Topic: Roger's Random TV Episodes Watched

[Rogmeister]

Today I watched the second disc of the 3-disc set of the western TV series "Whispering Smith" which starred Audie Murphy.  In case you missed what I wrote about it before, thnis was Audie Murphy's only TV series.  It began filming in 1959 but didn't air until 1961 because of various problems.  Guy Mitchell was a singer who appeared in this series as Whispering Smith's partner.  He fell off his horse at one point and broke his arm.  In Disc 2, you see a few episodes where his character has an arm in a cast so that was obviously written into the script.  I also understand somewhat after this, actor Sam Buffington (the one who played their superior) committed suicide.  I'm not sure if I've reached the point in the series where that happened though I have seen a few episodes now where his character does not appear.  When I was watching the first disc of this show, I thought the series was "just okay" but I seem to like it more as I go along.  Maybe I'm getting to like the characters?  Did Guy Mitchell ever do any other acting?  Some of the guest-stars on this disc (which contains 9 episodes) include Roscoe Ates, Robert Lowery, James Best, Patricia Medina, Edward Platt, Myron Healey, Marie Windsor and Alan Mowbray.  I think the case has a misprint...it says one episode has Forrest Tucker but he's not in it.  But there's an actor in that episode with a similar name...Forrest Taylor.

My only problem is I still don't know why the title character is called "Whispering" Smith.  I do have one more disc to go so maybe one of the stories in there will tell me...or maybe I'll have to watch for the Alan Ladd feature film of Whispering Smith to find out?

[Najemikon]

I have never heard of Whispering Smith... perhaps he should have shouted!

I think actually I've only seen Audie Smith in one Western at all, The Night Passage with James Stewart.

[Rogmeister]

I actually only have about 3 of his movies myself.  I also have Night Passage.  I also have No Name On The Bullet which I have previously reviewed and one I've yet to watch, Duel At Silver Creek. 

Did you know Audie Murphy was the most decorated U.S. soldier during World War II?  Another highly decorated U.S. soldier was another actor, Neville Brand, who appeared in a TV western series called Laredo as well as being the bad guy in a favorite western film of mine, The Tin Star.

[Najemikon]

I had heard that. Impressive, especially as he seems so short and young in these movies. Rewind a few years and I can't quite see him as a war hero.

[Antares]

I recommend you both try to find this film...

http://www.dvdcollectorsonline.com/index.php/topic,5724.0.html


His actions in WWII are the true meaning of hero. Google his name, you'll be impressed. The only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who didn't kill anyone, or brandish a weapon.

[Rogmeister]

Whispering Smith: Disc 3

I just got done watching the third and final disc of Whispering Smith, a TV western that originally started filming in 1959 but didn't air until 1961 and didn't last long then.  Too bad...it took me a bit to get into this but after watching it a bit, I got into it and enjoyed it more.  Disc 3 included 8 episodes and included more notable guest-stars...not a lot of them, but a few.  There was Alan Hale (playing a not-too-bright Swede), Jim Davis, Leo Gordon (best-remembered as the guy Duke Wayne knocked into the giant mud bath in McLintock!) and Arthur Franz.  A couple episodes in this series were like western whodunits and I really enjoyed those...that includes the final episode, Hired To Die.

Sometimes we know too much going into a series...for instance, I knew Sam Buffington, who played Audie Murphy's superior in this series, committed suicide during the series...so I kept waiting to see when his character would leave the show.  I thought I had seen that in disc two when he wasn't seen in the last several episodes, but then he showed up again in a handful of episodes on Disc 3.  I don't know if these episodes were shown out of order or if they were shown like that and they staggered them so that character would show up throughout the run of the first (and only) season.  In fact, his character even showed up in the very last episode. 

