Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Spooktober: Frankenstein, Jr. vs. "Alien Brain From Outer Space" (1966)

Even though he was the headline star of his show, Frankenstein, Jr. only appeared in one episode per week, bracketed by co-stars, The Impossibles. Now, go figure that one out. The common link between the two segments being the campy dialogue, a la Batman, and the odd villains.

Boy scientist Buzz Conroy (Dick Beals) was a bit of a prodigy, and his father (John Stephenson) certainly had him going in the right direction, using his genius for the benefit of others. His greatest invention was his robot crimestopper, Frankenstein, Jr. (Ted Cassidy, ex-The Addams Family), who seemed nearly unstoppable. Here, Frankie & Buzz defend Civic City from the "Alien Brain From Outer Space".




Too much expository dialogue is not a good thing.

Rating: B-.

4 comments:

magicdog said...

The show was pretty much like most action adventure shows back then, with characters always telling before showing. Thankfully most current shows choose to show rather than tell.

Unless they're from Japan and feel the need to call their attacks!

Seeing this show makes me think that if it were made as is today, the last episode would reveal that it was all a daydream of Buzz Conroys'!

After all, how else to explain a kid who creates a superhero robot, is its sole master, and has a well meaning but ineffectual father who acquiesces to his suggestions?

hobbyfan said...

Please, don't give the idiots at Cartoon Network any ideas.

I'd rather resume in the present, with Buzz all grown up, and Frankie upgraded at least 3-4 times in the course of 45 years.

magicdog said...

I wouldn't mind the basic premise repeated.

As I suggested on toonzone's reboot thread, I'd make Buzz like "Hiro Nakamura" (a good Toyman from the comics) a kid genius with a 200+ IQ who develops Frankie as the ultimate weapon against evil.

Those around him just wouldn't be so silly and weak and the villians a bigger challenge.

hobbyfan said...

I'd upgrade the villains and get them out of the camp phase of the 60's, making them more malevolent and menacing.