The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries - Oh Say Can You Sing (1978)

In "Oh Say Can You Sing," the Hardy Boys drive their van to Spencer Valley, U.S.A., so Joe can sit in with some band and sing a couple of songs as part of Spencer Valley's Independence Day festivities.  I'm not exactly sure where Spencer Valley is supposed to be.  I guess it's in driving distance of the Hardy's home in Bayport, but it looks like it was a long drive.

Joe Hardy seems to inexplicably famous in Spencer Valley, as the crowd goes nuts when he takes the stage.  Now this would make sense if it was happening in real life, and Shaun Cassidy was taking the stage, but I don't think his character Joe Hardy is supposed to have a legitimate music career.  As far as I know, he's just some kid who plays local gigs around his town with his friends.  So seeing the crowd get all excited for him seemed a little weird, but it was still fun to watch Joe Hardy prance around the stage.

Power Pose

They also made use of the recurring gag on the series, where as soon as Joe starts singing Frank ignores him and walks away to do something else.  I always get a a kick out of that.

Frank Hardy ignores Joe's singing and has a conversation with some creepy guy on the side of the stage.

The Electric Kool-Aid Man

The show had an actual mystery to solve this time around, involving drug smuggling and attempted murder, giving the boys opportunities to do some actual detective work.  I always like it when they get to be detectives, and not just get involved in some kind of random adventure. What it lacked was anything spooky or weird to help push it over the top.  Overall I'd say it was a halfway decent episode.

Joe Finds a Mystery Note

THINGS TO WATCH FOR:

• The lead singer of the band Joe was sitting in with was played by Debra Clinger, who is most famous as Superchick from Kaptain Kool and the Kongs.  Kaptain Kool and the Kongs were a fake glam rock band created by Sid and Marty Kroft to act as hosts of The Krofft Supershow.  The Krofft Supershow was a live action variety show that aired on Saturday morning in the 1970s, featuring segments of shows like Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl, Dr. Shrinker, Bigfoot and Wildboy, and Magic Mongo, among others, interpsered with songs and jokes performed by the Kongs.

Superchick Keeps a Fake Smile Plastered on Her Face at All Times While She is Singing,   It's Kind of Creeping Me Out.

Joe Hardy Rocks the Mike

BONUS! MUSIC VIDEOS:

Kaptain Kool & The Kongs on the Brady Bunch Variety Hour


Jimi Hendrix - The Star-Spangled Banner
 

More Hardy Boys screencaps after the jump...

Happy Birthday, Batman!

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Batman, who first appeared in Detective Comics #27, which was published on March 30, 1939.  In his first appearance, in the story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," Batman was not much more than a rip-off of the pulp character "The Phantom," but under the guidance of writer Bill Finger, as well as talented artists like Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, and many others, he quickly evolved into a full-fledged character in his own right, and is now the most popular superhero in comic book history.

For a fascinating history of the creation of Batman, I recommend you to head over to Robby Reed's Dial B for Blog for his three part series "The Secret origin of Batman."

• Chapter 1: "The Batman"
  
• Chapter 2: "Partners in Peril"
• Chapter 3: "The Haunting of Robert Kane"

Goodbye to Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Lorenzo Semple Jr. died this Friday of natural causes at the age of 91.  Mr. Semple was one of the main creative forces behind the scenes of the 1966 Batman TV series (also known as the greatest television series of all time).  He wrote the series bible, and he wrote or co-wrote 16 episodes of the series, and was the executive script consultant on the rest.

While his work on the Batman TV series alone is enough to make him a legend, he was also a respected screenwriter, and wrote the screenplay for Batman: The Movie, as well as a handful of cult classic film favorites of mine, such as Fathom (a groovy 1960s spy flick starring a bikini-clad Raquel Welch), Pretty Poison (Anthony Perkins' second coolest movie after Psycho) and 1980's colorful version of Flash Gordon.

Mr. Semple, your work on Batman had a profound and positive impact on me as a child, and still means a great deal to me as a grown man.  I will mourn your loss.

