By: Estelle

Estelle — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:49:51 +0000

I bought two DVDs and watched them one after the other. The first one I watched was “The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen”. Maybe I was spoiled by that DVD because when I watched this one, I was very disappointed. This DVD is taken from a TV Show in 1997. William Shatner is the “host” and he starts it off by saying, “Over the next 60 minutes, we will look at various shows. . . ” After the commercials were edited out and then the Extras were added, the DVD totals only 59 minutes. Clips were shown of various Sci Fi episodes, including: “Space Cadet”, “Lost in Space”, “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “The Time Tunnel”, “Star Trek”, “The Outer Limits”, and “The X Files”. These were short clips. Also, there were categories where clips of shows were shown – including: Science Fiction Pioneers, Television Robots, and Aliens. There was also a short bit about how the Sci-Fi gendre started on TV and its progression. Another part of the show consisted of separate interviews with stars of various Sci Fi TV shows. I thought someone would have represented “Star Trek” but no. A few of the interviews were interesting but, again, they were too short. And the interviews of Jonathan Harris, Bill Mumy and Bob May (Robot) of “Lost in Space” were also on the “Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen DVD. Except here, they were much shorter. There are a few minutes of interaction between William Shatner and the Robot from “Lost in Space” – very childish and boring. And I actually like Shatner! As for the Extras, they consisted of more clips of interviews. Those interviewed were Billy Mumy, Bob May and Jonathan Harris of “Lost in Space”, Chris Carter of “The X Files”, Robert Culp from an episode of “The Outer Limits” (’The Architects of Fear’), and Frank Thomas, who played Tom Corbett on “Space Cadet”. Some of what they said was interesting but, again, all of the “Lost in Space” interviews are also on “The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen” DVD and all of the interviews were too short. (I think Jonathan Harris’ “extras” consisted of a sentence or two. ) I didn’t time it but I would be surprised if the Extras were 10 minutes long. Would I buy this DVD again? MAYBE if it was listed for no more than $3. 99 on ebay. I paid $17. 99 here at amazon. com and there’s no way it was worth it.

Comments on: TV Guide Looks at Science Fiction

By: Estelle