Reviews

In an opening sequence that can rightly be described as "Wild", the governor of California gets the shock of his life when a bronze bust in his likeness suddenly opens it's eyes and looks back at him. Next, the governor is slipped a paralysing injection and placed into the hollowed out table from which his double has disengaged himself. So begins "The Night Of The Torture Chamber" as the ersatz politician now in charge sets about diverting state funds to an art-obsessed collector who schemes to buy all the great works of art. A strange plot to be sure, but also a refreshing break from the megalomaniacs with a yen to control the world generally favoured by "WWW"'s writers.

Orchestrated with zest by frequent director Alan Crosland Jr., "Night Of The Torture Chamber" benefits from a brisk pace as well as some fine action sequences including a street fight with a pack of thugs that ranks among the most exciting of the series. A well-cast Henry Beckman effectively plays both the kidnapped governor as well as his nervous double. Also noteworthy is the return of the duplicitous secretary to the governor, Miss Piecemeal played by Sigrid Valdis. Previously seen working in the same office in "The Night The Wizard Shook The World" for Dr. Loveless, Miss Piecemeal apparently is an evil secretary for hire. Ross Martin has fun assuming the guise of a stuffy French art appraiser who dupes the villainous Prof. Bolt into thinking his prized collection is one big pile of forgeries. Alfred Ryder, playing art-hungry professor may not be quite among the best of the WWW villains, but this does little to de-value what is otherwise a genuinely entertaining episode.

In "The Invisible Enemy", astronauts journey to Mars in search of answers as to what may have wiped out the crew of a previous mission. The story is populated with underdeveloped characters of little interest (not to mention the surprising revelation that the need for artificial breathing apparatus is optional on mars), but what does work is the considerable suspense generated whenever the astronauts venture out to explore the eerie surface of the planet. Though the second season often gets knocked (and justifiably so) for not being as good as season 1, this episode's ingeniously conceived effects rank among the finest work ever done for "The Outer Limits". For genuinely spine-tingling moments, few in the series can out-do the scene in which a strange object rises out of the surface of the landscape and begins moving through the sand like a fish swims through water. Whatever is under the surface, nothing more is revealed until later when our first real glimpse comes in the startling form of two lobster-like claws reaching out of the sand. Later as the thing's dragon-like head finally makes it's appearance, we see the object that had been cruising across the surface is a dorsal fin mounted on top of it's skull. Zeroing in on motion- or the smell of blood- it literally is a sand-dwelling shark.

After the first doomed expedition made the mistake of not following proper procedure, Earth naturally sends another reckless bunch (this time commanded by Adam West no less). Among the crew is a puzzling officer (Rudy Solari) who considers obeying orders secondary to collecting martian flowers and gathering up little diamonds that litter the sand. Also head-scratching is a scene where West seems to be completely deaf to repeated warnings of the sand shark's presence. Later, West finds temporary safety on a rock, but from the viewer's perspective it seems so small we wonder why the creature doesn't just swim over to the marooned astronaut and gobble him up. Ironically, actor Peter Marko, playing here an astronaut eaten by the marauding sand shark would later show up in the "Star Trek" episode "Galileo Seven" in which he lands on another spooky planet to be crushed by a giant ape.

Anyways, despite the not-so-well-thought-out-script and budgetary limitations, director Byron (The War Of The Worlds) Haskin and the Projects Unlimited team deliver a truly memorable monster that's both frightening, and perhaps even inspirational as one wonders if the graboids of "Tremors" may just be the terrestrial stepchildren of this memorable season 2 horror.

"The Night Of The Kraken" features perhaps the most frightening super threat of the entire series: a giant squid that attacks both at sea as well as extending it's slithery reach to shore. In the episode's most suspenseful scene, West and a local fisherman watch as a massive disturbance breaks surface right next to their comparatively tiny boat. Never has West's trusty derringer seemed so tiny a defense when a huge coiling tentacle rises out of the water. As the fisherman is dragged kicking and screaming into the depths, West barely manages to save himself by hacking off a portion of the creature's arm. An altogether impressive sequence, even the image of West clinging to the side of the boat makes for a memorable portrait in the show's brilliantly-conceived four scene title logo.

