INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4461, '0987', 'episode', 'Mr. Ketch', '', 'No music "outro" is present.\r\n\r\nIt enhanced, IMO, the true danger/desperation of the situation Keane''s and Silver''s (and the world''s) characters found themselves in, and gave gravitas (a little John Kerry campaign lingo, there) the E.G.''s words when he seemed to wonder if our real planet might ever get invaded.\r\n\r\nAgain, it stood in counterbalance to the tinny performances of Keane and Hammond as the aliens. Then again, that may have been intentional...and, (again, IMO) their performances seemed to get a bit more serious-sounding as the program unfolded. (I thought it was effective as Hammond''s voice delivered the plea, then trailed off amidst the noise of the "Five in the family" music and background sounds.)\r\n\r\nScratch that...I''m guessing this hokiness-to-seriousness transformation was very much by design.', '2013-03-03 16:46:34', 1, '65384566fcedd88cc30b45dfc23e1c7d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4462, '0987', 'episode', 'Kat P.', '', 'I just have been listening to this again (hadn''t for awhile)...I do swear that Ian Martin (and this episode''s producer) were taking "Elspeth Eric" lessons, from the psychology talk (well-done, IMO) all the way to the flute background music while Teri Keane''s character is describing her marriage. But this one had a twist...an increasing crescendo from psychobabble to the possibility of "armageddon" at the end of the episode, underscored by the sound of the third act stopping completely, followed by E.G.''s outro.\r\n\r\nI also liked, though, what seemed to be the main lesson of this episode: putting things in perspective.\r\n\r\nThe stuff we think is terrible and devastating: the soap opera travails, Greenhouse''s son being "on strike" (I loved her so-1970s phrasing: "Big peace pipe has been smoked.") at his school, even Keane and Silver''s marital issues...all paled next to what they were about to face. And I think that was the main "lesson" of this show.', '2013-03-03 16:46:35', 1, 'cec246fcaa4883157f30e79c21777faa', '112.200.20.61'),
(4574, '0983', 'episode', 'Stephen', '', 'Great episode. Being a commuter myself, I liked the way Bob Juhren used the occurance of losing track of time while on a train as a doorway to another dimension. Very simple and clever.\r\n\r\nJuhren is so good at this "twilight zone" type of story. It''s definitely a close cousin to Rod Serling''s "A Stop at Willoughby", only more complex I think. (As a matter of fact, Serling''s story takes place on the exact same train that I take--the MetroNorth New Haven line. And I always wake up when they call out the Stamford stop, just like the guy in the show! Serling must''ve done some commuting on that line himself.) This episode also reminded me a little of a short story by Clive Barker about a late-night New York subway train that goes to hell for its last stop--- although, of course, not as gruesome.\r\n\r\nSuper choice!\r\n\r\nUntil next time,', '2013-03-03 16:46:36', 1, '5ca7a7e143e056a9b80a661b3fa089f8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4572, '0013', 'episode', 'Phillip', 'phillip.merritt@gmail.com', 'A fun, goofy story. If only all the episodes had such perfect audio quality!', '2013-03-01 23:12:31', 1, 'ebee0ee992dfd614dba8f8ac5d31e24e', '71.241.58.138'),
(4573, '1399', 'episode', 'Russ', '', 'Anton Chekhov''s story was more of a Drama than a Mystery. Sasha the Boatman (played by Alexander Scourby) was like an Anti-Hero. He had nothing & wanted nothing and that''s how he survived in Siberia with all the characters in Exile. The CBSRMT series should''ve ended with a better episode, something with detectives/ghosts instead of a tale of agony/despair. Anyway, check out this FINAL episode, everyone. ', '2013-03-01 23:15:15', 1, 'b3a8ff428b879e03f5169a5112f184f3', '64.136.212.123'),
(4465, '1384', 'episode', 'Jorge', '', 'As a history buff I appreciate certain details G. Fredrick Lewis put into this story, such as referring to Ju 52 transports and Otto Skorzeny\\''s role in the kidnapping, er, rescuing of Mussolini. There is no mention of the Fiesler Storch (Fi 56) used to whisk the Italian leader away, which is too bad because the Storch was one of the few airplanes the Germans had that could touch down (and take off) with but a few yards of flat grass.\r\n\r\nAs I am a big fan of the \\''81-\\''82 series years, may I request \\"The Rim of Eternity\\" (#1366, 9/2/82) and as alternates may I request \\"Portrait of the Past\\" (#1391 11/9/82) and Roll Call of the Dead (#1374 9/27/82).\r\n\r\n\\"The Rim of Eternity\\" is an absolute gem of a story, hardly a line wasted, great performances by Mandel Kramer and Larry Haines.<br>', '2013-02-28 16:48:35', 1, '571dd25686c698ccdfa7c458b4831192', '112.200.20.61'),
(4466, '0840', 'episode', 'AmyLynn', 'Amylynn74@yahoo.com', 'I was too young to listen to the CBSRMT when it first sired aired, but im glad I found it now.  Don''t have a t.v in my room to help drift me to sleep, listening to this is even better, have to use your imagination and play the stories in your mind. So wish someone would remake or modernize them now. Still a great listen! ', '2013-03-03 16:46:37', 1, '7830e3670c55459b3fea50caa1e949f4', '70.194.70.68'),
