Saturday, October 06, 2007

CAPTAIN COSMIC AND 2T2 DVD Review





This is a review of the new CAPTAIN COSMIC & 2T2 DVD now on sale from Scott Moon and Tom Wrysch of http://www.bobwilkins.net/ . This is another quality DVD-R effort by Tom Wrysch who now has access to what I call The Bob Wilkins Archives! Tom has produced many quality DVD-R's of both Bob Wilkins and John Stanley. I have done reviews on the other DVD's. Featured on the new CAPTAIN COSMIC DVD: 1.) Interview with Nichelle Nichols from 11/16/79. She talks about her role in both the tv series as well as the new upcoming STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE (1979). 2.) Interview with Walter Koenig from 11/17/79. He talks about his role in both the tv series and in the new Star Trek movie also. 3.) Interview with Mr. Darth Vader himself, David Prowse from 7/21/78. He talks about being Dart Vader in STAR WARS (1977) as well as his other movie roles he has done. Next up, there are 2 COMPLETE CAPTAIN COSMIC SHOWS. The first one is from 10/23/79. It is a Halloween themed show and his guests are children from THORNHILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in Oakland wearing Halloween Costumes provided by WOOLWORTH'S (Remember Them?). The children are David Stone (as Superman), Paige Paine (as Little House On The Praire's Mary Ingells), Annie Festler (as Darth Vader), Laura Hyde (as C3PO), Tracy Cummings (as Wonder Woman) and a Nancy McGunchy (as Little Orphan Annie). Actually Nancy McGunchy is Bob Wilkins daughter, Nancy Beth under an assumed name. Nancy has appeared on many of Bob's shows as well as his son, Robby. In fact, Bob, or I mean Captain Cosmic asked Nancy to say Hi to her brother, Robby McGunchy. Obviously an Inside Joke. A complete FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE CHAPTER 7 is included with this show. The other one is the FINAL CAPTAIN COSMIC SHOW from 1/18/80. During the show, Captain Cosmic is given a message from the Planet Cosmos ( I think it is Bob Shaw as the cloaked Messanger?). Captain Cosmic's final guest is a local bay area magicion, THE GREAT ORLANDO. A complete FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE CHAPTER 12 is included with this show. Finally the extras are a treat. Though they are both silent, we are still lucky the footage is still around! First there is footage of Bob as Captain Cosmic racing a BART Train at a BART Station. Lots of different angles including a closeup. Then there is footage of the 2T2 Robot getting a fresh coat of paint at BEST AUTO PAINT prior to his debut in 1977 as well as being loaded in the back of a truck and being driven to KTVU Channel 2. Then there is a Bob Shaw interview with Bob Wilkins from February of 1997 discussing the Captain Cosmic Show, which is actually a fragment of a much longer interview which is available in the highly recommended "THE BOB WILKINS 3 DVD SET" from Tom Wrysch for $35. Back to the CAPTAIN COSMIC DVD, it is another high quality effort from Tom Wrysch. It is also excellent that he was able produce 2 complete shows to relive the good old days from the 1970's and reflects the way the show looked on TV. I do have to mention though that on these 2 complete shows, that he actually showed showed something different and not those FLASH GORDON serials included. The 10/23/79 show had a Japanese Anime type of show called STARBLAZERS (1979) while the 1/18/80 show originally had the british kids show, CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERIONS (1967). Yes, Captain Cosmic did show FLASH GORDON serials but on different Captain Cosmic shows as well as ULTRAMAN and a few Japanese GODZILLA movies broken up in 5 segments. The main reason probably had to do with the fact that FLASH GORDON serials are in the public domain and it would probably cost an arm and a leg to acquire the rights to both STARBLAZERS and CAPTAIN SCARLET. This DVD is worth every cent plus you get an exact replica of the Captain Cosmic membership card with a Secret Crypto-Code on the back. Thanks Tom for a high quality DVD. I am waiting for your next BOB WILKINS DVD you'll produce! The CAPTAIN COSMIC DVD is $15 which includes shipping. Contact Tom at his email address tpw1705@aol.com

1 comment:

Dave M. said...

Hooray! I was waiting for a Captain Cosmic release. I can't wait to watch it! I used to watch CC every weekday after school, on time and without fail.

Thanks, Tom, for the stroll down memory lane!