NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

On Tuesday, we were given a two-hour lunch break from jury duty, so I headed over to J&R Music World to check out their TV DVDs.

I went down into the basement, entered that particular section far off in the back of the store, and as I stood there in awe, my inner Toob let off a warning:

"Tele-Toby, spend only cash. Otherwise, you'll never get back to the courthouse in time!"

I mostly focused on the bargain-bin styled treats to be found of vintage TV. The only thing I picked up that was more than ten bucks was a special gift for a second cousin. All of the other selections were under ten dollars and mine, MINE, MINE!

Here's my loot:

'Ned Blessing'
'Ned Blessing: The Hooded Man'
I never got the chance to see this short-lived Western when it showed up on CBS back in 1993. I still hope to track down the episode in which Stephen Fry appeared as Oscar Wilde.

The first entry must have been the pilot, with Daniel Baldwin playing the title role. But by the time it went to series, Brad Johnson had stepped into the boots of Ned Blessing.

I also picked up other TV Western collections:

"Legends of the Old West" - 'Stories of the Century'
I first learned of this show from a website of Corinth Films, which had a page for every episode they had available. Each segment was about a notorious outlaw of Western history who just happened to come up against a railroad detective played by Jim Davis (of 'Dallas' fame).

There are 21 episodes in this two disc set, featuring such infamous figures as Billy the Kid, The Dalton Gang, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, and Crazy Horse.

"Western TV"
Over 13 hours, 29 episodes, on 3 discs.

Disc 1 - 'Wagon Train' and 'Shotgun Slade'
Disc 2 - The Lone Ranger' and 'Buffalo Bill Jr.'
Disc 3 - 'Range Rider' and 'Judge Roy Bean'

Of them all, it's the episodes about Judge Bean - as played by Edgar Buchanan - that I'm most eager to see.

Whenever I would read about Boris Karloff and Television, it was about his shows 'Thriller' or 'Colonel March of Scotland Yard' (another series I'd like to track down!), or his guest appearances on 'The Wild Wild West' or 'The Girl From UNCLE'. And of course his narration of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'.

But I picked up a five episode disc of 'The Veil' which sounds like a precursor to 'Thriller'. Karloff appears in some of the shows and narrates the others.

And finally, a big thrill:

'Rocky Jones, Space Ranger' - "Silver Needle In The Sky"
I'm sure this show had to be before my time; I only know it from pictures in various TV memory books in the massive library of Toobworld Central (and from a website called "The Solar Guards").

But I've always had this fascination with those early attempts at sci-fi in Toobworld, with the antique feel they must have, even though I've never seen most of them: 'Captain Z-Ro', 'Tom Corbett', 'Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers', 'Atom Squad', 'Space Patrol', 'Jet Jackson', 'Commando Cody', and of course, 'Captain Video'.

This disc also contains two bonus 'Superman' animated shorts: "The Electric Earthquake" and "Mechanical Monsters".

I'm not sure when I'll ever get around to seeing any of these - the stacks at Toobworld Central are full of DVDs still in their shrink-wrap, - but it's nice to know I have them at hand whenever the urge comes over me.

So you see, kids? There are benefits to doing your civic duty in jury service.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby