Category: Sci-Fi

Fright Gallery

As pleased as I am that my Logitech Squeezebox hardware is back in full service, there’s another Logitech product from their most innovative period that’s dead, never to return to service — the Revue. It was Google’s first attempt at Google TV, only to be dropped when Chromecast was introduced. Such is progress. The Revue is seen in this picture from thirteen years ago, when the porch’s Samsung 40″ TV was new.

Also note the Magnavox DVD player. Lacking HDMI, it was connected to the Samsung via component video, having originally been on an S-Video cable going to the old Sony 32XBR100. The Sony is in the basement and it continues to be used, not by me, for classic video games.

The DVD player, made by Funai, was swapped out long ago for a Samsung Blu-ray deck, and put into storage. Funai is in liquidation. Sony and Panasonic are the only major manufacturers continuing to sell Blu-ray players. Such is progress.

The Magnavox was recently pulled out of storage and put back into service for the Samsung 32″ bedroom TV. Being almost fifteen years old, the set has component inputs.

I’m using the DVD player to watch some of Night Gallery before going to bed. Last night I watched one of the most memorable Night Gallery stories, “The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes,” with Clint Howard.

Noteworthy Passings

Twin Peaks pushed the limits of network television beyond anything ever seen before. Co-created by David Lynch, who directed a half-dozen episodes, the series’ premise was shocking and it would never have aired if the subject matter hadn’t been presented in the surreal way that it was.

Jules Feiffer started in Will Eisner’s cartooning studio. His essay “The Great Comic Book Heroes” for Playboy in 1965 was well-timed for the Pop Art era. It was expanded into a popular and groundbreaking book.

Feiffer wrote the screenplay for the Mike Nichols movie Carnal Knowledge. Nichols talked Prue’s bestie friend, Cynthia O’Neal, into accepting a role.

This is… The Night Gallery Impulse Purchase

Rod Serling’s Night Gallery is best remembered today for its pilot episode, featuring Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut.

At the start of 11th grade I got a part-time job washing dishes. Coinciding with that was Night Gallery becoming a regular series. On weekday work nights I usually got home about 10 o’clock and I’d watch Night Gallery when it was on.

With those memories in mind, I went to Amazon to see if Night Gallery is available to buy or stream. Only $15 for the complete series on a 10-disc DVD set? *Click!* Done.