As in other episodes with paranormal themes, there's usually someone behind-the-scenes pulling the strings. In this case, it's a mercenary who's built himself an underwater fortress from which he plans to test a limpet mine capable of seeking and destroying ironclad ships. The kraken itself is revealed to be a mechanical monstrosity built (like in any good "Scooby-doo" episode) to scare off the locals who might uncover the bad guy's nefarious plot.

Though represented only by a single tentacle, the kraken is still quite an ambitious effect for the series to have undertaken. Basically, the illusion is created by disturbing the waters around which the monster's limb rises. Though the mono-filament that actually pulls it up is visible, the attached lines actually give an organic look to the movement of this full-sized prop, thereby enhancing the illusion considerably. Also impressive is the sight of the limpet mine as it appears to move under it's own power straight for it's re-directed target: the underwater fortress. The artistic design of the prototypical scuba apparatus West uses to search the depths features some rather neat baroque touches. The only really bad effect is a shot of the interior of the base's underwater access pipe as it looks no bigger than your kitchen drain.

Ted Knight is surprisingly effective in the guise of a bellowing doom prophet, a cover to protect his true identity as the mastermind behind a plot to destroy the USS Missouri. Like Harvey Korman in "Night Of The Big Blackmail", it's at first odd watching an actor like this, known primarily for his comedy roles, playing it straight as a villain. Still, Knight is able to fit into both parts of his role quite nicely. Decked out in his black leather "bad guy" jacket, Ted's trademark silvery hair looks especially striking. Disappointingly, the complicity of Marj Dusay's character is pretty much given away in the first act, canceling any shock that might have been derived from her eventual confession.

Throughout the episode Ross Martin disguises himself as a Portuguese fisherman, a Swedish repairman (who doesn't want to play any "hinky-dinky games") and a henchman who looks like Rick Springfield with a handle bar mustache. And in each case, it's clear that no matter what face he adopted, Ross always looked pretty snappy with a little facial hair.

Richard Shore's music well captures both the awesome size and dangerous presence of the kraken, and his use of metal drums imbues more than one sequence with a particularly cool vibe.

As spy vs. squid tales go, one is not likely to find any better than this.

A madman tips off West to a series of impending assassinations so perfectly planned that they occur right in front of the Secret Service agent without his being able to prevent them.

The veteran character actor Edward Andrews plays the calculating evil genius of the week, Mr. Braine. Andrews was a familiar face in comedies from the 1960's including the Disney classics "The Absent-Minded Professor" and "Son Of Flubber", so it's quite a switch to see this guy, usually cast as lovably befuddled types, playing a demento so mean he kills a henchman for missing a button on his uniform. The prerequisite scene in which Braine explains his grand scheme for world domination features Andrews doing some powerful scenery-chewing, followed up by a globe bursting into flames to accentuate his point. Frankly, with his feathery haircut and excessive use of eyebrow pencil, Andrews looks kind of silly here. However, in an episode filled with gadgets (one scene includes both a trap door & an ejector seat), Andrew's Mr. Braine gets the coolest prop of all: a nifty self-propelled wheelchair equipped with rockets and nasty triangular blades for people-gutting.

As stated above, "The Night Of The Brain" has quite a high gadget (and action) content, which is fine as these are certainly among the main attractions to this kind of escapist entertainment. At the same time, there are nagging little aspects that do stick out and bother a fan. For example:

-employing knockout gas is all well and good, but relying on it three times in the same episode may be over doing it a bit.

-West takes on a trio of guards, one of whom apparently misses his mark and blocks the camera before stepping out of the shot. Odder still is how Artie simply watches from the sidelines instead of helping West take them out.

-Mr. Braine pursuing West with his steam-powered wheelchair is fairly exciting and well shot- that is, until the end when unimaginative staging doesn't show West using any kind of cleverness to get himself out of trouble. He just suddenly jumps on board the armored conveyance and sends Mr. Braine rolling to his doom.

-Also stretching it a bit (so to speak): Gordon's "double identity" is a tad unbelievable as it would imply Artie carries on him the means to whip up full facial appliances in little more time than it would take to read the front page of a newspaper.

Interestingly, "The Night Of The Brain" is helmed by Larry Peerce, who over the years made terrific films like "Goodbye Columbus", and directed everyone from Henry Fonda & Elizabeth Taylor in "Ash Wednesday" to Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch in "The Ghost Busters" for Saturday morning TV. Hm, considering a career as varied as his, perhaps he was particularly in his element for this good, if uneven episode.

