Thursday Thirteen Part I: The TARDIS
Thursday, Jun. 08, 2006 at 10:27 a.m.
I have a rather odd and eclectic CD collection. And actually, a rather large record (vinyl discs!!!) collection as well. I somehow manage to eschew most popular recordings in favor of odd, vintage, and non-mainstream stuff. In fact, most of my music that would be considered �mainstream� are on my collections of Movie Soundtracks. If I find a track on a soundtrack to be great, I might seek out the artist and procure more recordings. More often, though, that might be the only track I have, and therefore, the only basis of my opinion of said artist. This may be unfair, I suppose. But I guess I love the movie more than the music itself.
That being said, I was celebrating the fact that my new car Trixie has a CD player in it, rather than a tape deck that has a tape permanently lodged into it. I was going through my CDs and rediscovered a little gem called The Cult Files, a compilation album made by some dude who really likes theme songs from interesting TV shows and movies. So today�s Thursday Thirteen will comprise of thirteen of the TV themes (disc 1) and my commentary on said tunes.
The X Files: Did anyone else get the feeling that this show went on a couple of years too long? I was not a fully dedicated watcher. Once Mulder was captured by whomever those guys were, and the Terminator II dude came on-line, I had really lost interest, beyond who was Scully�s baby�s father. Which was fairly well explained in the last episode, which had a rather messianic overtone to it, if I recall. I liked this theme because of the kind of spooky �whoo whoo� theramin-sounding tones in it. Chris Carter then went on to create the series Millenium, which was about serial killers. Remember that one, kids?
The Avengers: When I was watching this program, I wanted to grow up to be Diana Rigg. Her lithe body in those catsuits were the epitome of grace for me; and Emma Peel kicked some major ass. Yes, Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson also appeared as Patrick McNee�s John Steed�s sidekick, but Diana, oh, Diana, she made the show for me. And for my brother. But for different reasons. Or perhaps not. Steed was always a bit fruitish, though. Or maybe just very utter British. The movie that was made with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman may have been lousy, but I went to see it with no more qualifications that I knew it was going to be as goofy as the 1960�s TV show. High drama it was not. At some point, at the height of the program�s popularity, I think Patrick McNee and Diana Rigg put out a 45 called Kinky Boots. Out of print, more than likely. Any input on that one, smedindy?
The Prisoner: This program was probably my first experience with a kind of �alternative� TV program � it certainly didn�t follow the normal American way of things. My first exposure to The Prisoner was, of all things, a computer game written in BASIC for the Apple II computer. The game more or less followed the program in that you were #6, and you were trying to get off this island. You had to attend dress parties, play chess, remember sequences of numbers, and you were occasionally interrogated by #2. I knew enough about BASIC at the time to get into the program and try to figure out how to trick the program into letting me escape by �Pulling the Plug.� I think I managed to finish the full game once. I also think that the game was either developed or adapted by one of my father�s co-workers at the time, Randy ?? I was twelve at the time. I had rather a crush on Randy. I think that was his name. Also, there was the Iron Maiden ?? song about the Prisoner and the Island and such that my brother had on a record. I then found the TV program on late-nite TV and I was able to record the programs on our then-new family BETA VCR. BETA, kids, oh how I�m dating myself now. I wonder if this program will ever be remade. I wonder if Patrick McGoohan will allow such a thing to be done in his lifetime; as I recall, he was a bit of a control freak. Anyway, I love this theme, with the bongos and tympani, etc. Especially that driving sequence with Patrick McGoohan in that Lotus or whatever that sexy car was. Wrooow!
Doctor Who: Well, crap, what can I say about this brilliant program? Other than the fact that I have actually seen only a very few episodes? Really. At the time when it was extremely cool to watch (although when has it not), I didn�t, because I suppose I was being utterly utter (translation: a major, stuck-up, snot-nosed bitch) and I �couldn�t deal with terrible production values�. Since then, I have mellowed out quite a bit (due to prozac and getting laid on a regular and frequest basis) and the �production values� are now charming. Gotta LOVE those Daleks. Especially in photos like this:
My voice and diction professor in college (I was a Theatre student, eek) had studied acting with the original Doctor. He helped develop the series. According to my professor, the TARDIS was actually a creation of his. A phone box was in his classroom, and as the students presented their scenes or monologues, they could enter the TARDIS to �get into character�, and that�s where the idea came from. True or not? Good urban legend, either way.
The theme itself is just great. Of course, this show began in 1963, and that was a bit before keyboards could accomplish those noises. Apparently, Delia Derbyshire created this theme in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by making individual sounds on test equipment, and then painstakingly cutting them together and synchronizing each track. That stuff that sounds like white and pink noise? That�s what it is. Crazy, huh?
Here�s something marketing that was even crazier: Doctor Who Knickers:
Blake�s Seven: I have honestly only seen 2 episodes of this show, and I didn�t see those until after I had heard the theme on this disc. I sought out this show, expecting some live-action cross between Cowboy Bebop and The Irrepressible Captain Tylor (or Irresponsible, I can�t remember), based on the utter bombasticity (that is too a word) of the theme. What I got was a half-baked late �70s show about a guy falsely placed on a prison ship and his rebellion thereof. Meh. Great theme, though. It�s the kind of music you play loud in your car in traffic and �conduct� to.
Red Dwarf: Possibly the best science fiction comedy ever. Ever. I first saw this show on KCTS when I lived in Tacoma, WA and have loved it ever since. Seattle-ites are very fond of this show, having regular pledge drives to keep it on the air, including live appearances of the actors at Cons. I had such a wonderful time at Seattle Cons; the ones I went to here in AZ are a bit lame and sometimes scary; I was constantly being approached by scary Goths who wanted me to join in their vampire LARP and then drink blood with them in their hotel room after. Um, sorry, I really am just wearing a costume. That�s what Cons are about. Costumes and getting drunk in the hotel bar with a bunch of burly men wearing Star Trek jherkins and kilts; they were from the Starship Highlander. Eeek!
Any hoo, Red Dwarf was also a big part in my first days on the Internet 10 years ago. I was on AOL, and there was a big group that had a chatroom and a forum that I was constantly participating in. Eventually, some of us figured out that we lived near each other and then we proposed a get-together at a beach condo. Scary proposition, but we ended up having so much fun. Rarely did we watch Red Dwarf, though, we watched a lot of MST3K, but I made Triple Fried Egg Bottys with Chili Sauce and Chutney. And they were delicious! On one excursion, Jez came over from England and we all went to Shuckum�s, a local oyster bar, where I proceeded to disgust everyone by drinking a Shuckum�s Shooter: Tequila, an oyster, and a dash of hot sauce. Slurp!!
I lost touch with everyone. Rhonda, Margaret, Jez, Mark . . . where are you guys? It was 10 years ago. Rhonda�s daughters are now college-age, Jez got married to Cindy . . . You guys know who you are. Fort Walton Beach, FL, in 1996 and 1997. I was driving my pickup truck, named Starbug. Stoke me a Clipper, guys, I�ll be back for Christmas.
This entry is getting extremely long. And now that I�m all wistful and nostalgic, I�ll stop here. I will continue the Thursday Thirteen tomorrow, I promise!