[Rogmeister]

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season

I seem to be one of the few who haven't reviewed previous seasons of this show so I thought I'd write this up since I just got it and watched it.  I got the set about two days before the premiere of the show's fourth season.  I wanted to watch it all before then but didn't quite make it.  I skimmed over a few episodes to finish in time and today I went back and watched those last few episodes completely.  My brother says I like this show because, like me, it's about a bunch of geeks.  He's just another who doesn't get it, I guess.  This is one of those shows (like Friends) that I've enjoyed since the beginning and I do hope it continues for some time to come.  Despite the fact I like it, it hasn't really gotten me to get more comic book-type t-shirts.  The one thing I didn't really care about in this season was towards the end where they had Penny and Leonard break up.  I am hoping that development is just temporary.

I also like the extras.  The gag reel is pretty predictable...fluffing of lines mostly.  There's a segment where the actors who play Howard and Rahj take us on a tour of the set.  And I like "Take Out With The Big Bang Theory Cast" where they open fortune cookies which actually contained questions for the cast.  It was nice to see everyone being themselves instead of their characters for a change...but it was a bit ironic when Kaley said that, if she had to have a career other than acting, she might raise horses.  Of course, we all know she recently broke a leg when she fell off of a horse.  If I'd like to make a suggestion regarding the 4th season DVD set (obviously a year away), I'd like to see some audio commentaries.  I always enjoy those.

 

[Dragonfire]

I didn't care for the break up either...especially how it just sort of came out of nowhere.  Wil Wheaton must pay for manipulating Penny that way.

I did enjoy that take out extra too..and the bloopers.  Commentaries by the cast would be great.  I don't always listen to those, but I would for this show.
I'm also hoping that Sheldon's Meemaw will be in an episode at some point.  I also think it would be interesting for Leonard and Sheldon's mothers to meet.

[addicted2dvd]

I still need to get season three. I do agree about the breakup.

[Rogmeister]

Justice League Unlimited

I have all 4 seasons of the Justice League animated series but it's really in 2 different incarnations.  The first 2 seasons is a very dramatic and action-packed series and the roster is, I believe, consistant throughout the run of the seasosn (I say I believe as I've still only seen a few episodes myself).  The regular 7 in that version: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, J'Onn J'Onzz (pronounced John Jones, also known as the Martian Manhunter), Green Lantern (the black version, AKA: John Stewart) and Hawkgirl.  With Justice League Unlimited, virtually every DC hero can be a member of the group and you never know who's going to show up.  Some episodes have as few as 3 members (one story has Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman while another is basically Black Canary, Green Arrow and Wildcat) and still others throw in a veritable army of heroes.  And you never know who will show up next.  I've seen Bwana Beast (a jungle hero who only had one or two comic book appearances), Hawk and the Dove, Supergirl and the futuristic Batman from Batman Beyond.  I decided to skip watching the rest of the first Justice League series because I wanted to get into this version and see all these other heroes.

So far I've seen the first 2 discs of season one of Justice League Unlimited and one episode of the 3rd disc.  Among the better episodes (in my opinion) are "For The Man Who Has Everything" (the one with Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman) which was adopted from an actual comic book story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, The Return (one of those featuring more heroes than you can shake a power stick at) where they battle an unbelievably powerful robot, and the one the Batman Beyond version of Batman shows up in...a 2-part time travel story where we even see some of the heroes from DC Comics' western series.  Also, unlike the first version of the series, JLU isn't afraid to use comedy and there's a couple very funny episodes including one where several members are turned into kids and one featuring Booster Gold who wants to be on the front lines during a major crisis but is instead put in charge of crowd control.  My only problem with the series will be when I run out of new episodes...sigh...then it will be all over.  But I'm having a blast in the meantime. 

[Rogmeister]

Justice League

I previously posted in my "In The Beginning" thread about the pilot or first episode of this series.  Then I moved to the Justice League Unlimited series...what this series morphed into in its 3rd season...where any DC hero could show up.  But now I've gone back to the original version of this series and have been watching episodes of this recently...

In Blackest Night puts the spotlight on Green Lantern (in this series, the black hero known as John Stewart is the Green Lantern) is believed to have destroyed a world and Green Lantern himself believes it.

The Enemy Below introduces Aquaman into this series...he winds up losing his hand in this adventure.  We also meet his queen, Mera, and their son.  Despite his appearance here, he does not become a regular in the Justice League series.

