OLDIE-BUT-GOODIE: Veteran actress Gail Kobe starred in a 1964 episode of “The Outer Limits” called “Specimen Unknown.” Classic TV shows like “TOL” and “Highway Patrol” air on the digital-tier network this tv.
Call me weird (and I’ve been called much worse — believe me), but I find myself watching more and more TV from the ’50s and early ’60s. I’m currently DVRing (and enjoying) episodes of “Highway Patrol” and “The Outer Limits,” both of which air on digital-tier network this tv. Call it visual comfort food.
On “Highway Patrol,” you can’t beat Broderick Crawford wearing his ever-present fedora and barking “21-50 to headquarters!” in his rapid-fire, no-frills delivery.
“Highway Patrol” aired in syndication from 1955-1959, with the show’s producers and crew having to deal with Crawford’s heavy drinking. (Ironically, many of the scenes featured him driving his police car; in reality, some of those scenes had to be shot on back roads because Crawford’s driver’s license was suspended for drunk driving.)
I read someplace where a wag was so impressed that one guy, Crawford’s Dan Mathews, could solve any crime in his state — thought to be California, but never actually specified — simply by setting up a roadblock.
Priceless.
While I’m enjoying “The Outer Limits” — seen at the time as ABC’s alternative to “The Twilight Zone” (CBS) — its hour-long episodes drag on way too long.
Great cheesy special effects, though, and one of the best opening segments in TV history. (“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling your transmission.”)
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Last week I interviewed Wesley Warren — better known as the “star,” such as it is, of “The Man With the 132 Lb. Scrotum,” airing tonight at 9 on TLC.
Warren — who suffers from a condition which caused his scrotum to balloon to horrific proportions — had surgery in April to correct his problem. He spoke to me over the phone from his home in Las Vegas; this morning, he’s here in New York City as an in-studio guest on Howard Stern’s Sirius/XM radio show — and I’m guessing Howard will have a field day asking Warren questions I wouldn’t dare — no matter how much I wanted to.
Anyway, here’s more from my interview with Warren:
On how he felt when he woke up in 2008 and first noticed his condition:
“When the pain went away, the only thing that popped into my mind, and I’ll never forget this, I imagined that a humongous tractor-trailer wheel was rolling off my right testicle.”
On how he’s felt since the surgery:
“I can’t really say I’m feeling so great that I notice; I just feel differently now. I feel stronger, better, but I don’t feel remarkably better. I’m not out of the woods yet.”
On how he wore pants before his surgery:
“I experimented. If I went out anywhere I couldn’t wear pants. I started cutting the crotch area out of my pants but that didn’t work well for me, so I experimented. I finally figured that I had all these hooded sweat jackets in my closet — I’m originally from North Jersey, so I’m used to the cold — and I figured that if I turned ’em upside down I could turn ’em into pants. I’ll probably bring them into Howard Stern’s studio.”
On what caused his condition:
“The doctors claim not to know where it comes from, but the common denominator is that [it usually occurs] in someone who’s heavier in nature. I must say I was and I am heavy.”
On reports that he delayed his surgery because he was enjoying his celebrity too much:
“That is a flat-out, slanderous lie. I’m not denying that I haven’t enjoyed the attention, but there’s one thing first and foremost: All of the spotlights in the world could shine on me but I’m going to seek help and take advantage of that help at the earliest opportunity I can to correct whatever needs correcting.”
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Anyone else love that Geico commercial with the talking camel who’s psyched that it’s Wednesday — “hump day”? (“Mike-Mike-Mike-Mike-Mike— what day is it?”)
Whoo-hooo!