¶ Intro / Opening
Welcome back to Midnight Viewing, the Horror anthology podcast, where this season we're taking a look at George A. Romero's nineteen eighties series Tales from the Dark Side. Sharing the Midnight view with me are the Projection Booths, Mike White.
I Weigh a Million Pounds.
And the culture cast Chris Statue, I loath, ZOODI fetishes.
¶ Barter
We'll get there.
Tonight we are taking a look at the final two episodes of season four, the final two episodes of Tawnsmen The Dark Side. Those are Barter and Basher Malone. Barter Season four, episode nineteen, originally aired on July the seventeenth, nineteen eighty eight, Written by Julie Selbo, directed by Christopher T. Welch, starring Jack Carter, Jill Duress, and Michael Santiago. This is somehow a mashup of the previous two episodes, Going Native
and Hush. It's a real world I Love Lucy that is visited by a door to door salesman who loves Monia. What do you think of this one, Mike.
I actually had a really good time with this one. Obviously, fan of I Love Lucy, also fan of Todd Haynes's dot get spanked. I could have easily gone the other way and been.
Like boy Jack Carter.
He was annoying, but I had a good time with his weirdo English that he was doing, where I could really understand. It was almost like a pig Latin that he was speaking with the way that he was talking about good, good and all this kind of stuff. Yeah, I kind of liked it. I liked the parody of I Love Lucy and I Yeah, of course, the kid drumming was pretty annoying, but I really empathized with the
Lucy character on here. And yeah, I think that the end was a little weak, but otherwise I was pleasantly surprised with this one.
How about you, Chris, I thought it was interesting to have a I Love Lucy parody A left field choice, I guess. I just I wonder why is my kind of takeaway? It seems like such an oddly specific thing to pick and choose and do this. So in terms of trying to nail the tone of the show that they're parroting, I think they nailed that. It is just an alien shows up on I Love Lucy. Okay, if all right? I guess I don't need any more explanation than that, and none is given, so it's interesting, I
will say that much. What about you, Father Malone.
¶ Discussion on Comedy in 'Tales from the Dark Side'
I didn't like it overall because I don't like their comedy episodes when they're not in the hands of comedians, and for some reason they've decided they're going to close out their entire series with a pair of comedy episodes.
I did notice though, that this dodge, this episode, dudge ah, this episode does manage to accomplish in about twenty two minutes what the entire mini series of Storm of the Century by Stephen King was positing because it's the exact same story, right, Like, this stranger shows up, acts weird, then demands their child and they have to give him to him, and then off he goes. It's like the same plot. The ending is when I actually liked about it. I liked that he took that kid and fucked off.
I just wish they had been happier at the end, because they seem to rep it's a really weird tonal shift at the end. You're not supposed to know, or at least I didn't know how to feel, because it like they're so sick of the kid, but they're I don't know, I don't know what their intention was here at the end, but it seemed plenty tales from the dark side, and ordinarily they'll lean into the bitterness of it, and here they was leaning into the grief of it, which was an odd choice.
I think I agree with you as well, And it just goes back to this whole idea of comedy I think is much harder to do than most things in writing, in terms of screenwriting, especially because again, comedy is so subjective from person to person, and if you make somebody laugh, congratulations. It is not easy. And the comedy in this is again just very specific but broad at the same time.
And I don't I don't know if I've ever laughed at any of these comedy episodes that this show has done, because I'm just like, this is not a comedy style that really resonates with me, and I don't know who it's supposed to resonate with, because it's just say, it's broadly unfunny. It just seems misdirected in where it's trying to be funny, if that makes sense, Like it it's mining the wrong gags, is what is what it feels like.
Yeah, it's doing this parody of I Love Lucy, and that is a sitcom, so they are hitting all of those same beats, and I don't understand the point of that.
Ultimately.
Are they trying to point out how hackneyed that the show used to be or are they trying to mine it for the same laughs. I don't know. I was confused. I like you, but Mike, I want to agree with you about Jack Carter's performance because I don't not like the episode based on that. I think he is doing a good job because he isn't like a stand up comedian or anything. This is just a regular working character actor. So he's really giving us all there and pulling it off.
I think that's really hard to do. Actually, even like just basic English doubles speak is really hard to do.
