Trapped in a world he was not designed to cope with, Dave-El (the true Kryptonian name of alleged Earth creature David Long) writes about comics, Doctor Who, Star Trek, politics, the absurdity of the human condition and whatever other nonsense that befuddles his unbalanced mind.
This is.... I'M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU!
Last week, Ghosts returned to the CBS schedule for a Halloween special.
Andrea and I have really missed this series since season 5 ended with an alarming turn of events: Pete vanished!
Pete is the one ghost at Woodstone Manor that can leave the property. The downside of that ability is that if he's gone too long, he starts to vanish.
Last season, Jay, Kyle (who like Sam can see ghosts) and Pete journeyed to London on a mission to find crucial intel that would save the always imperiled Woodstone Manor.
On the overlong trip back home, Pete began to vanish to the point of being just a head. And within miles of the manor, it was too late: Pete had completely vanished.
The special opens with the ghost gang at Woodstone working to hold a séance on Halloween to bring him back.
Kyle is sticking around to help Jay out with the ghosts. Sam sold her screenplay for "Polar Opposites" last season which is being filmed in Australia where Sam is on set.
TV SHOW FUN FACT: Sam can't see the ghosts through Zoom. Apparently her gift only works for spirits who are present with her.
REAL LIFE FUN FACT: Rose McIver is on maternity leave for the birth of her 2nd child, hence Sam's temporary write out. For Rose's first pregnancy, Sam stayed behind the reservation desk a lot.
While playing basketball inside the house, Kyle and Jay accidentally break one of the manor's vintage mirrors.
Jay's desperate to replace it before Sam returns. So a near duplicate replacement is located and brought to the manor.
A mirror with a surprise inside: the ghost of Hetty's sister, Margaret.
TV SHOW FUN FACT: Apparently if you see yourself in a mirror at the moment of your death, you get trapped in that mirror. Which is what happened to Margaret and she blames Hetty for leaving the mirror in the room where Margaret lay dying. But Hetty needed the mirror to do lines of cocaine.
Besides the thing with the mirror, there's a lot of other unresolved feeling of hurt and betrayal between the two sisters to fuel more than a century of animosity.
Things take a turn when Margaret escapes the mirror and traps Hetty inside.
Then things get worse when this mirror also get shattered
That's gonna be a lot of bad luck for Woodstone Manor.
Long story made short:
the mirror is reassembled
Hetty has an epiphany about how she hurt her sister over a hundred years ago
Margaret and Hetty do come to an understanding.
Margaret agrees to return to the mirror because she doesn't want to be stuck in Woodstone Manor but she really does want to go to Paris. And she can go wherever the mirror goes. So Jay and Kyle ship the mirror to Paris where ghost Trevor's daughter Abby is going to art school.
By the way, what the heck happened to Pete?
He pops up at the end, screaming in terror! He believes he just died and has no idea what happened to him or who all these people in the manor! It's has if everything he's learned and experienced since his death in 1985 has been wiped clean!
What the hell is up with that?
I supposed we will learn more when Ghosts returns for it's Christmas special in December.
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Other shows with Halloween themes Andrea and I watched.
Happy's Place
Isabella introduces her sister Bobbi to Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Some hilarity and drama ensue as the two sisters of different mothers reconcile their relationships with their late father.
The day this episode was filmed was the same day Dolly Parton died. The episode ends with a dedication to Dolly.
Dolly & Reba in 2015
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage
It's the 1990's so Missy wants to dress like Ginger Spice for Halloween. Mary Cooper, even more rigid and judgmental than she was on Young Sheldon forbids it. Missy moves in with the McAllisters.
Reddit weighed in on Missy's Ginger Spice look and came to her defense against Mary.
Cee Cee's third Halloween sees the young tyke dressed as a dinosaur and Georgie puts on glasses to look like Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park. The two grandmothers (Audrey & Mary) compete on making Cee Cee her dinosaur costume. It really irks Audrey that Mary made a better costume. (Which is rich since that Mary as a super religious nut case doesn't believe in dinosaurs.)
Abbott Elementary
Principal Ava throws a Halloween rave and does not invite the teachers. The teachers come anyway and Ava frets they're killing the vibe. But everyone's having fun but Ava's pissed they're not having fun her way.
“They’re dancing like they’re free to be themselves!” Ava declares, all annoyed.
Barbara dresses as a "cheesecake factory" and her husband as a "red lobster".
Get it?
Also, Gregory's secret mission to buy Janine an engagement ring goes awry with a sketchy jewelry store in a strip mall run by a woman who is so obviously high as hell.
Janine figures out Gregory's secret. It's something she's dreamed of since she was a little girl.
"Gregory's getting me a puppy!"
