Due to technical difficulties on Friday night, it’s nearly time for Take 2, as Roy and I prepare to “Rock” the NBC miniseries “The Martian Chronicles,” on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, to be live-streamed on Facebook, tonight at 7:00 EDT.
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/
PHOTO: Rock Hudson and the first Martian hand buzzer
We’ve been blocked by the Red Planet!
Due to connectivity issues, last night’s scheduled discussion about the NBC miniseries “The Martian Chronicles” has been rescheduled for tomorrow night (Sunday) at 7 pm EDT – which means our conversation about “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” will have to wait until Friday, August 28.
Barring any more technical difficulties, Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner is live-streamed on Facebook every Friday and Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT.
It’s Friday afternoon! Nearly time for another Classic Ross Amico double feature.
First, at 6:00 EDT, all that glitters is not gold, as we listen to music from movies inspired by novels set during the Gilded Age (post-Civil War to around the start of World War I), including selections from “The Heiress” (Aaron Copland), after Henry James, “The Age of Innocence” (Elmer Bernstein), after Edith Wharton, “The Magnificent Ambersons” (Bernard Herrmann), after Booth Tarkington, and “Mr. Skeffington” (Franz Waxman), after Elizabeth von Arnim. That’s on “Picture Perfect,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Then, at 7:00 EDT, Daniel Day Lewis is conspicuously absent, as we depart the Age of Gold for the Red Planet and Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.” Rock Hudson leads an all-star cast in this NBC miniseries, produced in 1979, through the magic of no-budget special effects and quasi-disco interludes. There’s plenty of talent on-hand, both in front of and behind the cameras, but somehow it all just doesn’t hang together. That’s my opinion, anyway. Roy Bjellquist and I will talk about it tonight, live-streamed on Facebook, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner:
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/
Join the discussion or leave a comment.
We come in peace! (Sorry about the chicken pox.)
So how bad was the NBC miniseries “The Martian Chronicles” (1979)? I suppose it depends on who you ask.
Ray Bradbury, who wrote the original stories, first collected in 1950, hated it. The all-star, three-night event, produced at the height of television’s “miniseries fever,” was all set to kick-off the NBC season. But then Bradbury mouthed off to the press, and the executives got cold feet. All at once, the show was yanked from the schedule, and its debut took place far, far away, seen complete on the BBC, and elsewhere in a heavily-edited theatrical version. After the dust had settled, “The Martian Chronicles” was dropped quietly back into the NBC line-up where it was thought it might do the least damage – just before the guaranteed ratings juggernaut of the Winter Olympics.
I don’t want to tip my cards too soon, but having re-read the book recently, I have a few issues with the adaptation myself. Roy Bjellquist and I will convene for another heady discussion, on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” this Friday evening at 7:00.
Then we figured we might as well make it an all-Mars weekend. So we’ll join up again on Sunday to talk about “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” (1964).
Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner is live-streamed on Facebook every Friday and Sunday at 7 pm EDT.
https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/
When the movies inspire me to drink, take me to your liter!
Yikes, what a week! First, we were pummeled by Isaias – I lost power, and Roy lost internet – and then last night, just as we were about to do our live stream, a thunderstorm rolled through the region, and we totally lost our connection. (I know, First World problems.)
In any case, it was less than four minutes into the show, and we hadn’t even really had a chance to pick up steam on our hashing over of the microscopic inner space adventure “Fantastic Voyage” (1966). So don’t even bother looking for part one of the video. All we do is say hello.
I’ve been battling some kind of weird lightheadedness for about a week, and Roy was a little rattled from having to control the stream through his smart phone, but I think everything came together about as well as it could have, under the circumstances. It’s possible you may find something to amuse you, when you click on the archived video below.
Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner is live-streamed on Facebook every Friday and Sunday at 7 pm EDT, but in light of the fact that Roy may not have his internet restored until Tuesday, he’ll be taking tomorrow night off. We’ll see you on Friday, then, when we discuss an all-star NBC miniseries after Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles!”
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