Mission: Impossible (1967) – Action!, and The Train

Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) is missing from this week’s first mission (apparently he was written out of the script as punishment for observing his religious beliefs), so Cinnamon (Barbara Bain) picks up the mission while Rollin (Martin Landau) concocts the plan in Action! written by Robert Lewin. This episode first hit the airwaves on 4…

Tobor the Great (1954) – Lee Sholem

DK Publishing brings me another mechanical menace from its highly enjoyable Monsters in the Movies book. This time around, he’s not so much a menace as he is menace. Very much a product of its time, the 50s, this film, dramatically set in the future of the day after tomorrow, it’s a charming, if not…

Gog (1954) – Herbert L. Stock

DK Books’ Monsters in the Movies beings me another mechanical menace, as I am introduced to Gog, in this 1954 science fiction film, that despite it’s terrible pacing, story, and acting hints at tech that is currently in use today, like stealth planes, solar energy, and malware. We are introduced to Dr. David Sheppard (Richard…

Quantum Leap (1989) – Jimmy and So Help Me God

  Sometimes it’s the simplest stories that work the best, and are the most poignant, the first episode up this week, Jimmy, is just that.Penned by Paul M. Belous and Robert Wolterstorff, the episode aired 22 November, 1989, it sees Sam (Scott Bakula) leaping into an intellectually challenged man, Jimmy, on 14 October, 1964. He…

Magnum, p.i. (1983) – Basket Case and Birdman of Budapest

  Thursdays are always good, as it lets me dig into a couple more of one my favorite series… This week Thomas (Tom Selleck) has an interesting time of it. Up first is Basket Case, written Julie Friedgen, that had an original air date of 3 February, 1983. This one starts off light enough, Thomas…

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Here we are smack dab in the 1950s with the 101 Sci-Fi movies, and this time around, the list has brought me Jack Arnold’s classic film, written by Richard Matheson adapted from his own novel… The Incredible Shrinking Man! Scott Carey (Grant Williams) is your basic male example from the 1950s, he’s likeable, but honestly,…