Scrubs
Turk is disappointed that his youngest daughter has aged out of Trick or Treating. Dorian has a fantasy sequence (that has NOTHING to do with Halloween, it's just Dorian being himself) where he's Mary Poppins and Dr. Cox is an English moppet.
Saturday Night Live
It's Halloween and we get a return of Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins.... really?
Nope! BOO! It's "your one true god", Donald Trump! James Austin Johnson with his patented "interrupt a sketch with a stream of consciousness monologue".
Usually Johnson's "Trump interrupts a sketch" bit works pretty damn well but it seems the audience was really disappointed not to get more David S. Pumpkins.
Me, I was OK with it. David S. Pumpkins has a limited shelf life for a decent 1 1/2 sketches.
Inde Navarrette was the host this week. I've never heard of her but apparently she was in this year's best horror film, Obsession.
Inde does a good job in the sketches and gets a dig in at Shane Gillis' infamous "women at the gym dress like whores" monologue from 2 weeks ago. (Andrea & I skipped that episode to avoid Shane Gillis. What the hell does Lorne see in this guy?)
And Gracie Abrams was the musical guest. Never heard of her either but she has a nice voice.
And that is that for Halloween!
Now bring on all the Christmas crap!
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That's all folks for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase!
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
It's been a white knuckle ride as we barrel towards an election that will answer the most crucial question of our time.
Does Ohio Sen. John Husted have a great ass or what?
Donald Trump's marathon of rally speeches has been the usual litany of fear mongering, lies, hate rhetoric, more lies, self aggrandizing, even more lies, threats, many more lies, racism and did I mention all the lies?
I did not have on my Li'l Donnie Bingo Card an obsession with men's asses.
Der Führer did seek to reassert his heterosexuality by raving about what a great ass Nicki Minaj has!
Other than the unpredicted predilection with posteriors, Li'l Donnie has just been trotting out the same tired bullshit day after day.
The guy over on Let's Discuss Something (who I believe is named "Chris") dutifully listens to Donald Trump's speeches and provides recaps. But the most recent rally romp in South Carolina broke him.
Chris held in there longer than I would have and is to be commended for his sacrifice.
"Thank you for your service, sir!"
For all of us with more than one brain cell to rub together, we are where you are, Chris.
We are all so TIRED of this... this... Hell, you know I gotta say it!
We all are so tired of this lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, narcissistic, small-minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit!
Amen!
So what now?
Tomorrow is election day and if the polls are right, it may well be a significant tipping point in salvaging the sorry state of our nation that Trump has denigrated us to.
If the Democrats take the House and the Senate, we will have a Congress that is actually prepared to push back on Trump's every petulant whim instead of the constant capitulation perpetuated by the corrupt and compromised Republican Party.
If....
"If" is a powerful word. We know the pollsters are talking a good game that Democrats are genuinely competitive in certain areas where Republicans have long been dominant.
The term "blue wave" has been bandied about as to what we can expect on Tuesday.
Could deep red Texas that voted for Donald Trump THREE times actually send Democrat James Talarico to the US Senate over his less qualified and more corrupt competitor Ken Paxton?
When Texans enter the voting booth, will there actually be enough dissatisfaction with the Republican status quo to actually vote for the better candidate?
Or will the calcified mindset of "better dead than Democrat" persist in spite of a diminished economy at home, diminished influence abroad and a Republican candidate diminished by scandal and incompetence?
Looking at the state of America right now, brought down low by Donald Trump's corruption and mismanagement, it would seem that it would be a fait accompli that the Republicans in power during this downward spiral would have to answer for it.
But old bad habits die hard.
And those who have brought our nation to this sorry state have a persistent track record of avoiding consequences.
I remember sitting with my mother in 2016 watching CNN when Donald Trump was first running for President. She was worried that he might actually win.
I tried to assure her that America wasn't so STUPID to vote for a man so obviously STUPID.
America made me lie to my mother.
In 2024 with Donald Trump trying to get to be President again, my wife Andrea was worried that he might actually win.
I tried to assure her that America wouldn't be so STUPID again to vote for a man so obviously STUPID again!
America made me lie to my wife.
As we sit here a day away from election day 2026, I wish I could assure myself that America isn't so STUPID to keeping voting for men and women who blindly support a man so obviously STUPID.
I'm afraid America might make me lie to myself.
This midterm madness is stressing me out.
Please, I do hope we can be better, do better and save ourselves from ourselves.
In a follow up to last week's post, Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee are still on their quest to set the Guinness World Record for longest journey by toy car.
On Saturday, Halloween, our intrepid duo crossed a significant threshold. After starting their journey in Philadelphia and crossing New Jersey, our hard travelling heroes crossed into New York City!
