Tonight was a TV night, with an episode of "High Chaparral" followed by a "Tales Of Tomorrow". In the latter show, Lee J. Cobb is the multimillionaire head of an undetermined company. He is Bill Gates Rich, and he has a dream to be the first man in space. The year is 1951, so the launch of Sputnik is still six years away and it will be ten years til Yuri Gagarin actually does become the first man. But Cobb is determined to do it in 1951 and he's got the dough to make it happen. He is typical Lee J. Cobb in this show - loudmouthed, broadshouldered, smoking a cigar.....and being a great actor. Except at the very beginning of the show, and this is both interesting and funny. "Tales" was run live, as were many shows of the early TV era, meaning that the show was happening as the home audience was watching it, just like a play. But unlike a play, it seems that the actors on this show may not have had much time to rehearse, because lines are occasionally flubbed. This happens to Lee J. Cobb right after the episode begins. An onscreen map of outer space is showing the troposphere with the ring of the stratosphere above it. Cobb is describing to his accountant how his proposed rocket will blast through the upper layers of the atmosphere and into space, but he flubs his lines so badly that there are multiple pauses in the dialogue. The screen is showing "troposphere" but Cobb can't get the word out of his mouth, so he eventually just bypasses it and chucks that whole section of his speech.
It's mildly amusing to see, but moreso it is indicative of the live nature of early television. Most of the actors on these episodes (I've seen three so far) have been thoroughly prepared, but a few, like Cobb, may have come into the studio thinking they could wing it, and it didn't work out that way.
Having said that, he quickly recovered and was great, in typical Lee J. Cobb fashion (bullying people, throwing his weight around) for the rest of the show. He is confronted by his accountant (who would be called a comptroller nowdays) about his spending of the company's funds. Cobb has already allocated millions for the rocket itself, and now he is mortgaging the future of the company by selling off it's stock to raise 100 million more to devise an engine and the required fuel type. They have to go to the freakin' Congo to get some of the minerals. And the show is only a half hour long.
Cobb is like Trump. Things have to be his way or else. And he's loaded, and financially reckless. His ego is all that matters to him. Finally a scientist appears who can build him the proper engine for his rocket. The guy says he is from London, but he seems a little squirrely. He doesn't have any models for his engine, or any mathematical presentation. All he does is to show Cobb the properties of magnetism by pulling out two magnets and then placing them "pole opposite" and "pole similar". The opposites attract and the similars push apart. This is his formula for rocket propulsion, and it's pretty trippy for 1951 because it would be many decades before the theory of electrogravitics, as devised by T. Townsend Brown, made it into the mainstream science conversation. Long story short, Cobb hires this weird guy to build his engine and formulate the fuel for it, but the guy has two conditions : 1) That he be left alone to do his work (which is very hard for a meddler like Cobb), and 2) That he be allowed to pilot the test flight of the rocket. The guy seems to know his stuff, so Cobb agrees to his terms. Meanwhile, his accountant and the board of directors are cracking down, threatening to cut off the funding of the project and even to force Cobb out of the company.
Finally, the rocket is built and all systems are go. It is Zero Hour on the launch pad, and despite last minute pressure from the board members, Cobb is ready to head out into space. As he puts it, all the expenditure has been worth it, because he "will soon own the world". He is truly Trumpian in his megalomania.
However, there is a twist after the rocket is launched and has passed through the ionosphere. Cobb and his pilot are now the first men in space, but........(omg and holy smokes)......
I guessed what was gonna happen and you might, too, but man, you've gotta see this show!
I recommend that you order you the entire "Tales Of Tomorrow : Collection One" from Amazon. If you love 1950's Sci-Fi as much as I do you won't be disappointed. These shows really push the boundaries, they were made just six years after Hiroshima and the end of WW2, and at the same time as the world emerged into the Space Age. The scripts are fearless and non-PC. Political correctness wouldn't even have been a concern in so dangerous a time, and a guy like Trump would have had his ass handed to him before he had a chance to establish himself, unlike today in our pussyfooting times of "let's not impeach him".
Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a Trump tangent, but yeah, this is such a great show that you've gotta see it. And I didn't mean to shortchange "High Chaparral" because that show is a Western of the highest order, with motion picture caliber acting and production values. But I've already described so many Western scenarios that I thought I'd give the more edgy "Tales Of Tomorrow" episode the featured write up here. ///
I finished two books today : "King's X, The Oral History", which is one of the most comprehensive books I've ever read about any band. If you are even a marginal fan of KX you should read it. Certain music by certain people can change your life. My life was permanently changed by this band. For their first six albums they are as great as The Beatles, and I say that about no one else.
Listen to King's X. ////
The other book I finished was "The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett III". Last year I began reading about "eccentric physicists" with the extraordinary biography of Paul Dirac, and this year I have read the story of Hugh Everett and what became known after his death as the "Many Worlds" theory. This book has been incredibly interesting because it covers Everett's personal life and that of his family as well as giving a comprehensive revue of his theory, and so much more.
I'd like to go into it just a little bit further tomorrow night, if I am not too tired.
For tonight, I send you love and I will sign off because I have church in the morning.
See you there. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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