Hi folks. Sorry to barge in with what may be a bot off topic (I know

JMS was involved in the New Twilight Zone series though) but I was

wondering if any play versions are avaliable these days of Twilight

Zone episodes?

The screenplay for "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" is contained

in a number of anthologies, and I think "To Serve Man" probably is as

well. <<

But of course David would have to obtain permission from the copyright owners

to perform them publicly, even if no money is involved.

On May 5, 10:51am, Amy Guskin <aisl...@fjordstone­.com> wrote:

Of course. I was thinking of them more as reading resources, and

should have said so. As I recall "To Serve Man" was based on a short

story, which means that only the television rights would have been

sold to MGM, while the author retained the stage rights. So that

situation would be even more complicated. I'm pretty sure "Monsters"

was a Serling original, typical of both his strengths and weaknesses.

(Well-constructed, and mostly well-paced, but just that little bit too

long to keep the audience from guessing the punchline. WAY too

preachy and on-target in getting its message across, especially at the

end.) I'm not sure off the top of my head about the other episodes

listed. <<

Sole Survivor (there's no episode with this title; if it's "Probe 7, Over and

On May 5, 5:15pm, Amy Guskin <aisl...@fjordstone­.com> wrote:

If David is working purely from memory, he might mean a 1970 TV movie

called "Sole Survivor". It had a distinctly "Twilight Zone" (or maybe

E.C. Comics) feel and a cast list that reads like a "Zone" reunion

special - including Richard Basehart, William Shatner and Vince

Edwards. It was about the discovery of an American bomber which had

crashed in the Lybian desert during WWII. Basehart plays an Air Force

General, the only member of the crew to escape the crash and make it

back to civilization. The story of his heroism (as he has told it)

did wonders for his career in the years since the war. In the desert

he literally confronts the ghosts of the men he left behind, and faces

the truth about what he really did to survive.

The movie was mostly based on the real discovery of the B-24 "Lady Be

Good" by British oil engineers flying over the area in 1959. That

incident also appears to have inspired an actual "TZ" episode, "King

Nine Will Not Return" in which Bob Cummings, a pilot on a modern jet

airbase finds himself back in the desert alongside the wreckage of the

bomber he flew during the war. (David may have conflated the TV movie

and the "TZ" episode in his memory or just applied the movie title to

an episode he clearly remembered.) Both "Sole Survivor" and "King

Nine" substituted the more photogenic B-25 Mitchell bomber for the

actual B-24 Liberator from the "Lady Be Good" tragedy.

Regards,

Joe

(in article

<104fb387-de5f-4c7e­-8712-53ed012c4...@w­74g2000hsh.googlegro­ups.com>):

But of course David would have to obtain permission from the copyright owners

to perform them publicly, even if no money is involved.

Amy

--

"In my line of work you gotta keep repeating things over and over and over

again for the truth to sink in, to kinda catapult the propaganda." - George

W. Bush, May 24, 2005

We would be reading in class as classroom exercise. If permisson is

required for that I would indeed send a request to the proper rights

holders.

OK. I remember that one, I was thinking of the one where a US navy guy

is on a ship sent to explore the wreck of his old sub from WW2. My

apologies if I missed a title, I was indeed going from memory.

On May 6, 6:47am, "David E. Powell" <David_Powell3...@m­sn.com> wrote:

I am not an intellectual property lawyer but...

I'm pretty sure you're on safe ground there. You're basically all

reading aloud, but instead of asking Stan to read pages 1 to 5 and

Kyle pages 6 to 10, you're assigning each of them a role in the story

to read. Where it would get dicey is if you were in any sense

*publicly* performing the scripts - that is if anyone outside the

class were invited in purely to listen to them read, or you were doing

this is an auditorium or other public space. (Most rights-holders

are actually *more vigilant* about "readers' theater" use of their

works than about full-blown productions, precisely because many people

don't think they owe royalties if they "just stand on stage and read

the play" and because some who know better but are short of funds fill

out a season by doing public readings of shows they can't otherwise

afford to mount.)

Still not sure where you'd get the scripts beyond, "Monsters" (I

remember that one being in a textbook that we used in my 8th grade

English class) and - possibly - "To Serve Man". There have been a

number of "Zone" script anthologies, but thanks to the separation of

rights agreement they tend to be small press editions built around a

single writer, much like JMS's "B5" scripts. (Collections and

individual scripts by Serling, Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson,

among others, are out there, but they tend to be out-of-print and/or

pricey. See this linkhttp://tinyurl.­com/6re57l)

Regards,

Joe

On May 6, 6:47am, "David E. Powell" <David_Powell3...@m­sn.com> wrote:

I am not an intellectual property lawyer but...

I'm pretty sure you're on safe ground there. You're basically all

reading aloud, but instead of asking Stan to read pages 1 to 5 and

Kyle pages 6 to 10, you're assigning each of them a role in the story

to read. Where it would get dicey is if you were in any sense

*publicly* performing the scripts - that is if anyone outside the

class were invited in purely to listen to them read, or you were doing

this is an auditorium or other public space. <<

individual scripts by Serling, Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson,

among others, are out there, but they tend to be out-of-print and/or

pricey. See this link http://tinyurl.com/­6re57l ) <<

Ooof, don't talk to me about Matheson. I just had the distinct displeasure

of seeing the latest treatment of "I Am Legend." Why didn't anyone here warn

me not to waste my money?? Matheson is probably spinning in his grave.

