Skip to main content

Throwback Thursday: Spielberg's (first) Dystopian Adventure # TheNameOfTheGame


On this day, 44 years ago, Steven Spielberg presented us his vision of the future of our society, in a dystopian episode of the TV series The Name of the Game. The episode was titled: L.A. 2017 (so we still have 2 years to find out how much of his predictions have become reality).

The series, that ran for three seasons, and had episodes of 90 minutes each, focused on three, rotating, lead actors: Gene Barry, Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack.



In L.A.2017 Gene Barry portrays Glenn Howard, who, while returning from a conference on Ecology, on his way back to Los Angeles, has an accident and loses consciousness. The moment he awakens, he finds himself projected to the future, and is escorted through the Los Angeles Portal in the year 2017. Because of the pollution most of the inhabitants live below the surface to prevent them from being contaminated. When Glenn is shown around in the Los Angeles of the future, he discovers that he doesn't like it very much. Air has become unbreathable, computers have become more important than people, America is at war with England and many of the inhabitants of Los Angeles are assigned to public housing or, even worse, are exploited as workers on the poisonous earth surface. After having witnessed all this Glenn tries to make a run for it. He escapes the city and tries to make it back to his car, and hopefully, back to his time...



After having directed two episodes in the Rod Serling Night Gallery anthology series and one episode of the Marcus Welby drama series, L.A. 2017 was Spielberg's first professional attempt at science fiction, with a considerable budget of $375.000.

Of course the series looks dated, 44 years have passed since it premiered, but one of the messages still stands: When Glenn talks to the Vice President and tells him how much he dislikes what he has seen, the Vice President replies: “Why didn't you do something about the environment, when you had the money, the power and the fame, back in '71 ?”


One year after the show had been aired, L.A. 2017 was released as a feature film (to cash in on the success of Spielberg's Duel) in very limited run.

Today L.A. 2017 may celebrate it's 44th birthday, but whether it's a happy one, remains to be seen...

Ronny.




THE BEARDED TRIO ON FACEBOOK
THE BEARDED TRIO ON TWITTER
THE BEARDED TRIO ON GOOGLE+
THE BEARDED TRIO ON PINTEREST

CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON STEVEN SPIELBERG
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON GEORGE LUCAS
CLICK HERE FOR FACTS ON JOHN WILLIAMS

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Paul Freeman Accidentally Eat A Fly In Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Famous Indiana Jones Fly In Belloq's Mouth Scene.  Did It Really Happen? I've always wondered if Paul Freeman unintentionally consumed a fly in this scene in  Raiders of the Lost Ark ?  It's the scene where Indiana Jones shouts down to Bellosh...I mean Belloq and threatens to blow up the ark.  Did a fly go in his mouth? I remember watching this scene back in the early eighties and my ten year old mind thought he definitely had a snack while filming.  I recall talking about 'flygate' in my school playground at the time and the general consensus with my friends was that Freeman definitely had a sneaky snack. Paul Freeman talks about the famous 'fly' scene in an interview with TheIndyExperience.com  and settled 'flygate:' This is a bit of a dicey question so don’t get too upset. (Laughs) A movie’s always got bloopers in it, some have a lot, and some only have three or four. And the most remarkable blooper was right before the opening of th

Star Wars VII Movie Poster - Every End Is A New Beginning

Star Wars VII Movie Poster Just saw this Star Wars VII movie poster on Kyle Newman's Facebook fee d.  The poster is by  Lyndon Berresford and Paul Bateman.  I am loving this.  Who do you think the two characters are?  Lando and Leia?  Han and Leia's children? Have you seen other Star Wars VII movie posters?  Let me know. Rob Wainfur @welshslider

Explaining That "Weird" Cut In Poltergeist. Read The Missing Scene

Why Is There A Strange Cut In The 1982 Horror Classic, Poltergeist? If you're a fan of the 1982 Horror classic, Poltergeist then you will be very familiar with that "weird" cut in the movie.  It's 32 minutes and 47 seconds in to the movie and the scene is where Diane is explaining the strange phenomenon that is happening in the kitchen.  First, she shows to Steve a chair scraping across the floor all on its own then she does the same with Carol Anne.  Steve leans up against the kitchen wall and is completely shocked at what just happened.  It's at this point Diane starts to explain the sensation of being pulled and then...A very abrupt cut.  One moment we are listening to Diane and suddenly it cuts to Diane and Steve at their next door neighbours door.  Why the sudden cut?  It's on the VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and even the streaming versions.  Why does this awful and weird cut exist in the movie, Poltergeist?  Watch the clip below to see the cut: Well, the ans