all 7+ feet of him!), who is probably best known as the villainous Jaws from the James Bond film series. My pal Bill Huelbig scored me an autographed picture of Kiel a few months ago; it’s worth sharing again:


Oh, and for the second week in a row, the series graces us with a TZ babe. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Susan Cummings!


I have one gripe about “To Serve Man,” and it’s admittedly pretty minor. The Kanamits do not speak with their mouths, since they communicate telepathically, which means that their dialogue was recorded separately and added in post-production. Joseph Ruskin, whom we saw in season two’s “The Man in the Bottle,” provided the voices, but he isn’t the problem. The issue is a technical one; specifically, the quality of the recorded dialogue is downright terrible, muffled and hard to comprehend (oddly, Bochner’s voiceover narration sounds crystal clear). Perhaps this was an intentional effect designed to make the Kanamit voices sound strange, but the execution just plain sucks. It sticks out like a sore thumb, especially within the otherwise-clean remastered audio found on the blu-ray set.


“To Serve Man” makes effective use of Jerry Goldsmith’s scores from previous TZ offerings “The Invaders” and “Back There.” This may be the only time in the show’s five-year run that a stock-scored episode pulled all its music from a single composer’s work. Both Goldsmith scores have been released multiple times on both vinyl and CD, but unfortunately every single release is now out of print. But fear not! The scores can be found on Image Entertainment’s season two Definitive DVD set (and it’s more recent blu-ray counterpart). Oh, and the specific cues used in “To Serve Man” are of course available on the season three set(s).



Forbidden Planet alert! While the flying saucer shots are culled from the Ray Harryhausen classic Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, the life-sized underside of the ship and retracting stairway ramp is a leftover chunk of the United Planets C-57D Space Cruiser. We’ve seen this set piece before (in season one’s “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street”) and we’ll see it again (in season four’s “Death Ship”). Man, Forbidden Planet is the gift that just keeps on giving.


The Kanamit, one of my favorite aliens from the entire series, has been well-represented from a merchandise standpoint. Sideshow Collectibles released an amazing 14" deluxe action figure around ten years ago (I have it, but I've never opened it... I was planning on unveiling it for my planned "Kanamit Week," which fell through. My Kanamit is in storage someplace... one of these days I'll dig it out and spotlight it). More recently, Bif Bang Pow! has released (or is about to release) five distinct Kanamit-related items: Kanamit bobblehead (black and white or limited edition color variant), Kanamit action figure, Kanamit lunchbox, and a Kanamit cookbook journal. There's also a "To Serve Man" apron (available here) that I'd love to get my hands on one of these days.



What can I say? “To Serve Man” is an absolute classic, brilliantly executed and frankly unforgettable. It’s attained pop culture immortality and, as such, has been endlessly parodied in film and TV (most notably on The Simpsons, which has spoofed many TZ episodes over the years). It’s the “Eye of the Beholder” of season three, no question, and it lives quite comfortably in my top ten favorites list.

Next week, “The Fugitive” introduces to a kind alien, beloved by children, on the run from ominous men in black. Steven Spielberg totally ripped it off when he made E.T., but the original is better. Tune in.

The Big 4-2.

As far as I can tell, there are no new Twilight Zone greeting cards floating around. The usual suspects, Hallmark and American Greetings, haven't released anything this year. As my 42nd birthday reared its ugly head this past Sunday... well, leave it to my old pal Bill Huelbig to fill the gap.

Front

Inside

Back

My wife, um, didn't make me a special Twilight Zone cake this year (as she's done for the past two years). In fact, there was no TZ to be found anywhere as I hit the big 4-2. Thank you, Bill, for injecting some much-needed Twilight Zone (not to mention humor) into the proceedings. As always, I love ya.

Bill, That's a REAL Good Thing You Did... (2011 Edition)

My good friend Bill Huelbig celebrated his 57th birthday three days ago. I, um, completely spaced it this year. Yeah, I'm a pretty lame friend. To make matters worse, Bill sent ME an early birthday gift.

An attached note reads: "Happy (early) Birthday! This will inspire you when making next year's costume." Trust me, Bill.... it definitely has.

