Episode 87: Forbidden Planet (1956)

Welcome to our late-night double-feature picture show! We’ve got androids fighting Brad and Janet, as well as Anne Francis stars in “Forbidden Planet”! It’s exactly like that, except it’s not a double-feature, and we have no Brad, no Janet, and no androids (yes, there’s a robot but a robot is not the same as an android, as Data tells us). In this, our final entry in the series “When We Wuz Kids,” Mike has chosen one of his favorite childhood (and adulthood) cinematic memories: 1956’s “Forbidden Planet,” starring (besides Ms. Francis), Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen (his first movie) and the legendary Eaaaarrrrl Holimannnn (best known for “Police Woman” and not much else).  This movie is alleged to be a science-fiction interpretation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.  In fact, the filmmakers were so into that idea that they list ol’ Bill as a co-writer.  Shakespeare. As a CO-writer. Yeah, we’ll get to that.  But we also have amazing sets, animation by a Disney animator, and the first appearance of Robby the Robot (who was supposed to have been a TOTAL DIVA on set. Very hard to work with. Even today, Twiki and the Daleks won’t speak to him. No one really knows why; we’re waiting for Twiki’s tell-all autobiography).  So strap on your simple blaster, down a shot of rocket fuel bourbon and monitor this episode!

2 thoughts on “Episode 87: Forbidden Planet (1956)”

  1. Yay! Yet another shoutout….

    Hm. Maybe they are mentioning the names of faithful listeners every few episodes to keep us listening. “Hey, they mentioned my name this week!” …or… “They didn’t mention my name this week, I better listen again next week. ” Kinda like at the end of Romper Room you hoped you would be one of the kids that Miss Whatever saw through the Magic Mirror. .

    For your listeners’ benefit, I’ll just repeat that field of study: Germanic Philology. This not to be confused with Dramatic Theology or Germanic Philately – so I won’t be able to be much help with your German stamp collecting questions.

    Ich verbleibe allzeit Euer Gnaden untertaeniger Diener und Knecht.
    FJ

    1. I see Billy and Suzie and Freddie and Halbwitz…
      Romper Stomper Bomper Boo… or something like that. Thanks for listening, Herr Mr. Mann!

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