A refreshing switch from the usual evil genius seeking to take over the world, in "The Night Of The Big Blackmail" West and Gordon smuggle a 19th century version of a motion picture film out of the embassy of an unnamed European country. The film in question shows a staged act of treachery in which a dead ringer for president Ulysses S. Grant appears to sign a defense agreement with an "unsavoury foreign nation". Since copies have undoubtedly been made, West and Gordon hatch a plan to sneak back inside the embassy, this time with a little movie of their own.

With the sort of plot you'd expect to from an episode "Mission: Impossible" (but done a lot more entertainingly than that series was ever capable of pulling off), "...Black Mail" features all kinds of elaborate action including an opening sequence that finds West dangling precariously outside of embassy windows and later evading patrolling guard dogs. To keep watchful henchmen from realizing they're not on board the train, Artie creates the illusion of silhouettes moving in the window with a pair of cut-outs riding a toy train (much like what Kevin did to fool the burglars in "Home Alone"). However, Artie goes one step further here than Macauley Culkin by leaving a trip wire for the snooping bad guys that releases a cloud of neutralizing gas.

Once inside the embassy, the two agents discover an awesome security device designed to protect the kinetiscope: a huge piston acting as a vault door and powered by thousands of pounds of steam pressure to keep what's on the other side safely locked within.

Next, in one of the season's most thrilling extended sequences, West subdues the crew in the steam room while Gordon works to switch the contents of the box inside the vault. A neat touch here is that the door is designed to stay open only as long as someone keeps their hand on the locking lever, forcing Gordon to move out of the way of the crushing piston whenever an unconscious steam room worker comes to. Especially great is the moment when two henchmen awaken at the same time presenting West with the tricky task of fighting off both thugs while trying to keep one hand on the vault lever.

The late, great Harvey Korman does a nice job here as Baron Hinterstoisser, the mastermind behind the plot to discredit Grant. Though his casting might now seem an odd choice, we have to remember this was 1968 when the Carol Burnett Show was still new to the airwaves, and it would be several years before Korman's appearances in screen parodies like "Blazing Saddles" made him most closely identified as a comedic actor. Also, it's just nice to see him get to play a role so different in tone from the kinds of things he was usually offered.

As for little problems here and there, well, the hoaxed film sequence isn't entirely believable thanks to the obviously hand-held motion of the camera. After all, why would Grant do something so incriminating when he'd have to be blind not to be aware of it's presence? A scene where the agents become trapped in a room with a disappearing floor seems pretty much lifted from an earlier "Man From U.N.C.L.E." episode in which Illya Kuryakin faces a similar peril and, if truth be told, the "U.N.C.L.E." version worked a lot better.

On a whole though, with it's nifty storyline, some well-executed action sequences, terrific art direction as well as Richard Shore's compellingly cool music, "The Night Of The Big Blackmail" is one mission that's well accomplished.

"The Night Of The Feathered Fury" centres around Count Manzeppi's bid to acquire an item of singular value: a toy chicken with the power of the legendary Philosopher's Stone to transmute any object into gold. Played with style by Damon Packard-clone Victor Buono, Manzeppi performs feats of legerdemain to dazzle West and Gordon when he isn't attempting to kill them. Of the methods of assassination he employs, the most unique is a grenade-tossing monkey. In one of the best scenes in the entire series, Manzeppi serves up a feast to a captured West. "If you can't beat 'em," he observes as he lifts a sterling food tray cover to reveal a hand holding a gun, "kill 'em.". Another exciting scene features some clever security devices hidden on West's train car. Also cool is a henchmen who carries a ball-in-cup novelty that's really a spring-loaded weapon.

The smoky-voiced Michelle Carey plays one of the more alluring in WWW's roster of bad girls, but it's really Buono who commands the centre stage with his effortless mixture of humour and deviousness. A performance that seems even more astounding when one considers that Buono (looking here like a man in his late 40's) was at the time a mere 28 years old. His casting (like Michael Dunn's Dr. Loveless) was dead on and it's just a shame Buono wasn't brought back for further reprisals of the character.