Richard Kiel, who played the various Kanamits in "To Serve Man," is probably best known as the metal-toothed villain Jaws from the James Bond films. More recently, he appeared in Happy Gilmore as Adam Sandler's ex-boss (and nemesis of golf pro Shooter McGavin). Bill met Kiel last month at the Chiller Theater Toy, Model & Film Expo. Hilarity ensued:

As reported earlier, Bill acquired Kevin McCarthy's autograph for me several years back. Bill's generosity has reared its beautiful head multiple times throughout our friendship, and I doubt I'll ever be able to repay him for all the cool things he's sent my way. But more importantly, he's a kind soul, a genuine sweetheart, and a real mensch.

Bill and I met through the Talking Herrmann forum at the Bernard Herrmann Web Pages (now known as the Society for the Appreciation of the Music of Bernard Herrmann). My Herrmann obsession was in its early stages, but Bill was a fan from way back. He sent me several compilation tapes of Herrmann's work, both well-known and esoteric, and focused my interest into a lifelong passion.

Bill, who lives across the county in New Jersey, came to Oregon for a visit.... in 2000, I think it was. I took him to Powell's Books, where he bought me a copy of Stephen C. Smith's excellent biography of Herrmann (A Heart at Fire's Center). That's the only time I've ever seen him in person, and it kills me to report that we didn't get a single picture together. He was in Seattle a few weeks back, a mere 185 miles away, and I wasn't able to meet up with him due to family commitments. I'm hoping to make it back east sometime in the next couple of years. Mark my words, when it finally happens, I WILL get a picture of the two of us.

Happy late birthday, Bill. I love you, my friend.

Oh, the shame.

I screwed up. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, isn't it?

As my good friend (and reader of this blog) Bill Huelbig pointed out to me the other day, I incorrectly reported that Bill Mumy appeared in a total of two Twilight Zone episodes. It seems I'd completely forgotten about his appearance in season five's "In Praise of Pip." Given that this is one of my top 10 favorite episodes of all time, I'm feeling pretty sheepish.

So... I stand corrected. And humbled. The offending blog entry has been fixed.

Bill got Mr. Mumy's autograph a few years back:

Y'now, I would've kept my original pre-Definitive Edition TZ DVDs if mine had cool autographs on 'em...

Special Report: There Is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set....

I love The Twilight Zone. If this blog is proof of nothing else, let it stand as a digital testament to my undying love for the series. However, my lifelong relationship with TZ is by no means monogamous. I’ve been known to step out, as it were. It’s what you might call an open relationship. In other words, I love other shows too. However, no matter how far I stray, in the end I always come home to the old girl.

Today, I’d like to turn the spotlight away from my immortal beloved for a change and focus on one of my televisual mistresses. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… The Outer Limits.


The Outer Limits was an hour-long anthology series that aired on ABC for a scant season-and-a-half (1963-1965). While The Twilight Zone typically presented morality plays wrapped in science fiction or fantasy stylings, TOL concerned itself with straight science fiction wrapped in monster movie and/or gothic horror stylings. Both series deviated from their respective formulas numerous times, of course, but while TZ kept a fairly cool, urbane head most of the time, TOL took some pretty deep swerves into absolute batshit oblivion. Episodes like “Don’t Open Till Doomsday” and “The Guests,” drenched in psychosexual angst and disturbing alien imagery, were probably the weirdest things to hit the airwaves up to that point in time. “ZZZZZ,” about a queen bee who takes human form and becomes entangled in an entomologist’s family affairs, is one of the most overtly sexual things I’ve ever seen on television, and not just because of Joanna Frank’s astounding, uh, attributes.


There are a few Outer Limits offerings that I’d rank among the finest things EVER presented on television: “The Architects of Fear,” “The Man Who Was Never Born,” “Corpus Earthling,” “Demon With a Glass Hand” and “The Inheritors” are absolutely brilliant (three of those star Robert Culp, a favorite actor of mine who passed away recently). There are many others beyond those that range from good to really great. Episode-for-episode, I’d say The Outer Limits achieved a much higher quality-to-crap ratio than even my beloved Twilight Zone. Of its 49 episodes, there are probably only 1 or 2 TOL episodes (at most) that I absolutely hate. By contrast, TZ has at least a dozen dismal failures in its 156-episode run. Do the math.