OK, it's just Staten Island but it still counts.
The goal is still to reach Niagara Falls which will take about 6 more weeks.
Even as the journey gets harder and the weather gets colder.
I'm obsessed with following these remarkable women in their insane quest to achieve a world record and raise money for mental health and suicide prevention.
Keep on keepin' on, Cassie and Lauren! You two are awesome!
"What a heartbreaking week it has been." - William Shatner
I had barely wrapped by head around the fact that Walter Koenig had died before I had to process that Patrick Stewart had passed away as well.
Regarding Walter, Shatner observed, "At conventions, Walter was rarely content to remain behind a signing table. He preferred to be among the people who had kept 'Star Trek' alive for so many decades. That kind of genuine connection is rare, and it will be remembered by everyone who came into contact with him. My condolences to his family, his friends, and the countless fans whose lives he touched."
George Takei had this to say: "Walter was more than Chekov. He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend. To the fans who loved him for so many years, thank you. He loved you too. Rest well, my dear friend. Keep navigating a steady course."
Later today, the Heroes & Icons cable channel will present a Star Trek marathon with episodes featuring Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov
"Amok Time"
"Spectre of the Gun"
"Journey to Babel"
"The Deadly Years"
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
It's a shame they didn't include:
"Mirror, Mirror" with EVIL Chekov or
"The Trouble With Tribbles" where Chekov boasts that quadrotriticale is a "Wussian inwention" and debates Scotty on the merits of Vodka vs. Scotch.
Mike and Yahel of Subspace Parlor look back on Walter's time on Star Trek & Babylon Five.
I did not follow Babylon Five back in the day which I missed out on Walter Koenig's wicked antagonist Alfred Bester.
My original plan was this post was going to be solely dedicated to Walter Koenig.
But we have to address the loss of Patrick Stewart.
William Shatner described Stewart as "a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor."
Jonathan Frakes said, "He will be with me forever. May he rest in Peace."
Rebecca Romijn who like Stewart worked in the worlds of both the X-Men and Star Trek said she was "grateful to have known him as a fellow mutant and as a fellow member of Starfleet."
The ASPCA weighed in on the passing of Patrick Stewart: "We are heartbroken by the passing of our longtime friend Sir Patrick Stewart. 🧡 A passionate advocate for pit bulls, Patrick used his voice to challenge stereotypes and protect animals from cruelty. We are forever grateful for his compassion and friendship."
Marina Sirtus was in tears as she recorded a video on Instagram, saying "He's gone. My friend. My captain. My fellow football fan. I really can't imagine a world without him in it."
For all his seriousness as a Shakespearean actor and his role as a Starfleet Captain, Patrick Stewart was not above having some fun with his reputation as seen in these two clips where Stewart appeared on Sesame Street.
Stewart was not always so ready to be lighthearted regarding his profession. In the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the classically trained Stewart grew frustrated with his co-stars joking around, laughing, and flubbing lines on set. "We are not here to have fun!" he bellowed at the cast.
It is an incident that the cast has had a lot of fun talking about in the years since. Including Stewart himself.
The incident took the piss out of him as the saying goes and he lightened up considerably.
For some behind the scenes banter about Patrick, here's a compilation from the Dropping Names podcast with Jonathan Frakes & Brent Spiner.
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Next week, I'm beginning another look back at Star Trek: The Next Generation. Each week, I will focus on one cast member and look at episodes that put the spotlight on that character.
And we're going to start with Capt. Jean-Luc Picard.
Live long and prosper, everyone.
And rest in peace, Walter and Patrick on your journeys into the final frontier.
The plastic ghost and jack o'lantern stand watch by the front steps.
Steve the rainbow skeleton haunts the front porch.
A bowl of bite sized candy is primed for distribution.
And we've reached the final Saturday of October.
It's MOVIE TIME!
Over the course of the previous 4 Saturdays, I have chronicled movies of questionable value and quality.
We've tracked the torments of a mad magician, mutated child cannibals, a bloody pit of horror and a deranged sexual deviant.
Today's cinematic slog is... worse than all of them.
Some of the previous movies maybe had something to make the experience not completely suck. Look, I rather enjoyed Bloody Pit of Horror if only for Mickey Hargitay's goofy happy torturer.
Today's movie has no such remotely slim redeeming quality.
From 1965, I give you... Monster A-Go-Go!
Our tale starts with a space craft on a MISSION into SPACE where a STRANGE COSMIC MYSTERY sends the space craft hurtling back to Earth.
The space craft is EMPTY and there's a trail of the HORRIFYING DEAD left by a mysterious CREATURE of enormous STRENGTH and RADIOACTIVE FIRE on a TERRIBLE RAMPAGE of FEAR and DEATH!
