tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post4563438184746462907..comments2024-03-13T23:42:41.022-07:00Comments on We Are Controlling Transmission: Spotlight on "The Human Factor"John Scolerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-86009968089117516962017-01-11T12:42:31.203-08:002017-01-11T12:42:31.203-08:00I keep finding myself going back to watch Human Fa...I keep finding myself going back to watch Human Factor. At least 3 or 4 times in 6 months now. This is after I binged watched the first 2 seasons. Good episode! Not perfect, but had good moments.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06899760253608859423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-5894014176521159282016-03-22T21:47:53.734-07:002016-03-22T21:47:53.734-07:00Like Peter Farris, I couldn't resist breaking ...Like Peter Farris, I couldn't resist breaking out some sunflower seeds I had set aside the last time I watched it.<br />I guess it's impossible considering when it came out, but does Major Brothers owe anything to General Ripper of DR. STRANGELOVE? Even though he's spooky in an out-there way instead of a quiet way, and even though the story starts off with a Cold War feeling and then lets go of it, it always seems that way to me. The sunflower seeds always feel like his version of General Ripper's "distilled water and pure grain alcohol."Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603892208775996594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-42062461440892808142012-04-11T16:00:52.809-07:002012-04-11T16:00:52.809-07:00As much as I like Gary Merrill, I have to agree ab...As much as I like Gary Merrill, I have to agree about that look he puts across. In one of his Alfred Hitchcock Hour episodes, he played a morose divorcee who sits in his back yard and drinks all day. There have been a million characters like that in dramas (and comedies), but I don't think I've ever seen an actor who managed to LOOK the part so well.Grantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-92124571637304478522011-01-10T18:24:39.862-08:002011-01-10T18:24:39.862-08:00Hilarious! More, please!Hilarious! More, please!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00345830456539347899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-37826986339417443452011-01-06T00:06:49.012-08:002011-01-06T00:06:49.012-08:00Wild, Peter! I second Mr. Schow's recommendat...Wild, Peter! I second Mr. Schow's recommendations for future reviews. And as for Gary Merrill and the primates, check out Harryhausen's MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and behold shirtless Gideon Spillet, the perfect Neanderthal. "I married him because I like hairy men," Bette Davis said in a interview, "then divorced him because he was so sloppy." As Spencer Tracy once observed, "That's evolution for you."Gary Geraninoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-63327488207090477562011-01-05T21:18:43.267-08:002011-01-05T21:18:43.267-08:00Actually Peter Farris is not drinking alone. I'...Actually Peter Farris is not drinking alone. I've been watching an OUTER LIMITS episode each night during dinner while eating and drinking beer. I've seen these shows so many times over the last 45 years that I have to sort of have a party atmosphere in order to watch the mediocre ones. My local beer discount warehouse has a special license to serve "growlers". I bring in a 64 oz jug and they fill it with draft beer of my choice. It's good for a couple days, then goes flat, so you have to drink it soon. I drank Anchor Steam draft beer with "The Human Factor". Every time I saw Sally Kellerman I said, "damn it", or yelled "I don't f**king believe it". I had to stop when my wife and son came into the room to see what I was cursing about(like normal people they eat at the kitchen table).Walker Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16089880902426182100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-58161667767566968482011-01-05T21:03:50.358-08:002011-01-05T21:03:50.358-08:00And what, pray tell, is the downside of a Mystery ...And what, pray tell, is the downside of a Mystery Science Theater approach to "The Human Factor"? Imagine the second-season hybrid: "I, Crow T. Robot." <br /><br />Nicely done, and dig that cinematography glug glug glug....David C. Holcombnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-70888070863890791022011-01-05T20:21:04.857-08:002011-01-05T20:21:04.857-08:00John S: Expect my request for a flat Zanti shortly...John S: Expect my request for a flat Zanti shortly. <br /><br />And I will gladly provide my one-sided riffage for those episodes, David. Assuming Conrad Hall stops being so awesome as to allow to me stop drinking...Peter Farrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08282435407442494330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-29625307103843277162011-01-05T19:54:47.214-08:002011-01-05T19:54:47.214-08:00Based on Pete Farris' assessment of "Huma...Based on Pete Farris' assessment of "Human Factor," I hereby nominate him to similarly dissect (and provide drinking games for) "ZZZZZ," "Children of Spider County," "Don't Open Til Doomsday," "Moonstone," "The Special One," "Production and Decay of Strange Particles," "Cold Hands, Warm Heart," "Behold Eck!," "The Invisible Enemy," and"The Probe." Thus do we broaden our horizons unexpectedly.