From: "susanmgarrett" Date: Wed May 1, 2002 11:59 am Subject: Probe-Search books on Ebay I have placed the two Probe-Search books from my collection on Ebay at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1534317417 Thank you. From: actingman@myrealbox.com Date: Thu May 2, 2002 11:12 pm Subject: Some of the stock footage from Short Circuit Some of the briefing footage in Short Circuit is from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. For our record keeping here, I know that the shot that begins in the middle of a pan and goes to a large plug in the side of an equipment bank and breaks out into flame is from the third season episode Doomsday Island. I say the middle of a pan because the shot actually starts with the camera showing unconscious crewmen on the floor, and then pans to the exploding missile firing panel. They couldn't show Chief Sharkey and two extras on the deck...so they picked up the shot once they were clear of the shot. The shot of the flashing computer bursting into sparks was also used in Doomsday, but I know that shot was used before, so I don't place it as originating in this episode. I am still on the lookout for the wide shot of the control room exploding (which of course was almost every episode in the third and fourth seasons), but the shot they used in Search was fairly unusual for Voyage in that there were no crewmen present in the shot...which is why Search was able to use it. I have one question which maybe our Hollywood members can answer: how does footage shot specifically for a 60's tv show produced at Fox end up as stock footage in a Warner's show in the 70's. I understand footage from one show being used in another show produced by the same studio...but how does that footage make it's way to a different studio? From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Fri May 3, 2002 12:10 am Subject: Stock footage from Short Circuit >... I have one question which maybe our Hollywood members can answer: how does footage shot specifically for a 60's tv show produced at Fox end up as stock footage in a Warner's show in the 70's. I understand footage from one show being used in another show produced by the same studio...but how does that footage make it's way to a different studio? ---------------------------- That's the same question I would have asked. Nowadays, a certain amount of stock footage is available for sale, and can be purchased by any studio willing to pay the price... but I always thought that MOST (if not all) stock footage back then, was used (either by the TV arm, or theatrical arm) exclusively by the studio that owned/originated it. Jim Alexander probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Fri May 3, 2002 12:11 am Subject: Stock Footage: Take Two P.S. I always wondered where the 'exploding power towers' at the beginning of the episode came from... It always reminded me of something from a Godzilla movie. ;) Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "dghprobe3" Date: Fri May 3, 2002 3:12 pm Subject: Re: Stock footage from Short Circuit --- In probe_control@y..., actingman@m... wrote: > I have one question which maybe our Hollywood members can answer: > how does footage shot specifically for a 60's tv show produced at > Fox end up as stock footage in a Warner's show in the 70's. I > understand footage from one show being used in another show > produced by the same studio...but how does that footage make it's > way to a different studio? Hmm. Maybe Irwin Allen got desperate or something. I remember during the late 60's, there was a show called "Bracken's World" about backstage studio politics and there would be props and things from other shows in the background of some of their shows. I seem to remember they had a scene involving the "Lost in Space" chariot in one of their episodes, but I may be mistaken. Can anyone confirm this one? Along these same lines, has anyone researched "The Time Tunnel" and found any stock footage from movies that were not by 20th Century Fox? --Don H. From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Fri May 3, 2002 7:51 pm Subject: Time Tunnel & Destination Moon footage http://us.imdb.com/Title?0042393 The "Time Tunnel" episode "One Way to the Moon" used a lot of footage and even the spacesuit costumes from George Pal's "Destination Moon" (1950). I have a pro tape of this movie, but no real studio is identified either on the box or the movie itself other than George Pal Productions, Inc. Unless Fox bought the rights to the movie, this could be another example of footage from one studio making it into the TV show of a different studio. From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Sat May 4, 2002 4:36 pm Subject: Are we also UNCLE fans?? Hello everyone Liked the informed look from our Outer Limits chap. Might be worth doing a straw poll & see how many of us watched 'The Man From UNCLE' as well, wouldn't it?? In the UK in the 60s, anything that was out of the ordinary got watched. There was at a few years gap between UNCLE & Search though. We just tended to pick out the jewels a lot easier. What other competition did you chaps & chapettes have on your side of the pond at the time that might have swayed you elsewhere anyway?? Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "dghprobe3" Date: Sat May 4, 2002 5:59 pm Subject: Re: Are we also UNCLE fans?? --- In probe_control@y..., "Geoff Willmetts" wrote: >...Might be worth doing a > straw poll & see how many of us watched 'The Man From UNCLE' as > well, wouldn't it?? > In the UK in the 60s, anything that was out of the ordinary got > watched. There was at a few years gap between UNCLE & Search > though. We just tended to pick out the jewels a lot easier... Hi Geoff: I was an enjoyer of "Man from UNCLE" when it first ran in the mid to late 60's on NBC, but I didn't get to see too many of the episodes. UNCLE had one run in syndication in Atlanta just after it left network, but it disappeared shortly afterward. UNCLE didn't reappear in my area until the mid 80's when CBN started their syndicated run. UNCLE was a bit too "tongue in cheek" spoofy for my taste, however some episodes rose above this. After the premiere of "Batman" in early 1966, it seems UNCLE (like many shows during that time) went for the same pop-art look and cutesy villains and scripts. I felt SEARCH had a realistic edge to it despite the "ahead of its time" technology. SEARCH mined it's humor in the various situations that would crop up. SEARCH never had a cartoony villain, although Dr. Moen probably comes close. While many have compared SEARCH to UNCLE, I think the better comparison is with "Name of the Game." But then again, that's just me. :-) --Don H. From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Sat May 4, 2002 7:53 pm Subject: U.N.C.L.E. fans?? I enjoyed U.N.C.L.E. I specifically remember watching the 'Christmas' episode on the network, first-run. I was over at my grandparents house, where they'd treat me like a king. I distinctly remember them pulling up a big, green easy chair in front of the TV and watching a series of Santa Clause's in that episode chase each other over rooftops. Then, many years later, when U.N.C.L.E. began late-night, in local syndication, I'd use my ear-jack to listen to it late-at-night, when I was supposed to be in bed. Having your basement bedroom directly below your parent's bedroom could be a drag! Don is right that the series took a distinctly more 'campy' approach, due to the BATMAN influence. It didn't begin that way, and attempted to swerve away from that in the latter episodes, but it was too late... and it was cancelled mid-season. P.S. Robert Vaughn is also appearing at that Chicago convention I mentioned on this list earlier. I'm thinking of going, and if I do-- I look forward to meeting him, as well as Obie! Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Geoff Willmetts To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 3:36 PM Subject: [probe_control] Are we also UNCLE fans?? Hello everyone Liked the informed look from our Outer Limits chap. Might be worth doing a straw poll & see how many of us watched 'The Man From UNCLE' as well, wouldn't it?? In the UK in the 60s, anything that was out of the ordinary got watched. There was at a few years gap between UNCLE & Search though. We just tended to pick out the jewels a lot easier. What other competition did you chaps & chapettes have on your side of the pond at the time that might have swayed you elsewhere anyway?? Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. From: "Marta Dawes" Date: Sat May 4, 2002 10:42 pm Subject: RE: [probe_control] U.N.C.L.E. fans?? Actually, Robert Vaughn has cancelled out of that. I looked up the website and found that out (thank you, Jim, for sending the flier, too). That really disappointed me, because I would have definitely tried to make the show with both he and O’Brian there (I’ve always loved Vaughn), but now I’m not sure that it’s something I can justify monetarily with just O’Brian. Pamela Ferdin will also be there, and I do have several things I’d like her to sign, but we’re talking 8 hours of driving each way, and that’s a solid two days. If they just had several more big names I could do it. Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: Jim Alexander [mailto:probecontrol@sigecom.net] Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 6:54 PM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] U.N.C.L.E. fans?? I enjoyed U.N.C.L.E. I specifically remember watching the 'Christmas' episode on the network, first-run. I was over at my grandparents house, where they'd treat me like a king. I distinctly remember them pulling up a big, green easy chair in front of the TV and watching a series of Santa Clause's in that episode chase each other over rooftops. Then, many years later, when U.N.C.L.E. began late-night, in local syndication, I'd use my ear-jack to listen to it late-at-night, when I was supposed to be in bed. Having your basement bedroom directly below your parent's bedroom could be a drag! Don is right that the series took a distinctly more 'campy' approach, due to the BATMAN influence. It didn't begin that way, and attempted to swerve away from that in the latter episodes, but it was too late... and it was cancelled mid-season. P.S. Robert Vaughn is also appearing at that Chicago convention I mentioned on this list earlier. I'm thinking of going, and if I do-- I look forward to meeting him, as well as Obie! Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Geoff Willmetts To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 3:36 PM Subject: [probe_control] Are we also UNCLE fans?? Hello everyone Liked the informed look from our Outer Limits chap. Might be worth doing a straw poll & see how many of us watched 'The Man From UNCLE' as well, wouldn't it?? In the UK in the 60s, anything that was out of the ordinary got watched. There was at a few years gap between UNCLE & Search though. We just tended to pick out the jewels a lot easier. What other competition did you chaps & chapettes have on your side of the pond at the time that might have swayed you elsewhere anyway?? Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "Marta Dawes" Date: Sat May 4, 2002 10:55 pm Subject: RE: [probe_control] Are we also UNCLE fans?? I was absolutely bowled over by the Diana Rigg/Patrick Macnee "Avengers." I'm Omaha, Nebraska, born and raised, and I can't tell you what an impact this series had on me when it first showed here in the summer of 1967. We had 3 channels, all the network affiliates, and that's it. No independents, nothing. The shows were always being pre-empted for a religious crusade, political debates, and anything else that was bland and uninteresting. Those shows still sit in my brain, taking up dead space and haunting my dreams. Anyone not raised in the far-too-quiet midwest won't understand, but those that grew up here will. I would have loved to live in London during the 60's, after seeing "The Avengers." It was like a blast of color and life in our hot summer nights. I loved them and still do; I've got them on DVD and can probably recite them all by heart. "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." was a lot of fun, too, but I remember liking "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." much more, even though it was only on for 1 season. I had the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." game and used to play it constantly. Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: Geoff Willmetts [mailto:gfwillmetts@hotmail.com] Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 3:37 PM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] Are we also UNCLE fans?? Hello everyone Liked the informed look from our Outer Limits chap. Might be worth doing a straw poll & see how many of us watched 'The Man From UNCLE' as well, wouldn't it?? In the UK in the 60s, anything that was out of the ordinary got watched. There was at a few years gap between UNCLE & Search though. We just tended to pick out the jewels a lot easier. What other competition did you chaps & chapettes have on your side of the pond at the time that might have swayed you elsewhere anyway?? Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: actingman@myrealbox.com Date: Sun May 5, 2002 12:35 am Subject: What a find A few weeks back I was contacted by Trevor from Australia. He was looking for some Search episodes. Seems he was missing three of them...having taped all the rest directly off the air on Beta when his local station ran them in the early 80's. He was missing Countdown, Packagers and Ends of the Earth. I sent him a copies of Countdown and Packagers. He sent me copies of all his tapes. Which means we now have Moonrock, Live Men Tell Tales and A Honeymoon To Kill. When they ran the pilot down there, they ran it with the Probe titles, and with both opening scenes...which means I have to rewrite the FAQ on our web site. Trevor says this was not the Network Ten run...this was his local station running Search. From what I can tell...they were running high quality 16mm prints...complete with dirt, splices...everything we in the U.S. missed out on when Search was withheld from syndication. I say high quality cause the colors of the flying globes are very bright and true...but it doesn't have the full clarity of 35mm prints. I have always believed that Network Ten ran Search from video tapes. For those of you who are in PAL regions, he said he will be happy to share. And it makes more sense for PAL members to go directly to him. Below is his info: From: "trevoran" You can tell the fans. PAL is a lot easier for me to copy. I charge $30.00 AUSTRALIAN per three hour tape, this includes air-mail postage. Hi Again John, I forgot to mention, if they want four hour tapes with five eps per tape as I have done for you, I can do those for $45.00 AUSTRALIAN per tape (again this includes the cost of air mail postage). Regards Trevor _________________________ Me again: The tapes he sent me are in PAL, and for some reason my converting machine acts like Macrovision when you try to dub from them. I found a workaround by first copying to my HD recorder (which proves they do not have macrovision cause the HD would not record it otherwise) and then dubbing them to NTSC VHS. Anyway...this makes for longer dubbig times, so be patient, contact me off list, and I am now taking a deep breath, cause I know I am about to get deluged. From: "Marta Dawes" Date: Sun May 5, 2002 10:14 am Subject: RE: [probe_control] What a find Okay, I guess I'm ready to order the episodes; how do I go about that again? Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: actingman@myrealbox.com [mailto:actingman@myrealbox.com] Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 11:35 PM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] What a find A few weeks back I was contacted by Trevor from Australia. He was looking for some Search episodes. Seems he was missing three of them...having taped all the rest directly off the air on Beta when his local station ran them in the early 80's. He was missing Countdown, Packagers and Ends of the Earth. I sent him a copies of Countdown and Packagers. He sent me copies of all his tapes. Which means we now have Moonrock, Live Men Tell Tales and A Honeymoon To Kill. When they ran the pilot down there, they ran it with the Probe titles, and with both opening scenes...which means I have to rewrite the FAQ on our web site. Trevor says this was not the Network Ten run...this was his local station running Search. From what I can tell...they were running high quality 16mm prints...complete with dirt, splices...everything we in the U.S. missed out on when Search was withheld from syndication. I say high quality cause the colors of the flying globes are very bright and true...but it doesn't have the full clarity of 35mm prints. I have always believed that Network Ten ran Search from video tapes. For those of you who are in PAL regions, he said he will be happy to share. And it makes more sense for PAL members to go directly to him. Below is his info: From: "trevoran" You can tell the fans. PAL is a lot easier for me to copy. I charge $30.00 AUSTRALIAN per three hour tape, this includes air-mail postage. Hi Again John, I forgot to mention, if they want four hour tapes with five eps per tape as I have done for you, I can do those for $45.00 AUSTRALIAN per tape (again this includes the cost of air mail postage). Regards Trevor _________________________ Me again: The tapes he sent me are in PAL, and for some reason my converting machine acts like Macrovision when you try to dub from them. I found a workaround by first copying to my HD recorder (which proves they do not have macrovision cause the HD would not record it otherwise) and then dubbing them to NTSC VHS. Anyway...this makes for longer dubbig times, so be patient, contact me off list, and I am now taking a deep breath, cause I know I am about to get deluged. From: Jack Bagley Date: Sun May 5, 2002 10:42 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] What a find Okay...tell me *exactly* what I have to do, how much I have to send, to where do I have to send it...so my SEARCH collection can be one (three, actually) steps closer to being complete. "Moonrock" was one of my all-time favorites! And after listening to the audio of "Live Men Tell Tales," I can't wait to see that one again either!!! And, of course, the third one is a classic as well! Thanks...this is excitement on this end!! Jack ===== Jack Check out the finest in independent science fiction novels at Fine Line Publishing: http://www.Fine-Linepc.com/AC.html http://www.Fine-Linepc.com/TWLB.html From: "kevin_searchprobe" Date: Sun May 5, 2002 7:05 pm Subject: Re: What a find Does this mean every episode is now present & accounted for? Incredible. --- In probe_control@y..., actingman@m... wrote: > A few weeks back I was contacted by Trevor from Australia. He was looking > for some Search episodes. Seems he was missing three of them...having > taped all the rest directly off the air on Beta when his local station ran > them in the early 80's. > > He was missing Countdown, Packagers and Ends of the Earth. > > I sent him a copies of Countdown and Packagers. > > He sent me copies of all his tapes. > > Which means we now have Moonrock, Live Men Tell Tales and A Honeymoon To Kill. > > When they ran the pilot down there, they ran it with the Probe titles, and > with both opening scenes...which means I have to rewrite the FAQ on our web > site. > > Trevor says this was not the Network Ten run...this was his local station > running Search. > > From what I can tell...they were running high quality 16mm > prints...complete with dirt, splices...everything we in the U.S. missed out > on when Search was withheld from syndication. I say high quality cause the > colors of the flying globes are very bright and true...but it doesn't have > the full clarity of 35mm prints. I have always believed that Network Ten > ran Search from video tapes. > > For those of you who are in PAL regions, he said he will be happy to > share. And it makes more sense for PAL members to go directly to > him. Below is his info: > > From: "trevoran" > > You can tell the fans. PAL is a lot easier for me to copy. I charge $30.00 > AUSTRALIAN per three hour tape, this includes air-mail postage. > > Hi Again John, > I forgot to mention, if they want four hour tapes with five eps per tape as > I have done for you, I can do those for $45.00 AUSTRALIAN per tape (again > this includes the cost of air mail postage). > Regards > Trevor > > _________________________ > > Me again: > > The tapes he sent me are in PAL, and for some reason my converting machine > acts like Macrovision when you try to dub from them. I found a workaround > by first copying to my HD recorder (which proves they do not have > macrovision cause the HD would not record it otherwise) and then dubbing > them to NTSC VHS. > > Anyway...this makes for longer dubbig times, so be patient, contact me off > list, and I am now taking a deep breath, cause I know I am about to get deluged. From: actingman@myrealbox.com Date: Sun May 5, 2002 7:23 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: What a find We are missing Ends Of The Earth. At 11:05 PM 5/5/2002 +0000, you wrote: >Does this mean every episode is now present & accounted for? >Incredible. > >--- In probe_control@y..., actingman@m... wrote: > > A few weeks back I was contacted by Trevor from Australia. He was >looking > > for some Search episodes. Seems he was missing three of >them...having > > taped all the rest directly off the air on Beta when his local >station ran > > them in the early 80's. > > > > He was missing Countdown, Packagers and Ends of the Earth. > > > > I sent him a copies of Countdown and Packagers. > > > > He sent me copies of all his tapes. > > > > Which means we now have Moonrock, Live Men Tell Tales and A >Honeymoon To Kill. > > > > When they ran the pilot down there, they ran it with the Probe >titles, and > > with both opening scenes...which means I have to rewrite the FAQ on >our web > > site. > > > > Trevor says this was not the Network Ten run...this was his local >station > > running Search. > > > > From what I can tell...they were running high quality 16mm > > prints...complete with dirt, splices...everything we in the U.S. >missed out > > on when Search was withheld from syndication. I say high quality >cause the > > colors of the flying globes are very bright and true...but it >doesn't have > > the full clarity of 35mm prints. I have always believed that >Network Ten > > ran Search from video tapes. > > > > For those of you who are in PAL regions, he said he will be happy >to > > share. And it makes more sense for PAL members to go directly to > > him. Below is his info: > > > > From: "trevoran" > > > > You can tell the fans. PAL is a lot easier for me to copy. I charge >$30.00 > > AUSTRALIAN per three hour tape, this includes air-mail postage. > > > > Hi Again John, > > I forgot to mention, if they want four hour tapes with five eps per >tape as > > I have done for you, I can do those for $45.00 AUSTRALIAN per tape >(again > > this includes the cost of air mail postage). > > Regards > > Trevor > > > > _________________________ > > > > Me again: > > > > The tapes he sent me are in PAL, and for some reason my converting >machine > > acts like Macrovision when you try to dub from them. I found a >workaround > > by first copying to my HD recorder (which proves they do not have > > macrovision cause the HD would not record it otherwise) and then >dubbing > > them to NTSC VHS. > > > > Anyway...this makes for longer dubbig times, so be patient, contact >me off > > list, and I am now taking a deep breath, cause I know I am about to >get deluged. From: actingman@myrealbox.com Date: Sun May 5, 2002 11:09 pm Subject: List Messages Archive I've archived this list's messages on www.probecontrol.com . The link to the messages is at the bottom of the opening page. You can go directly to the page of archives here http://probecontrol.com/list.html . I saved them in simple text format, and grouped them by months. I have also placed all of the messages in a zip file on the page as well. There may not be any reason for us already on the list, but you can download them to your HD and not have to look at Yahoo's ads. So far I have from the beginning up through February of this year. I did not edit anything. The message count is off a little bit because there were some HTML messages that Yahoo cannot display, and I skipped a couple of replies to a damaged address book request. Other then that, it should all be here. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Sun May 5, 2002 11:56 pm Subject: Re: What a find --- In probe_control@y..., actingman@m... wrote: > A few weeks back I was contacted by Trevor from Australia... > Which means we now have Moonrock, Live Men Tell Tales and A Honeymoon To Kill... John: That's great news about finding three out of the last four SEARCH eps we've been missing. Anyone who'd like a preview of these episodes (or the newly posted "Packagers" scans) can find our filmclip scans at probecontrol.com: http://www.probecontrol.com/Scans.html For folks on the list, several months ago we were discussing this and John basically predicted that "Ends of the Earth" would be the one we would not being able to find on video. (All we have on that episode is the script and the audio-only CD. No filmclips were available on that episode either.) In return, my prediction to John at that time was this: It would be ironic indeed if, once we do finally find "Ends," that some cable channel would start running SEARCH in the U.S. for the first time in some 30 years. Ironic indeed. --Don H. From: "crayresearch2001" Date: Mon May 6, 2002 12:29 am Subject: Re: Are we also UNCLE fans?? Man from U.N.C.L.E brings back some primordial images for me. That's when I was really staying up late. There was an ongoing joke at our house about the charachter (Boss?) Mr. Waverly as we lived on Waverly st. Wouldn't mind seeing it again though. I just watched a tape of The Protectors (1972) with Robert Vaughn and it's safe to say here that it had a very Avengers feel to it. I once read in an old copy of Pagent magizine that Robert Vaughn was seriously considering running for office with an eye on the US Presidency. Hmmm...reminds me of a SEARCH episode with Bill Bixby. Perhaps the role would have been better played by Robert Vaughn. Don-2 From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Tue May 7, 2002 10:13 pm Subject: Proposed SEARCH Article for tvparty.com SEARCHtvparty1.htm Hi folks: A while back, several suggested that we put together an article which we could submit to tvparty.com for posting on their site. It was mentioned that tvparty often gets requests for a SEARCH article, but the one who runs the website didn't quite have the information and the photos, etc. I've posted a "first draft" of a proposed article for feedback in our Files section. I'm sure I may have missed some good bets here and there, and it probably can be tightened considerably--or jazzed up--as the case may be. I figure this gives us something to start with. Photos can be added later, and it may be helpful for folks to suggest some of the best filmclip scans we've posted which could be used. Naturally we want a pic of the SEARCH logo, pics of the three Probe agents, Cameron and Miss Harding, etc. Also a shot maybe showing the change in the Probe Control sets. Plus a close up of the scanner. Maybe a shot of Grover's 70's era Corvette Stingray, etc. It would be nice if we could include a clear shot of, say, Leslie Stevens and/or Bob Justman. If you've read the other articles on tvparty, they usually give a broad overview of whatever series, who starred in it, the format, famous guest stars, etc., along with pictures. Emphasized are those elements and aspects that make that particular series noteworthy for the average person. The article cannot be too terribly lengthy, although I'm sure tvparty will edit whatever we send so it will fit with their format. The hope is that our links will appear at the bottom of the article so that folks who want further info will come to us. What does everyone think? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/probe_control/files/Tvparty/SEARCHtvparty1.htm More later, Don H. From: "rbrfab" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 5:54 am Subject: Re: What a find Hi John; just a query about Trevor's recordings. Obviously the chief interest for us all is the new episodes (superb news), but I wondered if you could give us some guidance on your assessment of the quality of the other tapes-- are they superior or much the same quality as those we have? Some of us may be interested in getting better copies of particular episodes if they are more complete at start, better colour, less fuzzy or whatever. For example, does his copy of 'Goddess of Destruction' have the missing teaser? And what about 'Bullet' and 'One of our Probes', where Geoff's versions fluctuate between colour and B&W? Or of course there are the occasional mechanical blips like the break in reception in 'Short Circuit' which was discussed a few messages back. But the main question is about quality of images. I'm sure we'd all be interested to hear what you think of the comparison. Richard From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 7:01 am Subject: Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Hello, gang! Well... after a few days of debating, I believe I made up my mind to go ahead an go to that Chicago convention where Hugh O'Brian will be appearing. I mean, how can I pass up a chance to meet 'Hugh Lockwood' (practically) in my own backyard!?! I can't wait to push a SEARCH photo in front of him for his autograph. With that in mind, if there's anyone who desires an autograph, please write me off list, and we'll try and work something out. O'Brian (and all the celebrities there) will be charging for their autographs. The convention is NEXT weekend-- May 18/19thth. Thanks! Jim Alexander probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "Marta Dawes" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 7:13 am Subject: RE: [probe_control] Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Jim: Do you still have any of the lithographs of the TV Guide cover? Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: Jim Alexander [mailto:probecontrol@sigecom.net] Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 6:02 AM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Hello, gang! Well... after a few days of debating, I believe I made up my mind to go ahead an go to that Chicago convention where Hugh O'Brian will be appearing. I mean, how can I pass up a chance to meet 'Hugh Lockwood' (practically) in my own backyard!?! I can't wait to push a SEARCH photo in front of him for his autograph. With that in mind, if there's anyone who desires an autograph, please write me off list, and we'll try and work something out. O'Brian (and all the celebrities there) will be charging for their autographs. The convention is NEXT weekend-- May 18/19thth. Thanks! Jim Alexander probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 7:57 am Subject: Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Yes ma'am. I do. Gee... I wonder what you're getting at...?? <> Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net ----- Original Message ----- From: Marta Dawes To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 6:13 AM Subject: RE: [probe_control] Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Jim: Do you still have any of the lithographs of the TV Guide cover? Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: Jim Alexander [mailto:probecontrol@sigecom.net] Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 6:02 AM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] Hugh O'Brian at Chicago Convention Hello, gang! Well... after a few days of debating, I believe I made up my mind to go ahead an go to that Chicago convention where Hugh O'Brian will be appearing. I mean, how can I pass up a chance to meet 'Hugh Lockwood' (practically) in my own backyard!?! I can't wait to push a SEARCH photo in front of him for his autograph. With that in mind, if there's anyone who desires an autograph, please write me off list, and we'll try and work something out. O'Brian (and all the celebrities there) will be charging for their autographs. The convention is NEXT wFrom: "kevin_searchprobe" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 2:46 pm Subject: Re: Are we also UNCLE fans?? From: "kevin_searchprobe" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 2:46 pm Subject: Re: Are we also UNCLE fans?? There were enough years between UNCLE & SEARCH, that UNCLE was a little early for some of us. I don't remember seeing it when it first aired. Funny you brought up 'The Protectors' -- I remember it very well & hardly anyone I've asked about it remembers it at all. I've been able to track down a few episodes of it in the US, but it's difficult to find. It was a British import show like 'The Persuaders', 'U.F.O.', and 'The Champions'. in the US, they all ran in about 1971 or '72 I believe, just prior or during the time of 'SEARCH'. I liked all of these series quite a bit, but SEARCH most of all. If Robert Vaughn hadn't been involved in another series, I wonder if they would've asked him to become a PROBE? What actors who were active in 1972 do you guys think might've made reasonably good PROBE agents? William Shatner? Robert Conrad? Adam West? --- In probe_control@y..., "crayresearch2001" wrote: > Man from U.N.C.L.E brings back some primordial images for me. That's > when I was really staying up late. There was an ongoing joke at our > house about the charachter (Boss?) Mr. Waverly as we lived on Waverly > st. Wouldn't mind seeing it again though. I just watched a tape of > The Protectors (1972) with The Protectors (1972and it's safe to say here > that it had a very Avengers feel to it. I once read in an old copy of > Pagent magizine that Robert Vaughn was seriously considering running > for office with an eye on the US Presidency. Hmmm...reminds me of a > SEARCH episode with Bill Bixby. Perhaps the role would have been > better played by Robert Vaughn. > > Don-2 From: "dghprobe3" Date: Wed May 8, 2002 11:56 pm Subject: Alternate Probe Agents? --- In probe_control@y..., "kevin_searchprobe" wrote: > What actors who were active in 1972 do you guys think might've made > reasonably good PROBE agents? William Shatner? Robert Conrad? Adam > West? Hmm. If SEARCH had become a long-running show, it's possible one of the 'big three' might have opted to drop out of their contract. If Leslie Stevens was at the helm, like he was at the beginning, odds would have favored actors he had worked with before. Robert Wagner (of Steven's "It Takes a Thief") comes to mind as a possible replacement Probe agent. If Jack ("Stoney Burke") Lord hadn't been so successful with "Hawaii 5-0," he might have made a good Probe agent, although his approach to the role likely would have been similar to O'Brian's. If Anthony Spinner (who worked with "Man From UNCLE") was the one at the helm, it's possible Robert Vaughn would have been approached to be a replacement Probe agent because of the prior association. I remember when Tony Franciosa left "Name of the Game," Universal used a variety of different actors to replace him. Included among these were: Robert Culp as Paul Tyler, Peter Falk as Lewis Corbett, and Robert Wagner as David Corey. Robert Culp would have made an interesting offbeat Probe agent, now that I think of it. Shatner, Conrad and West may not have worked out because they probably wouldn't want "second billing" status under Hugh O'Brian, but if SEARCH had become a successful hit, it probably wouldn't have mattered much. Who knows? :-) More later, Don From: dmanmetz@aol.com Date: Thu May 9, 2002 3:10 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Alternate Probe Agents? Don't forget Lee Majors. Although not a huge TV star at the time, he had the Big Valley under his belt, but he was also one of the four rotating stars of during the last year of the "Virgian" (1970-1971) in which it was titled "The Men from Shiloh" Leslie Stevens produced the Doug MClure episodes only in which he played Trampas, which in turn is probley why he got hired for Search. I think Glenn Larsen produced the Lee Majors episodes which he played Roy Tate. At the time of Search Lee Majors was starring as a second bill on Owen Marshall: Counslor at Law, which ironically was on opposite of "Search" for the second half of the season (JAN 73). Of course we all know that Lee Majors went on to become the unltimate "Search/ bionic" guy in the enormously popular "Six Million Dollar Man" begining in Jan 1973 with as a ABC TV Movie. One side note: If you are intrested in reading about "The Men Shiloh", check out TV Party. Many fans considered that as a sequel to the Virgian, but hated what Stevens did in terms of writing to McClure's very popular Trampas character that he had been playing for 9 years. Also there is one episode of the "Men from Shiloh" in which Tony Franciosa guest starred on a Doug McClure episode. Bianco and Grover on the same episode, I gotta find that one! Shifting gears,maybe a good question to ask Mr. O'Brian at the convention, who was considered to be casted and why he didn't want to do all 23 episodes. Oh yeah, one last question that I am dying to know? Were did Search finish in the ratings! Chris From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Thu May 9, 2002 5:43 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] UNCLE & Alternate Probe Agents Hello everyone Hello Don H The very early UNCLEs were probably a little too serious for the networks. Looking at the way McCallum's character was placed, the original thought was it was going to be specifically Vaughn's show as the US James Bond - which indeed he was as Fleming was involved in his creation. The problem was for TV, the lead character needed someone to tell what was going on & the public liked McCallum's Kurikan character. The more lighter touches were no doubt used to off-set the violent behaviour. Clever guns. Lotta fire power no blood. In some respects, the Outer Limits chap is wrong. Whereas UNCLE made light of the entire situation, with Search, it was the characters recognising the humour within the situation. Not quite the same thing. Something I think we both agree about. I'm not sure I agree about the Batman camp totally approach though. I mean, 'It Takes A Thief', 'Mission: Impossible' & 'I Spy' were around at the same time just about & they share things more in common with Search. Hello Marta Hitting on UK shows is definitely home territory but it would be hard to say whether 'The Avengers' had any influence on any US shows cos of the 'British' feel to it. The series lived within its own reality. You've only got to look at the backgrounds & the absence of any other characters to see it working. It was done that way purely to keep the budget down but it became its trademark. 'Course, it had wonderful scripts that helped a lot. I wasn't old enough to visit London until the early 70s. The pop culture was ingrained & we just took it for granted with our musical tastes. By the by, did you ever get to see the UK 'UFO' SF TV series?? The Long Sleep' episode hit on the 70s drug culture & promptly got it allocated to a late night viewing by the TV channels that might make you feel nostalgic. Not about the drugs, just the scenes of London from that time. Hello Don-2 Even reading the book on UNCLE gives no clues as to who is really in charge of the organisation. Waverley headed the American branch but it's sorta like the FBI where power is delegated down I guess. 'The Protectors' was an odd Anderson show (the same people who made 'UFO', Marta). 27 minutes was hardly long enough to get the show rolling although there were a couple of good episodes in there. We often wondered who they were supposed to be protecting cos much of the time, it was just an excuse for an adventure story. Considering our low budgets over here, story quality counted far more. Apart from 'The Avengers', there is still some regard for 'The Champions', 'Department S', et al - Brian Clemens wrote for these as well as I recall. For straight spy stuff, 'Callan' & much much later, 'The Sandbaggers' really gave a feel for how we big boys played spies in the UK. Speaking of Robert Vaughn. Considering he played the bad guy in the TV series 'Washington: Behind Closed Doors' based on Watergate, I don't think he could have been considering that seriously moving into politics. 'Sides, who'd have an actor for a president. :) You're right about the late Bill Bixby. He was just too nice to play bad guys. He'd have to get big & green to be really angry. Hello Kevin 'The Protectors' came after 'Space: 1999'. We had a repeat showing in the early 90s but it has never been issued on video - whether that's a blessing is debatable. If you're curious, there is a novelisation called 'The Protectors' by Robert Miall that you can probably located via abebooks.com. As to other possible Probe agents. The problem working against all your suggestions is the baggage they'd have carried. Shatner's Kirk & West's Batman was still difficult for them to shake off at the time. They'd have also been too contemporary to what they needed. McClure was there cos he looked younger & a definite contrast & looking like a beach bum - were there any other actors who'd have qualified for that part. Franciscosa, correct me if I'm wrong, was there cos of studio contract. O'Brian cos he was part-financing. It's all the way the apples fall from the trees. Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com From: actingman@myrealbox.com Date: Thu May 9, 2002 7:01 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: What a find I haven't looked at all of them yet...but they are probably all superior quality. None of the "rabbit ears" reception problems that the Network Ten tapes have. No color fading. I scanned quickly through The Bullet...quality is much better, and it is complete. Goddess does have the teaser. None of the episodes have the squares going across the screen with the stinger...at least the ones I have looked at. A woman living in York, England has contacted Trevor...so she may be getting the episodes. So you may hear first hand how they look on a PAL playback...she may join the list. At 09:54 AM 5/8/2002 +0000, you wrote: >Hi John; just a query about Trevor's recordings. Obviously the chief >interest for us all is the new episodes (superb news), but I wondered >if you could give us some guidance on your assessment of the quality >of the other tapes-- are they superior or much the same quality as >those we have? Some of us may be interested in getting better copies >of particular episodes if they are more complete at start, better >colour, less fuzzy or whatever. For example, does his copy of 'Goddess >of Destruction' have the missing teaser? And what about 'Bullet' and >'One of our Probes', where Geoff's versions fluctuate between colour >and B&W? Or of course there are the occasional mechanical blips like >the break in reception in 'Short Circuit' which was discussed a few >messages back. But the main question is about quality of images. I'm >sure we'd all be interested to hear what you think of the comparison. >Richard From: "dghprobe3" Date: Thu May 9, 2002 10:17 pm Subject: Re: Alternate Probe Agents? --- In probe_control@y..., dmanmetz@a... wrote: > ...Shifting gears,maybe a good question to ask Mr. O'Brian at the convention, who was considered to be casted and why he didn't want to do all 23 episodes. Oh yeah, one last question that I am dying to know? Were did Search finish in the ratings! Hi Chris: I don't know which article it was, but at the time O'Brian was signed to star in SEARCH, he did not desire the grind of a weekly series. Stevens dusted off the "revolving heroes" format which worked for "Name of the Game" and NBC's "Mystery Movie" and applied it to SEARCH, and it got O'Brian's OK. Plus O'Brian became part owner of the series. A better question for O'Brian would be why has SEARCH languished in a vault with no U.S. syndication for some 30 years? If he was part owner of the show and if the series ended in a deficit, it seems sad that no effort was made to try to recover the cost of the series through reruns. While 23 episodes are usually not enough for syndication (they'd rather have 80 to 100 episodes), that didn't stop the one-season wonders "Battlestar Galactica," "Time Tunnel," "Kolchak," "The Prisoner" and others from becoming worldwide cult hits. On ratings, the only article I ever saw on the Neilsen ratings of SEARCH was for the January 1973 first run of "A Honeymoon to Kill." As I recall, that episode got a 35 out of some 64 shows. SEARCH wasn't exactly a runaway hit for NBC, but it wasn't doing that badly either. --Don H. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Thu May 9, 2002 10:46 pm Subject: the mid-1960's BATMAN virus Hi Geoff: Always good to hear from you. I knew that the first and last seasons of UNCLE were more serious in tone (thanks also to Jim for reminding me), however my post was an attempt to answer 1972-era TV critics who tried to compare UNCLE to SEARCH. While not delving too deeply into it, I pointed out as a 'for instance' that SEARCH never had a cartoony villian, something UNCLE can't deny. The first and last season episodes of UNCLE compare quite favorably to SEARCH in tone, but not the campy UNCLE episodes. Unfortunately, the BATMAN influence was a heavy one for the mid- 1960's. "Wild Wild West" was another show that was affected. When "West" started in 1965, it was definitely James Bond out west. When "Batman" started in January 1966, "West" shifted gears and became more fanciful in tone, the villians became more cartoony, etc. Similar thing happened to "Lost in Space," which started out fairly serious and became more cartoony in their second season. Bill Mumy states in interviews that it was BATMAN which basically caused the change. You are right, though. Somehow "I Spy," "It Takes a Thief," and "Mission Impossible" bucked the BATMAN trend for the most part. Probably the producers of those shows had more clout to resist copying what they may have seen as a popular but passing fad. More later, Don H. ---------------------------- --- In probe_control@y..., "Geoff Willmetts" wrote: > Hello Don H > The very early UNCLEs were probably a little too serious for the > networks... > I'm not sure I agree about the Batman camp totally approach > though. I mean, 'It Takes A Thief', 'Mission: Impossible' & 'I Spy' > were around at the same time just about & they share things more in > common with Search. From: dmanmetz@aol.com Date: Thu May 9, 2002 11:35 pm Subject: Re: Re: [probe_control] Re: What a find Did "Flight to nowhere" have a teaser? Chris From: Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:04 am Subject: BATMAN virus You are right, though. Somehow "I Spy," "It Takes a Thief," and "Mission Impossible" bucked the BATMAN trend for the most part. ----------------------------- Wow. I can't even IMAGINE a campy MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE! ;) THIEF and SPY were certainly tongue-in-cheek at times, but Don is correct--I don't remember them ever being referred to as 'campy'. Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:08 am Subject: Flight to Nowhere teaser Australian "Flight to Nowhere" post http://groups.yahoo.com/group/probe_control/message/228 Hi Chris: Yes, "Flight to Nowhere" has a teaser. Jim found the Australian version after I sent out my Armed Forces version of it. But there are funny edits before and during one of the fight scenes, so there's a trade off of missing footage between that and the Armed Forces version. You would need an edited combination of both to have an complete uncut version of the episode. If John has a newer and different "Flight to Nowhere," and the quality beats the two versions we already have, his would be the one to go with. However--I think we should hold off on these previous episodes until John can get these newly-found ones distributed (Moonrock, Live Men, & Honeymoon). Then again, whoever sends Chris his dubs of these newer shows can always add the Australian teaser to "Flight" at the end of one of his tapes. --Don H. From: Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:18 am Subject: Alternate Probe Agents? I agree completely with the always-insightful Don Harden. While I'd be surprised if Robert Vaughn would have considered the role (too much like U.N.C.L.E.), I concur that Robert Wagner, Jack Lord, and even Robert Culp would have all been very plausible candidates for Probe Agents. I'd LOVE to have seen their interpretation. <> Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "dghprobe3" Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:28 am Subject: Re: Alternate Probe Agents? Jim just reminded me of something. I once read that Burt Reynolds turned down the main role of astronaut Brent in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" because he felt the character "wasn't his own person." One of the complaints critics had with SEARCH (and apparently Hugh O'Brian, at least for a while, according to that 1972 TV Guide article), was that the Probe agents were sort of ordered about by Cameron back at Probe Control. Rightly or wrongly, this aspect would have been brought up by any other actor approached to work on the series. It's probably safe to say that someone like Burt Reynolds would have turned SEARCH down, unless he needed the money. Evidently O'Brian and Stevens never had an association prior to SEARCH, but Franciosa, McClure, Meredith, Tompkins, Justman and much of the crew did. Stevens evidently was able to sell the idea of the show to them and they evidently trusted him with the product. --Don ------------------------------------- --- In probe_control@y..., wrote: > ...While I'd be surprised if Robert Vaughn would have considered > the role (too much like U.N.C.L.E.), I concur that Robert > Wagner, Jack Lord, and even Robert Culp would have all been > very plausible candidates for Probe Agents. > > I'd LOVE to have seen their interpretation. <> From: Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:34 am Subject: More Alternate Probe Agents? Just noticed Chris's letter about Lee Majors (Leslie Stevens connection) as a potential Probe Agent! ANOTHER interesting idea! I always thought Majors lacked a certain charisma, and wasn't a BAD actor... but never considered him a GREAT one, either. Although I think he rarely got to use whatever talents he posessed in the series... in the SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN pilot, CYBORG-- he is actually pretty good. Jim Alexander probecontrol@sigecom.net From: Paul Browne Date: Fri May 10, 2002 12:24 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Alternate Probe Agents etc. --- dmanmetz@aol.com wrote: > Don't forget Lee Majors. Although not a huge TV > star at the time, he had the Big Valley under his > belt, but he was also one of the four rotating stars > of during the last year of the "Virgian" (1970-1971) > in which it was titled "The Men from Shiloh" Leslie > Stevens produced the Doug MClure episodes only in > which he played Trampas, which in turn is probley > why he got hired for Search. I think Glenn Larsen > produced the Lee Majors episodes which he played Roy > Tate. It's been many, many years since I've seen the 1960's version of "The Virginian." Had forgotten that there were four rotating stars the last year, still not clear about that, but the one thing I do remember is that the actors who stayed the entire run of the series were Doug McClure as Trampas and James Drury as, of course, the Virginian. They re-teamed for a cameo in the Kenny Rogers "Gambler" movie that had many old-time Western stars (including iirc Hugh O'Brian and McClure's friend David Carradine). > One side note: If you are intrested in > reading about "The Men Shiloh", check out TV Party. Ok I will. Still not sure what the differences and similarities were between "Men From Shiloh" and "The Virginian," other than that Drury and/or McClure were in both series. I also seem to remember Lee J. Cobb as the ranch owner in early seasons of "Virginian" and a very young "Animal House/National Lampoon" Tim Matheson (?) in "Men From Shiloh." But I'm starting to get far afield from "Search"... > Many fans considered that as a sequel to the > Virgian, but hated what Stevens did in terms of > writing to McClure's very popular Trampas character > that he had been playing for 9 years. Also there is > one episode of the "Men from Shiloh" in which Tony > Franciosa guest starred on a Doug McClure episode. > Bianco and Grover on the same episode, I gotta find > that one! Yeah I'd like to see it as well. Unlike McClure (Trampas and just saw him in the 1960 "Unforgiven") and O'Brian ("Wyatt Earp" of course), who were both at home in the motion picture and television West, Franciosa I think had a more "urban" persona and was not in many Westerns ("Rio Conchos" being a notable exception). So McClure and Franciosa together in a Western, sure! ;) > Shifting gears,maybe a good question to > ask Mr. O'Brian at the convention, who was > considered to be casted and why he didn't want to do > all 23 episodes. To add to the growing list, here are a couple more for Hugh O'Brian: did he get to meet Tony Franciosa and/or Doug McClure during "Search" filming or promotion, if so how did they get along? Does he have a favorite "Search" episode of his and, if he saw any of the ones with Tony or Doug, what did he think of the way they played it vs. his own? Anthony fusillade2000@yahoo.com From: Paul Browne Date: Fri May 10, 2002 1:14 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Alternate Probe Agents? --- dghprobe3 wrote: > I don't know which article it was, but at > the time O'Brian > was signed to star in SEARCH, he did not desire the > grind of a weekly > series. Stevens dusted off the "revolving heroes" > format which > worked for "Name of the Game" and NBC's "Mystery > Movie" and applied > it to SEARCH, and it got O'Brian's OK. Yep. IMO there's no reason to necessarily think that further SEARCH seasons would have been reduced to one lead. Certainly the "Mystery Movie," for example, lasted quite a few years rotating Columbo, McCloud and McMillan (and Wife! ;)...though the fourth lead, once they introduced that aspect, varied (Hec Ramsey, McCoy etc.). So SEARCH may have changed some of the lead players, adding and subtracting as time went on, but they may well have kept three (or four) "main" Probes. A special/movie with two or even three of the leads in it may also have been a possibility, alas now it can only happen in fanfic. > Plus O'Brian > became part > owner of the series. > > A better question for O'Brian would be why has > SEARCH languished in a > vault with no U.S. syndication for some 30 years? > If he was part > owner of the show and if the series ended in a > deficit, it seems sad > that no effort was made to try to recover the cost > of the series > through reruns. Absolutely, and besides financial consideration there may be the motive of actors wanting to have their work out there to be perhaps seen and remembered (and for late actors like Doug McClure, to remember them a bit). If it's something like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," Robert Vaughn's commercial for hair tonic, Burt Reynolds and co.'s "Cannonball movies" (though in this latter case the stars couldn't have cared less what they were doing) etc.-in other words a real embarrassment-then any surviving actors probably would want it to be buried. But IMO (and likely that of most here) SEARCH was nothing to be ashamed of. We were talking about a theoretical SEARCH revival awhile back. Whether it gets revived or not, showing the series on cable/syndication and/or video release (as has happened with so many series) would surely increase profits for O'Brien. As for Franciosa, the SAG/AFTRA contracts of that time may have (alas) limited the royalties he could get at this late date. But, as someone suggested, maybe something could be worked out where he could come in, introduce and comment on some of the old episodes (again, as has been done with some other series). > While 23 episodes are usually not enough for > syndication (they'd > rather have 80 to 100 episodes), that didn't stop > the one-season > wonders "Battlestar Galactica," "Time Tunnel," > "Kolchak," "The > Prisoner" and others from becoming worldwide cult > hits. As you say. I remember all of those series from when they originally aired (though was quite young for TT and TP) and have seen all since...public television here in NY is even showing it again currently. And, yes, all four of the above gained additional fans in syndication. For those interested in a renewed SEARCH, there's even been talk (again) of reviving, in one form or another, BG and/or TT...Kolchak was sort of revived on a couple of X-Files episodes but I'll scream bloody murder if anyone tries to revive "Prisoner" without Patrick McGoohan's active participation (that was such an individual series it needs him more than, say, BG needs Glen Larson or TT needs Irwin Allen). Another interesting thing is that McGoohan wrote a (very gracious and professional) sort of introduction to one of the "cult tv" books. SEARCH wasn't one of the (many) shows profiled, though. Would have been intriguing if Lockwood or Bianco met Number 6. > On ratings, the only article I ever saw on the > Neilsen ratings of > SEARCH was for the January 1973 first run of "A > Honeymoon to Kill." > As I recall, that episode got a 35 out of some 64 > shows. SEARCH > wasn't exactly a runaway hit for NBC, but it wasn't > doing that badly > either. Yeah though on the recent NBC "75th Anniversary Special" I don't think there was any mention of it (and they even mentioned "Supertrain," in the "colossal flops" category! ;). Over the years, I saw many episodes of SEARCH's "main" competition, "Cannon." Mixed feelings about that show, IMO William Conrad wasn't a bad actor and he had that famous, deep commercial/radio/voiceover voice of authority. On the other hand, it was the series that more or less knocked SEARCH off the air. And, as was said, it was difficult to believe the obese Conrad as an "action hero"...maybe that's why so much of "Cannon" consisted of Conrad just driving around, talking on his (novel at the time) mobile phone. Why there was never a sidekick-partner for him, as on "Jake and the Fat Man," I don't know...I think the episodes where Buddy Ebsen guest starred (as Barnaby Jones), or Hari Rhodes, or even an attractive actress, were the better ones. Don't really remember what was SEARCH's ABC competition, maybe that Julie Andrews variety show. Can't recall anything about it other than it may have been the one where Andrews had the real Maria von Trapp on the stage with her. Anthony fusillade2000@yahoo.com From: "Bob Greenberger" Date: Fri May 10, 2002 4:39 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Search ratings and competition A quick check shows that Search was opposite The Julie Andrews Hour, smart counter-programming against two dramas. A lengthier web search failed to find a complete list of the season ending ratings for the 1972-73 TV season. What I did find was that Cannon's first season propelled it to #14 for the year, with a 22.4 rating, .5 behind Marcus Welby, M.D. That seems a strong enough rating to have successfully buried Search. ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Browne To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 1:14 PM Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Alternate Probe Agents? --- dghprobe3 wrote: > I don't know which article it was, but at > the time O'Brian > was signed to star in SEARCH, he did not desire the > grind of a weekly > series. Stevens dusted off the "revolving heroes" > format which > worked for "Name of the Game" and NBC's "Mystery > Movie" and applied > it to SEARCH, and it got O'Brian's OK. Yep. IMO there's no reason to necessarily think that further SEARCH seasons would have been reduced to one lead. Certainly the "Mystery Movie," for example, lasted quite a few years rotating Columbo, McCloud and McMillan (and Wife! ;)...though the fourth lead, once they introduced that aspect, varied (Hec Ramsey, McCoy etc.). So SEARCH may have changed some of the lead players, adding and subtracting as time went on, but they may well have kept three (or four) "main" Probes. A special/movie with two or even three of the leads in it may also have been a possibility, alas now it can only happen in fanfic. > Plus O'Brian > became part > owner of the series. > > A better question for O'Brian would be why has > SEARCH languished in a > vault with no U.S. syndication for some 30 years? > If he was part > owner of the show and if the series ended in a > deficit, it seems sad > that no effort was made to try to recover the cost > of the series > through reruns. Absolutely, and besides financial consideration there may be the motive of actors wanting to have their work out there to be perhaps seen and remembered (and for late actors like Doug McClure, to remember them a bit). If it's something like "Plan 9 From Outer Space," Robert Vaughn's commercial for hair tonic, Burt Reynolds and co.'s "Cannonball movies" (though in this latter case the stars couldn't have cared less what they were doing) etc.-in other words a real embarrassment-then any surviving actors probably would want it to be buried. But IMO (and likely that of most here) SEARCH was nothing to be ashamed of. We were talking about a theoretical SEARCH revival awhile back. Whether it gets revived or not, showing the series on cable/syndication and/or video release (as has happened with so many series) would surely increase profits for O'Brien. As for Franciosa, the SAG/AFTRA contracts of that time may have (alas) limited the royalties he could get at this late date. But, as someone suggested, maybe something could be worked out where he could come in, introduce and comment on some of the old episodes (again, as has been done with some other series). > While 23 episodes are usually not enough for > syndication (they'd > rather have 80 to 100 episodes), that didn't stop > the one-season > wonders "Battlestar Galactica," "Time Tunnel," > "Kolchak," "The > Prisoner" and others from becoming worldwide cult > hits. As you say. I remember all of those series from when they originally aired (though was quite young for TT and TP) and have seen all since...public television here in NY is even showing it again currently. And, yes, all four of the above gained additional fans in syndication. For those interested in a renewed SEARCH, there's even been talk (again) of reviving, in one form or another, BG and/or TT...Kolchak was sort of revived on a couple of X-Files episodes but I'll scream bloody murder if anyone tries to revive "Prisoner" without Patrick McGoohan's active participation (that was such an individual series it needs him more than, say, BG needs Glen Larson or TT needs Irwin Allen). Another interesting thing is that McGoohan wrote a (very gracious and professional) sort of introduction to one of the "cult tv" books. SEARCH wasn't one of the (many) shows profiled, though. Would have been intriguing if Lockwood or Bianco met Number 6. > On ratings, the only article I ever saw on the > Neilsen ratings of > SEARCH was for the January 1973 first run of "A > Honeymoon to Kill." > As I recall, that episode got a 35 out of some 64 > shows. SEARCH > wasn't exactly a runaway hit for NBC, but it wasn't > doing that badly > either. Yeah though on the recent NBC "75th Anniversary Special" I don't think there was any mention of it (and they even mentioned "Supertrain," in the "colossal flops" category! ;). Over the years, I saw many episodes of SEARCH's "main" competition, "Cannon." Mixed feelings about that show, IMO William Conrad wasn't a bad actor and he had that famous, deep commercial/radio/voiceover voice of authority. On the other hand, it was the series that more or less knocked SEARCH off the air. And, as was said, it was difficult to believe the obese Conrad as an "action hero"...maybe that's why so much of "Cannon" consisted of Conrad just driving around, talking on his (novel at the time) mobile phone. Why there was never a sidekick-partner for him, as on "Jake and the Fat Man," I don't know...I think the episodes where Buddy Ebsen guest starred (as Barnaby Jones), or Hari Rhodes, or even an attractive actress, were the better ones. Don't really remember what was SEARCH's ABC competition, maybe that Julie Andrews variety show. Can't recall anything about it other than it may have been the one where Andrews had the real Maria von Trapp on the stage with her. Anthony fusillade2000@yahoo.com From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Fri May 10, 2002 10:56 pm Subject: SEARCH books on eBay (auction ended) SEARCH books on eBay In a recent eBay auction, the price of the two Robert Weverka paperback SEARCH books went up to $15.65, with four people vying for the items. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1534317417 From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Fri May 10, 2002 11:40 pm Subject: SEARCH books on eBay (auction ended) In the past--re: SEARCH items on eBay, I've often written to bidders and suggested that they check out the www.probecontrol.com website. Does anyone think that that's too intrusive or outrageous? I guess I just wanted to 'spread the word', and share the site with fellow 'fans'. Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net ----- Original Message ----- From: dghprobe3@aol.com To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 9:56 PM Subject: [probe_control] SEARCH books on eBay (auction ended) SEARCH books on eBay In a recent eBay auction, the price of the two Robert Weverka paperback SEARCH books went up to $15.65, with four people vying for the items. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1534317417 From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Sat May 11, 2002 12:22 am Subject: Hollywood SpyTek & UNCLE link http://www.manfromuncle.org/ Website devoted to "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." They recommend watching the TV Special "Hollywood SpyTek" Friday May 10 on the Discovery Channel (10 pm and 1 am)- lots of good U.N.C.L.E. content. Did anyone catch that special? If they gave even a one-second mention of SEARCH, I'd be surprised. From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Sat May 11, 2002 1:51 am Subject: Hollywood SpyTek HAH! A really cool show with loads of good, licensed footage! I didn't get Don's letter until 15 minutes into the program; caught the BOND, U.N.C.L.E. and GET SMART segments (so far-- there's still one segment to go as I write this), but I'm wondering what was in the first 15 minutes!?!? Jim probecontrol@sigecom.net They recommend watching the TV Special "Hollywood SpyTek" Friday May 10 on the Discovery Channel (10 pm and 1 am)- lots of good U.N.C.L.E. content. Did anyone catch that special? If they gave even a one-second mention of SEARCH, I'd be surprised. From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 12:43 am Subject: Potential questions for Hugh O'Bran I know that a couple of people have suggested questions to ask Hugh O'Brian at the Chicago convention. I've never been to one of Mr. Court's conventions before, and have no idea what to expect. Meaning, of course, that I don't know how 'accessible' Mr. O'Brian will be. I will endeavor to pose him questions, if at all possible. I DO plan on offering Mr. O'Brian a couple of SEARCH dubs, in the Anthony Taylor-designed packaging, and of course, I will give him details on the probecontrol website, too. Perhaps if O'Brian knows we're 'serious' fans of the show, he may be more receptive to interview-type questions. Please send (or re-send, as the case may be) whatever questions you have to me at: probecontrol@sigecom.net I'll compile them... and we'll see what happens. Wish me luck! Jim Alexander From: "kevin_searchprobe" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 4:36 am Subject: Re: UNCLE & Alternate Probe Agents > > As to other possible Probe agents. The problem working against all your > suggestions is the baggage they'd have carried. That was true of all the PROBE stars. O'Brian had Wyatt Earp, McClure had The Virginian, and Franciosa had ... Shelly Winters. But seriously, that was the point. Each SEARCH star had a greater TV success behind them. They were tried TV veterans who had each logged in a lot of screen time. Shatner or West might've easily used SEARCH in an attempt to try & shake off their 1960's typecasting. Shatner appeared in the Western series "The Barbary Coast" with Doug McClure almost immediately after SEARCH, btw. I think McClure was chosen because of his track record, not because he looked like a beach bum! The character of "Grover" was probably developed after McClure had signed. Shatner's Kirk & West's > Batman was still difficult for them to shake off at the time. They'd have > also been too contemporary to what they needed. McClure was there cos he > looked younger & a definite contrast & looking like a beach bum - were there > any other actors who'd have qualified for that part. Franciscosa, correct me > if I'm wrong, was there cos of studio contract. O'Brian cos he was > part-financing. It's all the way the apples fall from the trees. > > Gotta go > Geoff Willmetts > > > > > > > ********* GF Willmetts **************************** > > Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com > THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER > > Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com > THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE > Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com > *************************************************** From: "kevin_searchprobe" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 5:04 am Subject: Re: Potential questions for Hugh O'Bran If you're in an interview situation, it might be a good idea to ask him about his interest in Albert Schweitzer and how his meeting with Schweitzer inspired his HOBY organization. Since it seems to be what has affected his life the most. --- In probe_control@y..., "Jim Alexander" wrote: > I know that a couple of people have suggested questions to ask Hugh O'Brian at the Chicago convention. > > I've never been to one of Mr. Court's conventions before, and have no idea what to expect. Meaning, of course, that I don't know how 'accessible' Mr. O'Brian will be. I will endeavor to pose him questions, if at all possible. > > I DO plan on offering Mr. O'Brian a couple of SEARCH dubs, in the Anthony Taylor-designed packaging, and of course, I will give him details on the probecontrol website, too. Perhaps if O'Brian knows we're 'serious' fans of the show, he may be more receptive to interview-type questions. > > Please send (or re-send, as the case may be) whatever questions you have to me at: > > probecontrol@s... > > I'll compile them... and we'll see what happens. Wish me luck! > > Jim Alexander From: "crayresearch2001" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 11:44 am Subject: 6 SEARCH episodes on Ebay There is someone on Ebay selling 3 VHS tapes of SEARCH episodes. Here is one of the links: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1535862308 each tape with 2 episodes (ones we already have). Maybe one of the regulars could get in touch with the person to see what kind of quality they are, and where they were taped from as I am really too busy right now. Good Luck! Don-2 From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 5:11 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Search comparisons Hello everyone & especially... Hello Don Comparison between UNCLE & Search. I think the major difference was cos the former had THRUSH. Considering THRUSH's resources, their continual failure turned them into camp villains simply because if they were competent they'd have beaten UNCLE instead of played with their agents instead of killing them when they had the chance. If you want a worse scenario, look at how Mr. Schubert (actor Victor Bruno) dumbed down in 'Man From Atlantis' simply cos they kept bringing him back instead of finding new villains. World Securities, in comparison, didn't have any ready villains & just tangled with anyone who got in their way so reoccurring problems didn't happen. Although I wouldn't think that was a deliberate ploy, it would have had a better effect on the series. Re: The Batman influence. You can hardly blame the TV companies for jumping on the bandwagon judging by how the viewing figures jumped. It's just a shame they didn't understand why it was popular. The more serious 'Green Hornet' - I got a compilation video of it earlier in the years - just didn't hack it. It's only when you start contemplating super-heroes in too serious a fashion that some of the more ludicrous areas come up. [Search through the website when I work for my article on super-hero costumes, 'Hot Pants & Zoot Suits', if you want a giggle over one aspect. Sorry about the plug but no sense repeating myself too much for those not interested.] The problem with doing super-heroes was the economics of doing it in our world than create a world that would make it work - Tim Burton actually got that bit right in his first 'Batman' film. DC characters kinda got away with it cos there was little need to recognise there were other super-heroes around. Also the DC characters pretty much had a city to themselves. Marvel’s tend to be around New York. Up until now, this is one of the reasons why Marvel based films or series never really took off cos they didn't had the rights to show other characters even in cameo. Whether this will happen after the new Spider-Man film is debatable. Attention has to be paid to the world developed for any series or film with fantastic elements if it is to survive. Re: Lost In Space. I was under the impression that it was including