I first discovered The Outer Limits in 1984 through my old friend, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine. They ran a multiple-issue overview of the series, complete with an episode guide, written by David J. Schow. He later expanded his work and published it in book form as The Outer Limits: The Official Companion, which is an absolute must-have for fans of the show. The book has been offered in two distinct editions, and both are way out print (I still have the original, and my friend Bill Huelbig has the second, much more valuable edition). Resourceful internet users may manage to track down a PDF version of the second edition (which I did a few months back).


Sometime in 1985 (I think), a local channel (KPDX-49) started airing The Outer Limits five nights a week in syndication. I couldn’t tape them, as the VCR was already busy recording The Twilight Zone every night over on KPTV-12, so I caught as many of them as I could (“The Sixth Finger” was the first episode I ever saw). Starting in 1987, MGM/UA started releasing individual episodes on VHS, so I started buying them as they were released (three episodes at a time). I never did collect the entire series on tape, but I did pretty well…. about half, if memory serves.


The VHS boxes were just plain gorgeous. In fact, the basic design has continued to pop up over the ensuing years… first in the packaging of the (wonderful) Sideshow Collectibles deluxe action figures, then in the DVD sets from MGM (whose enclosed episode guides feature several of the episode-specific artwork created for the VHS releases). I’ve actually considered re-collecting the tapes with the express purpose of acquiring high-quality scans of all 49 boxes. Yeah, they’re that gorgeous (and I’m that obsessive-compulsive).



Anyway, the entire series was also available on VHS through Columbia House, and select episodes were made available on laserdisc too. And then the entire series was released on DVD (in two sets, one for each season), effectively rendering the earlier VHS and laserdisc offerings obsolete. The DVDs have been re-released at least twice in different packaging, but the actual discs are identical to the original release… which is unfortunate, since the discs are DVD-18s (double-sided) and are prone to failing (my copy of season two glitches up on “Behold, Eck!” and “The Premonition”). A blu-ray release would be MOST welcome, but I doubt it’ll happen any time soon.


The Outer Limits will turn 50 in September 2013. I was seriously considering starting a blog similar to this one, in which I’d celebrate each episode on the 50th anniversary of its original broadcast… until I became aware of the following:

We Are Controlling Transmission

It’s not an anniversary project like mine, but it’s a similar concept…. in a compressed time frame. Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri (co-editors of The Scream Factory: The Magazine of Horrors Past, Present and Future) are watching an episode every day and publishing their thoughts in a conversational format. Peppered between the daily episode reviews are spotlights and essays by such luminaries as Gary Gerani (author of Fantastic Television and frequent commentator on The Twilight Zone blu-rays) and David J. Schow, author of the aforementioned The Outer Limits: The Official Companion (large chunks of which are being published on the blog in the form of scanned pages… right-click-save, baby!). It’s a truly great blog, and reading it every day these past few months has been a real treat. One truly inspired touch --- they’ve embedded Hulu links for all 49 episodes, so you’re one click away from watching every single episode. I imagine the links will eventually expire, but for now they work.*

Unfortunately, I’m plugging WACT right at the end: as I type these words, they’ve finished reviewing the series and have just posted what appear to be their final entries. Fortunately, internet content doesn’t go out of print, so the blog should be around for a long, long time (just like this blog… I hope…).


So anyway, I’m torn. I was really excited about the prospect of doing an Outer Limits blog, but will I really cover any ground not already traversed? By TOL experts, no less?

I dunno. I’ve just become aware that there are multiple other Twilight Zone blogs out there, chronicling the series an episode at a time just like me, so maybe there’s room. The internet is pretty big, after all.



* Side rant: I can watch The Outer Limits for free on Hulu’s website, but the show ISN’T available through Hulu Plus (which I’m a paying member of)? What the hell?

TZ Promo: "The Invaders" (1/27/1961)

“The Invaders”
Season Two, Episode 15 (#51 overall)
Cayuga Production # 173-3646

She’s a quiet, simple woman alone in a shabby cabin in the middle of nowhere. She never utters a word. Perhaps she’s mute. Or perhaps she has no language. We don’t know her name or her backstory. We do know that something has landed on her roof, something from… out there.

50 years ago tonight, one of the most memorable episodes of The Twilight Zone was first broadcast. “The Invaders” stars Agnes Moorehead (probably best remembered as Endora from TV’s Bewitched) as the nameless woman described above (in Richard Matheson’s script, she’s identified only as “The Woman”). This one is something of a polarizing affair… you either love it or you hate it. I have to admit, I’ve historically fallen into the latter category. Time, however, has softened my view of it to a degree, largely because I’ve grown to love --- hell, adore --- the miniature creatures that terrorize Ms. Moorehead.


