Happy 50th Anniversary STRANGE PARADISE!

[Gothick]

Fans,

At least a few DS fans also watched STRANGE PARADISE, which was produced in Ottawa, Canada and syndicated on Metromedia and a bunch of other TV stations with some repeats during the early to mid 1970s. DS producer Bob Costello along with writers Ron Sproat and Joe Caldwell eventually worked on SP (after they had departed DS). For the first few months, every episode was written by Ian Martin, an actor-writer who went on to script many episodes of the 1970s CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER which was my favorite late night radio show back circa 1973-76.

I wrote this remembrance of my initial 1969 viewing of SP for my friend Curt's blog:

https://maljardinblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/happy-50th-anniversary-strange-paradise/

Best, G.

[Uncle Roger]

I watched Strange Paradise on WNEW from NYC. I believe it aired at the dinner hour here as well. I found the show a kick to watch, similar to DS in some respects but very much it's own unique style. I was not expecting for them to kill off virtually the entire cast in the first storyline and abruptly relocate to another location. I thought that Tudi Wiggins was quite good as Erica, the Angelique of the show. I got a big kick out of the fact that she eventually ended up on Love of Life in a romantic triangle with Jerry Lacy. Not quite a DS/Strange Paradise crossover but close enough.
Strange Paradise apparently didn't bring in the numbers that WNEW expected; it was scheduled opposite Star Trek reruns. The show was banished to a 3am time slot and I never got to see the final two story arcs.

[The Doctor and K9]

The first arc is on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AWO3f7PM2Y&list=PLjT3Z589ba7PHXT2ynwk60XhueWs-zISY

[The Doctor and K9]

I wrote this remembrance of my initial 1969 viewing of SP for my friend Curt's blog:

https://maljardinblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/happy-50th-anniversary-strange-paradise/

Best, G.

This is a great piece! I'm planning to start rewatching the first arc tomorrow and reread the last two books to celebrate the 50th anniversary.  I watched the show not too long ago, so I'm not ready to see the whole thing again. Despite being very slow at times, I really enjoy the first 65 episodes, and I just came across a good deal on the 2nd and 3rd books.

[Gothick]

Thanks, Uncle Roger and Doctor and K9. The entire series used to be on Youtube but the final 13 weeks (episodes 136-195) are missing now, or were the last time I checked.

I love the characters of Vangie and Erica in the first 13 week storyline. In the second storyline, I think Irene and Laslo who are the main villains are a hoot. When they bring Tudi Wiggins back in an "is she or isn't she Erica?" storyline, it really is rather reminiscent of Angelique on DS.  The best scripts in the series show up in that second arc and were the work of one Cornelius Crane (which may have been a pseudonym--nobody knows) and Ron Sproat, who wrote the only really good scripts in the third arc. After a few weeks past episode 136, Harding Lemay (who went on to great fame in one of the prominent mainstream US network soaps) took over writing ALL the scripts--so it ended as it began, with one person writing all of it. And the plotting and writing really went downhill, though there were some good moments because of the actors. Cosette Lee, who played Raxl, really knew how to shred scenery in fine style. I adore her.

Best, Gothick

[Uncle Roger]

I was surprised when Jack Creley, the actor who played Laszlo, turned up in the James Woods/Deborah Harry movie Videodrome. He played a character named Brian O'Blivion who was based on Marshall McLuhan. It's not a huge part but it is a key one.

[The Doctor and K9]

I watched Strange Paradise on WNEW from NYC. I believe it aired at the dinner hour here as well.

I wasn't allowed to watch it, since I was only 6. It aired on WTEV 6 New Bedford/Providence. I lived in Newport RI. I was amused to see the ads reproduced on the Strange Paradise website were from my region. It aired at 7:00 PM, right after Star Trek. As I said, the serial was forbidden fruit, but I'd steal occasional glimpses when I'd "forget" to turn the TV off. I was finally told that I would not be allowed to watch Star Trek if I continued to procrastinate. My most vivid memories were of Jean Paul speaking to the portrait. I remember Raxl referring to Jaques as "the devil." I took this literally and thought he was actually Satan. It was pretty terrifying for a kid in first grade.

[Gothick]

I may have posted this link before--this is a cool edit Curt did of the first three shows. Each show is complete but he segued them together to make a faux "pilot."

What makes this of special interest is that the version of episode 1 here came from a copy of an original videotape issued for syndication, and it includes some footage that was trimmed in the version eventually released to VHS, and then subsequently shown on the "Drive-In Classics" channel.

Among the new footage are some shots of the original Dan (played here by Paul Harding) entering his office building--this sequence was shot at the actual studio offices of CJOH in Ottawa, which was the studio that produced the show under the auspices of Steve Krantz/Vikoa. Dan's office where he meets Alison later in this show was actually a boardroom where the network directors met.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2MIM-m_M2w&t=2856s

G.

[Gerard]

I've tried, several times, to get through SP several times (it's all on-line).  I tried my best.  Never made it.  I'm grumpy today.

Gerard

[The Doctor and K9]

I've tried, several times, to get through SP several times (it's all on-line).  I tried my best.  Never made it.  I'm grumpy today.

Gerard

It took me several times to get through that second arc. I'd be watching and something would interrupt the flow. One time it was our annual summer vacation to RI. I vowed to finish when I got back, but never did. FINALLY earlier this year, I finished the last two stories. Not realizing it was the 50th anniversary year, I decided to skip the first arc, my favorite and plow right into the second and through the third. It ended in June. I'm watching the first 65 episodes between now and the end of the year and I'll read the 2nd and 3rd novel.

I did not like the ending and the places they took the characters. I doubt I'll ever watch the entire series again.

[Gothick]

I finally watched the entire third arc all the way through last year, in the Spring. I enjoyed it, but some of the Harding Lemay scripts were so awful. One of the worst was maybe 2 or 3 weeks before the end. Cosette Lee obviously needed to take some time off, so Lemay wrote this scene where Raxl became invisible. It was never explained or accounted for and after that episode, she simply did not show up until somebody (I think Jacques, possessing Jean Paul) "summoned" her to return. When she reappeared everything that had happened to her during the preceding one to two months had been wiped out and she was back to being utterly EEE-vil.

It made no sense at all, but Cosette played it all with ferociously committed elan. I think I only like the series so much because I enjoyed Colin Fox and Cosette in their roles, hugely. I don't think most people care for any of it very much. I noticed when Danny Horn did a week about SP, he despised Raxl and Cosette's performance. I figured he would not get very far with it given that he did not care for her work on the show.

G.