(4467, '0840', 'episode', 'AmyLynn', 'Amylynn74@yahoo.com', 'Sired.... Was meant to be "aired" ooopppss', '2013-02-28 03:47:24', 1, '7f213986e0fdf08342ec0d0c0751c344', '70.194.70.68'),
(4468, '1384', 'episode', 'Mr. T', '', 'Thank you for posting some of your favorites from ''81-''82. As you''ve probably noticed by now, the last couple of seasons get relatively little attention here; most people''s interests and memories run toward the early years of RMT. In fact, I think I''ll give "Rim of Eternity" a try tonight---provided, of course, that the encode we have of it is decent.', '2013-03-27 15:12:59', 1, '8f567cca8228a2b7dcc8a08cfa600a05', '112.200.20.61'),
(4470, '1384', 'episode', 'Jasmine', '', 'I am a history teacher and a serious WWII buff- (I think being the grandson of an Omaha Beach veteran is part of the reason)- and am reading a great book on Mussolini\\''s last days right now- it is called Mussolini- the last 600 days of Il Duce by Ray Moseley. Highly recommended to those interested in this subject matter.<br>', '2013-02-28 16:48:23', 1, '88634b723926668712ab31bd4db81e3f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4571, '0286', 'episode', 'Mike in Grand Rapids', 'incident57@hotmail.com', 'Don Scardino always has an unnerving tone to his voice - fits well with the story here. 70''s lingo is pretty far out as well, man.', '2013-02-28 17:20:32', 1, 'a55bc2da278e882a8c95f20e8019ecc4', '144.160.5.25'),
(4471, '1384', 'episode', 'T. Finley', '', 'This was a real good episode! I have listened to this one a few times over the past few months. I enjoyed the script and acting.\r\n\r\nCheers,<br>', '2013-02-28 16:46:59', 1, 'd0fbeffc74d58387dc45fba86c0899bb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4472, '1384', 'episode', 'James V.', '', 'I like the story and the performances- esp. the nuance of vocal delivery. For example, when Clara (Marian Seldes) says, "When we die, I want us to die together," this delivery is perfectly timed and beautfully enunciated.\r\n\r\nAlso, when Mussolini pleads his case before the tribunal, and he talks of all the new bridges and infrastructure he has provided to Italy, he is then reminded of his complicity to Hitler-- this scene is fascinating.\r\n\r\nLastly, the "I would have pardoned them" speech is quite moving.', '2013-02-28 16:48:28', 1, '81ab34ad7577cab8f3ea0d1353aaac09', '112.200.20.61'),
(4473, '1054', 'episode', 'J. Kid', '', 'CBSRMT had a difficult relationship with science fiction. The show managed some excellent individual programs within the genre (generally written either by Henry Slesar or Alfred Bester--both pros in the field--or else adaptations of old classics), but the vast majority were pretty abysmal. Most of the writers had no background in the genre and little apparent knowledge of it--which accounts for the numerous episodes that are little more than thinly-disguised rewrites of PLANET OF THE APES, LOGAN''S RUN, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, various STAR TREK and TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, and the two SF literary classics that even non-SF people can be counted on to have read, BRAVE NEW WORLD and NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR.\r\n\r\n"The God Machine" falls into that last category. The very notion of computer-as-God had been done to death by 1980 (it''s even in STAR TREK); to this, the episode adds a future in which people can''t choose their own mates, where love has been forgotten/outlawed, and where rebels risk permanent mental "readjustment" (just as happens to Winston Smith at the end of NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR). One could see all of these themes in pretty much any sci-fi TV show of the 1960s or ''70s (or in the pulp magazines of the ''30s and ''40s).\r\n\r\nAs a result, "The God Machine" is a weak, almost painfully derivative story; Sam Dann seems to have phoned this one in while watching too many bad sci-fi TV reruns.\r\n\r\nFor a counter-example of how well RMT could do science fiction, I''d like to recommend Alfred Bester''s "The Walking Dead" (5/20/76), a brilliant tale of a psychopathic robot adapted from his classic short story "Fondly Fahrenheit." Science fiction radio rarely got better than this!', '2013-03-03 16:46:39', 1, 'b319cfca2e5bc363e053eebf2a252f38', '112.200.20.61'),