Planet Earth is the KILLING GROUND of this RAVAGING MONSTER!
Is humanity DOOMED!
"WOW, Dave-El! That sounds like an awesome sci-fi horror classic and I would love to see that movie!"
Well, my blog reading friend, you CAN'T!
I sat through this damn thing and NONE of that actually happens were we can see it!
What you do get to see is:
People standing in a field.
People telling us they found a body in the the field.
People in a house talking about what was found and not found in the field.
People still out in the field.
People talking in a laboratory.
A monster appears (we can see that), attacks (not shown) and kills (not shown).
I swear to God, we're back in the damn field again!
Somebody's dining in a restaurant.
More discussion in a lab.
We're back at that house.
I swear to fucking Lucifer if we go back....
GODDAMMIT! We're in a FIELD!
More talking in a lab.
One again the monster appears (we can see that), attacks (not shown) and kills (not shown).
The army* shoots in the general direction of the monster.
*A couple of guys in a Dodge Rambler.
The monster shambles into Chicago and vanishes.
And that is Monster-A-Go-Go!
What this movie lacks in any actual movie that you can actually see, it more than makes up for with an epic sprawling cast.
Frank Douglas, astronaut
Col. Steve Connors, Army guy
Jim Taylor, helicopter pilot
Dr. Karl Schreiber, scientist
Dr. Nora Kramer, also a scientist but a girl
Ruth Logan, another girl character
Also Harry Logan, Ruth's husband who is dead but he gets name checked
Jimmy, Ruth's son. Frank Douglas has been like a father to Jimmy since Harry died
Dr. Frank Logan, another Frank, another scientist and another member of the Logan family
Henry Schwartz, lab assistant to Dr. Frank Logan
Dr. Chris Manning, some dude, maybe a scientist?
Who cares? Will to live being lost...
Dr. Brent, another goddam scientist
We don't need this many scientists!
Dr. Conrad Logan, are you shitting me? It's another fucking scientist and also named Logan?
Also add in nameless teenagers in a make out session, a hot blonde with car trouble and a no name truck driver
And a narrator who randomly checks in to provide plot points the movie cannot bother to show and the characters cannot tell you because they don't know shit.
Oh, and the Monster who may or may not be Frank Douglas, astronaut.
There's a really perplexing twist at the end that calls into question the true identity of the Monster or some shit that if you made it this far, you really should not care!
Oh where is that sweet release of death when you need it?
Why, why, WHY does Monster A-Go-Go exist?
God and the Devil made a bet and somehow they both lost?
No, because filmmaker Bill Rebane knew a guy: Henry Hite who was 2.31 meters tall.
Okay, this 'MERICA! We don't go in for that pansy European metric bullshit!
Henry Hite was 7 ft 6¾ in tall.
So Bill Rebane started from the premise of let's make a movie around that guy.
Rebane's production took 3 important steps:
1) Slather lumpy bumpy make up on Henry's noggin
2) Film him lurching about looking scary.
3) Some other 3rd thing that will occur to Bill sooner or later.
Bill's production began in 1962 in and around his native Chicago and lurched forward through 1963 when the money and anything resembling creativity ran out.
Bill Rebane handed over what little he had to noted exploitation horror movie maven Herschell Gordon Lewis and moved on to other things.
A couple of years later, Lewis was in urgent need of a second film to fill out a double bill with one of his shlockfest horror films and dug out Rebane's incomplete footage.
Lewis shot a few extra scenes and added some new dialogue and adorned it with the title Monster A-Go-Go in 1965.
Lewis' hurried slapdash efforts to turn Rebane's raw footage into... something, anything resulted in a strange disjointed story with no continuity.
So much time elapsed between Rebane's original shoot and Lewis dusting it off, a lot of the original cast was not available. Hence the plethora of redundant scientists that populate the film.
Lewis was able to get the actor back who played Dr. Frank Logan but the actor had so dramatically changed his look, Lewis recast him as Frank Logan's brother, Conrad.
How cheap was this movie? There's a scene with a ringing telephone which is clearly somebody making a phone ringing sound with their mouth.
I will assure you I did not watch Monster A-Go-Go alone. I was joined by Joel Hodgson and his robot pals.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 took a pass at Monster A-Go-Go in 1993, much to their regret. Writer Paul Chaplin called Monster a Go-Go"officially the worst movie the show had featured, as of Season 7. The movie's lack of focus also forced the writers for the first time to explicitly decide not to have any of the episode's host segments have anything to do with the movie."
Monster A-Go-Go is a Monster A-No-No and this post is mercifully Monster A-Gone-Gone.
