Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 28

January 22, 2025: Amazing Covers!

A few that caught my eye this week…

Black Canary: Best of the Best #3 – cover art by Ryan Sook

Justice League Unlimited #3 – cover art by Tyler Kirkham

Papa Duke #1 – core art by Todd Skull, Naomi Griffin

Detective Comics #1093 – cover art by Juan Ferreyra

Arcbound #3 – cover art by Dan Panosian

So, which were YOUR favorites?

The post January 22, 2025: Amazing Covers! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 21, 2025: Recent Yes/No’s – Best and Worst!

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BEST: Classic Chocolate Symphony Frappuccino

WORST: Chopped English Sandwich (beans do not belong in a sandwich!)

The post January 21, 2025: Recent Yes/No’s – Best and Worst! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 20, 2024: Home Sweet Home!

I returned home today from my five day stay in Montreal, tired and looking forward to sleeping my own bed. I noticed some improvement in mom since my last visit.  Even if she won’t admit it, she is getting around somewhat easier with a little less pain.  An adjustment on her meds have also cleared the brain fog she has been experiencing, but not quite fully as, the other day, I caught her attempting to make a call with the t.v. remote.  Still, there’s been definite improvement and here’s hoping that recovers enough to start enjoying her independence again.

Back on the home front, I’ve got a pre-pitch for that action-adventure series tomorrow, a zoom chat about another show on Thursday, and aa catch-up call with a buddy and former CEO of Heavy Metal Magazine who I may try to meet up with in Japan – also Thursday.

Speaking of Japan, it’s shaping up to be a fun trip as, in addition to the aforementioned friend, I’ll probably be meeting up with my cousin, an airline pilot, who is stationed in Guam and will be making the short trip over.  Akemi has been putting together our itinerary which will include a bevy of new and old favorites including that place where they serve you turmeric pills as an appetizer because they plan on your drinking A LOT.

As I mentioned to longtime blog friend Das in the comments section, Akemi and I are looking to get a friend for Sharky, but only when we get back from Japan.  Pug or frenchie.  Preferably senior.  Preferably special needs.  We’ll keep you updated on the search.

It’s nice to be home!

The post January 20, 2024: Home Sweet Home! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 19, 2025: Sharky Sunday!

Good Morning, Sharky!

sharky-good-morning-mp4

If you saw this sketchy character sitting on your corner, would you cross the street to avoid him?

Unboxing!

Sharky working on his memoirs – concludes chapter 3…

Banana Boy!

Cookie time!

Tusslin’ with the turkey tendon…

 

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January 18, 2025: Our Outer Limits rewatch continues with season 2, episodes 9-12!

Season 2, Episode 9 “I, Robot”

This episode was first broadcast November 14, 1964

“I, Robot” is one of only two Outer Limits episodes to feature a robot/android.

This episode was actually based on a couple of short stories about a robot named Adam Link (“I, Robot” and “The Trial of Adam Link”) by Eando Binder. Eando and his brother Otto wrote a series of stories about the robot and this series would later inspire Isaac Asimov.

In the original story, Adam is found guilty but ultimately pardoned, allowing him to open his own business: Adam Link Inc.

Story editor Seeleg Lester recalled: “When I told ABC the story, I’ll never forget Adrian Samish saying ‘Who the hell cares about a pile of tin?’ And when the thing finally played on TV, I got a lump in my throat watching that pile of tin throw himself in front of a truck to save that little girl.“

This episode is full of not so subtle allusions to Frankenstein (1931). Interestingly, in the film version, the monster drowns the child while in Shelley’s novel, the monster saves the child from drowning as Adam does in this episode.

I have a soft spot for robots and androids and, for that reason, I really did like the Adam character even if he did feel at times a little robotic in his speech patterns. The flashbacks to him learning (and the scenes where he was sitting down to a good book) were kind of cute and the set-up intrigued, but the shift to courtroom drama really bogged things down. Also, the ending would have been much more effective if The Twilight Zone had not done in two years earlier in “I Sing the Body Electric”. This one was…so-so for me.

