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Looking at that list of top SF 50 shows and thinking about how I'd rank them, and what was missing, brought to mind a show that doesn't really belong on the list, but I love it anyway.
Planet of the Apes. No, I'm not talking about the classic movie with Charlton Heston. The film is brilliant. (And I love the little homage in Madagascar, by the way--I was dying watching that, and my husband couldn't figure out the joke. His brother got it instantly, so it's not just me.)
I mean the 1974 disastrous show that filmed 14 episodes and never even got to show them all (though IMDb now says it was a hit in the UK; I had no idea!). IMDb says Rod Serling, uncredited, wrote the original idea and two possible scripts. Wow. It's a shame they didn't get him to write real, credited scripts, because that was the problem.
Read the IMDb entry for the show
That show had some sorry, sorry excuses for scripts. I am mortified to tell it, but: the worst has a sort of ape KKK that kills humans; at the end, one of the lead apes sorta kinda realizes the error of his ways and says he'll stop, and our heroes go on their way, happy, having conveniently forgotten about all the humans dragged to death behind horses. That episode embarrasses me almost enough not to mention the show (but not quite enough, apparently). Other episodes ranged from pretty good to lame. And let's not forgot: apparently some of the scripts ran short, so the director kept telling the actors to just run. Towards the camera, away from the camera--let's just get more footage running.
The show deserved good scripts. What a waste! It starred Roddy McDowall, who is just amazing as an ape. He played different roles in the movies; in the show, he was Galen, the good ape who goes on the run with the humans. He's so darned convincing! I believe the man is a chimp! Of course, the prosthetics were so horrible and the heat so bad (filming in California) that his contract specified days off and time in his air-conditioned trailer, and he wasn't being a diva; he was apparently one of the most universally-loved actors in Hollywood even before he died, friendly to everyone and easy to get along with. It was just awfully hard to deal with the ape makeup. And the hunching! Did the man spend the rest of his life needing intensive chiropractic?
James Naughton played one of the humans (Pete). That man can seriously act. Every tv show he tried flopped, but he made it on Broadway--won two Tonys, one for Chicago as Billy Flynn. (So apparently he can sing, too.) Pete was my second fave, after Galen. A show with three leads and two favorites? Way to go!
And Ron Harper wasn't bad (as Alan). They told him to be the Heston type, and to use his "deep chest voice" as much as possible. Sadly, the man went on to the wild success of--the final season of Land of the Lost, that Kroft brothers' exercise in--well, gee, I'm not exactly sure what to call it. It was really cool when I was too young for school.
Well, two of the three had very successful careers (and only dear Roddy's is over; the other two are still going). And in 1981, some enterprising person decided to package ten of the episodes as five two-hour movies, which I caught on my local independent channel (remember when those still existed?) and fell in love with the show (again? I swear I watched it in 1974, but should I really remember that? I may have made that up).
Mark Lenard had frequent guest appearances as the menacing gorilla Urko. Loved him too.
I don't know why I love the show (well, something to do with the cast, obviously). I still do (though I'm never watching that KKK episode ever again, and after this entry I intend to forget it exists; it's called "The Deception," in case anyone is inspired to watch but wants to give that one a miss. It's rather a shame, because the B-plot--well, I think it's the B-plot, but it might be the A--features a blind ape who falls in love with one of the humans, and done properly, it could have been a good episode!). My Wonderful Husband got me the series on DVD for my birthday, when it first came out and I felt guilty enough, and was concerned about our income enough, that I wouldn't buy it for myself.
So everyone can relive the glorious badness that is terrible writing combined with fine actors who must have spent those weeks plotting revenge against their agents. I understand that last year a huge set of all the Apes movies, including the newer remake and the series, came out.
If you liked the show too, give me a shout! (It can't just be me, or they'd never have made DVDs!)
Planet of the Apes. No, I'm not talking about the classic movie with Charlton Heston. The film is brilliant. (And I love the little homage in Madagascar, by the way--I was dying watching that, and my husband couldn't figure out the joke. His brother got it instantly, so it's not just me.)
I mean the 1974 disastrous show that filmed 14 episodes and never even got to show them all (though IMDb now says it was a hit in the UK; I had no idea!). IMDb says Rod Serling, uncredited, wrote the original idea and two possible scripts. Wow. It's a shame they didn't get him to write real, credited scripts, because that was the problem.
Read the IMDb entry for the show
That show had some sorry, sorry excuses for scripts. I am mortified to tell it, but: the worst has a sort of ape KKK that kills humans; at the end, one of the lead apes sorta kinda realizes the error of his ways and says he'll stop, and our heroes go on their way, happy, having conveniently forgotten about all the humans dragged to death behind horses. That episode embarrasses me almost enough not to mention the show (but not quite enough, apparently). Other episodes ranged from pretty good to lame. And let's not forgot: apparently some of the scripts ran short, so the director kept telling the actors to just run. Towards the camera, away from the camera--let's just get more footage running.
The show deserved good scripts. What a waste! It starred Roddy McDowall, who is just amazing as an ape. He played different roles in the movies; in the show, he was Galen, the good ape who goes on the run with the humans. He's so darned convincing! I believe the man is a chimp! Of course, the prosthetics were so horrible and the heat so bad (filming in California) that his contract specified days off and time in his air-conditioned trailer, and he wasn't being a diva; he was apparently one of the most universally-loved actors in Hollywood even before he died, friendly to everyone and easy to get along with. It was just awfully hard to deal with the ape makeup. And the hunching! Did the man spend the rest of his life needing intensive chiropractic?
James Naughton played one of the humans (Pete). That man can seriously act. Every tv show he tried flopped, but he made it on Broadway--won two Tonys, one for Chicago as Billy Flynn. (So apparently he can sing, too.) Pete was my second fave, after Galen. A show with three leads and two favorites? Way to go!
And Ron Harper wasn't bad (as Alan). They told him to be the Heston type, and to use his "deep chest voice" as much as possible. Sadly, the man went on to the wild success of--the final season of Land of the Lost, that Kroft brothers' exercise in--well, gee, I'm not exactly sure what to call it. It was really cool when I was too young for school.
Well, two of the three had very successful careers (and only dear Roddy's is over; the other two are still going). And in 1981, some enterprising person decided to package ten of the episodes as five two-hour movies, which I caught on my local independent channel (remember when those still existed?) and fell in love with the show (again? I swear I watched it in 1974, but should I really remember that? I may have made that up).
Mark Lenard had frequent guest appearances as the menacing gorilla Urko. Loved him too.
I don't know why I love the show (well, something to do with the cast, obviously). I still do (though I'm never watching that KKK episode ever again, and after this entry I intend to forget it exists; it's called "The Deception," in case anyone is inspired to watch but wants to give that one a miss. It's rather a shame, because the B-plot--well, I think it's the B-plot, but it might be the A--features a blind ape who falls in love with one of the humans, and done properly, it could have been a good episode!). My Wonderful Husband got me the series on DVD for my birthday, when it first came out and I felt guilty enough, and was concerned about our income enough, that I wouldn't buy it for myself.
So everyone can relive the glorious badness that is terrible writing combined with fine actors who must have spent those weeks plotting revenge against their agents. I understand that last year a huge set of all the Apes movies, including the newer remake and the series, came out.
If you liked the show too, give me a shout! (It can't just be me, or they'd never have made DVDs!)
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There's a good reason why you don't remember the stories.