(4474, '1054', 'episode', 'Nadz M.', '', 'The Walking Dead was certainly an excellent episode. I rated it highly and enjoyed it thoroughly. Bester was a great writer except for a couple clunkers (I think he wrote the awful "Through the Looking Glass"). Somebody wrote here that Bester spent his final years drinking himself to death.\r\n\r\nYou''re right. The computer-as-god theme was done over and over again through the 1970s. But it''s like any other story in that it can be told badly, or somebody can retell it and make it better.\r\n\r\nAS I listened to the God Machine, I couldn''t help but think of the fathers of the Sci-Fi genre like Asmiov, Bloch, Sturgeon, Ellison and Bradbury. The God Machine was a pretty powerful tale with strong characters. It''s not high drama, or literature. But it is an entertaining story.\r\n\r\nThis is one of those shows I heard as a kid and fell asleep through the third act. I waited many years to hear how it ended. The story was strong enough to stay in my mind all these years.\r\n\r\nThat in and of itself is not enough. After all, Davey Jerrold''s Jacket stayed with me too, and that''s not a good one. But this show, among a few others, is what kept me thinking about CBSRMT for many years.\r\n\r\nWhen I listen to CBSRMT, I try to listen with that child''s mind and not pick at the loose pieces of the premise. You succesfully disected this show and I wouldn''t argue with any part of your analysis except its conclusion. But I think you are maybe being a little too analytical.', '2013-03-03 16:46:39', 1, '893fdfeb0c6ad5f0ac1b764b0220d5e3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4475, '1054', 'episode', 'A. Lebanon', '', 'I\\''ve only been a member here for a few days, but I\\''m impressed by the site and the members. The comments on this show are a case in point. It\\''s nice to find people who can both think and write on literary (auditory?) matters.\r\n\r\nIs \\"The God Machine\\" derivative? Of course. The \\"1984\\" connections are clear. Yet a first-time listener (which none of us are) might well be captured and surprised by this story. It\\''s a standard dystopia to be sure and the writing feels a bit padded at times, to give it sufficient length I guess. But in all I think the story works as a gentle warning of a society turned to the dark side.\r\n\r\nI don\\''t think the analysis Chris provided is excessive; so long as we don\\''t start doing&nbsp;deconstructionism. And I think at least half of the SF stories in the canon are rather good; even the simple space opera plots (good humans, bad aliens . . . or vice versa) can be just good plain fun.\r\n\r\nI agree that \\"Davey Jerrold\\''s Jacket\\" is a weak effort.&nbsp;Unfortunately&nbsp;I\\''m not familiar with \\"The Walking Dead\\" . . . unless you\\''re&nbsp;referring&nbsp;to some of the students in my classes.', '2013-03-25 21:41:21', 1, 'f9f6fb10eb0ce4d120a9437e39f2f941', '112.200.20.61'),
(4477, '1054', 'episode', 'Christine', '', 'why I enjoyed this episode has mostly to do with the performances of the cast. the tone by which they delivered was not so much their best work, as it was subtle and monotonally convincing. this episode built a strong mental image for me, much in the vein of Logan\\''s Run or Planet of the Apes. a world of dark cooridoors and colorful, gaslit cityscapes. bleak, yet somehow electric.\r\n\r\nthe story itself was not a new concept, but it was strong enough to hold me until the very end. i\\''m a sucker for sci-fi, so immediately i was drawn in. the whole bit about \\"sharing husbands and wives\\" seems to be fairly edgy for the times.\r\n\r\nif I were to lend a more thoughtfull analysis of the program, i might lean toward thinking that Sam Dann was making a social commentary on the whole \\"swinging\\" sub-culture which took root in the 1960\\''s, but gained increased popularity by the end of the 1970\\''s. by the mid-1980\\''s, the subject went underground and the idea of \\"swinging\\" became taboo in the mainstream.\r\n\r\nso, for Sam Dann to touch on that concept, may have been both timely yet edgy. especially for the RMT.\r\n\r\nand that\\''s one thing i enjoy most about these programs. through the use of the broadcasts and the writer\\''s influence of the time, we are allowed to observe the zeitgeist of that point in time and reflect on just how it may be relevant or apply to our own history or moment in time. i mean, this program is over twenty years old, and the idea that a computer is playing matchmaker for an entire culture is downright silly... or is it?\r\n\r\nkudos for a terrific choice! i gave this one a full 5-stars, as i enjoyed it twice over a long weekend!<br>', '2013-03-25 21:41:28', 1, 'f8bc97202b14e1bfd8c1edc361472d70', '112.200.20.61'),
(4478, '1054', 'episode', 'Johnny Greene', '', 'I liked this show, I give it a thumbs up !', '2013-03-03 16:46:42', 1, '7eea3ce4aaec4aae0e87cf21c0567fb8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4479, '1004', 'episode', 'Kate', '', 'Nobody should ever recommend an Elspeth Eric show unless it is "A Horror Show".\r\n\r\nShe is CBS RMT''s wprst writer.', '2013-03-03 16:46:43', 1, '0b23de49a5f0a19e6de2c155fb6fce8d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4480, '1004', 'episode', 'E. Rod', '', 'i think it''s all a matter of taste.. i tend to like many of her psychological scripts that get me to stop and think. while some of her work is utterly eyerolling, some of it is worthy of respect.\r\n\r\nwhile this tale may not be the best or to all of our tastes, Elspeth Eric was featured in (at least) 115 shows as either writer or actress, but mainly writer. she''s bound to have come up with some real stinkers, but i think overall, she offered a style and a perspective that was lent well for the RMT.\r\n\r\nagain, i think it''s all a matter of taste. just sayin, is all.', '2013-06-19 23:08:42', 1, 'fc30e4f5662c9c81275de0ca4ccb4e96', '112.200.20.61'),
