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Stef, Eric: presumably by now you've waded through Season Two. Is the visual quality so abysmal it totally sabotages one's overall enjoyment or should we break down and overlook it all?
Inquiring Barkleys wanna know ...
To be more precise, the first three episodes are rather dirty then the rest is watchable. They screwed the two parter "Legend of a General" starring Nehemiah Persoff!
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Yeah, that "breathing heavy" bit is always a dead give away when you're starting to come alive! 
And, hey, JaSe, what with first URSULA ANDRESS, then LINDA EVANS and, finally, BO DEREK, somehow we have a suspicion amounting to a certainty whatever John Derek had going for him, his veins were the last thing that attracted that tantalizing trio.
Just think, any one of them woulda been the catch of a lifetime; this cat caught the golden ring THRICE! 
Hugh who? ...
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Cric, you've just nailed the one paramount MONSTER peeve we've always had about the series: that not-so-subtle insertion of stuntmen for what seems like only a few seconds, then back to the main actors (tho Breck seems to have done more of his own without too much substitution).
And we'd love to see George Duning's cues - plus Schifrin and Bernstein's - included in B.V. remastered CeeDee but that'll probably happen around when we have exclusive footage of the Big Bang ...]
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Posted: |
Jul 12, 2007 - 3:54 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Watched The Big Valley ep "In Silent Battle", guest-starring Adam West. This ep was dated 1968, so this must have been right at the end of his Batman run(?) Anyway, pretty good episode, with Linda Evans' bouffant in full flower (via a hairpiece ("Fall"), I reckon) and it's just too bad that old Westie couldn't get taken seriously as an actor, but his fellow ham William Shatner endured the same thing, yet still manged to get game show and tv guest shot gigs regularly throughout the 1970s.
One question, however: How in the world could the world have handled TWO long pause-when-speaking actors in the same time frame? Whereas Shatner took long pauses between words, West sounded like he was waiting to read a slow-rolling teleprompter!
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Your choice for Finest Ep of Season One?
They're a finger-full of close contenders but we figure "My Son, My Son" has the top spot cornered.
Neotrinity,
In the 1960's television, Robert Walker Jr was always typecasted as the disturbed young man: see "Combat!", "The Invaders", "The Big Valley", "Star Trek".
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You're quite right about Walker Jr., Stefan; he did seem to have the neurotic patent on disturbed young men around that time (in fact, he was so durn impressive at it many probably overlooked just how much skill it took to pull off so consistently, to say nothing of persuasively).
Oh, and Zelig, you're also alive-on-target with your assessment of "Jubal Tanner"; it's particularly vexing as it has so many marvelous moments between Stanwyck and Arthur O'Connell (in the title role), especially concerning the frustrating caught-in-the-middle performance of our favorite, Richard Long (the only one in the cast who could match and equal Stanwyck's power, acting authority, depth and distinction).
As to that, for those with Season One already purchased, which would be your favorite Top Ten? (We've gotta do something to keep Price Waterhouse busy till the Oscar tallies)  ...
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As to that, for those with Season One already purchased, which would be your favorite Top Ten?
Top ten season 1:
"Palms of Glory" (pilot)
"My Son, My Son"
"Night of the Wolf"
"A Time to Kill"
"Under a Dark Star"
"Barbary Red"
"The Death Merchant"
"By Force and Violence"
"The River Monarch"
"The Tunnel of Gold"
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1. "Palms of Glory".
2. "My Son, My Son".
3. "Boots with My Father's Name" (deftly tying up Pilot strands).
4. "The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner".
5. "The Death Merchant" (marvelous James Whitmore).
6. "Under a Dark Star" (poignant Albert Salmi).
7. "The Murdered Party" (Warren Oates' perf).
8. "Barbary Red" (touching Jill St. John).
9. "Judgment in Heaven" (lovely Lynn Loring).
10. "Last Train to the Fair" (Linda Evans' finale-ending spotlight).
A handful of others could also be added in an exceptionally strong inauguaral season, but honorable mention hasta go to
11. "Hazard" for its roof-raising finale with all three Barkley brothers at their gun-blazing best (that sequence in itself is one of the few classic moments Stanwyck wasn't a part of) ...
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Ah, soooooo.
Formidable frustrations aside, tho, we kinda put it down to the conventions of the time (whereby there was an Unwritten Rule "all episodes must be neatly wrapped up, no matter how much they destroy any of the gracious groundwork laid before").
Sad to say, Big Valley fell victim to that odious decree quite often ...
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At least I managed to get Elmer Bernstein's Saints and Sinners theme before the doors shut. 
) 