Season 2, Episode 10 “The Inheritors, Part 1”

This episode was first broadcast November 21, 1964

Story Editor Seeleg Lester had always wanted to do a story where aliens aren’t a malevolent force bent on invasion: “Monsters coming to destroy the world is garbage. We had the god-damndest trouble with ABC because they didn’t understand the story. I told Ben: ‘We’ll fight for this. If they want monsters, we’ll put in the other shows.’ And when ABC saw the final-draft script, they told us, ‘You know, this could make a damned good story — let’s not fuck it up!’ That illustrates the kind of mentality the network had.”

According to Lester, “[Writer] Sam Neuman came into my office and said ‘Seeleg, I need some money, and I’ve got an idea for one of those Outer Limits shows . But I’ve just got the opening; I don’t know anything else. ‘His idea was that a bunch of doctors are watching an encephalograph during an operation, and suddenly two brainwave pattern s appear on the screen. One doctor says ‘some entity has entered the brain of that man.’ Sam and I entered into weeks of discussion on how to use that, and finally came up with a concept .”

But, according to producer Ben Brady: “Seeleg got bogged down starting with The Invisible Enemy,’ and never really recovered his pace. He worked on the first draft of ‘The Inheritors’ for nearly ten weeks, and we just couldn’t afford that. These things had to come out faster, and that’s why I brought in Milton Krims and Bob Dennis. Seeleg labored over every script and got way behind. We had been the best of friends until The Outer Limits brought us to some very harsh scenes, and that’s a recollection that’s rather unhappy.“

Part one was originally titled “The Hui Tan Project” which was a a reference to the area of Vietnam where the meteor crashed.

Assistant to the producer B. Ritchie Payne recalled: “I came in one day and Seeleg’s secretary, Maggie Lutwen, was crying . She was typing the script, and she said, ‘Ritchie, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read!’ I told her that yes, by god, it had gotten to me, too. Ben had to fight very hard to get New York to even aIlow him to do a two-parter.“

Director James Goldstone had the cast rehearse for two days prior to filming.

All the same, writer Sam Newman was dissatisfied with the results: “The script was better than the finished film.”

Seeleg Lester intended for the Inheritors to serve as a backdoor pilot for a new series…that never came to be.

A somewhat promising start to what is considered to be one of the show’s best. I don’t know if that is going to hold true for me as I found the direction rather staid and Duvall’s performance surprisingly bland. Still, I am intrigued and looking forward to seeing how Part 2 delivers. To be continued…

Season 2, Episode 11 “The Inheritors, Part 2”

This episode was first broadcast November 28, 1964

According to story editor Seeleg Lester, he wanted to incorporate a Pied Piper aspect to the script. As a result, Part 2 was initially titled “The Pied Pipe Project”.

Director James Goldstone was faced with the challenge of showing the plywood spaceship ascending to the heavens: “We couldn’t do it optically, and didn’t have the time or the money to shoot it any other way, so Ken Peach and I just dollied the camera back until we were off the stage, then tilted up to the sky.”

The speech Lieutenant Minns delivers at episode’s end was largely improvised by actor Steve Ilnat. According to Morgan Brittany who played the physically challenged Minerva Gordon: “He put it into his own words… not a word-for-word memorization. It just came out so beautifully. To me, it made the whole show… You’ve never in your life seen crew members so mesmerized. Just silence on the set.”

Ilnat suffered from a heart condition that made him reticent to commit to a role as a series regular. As a result, he passed up many an opportunity. He suffered a heart attack and died at the all-too-young age of 38.

Dee Pollock, who played the youthful Pfc Francis Hadley and kinda reminded me of a young Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson, left acting to dedicate himself to the pursuit of religion, an off-shoot of Hinduism. He was such a notable figure within the movement that, after suffering a fatal heart attack, the Dalai Lama noted his death and asked for prayers.

James Frawley, who played Pvt Robert Renaldo, became a director. His credits included The Muppet Movie (1979), 28 episodes of the Monkees, 5 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, and many more. He too died of a heart attack.

Jan Shutan, who played Mrs. Subiron, is perhaps best remembered as Lieutenant Mira Romaine in Star Trek’s “The Lights of Zetar” (1969).

