Entries Tagged as 'News'

New Serial Book

I am always surprised and happy when someone comes out with a new book on serials, like classic horror or westerns, just when you think there is nothing new to be said someone proves you wrong. I honestly thought that Hank Davis’ two volume set Classic Cliffhangers would be the last book written on the subject for a long while, but Anthony Fletcher recently came out with a new book on our favorite film genre,  Don’t Dare Miss the Next Thrilling Chapter.  I discovered it like I do everything else, surfing around Amazon.com, and a brief look at it shows it to have an interesting take on serials.  While he doesn’t examine every sound serial, he does offer some new categorization for serials.  Most fans follow the designations that William Cline sited in his book In the Nick of Time; Western, Jungle, Mystery, Science Fiction, Aviation and Costume Adventure (this last one is for serials like Son of the Guardsman and Adventures of Sir Galahad). Fletcher offers these alternate designations; Jungle, Armed Forces, Science Fiction, Aviation, Masked Heroes and Costumed Heroes.   While Westerns, the most prolific serial sub-genre are not given their own section they are somewhat represented in Masked Heroes, and of course Phantom Empire is in the Science Fiction section.  Unfortunately such fan favorites like the Dick Tracy serials and Gangbusters are missing, maybe later on down the line Fletcher may make a seventh and eighth sections for Cops and Robbers and Cowboys. I kind of find it hard to believe that Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. didn’t get into the Science Fiction section when The Crimson Ghost did. Then again The Secret Code and the Desert Hawk are in the Masked Hero section instead of Costumed Hero section.  The one section I do find interesting is the Armed Forces, I don’t think anyone ever thought to put serials featuring soldiers and sailors into their own category, though I really think Captain Midnight should have gone in either Aviation or Masked Hero instead of Armed Forces. Oh well, what does such quibbling matter, especially when there is a new serial book out to help expand people’s interest in this still mostly overlooked classic film genre.

Never Fear, Nick Rockwell Is Here!

Great news serial fans!  Cliffhanger Productions newest serial Nick Rockwell All American is coming soon.  To hold everyone over they have put a trailer together.  You can catch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfdEQmTBkVo

Love the bits about about the villain chastising his henchmen for being unable to handle one teenage boy and the deadpan “The FBI never jokes” line.

Happy Anniversary!

Sorry to disrupt your enjoyment of Conan, but this is a very momentous day for Serial Experience.  We are ten years old today!  Yes hard to believe it was August 1998 that I reviewed my first serial, New Adventures of Tarzan on Frame By Frame, this site’s original name.  Except for a brief hiatus due to a broken scanner back when I had  pictures I could put up on the site (unfortunately I’ve run out) , Serial Experience has just kept going.  I never thought I would still be doing this ten years later.  Like most fans sites, I thought I would do it for a few years, get bored, or not have time to keep it up, and it would just fade away.  But somehow I just kept doing it.  And I have to admit that there were times I wanted to quit and not have to deal with it, yet I just couldn’t, even when I was literally sick of serials and was watching old episodes of MST3K, I still found myself popping in a tape and taking notes come the last week of the month.   If that’s not love I don’t know what is.   Here’s to the next ten years!