Isis

"Funny Gal"

November 22, 1975
 

Carrie has low self-esteem due to her weight.  It causes her to save people the time and trouble of putting her down by being self-deprecating.  Her friends convince her to run for Student Body President as they think she would be very good at it as a creative individual.  But she thinks the only way she can win is if she can pull off a publicity stunt that will get her noticed.  So she steals Rick Mason's boat and gets herself stranded out in the ocean as a storm approaches.  It's more than Isis can manage so she calls upon the aid of Captain Marvel.

Before getting into this week's review, John and Richard discuss the sixth issue of the DC Comics 1970s The Mighty Isis comic run.  This is the issue John remembers from his youth as it's the only issue he owned.  They break down the continuing change in the character of Isis and the very provocative cover on the issue.

 Next, it's a look at the episode, "Funny Gal".  Among the topics discussed are the question of the moral really matching the story, the appearance of Captain Marvel in this episode and how Jackson Bostwick might have played it, and the appreciation of practical stunts being performed in this episode that harkens back to the first season of Shazam!.

It's all here and we want to hear from you on what you think of the episode.  Write us as ShazamIsisPodcast@gmail.com.

Moral: "You have to like and respect yourself.  Each of us have many things we can be proud of.  Things we can do as well, maybe even better than anyone else.  So don’t put yourself down.  Being popular means caring about other people and yourself."

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Guest Cast

Sandra Vacey as Carrie Anson

Jonas Agee as Greg Aley

and special guest star

John Davey as Captain Marvel

We start off the Christmas season with two comedies.  First, on “The Bob Hope Show,” Bob visits Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead from the comic strip “Blondie” on Christmas Eve and then stumbles upon a haunted house. “The Bing Crosby Show” features Bing premiering “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and kidding around with his good friend Louis Armstrong.

Episodes

The Bob Hope Show

December 20, 1938

“Christmas”

2:59

The Bing Crosby Show

November 28, 1951

"Guests:  Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald"

34:48

In celebration of Thanksgiving, we start off with the Pilgrims leaving England on “You Are There.”  Various economic and religious refugees are about to set sail for New England aboard the “Mayflower.”  Then on “Fibber McGee and Molly,” the couple are hard at work preparing all the fixings for the big day.

EPISODES

You Are There

December 21, 1947

“The Sailing of the Mayflower”

2:43

Fibber McGee and Molly

November 25, 1935

“Buying Vegetables At A Roadside Stand”

32:26

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson welcomes fellow sci-fi writer and Twin Cities resident William Leisner to the show to review the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man and see how it stacks up against The Right Stuff and Apollo 13. Plus, Ella Skypes in from London to talk about the season premiere of Doctor Who.

Segments

Intro :28

First Thoughts on First Man 1:08

The Introverted Astronaut 2:05

The Pain He Carried 3:55

But He’s Neil Freaking Armstrong 7:00

The Right Stuff: Some Thoughts 9:15

What’s with Chuck Yeager? 14:25

The Wrong Attempts at Humor 17:15

The Right Iconic Scenes 19:15

Space Program Movie Overlaps 20:35

Apollo 1 in the Movies 22:10

Apollo 13: Some Thoughts 25:44 

Classic Space Hardware 28:00

First Man: No Rah-Rah 30:10

Flag on the Moon 34:00

Bracelet on the Moon? 35:50

A Quiet Return to Earth 42:42

Grading the Movies 45:20

Doctor Who Premiere with Ella 56:50

 We start off with Groucho Marx hosting the funniest game show of all time, “You Bet Your Life.” A movie location scout talks about how parts of Los Angeles are more like Italy than Italy itself, and a married man with the last name of Bachelor stirs up laughs.  Then on “The Great Gildersleeve,” it’s the middle of World War II, and Gildy is worried about saboteurs on the Home Front.