(4481, '1004', 'episode', 'Jerry G.', '', 'This is a typically unconventional Elspeth Eric script--her stories rarely follow traditional dramatic "arcs," and this one is no exception. Indeed, as E.G. Marshall indicates at the end, this is a virtual docu-drama on the subject of astral projection. I found it consistently interesting in a kind of abstract way, though as a story it has little dramatic impetus.\r\n\r\nBy the way, some of the music heard in the episode is the same as what plays during the climactic "stargate" sequence in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. I''ve noticed this music pop up before on CBSRMT, always in dream sequences or "cosmic" scenes.\r\n\r\nNot my favorite, but an interesting listen. The comment is unproductive and completely irrelevant to a discussion of "Body and Soul," which is the point here. (And the episode mentioned in the post is titled "A Horror Story," not "A Horror Show.")', '2013-03-27 15:13:18', 1, 'ce81f7378ab6966f1f54a505b7298f36', '112.200.20.61'),
(4671, '0958', 'episode', 'Nathan Dayspring', '', 'This was a very creepy one. The story kept me interested, and I am a Fred Gwynne fan! I did not know why Uncle Zenith felt he had to take his life at this point. Is it because he felt Xavier had agreed to his request so he had to go now? Also, I thought he said the Joshua letter would explain what to do if the locks were disturbed, but later it just seemed to explain what was happening more than what to do. I guess blessing his grave was the solution, but they left it to our imagination at the end if it brought the peace ever after. Maybe if these stories didn\\''t relax me to sleep I would have caught the answers I looked up Wilkie Collins because I don\\''t know much about him. I found that he was friends with Charles Dickens. I enjoyed this modernized adaptation, and I will also check out Wilkie\\''s original version from his day as well.<br>', '2013-03-25 00:26:49', 1, '959576c527c39eebdf1f2a7e0c9dc555', '112.200.20.61'),
(4484, '1004', 'episode', 'Roland Abot', '', 'I thought this one was okay. It seemed slow-moving but, given the theme and the fact that it was descriptive in nature more than it was active, that''s understandable. Although, at times, it was too descriptive (ex: describing the doctor''s set jaw and furrowed brow; the mother with her arms out, palms facing the daughter). The language, at times, sounded less like what a person would actually say or think but a narrative ostensibly required to paint a picture in the radio listener''s mind. Basically, I think she talked too much. \r\n\r\nThe doctor didn''t seem all that great. It sounded like she had cancer? At any rate, she was dying and then, because she opened her eyes, he pronounced that she was going to be okay? Why? Wasn''t she just as sick as before she went on her little trip?\r\nOverall, I wondered if it was perhaps supposed to pack more of an emotional, thoughtful punch than it did or if it was basically intended just to say "here''s one interpretation of astral projection."', '2013-03-27 15:34:15', 1, 'cc0f2505919ff5562ae1a62a21087303', '112.200.20.61'),
(4485, '1004', 'episode', 'Mark Henry J.', '', 'i agree with the assessment of Elspeth Eric... this episode was not one of the more endearing scripts she put together. my reason for choosing it was to provide something different and fresh, even though it may have been a bit slow and self-serving.\r\n\r\nit\\''s my guess that Eric herself had probably had a hospital incident in her life when she wrote it, or maybe someone she knew. it seems to me that she likely wrote based on her own experiences and emotional attachments. and when a show like this may have been a big deal for her, everyone listening just kind of shrugs and says, \\"umm, okay.\\"\r\n\r\nanyhow, point is, no need to apologize for anything here. and Draegerman, your participation is always cherished here, and you\\''re always here in spirit. i\\''m so very sorry to hear of the loss you\\''ve recently faced.\r\n\r\nthis was is nothing short of horrible. i believe that supporting those men and women who have offered their service, knowing the extreme risks, is paramount. my sympathies to anyone who has lost or knows someone who has lost a loved one in this terrible conflict.\r\n\r\npeace.<br>', '2013-03-03 16:47:51', 1, '87ccfdf13b8b6b739bd2bf6bec4cb77b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4486, '1004', 'episode', 'Ronelle B.', '', '"Body and Soul" isn''t one of my favorites either. But I think it''s good as a "change-up" pitch/show; it does educate about what a so-called "out of body experience" might be like to the person going through it. Carl Sagan has some good speculations on the phenomenon in some of his writings.\r\nBut it''s a show I usually skip when listening to a series of shows on a long drive, etc. Still, this show . . . well if every sunset every evening was stupendous and glorious, we''d soon lose our appreciation of grand sunsets; we need the less flashy ones to provide a scale against which to judge the very best.', '2013-03-03 16:47:52', 1, 'f298c963e786c5030c86503dc2c3df52', '112.200.20.61'),
