tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post6648710032833784632..comments2023-11-25T09:34:32.294-08:00Comments on It Couldn't Happen Here...: Episode 10: The Energy EaterJohn Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-63923341636793348862016-12-04T20:36:58.070-08:002016-12-04T20:36:58.070-08:00I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars: the main issue ...I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars: the main issue seems to be the structure of the episode. The whole menace of Matchemonedo is a bit muted. Shouldn't there be more fear to the structural failure of a giant building while you're in its basement? It's shrugged off twice as not even that big of a deal. Then Kolchak actually manages to convince others of the menace at the end of the second act, then decides to go down and face off against Matchemonedo because....it needs an ending? This whole episode seems like a great idea with a really awesome invisible monster reveal that wasn't given enough to do. Also, does Matchemonedo really need to 'eat' energy? I don't feel it was fleshed out enough, or there was anything really at stake in this episode to really up the horror factor. There are moments (the x-rays forming the eye is perfect) but overall this one really needed a lot of work. It's not 'Youth Killer' bad, but it needs a lot of redemption.Zbuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535675652163146980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-13930799869747904102013-08-07T14:59:40.720-07:002013-08-07T14:59:40.720-07:00Don't forget Barry McGuire in Werewolves on Wh...Don't forget Barry McGuire in Werewolves on WheelsCmacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-79675715075629728072012-07-08T08:01:39.429-07:002012-07-08T08:01:39.429-07:00No offense to William Smith, but to some of us &qu...No offense to William Smith, but to some of us "the king of the biker film" (as far as there is a single king) is Adam Roarke.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-4908345812717736372012-02-22T18:06:58.960-08:002012-02-22T18:06:58.960-08:00# 4 of 20, 4 typewriters. Great episode. 3 cute ...# 4 of 20, 4 typewriters. Great episode. 3 cute girls- Debra Winger-lookalike playing an actress, Diana Canova-look alike playing the the nurse (she's even funnier) and hot blonde in the apartment. Love the sexually suggestive dialog in that scene; "Jim my rocks are melting", "Your rocks are stuck in my toaster", "I'll just eat oatmeal instead." Good,<br />detailed Indian lore, the plot of this reminded me of the 12978 movie Coma.Cmacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-46752967108159991902012-01-19T10:21:22.699-08:002012-01-19T10:21:22.699-08:00A real conundrum here as I despise when genre show...A real conundrum here as I despise when genre shows go for the invisible menace gimmick but its got William Smith...WILLIAM SMITH! Kolchak teaming with the king of the biker film,a combo that's impossible to hate. Too bad Carl never made it out to Arizona for a Billy Jack teamup.Tommyrothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14486791211579788689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-7149938197460802952012-01-19T00:13:02.412-08:002012-01-19T00:13:02.412-08:00Thanks John. I've been bedridden for most of t...Thanks John. I've been bedridden for most of the past two weeks, and just watching the episodes and trying to keep up has been a major effort. Fortunately, the stats for Kolchack are pretty straightforward compared to Batman, where we got into ranking the villains, etc. I look forward to posting comments on some of the upcoming episodes.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />Glenn:)GlennMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08536558149189057537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-77492696597425906772012-01-18T18:47:49.198-08:002012-01-18T18:47:49.198-08:00THE WEREWOLF is one of the best episodes 40% of th...THE WEREWOLF is one of the best episodes 40% of the time, everytime!Doug Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10796333627043218622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-56172894829925308682012-01-18T18:23:40.716-08:002012-01-18T18:23:40.716-08:00I only hate Kolchak 30% of the time.I only hate Kolchak 30% of the time.Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-12803980009204362562012-01-18T15:50:41.549-08:002012-01-18T15:50:41.549-08:00And here I thought we'd only get one serving o...And here I thought we'd only get one serving of Glenn (if we were lucky!) on this particular blog. I find it amusing that despite your empirical data to the contrary, some folks consider us Kolchak-haters!<br /><br />Thanks, as always, for the interesting analysis!John Scolerihttp://akolchakaday.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-55970668868865806542012-01-18T15:26:30.014-08:002012-01-18T15:26:30.014-08:00IT”S THE HALF TIME REPORT!!!!
