Lucille Ball was originally a radio personality starring in a popular comedy, My Favorite Husband. It was here that she began to develop the character she would continue to play for decades in television through several shows, all bearing her name in one form or another: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here’s Lucy, and Life With Lucy. See the pattern? Anyone who was a fan of the radio show would instantly recognize the red-haired actress even though they had never actually seen her on the radio. That exaggerated cry was already a staple of her physical comedy, even when she couldn’t be seen. She had also toured for many years with her real-life husband Desi Arnaz. When they could not convince a network to film a pilot of a show featuring both of them, they made it on their own dime. CBS was so impressed with the pilot they reimbursed the couple, and in 1951 I Love Lucy hit the airwaves.
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“Space… The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”

Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover if he could catch lightning in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived. Star Trek, a series that barely registered on the ratings during its three-year primetime voyage, became a huge sensation in syndication. By the time Next Generation came on the scene, the original show had been syndicated in over 20 different languages all over the world. It had launched an animated series, and a fifth feature film was already in the early stages of consideration. So it isn’t quite fair to judge the success or quality of The Next Generation over the original series. One thing is inarguable. The second would never have existed if not for the first.
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In 2006, the original Charmed series did its final curtain call, and since then fans have been calling for the series to resume. In this era of revitalizing old television series, it seemed like bringing back the popular witch series was a possibility. In 2018, fans got their wish, although perhaps not quite the way they were hoping to get it. Charmed would be brought back, but as a reboot, not a continuation. This means a brand new cast and a modern twist. As you expect, this decision was not completely popular, as fans of the original series called for the return of the original cast. As a fan of the original series, I was among those who felt a version of the series that did not feature Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, and Rose McGowan would be a waste of time and resources. Hell, I would have even taken a miraculous return of Shannon Doherty. Then again, may not. Anyhow, the decision to revamp the series was not a popular one, but in the end, I believe it was the right decision.
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“Satan has one son, but my sisters are legion, mother%&#@er!” 

Another fine addition for 31 Nights of  Terror, and this one has horror right in the title. If that doesn’t spell meant to be, I don’t know what does. Season 8 of FX’s anthology series, American Horror Story: Apocalypse was much more than advertised. Going in, I had only seen Season 1 (Murder House) and glanced at Season 3, which introduced Emma Roberts and Kathy Bates to the series. Fortunately, as an anthology series, each season is a stand-alone: same cast, different characters and scenario. This season dealt with the end of the world, because what’s scarier than that. Coming back into the series with a seven-season gap, I expected that my ability to enjoy the story would be challenged. I’m glad to say that the series kept me on my toes and interested with every episode. Not to mention, as an added bonus, this season incorporated characters and ties to from both Season 1 and Season 3.
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“This is the way the world ends…”

The Stephen King cycle has turned hot once again. With the enormous success of the two-part It feature at the box office, Stephen King is hitting the kind of popularity he had back in the 1980’s and 1990’s when it seemed anything he put his name to had to be made into a feature film or some other grand project. The trend led to mixed results. Many of the films couldn’t live up to the visceral detail that has become King’s trademark. To do this, his books have taken on a large page count that has been nearly impossible to fit into a 2-hour feature film window. So there were attempts to expand that reach and use his material for the mini-series format. That’s the way It was handled in those days. But there are limitations in network television, particularly 30 years ago, that had no chance of capturing the imagination of a writer with such brutal imagery. The lesson has taken hold. It was released as two films. But back in the day, it appears that even seven hours couldn’t quite deliver a quality version of The Stand. Even with a brilliant cast and a script written by the horror master himself, the mini-series fell short of both expectations and the test of time. But like I said, Stephen King is back.
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