They look like wind-up toy robots. We’ll discover that they’re something else entirely by the end.

What’s wrong with the episode? The pacing, mostly. This thing drags. Big time. Boiled down to its essentials, the story reads something like this:

Spaceship lands on roof. Woman gradually makes her way up to the roof. Woman gets spooked by tiny occupants of spaceship and flees. Invaders follow her down, shoot lasers at her and slice her with her own knife. Woman finally fights back, kills one of them, chases the other back up to the roof, where she deals a fatal blow with an axe (believe it or not, I didn't spoil the patented TZ twist at the end).

This could have happened in five minutes (in fact, it might have been more effective as a five-minute segment on Serling’s later series Night Gallery. This is the only time you will ever hear me say something like that, as I’m not a fan of that series at all). As it stands, we spend an entire 25 minutes watching this thing unfold as slowly as possible. It’s tedious.


What’s right with this episode? First and foremost, Agnes Moorehead is (well, was) a treasure of both the silver and small screens (she played Orson Welles’ mother in Citizen Kane, along with countless other memorable roles, before settling comfortably into the witches’ garb as urban enchantress Elizabeth Montgomery’s mother on Bewitched; Montgomery, by the way, will appear in season three’s “Two”). Her performance here is often labeled “tour de force,” and it’s absolutely deserved. She’s captivating to watch, essentially miming (and occasionally grunting or screaming) her way through fear, panic, rage, and exhaustion.


Second, the cinematography here is among the series’ best. There’s no electricity in The Woman’s cabin… it’s all lamplight. Shadows abound. It’s deep and dark, and it looks gorgeous (I’m really looking forward to watching it tonight on blu-ray).

Third, Jerry Goldsmith’s original score. It starts off creepy and escalates. “The Invaders” is really more horror than science fiction, and Goldsmith’s music is undeniably scary. You'll find it in the usual places: on vinyl from Varese Sarabande (volume 1), on CD from Silva, and as an isolated music track on both DVD and blu-ray from Image Entertainment.


Fourth, we get yet another nod to Forbidden Planet, this time in the form of the United Planets C-57D Space Cruiser prop (we’ve already seen it in “Third From the Sun” and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” and we’ll see it again in “Death Ship”). I love All Things Forbidden Planet, so I never get tired of these prop re-uses. I'm happy to report that Ms. Moorehead didn’t really destroy the actual prop (a rough version was specially built for this episode).

A closer shot would reveal the spoiler.

I’d love a toy version to put on my TZ shelf, but the only option I’ve found is a model kit from Polar Lights. I’m worthless when it comes to building models, and this thing has 105 individual parts (!), so it's really not an option for me at all. *Sigh* Maybe someday...


Fifth… well, damn it, the Invaders themselves are awesome. The Invader is one of the most recognizable characters in the entire series, and it pulls off the near-impossible feat of being goofy as hell and highly cool at the same time. Sideshow Collectibles released a 1:1 scale action figure several years back which is literally a dead ringer for the real thing (well, you know what I mean). I bought one for my friend Bill Huelbig as a Christmas gift, and he still has it proudly displayed in his New Jersey apartment. I really wish I’d had the foresight to buy one for myself too…. Every time I see one pop on eBay, it usually sells for a couple hundred bucks. Too rich for my blood.

Bill's Invader.

Happily, Bif Bang Pow! has helped fill the gap in my life with two distinct bobbleheads (one black and white, and one color), plus they’ve got a 6” inch action figure coming later this year.


And as I've mentioned in the past (in my notorious "Invaders" thong spotlight), my next tattoo will be The Invader. My love for this little guy borders on the irrational.

So it seems my only gripe against this episode is that it’s a bit boring. I think, after writing this entry, I may actually like it much more than I ever realized. I can’t wait to revisit it again tonight.

Haven’t had your fill of actors in their pre-Bewitched days? Next week, Dick York (the original Darrin Stephens) stars as a mild-mannered bank clerk who accidentally gives himself telepathic powers. It’s better than it sounds. Flip a coin and tune in.