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Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi continues its exploration of SFFH TV shows from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. This episode is the first of a 2-part look at The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.

Many who loved The Six Million Dollar Man enjoyed its iconic look, and also the slow motion. and especially the opening segment.

Martin Caiden wrote Cyborg. TSMDM & BW were based on the novel. Caiden

TSMDM had a few television movies that were very successful. The series went on from 1974 – 1978.

Harve Bennet came in, and became the producer for the show. He made a number of changes to the show. ABC went to the top of the ratings. One of the earlier TV movies had a very James Bond flavour, and this was not what Martin Caiden wanted. Harve Bennet came in and restored the show to what it should have been.

EPISODES WE LOOK AT IN DETAIL IN PT. 1:

Title: The Six Million Dollar Man “The Moon and the Desert”
TV MOVIE from 1973 of The Six Million Dollar Man
original air date: Mar 07, 1973
IMDB Rating = 6.5

Title: Day of the Robot
season 1 episode 4 of The Six Million Dollar Man
original air date: Feb 8, 1974
IMDB Rating = 7.7

Title: Rescue of Athena One
season 1 episode 8 of The Six Million Dollar Man
original air date: Mar 15, 1974
IMDB Rating = 6.8

Episode synopsis for The Moon and the Desert
(from Wikipedia)

Steve Austin is an astronaut who has made three Moon landings. In a test flight accident caused by a malfunctioning center stick, his right arm is severed, his left eye is blinded, and both legs must be surgically amputated. Steve Austin’s personal physician, Dr. Rudy Wells, has theorized about the creation of a cyborg through the installation of bionic parts. He is persuaded by an OSI agent to reconstruct his patient/friend with the understanding that Steve Austin will subsequently work for the OSI. Dr. Wells apprises Steve of the plan, but is met with much resistance as Steve Austin mentally struggles to cope with his injuries, the installation of artificial components, and the future obligations that will be involuntarily thrust upon him. Following surgery and lengthy rehabilitation, Steve Austin reluctantly accepts an assignment to rescue a hostage in Saudi Arabia.

Episode synopsis for The Day of the Robot
(from Wikipedia)

In an attempt to steal a top secret anti-missile device, Steve’s associate and friend Major Sloan is kidnapped and replaced with a robot. Steve must discover the impostor, and keep the device from being stolen and sold to the highest bidder.

Noteworthy Moments: First occurrence of the “fft-tt-tt” sound effect, later used for Steve Austin’s bionic legs and arm, used here for some (but not all) of the Fred Sloan robot’s powered arm swings.

Episode synopsis for The Rescue of Athena One
(from Wikipedia)

Steve is launched into space to rescue two astronauts stranded in a crippled space capsule. However, when his bionics begin to malfunction due to space radiation, the return trip to Earth becomes endangered.

Note: The first of four appearances that Lee Majors’ then-wife, Farrah Fawcett Majors, made on the show. She appeared in each season except the final one, playing a different character each time.

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The cast (by order of appearances) of The Six Million Dollar Man:

Lee Majors as Col. Steve Austin… [99 episodes]
Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman [99 episodes]
Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Rudy Wells [45 episodes]
Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers… [9 episodes]
Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Rudy Wells… [9 episodes]
Quinn K. Redeker as Frank… [6 episodes]
Than Wyenn as Ambassador Mahmound… [5 episodes]
John de Lancie as Diver… [5 episodes]

The cast (by order of appearances) of The Bionic Woman:

Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers… [58 episodes]
Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman [58 episodes]
Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Rudy Wells [46 episodes]
Ford Rainey as Jim Elgin [9 episodes]
Sam Chew Jr. as Mark Russell [8 episodes]
Jennifer Darling as Peggy Callahan [7 episodes]
Martha Scott as Helen Elgin [6 episodes]
Lee Majors as Col. Steve Austin [6 episodes]

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Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi celebrates Halloween by looking at two horror comedies from the 1960s, The Addams Family and The Munsters. In fact, they look specifically at episodes that are the “Halloween episodes” of the two series:

Halloween with the Addams Family
season 1 episode 7 of The Addams Family
original air date: October 30, 1964.
IMDB Rating = 7.8

Munster’s Masquerade
season 1 episode 1 of The Munsters.
original air date: May 6, 1965
IMDB Rating = 7.5

As mentioned in the episode, here are the descriptions from wikipedia for the two episodes.

