Re: Things presented in-story as Good Ideas that seem like really Bad Ideas

On 11 Sep 2024 15:34:14 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

In article <0ad3ej1btsu8fag96cmemm27mfbpo8sftr@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:34:14 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
>

In article <hnr0ej9n73p041mlj8glqham0ca8mrq7go@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person  <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On Mon, 9 Sep 2024 19:40:49 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
>

In article <vbnesl$r81$1@panix2.panix.com>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

In article <lk79hhFp0bkU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

Lucky Starr's "Council Of Science", the Venus Belt, the Federation's
"Prime Directive".  Things like that.
>
Examples?

>
When I watched SF as a kid, everybody had some sort of pocket communicating
device.  Kirk had a communicator, Napoleon Solo had a fountain pen, and
even Maxwell Smart had a shoephone.
>
But not ONCE did any of them ever get a call about their car warranty.

>
I read a review of NBC's Search (1972 to 1973) in which the reviewer
was greatly distracted by the agents' scanners. These were communication
and information gathering devices compact enough to fit into a tie-
clip or a ring jewel. They seemed to have infinite range and nothing
appeared to block the signal. The reviewer speculated that perhaps
they used phased neutrinos.
>
Huh. Only 23 episodes. It felt like it ran longer than a year.

>
That's not, generally, a good sign.

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I have fond memories that I am sure would not be bitterly betrayed if
I found an episode or two to watch. After all, Columbo is standing
up. OK, there is the issue I've able to spot the killer in every
episode so far.

>
It's been a long time, but my memory suggests that some/most/all
episodes were more about how Columbo figured it out.
>
IOW, the idea was that we would watch Columbo solve a problem that we
already knew the solution to (ie, whodunit). This is not the same as a
classic mystery, where the audience is given the same clues as the
investigator and so may be able to solve the case on its own.

>
Whoosh!
>
Seems like about time for a Columbo reboot -- Falk has been gone long
enough to make it a respectful interval...

IIRC, there were at least two others, one of them based on /Coogan's
Bluff/. They rotated as "Movie of the Week" or "Monday Movie" or
something like that. This justified the expense of three production
companies and gave each one 3 weeks in which to film (or
finalize/advertise if already in the can from off-season) the next
episode.

I may be confusing two different sets of three, BTW. It has been a
long long time.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"