(4487, '1004', 'episode', 'May G.', '', 'I''m still on the fence about this one. I thought it was a great topic in discussing the out of body experience, but I felt cheated that we didn''t learn more.\r\n\r\nI felt the show started out well enough to grab the listener''s attention, she can see through walls, see what others are doing, overhear conversations... but then the story seems to stall. What''s the deal with her mother? She couldn''t communicate with her verbally? And why doesn''t the daughter talk to them for so many years? I don''t buy the idea that she wanted to get out and experience life. Who doesn''t talk to their parents in their twenties? She never needed money? Mrs. Burton feels elated in the "after life", but where is she, what does she see? Maybe I''m looking for the light at the end of the tunnel theory which opens to the pearly gates. And by the way, did anyone else notice there is no reference to heaven?\r\n\r\nI agree that this may not have been one of the best written, most dramatic, edge of your seat shows, but if I find myself thinking about the story idea hours later, then the writer did what she was suppose to do and that is to get the listeners to think.', '2013-03-03 16:47:53', 1, '94e309d1d40fac0dc2cb457f23d05cd3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4488, '1388', 'episode', 'Roy A.', '', 'I didn''t love this story. The Harold and Walter scam was easily predictable. The thing I did like about this episode was that I didn''t expect the twist with George at the end, so I enjoyed the surprise. (However, I was glad in the epilogue when we found out he and Gretchen were apprehended at the airport. ) The main thing I didn''t like about this one was that I couldn''t really find any of the characters sympathetic. Harold was obnoxious, and he and Walter were both crooks. George was whiney and then ALSO turned out to be a crook---and Gretchen was just a brainless dip. Gave it a 2.\r\n\r\n\r\nUntil next time....!\r\n\r\n\r\nPS: I do very much like Tammy Grimes as the host in the episodes from ''82. She''s not E.G., of course, but I like her voice and think she was an excellent host. I also very much enjoy the earlier episodes in which she performs. She''s a pretty terrific actress.', '2013-02-28 15:44:09', 1, 'c6073748c76f63f8b8f6cb02a02b40d6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4489, '1388', 'episode', 'Kurt W.', '', 'I''m going to give it a three although in a ten point system, I would give it a seven which is the rating I give if a I find an episode enjoyable, with no major gaffes in the script or performance.\r\n\r\nI thought the character of Harold was developed nicely. I have an associate who behaves just like that. While I don''t hate anybody, I sure don''t like him.\r\n\r\nI, too, like Grimes as a hostess. I think her voice lends itself well to the genre. I like her a lot more than I like Himan Brown as a narrator. I''ve listened to about half a dozen Grimes stories. She may be the finest actress to appear in CBSRMT.\r\n\r\nGood pick. It''s nice to pick one from the later years. I suspect not many of us have listened to a lot of 1981-1982. There''s probably a few undiscovered gems out there.', '2013-02-28 15:44:11', 1, 'c555b5354247a6cf1d7a9c7a151dd30b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4490, '1388', 'episode', 'Mr. Digswell', '', 'I can''t completely explain my logic; for some reason I thoroughly enjoyed this program and I gave it a solid 4/5. If I have a knock, it''s that this program was a bit predictable. However, I was intrigued by the topic and somewhat suprised that the theme of ''hate'', such base human emotion, was the centerpiece of a CBSRMT program. I didn''t sympothize with any of the characters but I thought they were well developed and the author was true to his topic. Perhaps I enjoyed the program because I''ve met a few people like Harold Buckhalter, obnoxious yet gregarious, and it was interesting to hear how George Wallaby, a steady but less dynamic man, dealt with his disgust of this Harold.\r\n\r\nInterestingly, I thought Tammy Grimes was excellent. I haven''t listened to a great number of programs where she assumed the role we associate with E.G. Marshall but I thought she did an admirable job. I made a special note that she interacted and narrated within Act II, as opposed to the more familiar style of speaking only at the beginning or conclusion of an Act, and I thought this was technique was very effective in providing texture to the play.', '2013-02-28 15:44:15', 1, '42094c01291f9af87f705708c92b0905', '112.200.20.61'),