Fresh Monkey Fiction's Amazing Heroes Action Figures

The folks at Fresh Monkey Fiction are gearing up for a new line of action figures that I'm pretty excited about.  The line is called "Amazing Heroes" and looks to be a double-dose of retro, featuring Golden Age comic book characters from the 1940s, done in the style of superhero action figures from the 1980s.  The figures are going to 4.5 inches tall, and the sculpts and articulation appear to be heavily inspired by Mattel's Secret Wars action figures, along with cloth capes that look straight out of Kenner's Super Powers line.  According to Fresh Monkey Fiction, "the plan is to match the "look and feel" of those 80s lines as much as we can, including the packaging."

Vintage Secret Wars and Super Powers Action Figures

Fresh Monkey Fiction are going to be revealing one figure a week for the next four weeks, beginning with the reveal of the first figure: "The Black Terror!"  The Black Terror has long been a favorite Golden Age comic character of mine, even without having read a lot of the comics, simply by virtue of his black costume, skull and bones emblem, and creepy name.  How can you not like that guy?

The Black Terror Action Figure

The other characters are described as "Man of Mystery," "Avenging Hero," and "Super Wizard."  I'm not sure who "Man of Mystery" or "Avenging Hero" will be, as those phrases could describe a lot of characters.  "Super Wizard," however, has got to be "Stardust the Super Wizard," who is one of the most wonderfully weird comic book heroes of all time.  Fletcher Hanks, his creator, was like some kind of mad genius and his comics are some of the most insane things ever committed to newsprint.  If you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend you check out the two collections of his comics that were published by Fantagraphics, "I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets!" and "You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!"

Be sure and check out Fresh Monkey Fiction's Facebook page to get more info on these toys and see what other characters will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Silent Running (1972): A Broken Movie, and How I Would Fix It

Silent Running

A BROKEN MOVIE

In Silent Running, all plant life has been killed off on the planet Earth, but it's last samples of plant life have been preserved for eight years in a group of biodomes attached to space freighters in outer space, orbiting Saturn.  Bruce Dern plays Freeman Lowell, a botanist who has lived on one of the freighters and cared for the plants for the entire eight years.  He shares the ship with three other astronauts who take care of the rest of the ship, but they only serve 1 year terms before rotating out, and they don't care about the plants the way Lowell does.  One day they receive orders from Earth that their mission has been cancelled.  They are ordered to destroy the domes and return home.  The three astronauts are happy to be finally done with this project and go home, but Lowell is horrified at the thought of destroying the last remaining plants, and stages a mutiny to try and save them.

Go-Karts in the Garden of Eden - While Space Hippie Bruce Dern looks on in dismay, the other astronauts tear around the biodomes in their go-karts, showing no respect for Mother Nature.

That's a pretty good premise for a science fiction film. The film itself is a mixed bag, though.  There are some things it does a good job at, most notably the model work for the space freighters and biodomes, which look pretty good for the time.  That's no surprise, because the film was directed by Douglas Trumbull, who did special effects on such films as Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  But for the most part, the film's kind of a misfire.  Find out why after the break.

"Alien" Retro Action Figures - Funko/Super7 (2014)

A Nightmare Molded in Plastic

Here's some photos I recently took of Super7 and Funko's Alien ReAction Figures.  If you don't know, these are recreations of toys Kenner designed in 1979, but never actually released.  In the years since, the figures have achieved something of legendary, "lost classic" status among toy collectors.  The hopes were high for Super7's version of these toys, and they really delivered.  These toys are perfect, and fit in great alongside Star Wars and other vintage 3.75" figures from the '70s and '80s.

Alien ReAction Figures

See the rest of the photos after the break!

Six Million Dollar Man "Colonel Steve Austin" and "Bionic Bigfoot" Retro Action Figures - Zica Toys (2014)

Look Out, Steve!

In all the excitement about Super 7 and Funko's retro Kenner Alien figures, as well as Funko's upcoming line of ReAction figures in the same vein, it's important to remember that they are not the only toy company making figures in this style.  Zica Toys just came out with their first wave of Six Million Dollar Man action figures, which are heavily inspired by the 1970s Kenner aesthetic, while also having some fun modern touches as well.  Read my review and see all of my pictures after the break!

Andre the Giant Body Slams Lee Majors