The Only Way to Die riffs on the idea of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) being publicly dead, and using that as cover to get his mission done. But everyone is going to have to believe he’s dead including 99 (Barbara Feldon), the Chief (Edward Platt) and Fang. Written by Arne Sultan, this episode first aired…
Tag: vacation
Pirate Latitudes (2009) – Micheal Crichton
By the time this post appears on the blog I will have read this book about a month and a half ago while I was on a vacation in the Caribbean. Consequently, surrounded by an environment Crichton’s characters inhabit, the ride was an adventuresome delight. In the year 1665, Captain Charles Hunter is in Port…
Farscape (2001) – Scratch ‘n Sniff, and Infinite Possibilities Part 1: Daedalus Demands
Crichton (Ben Browder) and D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe) have pissed Pilot (voiced by Lani John Tupu) off, so he as banished them, along with Jool (Tammy Macintosh) and Chiana (Gigi Edgley). They are on enforced vacation, and it’s going to be a wild ride, as they get drunk, and rolled. Lots of laughs in this one,…
Northern Exposure (1993) – Love’s Labour Mislaid, and Northern Lights
Love seems to be not quite in the air, but definitely troubling a number of residents of Cicely in Love’s Labour Mislaid. Written by Jeff Melvoin, it first debuted on 22 February, 1993. Maggie (Janine Turner) seems to have no memory of having carnal relations with Joel (Rob Morrow) despite the fact that they stood…
Northern Exposure (1993) – Learning Curve, and Ill Wind
Marilyn (Elaine Miles) prepares for a vacation to Seattle, though Joel (Rob Morrow) isn’t sure she should travel on her own. But that’s just the beginning of things for this episode. Joel is mothering her from the get-go, trying to make sure she has everything she needs for a safe trip, but Marilyn insists she…
Stargate SG-1 (2000) – Crystal Skull, and Nemesis
The penultimate episode of season three, Crystal Skull, relies a little too much on green screen effects, which makes it a little bothersome to watch, but it’s still a fun story. Written by showrunner Brad Wright from a story by Micheal Greenburg and Jarrad Paul this episode debuted on 3 March, 2000. When a giant…
Zero Cool (1969) – Micheal Crichton
Zero Cool is a a rapid-fire thriller from Micheal Crichton written under his pen-name of John Lange while he was in med-school. A riff on the ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances that seems to have shades of North by Northwest to it, the tale follows Dr. Pete Ross, a radiologist on his first…
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3: Fire (2007) – Sokka’s Master, The Beach, and The Avatar and the Fire Lord
Sokka (Jack De Sena) is feeling left out when everyone else on Team Avatar has special gifts, abilities and fight skills. After discovering a fantastic sword in a weapons shop, he is directed to the great sword-master Piandao (Robert Patick) in Sokka’s Master. Written by Tim Hedrick, this episode first debuted on 12 October, 2007….
Family Ties (1985) – Family Ties Vacation
Season Four of Family Ties gets to a shakey start with a pretty terrible made-for-TV movie that sees the Keaton family jetting across the ocean to England. Taking the family out of their sit-com environment where they can deliver messages, and important themes, and delve into ethical situations and putting them in a slapstick version…
Burnt Offerings (1976) – Dan Curtis
The 1976 creepy house tale of Burnt Offerings didn’t engage me as much as the novel did. It has a fairly solid cast, but honestly, it didn’t quite have the eeriness that seemed to permeate the book. The film features Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, Burgess Meredith and the always-menacing Anthony James. The Rolf…
The Mind Reels 