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Monday, December 28, 2009

Disillusions du Jour


Interesting article on past TV shows at the NY Times, including one of my favorites--F Troop.  The author complains that the images he perceived as a kid are lies--that special effects or camera tricks can be revealed in super slow motion with the new DVDs.  I was expecting the author to complain that the series themselves do not hold up.  Given all of the revisionism on the old west, is F-Troop horribly offensive now or a clever satire of one of the darkest chapters in American history?

As I sit watching scenes like this over and over in slow motion, some members of my household complain that I have become unnaturally obsessed with the whole subject. Maybe. But I’m pressing on, determined to learn just how much of my life is based on false pretenses. I am dreading what I am going to find in “My Favorite Martian” and “The Addams Family”; highly skeptical that “The Flying Nun” was either really flying or really a nun.
But there’s one show, at least, that I’m sure won’t let me down: “Mister Ed,” about the talking horse. I know that was real. Heck, you could see his lips move.
A fun piece.  Interesting angle taken, as the obvious one would be mine--how would these series play today?  Given my past references to the all-time Never-Can-It-Happen-Today Show, Hogan's Herooes, you can guess how I would approach it (perhaps I will ponder this tomorrow during the long drive home).  But what is your take?

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