Episode synopsis for Halloween with the Addams Family
from Wikipedia:

Marilyn’s boyfriend, Tom Daily, invites the Munster clan to a masquerade. Eddie remains at home with Mrs. Morton as his sitter. Marilyn goes as Priscilla, Lily is Little Bo Peep, Grandpa is Napoleon and Herman is King Arthur in a suit of shining armor. At the party Mr. Daly is dressed and made up as Frankenstein’s monster. Herman tells him that he reminds him of someone and adds that it’s unfortunate that he isn’t wearing a costume at his own masquerade party, angering Mr. Daly. When it is time for the best costume award Herman is asked to take off his helmet. One man says that Herman should win for wearing one mask over another. Lily is insulted and Marilyn as well is angry with Tom’s family. Tom takes Marilyn home, where he finally sees Herman and Lily without their costumes. Tom runs away, but Marilyn is relieved.

Episode synopsis for Munster’s Masquerade from Wikipedia:

Mistaking two robbers named Claude (Don Rickles) and Marty (Skip Homeier) for trick-or-treaters, the family takes them in for a Halloween celebration. The robbers agree because they are hiding out from the police and their car has run out of gas in front of the Addams’ house. They put up with the creepy household’s holiday festivities as best they can, because they spot Gomez’ desk full of loose cash. Unbeknownst to all, Thing is on to them and ready to take matters “in hand”. When they finally manage to escape the house, it’s only into the waiting arms of the police.

The cast of The Munsters:

Fred Gwyne as Herman Munster
Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster
Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster (Herman’s wife)
Butch Patrick As Eddie Munster (the son)
Marilyn (the adopted daughter) played by three actresses:
Beverly Owen as Marilyn #1
Pat Priest as Marilyn #2 (took over midway thru season 1).
Debbie Watson as Marilyn #3 in the film Munster, Go Home.


The cast of The Addams Family:

John Astin as Gomez Addams
Carolyn Jones as Morticia Frump Addams.
Ted Cassidy as Lurch the Butler.
Felix Sila as Cousin ITT.
Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams
Ken Weatherwax as Pugsley (Pubert!)
Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester
Blossom Rock as Grandmama.

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We continue our all-TV season, and recognize Harlan Ellison, who wrote a series of essays on TV, referring to TV as a ‘glass teat’.

Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi looks at Richard Matheson, and since this season is the TV season, we look at the stories he wrote that became part of the ABC Movie of the Week.

We do a deep dive on the history of TV movies, the ABC Movie of the Week, and specifically the movies that Richard Matheson wrote, which were: “Duel” and “The Trilogy of Terror” and also “The Night Stalker (1972 film)”.

The movies, the theatrical ones, back in the day, that played on TV, cost a lot for the TV stations to play, the rights owner, representative or distributor charged a premium on recent films, for them to appear on TV, and in some cases the networks would bid against each other for the rights to have a movie played on their station, so most films that appeared on TV were older films. There were, occasionally, made for TV movies, but by the late 1960s, TV studios decided to produce, on a regular basis, original TV movies, more as a cost-saving measure. They controlled production costs, and did not have to bid against other networks. Often these movies were shot in 14 days or fewer.

DUEL

Troy and David first look at DUEL. a 1971 movie, written by Richard Matheson, and directed by Steven Spielberg. They look at the sound, Dennis Weaver’s acting, the diner, the reptiles. The decision by Spielberg not to have a big explosion at the end. The great first line (and following lines) in the story that appeared in Playboy:

At 11:32 am Mann passed the truck.

Here are the first two camera shots of the shooting script from DUEL:

THE NIGHT STALKER

The second ABC Movie of the Week that Troy and David look at is The Night Stalker. This is the first of two TV movies that preceded the TV Series, the other is The Night Strangler.

The Night Stalker influenced a generation, included Chris Carter, who created The X-Files.

There was something about the shouting matches between Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) and Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). The heartbreaking ending, where Gail Foster (Carol Lynley) and Kolchak are separated.

David, in a senior moment, says “Jason” instead of Janos Skorzeny.
(ya-noss score-zen-knee).

Troy mentions the unusual choice of free-form jazz music that is used in the fight scenes.

