tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post3190917181627194218..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Ranking Man from Atlantis, Best to WorstJohn Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-12473893040689375282018-04-02T04:09:17.934-04:002018-04-02T04:09:17.934-04:00Thank you for your interesting and informative rev...Thank you for your interesting and informative reviews of the Man From Atlantis TV series. I recently bought the two DVD sets and binge watched the entire series. Boy, how memory can play tricks on you! I loved the show as a kid but upon re-watching them some of the episodes are truly appalling. Of course the first four TV movies are the best, and one must keep in mind the limited budget of a weekly TV show, but still! The producers seemed to have no idea of the kind of show they wanted. Episodes veer from camp comedy to fantasy to almost serious drama. My favourite one hour shows were Crystal Water Sudden Death, C.W. Hyde, Deadly Carnival and Siren. I agree with you about Man O’War and Imp being the worst!<br /><br />In regards to running order; I think network executives made a disastrous mistake in uploading all of the Mr Schubert episodes first. I think that decision lost the show its audience and doomed it in the ratings. And the order seems out of whack as well. How can C.W. shake Schubert’s hand in Man O’War? How come the guy is not in jail by then? How can Schubert’s daughter appear and then disappear without mention? How come Schubert’s assistant Brent is not in Crystal Water? Why does the crew of the Cetacean change? Why does the submarine captain disappear after the movies? Mark Harris is the new captain of the sub and sits in the command chair?! Where is Miller Simon? Without him Elizabeth has no fellow scientist to converse with. Even the last two episodes seem out of order. What is the point of firing Belinda Montgomery and replacing her, and then having the new character not appear in the last episode? I don’t buy the theory that Belinda was off sick, which is floating around the internet; if that was the case why did they drop her from the opening credits? If she was sick she would have stayed in the credits and returned if the network has backordered the last half of the season. <br /><br />I am unable to find a production order for the episodes anywhere; but the network air order sure sucks! Instead I suggest the following order to better enjoy the show:<br /><br />1)Man from Atlantis, 2)The Death Scouts, 3)Killer Spores, 4)The Disappearances, 5)Crystal Water-Sudden Death, 6)Man O' War, 7)Giant, 8)Melt Down, 9)The Mudworm, 10)Scavenger Hunt, 11)Hawk of Mu, 12)The Naked Montague, 13)Shoot-Out At Land's End, 14)Imp, 15)C. W. Hyde, 16)Deadly Carnival, 17)Siren.<br /><br />Justification: Crystal Water is the most serious Schubert episode and the only one without his sidekick, Brent. It also has a different Cetacean crew. Man O'War is next because Schubert is still operating openly and not arrested and C.W. shakes his hand. Giant gives us a break from Schubert and introduces the conman character of Muldoon. Melt Down and the Mudworm are more Schubert eps, then Scavenger Hunt brings back Muldoon while still fresh in our memories. Hawk of Mu must be watched as the last Schubert episode because his daughter is in it; and she doesn’t appear again. But her name is Juliett which leads to Naked Montague – the Romeo & Juliet episode (because Mark Harris is thinking about her!). Deadly Carnival sees Belinda dropped from the credits, while Siren introduces the new replacement character and also features another change in the Cetacean crew. This order, in my opinion, makes much more sense than the network air order (and DVD order).<br /><br />Throughout the show Patrick Duffy is great as Mark Harris. He gives a quiet dignity to the character and manages to salvage something from even the worst episodes. I recently found out that Duffy has written a Man From Atlantis novel; I would be most interested in reading your review of it John!<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-21017689948549472042016-08-05T17:53:49.252-04:002016-08-05T17:53:49.252-04:00Excellent breakdown into three categories of the M...Excellent breakdown into three categories of the MFA.<br /><br />SGB SGBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07137406272001346149noreply@blogger.com