(4491, '1388', 'episode', 'S. Summers', '', 'Believe it or not, this is not one of my favorite episodes based on the story, which I, too found quite predictable in areas. The twisting end was enough to make it a worthwhile venture, though.\r\n\r\nWhat got me to choose this one over a host of others, was that I''ve worked with men like Harold and could fully relate to the emotion of the main character. The "thumbtack on the chair" bit actually made me laugh out loud.\r\n\r\nIn all, it was a simple and fun episode in which it seems everyone got what they deserved. Scoring the story, development, and listenability I give it a 4, but as for overall depth and plot I''d have to give it a 3.5.\r\n\r\nBest wishes,', '2013-02-28 15:44:19', 1, '68ea64a31362d3e4014122c60aaef968', '112.200.20.61'),
(4492, '1388', 'episode', 'J. Lee', '', 'I liked this episode even though I had figured that Harold and the detective were working together about half way through. I will admit that George''s twist at the end did surprise me. I am not too crazy about Tammy''s hosting of RMT. I do like EG Marshal or even Hyman Brown much better. Tammy seems too breathless in her narrations. Thanks for this episode.', '2013-02-28 15:44:23', 1, '79a5f5f5e6ab566dbeedfb72763e3431', '112.200.20.61'),
(4493, '1388', 'episode', 'Norma', '', 'i gave this show a 4 only because of the twist ending, or should i say double twist, since george got caught in the end. i was going to give it a 3 until then. i''m not saying it was a bad show , just a solid average show. it lived up to yhe high rmt standards.\r\n\r\ni have to admit when i first heard tammy''s voice i thought "oh no , where''s EG? i took an instant dislike to her voice. i didn''t HATE her though. after i settled down and could breath normally again i thought "she''s not so bad". you have to understand that this was my first rmt without EG! at least i don''t remember listening to any EG-less rmt. maybe i''ve blocked it out of my mind like i did first grade. maybe if i had heard tammy before EG than things would be different. i wonder if anyone heard tammy before EG and feels just the opposite. that might make a good poll.\r\n\r\nabout the show. my favorite part was when someone would mention harold''s name to george he would answer "i HATE harold!" it was like a comedy routine. Who''s on first? I don''t know. Third base!\r\n\r\nsad to say it''s not a keeper. i audio tape the shows to listen to at work but\r\nthis one i can tape over without shedding many tears.', '2013-02-28 15:44:27', 1, '498db0d8b9a0e0aa6c0e8b0d893064f6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4494, '1388', 'episode', 'Noriel', '', 'I gave this one a four. I liked the first twist at the end -- George the thief - after Tammy told us at the beginning he would be the hero-- a little Sting on the listener. I did not like the second twist where George is "caught" in the epilogue. A poor way to clean up such an important loose end.\r\n\r\nThe story was a solid crime mystery -- one with clues that allow you to figure it out if you pay attention. I started suspecting Walter was not a ligitimate crime fighter when he kept telling George to "Call me Walter" just like Harold did. For some reaosn I was supecting the old man to be involved in it at the end for insurance reasons or such -- but that suspecion did not pan out.\r\n\r\nThe characters my have been painted with too broad a brush but I guess a 45 minute radio story does not afford time for subtlety.', '2013-02-28 15:44:30', 1, '949f2223f87ba9a85ca2e592765bd38f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4495, '1388', 'episode', 'K. Azana', '', 'I liked this story a lot because of the actor''s performances. "Wallaby. Sounds like a guy gargling. You got a first name Wallaby?"\r\n\r\n"He''s not an international jewel thief. Just a LOCAL jewel thief."\r\n\r\nI like how the story moves a long, because unfortunately many RMTs get lost in their 45 minute format. My #1 complaint of so-so RMTs have been the fact that they would have been better as 30 minute shows.\r\n\r\nI give this one a 3.5/5, with "Roll Call of the Dead" being a 5 and "Men Without Mouths" being a 1.', '2013-02-28 15:44:34', 1, '307658110c28d5f9aa6f8385a2c03cb5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4576, '0983', 'episode', 'Jeanne', '', 'This is a great example of simplistic storytelling from the RMT. Great choice! I really enjoyed it. It had a reminiscent quality of the old Outer Limits and Twilight Zone shows I grew up watching.\r\n\r\nWhile the show didn''t strike me as terribly deep, it certainly masked a lot of metaphors of time. From the train and the train tracks, to the cycle of driving from one end of the town only to come back full circle into the same place, to the creeping vines that had eventually grown over the town when he returned.\r\n\r\nOne thing that struck me was in regard to the people of the town. I was surprised that there was not more widespread aggression toward the situation. When the one man became volatile about wanting to get out, everyone seemed passive and even said, "I guess I never looked at it from his point of view" (or something like that).