In a series that occasionally worked elements of fantasy into it's plots, one can accept the existence of a legendary artifact capable of turning objects into gold. However, acceptance might have come more esily had they disguised the object in question as something other than a toy chicken of all things. Still, this doesn't change the fact that "The Night Of The Feathered Fury" is a solid gold entry.

A virtually perfect episode beginning with U.N.C.L.E. headquarters being thrown into an uproar after radar detects the approach of a mysterious object. The object in question turns out to be a toy airplane containing the sardonic message "Boom! You're dead."

As it turns out, this fake attack comes on the eve of an important conference of world leaders set to be held at U.N.C.L.E.'s New York headquarters. But when civilian Kay Lorison, (Zohra Lampert) unwittingly becomes a "guest" of U.N.C.L.E., Napolean and Illya must find the source of this and other recent breaches in security before the conference can convene. Little do they know however that a professor of logic, Mr Hemingway (Richard Hadyn) has been putting the agents through their paces in order to expose U.N.C.L.E.'s vulnerability to attack. Nor are they aware that a deep-cover THRUSH agent named Riley (Peter Haskell) plans to wipe out the visiting dignitaries using a conference table molded out of an explosive material.

Easily one of the best scripts to utilize the "innocent drawn into the world of espionage" (a story convention used many times throughout the series), "Mad, Mad Tea Party" is a potent mixture of both danger and character-driven humour. Zohra Lampert is excellent as Kay, a nervous bride-to-be dissatisfied with the banality of her life, who finds more excitement than she could ever imagine when Mr. Hemingway literally shoves her through the looking glass of Delflorio's shop right into the UNITED NETWORK COMMAND FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. At one point guppies are discovered in the building's drinking water system (another present from the mysterious Mr. Hemingway) prompting Kay to quite accurately observe "I did fall into a rabbit hole, and this is a mad, mad tea party!"

Richard Hadyn's Mr. Hemingway makes an enjoyable, mirth-making gadfly. In one scene he wanders through headquarters and brazenly stops Napolean and Illya to ask for directions in how to get around this high security installation he's not even supposed to be in.

One particularly funny moment comes towards the end when the eventually captured Hemingway and Kay are both brought to the conference room where the dignitaries are set to gather. The single key to the room is passed from agent to agent like a bucket brigade, and eventually even Kay gets a turn handing off the key like she's now one of team. Later, when she finds herself among the world leaders who've come for the conference, an amazed Kay asks Solo, "do you know who's in there?" Solo: "Well, I have a pretty good idea." Kay: "And they talked to me!"

The spy tech aspect is very thrilling with the attack by the radio-controlled plane leading to the appearance of a nifty roof-mounted laser gun that rolls out to try and bring down the approaching target. The villain of the piece, Riley, employs a fountain pen which, when jabbed into the cranium of a victim, emits a high frequency pulse that homogenizes the brain. The scene where Riley is exposed before his disguised bomb can detonate is quite suspenseful, as is a hand-to-hand fight sequence between the THRUSH agent and Solo in the tight confines of an elevator.

Great story. Solid direction by Seymour Robbie and Lampert and Haydn give among the best performances of any two guest stars in the history of the series. Quite a party indeed.

While that lumbering Bon Jovi-like song that every episode of the TV series was forced to fly in under is thankfully missing, the colourful crew of the good ship Serenity makes the journey from television to motion picture wholly intact. Captain Mal (Nathan Fillion) is still his charming, if at times coldly autocratic self. Though he says he cares about "me and mine" aboard his ship, Mal can also be a tad obsessive and, occasionally, downright cold when it comes to what he figures is necessary.

In this story, the oppressive ruling government is personified by a lethal individual known only as "the operative", who does not appreciate dissent anymore than Captain Mal takes kindly to his crew questioning his decisions. A fact made clear during the crew's perilous journey to a planet called Miranda where ultimate truths lay waiting both for the enigmatic River (Summer Glau) as well as for the operative, whose mission it is to keep hidden the facts of what occurred on this mysterious world. The lengths that both the operative as well as Mal will go, believing their means will surely justify the ends, bears real significance on the outcome of this story.

