The gang’s all here! Dr. Paul Armstrong and his wife Betty! Kro-Bar and Lattis! Dr. Roger Fleming! Ranger Brad and the Farmer! The lovely Animala! The Mutant and, of course, that nefarious post-cadaver creation, THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA!
The alluring Animala explains the problem with my name.
Thank you, Animala!
Laurel Goodwin has passed away. A couple of years after appearing in Girls! Girls! Girls! with Elvis, Laurel was Yeoman Colt in “The Cage”, the first Star Trek pilot. I saw it as part of “The Menagerie” when it first aired.
Laurel’s character was the subject of a memorably embarrassing revelation made by a telepathic alien. I was just old enough to have an inkling of what was implied by, “The factors in her favor are youth and strength, plus… unusually strong female drives.”
Laurel was one of quite a few crossovers between Elvis and Trek.
It’s both fun and frustrating, tracking old films and TV shows — the ones that are still covered by copyright — from one outlet to another. I was in the middle of watching every episode of the original The Outer Limits from 1963-64, in order and commercial-free, on Amazon Prime. Before I could get to the second (abbreviated) season, the series was no longer included with Prime subscriptions.
I didn’t know where it could be found for free viewing until replacing Fire TV with Roku, and there it was, with commercials, on the Roku Channel. I intentionally skipped one of the second season episodes, saving it for last. Then, with only the final episode remaining to be seen before returning to the skipped episode, The Outer Limits disappeared. But where? I don’t know.
Eight of the very best episodes are in a LaserDisc box set I own. The episode I skipped is, by far, the most familiar and renowned. “Demon With a Glass Hand,” written by Harlan Ellison. This picture was taken when resorting to Plan B, and watching it on LaserDisc.
Having not watched “Demon with a Glass Hand” in a long time, I was able to see something new in it. In a moment of, “it’s so obvious!” I realized it is a perfect template for a video game.
The action starts at street level, with Trent capturing and interrogating an alien invader. He learns how they are arriving on Earth, and how to kill them, which requires hand-to-hand combat. He has the goal of destroying the alien’s method of entry and, along the way, he must find the fingers that are memory modules for the computerized glass hand that is mysteriously grafted onto his arm. There is a terrible secret that can’t be revealed until the hand is complete. From there Trent enters the famous Bradbury Building. He must defeat the aliens he encounters at each level, with new aliens continuing to arrive as he climbs upstairs, floor by floor. He meets the only other human in the building, a girl who is told by the hand how to help Trent.
My resident video game expert informs me that Ellison was involved with a game version of his story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” Being so perfectly suited for adaptation as a video game, I don’t know why “Demon With a Glass Hand” wasn’t given the same consideration.
If you have never seen “Demon With a Glass Hand” here is a copy on Daily Motion with a link to — WTF?? — InfoWars! I have no frickin’ idea why the demonically possessed Alex Jones has been associated with this video.
Another complete copy I found, on Vimeo, requires getting permission to embed it, which I’m not going to request. If you would prefer that copy, here’s the link: https://vimeo.com/637062245
If not for a little virus goin’ ’round, I would have returned by now to Ticonderoga, NY, to visit the Star Trek Original Series Set Tour. William Shatner has been a guest there quite a few times, and he loves the place.
Working from original blueprints, the attention to detail in recreating the sets is uncanny. I’ve added labels to this photo of a model showing the layout exactly as it was created for the original series. I think the only thing I missed is the ladder in the middle of the corridor.
Everything aboard the USS Enterprise happens somewhere in those areas. Seeing the sets exactly as the actors did is an experience that brings a new appreciation for the series.
Here’s a picture of the corridor. There’s the ladder.
It was a Charlie Brown Christmas with a sci-fi twist last month. Vincent’s guest on the “Creature Features” YouTube channel was Benjamin Clark, curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum.
Happy New Year, and wowee! Looking good, so far, getting the JWST deployed.
Shine bright like a diamond ?
With the successful deployment of our right sunshield mid-boom, or “arm,” Webb’s sunshield has now taken on its diamond shape in space. Next up: tensioning the 5 sunshield layers! https://t.co/6G2caS1djY #UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/q0iuHdnKlN
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) January 1, 2022