\r\n\r\nNow this is just me, but I think I would either have gone berserk trying to find my way outta there, no matter what -- never stopping, never accepting the way things were -- or, I''d have simply become content with the way things existed and enjoyed the benefits of never growing old and never having to worry. Despite the evidence against it, it still sounds like a utopia to me!\r\n\r\nThe only other thing that surprised me was that there was no spiritual mention in the show. Usually a show like this has some kind of priest or spiritualistic character talking about the will of God or something. Just interesting, is all.\r\n\r\nI gave the show a hearty 4.4, as it was fun and easy to listen to, but for me there was a bit of depth that was lacking that I''ve found in other shows. Great choice and thanks for picking it!', '2013-03-03 16:49:18', 1, '45a56c639ecbb108d36ba14e45111a97', '112.200.20.61'),
(4497, '1388', 'episode', 'Dubbie', '', 'For the record, this is one of my very favorite of the late RMTs. A delightful story all ''round, as so many of Henry Slesar''s were.\r\n\r\nThis tale--again, like many of Slesar''s--was also done on ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS (under, as I recall, another title).', '2013-02-28 15:44:42', 1, 'd0200096542ee96a56868b7fa72747ab', '112.200.20.61'),
(4498, '1388', 'episode', 'Hani', '', 'Although I love this episode, I never liked the narrator''s ending to this story. I doubt if the writer gave it''s blessing. I think Ms. Grimes mentions the criminals being caught because it would not play well to an audience if George Wallably got away.\r\n\r\nWhat do you guys think?', '2013-02-28 15:44:47', 1, 'e21697f26ef048306d1befb836c37dd8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4499, '0172', 'episode', 'T. Finley', '', 'I had a hard time getting interested in the plot through act 1 and 2, but by act 3 it seemed to capture more of my attention. I guess I am one of those peoples who likes the more who-dunnit mysterys like the Sherlock Holmes episodes.\r\n\r\nBut I too like Ian Martin performances, so for that reason I would still give the episode a thumbs up.', '2013-02-28 15:44:52', 1, '2ebfc3a8d406a7d680de46f3de6bc6ba', '112.200.20.61'),
(4500, '0172', 'episode', 'Anne Marie F.', '', 'this was a slow moving tale with the same basic premise of Romeo and Juliette. and while it was more a tale of love and woe, i found it an interesting study of the lives of people just prior to tragedy.\r\n\r\nit reminded me a lot of my favorite RMT series, The Last Days of Pompeii, in that it focused on the characters more than it did the story. and for that reason, i think it was a very well done performance, but in this case, i wanted a bit more story.\r\n\r\nthe interplay was terrific between the actors, and that lent to it being a very worth show, indeed!<br>', '2013-03-24 23:51:54', 1, '98e5dc5db209fcc8f0e4a37fbc05a877', '112.200.20.61'),
(4501, '0172', 'episode', 'J. Marini', '', 'I thought Ian Martin did an interesting job when he started having a bit of a seizure while talking with Gordon Gould\\''s character... though if the RMT characters in \\"Hurricane\\" had been in Kat they\\''d probably never have made it out of the play.<br>', '2013-03-15 18:01:47', 1, 'ccc152a1d8aa378d9bfefdc71cf4af3e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4502, '0123', 'episode', 'Freddie', '', 'In Act 1 it appears that this is going to be no more than a straightforward take on the old film classic GASLIGHT, but it quickly evolves into a tale with ample twists and turns of its own. I will say that I guessed the penultimate twist well before the story got there (I realized immediately that, unlike all the other "evidence" of Sylvia trying to drive Andrea crazy, all of which was seen and corroborated by Murray, no one but Andrea saw and spoke to Chris in the graveyard). But the very last revelation, just before the end, did indeed take me by surprise, and that''s the fun of this kind of tale. Believability doesn''t enter into it--the only question is whether the story can stay at least one step ahead of the listener, and for me, at least, this one succeeded.\r\n\r\nThe altered-painting notion, by the way, was probably inspired by "The Cemetery," the first story in Rod Serling''s popular TV-movie NIGHT GALLERY, which had aired only a few years before (and which was the pilot for the early-70s TV series).\r\n\r\nGood choice!', '2013-02-28 15:45:05', 1, '7ae9ceeab7d32f96ff41fdc59220b7ed', '112.200.20.61'),
(4503, '0123', 'episode', 'Helen', '', 'great choice on this one! it held me throughout and though i had my suspicions, i wasn''t exactly sure how it was going to turn out.\r\n\r\none thing i enjoyed about this was how they gave a great detail to the script through locale and description that created strong visual imagery.\r\n\r\ngreat pick on this one! thank you!', '2013-02-28 15:45:09', 1, '3809263d88719fcc8ef6317127d5aa46', '112.200.20.61'),
