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Post by erik on Dec 31, 2016 22:05:16 GMT -5
A hugely interesting article from the fall of 2013 looks at an early piece of episodic television directed by a 24 year-old from Phoenix, Arizona named Steven Spielberg that, in some weird ways, may have foreseen the year we are entering. This was an episode of the NBC-TV series The Name Of The Game entitled L.A. 2017, written by noted sci-fi writer Philip Wylie ( WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE), that first aired on January 15, 1971: reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2013/10/cult-tv-review-name-of-game-la-2017-1971.html |
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Post by sliderocker on Dec 31, 2016 22:29:55 GMT -5
A hugely interesting article from the fall of 2013 looks at an early piece of episodic television directed by a 24 year-old from Phoenix, Arizona named Steven Spielberg that, in some weird ways, may have foreseen the year we are entering. This was an episode of the NBC-TV series The Name Of The Game entitled L.A. 2017, written by noted sci-fi writer Philip Wylie ( WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE), that first aired on January 15, 1971: reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2013/10/cult-tv-review-name-of-game-la-2017-1971.htmlI remember watching that episode of "Name of the Game" when it first aired in 1971. I was 16 years old, and I had also seen "When Worlds Collide" a time or two on TV about the same time, so I was familiar with Phillip Wylie. I thought he nailed quite a few things, including old rock and rollers still performing in their 70s. He also dealt with the environment in that episode and it seemed to me (as I haven't seen the episode in a while) that it also touched on planet warming. I wasn't aware that Spielberg had directed, although that now makes that episode even more of a plus. I'd like to see it again. |
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Post by erik on Dec 31, 2016 22:56:38 GMT -5
It is extremely interesting what kind of scary and disturbing environment Spielberg was able to create on a budget of just $375,000 and a 12-day shooting schedule, which he managed to do in the fall of 1970, and have it ready for airing not long after. Its set-up of a world that is not only polluted but also warming is enhanced by the implications of a corporate America that have unmistakable overtones of George Orwell's 1984.
Spielberg also had the advantage of being able to shoot on locations that were fully functioning, including the interior of a water treatment plant near LAX, and landscape in the western San Fernando Valley that had recently been charred bare by a recent violent Santa Ana wind-driven firestorm; it suggested the polluted landscape of Wylie's nightmare. He has said that this was a project for television that opened a lot of doors for him in Hollywood; but looking at it now as we enter that prophetic year of 2017, it now seems it's even more than that.
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