wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (11/04/85)
Psychics take note! No sooner do we discuss a topic on net.aviation (B-17 belly turrets and the fate of the gunner in wheels-up landings) than the EXACT SAME THEME is the topic of the special one-hour Amazing Stories aired 3 Nov 85. Since the production leadtime makes it impossible that the net inspired the episode, it must be that someone in the know about the series posted to the net. (Or mental telepathy was working...) Will PS -- One of the aspects of Amazing Stories that has consistently impressed me is the sheer size of the cast -- many episodes have crowds of extras in costume and lots of activity in the background and to the sides which is not necessary to the story, but certainly improves the appearance of the production. Anybody know how much these episodes cost, and how that compares with other series? WM
wanttaja@ssc-vax.UUCP (Ronald J Wanttaja) (11/06/85)
> Psychics take note! No sooner do we discuss a topic on net.aviation > (B-17 belly turrets and the fate of the gunner in wheels-up landings) > than the EXACT SAME THEME is the topic of the special one-hour Amazing > Stories aired 3 Nov 85. Since the production leadtime makes it > impossible that the net inspired the episode, it must be that someone in > the know about the series posted to the net. (Or mental telepathy was > working...) > > Will > YES! YES! I'LL ADMIT IT! my .sig may be "Ron Wanttaja," but I'm actually Steve Spielburg! HA! HA! My "Aviation Trivia" quizzes were nothing but a scheme to generate scripts... you should see what I used from net.auto.tech! Alhough reluctant to post TV criticism to net.aviation, I never was so disappointed in an ending as I was to this episode. I was able to overlook the technical points (the laughable "checklist" <Intercoolers to intercool>, the lack of oxygen masks or the electrically heated flight suits), the constant wearing of aviator sunglasses, whistling of "the Wild Blue Yonder," the DB-601 engine sticking into the side of the Fort, etc. The same plotline was the subject of a "12 O'Clock High" episode, and (good 'ol) General Savage's solution using a fire extinguisher had at least some relation to reality. I don't mind fantasy, but going through 50 minutes of a fairly accurate, high-drama flying story only to have a off-the-wall fantasy ending stinks. An ideal ending would have been that the apparent ending was an "Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" type... the gunner fantasized the wheels lowering, and was squashed at the very end. Real PG-13 stuff. Ron (Deadstick) Wanttaja (ssc-vax!wanttaja) "Archbury control, this is Ramrod Leader..."
dpw@bonnie.UUCP (David Williams) (11/07/85)
> Psychics take note! No sooner do we discuss a topic on net.aviation > (B-17 belly turrets and the fate of the gunner in wheels-up landings) > than the EXACT SAME THEME is the topic of the special one-hour Amazing > Stories aired 3 Nov 85. ... I turned on the tube about the time this episode was getting underway, and stuck with it to the bitter end (required some gnashing of teeth). Sloppiness like the air combat scenes reduces me to ranting and raving - the attacking 'aircraft' (looked a lot like Spitfires) might as well have been flying backwards for all the fidelity the film clips managed. The film the special effects guys rounded up were pasted into just about every available porthole. The effects were fighters in horrible flailing skids and slips (velocity vectors completely screwed up) and head-on closing rates, at times, of a few miles an hour. I conclude that no one in the special effects crew has ever ridden in an airplane or watched an episode of 12 O'Clock High. The next 35 or 40 minutes improved my humor, but the writers had to resort to fantasy to finish up the story - there must be thousands of chronicles of narrow escapes from B-17s that they could have picked from!?! Oh well, you get what you pay for. David Williams (081) AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany
braman@dataioDataio.UUCP (Rick Braman) (11/08/85)
> > Psychics take note! No sooner do we discuss a topic on net.aviation > > (B-17 belly turrets and the fate of the gunner in wheels-up landings) > > than the EXACT SAME THEME is the topic of the special one-hour Amazing > > Stories aired 3 Nov 85. ... > I conclude that no one in the special effects crew has ever > ridden in an airplane or watched an episode of 12 O'Clock High. > The next 35 or 40 minutes improved my humor, but the writers had to > resort to fantasy to finish up the story - there must be thousands of > chronicles of narrow escapes from B-17s that they could have picked > from!?! Oh well, you get what you pay for. > > David Williams (081) > AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany Why do you think they named the show Amazing Stories? I'm pretty sure that Steven Spielberg probably is aware of all the "chronicles of narrow escapes" from WWII, but that obviously was not his intension in this episode. I for one enjoyed the fantasy ending. Sure it was not realistic, but once in a while it's kind of nice to see some creative imagination, even if it is silly. -- Rick Braman Data I/O Corporation Redmond, WA UUCP uw-beaver!teltone!dataio!braman