The movie's effects work is all impressively done with the smuggler's ship Serenity (resembling something like a metal dog and a collection of garbage cans) flying into some screen-filling outer space warfare. Even more awesome is the film's stunning climactic fight sequence in which River, summoning all of her impressive abilities, single-handedly takes on a horde of mutant cannibals known as Reavers. Excellently shot, energetically choreographed and beautifully performed by actress Summer Glau, this battle is deliriously fun to watch and ends with an image of triumph that's as cool as anything you've ever seen in a movie. Coming on the heels of his other creation, Buffy the vampire slayer, the character of River confirms Joss Whedon's undeniable gift for creating memorable screen heroines.

One quibble with this screen adaption is Whedon's decision to kill off established characters as if he felt there was no reason to keep the entire crew breathing for a possible sequel. A disappointing and very questionable decision indeed.

That aside, this is still an action-packed adventure with an interesting cast of nicely defined characters. It's message (that what's right to some is not necessarily right for all, and that authority sometimes must be questioned) is well conveyed, and even timely. "Serenity" is definitely a worthwhile ride.

Those who've won at the game of "Big Brother" usually can't say they didn't tell a fib or two along the road to victory. Seems to go with the territory. However, when there's a clear distinction between the more or less honest players and the consistently deceitful, this is when "Big Brother" can be a most absorbing contest to follow.

Such was the case in season 6. A line in the sand was drawn between the "Sovereign alliance" and the somewhat ironically named "Friendship Alliance" (later dubbed the "nerd-herd"). When the Sovereigns evicted the nerd-herd's leader (a pushy type "A" dictator named "Cappy"), the nerd-herders then eliminated the Sovereign's leader, an Iraqi-American named Kayzar. However, when asked which player they would like to see return to the game, viewers voted overwhelmingly to bring back Kayzar. Then in the next Head Of Household competition, nerd-herder Jennifer tearfully swore on her life that she'd nominate someone outside of Kayzar's alliance..if he let her be HOH. Kayzar agreed, and then, in one of the most under-handed double-crosses in the history of "Big Brother", Jennifer put Kayzar up for eviction, and with the help of her alliance, evicted the player that America had voted for in droves to return to the game. Amazingly, the nerd-herders would later scratch their heads in puzzlement over why viewers didn't seem to like them.

With Kayzar out, a particular Sovereign member next on their list, and another HOH victory expected for the nerd-herders, things looked pretty rosy for this bunch. But, they were soon to learn who it was they were dealing with.

At first glance, Janelle Pierzina seemed like just another pretty blonde, probably hoping to jump-start a career in show business through a stint on a reality show. Therefore, nothing special. Well, the truth is: one underestimates this girl at their own peril. For though the nerd-herders now had her in their sights, Janelle was not about to go gentle into that good eviction. Already a veteran of the hot-seat, Janelle refused to bow to those who'd put her there, and fearlessly mocked them as if she hadn't a care in the world. The most hilarious example was when sister sovereignist Rachel entered and Janelle commented, "Rachel, you're so beautiful," before spotting nerd-herder Maggie and casually added "Maggie, you're such a b*tch."

It was at the most crucial moment in the game, both for her and her alliance, that Janelle would heroically win the next Head of Household competition, and when host Julie Chen asked Janelle who she wished to nominate for eviction, Janelle playfully feigned a moment of deep deliberation before naming the deceitful Jennifer, and then Maggie, the new nerd-herd leader, with Jennifer eventually receiving her well-deserved eviction. The war was on.

Back and forth the struggle raged. When Janelle wasn't HOH, she was winning veto competitions that kept her from being evicted. In time, the Sovereignists were whittled away until Janelle stood alone. But once again winning for herself a life-saving veto, she triumphantly forced the "friendship alliance" to evict one of their own. Indeed, every attempt by the nerd-herd to eliminate this blonde thorn in their sides failed...that is, until one crucial 11th hour competition didn't go her way, and "Jedi-Janie" became the last evictee. Maggie would win the $500,000.

Then the "All Star" seventh season rolled around giving Janelle another shot at that top prize, and initially, things went very well for Janie and her "Season 6 Alliance". They dominated in the first few weeks, sending home with impressive speed such past "BB" vets as Jase and even better, the icky Alison.

However, thanks in part to some bad quarterbacking by fellow returnee Kayzar and also a certain whiny little mole working within their ranks, the season 6 alliance began to lose power. Soon Janelle found herself in a familiar position: standing alone against a house determined to evict her.

