A Guilty Pleasure
In 1978, CBS (in the wake of their successful Hulk and Spider-Man television series') brought us the pilot for a new hero from the pages of Marvel Comics, Doctor Strange. Regrettably this pilot aired to abyssmal ratings. The fact that it was up against the likes of Roots didn't seem to dawn on anyone at the studio, so Dr. Strange slipped away into obscurity.I was one of the few that was to be found sitting awestruck in front of the old boob tube that most fateful night of its debut... and I loved every cheesy seventies tv moment of it.
Sure, this origin episode, as pilots often are, strayed far and wide of the good doctor's comic book origin, but enough of the essense was left intact to pleasure this pre-teen viewer.
It sported more than competent acting from Peter Hooten (Strange), Anne- Marie Martin (Clea), and, the delicious Jessica Walter (Morgan La Fey). Playing the role of the Master to perfection was veteren actor John Mills, who brought an Obi-Wan like air to the character of Thomas Lindmer.
The occult babble is very accurate for a made-for-tv movie... more than impressive actually. Someone did their homework.
Look, it's fun... it's entertaining... Shakespeare? No. But quality programing with a touch of nostalgia? Most definitely.
This is must-see-tv for me, folks... and I think you might get a kick out of it to.
posted by Bob Freeman at 5:55 PM
1 Comments:
I agree. While I also was temporarily disappointed with the TV origin, I thought the special effects were cool (I liked how the eldritch blasts glowed) and Morgan Le Fey rocked (that actress, Jessica Walter, played Lucille in Arrested Development).
My only lasting real disappointment was Dr. Strange's aweful costume at the end. That's just something I'm most assuredly not proud of! Eeek!
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