Uh...he _is_ dead, right?

He's alive (not sure about the well part). Last novel published 2004:

http://en.wikipedia­.org/wiki/Richard_Ma­theson <<

realize it was a remake of the Omega Man until a few minutes into it. <<

Yep, that's correct -- I just didn't have time to reply to this earlier. Of

course, they must have a copy for each person using the script. No

photocopying without permission, either.

Ooof, don't talk to me about Matheson.

On May 6, 9:18pm, Amy Guskin <aisl...@fjordstone­.com> wrote:

Excuse me - Will Smith. SF movie. All those horrible commercials.

How many more hints did you need to tell you that this was going to be

junk? <<

but for all its stupidity it *works*. It is basically a 1950s "B" SF

movie of the giant bug/monster/aliens type dressed up with cool

special FX. But I *like* 1950s "B" movies, and "ID4" had its tongue

planted firmly in its cheek the whole way, once again playing to

Smith's strengths as a light comedian even as it let him play the

action hero. (Confession: I saw the movie about three times in the

theater, owned it on laserdisc and in two different DVD editions, and

probably watch it about once a year.) <<

could recognize that rotting garbage smell even through the TV

screen. <g> <<

Excuse me - Will Smith. SF movie. All those horrible commercials.

How many more hints did you need to tell you that this was going to be

junk?

I think Smith is a very charming and likeable actor, and terrific in

the right role, especially as a light comedian. (Which he often is,

even in more "dramatic" action parts, as in "Bad Boys".) But he

sometimes has awful taste in scripts. Or rather, he has a shrewd eye

for the big payday and a good part for Will Smith the actor, and he

doesn't always know or care how good the over-all *film* is going to

be. But in fairness, that's not his problem. His job is to get good

roles and good money, and give a good performance. Still, I wish he'd

turn down more work.

The first "Men in Black" worked because it was frankly a comedy,

because Tommy Lee Jones is the world's greatest straight man, and

because it was virtually rewritten after the fact in the cutting

room. The script Will Smith actually signed on for wasn't nearly as

good as the finished film.

"Independence Day" is one of the all-time dumbest movies ever made -

but for all its stupidity it *works*. It is basically a 1950s "B" SF

movie of the giant bug/monster/aliens type dressed up with cool

special FX. But I *like* 1950s "B" movies, and "ID4" had its tongue

planted firmly in its cheek the whole way, once again playing to

Smith's strengths as a light comedian even as it let him play the

action hero. (Confession: I saw the movie about three times in the

theater, owned it on laserdisc and in two different DVD editions, and

probably watch it about once a year.)

But I was never even tempted to watch "I, Robot" or "I Am Legend". I

could recognize that rotting garbage smell even through the TV

screen. <g>

On Wed, 7 May 2008 13:37:48 -0700 (PDT), Joseph DeMartino

<jdemarti@bellsouth­.net> wrote:

I thought "I, Robot" remarkably hateful, in part I think because I

love the book so and couldn't bear to see it betrayed. I didn't react

negatively to "I Am Legend," but unlike it seems everyone else here

I'd never seen "The Omega Man," so had nothing to compare it to . . .<<

(in article <54f4249dd9r7nn5oe4­nb56quqdj6squ8co@4ax­.com>):

No, no. "The Omega Man" is a big ol' cheesefest. Enjoyable, but not

_respectable_. It's the book that they ruined -- the original thing entitled

"I Am Legend" -- that rankles so badly for me.

But I was never even tempted to watch "I, Robot"

(in article

<9c550311-5717-484­1-b864-f5d94bddbc5d@­t54g2000hsg.googlegr­oups.com>):

Thanks! I'll have to grab that last novel, I guess.

It really says something that I found "Omega Man" much more entertaining and

satisfying. Not kidding.

On Wed, 07 May 2008 17:29:25 GMT, Amy Guskin <aisling@fjordstone­.com>

wrote:

Well, it isn't per se a remake of "Omega Man". That was an adaptation

(and, imho, a bad one) of Matheson's story (don't remember whether it

originally was novel -length) <<

better-made than "Legend" (based on many other peoples' opinions. I

freely admit I haven't seen it, nor do I want to) <<

(in article <v2r42415ue4l55jt9h­oh6f07a5vabhnc7i@4ax­.com>):

Just for clarification, I'm not the one who called it a remake of "The Omega

Man." That was webjockey/Blair.

Amy Guskin wrote:

And just to be clear (although Amy was specific)--it wasn't me (it was

the other Blair). <<

(in article <v2r42415ue4l55jt9h­oh6f07a5vabhnc7i@4ax­.com>):

Just for clarification, I'm not the one who called it a remake of "The Omega

Man." That was webjockey/Blair.

I have a real fondness for that movie (Omega Man). If you find it on cable

sometime, it's worth a look. Or, just plan a whole Heston/sf Cheesefest

evening!

On Thu, 08 May 2008 13:35:08 GMT, Amy Guskin <aisling@fjordstone­.com>

wrote:

Sure, wasn't saying that you were the one. Sorry, Amy, for the

confusion...<G>

Oh, I've seen "Omega Man" several times. I haven't seen Will Smith's

"Legend", nor do I want to. Sorry...! <<

(in article <I5qdnepTDeM2CL7VnZ­2dnUVZ_qrin...@comca­st.com>):