<br /><br />And Gary Merrill is a decent actor, but is it just me, or is there something palpably ... SIMIAN ... about him? Him and Ingrid in a clinch would be like doing it with Dr. Zaius, or more accurately, the version of Zaius first essayed by Edward G. Robinson.DJSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-27879878054867410362011-01-05T17:26:24.114-08:002011-01-05T17:26:24.114-08:00"Despite the alluring set-up, The Human Facto..."Despite the alluring set-up, The Human Factor seems to tiptoe around greatness, never quite putting it all together—no surprise considering this episode features a one-and-done director and writer in Abner Biberman and David Duncan..."<br /><br />Well, THE HUMAN FACTOR is probably the one episode of the OUTER LIMITS that I'd describe as a guilty pleasure. Mind you, I think it's assets greatly outweigh it's flaws, and in large measure it's a moody, claustrophobic and gloriously atmospheric hour that defines why we viewed the show so excitedly in those long ago years. Yes, Kellerman of course is a babe, and she's quite ubiquitous here. The opening and closing narrations are superior, and the film is eerie in it's comparisons with THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD with the lonely Arctic outpost.<br /><br />I know David Schow concludes his assessment of this episode with "it is unfortunately easy to say that "The Human Factor" but for its too-few bright spots, is as cold and barren as the arctic tundra itself.<br /><br />The script and story arc are admittedly uneven, but this is one episode I've always "felt" over many years, and rediscovered it on tape, laserdisc and DVD. It's undervalued.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-5570080671597980592011-01-05T15:09:57.689-08:002011-01-05T15:09:57.689-08:00Don't you worry about it, Pete (F). Your comme...Don't you worry about it, Pete (F). Your comments are right at home here at WACT (WHACKED!). <br /><br />You might even be the only one who will appreciate a new site my wife inspired me to launch:<br /><br /><a href="http://flatzanti.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://flatzanti.blogspot.com/</a>John Scolerihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15830334036783163702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-11716338498326683722011-01-05T14:24:50.660-08:002011-01-05T14:24:50.660-08:00Peter F., I also have a soft spot for the ghost of...Peter F., I also have a soft spot for the ghost of Private Gordon, damned if I know why. Then again, I also like Eck.<br /><br />Peter E., as long as we're casting, if somebody can dig him up I'd be honored to have Chill Charlie play me.Mark Holcombnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-26385944511596496092011-01-05T14:11:06.547-08:002011-01-05T14:11:06.547-08:00I'd like to think of Gary and Mark playing Joh...I'd like to think of Gary and Mark playing John in the movie version and Peter Farris playing me.Peter Enfantinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04317575598411394944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-31170547340615924282011-01-05T14:10:30.969-08:002011-01-05T14:10:30.969-08:00Now that I think about it, if indeed he's expe...Now that I think about it, if indeed he's experiencing the peace of Brothers' death, than it was a smart choice creatively. There's just something oddly childlike about the expression I couldn't help but noticing.Peter Farrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08282435407442494330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-68007045536580788882011-01-05T14:06:01.394-08:002011-01-05T14:06:01.394-08:00I'd like to interrupt Gary and Mark's eloq...I'd like to interrupt Gary and Mark's eloquent spotlights with the Mystery Science Theater portion of today's programming...Peter Farrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08282435407442494330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8535833613343533564.post-68289889305843248922011-01-05T14:03:32.594-08:002011-01-05T14:03:32.594-08:00I think that the "I-just-had-my-milk-and-cook...I think that the "I-just-had-my-milk-and-cookies-and-mommy’s-gonna-read-me-a-bedtime-story face" may have something to do with the character experiencing the others death. A rather comforting creative option.bobby jossonnoreply@blogger.com