She could never fully depend on the support of her "pals" (the absurdly conceited, extremely oily dermatologist, Will and his servile life-partner, Mike), so Janelle, in yet another impressive display of pluck, athleticism and brains, astonished her competitors as well as elated home viewers by winning numerous competitions to retain her place in the house. Her streak just remarkable, and though she'd come so far and fought so hard, in the end, sadly another late-day challenge didn't go her way and Janelle was evicted just shy of the final two. It was so disheartening to see it happen to her again.

In the final analysis though, money comes and goes, but Janelle may have achieved something much more enduring. For now she's become something of a legend, but not just for winning more challenges than any player in the game's history. When she slapped the smugness off the face of "Chilltown" by evicting Will, the so-called "puppet master" from the house, she also reminded us that this girl is nobody to mess with. Indeed, in the estimation of many, Janelle Pierzina has retained for herself the distinction of being the most astonishing competitor in the history of reality TV.

After CBS ran the prime time special "Monsters! Mysteries or Myths?", Bigfoot, overnight, became a pop culture sensation. Reports of encounters (even one of an alleged kidnapping committed by the forest giant) increased receiving major media attention. Indeed, "Monsters..." became the highest-rated television documentary ever broadcast (a record that was still intact as recently as the early 1990's and may possibly even hold to this day).

In addition to Bigfoot, the hour-long program also took a look at the ongoing search for two other elusive creatures: the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman. Personal accounts by eye witnesses were included as well as lots of interesting photos- though, curiously, the famous 1967 Bluff Creek film of an alleged Sasquatch was not among the evidence presented. In response to the public's now rabid fascination with Bigfoot, the documentary was re-edited and released a couple years later in theatres under the title "The Mysterious Monsters". While this version did include additional actor recreations, alleged audio recordings of the creature and, best of all, the Bluff Creek film blown up to 35mm glory for the big screen, it was still largely the same material shown in the TV version. Also, a particular disappointment about the re-tooled movie release is the absence of original host Rod Serling.

Of course, "Monsters! Mysteries Or Myths?" didn't prove the existence of anything. It only presented the cases for and against the possibility that missing links and lake monsters were alive and among us in the 20th century. The featured experts who expressed doubt in these theories were, predictably, not as much fun to listen to as were the true believers. One especially entertaining re-creation of an alleged encounter featured actor Richard Kiel playing a sasquatch that crashes a boyscout camping trip.

As documentaries on crypto-zoology go, "Monsters! Mysteries Or Myths?" is one of the best ever made-- even if it IS now dated in spots. For example, the famous "Surgeon's Photo" offered as evidence in support of Nessie's existence has since then been exposed as a fake. Overall though, it holds up pretty well and clearly served as the template for similarly themed shows that followed in it's tracks like "In Search Of" and "Unsolved Mysteries".

This is "Wild, Wild West" working at nearly every level.

The plot: West Gordon and Gordon must accompany a scientist to Grevely manor for a meeting of a tontine (a group investing in a common fortune with the last surviving member being the only one who collects). However, it seems one member is attempting to improve their odds of collecting by killing off the other investors. Drawing on Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" for inspiration, this episode quickly develops into an action-packed whodunit.

For gadgetry, the famous derringer slides out of Jim's sleeve for a welcome appearance. The heel of his boot also comes off revealing another handy item hidden inside. Some unique methods of assassination come in the form of an electrified book as well as an armchair-- no, make that an "armed chair", a neat metaphor for all the backstabbing going on in the story.

Actionwise, instead of taking on an entire roomful of bad guys as is his custom, West engages hooded henchmen one-at-a-time in the spooky passageways of Grevely manor and also gets himself trapped in a room with a wall of spikes slowly closing in on him. Plus, in one of the series' more elaborately-designed jeopardies, West finds himself hog-tied to an explosives-laden rail cart. Beneath the cart, rockets are attached to propel him down a railroad track leading to an exit out the side of a cliff where a sheer drop to the ocean awaits.

As West tells the hooded villain in charge, "you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble for such a short trip."

"Tontine" gives Ross Martin a chance to add Scottish to his catalogue of accents, and though plot wise his need to be disguised in this one seems a bit unclear, you gotta admit the blonde hair he sports really does something for him.

