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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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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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Spaceballs

The Star Wars parody (with a bit of Star Trek and Lawrence of Arabia thrown in) may not be Mel Brooks’ best film, or his funniest comedy, but it is a film that grows on you with each successive viewing.

This episode is released in 2024 on Star Wars day, May the 4th, as in, May the 4th be with you.

Dan Miwa joins Troy Harkin and David Clink. Dan, being a first-time guest, is asked about his earliest genre memories, and his first genre love. He is then asked the standard 6 questions for first-time guests: Fave Author; Fave Novel; Fave Shorter Work; Fave Movie; Fave TV Series; and, Fave TV episode.

Troy presents a history of the film.

Troy and David and Dan do their Dream Cast and their Schrödinger’s Cast for the following 6 roles:

Lone Starr
(Bill Pullman)

Barf
(John Candy)

Princess Vespa
(Daphne Zuniga)

Dot Matrix
(Joan Rivers)
(voice)

Dark Helmet
(Rick Moranis)

Skroob / Yogurt
(Mel Brooks)

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Dan Miwa, lover of all things science fiction and psychological fiction, merged his two favourite genres into his novel “Ret”. The story takes place on a distant planet, within an alien civilization and follows the life of a little alien through a journey of self transformation.

Much of the charm in Ret is how a story with a wild imaginative alien setting can be so relatable at its core.

Ret is not only a powerful coming of age story, it’s a depiction of human life that holds a mirror to the social challenges we face as a society today.

Ret reached #1 in Hot New Release and #2 Best Seller in all his sci fi categories on Amazon. The push for his novel doesn’t stop with the written word. Dan is currently working on converting Ret to a graphic novel and screenplay, as well, he is in the beginning stages of writing a prequel to Ret. Ret 2 Zombie Invasion… just kidding.

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Queer SFFH (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror) has been with us for a very long time. One of the first English-language science fiction novels is Frankenstein, 1818, and it was written by bisexual author Mary Shelley. And representation has recently reached new heights, in both how many queer creators there are, but also the number of queer characters appearing in SFFH, in books and media, but also in the quality and impact they have in storylines.

Rachel A. Rosen joins Troy and David, to discuss the topic. Rachel, being a first guest, is asked about her earliest genre memories, and her first genre love. She then is asked the standard 6 questions for first time guests: Fave Author; Fave Novel; Fave Shorter Work; Fave Movie; Fave TV Series; and, Fave TV episode.

Troy presents an overview of queer representation in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, as part of his history segment.

Rachel mentions the influence of the character Dax from DS9, and other queer creators, including Francesca Lia Block, Clive Barker, and Mary Shelley.

The “Bury Your Gays” trope is discussed.

Is Hollywood getting better at depictions of queer characters?

Doctor Who and queer culture is discussed. Many queer Doctors, and queer companions have been featured. Russell T. Davis is openly gay, and he has brought in queer characters and trans characters, more than any other showrunner. The 15th doctor is openly gay. Bill Potts (played by Pearl Mackie) was the first openly gay companion.

Xena and Gabrielle as gay icons is covered.
Is Dr. Frank-N-Furter a gay icon or a caricature?

Rachel and Troy and David spend time talking about the third episode of The Last of Us. Troy does a history, for this episode.

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RACHEL A. ROSEN lives and makes trouble in Tkaronto (Toronto) in the country currently known as Canada.

A genre strumpet with an outlook darker than VantaBlack, she straddles urban fantasy, cosmic horror, dystopian futures, and eco-fiction.

Her stone-cold bummer of a first novel, Cascade (The Sleep of Reason Book 1), was published by The BumblePuppy Press in 2022, and with Zilla Novikov, she’s the co-author of The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don’t Die.

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CSFFA, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, is the organization that is tasked with running the Aurora Awards and the Hall of Fame.

Troy and David invite to the show Clifford Samuels, who is the Aurora Awards administrator.

This is Clifford’s first appearance on the show, and as with all new guests, Troy and David ask Clifford about his first experiences in the speculative genre, and what was his first genre love.

Clifford is also asked about his all-time speculative genre faves, which includes his favourite novel, shorter work, author, and also his favourite movie, TV series, and TV episode.

The show will look at the Aurora Awards, and also the Hall of Fame.

The Aurora Awards recognize excellence, by Canadian creatives (Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and landed immigrants), in the field of science fiction, fantasy and horror, in 10 categories, eight of which are professional, and two are fan / volunteer:

Professional Categories in English

Best Novel
Best YA Novel
Best Novelette/Novella
Best Short Story
Best Poem/Song
Best Graphic Novel/Comic
Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration
Best Related Work

Fan/Volunteer Categories

Best Fan Writing and Publication:
Best Fan Related Work:

When it comes to the Hall of Fame, here is the description from the CSFFA site…

The Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association Hall of Fame was created to honour people who have over the past number of decades made a great contribution to the genre of Science Fiction and Fantasy. These would include not just people who write but includes people who have made a contribution either professionally or as a fan. We include artists, musicians, scientists, publishers, editors, organizers and fans.

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Clifford Samuels has been collecting Science Fiction and Fantasy books for over 40 years.  It can be said that even if he stopped buying new books he would never be able to read what he has, but that will never happen. 

He has founded, chaired and run numerous genre conventions in Alberta.  He was on the board for Calgary’s When Words Collide festival as guest liaison for 12 years.

As a board member of CSFFA (The Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association), he has held the positions of president, media liaison and treasurer, but for the past 14 years he has administered the Aurora Awards. 

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