Sat 22 Jun 2019
MY TV DIARY February 1981: Part 11.
Posted by Steve under SF & Fantasy films , TV Diary , TV mysteries[6] Comments
Sunday, February 15.
WOMEN WHO RATE A 10. NBC, Special. 60 minutes. Or, Steve Lewis pigs out. Oink, oink.
Tuesday, February 17.
THE BLACK HOLE.. Walt Disney/Buena Vista, 1979. Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine. Director: Gary Nelson. [Watched on HBO.]
I watched this with Jonathan, who is six now, and since I explained it all to him during the show (“Why are they doing that, Dad?” “I don’t know, Jon, let’s wait an see.”), I’m not going to repeat myself.
Actually, to be fair, some of it Jon explained to me. He’s pretty sharp. It’s a fine movie for kids hooked on Star Wars. (You can call this ‘sci-fi’ if you want to.)
Rated PG, probably for the one or two cuss words, and one rather violent death scene.
MYSTERY! PBS, series. Tonight was the first of the second season run of Rumpole. The title was “Rumpole and the Man of God.” Leo McKern (Horace Rumpole), Rosemary Leach, Derek Farr, Bill Fraser, Peggy Thorpe-Bates (Hilda Rumpole), Moray Watson, Peter Bowles. Writer: John Mortimer. Director: Brian Farnham.
I didn’t see any of the ones they showed last year. I don’t remember why, and I’m sorry I didn’t.
Rumpole is sour, full of bombast, and when necessary, resigned to taking his lumps. I quickly tired of his long-suffering attitude toward his wife Hilda (“She who must be obeyed,”), but otherwise I enjoyed the show immensely. British character actors are the best in the world. I thought Derek Farr as the misunderstood, absentminded vicar accused of stealing the three shirts was superb.
There are five more of these to come. I’m going to try to not miss any of them.
June 22nd, 2019 at 10:27 pm
Rumpole and the Black Hole sounds like a John Mortimer title.
June 22nd, 2019 at 11:57 pm
That title alone rates a ten with me.
June 23rd, 2019 at 6:13 am
Rumpole was the best and Leo McKern was perfect.
June 23rd, 2019 at 6:38 am
I saw the Rumpole series when it first appeared on TV and that has been close to 40 years ago. Last year I rewatched the episodes on dvd and again was impressed with the wit, humor and quality of the shows. Unlike Steve, I did not tire of his saying “She Who Must Be Obeyed”. I think many married men can identify with his complaint.
June 23rd, 2019 at 7:05 am
I thought BLACK HOLE wasn’t bad at all. I wouldn’t defend it at the barricades, but I enjoyed it.
June 23rd, 2019 at 3:21 pm
I saw a trailer for BLACK HOLE when it came out.
I was trying to teach Non-Euclidean geometry to my students at the time – not an easy subject. BLACK HOLE had a spectacular computer graphic of a Non-Euclidean surface. It was state-of-the-art in CGI at the time. Was able to triumphantly recommended this to my students!
All math teachers could use help from the Disney folks.