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From: dday@gymble.UUCP (Dennis Doubleday)
Newsgroups: net.tv
Subject: Re: Amazing Stories 11/10/85
Message-ID: <444@gymble.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 15-Nov-85 12:28:39 EST
Article-I.D.: gymble.444
Posted: Fri Nov 15 12:28:39 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Nov-85 06:12:43 EST
References: <478@cylixd.UUCP>
Reply-To: dday@gymble.UUCP (Dennis Doubleday)
Organization: U of Maryland, Laboratory for Parallel Computation, C.P., MD
Lines: 54

In article <478@cylixd.UUCP> dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby) writes:
>
>Okay, I know that Amazing Stories has been beaten to death recently,
>but last Sunday's episode was SO BAD that I just can't hold myself
>back. A new low has been reached in the Amazing Stories series. I
>truly wonder how it can possibly get worse than this.
>I refer, of course, to the insipid story of the little kid who was
>able to receive outer space broadcasts on his TV set with an antenna 
>made from a broken umbrella. The story was ruined for me at the first
>when he has fiddling around with the TV and started picking up 
>broadcasts from China. Since other countries use different broadcast
>frequencies and different picture scan parameters, the reception he 
>got would be impossible.
 
**GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!**  If I hear one more complaint about details
like this I'm going to scream.  In fact, AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!
They ought to put out a special edition of this show for you people.
It would be called AMAZING STORIES FOR NIT-PICKING LITERAL-MINDED
NERDS.  It would be absolutely accurate in every scientific detail; all
viewers would be required to build their own televisions before viewing
each episode.  
     I enjoyed this episode, especially seeing the aliens acting out
I Love Lucy and hearing them sing the theme from Bonanza.  OF COURSE
the whole idea was silly.  It was a FARCE.  SAT-TIRE, knowwhutImean, Vern?
We were supposed to laugh at the idea of picking up a Chinese weatherman 
on the television.  I laughed hysterically when the alien sucked up
everything on the table, including the ketchup bottle.
     I get the feeling that because Steven Spielberg is the producer of
this series that many of you out there are comparing it to feature films
rather other television series.  It's just not going to be as good as 
that standard.  Each episode is budgeted at around $1 million (that's
very high for tv) and they have to make one every 1-2 weeks.  Compare
that to the average movie budget and schedule.
      I don't think AMAZING STORIES is the best show on television, but
I think most people would agree that it is good television.  I wait for
it every week with anticipation because I don't know what to expect.
Except that I know I'll see high production values (the highest on
television), a good cast, an interesting director (now that's really
the most unusual thing of all--who really cares who directs WHO'S THE
BOSS or MAGNUM P.I.?), and probably an good story (the only ones I
haven't liked so far were the first one about the train and the one
about the Alamo, which didn't go anywhere).  It would be a shame if it
didn't succeed and was replaced by another TV sitcom clone.
     I think the very fact that people on the net bother to argue about
it indicates that it is an important show (when was the last debate over
the merits of say, REMINGTON STEELE?).


-- 

UUCP:	seismo!umcp-cs!dday                      Dennis Doubleday
CSNet:	dday@umcp-cs				 University of Maryland
ARPA:	dday@gymble.umd.edu			 College Park, MD 20742
Fan of: Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, OU Sooners	 (301) 454-4247