Saturday Afternoon Serials -- The Return of Chandu

Chapter 5 through 8

For Friday the 13th, perhaps the most twisted show ever produced for American Network Television

Saturday Afternoon Serials -- The Return of Chandu

Chapters 1 through 4

Mippyville Arthouse -- Zero for Conduct

Another reminder that the Sixties was the best decade for television actors

Not the best decade of television. There is no best decade. Each one had something it did best, but the Sixties saw a uniquely talented generation of young actors. Duvall, Coburn, Reynolds, Falk, Dern, Cassavetes, Landau, and dozens of others. Every generation has produced talented actors but never in such prolific numbers.

METV just aired a great example, the Twilight Zone episode "The Grave" written and directed by the gifted Montgomery Pittman and featuring Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef and the criminally underrated James Best. It's an old story, but beautifully told. The structure is tight and the characters are sharply drawn and everyone shines.

Of course, most Sixties television was several notches below the Twilight Zone, but even the weakest shows would often offer the unexpected pleasure of a Bruce Dern or a Rip Torn having infectious fun chewing through the scenery.

That's This

When I turned off the television Saturday night, ThisTV was playing the profoundly silly martial arts movie Revenge of the Ninja. When I turned it back on Sunday morning the station was showing Ian McKellen's unforgettable turn as Richard III. If I had gotten up a couple of hours earlier I could have also watched David Lean's Great Expectations.

That's what ThisTV's all about. Interesting (and sometimes very good and hard to find) movies juxtaposed in cool and unexpected ways. It's like having access to Quentin Tarantino's DVD collection without having to listen to Quentin Tarantino.

Perhaps the best remembered noir premise of all time

DOA -- And perhaps the definitive example of starting with a great idea and not screwing it up.



Just press play.