heyman@imsvax.UUCP (Hank Heyman) (02/14/85)
To: @RUTGERS.ARPA:wesm@mitre-bedford
Subject: Re: Commander Cody and Flash Gordon
References: <582@topaz.ARPA>
Commando Cody was a mid 50s NBC series starring Judd Holdren. It
was based on two or three earlier movie serials about heroes
using rocket suits, including King of the Rocket Men, and Zombies
of the Stratosphere. At least one of the series feature the
Commando Cody character and one starred an actor named George
Wallace. More information on the serials is in a book called To
Be Continued, which includes information on all serials. The
serials were also syndicated on Saturday morning TV.
There was also an early 50's TV series on the old Dumont network
called Flash Gordon which starred Steve Holland and was filmed in
West Germany. Some information on these series appears in the
book Fantastic Television (1978).
While The Prisoner TV show is interesting and has some SF
elements, it is only marginally SF. I didn't think it was so
good because if they wanted the information so bad, they would
have just tortured him which is what the Nazis did.
The TV series V has gone downhill because it has no direction;
no one can win or the series would end. Otherworld is starting
to remind me of The Fugitive. A society so advanced to build
androids with full logic and emotions would surely encode a
serial number identification into the "access crystal." This has
become a device to make life easy for the American family.
I saw the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers and thought it
was better than the 1978 remake.
Hank Heyman, IMS, Rockville, MD