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From their windowless sub-basement office, FBI Agents Fox “Spooky” Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) began their assignment on The X-Files chasing little green men, or rather gray, as Mulder points out during the third episode, “Squeeze.” The “Pilot” episode was about alien experimentation. “Deep Throat” was about pilots who fly experimental craft, possibly designed using extraterrestrial technology. Season 1 episode 3 was more down to earth, while still out of this world.

According to both his DNA report and FBI profile, animal control officer Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchison) would be due to wake up some time in 2023, if only he’d have stepped off that mini-mall escalator. Fan favorite Tooms wasn’t only the first monster-of-the-week on The X-Files, but one of very few monsters who showed up on two different weeks. He wedges himself into the episodes “Squeeze” and “Tooms.” Both from season 1, these episodes set a tone,...

1963: Search for Tomorrow's Marian faced troubled times.

1974: How to Survive a Marriage premiered on NBC.

1980: As the World Turns' Mary was shocked to see Joyce.

2005: Young and the Restless' Drucilla and Phyllis faced off."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1957: On The Edge of Night, Sara (Teal Ames) had a drink at the bar with the man she recognized from the photo, Roy Benson. When Mike (John Larkin) arrived, Sara pretended he was her boyfriend which caused the man to leave. Mike had Willy (Edward Holmes) follow him.

1984: Days of our Lives' Carrie decided where to live.

1985: The freedom flag was raised in Gh's Asian Quarter.

1998: Guiding Light's Danny and Michelle shared their first kiss.

2001: Atwt's Barbara & James plotted against Carly, Emily & Rose."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1946: On Life Can Be Beautiful, Stanley (Ralph Locke) tried to take charge of Chichi's (Alice Reinheart) affairs, but Chichi refused. She had her own ideas.

1964: On Peyton Place, Leslie Harrington (Paul Langton) became incensed when Betty Anderson (Barbara Parkins...

1963: Search for Tomorrow's Marian faced troubled times.

1974: How to Survive a Marriage premiered on NBC.

1980: As the World Turns' Mary was shocked to see Joyce.

2005: Young and the Restless' Drucilla and Phyllis faced off."History is a vast early warning system."

― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1957: On The Edge of Night, Sara (Teal Ames) had a drink at the bar with the man she recognized from the photo, Roy Benson. When Mike (John Larkin) arrived, Sara pretended he was her boyfriend which caused the man to leave. Mike had Willy (Edward Holmes) follow him.

1963: On Search for Tomorrow, Marian Rand (Jane...

David Cronenberg swaps his  venereal ick-monsters for Samantha Eggar's mater furiosa,  an annihilating female who commits her killings as would the villain of a Greek tragedy -- through her offspring. Oliver Reed is the new-age guru of 'Psychoplasmics,' who teaches Eggar to direct her rage in an utterly unique way. The disturbing concept sounds less preposterous when one finds out it was written in response to a brutal divorce experience. Hell hath no fury. The Brood Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 777 1979 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 92 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 13, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Henry Beckman, Nuala Fitzgerald, Cindy Hinds, Susan Hogan, Gary McKeehan, Michael Magee, Robert Silverman, Felix Silla. Cinematography Mark Irwin Film Editor Alan Collins Original Music Howard Shore Special Makeup Jack Young, Dennis Pike Art Direction Carol Spier Produced by Claude Héroux Written and Directed by David Cronenberg

Reviewed by...

The Brood

Written and directed by David Cronenberg

Canada, 1979

Inspired by his own unpleasant divorce, and the subsequent liberation of his daughter just before his ex-wife was able to take the girl to a California cult, David Cronenberg’s The Brood is essentially an ugly, highly unorthodox custody battle. As the great Canadian filmmaker famously quipped, “The Brood is my version of Kramer vs. Kramer [also released in 1979], but more realistic.”

The Brood is Cronenberg’s sixth feature, coming just after the seemingly out of place Fast Company (1979)—not so very odd given the director’s love for automobile racing—and just before his more exemplary breakthrough, Scanners (1981). It is consummate Cronenberg, with a heady mixture of clinically twisted science and the deep psychological strain that inevitably mars said science with corporeal disfigurement.

With his wife, Nola (Samantha Eggar), undergoing treatment at a facility known as the Somafree Institute of Psychoplasmics (a Cronenbergian...

Techno-thriller fans have been waiting a long time for a good disc of action ace John Sturges' sci-fi espionage suspenser. George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews must stop a madman who has snatched a full battery of deadly bio-warfare viruses from a super-secret government lab. Each flask can wipe out an entire city, and one of them will kill every living thing on the planet. The Satan Bug Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 114 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews, John Larkin, Richard Bull, Frank Sutton, Edward Asner, Simon Oakland, John Anderson, James Hong, Hari Rhodes, Henry Beckman, Harry Lauter, Tol Avery, Russ Bender, James Doohan, Harold Gould, Carey Loftin. Cinematography Robert Surtees Film Editor Ferris Webster Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Edward Anhalt, James Clavell from the novel by Ian Stuart (Alistair MacLean...

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By Harvey Chartrand

Mr. Lucky: The Complete Series is now available for the first time ever as a 4-dvd box set from Timeless Media Group… all 34 episodes, with a running time of about 840 minutes. Mr. Lucky– created by writer/director Blake Edwards (Peter Gunn) – ran for only one season (from 1959 to 1960), even though it was a hit with viewers.

This adventure/crime drama is a sort of Peter Gunn Lite, featuring a lush, organ-powered theme song by Henry Mancini (a bonus CD of Mr. Lucky’s soundtrack is included in the set), an assortment of shady characters aboard a floating casino, and competent acting by series regulars John Vivyan (as suave professional gambler Mr. Lucky), Ross Martin (as his sidekick and business partner Andamo), Pippa Scott (as Mr. Lucky’s girlfriend Maggie Shank-Rutherford) and Tom Brown (as Lieutenant Rovacs, Mr. Lucky’s...

Fox has a problem. The recent World Series was lowest-rated in history. Fox's new shows (Justice, Standoff, Til Death and Happy Hour) have returned from the baseball hiatus to lower viewer numbers than their averages before the World Series. As expected, the fourth season premiere of The O.C. drew a paltry number of viewers, pitted up against CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Grey's Anatomy. It's no surprise that Fox has to make some changes. Those changes impact Happy Hour most of all.

The sitcom Happy Hour debuted on September 7th and centers around the life of Henry Beckman, played by John Sloan. Henry has the perfect life and relationship until he gets dumped, loses his job, and has to move in with Larry Cone (Lex Medlin) -- a friend who has a unique take on life and the opposite sex.

The show was not well received by critics and didn't draw many viewers either.