Remember STANDBY: LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION? Another look back on the 80s by Harry

Hey folks, Harry here with another look back. I finally figured out why I've been so reflective, it has to do with me reading Ernie Cline's READY PLAYER ONE. One of the key things that gets so utterly conveyed is that the mystery is wrapped within the shell of a younger generations' perception and understanding of what made the 80s so great to the generation that "came of age" in it. Reading a book that took apart the life and obsessions of someone deeply nostalgic about their life, kinda put me thinking about it - and specifically trying to think about things that I don't believe were mentioned (not that there's much). Another - is simply understanding the gulf between the generations that make up the readership of Aint It Cool. Now - the last one of these articles, I introduced you to a show that I still feel is the best media show ever created, Johnathan Ross' INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW. And I'm pleased that that played as such a revelation and just being as awesome as it was - and I decided... ya know... There was a show before that, that really made me want to look behind the scenes of cinema. Now before this, it was FAMOUS MONSTERS, STARLOG, CINEFX, CINEFANTASTIQUE... and I bought every issue as a kid. But this show TOOK me there. Back when VHS tape was brand new and "Special Features" just simply did not exist. That said, this show was hosted by LEONARD NIMOY, "SPOCK" and that had me... all on its own, but in addition, the films that he's looking at, hadn't come out yet. This was BEHIND THE SCENES often times two to three weeks before release... And with no John Tesh or Mary Hart - both of whom annoyed me even when I was a child. Now, I've passively mentioned some STAR WARS knowledge regarding the 9 film STAR WARS arc that was to span 40 years of STAR WARS history - with STAR WARS, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK & RETURN OF THE JEDI being the middle set. I always have described it to friends as being told to me by SPOCK, and that he would lie would be highly illogical. WELL... Tonight, my search for this specific video has resulted in a REALLY big Nostalgic kick. When I met Phil Tippet at the World Premiere post film party of STARSHIP TROOPERS - I even mentioned him teaching the GAMMORRIAN GUARD how to walk on Nimoy's show and how Tippet as an animator was even giving motion direction to folks in costume about how to pull their character off. I LOVE THAT THIS IS CAPTURED AND EXISTS: Before I spoil it all - here, take a look:



Now the show was made up of three different sequences, with the overall show exploring a theme. The RETURN OF THE JEDI belonged to the episode that focused on MOVIE COSTUMES, and also featured a wonderful look at the costumes behind the scenes on a MONTY PYTHON film and some Jackie Gleason flick if I remember. I have the episode on VHS somewhere. To a degree, the kinds of films that were featured on this show kind of directed my interest in movies - like I remember watching the following episode with my best friend Rylan at the time - we recorded it on Video tape and I showed it to my Dad, who quickly scored me a COMMODORE PET computer with a built in Cassette Drive! It is actually still with me in my DVD room here at the house. But it was watching THIS episode of Nimoy's classic show, that directly resulted in my first computer: WARGAMES



That's it for this look back, if you enjoy these, I might keep doing them. For me, it is all kinds of fun hunting these things down!