Smith & giving Jonathan Harris his head that got the show going. I understand the pilot sans him was tediously boring. It was cos of the viewing figures that Smith was spared from being killed off after a dozen episodes. In many respects, I think Irwin Allen lost the plot with this series especially with the more serious 'Star Trek' around with a little more budget. If he stayed serious there would have been an open contrast that would have sunk LiS even faster. Going the comic route is probably what saved it. Hello Jim Mission: Impossible as reviewed today was simply a CIA Black Bag operations unit. I often wondered why the CIA didn't attempt to sink it before it was shown but then they'd to kill the rumours that this is what was really goes on. I bet Nixon wished he'd had Phelps team when the Watergate situation happened. :) A campy M:I. You're right. It would have been hard to carry off. The series was too orientated towards plot than characters. Although they weren't robots - except villain Michael Strong who played an android over in 'Star Trek - stepping outside of the plan with too many quirky smiles would have made it like...well, like 'The A-Team.' :) A little more reflecting, I'd have classed 'Garrison's Gorillas' to be a Mission: Impossible variant set in WW2. If you want an interesting speculation: I wonder what would have happened had Leslie Stevens either wrote script for or went in on the production side of Mission: Impossible?? As I've previously commented, there are some obvious M:I influences with PROBE so he couldn't have been ignoring the show. Hello Don again Re: Actors wanting roles that fit their recognised screen persona. This sorta thing's been going on for years. Why else are American actors so cautious about playing villainous roles in films that the companies have to invite mostly British actors in to do such parts?? There are some notable exceptions amongst the American actors but these are principally character actors who go for the part, pretty much like the British, than how it affects their image. This problem can probably be tracked back to agents influencing the actors they represent who want a strong image that can be be used to sell onto other companies. The only thng it's really created is an image of American actors to the rest of the world that they don't like playing villains. As to PROBE's management. I was always under the impression that although Cameron directed, the PROBE on the ground had the final say as to the decisions he made. Mind you, having your boss seeing what you were up to must have caused problems & probably would have been explored had the series continued. Considering the discussions in past months regarding the kind of things that could be done if Search was revived today. I think one thing that would really be at the top of the list would be to run with more than one PROBE on a mission - there was one or two in the original series after all. If there was something that needed to be sorted out at a different location, another PROBE would have been sent in to get the information & have it directed to the main operator than keeping one on the move all the time. Gotta go. Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "Jim Alexander" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 5:13 pm Subject: 6 SEARCH episodes on Ebay There is someone on Ebay selling 3 VHS tapes of SEARCH episodes. Each tape with 2 episodes (ones we already have). Maybe one of the regulars could get in touch with the person to see what kind of quality they are, and where they were taped from as I am really too busy right now. Good Luck! Don-2 ----------------------------- Fugeddaboudit! And by that I mean bidding on this guy's stuff! This was the um... gentleman... from whom I purchased the same episodes a couple of years back. If memory serves, I would up bidding more than $180 because the seller's listing advertised that the episodes were "from 16mm". It turned out that only LET US PREY was from 16mm (and wasn't even as good'a copy as Don's). I was NOT pleased at the misleading listing... The only upside? It's where I picked up the copy of the SEARCH Pilot that had the "alternate scene" in it. Jim Alexander probecontrol@sigecom.net From: "dghprobe3" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 7:51 pm Subject: Re: 6 SEARCH episodes on Ebay --- In probe_control@y..., "crayresearch2001" wrote: > There is someone on Ebay selling 3 VHS tapes of SEARCH episodes. > Here is one of the links: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1535862308 The seller is: lbox007@aol.com If you check out his negatives, you'll find that people have the same complaint about poor picture quality. The seller needs to be honest that his tapes are rather poor and multigenerational. I'm with Jim. Don't bother with this guy's tapes, ours are all consistently better than his. --Don H. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Sun May 12, 2002 11:18 pm Subject: Re: Search comparisons --- In probe_control@y..., "Geoff Willmetts" wrote: > ...Comparison between UNCLE & Search. I think the major difference > was cos the former had THRUSH... Hi Geoff: If SEARCH had become a long running series, it would have been interesting to see a regular recurring adversary. UNCLE's THRUSH bore more than a passing resemblance to James Bond's SMERSH. Then again, Cameron resembled "M" in many ways as well. The 007 spoof, "Get Smart," had the humorous CONTROL vs. KAOS theme throughout their series. "Batman," of course, had several recurring antagonists, among them the Riddler, Joker, Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Catwoman, etc. "Battlestar Galactica" had the occasional reappearance of the dreaded Baltar (the late great John Colicos), while "Buck Rogers" had Princess Ardala. "Hawaii 5-0" had a winner in their reappearing villian Wo Fat. Michael Ansara said once in an interview that if classic Trek went into a fourth season that his Klingon character Kang was envisioned as a recurring adversary for Kirk. Unfortunately, that never happened, although the Klingons and Romulans were recurring bad guys on Trek. I always thought "Goddess of Destruction" (Mannix in India as it was) had an open ending ripe for a sequel with the Panjim henchman at the end eyeing the Kali statuettte like a cat that was about to swallow a canary. With SEARCH, who else could have returned? Dr. Moen? Mark Elliott? Hmmmm. --Don H. From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Mon May 13, 2002 4:39 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Search comparisons Hello everyone Hello Kevin Re: Acting baggage. As you said, all three Probes were good character actors & could fit into the roles without any problem. The main difference was both O’Brian & McClure were recognised for Western roles & well-liked in their parts, so making a transition to modern day would have been something the public would have found easier to recognise. There are some parallels to Franciosa in the Rachel Welch film 'Fathom' that would have convinced anyone he was up for the role. The difference when it came to West & Shatner is their parts were or became icons in syndication. ‘Batman’ lost steam in its last season. ‘Star Trek’s following was still building at the time. The shows O'Brian & McClure were in were not seen in quite the same light as 'Star Trek' or 'Batman'. They wouldn't have been seen competing against each other. Shatner made efforts to pull away from this largely by investing his money as with TJ Hooker. West never pulled away from Batman. It’s interesting how Nimoy moved from ‘Star Trek’ to Mission: Impossible without too much hassle but then again he wasn’t the star & his appearance was less like Spock. I wonder how many Trek fans followed him over to M:I anyway?? Gotta go Geoff Willmetts PS Just got Don's response.More next time. ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "rbrfab" Date: Tue May 14, 2002 5:06 am Subject: what a find OK, gang, this is Richard in England here, and I'm writing especially for PAL users like Geoff, Paul, Kate and others, but also for anyone who's still awaiting copies of Trevor's new episodes. I got a package yesterday (amazingly quick-he posted them last Thursday!) containing one tape with Moonrock etc, another with his versions of Gold Machine, Adonis and Suffer, which I'd asked for as a comparison with the older versions we have. Watched Moonrock and Honeymoon last night-they are superb! I mean not just as episodes but the picture quality. Apart from the raggedness from switching off and on at commercial breaks I'd have been convinced they were commercial tapes. 'Moonrock' is particularly good (which is esp. welcome as that is probably my no.1 episode, certainly the one which hooked me on tv way back in '73).A great experience! I think you really get a sense that the series is still fresh and the actors are getting into their stride. The filming seems to give a more spacious impression of Probe Control (whereas in Operation Iceman, for instance, it seems more cramped and cockpit-like), the regular cast are great (Lockwood is at his suavest, Miss Keach radiates cool efficiency, etc.). In 'Honeymoon' the crucial moment where Julian admits he's sold out is still shocking even when you're expecting it. But I was mainly talking about quality. Of the tapes we already have i would say only the first-generation version of 'Let us Prey' comes even close. And I think I'd still give these the edge. I've only dipped into the tape of familiar episodes, but they too are of high quality. Gold Machine has much fresher colours and sharpness than the group's version, which has always seemed pale and bleached-out to me. There's a blip in the first scene of Adonis, where a few exchanges seems to be lost-did the tape stick? The superior quality is esp. marked in 'Suffer'-whereas Don's version is fuzzy and the dark scenes are hard to make out, this is like any normal tv recording. One example: in the scene where Cam orders to switch screen to show the suspects phonewatch, Trevor's version is so clear you can actually read the phone numbers on the Probe screen! On Don's you can probably make out the name Honer (lower right), but the others are very smudgy. I could go on about details. One point in particular for those who have the audio disk of Moonrock: on that recording after the first commercial break we resume with 'Lockwood, there's somebody in the cabin...', but in the episode there are several speeches just before that, with Cam (as in the script) saying he is having trouble with Mulligan's readouts. I'd thought the re-entry to part 2 seemed a bit abrupt, and this confirms that. In 'Honeymoon' I noticed one place where they used the optical transition sound effect but forgot to put up the squares running across the screen! Instead you just have a scene-change of the normal sort. So PAL users should order with confidence from Trevor, and as for our friends in the US I can't believe there will be degradation in converting to NTSC such that these won't still be superior versions to what we have previously had. Ignore all eBay interlopers; this is The One, folks! Happy days. Richard From: "dghprobe3" Date: Tue May 14, 2002 1:34 pm Subject: Moonrock--missing bit on audio CD --- In probe_control@y..., "rbrfab" wrote: > ...One point in particular for those who > have the audio disk of Moonrock: on that recording after the first > commercial break we resume with 'Lockwood, there's somebody in the > cabin...', but in the episode there are several speeches just > before that, with Cam (as in the script) saying he is having > trouble with Mulligan's readouts. I'd thought the re-entry to part > 2 seemed a bit abrupt, and this confirms that... Hi Richard: You are right about my "Moonrock" audio CD. It was of the 1973 NBC rerun of that episode and I remember our local station sneaked in a local commercial, thereby running over the first portion of Act 2. I haven't timed the missing portion, but it's either 15 or 30 seconds, enough time for a commercial. I'm not sure what the problem was with our Atlanta NBC affiliate (WSB, which stands for "We're So Boring") because they also ran over the closing credits of the rerun of "Murrow" for another local ad. And they had a lot of fun pre-empting SEARCH nearly a third of the time back then, so I was lucky to get as many of the audios as I did. :-) One of the neat things about some of the audios is that the opening teaser stinger is intact on some of them. I think the only intact opening stingers we have on video are of the 16mm transfers of "Let Us Prey" and "Gold Machine." I know that Jim's 1973 NBC audio of "Live Men Tell Tales" includes the little "beep" from NBC alerting the affiliates that the show was to begin. More later, Don H. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Tue May 14, 2002 1:43 pm Subject: more on the audio CDs The other neat thing about the audio CDs is that they generally have the "scenes to next week" trailers which have never been shown outside of the original NBC airings. And then there are the NBC closing credits which usually had Ed McMahon's voiceover giving the guest list for that evening's "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. (McMahon did the voiceover at the end of every SEARCH episode except apparently the rerun of "Live Men." The late Chet Huntley promoted a news special at the end of that one.) Trevor's video of "Moonrock" includes a version of the Warners Logo at the very end with it's own bit of music behind it, which also can be heard on some of the audio CDs. Hopefully we will hear reaction from Trevor when he receives our tapes of "The Packagers" and "Countdown to Panic." :-) --Don H. From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Tue May 14, 2002 2:52 pm Subject: Search is 'Controle Remoto' in Brazil http://www.tvseries.com.br/atores/maurice_evans/filmografia.htm Filmografia Parcial Maurice Evans 1972. Controle Remoto/Search (eps.: The Murrow Disappearance)... From: "Marta Dawes" Date: Tue May 14, 2002 7:26 pm Subject: RE: [probe_control] more on the audio CDs Your comment on the "scenes to next week" audio is interesting. I wonder how many of those trailers are still in the NBC vaults for "Search," as well as countless other series; it would be great to see them again. I know I've got them on my network recordings of the new TZ, and they sometimes are quite interesting and worth listening to. You never see them in syndication, so they are pretty much throwaways as far as the network is concerned. Marta http://www.steveandmarta.com Home of "The Graveyards of Omaha" and "The New Twilight Zone" websites as well as "Memories of the Indian Hills Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska" The last round Super-Cinerama theatre in the world Demolished August 20, 2001 for absolutely no reason by Methodist Health Systems Sign the Petition to protest the demolition of the Indian Hills Online! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/steve/petition.html Call Stephen Long, CEO of Methodist, at 402-354-4000 and tell him the theatre should have been reopened as a working film venue. Email comments@bestcare.org, Methodist's website, and tell them the theatre should have been saved, and pass the email address and phone number on to everyone you know! And --- Join the Indian Hills and Cinerama and Widescreen Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/cinerama_widescreen_movies Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley Discussion Group http://www.egroups.com/group/mary_percy_shelley -----Original Message----- From: dghprobe3 [mailto:dghprobe3@aol.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 12:44 PM To: probe_control@yahoogroups.com Subject: [probe_control] more on the audio CDs The other neat thing about the audio CDs is that they generally have the "scenes to next week" trailers which have never been shown outside of the original NBC airings. And then there are the NBC closing credits which usually had Ed McMahon's voiceover giving the guest list for that evening's "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson. (McMahon did the voiceover at the end of every SEARCH episode except apparently the rerun of "Live Men." The late Chet Huntley promoted a news special at the end of that one.) Trevor's video of "Moonrock" includes a version of the Warners Logo at the very end with it's own bit of music behind it, which also can be heard on some of the audio CDs. Hopefully we will hear reaction from Trevor when he receives our tapes of "The Packagers" and "Countdown to Panic." :-) --Don H. From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 2:23 am Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Search adversary Hello everyone Hello Don H Re: reoccurring adversary. I think could have been a problem cos you're putting it in black & white. PROBE is essentially a retrieval operation. Somebody loses something, they go into find it. They're not really in it to capture or antagonise bad guys. Capturing anyone who did the deed is cream on the cake. In terms of 70s shows, they weren't aloud to let people get away with a crime. If it was updated today, that situation would probably be changed. If anything, they're real opposition isn't bad guys but other people after the same objective as themselves. If a PROBE is looking for a nuke, then you can guarantee that the CIA & KGB, not to mention any of a number of other security organisations would want a look in as well. There's a possibility of each other stepping on each others toes but not outright antagonism. It wouldn't have been done in isolation. Looking through your comparisons. 'M' belonged to MI6 not SMERSH. The British set-up isn't like PROBE anyway. 'M' sent Bond into the fold but he didn't dictate how he should handle things even in Fleming's books. [We've just had the first episode of a 6 part BBC TV series called 'Spooks' about current day MI5 operations this week. I know there's an American channel that specialises in BBC shows over there. Keep an eye out for it. You're gonna love the surveillance equipment.] Mission: Impossible didn't really have much in reoccurring bad guys although there was always suggestions that the GRU, KGB, East German Intelligence, et al were around that they weren't always the target. It wasn't in the IMF's interest to be noticed. As to bringing back people they've tangled with. I think the bigger problem would have been keeping these people's mouths shut about PROBE technology. I wonder if World Securities arranged for them all to be locked in solitary for the rest of their days?? Mind you, would you believe you were under surveillance that way in those days?? However, once you know what you're looking for, it wouldn't be difficult to spot a PROBE agent. You couldn't really go after one per se. It would be a lot easier to capture one of the console operators & force a co-operation. Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "dghprobe3" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 12:02 pm Subject: speculation & nagging questions --- In probe_control@y..., "Geoff Willmetts" wrote: > ...'M' belonged to MI6 not SMERSH. The > British set-up isn't like PROBE anyway... Hi Geoff: You know I'd never make a mistake like that. :-) Anyway, all we're doing is engaging in fun speculation over what might have been. If someone can get to O'Brian at one of his next convention appearances, we may get answers to some of these questions which have been puzzling us lo these many years. :-) Then again, it may turn out that he doesn't know why SEARCH has been kept out of U.S. syndication since '73. Or we may find out things we never guessed before. As Jay Leno would say, it could go either way. --Don H. From: "rbrfab" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 12:45 pm Subject: Re: more on the audio CDs Hi Don. Just to say, in reply to your message about the extras on the audio cds, that I hadn't at all wanted to denigrate those: I've got an immense amount of pleasure from them, and will go on using them even though the gaps in the episodes are slowly being filled. Yes, the recordings of 'scenes to next week' on those disks are fun, and so (as I think I've said before) is the trailer for the whole series-- which includes some dialogue from Moonrock that is in the script but didnt make it onto the screened episode. Incidentally, I really liked the animated gif that has recently gone up on the site, with the trio of images of the Probes and the title from the opening credits. But surely Cameron should be included in the sequence too? (the ONLY character who appeared in every single episode!) Your TV Party draft seemed excellent to me. Only a couple of small suggestions: should you mention the pilot 'Probe', and the title change, at an early stage, to make clear the relationship between them? Later on you refer to it by both titles. Also maybe mention the range of things that 'went missing'-- Probe was called in to find valuable artefacts, incriminating papers, kidnap victims, and sometimes their own personnel in trouble. Besides mentioning the various people who got their start partly from appearances in Search, it would be worth naming a few of the more established performers, such as Deanna Lund. All best Richard --- In probe_control@y..., "dghprobe3" wrote: > The other neat thing about the audio CDs is that they generally have > the "scenes to next week" trailers which have never been shown > outside of the original NBC airings. > > And then there are the NBC closing credits which usually had Ed > McMahon's voiceover giving the guest list for that evening's "Tonight > Show" with Johnny Carson. (McMahon did the voiceover at the end of > every SEARCH episode except apparently the rerun of "Live Men." The > late Chet Huntley promoted a news special at the end of that one.) > > Trevor's video of "Moonrock" includes a version of the Warners Logo > at the very end with it's own bit of music behind it, which also can > be heard on some of the audio CDs. > > Hopefully we will hear reaction from Trevor when he receives our > tapes of "The Packagers" and "Countdown to Panic." :-) > > --Don H. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 1:04 pm Subject: Re: more on the audio CDs --- In probe_control@y..., "rbrfab" wrote: > ...I really liked the animated gif that has recently gone > up on the site, with the trio of images of the Probes and the title > from the opening credits. But surely Cameron should be included in > the sequence too... Yep, I threw that animated gif together as an experiment some time back. I wasn't sure how to optimize the thing, but I have that ability now. It has been also suggested to add Angel Tompkins, so I'll put together an alternate version which includes Cam and Gloria. Thanks also for the suggestions on adding to that possible TVparty article. I see if I can work those in. :-) --Don From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 2:15 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Announcer voice-overs Hello everyone Hello Don Re: Announcer voice-overs. This is something that has always puzzled me. We had them with Sgt Bilko, Canon & the majority of the Quinn Martin shows which were obviously from the US screenings voicing the actor credits. Was it a contractual thing or was illiteracy far worse in the US in the 70s?? :) As far as I can recall, we didn’t have any voice-overs at the ends of our Search broadcasts. Good thing, too, cos it would have ruined Frontiere’s music. Speaking of Maurice Evans. I was reading the book ‘Bewitched Forever’ recently & in its bio of him, it mentions ‘Search’ but not which episode. That Brazilian Tvography shows he didn’t do much TV work but gives more than the Bewitched book. Assuming the info came from his resume, he must have enjoyed working on ‘Search’. Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "dghprobe3" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 6:54 pm Subject: Re: Announcer voice-overs Hi Geoff: Thanks for your last post. It seems announcer voiceovers were common with TV shows of the 1950's and 60's. Some shows had announcements of the titles and guest stars in them (like Quinn Martin's shows), others didn't. Other shows had an omniscient narrator who would speak from time to time, such as in "The Fugitive," "Outer Limits" and "Lost in Space.") Another example is the Captain's Log of "Star Trek." Some shows had both, that is, announcers during the opening credits and also throughout the show. "Batman" always featured a campy, somewhat dramatically overdone narration which always helped make the show more fun to watch. The old Jack Webb "Dragnet" did the same thing too, but they didn't know it. :-) Leslie Neilsen's 1982 TV version of "Police Squad!" did the same sort of thing, but only in their opening credits. They always had the announcer read the wrong episode title than what appeared on screen. The networks have always been accused of programming for a six year old mentality, so your point about illiteracy may not be took far off. (Witness some of Jay Leno's questioning of people about common ordinary things of which they know nothing.) :-) But it may also be due to a combination of factors, plus that was the sort of thing that was expected in the earlier shows. Any narrations on SEARCH were generally done by actor Vernon Weddle during the "briefing tapes" scenes in Probe Control, however other voices turned up now and then. One of the things that is notable about many early shows is that a lot of them had a song or jingle which was sung. Such as with "Mr. Ed," "Gilligan's Island," "77 Sunset Strip," "Maverick," and a host of others. It was more rare for later shows to open with a song, although "Laverne & Shirley," "The Paper Chase" and a few others come to mind. --Don H. From: "dghprobe3" Date: Wed May 15, 2002 7:29 pm Subject: Re: Announcer voice-overs Geoff: After my last post, it occurred to me that the TV show announcers were a carryover from the days of radio. Originally, shows like "Gunsmoke" started on radio. When TV came along, some radio shows transitioned onto the new TV format. It was the ubiquitous Quinn Martin announcer William Conrad who was the original voice of Marshall Matt Dillon on radio. Burgess Meredith did some radio shows with Orson Welles' theatre group, and info on some of those can be found at: http://www.otrsite.com/logs/special/Orsonwel.htm When you get to this page, use your "Find" or "Find in Top Window" command, put in the name 'Burgess Meredith' and the productions he did for and with Orson Welles will appear. Apparently, recordings of some or all of these old radio shows can be obtained through this site. --Don H. From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Wed May 15, 2002 10:34 pm Subject: scene in 'A Honeymoon to Kill' Apparently Chris Metz did recall correctly that Grover ran up to his own car and tried to hold on and fell off. This was in "Honeymoon" after Carla steals his yellow Corvette. I wasn't sure having seen it only once on a small portable black & white TV back in '73. :-) More to come. From: Paul Browne Date: Fri May 17, 2002 4:11 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: Announcer voice-overs --- dghprobe3 wrote: > Geoff: After my last post, it occurred to me that > the TV show > announcers were a carryover from the days of radio. > > Originally, shows like "Gunsmoke" started on radio. > When TV came > along, some radio shows transitioned onto the new TV > format. It was > the ubiquitous Quinn Martin announcer William Conrad And of course he was also the actor who played Cannon in the Quinn Martin series of the same name. Hmmm...with the SEARCH-CANNON rivalry, an (interesting?) idea occurs. Since some here were talking about possible recurring antagonists/villains for SEARCH, how about (in fanfic at least) Frank Cannon as an adversary for the SEARCH men? Cannon could be (hired?) in pursuit of the same stolen property/whatever as the Probes, and the antagonism could develop from there. Cannon as a SEARCH foe would already be well-known to fans, with the ratings rivalry. Plus this might also fulfill the desire of some by having an antagonist that's not entirely villainous, and explain why he's not dead or in jail at the end of the story (yeah I also liked Loveless and Wo Fat but having them constantly escape at the end got overdone). There might even be a grudging respect (?) eventually...And, hey, Frank Cannon as a foe makes more sense than Julie Andrews! ;) > who was the > original voice of Marshall Matt Dillon on radio. > > Burgess Meredith did some radio shows with Orson > Welles' theatre > group, and info on some of those can be found at: > > http://www.otrsite.com/logs/special/Orsonwel.htm > > When you get to this page, use your "Find" or "Find > in Top Window" > command, put in the name 'Burgess Meredith' and the > productions he > did for and with Orson Welles will appear. > Apparently, recordings of > some or all of these old radio shows can be obtained > through this > site. Good point. Stage, film and television acting tends to get mentioned more often than radio and that's maybe unfair, considering how much of it some actors did. I don't know about Tony, Doug or Hugh but Burgess Meredith certainly. Anthony fusillade2000@yahoo.com From: "dghprobe3" Date: Fri May 17, 2002 5:04 pm Subject: SEARCH fan fiction? --- In probe_control@y..., Paul Browne wrote: > ...how about (in fanfic at least) Frank > Cannon as an adversary for the SEARCH men?... Is there any SEARCH fan fiction? I haven't heard of any until now. If there aren't any, does anyone out there want to write the first SEARCH fan fiction story? --Don H. From: Paul Browne Date: Sun May 19, 2002 