Yeah, yeah, I like what he was doing. What normally the steam coming from the ears gag is pretty rote. But when it happened the first time, I was just like, oh, okay, that was good. I like that. When it happened the second time, I was like, okay, please don't do that again. But yeah, I thought that he did a good job. And Yeah, like you were saying, that whole don't Open the Box. It felt very similar to that, except yeah,
it was like Ricky Ricardo was. He was more of the prick than anybody else in this episode, just with this whole like, oh, little Ricky's got to practice as drums. And I loved how much stuff she got done without little Ricky, like when she put him on pause. Yeah, the whole thing of the machine disappearing. I was kind of like, Okay, yeah, you guys are really fucked. If you keep messing around with this stuff, you're never gonna
get your son back. And I see. I was waiting for there to be a twist, whether it be a good twist or a bad twist at the end, where three years to this guy is actually like a lifetime, or three years to this guy is a minute and a half, because obviously, if he's from outer space, if he goes out into space and comes back, three years for him might have passed in three hundred years here on Earth. It's been a while since I've seen an interstellar, but that's what I seem to remember from the old
Einstein concept of time. So I was hoping for something just a little extra, h like the little kick in the ribs. Towards the end there either like I said, a happy twist or just a real fuck you don't mess with any of this stuff, Like you really shouldn't be bartering with this gentleman.
It is a cautionary too, yeah, as most.
Of them are. Yeah, by the end of it, I guess I was under the assumption they wouldn't be that disappointed that their son was gone because they were annoyed by him. But they do seem a little bit more put out by it than I have assumed they would be. They're bereft. Man.
She's like playing to Ricky there.
I know, And I thought she'd be happy because it's like when little Ricky's out of the way, she gets so much done and she's able to like figure out more of these household tints. That was an odd thread going through there. But this whole what contest and if we win, we get to be on television. I was like, that is such a Lucy trope, the whole like her just quest for fame and wants to be on television, and the worst way.
I think it's a worthy I think I love Lucy is worthy of parody, and particularly this is what like eighty eight. At this point, this is the boomer generation. They grew up on this goddamn show, and they need to take it apart. But I don't think it's I'm just repeating. This is an echo chamber now. It isn't vicious enough, and it's not or and or not funny enough or sentimental enough. It's just there. I didn't hate it,
but I didn't feel one way or another. I think the episode wanted me to feel something at the end there.
They picked I Love Lucy intentionally and I don't understand why. It's like, you don't get me to the point of understand why you chose I Love Lucy, which to your point is like you should have done something a little bit more subversive or a little bit more pointed, and you don't. It's just like the most obvious things to parody. I'm surprised we didn't get Ethel and Fred showing up. We get mentioned of them with Bethel, which is.
Wow, I love and little Nicky, Little Nicky.
Yeah.
I mean they already did a really good just in a three minute music video like the Ricky video by a weird al is freaking fantastic. And that was the first time where you got to see weird Al without the long curly hair, where he puts on the wig for that Ricky character.
And he looks great in that video.
Yeah, that was a long time before this.
Oh yeah, but I don't remember when Dotty gets Spanked came out. But yeah, I agree with you. This was the time where I was nineteen ninety three, Yeah, so weird. And what year was this one? This was ninety eight white okay, so eighty eight, so right in the middle between those two. Yeah, I agree. I was just gonna say agree with you as far as this is, I guess a good time to parody Lucy. But it does
feel like a strange marriage of the East. And I am almost curious to go back to the original short story to see how much of the Lucy Ricky stuff.
Is in there.
Probably nothing at all, Probably just a brief mention. Sometimes she felt like Lucy Ricardo, I know what to do.
And for me, honestly did they were they not just able to get Ray Walston? Is that what it is? They were just like Ray Walston, will you come be in our episode?
That my favorite Martian.
It is It's like I love Lucy meets my favorite Martian, but they don't. It's almost like they don't belabor the point enough. That's what it is, like, you should I don't know. There should have been maybe more of a framing device or something. I don't know. Its just it does fall a little flat. But what a weird thing. I love, Lucy.
