marklungo-1

Yes, I know the original messages were written years ago, but I just saw them today.

To Bruce: Straczynski only wrote the pilot episode of "Spiral Zone" ("Mission Into Evil"), then left the series after a dispute with the producers. Also, he never wrote for "Bravestarr" as far as I know. He was busy with "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" at the time.

To bcolquho: The Australian Zone Rider was Ned *Tucker* (Ned Kelly was a famous Aussie criminal), and the French Black Widow was named Crook.

I hope this post doesn't sound snarky or anything; I just want the information on "Spiral Zone" to be as accurate as possible.

I really wanted to enjoy "Martin & Orloff," which saddles its first-rate cast with third-rate material. I liked the opening scenes, which made me think that M&O would be a black comedy about a suicidal man trying to readjust to normal life--the scene where Ian Roberts cleans copious amounts of his own blood off his bathroom floor packs a wallop. Unfortunately, the movie soon abandons that idea to focus on the old "psychiatrist who's crazier than his patients" cliché. I could *almost* forgive the psychiatrist and his pals being over-the-top, cartoonish freaks, but the portrayal of the Chinese food mogul and his henchmen as insulting racial caricatures was enough to ruin the film for me. The best aspect of "Martin & Orloff" is seeing David Cross do an early version of his "Arrested Development" character.

I was *really* into "The Houndcats" as a kid, and I'm not (too) embarrassed to admit I liked it today. While the show is indeed a combination of "Mission: Impossible" and the quickly canceled "Bearcats", I think another major influence was "The Wild, Wild West", only without the fights and the scantily clad women. At least there were plenty of power-hungry villains, though. (Remember, not only was "The Houndcats" a kids' show, but it was produced at a time when concern about violence on children's television was at its peak. That's probably one reason why the "Mission: Impossible" formula appealed to the producers: the Houndcats always tricked their opponents into defeat instead of beating them up.) Also, I'd like to correct a common error about "The Houndcats"' voice cast. Daws Butler did *not* play Stutz; that was Michael Bell. Butler played Rhubarb in a few episodes (presumably when Arte Johnson was unavailable; remember "Laugh-In" was still in production) and also played two of the villains, Grogan and Dr. Strangeless.