THE TRILOGY OF TERROR

The third ABC Movie of the Week that Troy and David look at is The Trilogy of Terror. This is a movie that has three separate horror stories, the third of which is the one that we all know and love. Richard Matheson wrote all three stories, but other writers wrote the screenplays for the first two stories, and Matheson insisted on writing the screenplay for the third segment.

Karen Black played the lead role(s) in all three segments.

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Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi has reached a milestone. 75 episodes.

Troy Harkin and David Clink hosted a live show, that was recorded on Wednesday, September 18th.

David runs a trivia game on TV Superheroes / Supervillains.

We hope you enjoy!

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Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi takes a look at the great television theme songs that are SFFH (science fiction, fantasy, and horror).

We have a special guest. Lee McCormack joins us. He was our guest for our 3-part “Galactic Rock” episodes from a few seasons ago.

Troy and David and Lee each came up with their own top ten list of theme songs.

We hope you enjoy!

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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi.
And welcome to…

Prisoners of Gravity: The Reunion.

Five people joined Troy and David for this
35th anniversary show…

Host / Co-Creator: Rick Green
Producer / Co-Creator: Mark Askwith
Producer / Director: Gregg Thurlbeck
Associate Producer: Shirley Brady
Most Frequent Guest: Robert J. Sawyer

We hope you enjoy!

BIOS

= = =

RICK GREEN

People may know Rick Green from his days with The Frantics comedy troupe, and as ‘Bill’ on The Red Green Show, which he co-created.

Rick also created History Bites. And, of course, he was ‘Commander Rick,’ host of Prisoners of Gravity.

He is a member of the Order of Ontario and The Order of Canada for his contribution to Canadian culture and mental health.

Rick’s most recent work on his YouTube channel is, ‘Rick Has ADHD.’

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MARK ASKWITH

Mark Askwith is a writer, interviewer, and Television Producer.

After graduating from the University of Toronto, he worked at Coach House Press. From 1982-87 he managed Silver Snail Comics. He left to write comics, and to work on the award-winning documentary Comic Book Confidential.

In 1989 he approached Daniel Richler, tv Ontario’s Head of Arts, and pitched a popular culture show, and Prisoners of Gravity was the result.

In 1997 he became a Founding Producer of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction Channel.

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GREGG THURLBECK

Since retiring from TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, back in 2019, Gregg Thurlbeck has focused on a range of interests including swim coaching and photography.

Gregg was an exhibitor in the Contact Photography Festival and contributes to the international photography site, 52Frames.com. Gregg is also a coordinator with the Life Institute Photo Club, associated with Toronto Metropolitan University.

Gregg coaches the Alderwood Masters, is the VP of Masters Swimming Ontario and was Meet Manager for the 2024 MSO Masters Provincials swim meet in Markham.

= = =

SHIRLEY BRADY

Shirley Brady (Story Editor, Associate Producer, and NanCY!) joined Prisoners of Gravity (POG for short) in season one, with roles including book wrangling, bookcase building, research, booking guests, interviewing and sneaking puns into scripts.

After POG’s untimely demise she moved to Hong Kong, working for Discovery Channel and TIME, and then continued her career as a writer / editor / producer in New York, where she still lives with her family.

She adds: R.I.P. to Lorna Toolis and Sally Millar!

= = =

ROBERT J. SAWYER

Robert J. Sawyer, a member of the Order of Canada, was the most-frequent guest on PRISONERS OF GRAVITY.

He has won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, all for best science-fiction novel of the year, as well as Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards, known as “Auroras,” – He has more of these than anyone else in history.

The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name. 

His latest novel is THE DOWNLOADED.

= = = = =

PRAISE FOR THE SHOW THAT WAS NOT AIRED
(we have included the praise that David read during the taping, so those involved in PoG heard this and were very appreciative, but, due to time constraints, we were not able to include these in the audio for the podcast episode)

Mike McKeever:
I wish I remembered when I stumbled upon Prisoners but from that moment on I watched faithfully. Was already a fan of Rick from the earliest days of the Frantics on CBC radio. I learned so much about all the topics and genres discussed. Congrats and looking forward to listening when the pod drops

Bob Milne:
OMG, so many memories! I used to watch that on the old b&w TV in my room, picking up TVO from UHF. Seeing him again years later on Red Green took me right back.
Happy 35th, Rick & Nan-Cy!