Episodes

You Bet Your Life

April 18, 1951

“The Secret Word is ‘Light’”

1:38

The Great Gildersleeve

January 24, 1943

"Sabotage"

31:21

We celebrate All Hallows Eve with a couple of Halloween-related episodes.  First, on “The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe,” the rotund P.I., famous for almost never leaving the comfort of his house, does so to obtain some orchids and ends up in a spooky old house high on a hill.  Then on “The Jack Benny Show,” Jack throws a Halloween party.  His silk tights fail to remind anyone of Romeo.  Meanwhile, Rochester’s efforts to spike the punch are continually thwarted.

Episodes

The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe

January 26, 1951

“The Phantom Fingers”

1:46

The Jack Benny Show

October 29, 1939

“Masquerade Party”

31:54

Orson Welles revived the character of Harry Lime (who dies at the end of the film “The Third Man”) in the radio series “The Lives of Harry Lime.”  In the radio show, Harry is a ne’er do well con man, as opposed to a cold-blooded killer.  In tonight’s episode, he’s conning some young lovelies with a fake painting.  Then, Lucille Ball stars as Liz Cooper, the proto-Lucy Ricardo, on “My Favorite Husband.”  In classic Liz / Lucy style, a simple request to some neighbors balloons into a classic fiasco.

The Lives of Harry Lime

October 29 1952

“Art is Long and Lime is Fleeting”

2:52

My Favorite Husband

June 27, 1949

“The Television Suit”

34:14

“Candy Matson” was one of the few solo female private eyes of radio’s Golden Age.  Based in San Francisco, she may look like a pinup and have the most sultry voice on the airwaves, but she’s smart, tough, and fast-talking.  In this episode a Hollywood movie company is filming near her apartment, and it’s not long before a corpse turns up.  Then it’s time to visit “Duffy’s Tavern.”  It may not be the place where everybody knows your name, but close enough.  Manager / bartender Archie falls for a get-rich-quick scheme to patent electricity.  It’s a little-known fact (so to speak) that Benjamin Franklin meant to, but accidentally patented the kite instead.

Episodes

Candy Matson

August 29, 1950

“The Movie Company”

3:56

Duffy’s Tavern

February 23, 1949

“Archie Wants to Patent Electricity”

36:24

Episode 49—Old World, New Vampires

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson continues his chat with urban fantasy author Melissa F. Olson, discussing her various novel series in part two of a two-part interview. Then his daughter Ella pops in to chat about her summer con adventures.

Segments

Intro :28

Geek Beginnings 1:22

Discovering Urban Fantasy 2:25

Novel Beginnings 5:50

Scarlett Bernard’s First Trilogy 6:39

Allison “Lex” Luther’s Trilogy 9:20

Scarlett and Lex and the Old World Series 11:00

Nightshades: The TV Pilot? 12:15

Vampires: Supernatural vs. Scientific 14:05

Nightshades: The Novella 18:28

The World of the Nightshades Trilogy 20:35

The Unusual Birth of Nightshades 27:45

Bram Stoker’s Dracula 33:33

Ella at CONvergence with Melinda Snodgrass 39:44

Shout Out to “Enterprising Individuals” 43:50

Sitting in the Back at Panels 44:35

Ella at Minnesota Fan Fusion 45:15

Being on Panels 46:28

John Rhys-Davies 49:08

Shout Out to “Keep on Tolkien” 51:15

Bon Voyage to Ella 53:48

On “X Minus One,” a man continually wakes up from dreams of an explosion to find that every day is June 15th.  But this is no wacky “Groundhog Day”; it’s a tense drama in which he slowly learns that the things around him are copies and he’s being watched.  Based on the classic short story by Frederik Pohl, get ready to explore “The Tunnel Under the World.”  Then on “The Bob Hope Show,” Bob broadcasts from a Marine base in Barstow, California.  Along with joking about military habits, Bob tries to get glamorous movie star Claudette Colbert to hire him as the leading man in her next picture.

Episodes 

X Minus One

March 14, 1956

“The Tunnel Under the World”

2:03

The Bob Hope Show

April 1, 1952

Guests: Claudette Colbert and Jo Ann Greer

31:04