Thursday, January 21, 2010

Run Logan, Run

Starting in February, I'm going to start posting episode reviews of the Logan's Run television series from 1977. I have roughly two-thirds of the series here from old VHS recordings, and will be watching and writing up my thoughts on those shows here as a regular feature.

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the TV series and the movie, which I have very clear memories of watching when it aired on network television. I even started to write my own "novelization" of the film, which I abandoned only after I found out there already was a book. Of course, the book was so different from the movie that I was both confused and a little angry.

Nowadays, I have great admiration for the trilogy of novels by William F. Nolan (who I've had the great fortune to correspond with in the past) and George Clayton Johnson (co-writer of the original novel).

Anyway, while I dread the prospect of a new Hollywood remake (which seems to be constantly under discussion), at least that would mean there would be a good chance of getting the TV series released on disc. And I'd like that.

Look for my Logan's Run reviews to begin in a couple weeks.

9 comments:

  1. I enjoyed both as well.
    --Nice to have a place to reminisce about it with others. :)

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  2. It's been quite a while since I saw that old TV show. My memories of it are very fuzzy, but my overall impression is "dreadful".

    Like you, I'm a huge fan of the books, though. Very different from both the film and the show.

    I'm looking forward to your series.

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  3. I had a great time revisiting the tv series when it was released on itunes! I'm looking forward to the reviews.

    Btw, the theatrical movie is still one of my favorite movies ("Fish! Plankton! Protein from the sea!"), and I will be sorely disappointed if there is a remake. How many of my treasured old scifi films is hollywood determined to desecrate!? ;)

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  4. I never saw the series, although I very much liked teh movie. And I have all three books and liked them very much.

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  5. Loved that series as a kid and was very pleased to see they have all of it on iTunes. You might want to check it out as it's probably better than you vintage VHS tapes. Looking forward to your reviews!

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  6. I wasn't aware that the show was on iTunes. My intent was to review it because I thought it wasn't easily available.

    Hmmmm. Maybe I'lll have to reconsider this plan.....

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  7. Mind you, it had the worst theme music in TV history…

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  8. I actually liked the theme music, but the show itself left a lot to be desired. Still, it's part of my memories of that time, as a teen, so it's not something I would willingly forget.

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  9. I thought the series looked wonderful. I preferred Michael York greatly, but the series casting and look seemed solid enough for a 'step-above' chase show.

    I understand some of the behind-scenes creative wranglings, and agreed with David Gerrold that MGM should have looked at a strong sequel, THEN followed up with a series.. You wouldn't have had as much explaining to do to the casual viewer, plus it would have expanded into other more interesting story ideas.

    But as Gerrold said, "they went for the fast buck and lost." There should have been much more character stories, but the writing was a bit jumbled. REM was an excellent addition, but it's a shame they decided to sanitize the series for primetime by moving Logan-Jessica to a brother/sister relationship. You lose a lot of tension there. All in all, a harmless show.

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