"Let's get the hell outta here!" says
CAPTAIN KIRK at the wrap up of The
CITY At The EDGE Of FOREVER, sick at
the realisation his chance of 'making out' with
EDITH KEELER (JOAN COLLINS) is gone
for good. And who can blame him? Just look
at her classy chassis - wow! (Photo not from
STAR TREK, in case you're wondering,
you awestruck Crivvies.)
That Star Trek episode is a classic, but I still associate her more with "bad girl" parts. She was a perfect choice to play the Siren, a super femme fatale, in two episodes of Batman's last season.
ReplyDeleteA reviewer at the Internet Movie Database said that she was "alluringly bitchy" in Fear in the Night, and that could also describe her performances in Tales From the Crypt, Empire of the Ants, and, of course, Dynasty.
She may have even saved Dynasty from cancellation. Its ratings were marginal at first, but shot up into the top twenty, and then the top ten, after Alexis showed up. Then Heather Locklear joined the cast and the ratings went up yet again. Obviously, what the series had needed was a strong villain or two to put the "nasty" in "Dynasty."
Never really watched Dynasty, TC, although I caught bits of it on occasion. She was certainly a stunning-looking woman in her day. I remember her from Land Of The Pharaohs, which may be the first thing I saw her in - if it wasn't Batman or Star Trek.
ReplyDeleteKid, I remember her from 'Land Of The Pharaohs' too (I just spelt it wrong and was corrected by the squiggly red line under Pharoahs (sic) - did I learn nothing from yesterday's post ??). She was also in a very good episode of Space: 1999 which I recently watched on YouTube (the whole of Season 1 is free to watch, FREE). As for Dynasty, she wasn't the first choice - the role of Alexis was first offered to Sophia Loren who turned it down. I remember there was quite a fuss in 1983 when she appeared in Playboy at the age of 50 - apparently it was all very tasteful but I remember thinking that 50 was ANCIENT - I'm now 49 and...er, 50 doesn't seem so ancient these days :)
ReplyDeleteWas there ever a very good episode of Space 1999? It would have to be free for me to watch it - I could just never get into it back in the day, CJ. I remember Joan also appearing on Page 3 of The Sun back in '73 or '74, I think. (Wish I'd kept it.)
ReplyDeleteKid, you're too harsh - Space: 1999 was a really good show in my opinion. I watched the entire first season on YouTube last year and admittedly the scientific accuracy often made me cringe but on the whole I really enjoyed it - I had a couple of annuals and there was a Space: 1999 ice lolly too. But the second season is crap - it was never shown in my ITV region but the few episodes I have seen are so different from Season 1 that it's like another show altogether. I never knew Joan Collins was on Page 3 - I'm surprised she'd stoop so low. Do you remember the adverts she did with Leonard Rossiter for Cinzano or Martini or whatever it was.
ReplyDeleteNah, it was mince - your opinion of it is no doubt affected by the rosy glow of nostalgia. I'm sure I'd have enjoyed the ice lolly 'though, had I ever tasted it. Probably the only good thing that ever had the Space 1999 name attached to it. And, CJ, after Joan appearing in The Bitch and The Stud, I'm surprised that you're surprised at her appearing on Page 3. (After those two movies, Page 3 was a step up.) However, I'm unsure as to whether she actually posed for The Sun, or they simply published stills of her in the near-buff from one of the films. It may have been a case of the first in one instance and the second in another. Yup, I do remember these adverts - predictable, but amusing.
ReplyDeleteYeah Space 1999, they should've stuck with UFO. The first one's not bad, Breakout or Break Away, something like that. Silvia wanted the producer credit and the story goes she blew the budget on the first episode because she couldn't handle the director. The second series had some decent scripts, even though its reputation is the lesser of the two series. The problem with series two is that, the -action- prerequisite imposed on the scripts, leads to some misguided stock scenes: Koenig has fight, Koenig chases alien, Koenig is chased by alien, blah blah blah, yeah thanks Mr. Freiberger. Still some decent episodes though, One Moment of Humanity is good, so is the Seance Spectre, although the script is a little under developed in that one. From the first series, Dragons Domain stands out and a few others I can't recall.
ReplyDeleteMy particular favourite is Exiles, it explores the convention of depicting evil as monstrous. Although having bad baddies portrayed as close to physical perfection is nothing new, Exiles demonstrates more explicitly. how sympathies can be dependent on trivial aesthetics. I've seen the idea recycled a couple of times since, by Pat Mills in at least one instance, but never quite so well executed.
Recently some of the Start Trek stuff resurfaced on YT so I gave it go, I was kinda surprised at how rubbish some of the scripts were. The City on the Edge of Forever stands out, in my eyes, by dint of the character building. The premise, that of good intentions being subverted by circumstance, is subversive to the Trek credo, so that was a win but I would've loved to've seen Scotty the drug dealer, even if he was an apocryphal product Roddenberry's hyperbole.
I think there was a drug dealer in one of Ellison's (or someone's later) drafts, but it wasn't Scotty; that was Roddenberry mis-remembering years later. As for Space 19zzzzzzzzzz. Where was I? Yeah, I almost fall asleep just saying the name. Haven't watched it since it was first shown, but it just seemed so totally unauthentic to me at the time. It didn't seem real and looked like what it was - a TV programme set in a studio. Maybe one say I'll give it another go.
ReplyDeleteI never really appreciated it when I first saw it, which was some time after the initial airing and I do recall relaying similar views, to those you hold, to fellow Anderson fan. It kinda grew on me after re-watching, which was relatively recently. Is it boring? definitely in places, some of the scripts are dreadful and there's even a few knocks offs of Trek scripts, in series one.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I can say about series one, is that it does give Landau some scope and we get to see a glimpse of what his Spock might've been like. Barry Morse is good too, he and Landau, both underrated actors, develop a good rapport. Series one is also un-marred by the tedious romance between Landau and Bain's characters. Koenig is cool and professional in series one and remains aloof from Helena's attention, you get a feeling there might be something going on but it's strictly out of sight, -not in front of the troops- so to speak.
I wouldn't say, go buy the boxed set, but it might be worth checking a few of the episodes on YT, on one of those nights there's nothing on the box. A bottle of gin would help quell the boredom but I know you don't indulge.
Oh yeah, I meant to mention the Scotty thing, yeah I think that got ballooned a bit by the feud between Ellison and Rodenberry. It's the kind of hyperbole everyone uses in relaxed company, '... he had my Scotty pushing drugs'. Through which he means that he wasn't happy with the implications of criminals and underworld antics within his perfect Star Fleet family. I would still like to have seen it though: 'Aye the noo, want some smack? Hoots me nanny?'
ReplyDeleteActually, good as they are, to me, Landau, Bain and Morse just seemed a poor fit in a sci-fi show. The lead should've been more in the Captain Kirk mould, I think. Anyway, next time I take a break from watching paint dry, I'll maybe visit YouTube and watch an episode or two.
ReplyDelete