LOST IN SPACE / "The Oasis" - 1965

So, for our last post of the month, I thought it would be nice to end it with an episode from LOST IN SPACE. In this story, the gang is trying to get through a drought with sky high temperatures and have to go searching for a water source, or, DIE!!

It starts with a bang, an earthquake brings some boulders down on Don, who gets his foot caught between the rocks. But, John saves the day using a a long pole to separate the the boulders and Don is able to pull his foot free. Looks painful!

As Don rests after the incident, the Robinsons play a board game. The heat is sweltering and Will gets upset and says that everyone is cheating, so, game over man!

Holy cow, check out that contraption Don and John are working on, looks like something Eegah!! would have to create in the back a few years ago!

As they work in the heat, the boys hear some gawd-awful noise coming from across the way. I really like this shot.

Dr. Smith was 'singing' the worst operatic song, ever!! And I mean, it's freaking LOUD! Yeah, and I'm pretty sure the Robot was playing some music...Horrible! Anyway, the Little B is taking a shower while he was singing!

Here's the problem, the boys thought there was like 42 gallons of drinking water left, but find out there are 2 gallons now, and that equals only 4 days! You figure out the rest..

So, they have to go searching for water, and head off into the desert heat. At one point, Smith wants a drink and stays behind, and takes a nap. What a Royal B he is!!

Wandering through some hills they come upon a contaminated pool of water, but something is growing in the water.

John finds some fruit growing there, he pulls some off and brings the up from the pool. Don cuts one open to see what's inside but they have to runs tests on them at the lab before eating them, because they could be poisonous.

Thinking that Dr. Smith would have come back to the ship by now, he wanders in, and starts eating the fruit!! Maureen is sooo nice to Dr. Smith, no matter what, well, I wouldn't be, the Little B!! Anyway, she finally gets to tell him that he should NOT have eaten the fruit because they were going to test it to see if it's.. Poisonous!!

Smith claims that they were purposely leaving it out to poison him, he freaks out, leaves and heads out into the darkness. He ends up here somehow, in one of my dreams, what the Hell, Man!

Oh yeah, Debbie The Bloop has eaten some of the fruit and has grown in size!

So, you get the idea..

Smith is talking a big load of crap, but finally, Will gets through to him..

They build a huge bed covered by some netting to house the depressed giant who can only think about his woes, as Will speaks with him. He gots big ol' feets!!

In the meantime, John and Don have finished their rain machine and the lightning is starting to strike as everyone takes cover, except Dr. Smith and Debbie of course.

Predictably,  the rain brings Smith and Debbie back to their regular sizes. I wonder if the others got wet, would they turn into midgets? Food for thought.

And everyone gets to laugh at the disheveled, wet, sorry ass Dr. Smith! 

Hey, what's this?! Looks like something I might come up with.. Anyway, looks like this thing will show up next week to give us a chill. That spiked thing definitely seems like it would smart if it hit you! You can't see it but the thing in the middle has big teeth!

Well, hope you enjoyed this post, now get ready for February.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE - "Steel" (1963)

There are SO many great episodes of "The Twilight Zone," and every one of them has been discussed multiple times, and yet, the subject just never gets old. That's just how damn good the show was, so The Saturday Night Special on the menu tonight is from Season 05, Episode 02 called simply "Steel."

 

 

I love the forward and backwards letters, it just doesn't make sense!

It's 1974, and boxing has been declared barbaric, and is forbidden, but since there's still a need to watch two guys beat the crap out of each other and bet on it, they now employ robots to do the fighting. Okay, so they got that part of the timeline wrong, but there's some rich professional boxers today who are mighty thankful for it.

 

This robot is already falling apart, do you see where this is going? His wheels have already literally fallen off, and the wheels are only for transporting him around.

Lee (Gorilla At Large) Marvin is ex-boxer turned manager/trainer Steel Kelly, and Joe (The Birds) Mantell is the corner man known as Pole. They just need to get one win to get them on the road to fortune, unfortunately their robot is an older model, and needs a tuneup.

Did you know that there was an episode of the "Jack Benny Program" where Jack hires Rod Serling to improve his show but he winds up trapped in the "Twilight Zone" himself? Me neither, but somehow I gotta see that! Steel and Pole agree!

 

I haven't seen everything Lee Marvin was ever in, but from what I have seen, I'm sure every one of them is worth watching!

Lee Marvin and Joe Mantell are so good, they were both in another episode of "The Twilight Zone."

Battling Maxo doesn't stand a chance. The B7's are the latest models. It's just a paycheck!

Despite the odds, the boys are ready, but Pole has his doubts.

Battling Maxo ain't looking that great, but Steel has faith in him!

Here's the inside story on what makes Battling Maxo work!

Steel and Maxo have a little impromptu sparring session that causes Maxo to have a wiring problem that won't allow him to fight.

Anywhere else but "The Twilight Zone," and they would have headed to that exit sign!

Steel knows that nobody in this part of the country has ever seen Maxo before, so he goes out to fight Maynard Flash himself just to get the $500.00 payday.

Chuck Hicks has the role of the robot Maynard Flash. Chuck wasn't just screwing around either, besides acting, he was a professional boxer, a football player, a stunt man, you name it, Chuck did it.

Lee looks pretty cool in his robot makeup!

Chuck Hicks was one of those guys who made movies and TV shows so good over the years, and he just passed away last May at the age of 94. Thanks Chuck, we salute you!

 

No, there's no fairy tale ending because this is "The Twilight Zone," so even after getting the shit beat out of him, Steel only gets a partial paycheck because he didn't even finish one round.

Bust your ass, and still get screwed, that's the message of hope delivered here!

FLIP THE FROG In "The Village Barber" - 1930

Man, cartoons from 1930 (92 years ago) were just plain weird, and basically incoherent! Like this little Ub Iwerks story starring old Flip The Frog.

Flip is a barber getting ready for another day's work at his shop, he lubes his barber pole so that it works smoothly...

And he even lubes his little bug pals that turn the pole. For some reason, after he lubes them, they get all happy and really enjoy their work!.. Weird!

This piggy kid sees the pole, tosses down his lollipop, tears off the pole, starts licking it and walks away. Flip gets another pole but we won't go into that, too weird, poor kitty cat...

Then this shaggy guy 's walking down the street when he gets a gander of himself in a reflection, holy cow man!

And he heads into Flip's barber shop.

Flip's having quite a problem trying to comb out the guy's hair! Stubborn!

Flip pulls out his clippers (with a little face on it of course) and he starts shaving the guy, who's definitely in need of a good grooming!

This one's got me stumped..

Then it happens, a customer decides to listen to a tune on the old player piano.

NOOOOO!!..

Too late, a big old spider pops out and starts dancing on the piano keys, playing a ragtime number.. Next stop, Crazy-Ville!

I mean, just look at this pot-belly stove after it gets a mouthful of coal! It's higher'n Hell. Another thing I noticed is that the place is a dump!

So, all hands on deck putting the finishing touches on the old hound, as they merrily move to the nutty song.

They all start singing along in harmony, until...

The hound hits a low note and the floor crashes through.

And they finish the song from there! Just like this post!