It's straddling this weird line of being the sitcom and being a real world version of the sitcom, and it can't figure out which one it wants to be, so it's neither exactly. Yeah, and finally, oh my god, here
¶ Basher Malone
we are at the end season four episode twenty My cousin Basher Malone, written by Peter O'Keefe, directed by Anthony Santa Crocy. This was originally aired on July the twenty fourth, nineteen eighty eight. Perfect time for a horror anthology series, Middle of Summer, starring Vic Tayback, Marie den Brink Stevens, and Marlene Cassamento. Are you ready for the match of a lifetime? This is not it. It's Basher Malone versus Trag, a demon from Hell. Wild you think of this one, Chris,
you're there, you're a wrestling expert. What did you think of this? Fucking fantastic display of.
Yeah.
Start in the trail off there the Stephen Capello, the California terminator who tagged with the future and I guess at the time now former governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura. Stephen Coppello would go on to paint the Governor's mansion and paint a portrait of Jesse Ventura for his time in the governor governorship of Minnesota. I am a wrestling fan. Yes, this is yeah, this is not what what in God's
name is this? This is wrestling question mark? This is something again similarly to the last episode, like high concept, strange all over the place, doesn't necessarily succeed completely, but it's weird. It's weird enough to have my attention. I don't think it gets all the way to a twenty three minute episode without like meandering for a minute because it is so high concept. But I think it's fine.
I will say to your point, if this is the way you're ending your show, not a good way to end your show, one might say, one of the worst ways to Drew show. Not the worst way, because I think comparative to maybe some of the other final episodes we've seen of things It's not as bad as some of the other ones, but not a great way to end a show that started out really strong about you, Mike.
Yeah, what a weird thing. This is going to be a strange complaint. The music. The music that just keeps repeating over and over again.
It's not a strange complaint when it's that bad.
And at one point it becomes love theme from Basher.
It's just it's so strange.
I was so happy when I saw Victa back in this love Victory back. I kept wondering, does he always have to have a cigar in his mouth? I guess he didn't when he was on Colombo trying to sell some shifty art. But yeah, this whole all American boy who brings his mother to the games and eats milk and cookies and stuff. It's good for a few seconds. But then once they get to a big devil type match and stuff, and I'm just like, is Victate back the devil? Or is he just a horrible person? I
think he's just horrible. And then apparently because of how horrible you are, the guy who he's fighting gains weight.
He becomes like bane, so the sins he weighs the sins weighs the sins.
Yeah, and that victory back has a like the trident on his hat and it's what's to say in his shirt? It actually says like devil's something on his shirt. I'm just like, oh, okay, yeah, what a weird way what to end your show? And just a strange episode because at one point it just becomes like what a five hander of all these people in an empty gym with that cool laser effect that they're doing that was pretty expensive. You this one, FM.
PEPSI say, relax, who Yeah, they broke out that laser. I will say that the one time the use of the laser machine was really cool was when Brink Stevens melts down and they have it playing on her as if it's electricity, as if she's short circuiting. I thought that was such a great effect, and if they didn't use the laser at all for the rest of it, then it would have been better. Overall, do we really need three matches? Does it need to be three falls? Are you kidding me?
It's an Iron Man match, baby, you don't we go.
To commercial, we come back and we're still fucking fighting.
Yeah.
Had they put both of these into one episode. It probably would have been way better just cut both of these down by half, but no, we're committed to the half hour bit.
I will say there's a nice circularity to the after the pilot the first official episode of Tales from the Dark Side was victay Back not remembering or his child that.
Who is this kid?
So it's good that he was in the first and now he's here back in the last, and that's nice and it's always good to see him. But is this just some fucking real world version of or some like it's Hull Covid, right, I mean.
It's Hull Covid, and it's Captain Lou Albano, and it's and then the guy who's dressed up like Trog is Vader. He's literally wearing Vader's outfit with the like the red singlet and the mask.
And then but in nineteen I don't think Vader was that big a deal, don't Wasn't he a nineties guy?
Darth Vader was very big since nineteen seventy seven, thank.
Very much, heard of Jesus. Sorry, we're talking about the wrestler known as a big Van Vader, Sir Darth Vader. Sorry, people are real confused all of us.
He has more than more than one name. I had no idea.