Rob McLennan:
that was such a great show

Lloyd Penney:
I was interviewed about Star Trek clubs in the first season…our best to Commander Rick and Mark and Gregg and Shirley, and to all who worked on that great show. I think it needs to be revived.

Shirley Meier:
I loved the interviews done on war and peace. I was talking about bad human designs (Why Things Still Don’t Work) and said you want to give monkey the button? Cut to Jerry Pournelle talking about his fave new weapons system.

Carol Robinson:
I remember having the “So Long Earth” postcard. I have moved a couple of times so I don’t know exactly where it is, but I don’t throw away precious things…
(I am now picturing the final (warehouse) scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark… )

David Simmons:
Amazing show, the interview lineup was unbelievable

Nancy Baker:
One of my favorite shows. It introduced us to so many great writers and creators over the years.

Patrick James Asselin:
I’ve been calling Prisoners of Gravity a proto-podcast for years!

Larry Hancock:
A lot of on screen graphics for the first season came from my collections. I was living in an apartment just a couple blocks away from TVO and they borrowed a lot of items for images.

Ira Nayman:
This is a fantastic idea. I hope it goes very well!

Cally Specht:
Oh how cool

Andre Lieven:
Back when he was doing Harlan Ellison’s Watching for the SciFi Channel in the US, Harlan also expressed his appreciation of PoG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvLevjVX50

Matthew Cimone:
This show shaped so much of my career and career aspirations! Just left a big emotional message already on Robert’s wall about this but suffice it so say, I will definitely be keeping an ear out for this episode! Thank you all.

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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi.
This is our second episode of Season 6.
This season is “Two Old Farts Meet the Glass Teat”

The late great Harlan Ellison wrote a series of essays about TV for the LA Free Press. He referred to TV as a “Glass Teat.”

This is our all-TV season. We will look at shows from the 60s, through the 80s and beyond. The shows and the showrunners.

PT 1 of Irwin Allen looked primarily at

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and,
Lost in Space

PT 2 of Irwin Allen will look primarily at

The Time Tunnel, and,
Land of the Giants

Troy presents a history of Irwin Allen,
and the second two series we are looking at.

Here are some of the things that appear in most Irwin Allen
TV shows. These are his trademark elements that Troy mentions:

On set explosions
On set smoke and fires
Actors throwing themselves to-and-fro
to simulate turbulence and/or being under attack.
Being lost or stranded
Cool vehicles
Female hotties
Child actors
Animal companions
Nefarious villains
Walking vegetables
Use of stock footage
Great merchandise
And a similar design look / opening credits

The Time Tunnel only lasted one season, 30 – episodes.

How it all ends…

Troy and David come up with their own versions of how the Land of the Giants ended.. A lot of series, back in the day, never had an opportunity to plan their end. MASH was able to, and FRIENDS and SEINFELD and BIG BANG THEORY. What did happen to the crew of the Spindrift, according to Troy and David? Listen and find out.

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Welcome to Two Old Farts Talk Sci Fi.
This is our first first episode of Season 6.
This season is “Two Old Farts Meet the Glass Teat”

The late great Harlan Ellison wrote a series of essays about TV for the LA Free Press. He referred to TV as a “Glass Teat.”

This is our all-TV season. We will look at shows from the 60s, through the 80s and beyond. The shows and the showrunners.

PT 1 of Irwin Allen will look primarily at

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and,
Lost in Space

PT 2 of Irwin Allen will look primarily at

The Time Tunnel, and,
Land of the Giants

Troy presents a history of Irwin Allen,
and the first two series we are looking at.

Some beautiful ships in the first two series.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea became a monster-of-the-week.
Including a werewolf and a mummy episode.

With Lost and Space. it aired from 1965-1968. It aired during family hour. It never finished in the top 25 in the years that it ran.

Great themes for the shows, as well.

How it all ends…

Troy and David come up with their own versions of how Lost & Space ended.. A lot of series, back in the day, never had an opportunity to plan their end. MASH was able to, and FRIENDS and SEINFELD and BIG BANG THEORY. What did happen to the crew of the Jupiter 2, according to Troy and David? Listen and find out.

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