Among the guest cast there's recognizable character actor Robert Emhardt as Mr. Grevely, the sardonic host of the investor's party. Henry Darrow is amusing and suave as a deposed member of European royalty and, coolest of all, Mike Road, best known as the voice of Race Bannon in the "Johnny Quest" series, plays the mastermind behind all the untimely deaths.

With it's high-action content amidst the murder mystery plot, colourful cast, terrific scoring by Richard Markowitz, and even a nifty setting in Grevely Manor (an obvious but still quite artistically designed miniature), "Night Of The Tottering Tontine" is easily one of the best episodes of "WWW's" sophomore season.

Easily one of the goofiest reality-type competitions ever produced, "Fame Games" has celebrities from previous seasons of "The Surreal Life" once again living together in a fabulous mansion. However, this time they're all there to compete in a series of events which will eliminate one of them a week until the winner is crowned at the end. Sounds like it should be fun, and granted, the amusing (and occasionally crude) shenanigans we expect when the celebrities interact still occur as when Tracy Bingham spends the night in Verne Troyer's bedroom. In fact, these two are funny enough to spin-off into a show of their own. "Stranger Love" maybe.

What defeats "Fame Games" is the game show portion which is badly designed and, at times, downright cruel. Example: the first challenge had the stars posing for pictures requested by fans. The two receiving the fewest requests would be declared the losers, and watching this play out, one just can't help but cringe along with the humiliated celebrities who weren't being asked to pose for as many pics as the other competitors. 

Competition losers get consigned to the "B List": a section of the mansion where the food isn't as good, and the perks not as perky. This wasn't really so bad though as it gave some of them added incentive to compete that much harder.

The worst challenge of all was probably when the celebs were asked to phone as many famous friends as they knew to see how many would return their calls. After all the responses were received, an expert in pop culture came in to rank the celebrity status of the acquaintances who were nice enough to call back. This sent returning "Surreal Life" vet Vanilla Ice into another one of his infamous tirades, demanding all his friends be removed from the list as he didn't want them to suffer the indignity of being ranked.

Particularly strange was the expert brought in to judge: she of the dorky glasses, former MTV VJ Kennedy was deemed qualified to determine which of the celebrities who called could probably get a good table at a posh restaurant. As a judge, it appeared that Kennedy was as intimidated by Vanilla Ice's rant as she was suckered by the tears of "Poor me, I don't know many stars", Andrea Lowell. After a very questionable job of name ranking, competitor Chyna Doll was sent home with the Fame Gamers (and viewers) left shaking their heads over the absurdity of Kennedy's rulings.

Similarly strange, the decision of who would win the grand prize was left up to actress/comedian Kathy Griffin. While she may be well-known for her love of reality TV, choosing the winner based on completely subjective stuff like who, in Griffin's opinion, gave the better improvised acceptance speech and who was the better dancer, really felt like it negated the validity of the final outcome. And though it was nice to see Traci Bingham win, it seemed like a debatable choice next to her much craftier co-finalist, Ron Jeremy.

"Fames Games" wasn't a well-conceived show, and it certainly wasn't very concerned with the feelings of it's stars (after all, does C.C. Deville really need to learn that his name got the fewest hits on Google of anyone there?). If the producers are smart (and if this show is re-newed), they'll return to the traditional concept of The Surreal Life: a dysfunctional family of famous and quasi-famous people trying to co-exist for a couple weeks under the same roof. Now that's fun.

Agents Purdey, Gambit and John Steed travel to Toronto in search of an elusive spy named Scapina.

Inside a high security building, a nervous snitch with information about a breach in security awakens from a clobbering. The only ones in the room are Steed and a few others with top clearance but the fellow throws a fit claiming that Scapina is present. Terrified, he backs up against a window which opens sending the guy plunging to his death. So the question is: who is the mole and how is he stealing information from within this maximum security facility? Quite easily it turns out. For the culprit is actually the building's mainframe computer (code name: "Scapina"), and it monitors everyone within the building via security cameras. When it spots anyone coming too close to the truth, the computer takes steps to end their snooping permanently.