2:45 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] SEARCH revival/fan fiction? --- dghprobe3 wrote: > Is there any SEARCH fan fiction? I haven't heard of > any until now. Good question. Afaik there isn't any, unless anyone here knows different? Some more thoughts on SEARCH legacy: Fanfic, to some extent, helped keep interest going in Trek and SW for years when there wasn't any "new product." It could be said that SEARCH only lasted one season, so wouldn't inspire much interest...Yet, as pointed out on this list, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, KOLCHAK: NIGHT STALKER, THE PRISONER and TIME TUNNEL each only lasted one season also. And there's been an avalanche of Galactica fanfic (including some from this writer), at least some PRISONER stories and iirc even some TIME TUNNEL (among other Irwin Allen series)...Kolchak I'm not sure about, though certainly it's had a fan following. Perhaps it's not just happenstance that, again, this interest has led to recent Hollywood talk of reviving BG, TP and TT...Kolchak has already been back if one counts the guest appearances on X-FILES. Whether this is a good thing or not, I don't know: a SEARCH revival would obviously have to be done without Leslie Stevens. A (good) BG revival might be done with or without Glen Larson, similarly a worthwhile TT revival without Irwin Allen. PRISONER is one "mythos" that really needs its "prime mover," McGoohan, and I don't know that he'd be able or interested at this point (a comic book series was done some years back, a "mixed success"). So these things can go either way: on the one hand, IMO there's been some good post-Roddenberry Trek. On the other hand, there's that WILD WILD WEST movie mess a few years back...I'm also no fan of the TOm Cruise M:I, especially the first one. > If there aren't any, does anyone out there want to > write the first > SEARCH fan fiction story? I might take a try at it, however my pace is likely one of the slowest to be found. So if anyone else wants to step up... Anthony fusillade2000@yahoo.com From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Sun May 19, 2002 3:47 pm Subject: voice-over versus cast speaking Hello everyone Hello Don Re: SMERSH. It was probably the way you wrote it. Re: Voice-overs. Oh fur shure. Narration over the story isn't that unusual & probably helps the new viewer. It's the recitation of cast members that makes little sense. That's why I wondered if it was a contractual thing?? Sorta like the last main cast member having the part against their name like, well like Franciscosa as 'Nick Bianco'. As if anyone could forget who they play. Hey, another 'Police Squad' fan. Voice-over in that was a spoof anyway & we never did see Lincoln come to the office either. As to American literacy. Well, I had to put it a little delicately. It isn't unheard of for you Americans to become a little over-sensitive about your own oddities in your culture when raised by non-Americans. We British tend to be a lot more cynical in our observations. You only have to see our nice Anne Robinson hosting 'The Weakest Link' to appreciate that. Out of curiousity, when the re-makes of 'The Twilight Zone' were shown over here, we had what must have been the fastest spin of end credits imaginable. Did they run it at the same speed over there & did you wonder if it was designed to be read by speed readers only?? [This is an open conversation, you folk reading, join in if you like.] By the by, has anyone thought to include a picture of Vernon Weddle with the website archive?? The episodes I've got mostly show Ketch or one of the other girls doing voice-over to the messages. [No doubt one of you will say its there but it's the first I've heard mention of his name.] As to opening music with song. I always find it amusing that 'Bewitched' has a credit noted for the words that were never used. The song was a quick way to clue new viewers into what was going on. You missed out the best example of the with 'The Beverley Hillbillies'. Re: Radio voice-over. Hmmm, but it's not the kind of thing you'd expect to see copied over to a visual medium where people can read the words. Then again, hands up those who remember the sit-com, 'WKRP In Cincinnati' where in one episode a guest brought in some graphs for the listeners to see on the radio!!! [We should talk though. In the 1950s on UK radio, there was a regular show featuring Archie Andrews, a ventriloquist dummy.] Something I did raise with Jim Alexander a while back but might be worthy of asking here. Do any of you folk read 'The Destroyer' pulp book series by Warren Murphy & the late Richard Sapir - not to mention a couple ghost writers?? I've often thought it's irrelevance towards certain American cultural customs, inner city problems, etc to hit the mark as satire in ways that wouldn't have been possible elsewhere. In many respects, 'Search' not taking everything at face value & irrelevance was also part of its appeal to me. Gotta go. Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Sun May 19, 2002 8:40 pm Subject: Search--Military vs Civilian issue -------Geoff Willmetts wrote:----------------------- <<>> Geoff: You raised an interesting point because the episode "Countdown to Panic" goes into this more than the other episodes. Recall the scene where Linden (Robert Webber) met Lockwood. Linden was miffed that Probe was hired without informing him first because Probe was civilian, not military. However, since the civilian World Securities Fathom project was using military people, the waters were muddy indeed (pun intended). :-) "Murrow Disappearance" also brought up the CIA/FBI/DFI angle because everyone was jumpy over the Murrow situation. All were after the same objective in that one too. In "Flight to Nowhere," while appearing to run interference against Lockwood, Anderson turned out to be CIA, and was also looking for the missing Neil Corbett and his plane, along with Antonia Bravo and her colorful entourage. As you mentioned, a situation ripe for conflict as everyone was after the same thing. If SEARCH ever had plans for a regular adversary, the one who might know would be Anthony Spinner. Up until the moment they were cancelled by NBC, I'm sure there may have been vague plans or story outlines for a second season. Wonder what those plans might have entailed? --Don H. From: "rbrfab" Date: Mon May 20, 2002 6:47 am Subject: Re: SEARCH fan fiction? The idea of 'Search' fanfic is intriguing, but we come up against the same issues as with revivals: are we talking about writing short stories / a novel about Probe's doings in 1970s, or in the present day? I'd say the 70s, so we can continue to use the favourite characters. One thing a novel would allow is to bring all three Probes into the same narrative, maybe working on separate cases which then turn out by some fiendishly involved plot to be all connected with one another. It would also allow cameo parts by minor characters in the series: e.g. you could have Grover back in Switzerland to attend Trude Hauser's wedding or something, and running into something suspicious/someone sinister at the reception which leads him on a trail. But I suspect none of us really has time to get seriously going on a full novel. What about one of those composite author things where each person contributes a chapter and the next one has to work out how to carry on and get the heroes -and the authors-out of the mess they've created!? A completely different approach would be to look not at Probe as it was then or might be in 2002, but at its origins (like the latest Star Trek, and the prequel Star Wars). This is a different idea entirely, but there is an intriguing basis for it. Look at the early scenes of 'Operation Iceman'. From a string of references we learn that Pelham brought Bianco into Probe, taught him all he knew, and that B. has been in the firm for 12 years! I'm sure the scriptwriter (not Stevens for this episode) hadn;t properly thought through the implications, but you can see it opens up a lot of questions. No problem about World Securities already doing all its dealing & insurance in 1960, but what would Probe have been like? Are we to assume the technology already existed, even more ahead of its time, or were they operating more like regular PIs? And who was in charge while Cameron was still training people in Korea? If you think also about the opening of 'Probe': Cam says 'it's [the scanner] even more than a camera. We've EXTENDED its range to include pictures, sound, ultrasonics...' Again, this is no doubt reading too much into casual phrasing, but you could work back from that to an earlier setup: imagine a primitive version of the scanner, maybe even only a camera, and the Probe not installed with the earjack. Obviously continuous contact would also be much harder before serious satellite linkup. In the UK we haven't seen Captain April's activities yet, but I gather the new/prequel ST involves much crankier equipment-have they even got the transporter, and is it safe? Same principle. Anyway, obviously there are different stories to write here. Another idea would be to have Cameron somehow displaced, sent on compulsory vacation or even somehow disgraced, and a new but bad-guy director in charge of Probe--imagine the possibilities for crimes from blackmail to money-laundering if you had all those resources at your command. Of course the company would be fooled (you can imagine Barnett and the Board shaking their heads and agreeing that Cameron was getting past it, we need new blood etc..) but the Probes would be going it alone to expose this character and vindicate their beloved leader. So there are some thoughts, guys. Love to hear other people's notions. Richard From: "Geoff Willmetts" Date: Mon May 20, 2002 3:25 pm Subject: Re: [probe_control] Re: SEARCH fan fiction Hello everyone Hello Paul Browne What is this with the Canon/Search rivalry?? New to me. The entire point of PROBE is its capability of throwing a lot of resources at its agents disposal. That's one hell of an edge for any detective. I was aware who did the voiceovers for Quinn Martin. Heard it enough times to know. Remember, it's not the who that I'm interested in as much as the why in this instance. Maybe Quinn Martin was supporting your American March To Literacy at the time. ƒº Then again, why have it with any detective series which needs some semblance of an IQ larger than shoe size to work out?? One advantage of radio work is that it's essentially easy money. There's no need to memorise the scripts just a couple read throughs to get the right inflections. Hello Anthony Re: Fan fiction. I'm probably going to upset some people by saying this but this is me as an active working editor's perspective. Fan fiction never generated interest in series revivals. The biggest thing that struck Paramount about reviving 'Star Trek' came largely through the growing size of Trek conventions & after 'Star Wars' came out, a lot of companies looked through their archives to see if they had anything they could put out that would generate money. The only reason some of the Irwin Allen shows are currently being revived is more to do with companies wanting to take advantage of being able to get the rights & use something that people remember & think they can do better rather than come up with new ideas. This is rather like films based on old TV shows under the belief that there's a pre-sold idea & forget that it needs a decent script & an understanding why the original caught on. This is largely where Tom Cruise let his ego get the better of him with Mission: Impossible & forgot it was supposed to be a team effort as a ready example. I'm side-tracking a little. Objectively, fan fiction isn't canon to any series. Hell, even authorised tie-ins aren't. They're just a means to raise a few bucks & squeeze other books off the stands. They're totally ignored when it comes to whatever goes on next in the series. I can't help but feel that if we want to encourage a revival or at least a repeat showing on TV that our energies should be devoted to focusing on getting that done than doing fan fiction which won't help any. Brian, John, Jim & Don have done a lot of work towards this aim, especially with getting various factions interested. I don't know how many of you will share my sentiments here so just treat this as me expressing an opinion. Gotta go Geoff Willmetts ********* GF Willmetts **************************** Commissioning Editor: http://www.crowsnestbooks.com THE E-BOOK PUBLISHER THAT TRIES HARDER Editor: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com THE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY MAGAZINE Quicker website access?? Try: http://www.computercrowsnestbooks.com *************************************************** From: "dghprobe3" Date: Mon May 20, 2002 4:14 pm Subject: Re: SEARCH fan fiction --- In probe_control@y..., "Geoff Willmetts" wrote: <<>> Hi Geoff: As always, you raise good points. It also helped that "Star Trek" went into immediate syndication after it was cancelled by NBC in 1969. Trek ran at least five days a week for years in most parts of the U.S. and the world. With that type of exposure--and there being only 79 episodes--the creative writers among the fans filled the need for new adventures aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise with their fanfic. The trouble with SEARCH is that it never got syndicated in the U.S. It simply disappeared. The only people who remembered it were folks who caught the NBC run. Up to now, it's been tough enough finding the original episodes. The lack of exposure doesn't lend itself to fanfic. But for those who'd like to give it a try, I won't get in their way. :-) --Don H. From: dghprobe3@aol.com Date: Mon May 20, 2002 8:36 pm Subject: Hugh O'Brian & 'The Brass Legend' I ran across this while looking for something else. It seems our Probe agent Hugh O'Brian once worked with "Outer Limits" director Gerd Oswald. http://pimannix.tripod.com/martysmarquee/id66.html Excerpted from the page: "THE BRASS LEGEND (1956)--Directed by Gerd Oswald. Stars Hugh O'Brian, Raymond Burr, Nancy Gates, Donald MacDonald. The melodrama flows freely in this routine western starring lantern-jawed O'Brian (who was starring in TV's THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP at the time) as Sheriff Wade Addams and Gates as his fiance Linda Gipson. Linda's father Tom wants Wade to give up being a lawman so he can take over the Gipson ranch one day, but Addams vows to serve out his current term. Trouble ensues when Linda's little brother Clay (MacDonald) accidentally stumbles upon the hideout of wanted killer Tris Hatten (Burr). Swearing Clay to silence, Wade arrests Hatten, who swears revenge against the squealer who ratted him out. Clay's identity becomes known after Tom, who believes Wade silenced the boy to hoard the rewa