Reviews

Always loved this particular episode with young Kurt Russell and his father Bing in appearance together. But the reason I'm writing is my discovery as to where this episode was shot. Look up 12444 Magnolia Blvd. in Los Angeles and Wilkinson Ave., and you can see the same structures still standing, especially the castle like turrets that is now a post office building. May not be much, but I always find this location trivia really fascinating. As for the rest of the episode, it's interesting to see the "kids" in a Fugitive episode start to look like kids in the 60's wearing longer hair and tight surfer jeans instead of the standard phony look that did not reflect the times. And also the reference to Mail Order Lee Harvey Oswald type rifles didn't escape this viewer.

Well, what really bothered me(And I do mean REALLY bothered me)when I saw this movie the day it opened up at the "Bruin" theater in Westwood, ca. back in '85, was the "Gyro Captain" from the "the road warrior" not knowing who MAX was. I'll never forget that night at the theater, packed house, midnight showing, Friday night, 70mm six-track presentation. Everyone was expecting an "Empire Strikes Back" sequel with "Gyro Captain" from "Road Warrior" getting caught in a situation with Max again. Not unlike "Hans Solo" to "Luke Skywalker." Indeed when the "Gyro Captain" first showed up in the plane, knocking Max off the wagon, in the beginning of the movie. The whole theater audience broke out into cheers and applause. When everybody realized later on, that Max and Gyro had no previous knowledge of who each other was...my heart sank! In fact, I think everybody's heart sank that night. Why would "George Miller" do this? If this was a sequel, why would they not know each other in the "Road Warrior" film? My feeling that night was "George Miller" blew it! He could have had a mega-blockbuster franchise not unlike "Star Wars." I had the strange feeling Mr. Miller wanted to deliberately kill the series. If that was his intention, he succeeded.To this day,I long for the classic Mad Max blockbuster series that will never be. Good going George!

The movie seems to have dramatic arcs that end at 45 minutes. First 45 minutes is about mind reading. The second 45 minutes was about hypnotism. Both almost seemed disconnected from each other. If there is anyone out there who knows about the production or about this T.V. show....Uh.. oops..I mean movie, let me know. I guess I'll have to mention my guess for why this Potential television series did not happen. The scandal of Disney discovering that "Tommy Kirk" was not heterosexual, caused Disney to drop his contract. Since the series was already in the can, they had to do something with it. So to make some money back, they linked two of the four episodes into two feature films. Again if somebody out there has the real answer...write.

Most of the reviews of the DVD of "Mondo Mod" and it's counterpart of the same DVD package "Hippie Revolt", fails to mention the most interesting element of each film. And that is the commentary track on this DVD that is totally synced-up with movie. Johnny Legend and another person with him (sorry I forgot his name) Provides probably the most observant commentary about each film and what they experienced in that period. In fact, it is absolutely a delight to listen to! They were there! They can describe what the real story is behind the film footage. The movies alone with the original soundtrack only rates a 3. But with the commentary track I rate each film an 8! Please everybody if you buy or rent the DVD, don't ignore the commentaries. Highly recommended!

Most of the reviews of the DVD of "Mondo Mod" and it's counterpart of the same DVD package "Hippie Revolt", fails to mention the most interesting element of each film. And that is the commentary track on this DVD that is totally synced-up with movie. Johnny Legend and another person with him (sorry I forgot his name) Provides probably the most insightful and observant commentary about each film and what they experienced in that period. In fact, it is absolutely a delight to listen to! They were there! They can describe what the real story is behind the film footage. The movies alone with the original soundtrack only rates a 3. But with the commentary track I rate each film an 8! Please everybody if you buy or rent the DVD, don't ignore the commentaries. Highly recommended!

This pilot was only shown once on CBS? As a (open to new shows) 12 year old, I found this show quite enjoyable. Not always funny. Some hit and miss jokes. The concept of the aliens (Shirley Jones Et. Al) coming to earth to invade? Or dominate the human race with technically backward technology, was kind of amusing to me. Especially when the aliens showed off their Advanced technology (A cigarette lighter) to the main human in his house they barged into. Shirley Jones, as I recall, looked stunning in her "Wonder Woman" type alien suit.(As a matter of fact, the Carl Ballantine alien insisted, by their Planet's aesthetic reasoning, that the gorgeous Shirley Jones was considered homely! And, as shown later on, the aliens fall head over heels over an overweight, underwhelming looking woman they all woo in a restaurant. Later on, in the last shot of the show, we see them taking her home, in the back of the car, in an open horse trailer, chomping down food!) The only other things I remember, is one of the male aliens stiffening up like a board for hours, if he drank any small amount of alcohol...I could be wrong about what the liquid was. The last shot in the show, was everyone piled in a car,at night, going down the road with a male alien standing up in the back, with his arms angled slightly up, completely stiff also... not to mention our gross fat lady in the trailer. This show should have been picked up. But let's face it. It was not meant to be. The "Partridge Family" was the show that was destined to be. Oh, by the way, CBS , for a brief 6 weeks?, Showed failed pilots. I recall one sitcom called "Operation Entertainment?" or "Operation Backstage"? That took place in WWII , about USO performers. Starring "Tim Conway". But then... that's another story.

Boy, I was really looking forward to this shows debut. Especially after the hype of the auditions. I knew something was wrong when there was huge lips narrating all the time, on the premier episode. Uh oh. Oh no. Please not a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" tribute! What I loved about the original "Monkees" was the fact that they went out into the streets and ran into (sort of) the real world. Why in the world would someone want to put the "New Monkees" in a house that never lets them go outside? The concept was doomed from the beginning. If only they gave them an apartment near the beach and let them try to deal in the real world as a band, trying their best to succeed. Oh.....wait a minute, that would resemble the original "Monkees" concept. We can't have that! Imitating the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" with HUGE lips narrating between 'skits', is a much better idea.....Yaaawwwwn. If only "the New Monkees" had a chance. That same year, "Star Trek: the next generation" premiered. At least they got it right- by mirroring the original concept. Imagine "Captain Picard" and crew stuck in an office building, on some distant planet, plagued by huge lips on all the t.v. monitors! Hmmmm... come to think about it, not a bad idea at that...NOT!.. P.S. I thought the music was fine. And their hairstyles "were" different. Especially the guy with the "pompadour". A hairstyle, strangely enough, in vogue today...go figure?

Heroes, in this writers opinion, is probably the most compelling pilot I've seen this year. Yeah there's "traveler" "Jericho" "Kidnapped"... they were good, but nothing that wasn't predictable. I must give credit to "Tim Kring" the creator of this series much credit for not treating the viewers like idiots. Superhero TV shows always have tendency to be wannabee big-budget Jr. movies. "Heroes" will have none of that! From reading the outline one would an expect "X-men" rip-off. Such is not the case for "Heroes." It is completely original in it's presentation. It would be a crime for me to give away plot details. I just hope the rest of the series continues to be this smart.By the way, it's nice to see "Ali Larter" given a provocative role like the the one she plays in this series, that's demonstrates her range as an actress. Kudos to all involved! Now only if NBC gives this darn show a friggin' chance!