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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,323 Views)
Chandu
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panzer the great & terrible
Jun 23 2009, 06:15 PM
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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.

My thoughts exactly, but I would add secret passages. I once almost bought a dark, completely inappropriate house because it had a secret room.
Absolutely, Mr. P! Secret passages are a personal favorite with me too!
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Hey, if we didn't love stuff like that we wouldn't love serials. That's the real reason I think people don't value western serials quite as highly. With a few wonderful exceptions, not much eye candy, and the girls are overdressed!
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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CliffClaven
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There's an idea that might revitalize the housing industry. Instead of a door between the living and dining rooms, a bookcase that rotates. A fireplace that rises to provide access to the garage ("To the Bat-Chevy!"). A hallway with painted rockwork and some torches with Bic-sized flames. And a home entertainment center designed like one of those giant consoles used to contact Martian overlords or gangster flunkeys, hidden behind an oversized painting.
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Chandu
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Now yer talkin'!!!
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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Black Tiger
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Shoulda gone for it, Paul
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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If it had just been me I would have, Tigre, but the Grand Duchess was not thrilled with it.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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rodney
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I still haven't finished up Zorro's Black Whip. Two chapters to go, and it seems like I've been watching it forever, even though I do enjoy it.

After this one is done, I'll be watching The Desert Hawk.
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CliffClaven
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Main memories of Zorro's Black Whip:

-- The cliffhanger at the end of one episode -- titled "Tines of Death," I think -- consists of a guy thrusting a pitchfork at somebody. The great escape is somebody just rolling out of the way. In short, they dropped a chapter break into the middle of a typical fight gag.

-- In another fight scene, there's a shot of Ms. Zorro somewhat unnecessarily chasing and whipping a henchman who's trying to retreat on all fours. It's undercranked so for a split second you think it's a Benny Hill clip.

-- A lame final gag where you just feel sorry for the comedy relief who has to perform it (in this case, the respectable Lucian Littlefield). This happens in so many serials you have to suspect they're intentionally ending on a weak note, perhaps to help the next serial open stronger by comparison. Another theory: Since these were shot at top speed and out of sequence, maybe they'd forget they were shooting the VERY end and just dashed through it.
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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I doubt if anybody at Republic, Universal or Columbia forgot what he was doing. The indies are a different story. If you watch any Republic comedy you'll see that their idea of comedy was lame, serial or not. Yates wasn't the brightest candle in the box and may well have abhorred cleverness.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Frank Hale
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The generally weak endings are the biggest gripe I have about serials. All the money went into the first chapter so they could sell the serial to exhibitors. By the time the last chapter rolled around, the studios and theatres just seemed to want the damn thing to be over with. A real slap in the face of millions of devoted fans who sat through all those weeks.
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mort bakaprevski
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panzer the great & terrible
Jun 29 2009, 11:00 AM
Yates wasn't the brightest candle in the box and may well have abhorred cleverness.
While wit may not have registered with Herb, he seemed to be a pretty sharp business-man, outmaneuvering Ray Johnson, Nat Levine & Gene Autry (who had a pretty good supply of business acumen himself) among others!!
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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Black Tiger
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Then again Yates got tangled up with Vera Hruba Ralston which caused more than a few problems with her costars including John Wayne. I saw a letter from Wayne to Yates at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art saying that he refused to ever work with her again. Not smart business to tick off one of your top stars. Not to mention how she brought down the quality of many Republic pictures. Good skater, probably a nice person, but not an enchanting professional actress.
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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I think that's a safe statement. She wasn't as awful an actress as some say, but her supply of charm was limited. I think the proper word for her screen presence is dim.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Frank Hale
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I started “The New Adventures of Tarzan”. Judging from old posts, it seems to arouse some opinions: Gravy hated it, Riddle Rider loved it, Stony was in the middle.

Chapter 1 clocks in at 41m on the Treeline edition. IMdB says it was originally 65m, Wipipedia 70m. This doesn’t seem very likely, as it has never been mentioned on any of “What was the longest first chapter?” threads I’ve read over the years, would have been entirely contrary to industry practice, and the 41m version didn't seem to have any continuity lapses. Anyone know about this?

I stopped by the Squadron to check out this question. Sacre blooey! You now need to be registered and to sign in just to view the message boards! What a great way to attract new traffic to your website!

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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Now it's not a website, it's a clique. He's trying to keep us out because we might demoralize his slaves. Eric's all about control.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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