Some viewers may recognize actor Kim Hector, who played her son Johnny, for his portrayal of Whitt in the Twilight Zone episode “The Bewitchin’ Pool”.

Despite a bit of a slow star (Part 1), I thought this one came together nicely and I consider the whole one of the show’s better stories. I did quite like the ending even though I wondered about the Johnny character who, unlike the other orphans, actually had a mother who would miss him. I also found Duvall’s performance and arc surprisingly lackluster. All the same, this one will probably end up in my top ten.

Season 2, Episode 12 “Keeper of the Purple Twilight”

This episode was first broadcast December 5, 1964

Years after this episode aired, no one associated with the production could explain the significance of its title.

The music that plays during Professor Plummer’s night time ride was a re-use from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

In their quest to hire very tall actors for the towering aliens, the production ended up going with Gene Wiley and Leroy Ellis, both players for the LA Lakers.“

Four years later, actor Warren Stevens would play yet another alien with a poor understanding of emotions in the Star Trek episode “By Any Other Name”.

Steve Lord, who wrote the first draft of the script, claimed: ” It was so butchered I cannot recall much about it. It was more of an intellectual melodrama, which was mutilated by a hack and overloaded with monsters . [Producer] Ben Brady had little feeling for cerebral entertainment. [Story Editor] Seeleg Lester was around, too, rewriting anything and everything.“

In truth, Seeleg was busy working on The Inheritors at the time and didn’t touch Lord’s script. That task fell to Milton Krims because, according to Ben Brady: “The idea was beautiful. To have an alien pick up human emotions. All I can tell you about Stephen Lord is that he wished to christ he could whip it, but he just couldn’t pin it to the mat. Everything he tried was no good.“

And so it fell to Krim to produce a satisfactory rewrite. And, in Lord’s estimation, he failed: “Krims made it a joke, a worthless Saturday matinee kind of thing.” According to David J. Schow in “The Outer Limits Companion”, soon after the episode aired, Lord sent producer Ben Brady a six-foot funeral wreath with a card that read : MAY THE KEEPER OF THE PURPLE TWILIGHT REST IN PIECES.”

“I thought it was very funny,”reminisced producer’s assistant B. Ritchie Payne. “I put the wreath up in the office, then had to take it down because Ben came in and didn ‘t think it was funny – he was darned mad!“

Well, I mean…okay. Not a particularly remarkable episode although I did kind of like the look of those oversized aliens. Also, it’s always nice to see actor Edward Platt (Get Smart’s The Chief) in these 60’s productions as he is always great. Also, for the life of me, the title of this episode will just not stay in my memory. I must have had to look it up at least a dozen times in researching the production history and episode trivia. It reminded me of SG-1’s “Cold Lazarus”, a title that elicited the following terse response from a studio executive: “Who the hell is Lazarus and why is he cold?!”

The post January 18, 2025: Our Outer Limits rewatch continues with season 2, episodes 9-12! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 17, 2025: Montreal Day #1!

Back in Montreal, sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress and using uncomfortable pillows.  I woke up way too early this morning REAAAAAALLY sore.  Just my neck, back, and shoulder.  But still.

Did a little work on my taxes today.  Want to have most of it wrapped up before I head to Japan end of the month.  Speaking of which, also did some research on quaint Tokyo cafes and events we can check out during our stay.  Sent Akemi the full list which included –

The SPYxFAMILY buffet at the Hotel New Otani

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The Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition

The Hekkelun coffee shop in Shimbashi famed for its purin (Japanese custard pudding).

Came across this concept art for “Jolinar’s Memories”, Apophis watching Sokar’s mothership explode.  Don’t think I’ve ever posted it before.  If i have, please ignore.

My sister picked up this apple fritter the size of a pot roast on her way home today.

Also these donuts and some canned cod liver!  Overall, they look okay, but I am saving my donut appetite for Japan’s I Am Donut and their unbeatable pistachio cream donut.

Meanwhile, the Crime Binge continues.  One of the (four) shows I’m presently watching is The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.  Never read the books but I really do like the characters (especially the secretary), love the tone and the setting, but the mysteries fall short which is too bad.  Anyone watched it?  What did you think?