Injustice For All sees a group of villains take on the Justice League...Lex Luthor, The Joker, The Cheetah and others.

War World has Superman taken captive and forced to fight in a gladiator style combat while his friends try to come to his aide.

Legends is one of the more interesting and funny (up to a point) stories so far as the Justice League meets up with some other heroes who are similar to the Justice Society of America heroes who existeed in comics in the 1940s. 

I've also checked out some of the extras doing my viewings of these episodes including the audio commentary on Legends and some of the creators talking about the series.

[Rogmeister]

Justice League: Season One, Conclusion

I finished watching the first season of Justice League at around 2am this morning.  Once I got into it, I just couldn't stop, I guess....

The Brave and the Bold--I'm not sure why they chose to name this episode off of a comic book from the 50s to 80s but I liked this episode a lot.  It started off with a wild sequence involving The Flash chasing after a van containing some stolen isotopes.  There's also a sequence where The Flash is dreaming and he goes through some wild transformations...all of which are taken from actual stories in the Flash comic books. 

Fury involves a renegade amazon who wants to rid the world of all men.  With  most of the men of the League incapacitated, it's up to Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl to save the day.

A Knight With Shadows is the first of 3 adventures (all comprising the final disc) featuring guest appearances by various other DC comic book characters.  This includes The Demon in a story involving vile sorcery.

Metamorphosis gives us the cartoon version of the origin of Metamorpho, a super-hero with chemical-based powers.

The Savage Time is a really intersting time travel story where the league has to go back to the era of World War 2 to take on Vandal Savage.  This story also includes some of DC's war-time characters...the flying squadron known as The Blackhawks plus Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.  I was half hoping Jeb Stuart and his Haunted Tank would show up!

Overall, I had a great time with this set and I think I'll dive right into Justice League: Season Two today.  I see there's one episode there called "Maid of Honor".  Could this involve an appearance by Supergirl?  Like most of the episodes in Season One, most of the stories in that set are 2-parters.  There's one single-episode adventure and, as with Season One, a 3-part adventure to cap off the season.

[Rogmeister]

Justice League: Season Two
Today I watched the first 2 discs of this 4-disc set.  Every adventure of the two discs was a 2-part adventure.

Twilight--If I remember correctly, this adventure dealt with league fighting two really tough super-villains...Darkseid and Brainiac.  Guest-starring were several characters from The New Gods...Orion and Lightray...we even got to see a fleeting glimpse of the Forever People.  Even comic fans may not remember them...their comic lasted just a short 11 issues.

Tabula Rasa--This episode has such an odd title, I can't even remember what it was about.

Only A Dream--The league fights Dr. Destiny, an enemy who can attack them through their dreams.

Maid of Honor--Vandal Savage returns in this story involving a spoiled princess who Wonder Woman befriends.  Wonder Woman actually spends much of this adventure out of costume.

Hearts and Minds--I believe this adventure is an interstellar one involving some other Green Lanterns and the three-eyed enemy Despero.

A Better World--The league comes across other-dimensional versions of themselves who aren't exactly as much on the side of true justice as they are.

Besides a couple of commentaries, there are a few other features.  I enjoyed one which included several of the voice actors and the voice director of the series talking about their thoughts on the voice-acting process.  I have two discs yet to go through which includes the big 3-part finale that has one of the League itself becoming a traitor.  Who is it?  I'll never tell!

[Critter]

Tabula Rasa--This episode has such an odd title, I can't even remember what it was about.

It is an odd title, it's been used a few times in TV shows. There is also an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the same name. As far as I can tell the term Tabula Rasa refers to a thesis that all humans are born a blank slate and knowledge comes from experience. Or something like that.

[Rogmeister]

Thank you...that is enough to remind me what this episode was.  It involved Lex Luthor and an android one of his scientists created that adapts and gains the powers of any hero that goes against him.  When Hawkgirl attacks him, HE grows wings and can fly, for instance.  I did like this episode...and this android showed up again the following season when the series was retitled Justice League Unlimited.