Yeah, yeah, Big Van Vader was he was wrestling from like the mid mid eighties on. But yeah, he was height of his time was in the nineties in the WWE. But it is Lou Albano clearly, because the way Vic Tabac is rested at the beginning of the episode, he's wearing those like bright colorful shirts, just like Albono did. And then yes, Stephen Capello, it is just Hulk Hogan clearly, Like that's very odd.
He's basically saying, take your vitamins and say your prayers, like there's a variation on that, like that, we're supposed to believe that this is what Hulk Hogan would really be. Like No, actually, as it turns out, sorry.
Rac the Devil's dick. He didn't fight the Devil shockingly, I know.
Yeah, you would have been like, oh that guy, Yeah, it's pretty he's got some good ideas if you really stop and listen.
To him, I'm gonna throw the match for Satan or they wouldn't do that, brother, But he's good.
By Oh god, what what an ironic episode to have to watch after the passing of Hulk Hogan too. It takes on new meaning after the passing of one Terry Hulk Hogan. Boleya.
Are they still doing that Chris Hemsworth movie? Remember they were like he was in constant training for Swans and shit, I'm like.
Oh, twenty six inch fons.
Yeah, you still do an Vince McMahon movie too. You can really have this run the circuit of shithead people.
In the wrestling we all just want a macho man movie. Let's face that's true.
Yeah, which basically they have.
They have to miss Elizabeth here with Stevens' character.
Yeah, it was nice seeing her. It's always nicee in her, but yeah, very nice seeing her in this episode.
There was weird kind of fac similes for people in the real world of wrestling at the time, and if you're alive at the time, it's very obvious it's inescapable at the time.
And I just don't know what amounted anything other than too many matches. And I really hated our lead and I kind of wanted them to all get stuffed into that fucking refrigerator of Laserdom.
Yeah. The final thing when tay Back gets sent through the portal with the wrestler and who because they're touching now, suddenly he becomes the biggest weight in the world. How just like break apart and go their own ways. I'm like, yeah, that was a really bad.
Maximilian.
Yes, yes, very very black Sorry dark hole. Yep, you're right.
They came out of that black hole. I don't understand what the problem is with them going back into it. Yeah, he just walked out of it before. All right, there's the problem, Like.
Do some walkout music? Yeah, it's just the same theme as they played through the entire fucking thing.
Who's got a bass guitar? Could you just play that over there?
Which of these is trogs entrance music? Please play it for me.
Let's get the music cues from Tales from the Dark Side season four.
I will hunt them down. I know they exist somewhere. Donald Wuvenstein will not return my Toels. No, he's been very nice. He's just very hesitant to talk. It's unusual, and really I just want to talk to his brother anyway.
So there you go.
¶ Final Thoughts and What's Next
All right, till next time the next episode of Midnight yere we're gonna be looking at It's not a series anymore. It's We're gonna be looking at the movie Tales from the Dark Side, the movie from nineteen ninety until then. Where are you working on? People find it? Chris Statue looking whoa.
Yeah, you can find all the things that I do over weirdingwaymedia dot com, including this show and the Culture Cast and Shabby Detective and col check tapes which is done. There's a lot of stuff. Everything can be found over at wordingwaymedia dot com, other than my patreon which has ranked on Bond which Father Malone you were on at one point talking about live and let die twice twice. That was what to say, and then you came back. I know from what we talked about.
You loly start twice.
Sorry or so they say. And yeah, you can find that on my patreon, which is patreon dot com slash Culturecast, or Mike's patreon patreon dot com slash Projection Booth. But more importantly, given that this is your show patreon dot com slash Father Malone, as we can go to financially support you, which you're working pretty damn hard to make this show. So I would suggest anyone who's listening to this, if you're not already doing it, go and do that. So what about you, Mike White?
Pretty much the same thing. I will just say, go on over to Weadingwaymedia dot com and check out all the fun stuff.
How about you FM, as Chris said Patreon dot com final slash fond them alone. You get episodes early and commercial free. In fact, you're gonna get a whole lot of new bonus contacts. Finally got my nose to the fucking grindstone. So we've got a comic book horror film adaptation fest currently going on. Star Trek Fest is going on. We just finished up our Yaucha Fest with a day of release of fucking Predator bad Lands. Anyway, go check
out all that stuff there. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight
Range as