Rod Serling story from "Night Gallery" THE EARWIG
John Blaze
Chris
"John Blaze" <spam.jo...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message
news:K_od9.10298$H67....@tor-nn1.netcom.ca...
Stephen Douglas
Set on a tropical plantation, Laurence Harvey plays a man who survives
an earwig 'attack'. IIRC, the doctor claims that the earwig enters
the brain through the ear and burrows, causing madness and,
eventually, death. Harvey survives, seemingly unscathed, when the
earwig exits the opposite ear, which the doctor declares to be
miraculous. Unfortunately...
SPOILER ALERT
The doctor determines that the earwig was a female and, whilst in
Harvey's brain, laid a batch of eggs. IIRC, Harvey is seen screaming
as the segment fades to black.
Obviously, a memorable episode as I saw it only once, when it aired 30
years ago. The science of the episode is dubious.
Regards,
Steve
Heynony
> The science of the episode is dubious.
Post of the Week.
darlene
Sounds like an episode called The Caterpillar. The premise of the
story is a sort of "what goes around comes around." An assassin
ironically becomes the victim of the assassination plot.
If you are a fan of Serling here's an interesting link
Nick Macpherson
>Obviously, a memorable episode as I saw it only once, when it aired 30
>years ago. The science of the episode is dubious.
Not if you were in the fourth grade when it first aired. And I didn't even see
it. Just hearing school friends talking about it was enough to do me in.
HitmanLV
Douglas) wrote:
>"John Blaze" <spam.jo...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message news:<K_od9.10298$H67....@tor-nn1.netcom.ca>...
>> Can anyone give me any MORE info on this?????
>
Rod sure was an an overrated hack. Give me Outer Limits, any day of
the week.
Opencity
>Rod sure was an an overrated hack. Give me Outer Limits, any day of
>the week.
"Night Gallery" was admittedly subpar Serling, especially in comparison to "The
Twilight Zone" (which, itself, had more than a few clumsy episodes).
This particular episode is mainly interesting for Laurence Harvey, whose career
took an extraordinary nosedive during the mid-1960s and who had to settle for
roles like this.
HitmanLV
I've never seen this one. It sounds ok. I have a few problems with
Rod:
1. His writing is very often way too heavy handed and preachy, as
opposed to understated. He talk AT his audience way too much.
2. Again on his writing, I think his characters are way too verbose at
times, again speaking AT each other instead of having meaningful and
more credible dialouges.
3. Pretty dull plotlines. An episode of the 1980 "New Show" had a
wild skit called "Twilight Zonettes" - the premise being that the
typical Twilight Zone episode can be completely conveyed in about 30
seconds and proceeded to do 3 or 4 of them - and what made it so
funny, is they were right!
"Hey these nice aliens took us off earth, gave us this nice home to
live in, plenty of food.....hey! Holy Smoke! We're in a zoo!!!!"
"Hey, we were out partying and now no one is in this town. This train
goes in a full circle and stops where it starred. Oh no!!! We're in
a toy village (hmmm...sounds like we're in a zoo!!!)"
"Hey, we're so lucky to have met these nice aliens who seem so
interested in "Serving Man...." "OH NO!!!!....................."
There really isn't much more to the typical episode than that.
Some evidence? Try sitting through a 60-minute Zone. ARGH!!!!
Stretching 30 seconds to 30 minutes is doable, but straining for 60
minutes is horrific.
Didn't Jerry Seinfeld once say in an episode "Its like that episode of
the Twilight Zone where the guy wakes up and everything is different!"
George: "Which one was that?"
Jerry: "Oh, every one!!!"
Indeed.
4. No one ever accused Rod of being sublte. He clobbers the viewer
over the head with his messages. His original concept for "Planet of
the Apes" was an ape society that mirrored our own much closer, though
I think the finished version is far more compelling - they have a
different cultuture, and yet, it echos are own. Stranegly similar,
yet different. We are the apes, the apes are us. I don't need an ape
flying a helocopter or one in a 3 piece suit to make that clear, Rod.
All this being said, I do like some or the Twilight Zone episodes,
though they tend to be ones that Rod didn't pen. I am a big Richard
Matheson fan, and some other contributors were excellent also. And
some of Rod's stuff is pretty slick also.
I think about 10-15% of Zone episodes are genuine classics, and thats
an unusually high number for any tv show. I prefer the more Science
fiction edge of Outer Limits, which had more sophisticated and
compelling storylines, developed them nicely, and provided a payoff
that was more substantial than learning you are in a zoo or breaking
your only pair of reading glasses.
Just my taste. I think people give too much credit to the Zone based
on the 10-15% that's really good, and not enough credit to Outer
Limits that was much more consistently good.
It's all a matter of personal taste though.
Joe Gillis
Opencity wrote:
>This particular episode is mainly interesting for Laurence Harvey, whose
>career
>took an extraordinary nosedive during the mid-1960s and who had to settle for
>roles like this.
>
Has this nosedive ever been explained? Was he involved in some hushed-up
scandal? Did he offend some Hollywood big-shot? What's the scoop?
=================================================
"I don't mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy." -- Samuel Butler
Frank R.A.J. Maloney
news:3lfdnu8qrp4sd852q...@4ax.com...
[deletions]
>
> Rod sure was an an overrated hack. Give me Outer Limits, any day of
> the week.
>
If all you know about Rod Serling is Twilight Zone or Night Gallery or both,
then you know nothing about Rod Serling.
--
Frank in Seattle
___________
Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
"I leave you now in radiant contentment"
-- Conrad Veidt, "Whistling in the Dark"
Jim Beaver
"Joe Gillis" <cinema...@aol.comedy> wrote in message
news:20020905025301...@mb-fi.aol.com...
>
> Opencity wrote:
>
> >This particular episode is mainly interesting for Laurence Harvey, whose
> >career
> >took an extraordinary nosedive during the mid-1960s and who had to settle
for
> >roles like this.
> >
>
> Has this nosedive ever been explained? Was he involved in some hushed-up
> scandal? Did he offend some Hollywood big-shot? What's the scoop?
His nosedive, if such it was, wasn't exactly in the mid-1960s, since he was
starring in big studio films such as OF HUMAN BONDAGE, DARLING, THE OUTRAGE,
and LIFE AT THE TOP in the middle of that decade. And he continued starring
in admittedly lesser films, often several per year, up until his premature
death at 45 in 1973. He was apparently a very difficult man, frequently
rude and often hated, although there were some, like Elizabeth Taylor, who
adored him. Perhaps his career suffered because he wasn't generally
pleasant to be around, or maybe it's that, despite his talent, he really
wasn't what the times were demanding in a leading man and star. But he
certainly was a busy actor throughout the Sixties and early Seventies,
moreso than the term "nosedive" suggests.
Jim Beaver
Joe Gillis
>> Rod sure was an an overrated hack. Give me Outer Limits, any day of
>> the week.
>>
>
>If all you know about Rod Serling is Twilight Zone or Night Gallery or both,
>then you know nothing about Rod Serling.
>
If all you know about Rod Serling is "Eye Of The Beholder", you don't know
everything about Rod Serling, but you know enough.
Will Dockery
moviePig
--
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http://www.moviepig.com
Boris
Alan Smithee
monti...@gmail.com
Rod Serling was a Creative Genius!
Someone like you, with No Talent, and No Ability
could not be in Rod Serling's League!