In Dennis Spooner's script, the super computer becomes quite an efficient assassin employing various means within the building to kill those who threaten it's security. As stated above, one opportunity comes when it simply opens a window at the right moment. Later, another opportunity arises when with shocking speed a guy is flipped into an incinerator chute. One second you see the man walking down a hallway into the path of an electric eye, the next you see a section of floor tilting up into the wall like a draw bridge. The poor guy isn't even seen tumbling inside, just muffled screams coming from within the wall. When the now empty panel flips back over, the readout on Scapina's monitor lists him as "Terminated- and Incinerated". Quite chilling, so to speak.

In another scene, Purdey is about to enter an elevator with a Canadian agent when in the blink of an eye the floor beneath him opens up and he, too vanishes.

Aware that Purdey knows of it's activities, Scapina locks down the otherwise empty building to keep her inside as it begins looking for other methods to kill her. At one point, Purdey walks past a metal grill when the air conditioning suddenly reverses catching her skirt and ripping it off her legs.

A neat touch: the sound of the computer at work is a rhythmic heartbeat-like pounding that adds a pervasive feeling of menace, and the towering skyscraper in which most of the story takes place proves an effective setting.

There have actually been a number of stories like this done for television over the years. Shows like "The X-Files", "The New Outer Limits", "Probe" and the lousy TV-movie "The Tower" have all featured computers usually in control of a building that go haywire and start killing people. Having said that, with the only complaint being the now dated look of the super-computer of 1976, this effectively told story of man against machine may just be the best told of the bunch. It's certainly a fine entry to the uneven "New Avengers" series.

Especially wild even for this series, "The Night Of The Raven" has Dr. Loveless inventing a formula that can reduce any exposed subject to the size of a gerbil. When West smokes a cigar treated with this drug, the secret service man shrinks down to 6 inches in height. An Indian princess (Phyliss Newman) being held captive by Loveless is also miniaturized, and together West and the girl get to sit on a table between two giant candlesticks as the Dr. and Antoniette do their customary musical number.

There's not much that really works about the story until West starts interacting with the now giant environment around him. Thanks to the artistry of the set designers who built some impressive over-sized props, the best moments include:

West being chased by a huge rolling 8 ball;

a gargantuan house cat;

and an obstacle in the form of a man-sized mouse trap.

It's all pretty absurd but surprisingly exciting as long as you don't ask too many logical questions, like, for example:

-why does the strand of spider webbing West uses for a rope not stick to his flesh as you'd expect it would to a fly?

-when West steals a sip of the restorative formula, how come his clothes also return to normal size? Maybe Arte invented some extra stretchy clothes for Jim to wear just in case a problem like miniaturization were ever to arise.

No, "WWW"'s writers couldn't always be bothered trying to figure out solutions to these roadblocks in logic. Instead, they just filled episodes with action galore and hoped we'd be too entertained to ask such questions, and to be fair, most of the time their strategy worked.

A spy who looks a lot like Number Six (Patrick MaGoohan) is assigned "Mission Impossible"-style to look into the murder of a British scientist. Soon he finds himself the next target of a comely assassin named "Death" (played Justin Lord with a touch too much eye makeup). Among the unkind things she does to him, Lady Death locks the spy in a steam bath, leaves him dangling over a bed of spikes, and traps him in a room full of poison-emitting candles which will explode if he blows them out.

As a framing device, each step in this "trail of Death" is illustrated in a children's storybook with the tale eventually leading to a madman with a Napolean complex plotting to destroy London.

In the final moments of the episode, the mad genius and his daughter, Death, are blown to bits by the heroic spy. Then we discover this has all been an elaborate bedtime story told by Number Six to a roomful of little children. We also see that the would-be Napolean and Lady Death are actually Number 2 and his assistant. As they spy on Number Six from the control room of The Village, the two grumble about the failure of this latest plan, for even among a group of innocent children Number Six will not let his guard down.

This one is considered something of an oddity because it spends so little time within the mysterious Village. It's also far less dramatic in tone than other episodes, and though "The Girl Who Was Death" is essentially played as a spoof, it does feature some very exciting action sequences with MaGoohan cleverly getting himself out of one tight scrape after another.

While it may not be completely in keeping with the approach of most episodes of "The Prisoner", it seems acceptable to have such a change-of-pace entry in what was essentially a very experimental series.

Plus, it also nicely showcases star Patrick MaGoohan's abilities, both as an action star as well as a comedic actor. You can definitely see here why he was the original choice of producers to play James Bond and how tremendous he would have been in that role.