Hey everybody, I've got a series of interviews about the 1970s TV series Land of the Lost in Filmfax Plus this month (the January/March '07 issue). The magazine is doing a nice series about one of my favorite disco decade shows, titled "Rediscovering Land of the Lost," which continues next issue. Author Frank Garcia contributed an article, including an interview with Larry Niven and David Gerrold, and I submitted a series of interviews (from 2001 and 2002...) from series creators. I interviewed third season writer Sam Roeca, third season producer Jon Kubichan, series co-creator Allan Foshko, director Bob Lally, executive producer Albert Tenzer and theme song composer Linda Laurie.
The magazine is available now, so check it out. It's another great issue, which also features articles on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Twilight Zone.
I just bought that issue of Filmfax today, and I agree that it's packed with wonderful articles. As with your interview with Dorthy Fontana in an earlier issue, your interviews are very informative and help me to appreciate these programs more. Your Land of the Lost ep guide was very helpful when I bought the DVD for the first season...have to say the same about your Space Academy ep guide (when I bought the DVD a couple of weeks ago).
ReplyDeleteI was particularly interested in comments Allan Foshko made in your interview. He mentioned that he still has the 30 minute pilot for Land of the Lost. It sure would have been great if that had been included on the DVD release of the first season. The company releasing all the Filmation shows has been doing a nice job with the extras. The Space Academy DVD is a joy. It was nice to see a mention of the Valley of the Dinosaurs cartoon in the magazine. I used to watch that everyweek when it was on. I also barely remember a live-action show about a caveman "Korg". There seems to be little chance that they'll ever be released on DVD. On YouTube, there is a terrific clip from Jason of Star Command with that animated insectoid creature. That show had feature-film quality effects. I can't wait for the DVD.
Back to Lost in Space, Foshko mentioned that the Lost in Space pilot used rear-screen projection (instead of chroma-key). It reminded of me of what I read about early tests for Space Academy. The rear-projected starfields (behind the Seekers) were considered "mushy". Sid and Marty Kroft probably had a simular reaction to the Land of the Lost effects. The effects for Land hold up pretty well except for the close-ups of the live-action puppet heads of Grumpy and Alice (with just creased folds for the back of their throats). The third season episode "Cornered" with Torchy is a mini-masterpiece of animation, with no awful handpuppet closeups. Also in the third season, I agree with the comments made by NBC after viewing dailies of Richard Kiel. He is "not a very good actor"...he's awful.
Just a note of appreciation for some more good articles!
Thanks, Baz, for the vote of confidence and approval. I appreciate your comments about my interviews! Thanks for reading!!!
ReplyDeleteAll my best,
John