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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,324 Views)
panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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I feel your pain, Bat. The ones I'm watching now are so awful that I haven't seen a single episode in a couple of months. Alas, the number of watchable serials is all too finite.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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The Batman
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I'm starting to see that, Mr P. I watch my serials in a rotation by studio (Independent, Columbia, Republic, then Universal - in that order), then I further break them down by type (sci-fi, g-men, jungle, etc) so that I only watch one type in each rotation of the studios, to stave off redundancy. But I am starting to realize that I will have an abundance of wetersn/horseback serials left at the end and they can get quite repetitive.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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That's exactly the way I've always done it, Mr. B -- but now I've had the habit, um, hobby for 20+ years and it's worn a little thin. I still collect the dern things though: why, I couldn't say. Thing is, whether it's a chariot, a wagon, an airplane, blimp, spaceship or motorcar, the hero still rolls out at the last second and somehow is unhurt.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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The Batman
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panzer the great & terrible
Jun 16 2009, 08:08 AM

Thing is, whether it's a chariot, a wagon, an airplane, blimp, spaceship or motorcar, the hero still rolls out at the last second and somehow is unhurt.

Don't forget the ceilings! That's always a favourite.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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toddgault
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I have never really followed any plan or schedule for my serial watching. I generally pick a title at random, whatever I'm in the mood for at that particular time. Just finished re-watching Tim Tyler's Luck last night. Not sure what I'll watch next, either Adventures of Red Ryder or Zorro's Fighting Legion.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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The Batman
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toddgault
Jun 17 2009, 07:12 AM
I have never really followed any plan or schedule for my serial watching. I generally pick a title at random, whatever I'm in the mood for at that particular time. Just finished re-watching Tim Tyler's Luck last night. Not sure what I'll watch next, either Adventures of Red Ryder or Zorro's Fighting Legion.

I can't do it that way, Todd. No self-control. I would end up watching all the comic book and G-men serials and then be stuck with 50-60 western serials in a row.

Don't get me wrong, I love westerns, but too many horse serials in a row just end up running together.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Chandu
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The order in which I watch my serials was first dictated by the order of my purchases, which at one time resulted in my watching Young Eagles and Queen Of The Jungle back-to-back. That almost ended my serial viewing, but I persevered and now that I have practically all the sound serials, I watch them as my curiosity arouses me or whatever comments I read here make me feel like a particular serial would be good to watch next (or avoid altogether). That may result in the Captain Africas etc. never getting watched, but so be it. At least I will have viewed the best ones and at my age, time may be becoming a factor.
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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cinemalover
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My serial selections are usually based on wanting to vary the experience as much as possible. Other than my recent run of Columbia's I usually try not to watch a serial from the same studio or genre consecutively. Other than that there is no rhyme or reason to my choices. I'll look over my shelf of unwatched titles and see what jumps out at me.
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CliffClaven
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My own rule of thumb is there has to be eye candy, as defined by a male viewer just before puberty. That means sci-fi vehicles and weapons, exotic stuff like pirate ships and lost temples, serious fights and a lot of explosions. Perky girl reporters, while welcome, are strictly optional. A good serial is something that looks and sounds nothing like grownup TV of the boomer era (specifically, those low-budget crime dramas with zero fistfights and those unfunny sitcoms with Huckleberry Hound music).

The first Flash Gordon is of course the gold standard. But even the bargain-basement Sir Galahad delivers enough of the goods. The nutty costumes and attempts at period cliffhangers (execution by a giant bow and arrow, for example) give it entertainment value.

The second version of Secret Agent X9, in contrast, had Lloyd Bridges, Keye Luke and other capable actors; some production gloss; decent writing and a killer setting: a renegade island that exempted itself from international law. But instead of a cross between Casablanca and Tortuga, the island felt like an ordinary waterfront district and everybody played it pretty straight. No wild weaponry, no masked masterminds, no creepy eccentrics or outlandish death traps -- just a grownup's B movie dressed up like a serial. It was, ironically, just good enough to be far less entertaining than many incoherent messes.
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Laughing Gravy
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Million-dollar dialog, From the penultimate episode of Mysterious Island: "He's a PIRATE. He knows how to make people talk."
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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toddgault
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My favorite line of dialog is from The Crimson Ghost, "We've been tricked by cleverness!" My second favorite line is from King of the Carnival, "It's called triangulation." You have to say that one real pompously to get the full affect.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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Laughing Gravy
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"Triangulation" is used in a few Republic serials to locate the bad guys' hideout. Of course YOU know that Mr. Gault. And BTW, I have always admired and enjoyed your writings about serials!
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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toddgault
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Thanks, you're not too shabby yourself. What I like about the triangulation line is that Harry Lauter starts with this long explanation of what he's doing to the heroine and then smugly ends it by saying it's called triangulation as if she's a three-year old. The whole scene just cracks me up from the way Lauter plays it.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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CliffClaven
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Superman Vs. Atom Man has some scenes where Lois Lane goes to work for a TV station and conducts the hands-down lamest man-on-the-street interviews ever.

Not sure if this was bad writing, time-killing ad libs or a conscious mockery of television. If you're in the right frame of mind, it's funny the same way a real life bad interview is funny.
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Quote:
 
My own rule of thumb is there has to be eye candy, as defined by a male viewer just before puberty. That means sci-fi vehicles and weapons, exotic stuff like pirate ships and lost temples, serious fights and a lot of explosions.

My thoughts exactly, but I would add secret passages. I once almost bought a dark, completely inappropriate house because it had a secret room.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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