Since The Night Stal...IT”S THE HALF TIME REPORT!!!!<br />Since The Night Stalker ran for a single season of twenty episodes, the only way we can chart the inevitable decline (or not) is to split the season in half, and check out Peter and John's rankings so far.<br /><br />INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:<br />Peter's average episode rating was 2.3 and for John the average was 2.15, which means both rated the first half of the season as well above average.<br /><br />If we consider 3 typewriters or better the mark of a great show, then four shows were deemed worthy. Peter and John agreed on “The Vampire” while Peter included “The Ripper” and “The Spanish Moss Murders” and John ranked “The Energy Eater” highly.<br /><br />There were a couple of duds, “The Werewolf” and “The Devil's Platform” but “They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be... “ (a.k.a. “It's episode three and we're already over budget) was the only stinker, ranked half a typewriter by both Peter and John.<br /><br />It looks like we've finally found a show Peter and John agree on. Of the ten episodes so far, they gave the same ranking to five shows, and were within half a typewriter for another four. The only bone of contention was the 1.5 typewriter difference of opinion for “The Spanish Moss Murders, which Peter raked at 3.5 and John at 2.0.<br /><br />COLLECTIVE STATISTICS:<br />Of the ten shows, collectively, Peter and John ranked one show at 3 typewriters or higher, six shows at between 2 and 3, and three shows below 2 typewriters. <br /><br />So, what does it all mean?<br />For the first half of the season, Peter and John rated 10% of the shows as great, 60% were average to better than average and 30% were deemed below par. That's a seriously great batting average. It'll be interesting to see how the second half of the season holds up.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />Glenn :)GlennMEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08536558149189057537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-46032329440053469442012-01-18T14:43:58.163-08:002012-01-18T14:43:58.163-08:00THE OUTER LIMITS did do this story -- it was calle...THE OUTER LIMITS did do this story -- it was called PRODUCTION AND DECAY OF STRANGE PARTICLES ... and was equally bereft in many of the same ways.<br /><br />Like "Firefall," this episode DOES leave Kolchak with another "living ally," albeit one who runs away at the first opportunity. Much as I enjoy William Smith, just imagine how imposing Clint Walker would have been in this role.<br /><br />The bravura scene in which the X-rays are collaged to reveal Matchemonedo almost makes up for the downside -- it evokes the Mexican "God's Eye" weavings and thus is very mythologically resonant.<br /><br />It's okay, dramatically, for Kolchak and Jim Elkhorn to miss Janice's corpse in the lab amid the hubbub, but there should have been a voice-over notation by Carl at the end, to earmark the tragedy of her death. To trash her without comment devalues her when in fact she was Kolchak's "in" for the whole episode. Oddly, you will glimpse Kolchak getting nastier, overall, as the series progresses -- there's one upcoming episode in which he is almost a total dick, perhaps wearied by the war, or perhaps reflective of McGavin's increasing dissatisfaction, who knows?DJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-44349982076168636622012-01-18T11:26:30.293-08:002012-01-18T11:26:30.293-08:00I haven't seen this in a long while, but I agr...I haven't seen this in a long while, but I agree with the little complaints about how the story handles the nurse at the end. It's one thing to get a likeable character killed, but you're supposed to make a little more out of it when that happens. Especially because, I seem to remember William Smith and Elaine Giftos having genuine "chemistry" in this episode. Or at the very least, they make a very "attractive couple."Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-72560799407890922602012-01-18T08:48:02.553-08:002012-01-18T08:48:02.553-08:00Hey everyone. First of all, I just want to say tha...Hey everyone. First of all, I just want to say that you guys are doing a great job with the show. I followed We Are Controlling Transmission, and now I'm following this one. I got lazy for a while and didn't comment where I would've, but I'm going to back up and do that now. For now, this episode was one that always creeped me out. The only glimpse of Matchemonedo we get is the x-rays of its' eye. So I really like it.Troy Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-14180566947858905492012-01-18T07:19:21.913-08:002012-01-18T07:19:21.913-08:00So far nobody has commented on the fact that this ...So far nobody has commented on the fact that this episode is obviously a reject from the OUTER LIMITS series. How come we did not discuss this show on WE ARE CONTROLLING TRANSMISSION? I guess it was just not up to the OUTER LIMITS standards and was kept in the vaults until 1974.Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-32254138952675749982012-01-18T06:35:52.373-08:002012-01-18T06:35:52.373-08:00So, John rates this episode higher than...
... ok...So, John rates this episode higher than...<br /><br />... okay, nevermind, that way lies madness.<br /><br />Actually, even though this episode gets a low rating from many fans, I rather like it. It's a real non-ending, but what comes before was pretty gripping.<br /><br />Kudos to the reviewers (yes, I did say that!) for picking up on the fate of the lovely Nurse Eisen - a lot of fans don't realize she actually gets fried by the energy eater in one of the show's more heartless kiss-offs. (Yes, from the angle and with the blackened makeup it's hard to determine if that is indeed Giftos, but it's a headscratcher why they focus on the body if it's not supposed to be her. <br /><br />But it just comes off as cruel that the show doesn't have Kolchak and Elkhorn discover her body while they're picking up X-ray slides - you'd think it would give them some extra personal motivation to find the answer. But no, Nurse Eisen is left dead, unmourned, unmissed and completely unmentioned by our heroes...<br /><br />... which, whether intended or not, makes Kolchak come off as a bit callous overall. Carl is just interested in the story; once you can't help him advance his pursuit of it, he'll shove you off into an elevator.<br /><br />And this is another difference from the TV-movies and the series. We get the sense that Carl had a life outside the newsroom in the movies (or wanted to, with Jo Ann Pflug in NIGHT STRANGLER). But the Kolchak of the series, despite the uptick in comedy, is at heart a lonelier figure. Even though the INS crew was fleshed out to provide Carl with a bit of "family," we see he has little use for Updyke and only berates Tony when he's not trying to hoodwink him. If not for Miss Emily, would Carl be nice to anybody? That's why it's so bothersome at the end of this episode (again, good pickup by reviewers) when Carl dismisses Tony with a curt, "Goodbye, Tony" at the hospital. If Tony isn't Carl's best friend, is anybody? I get the sense that the person he's really closest to is that unseen listener he's dictating to on his tape recorder, that unmentioned reader of these far-out stories he can never get printed. In short, it's his audience, it's US... and that's a bit sad, when you think about it.grgstv338https://www.blogger.com/profile/03532739459643834686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3061398142362448372.post-10287311685875134902012-01-18T06:31:56.559-08:002012-01-18T06:31:56.559-08:00I agree wholeheartedly with John that the piecing ...I agree wholeheartedly with John that the piecing together of the creature's eye out of the x-rays is really cool. <br /><br />This episode might be my least *favorite* of the series, but that doesn't mean I don't really enjoy it. As I always say, when all else fails, there's always Darren McGavin to fall back on when it comes to enjoying a KOLCHAK episode. <br /><br />William Smith is great in this, but I'm always disappointed when he runs away like a school girl during the final showdown. Get back here, ya sissy!Doug Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10796333627043218622noreply@blogger.com