Fans,

I'd somehow never caught up with (and don't even recall ever hearing about) Dan Curtis's 1977 TV movie CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLap9g0hLZfxnWLj-ML5q3tFMZE9lz913v

It seems as if this may have been intended as a kind of re-boot of the KOLCHAK franchise, featuring Tony Franciosa's PI character, Higbie. The latter is a rather more mainstream type of character than Carl Kolchak, and there are fewer comic touches. The impressive cast includes Donna Mills, Patty Duke, and June Allyson, with cameo roles for June Lockhart and Dan Curtis's own daughter Tracy.

I thought this was a solid example of a typical 1970s movie-of-the-week thriller. The score by Robert Cobert is very reminiscent of the music composed for the Kolchak films.

You need to seriously suspend disbelief for certain things the script does, and the "twist" ending is telegraphed way in advance--but I thought it was fun!

G.

Short article about 'WAY OUT:

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/lost_episodes_roald_dahl_way_out

G.

For fans who have never seen it, Daryl Schafer does a hilarious send-up of the Grayson Solo telephone meltdown sequence shortly after the 30 minute mark here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKPS3rr_47o

G.

I can never remember just who Herbie J. Pilato is. I think I checked some of his books out from the public library during the 1990s.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1277017/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

I hope the shows are released for those who wish to see them. In show biz, we are constantly being told that things are "coming soon" and half the time, they never materialize.

G.

I think that's smart, Brian.

The only way I could enjoy this is if somebody found a recording of Grayson Hall reading one of the books, perhaps while sipping a cocktail and making various "observations" about everything from the prose "style" of the author to the inanities of the various personalities in the "book."

Otherwise it would be a slow walk through aitch ee double hockey sticks for this fan.

Best, G.

The video mentioned here references the Hollywood Vampires. By coincidence, Micky Dolenz is a member of the Vampires and talks about the club in this recent interview. Mike Nesmith is on hand as well and the two discuss their emotional response to the death of Peter Tork.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R39x-5p4Zjc

G.

Wonderful to see these again. I have to explain to people now that I'm a semi-amnesiac. There's actually no "semi" about this one--I had no memory of it at all!

G.

Of interest to some of you. The article mentions Dana Gould, who Wikipedia tells me is a comedian. I'm not sure why this conversation has the epochal import Wallace describes in his blurb; I leave that to you, gentle reader, to discern.

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2019/06/dark-shadows-fall-on-fangoria-in-july.html

As the article states, the editor of Fangoria will be discussing the John August screenplay next month on the new Collinsport Historical Society podcast. For those curious about the original script, it should be an interesting discussion.

G.