 

 

 

The post January 17, 2025: Montreal Day #1! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 17, 2024: Montreal Day #1!

Back in Montreal, sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress and using uncomfortable pillows.  I woke up way too early this morning REAAAAAALLY sore.  Just my neck, back, and shoulder.  But still.

Did a little work on my taxes today.  Want to have most of it wrapped up before I head to Japan end of the month.  Speaking of which, also did some research on quaint Tokyo cafes and events we can check out during our stay.  Sent Akemi the full list which included –

The SPYxFAMILY buffet at the Hotel New Otani

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The Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition

The Hekkelun coffee shop in Shimbashi famed for its purin (Japanese custard pudding).

Came across this concept art for “Jolinar’s Memories”, Apophis watching Sokar’s mothership explode.  Don’t think I’ve ever posted it before.  If i have, please ignore.

My sister picked up this apple fritter the size of a pot roast on her way home today.

Also these donuts and some canned cod liver!  Overall, they look okay, but I am saving my donut appetite for Japan’s I Am Donut and their unbeatable pistachio cream donut.

Meanwhile, the Crime Binge continues.  One of the (four) shows I’m presently watching is The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.  Never read the books but I really do like the characters (especially the secretary), love the tone and the setting, but the mysteries fall short which is too bad.  Anyone watched it?  What did you think?

 

 

 

The post January 17, 2024: Montreal Day #1! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 16, 2025: Travel Day!

I posted the following poll over on X and these are the results so far…

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Yes, I do agree it depends on the programming.  Comedies and episodic series lend themselves to the longer runs while more serialized shows fare better as shorter runs.  But for me, personally, the answer is…

As a viewer: 6-8

As a series creator: 10-13

As a writer landing a gig on someone else’s show: 20+

Sat in the airport, waiting for my (delayed) flight to Montreal.  My carry-on is weighted with frozen foods and baked goods – honey-garlic and Italian sausages, pikerel burgers, beef cheeks, braising sauce, two dozen store-bought amaretti, a dozen home-made chocolates and cookies from Akemi – in addition to some chocolate bars, my laptop and accessories, and a Medley Chew bag of Oh My Dogness dog treats!

Finally took off 45 minutes late.  And then, partway through the flight…

I grabbed this from the complimentary in-flight snack basket thinking they were peanuts.

I believe it’s what they feed the less choosey livestock.

Finally…

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The post January 16, 2025: Travel Day! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 16, 2024: Travel Day!

I posted the following poll over on X and these are the results so far…

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Yes, I do agree it depends on the programming.  Comedies and episodic series lend themselves to the longer runs while more serialized shows fare better as shorter runs.  But for me, personally, the answer is…

As a viewer: 6-8

As a series creator: 10-13

As a writer landing a gig on someone else’s show: 20+

Sat in the airport, waiting for my (delayed) flight to Montreal.  My carry-on is weighted with frozen foods and baked goods – honey-garlic and Italian sausages, pikerel burgers, beef cheeks, braising sauce, two dozen store-bought amaretti, a dozen home-made chocolates and cookies from Akemi – in addition to some chocolate bars, my laptop and accessories, and a Medley Chew bag of Oh My Dogness dog treats!

Finally took off 45 minutes late.  And then, partway through the flight…

I grabbed this from the complimentary in-flight snack basket thinking they were peanuts.

I believe it’s what they feed the less choosey livestock.

Finally…

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The post January 16, 2024: Travel Day! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

January 15, 2025: Amazing Covers!

A few that caught my eye this week…

The Immortal Thor #19 – cover art by Alex Ross

The Immortal Thor # 19 – cover art by Jan Bazaldua

Batman and Robin: Year One #4 – cover art by Chris Samnee

Catwoman #72 – cover art by Ejikure

Nightwing #122 – cover art by Dan Panosian

The Question: All Along the Watchtower #3 – cover art by Jorge Fornes

The Question: All Along the Watchtower #3 – cover art by Lucio Parrillo

Wonder Woman #17 – cover art by Daniel Sampere

So, which were YOUR favorites?

The post January 15, 2025: Amazing Covers! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.