(4504, '0123', 'episode', 'H. Hank', '', 'I thought it held the suspense very well of whether Andrea was really going crazy or Sylvia was gaslighting her. Both sisters were very convincing in their claims. I literally was going back and forth, thinking I had it, then maybe not. Although, I was favoring Sylvia, hoping she was the innocent party. The one element that was kind of weak for me was the triangle with Murray. It was just so passionless on all three sides. Yet both sisters relied on him and confided in him and he attempted to help out both. But there seemed to be no great jealousy between the sisters until Andrea accused Sylvia of trying to make her think she was crazy in part to have Murray. Likewise, Murray\\''s attitude was basically, \\"Yeah, I know I have to get around to picking one of you and marrying you. I just don\\''t know which one yet.\\" Figures it was solved for him by default! That part of it aside, though, I still found it very enjoyable.\r\n\r\nOooh, The Cemetery? I think I remember that one. Roddy McDowall? The painting changed to show the dead man rising and getting closer and closer to the house?<br>', '2013-03-24 23:47:38', 1, '023cc483c6166d9dfdb7507d4e9ed069', '112.200.20.61'),
(4505, '0123', 'episode', 'Trixie', '', 'I actually cast the vote for 5, thinking it was the best. I loved this show and gave it a 9 in my ratings scale.\r\n\r\nI love the haunted house/haunted castle story every bit as much as I love the "strange little town" stories.', '2013-02-28 15:45:35', 1, '053083996c7c083a1e28e24be8363684', '112.200.20.61'),
(4508, '0303', 'episode', 'G.P. Torde', '', 'This is a rare example of an old time radio show which I already know very well, because I had it on a cassette when I was a kid. Come to think of it, the tape was certainly bootlegged. Some guy in Illinois or somewhere was selling them by mail, probably out of his basement, around 1977. The thing is, where I lived on the central coast of California, reception for RMT was usually poor and often unlistenable. So I did, in fact, buy about 10 or 12 tapes at some point when I was about 14, paid for out of my wages as a busboy at the Valley Steak House in Buellton (this restaurant, now known as the Hitching Post II, can be seen in the recent movie SIDEWAYS---how\\''s that for trivia?). This is at the same time I was discovering the earlier, original OTR of DIMENSION X, LIGHTS OUT, SUSPENSE and so on through tapes sold via classified ads in the back of pulp science fiction magazines like GALAXY.\r\n\r\nAnyway, \\"The Slave\\" was one of the episodes I had on tape, and I probably listened to it, as kids will, at least twenty times. Hearing it again recently, I was struck by what a real pro Henry Slesar was. It\\''s a wonderful conceit, this sadomasochistic bet that spirals out of control. And I don\\''t know if people will see the twist ending coming today, but I certainly didn\\''t when I was 14 and listening to the tape on my Sears Portable Cassette Recorder with Omnidirectional Microphone, and it proved to be a payoff as good as any TWILIGHT ZONE (a show which I was equally, or even more, in love with, watching reruns on KTLA Channel 5 at midnight Friday, the only day of the week I was allowed to stay up that late).\r\n\r\nI must say, though I think this is a marvelous tale, it does have a couple of problems. First, Fred Gwynne\\''s voice is hardly that of the young man he\\''s supposed to be. Second, Corey\\''s long-suffering girlfriend seems to have stepped out of another era---she seems to have no interest in anything except getting married (her friend even advises her, \\"Men like Corey Jensen don\\''t grow on trees!\\"). This is clearly a pre-feminist world we\\''re in here. Indeed, the whole story seems set more in a land of roadsters and raccoon coats than anything recognizable as the 1970s. But this is obviously a show for which I have a sentimental attachment, so it doesn\\''t really make any difference to me.\r\n\r\nHenry Slesar was by far the best-established of the regular RMT writers in this type of fiction, having written hundreds of short stories he could draw on for his RMT plays (just as he did for his ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS scripts). His books can be found online---MURDERS MOST MACABRE is a particularly good collection which features a couple of stories later adapted for RMTs. The books are mostly out of print.\r\n\r\nMy only disappointment with this choice, is the fact that there ain\\''t no nekkid ladies in it. Other than that, a terrific show.<br>', '2013-03-06 20:34:08', 1, '4688c11a5104e57c8e7268e766ccb777', '112.200.20.61'),
(4509, '0303', 'episode', 'Gheena', '', 'Quote:\r\n\r\n\\"You bug me, I bug him, dig?\\"\r\n\r\n- Fred Gwynne\\''s character in this episode, speaking of what he\\''ll do to his \\"slave\\" if she doesn\\''t do what the former wants.\r\nOhhhhhhhhh...this is a cool one. It\\''s the only RMT episode I\\''m aware of where Gwynne and Mandel Kramer (whose voice I used to think sounded like he could be Gwynne\\''s younger brother, kind of like at times RMT regulars Bob Kaliban and Russell Horton sound like siblings) worked together.<br>', '2013-02-28 15:47:09', 1, '3b166f7445040a8baa257877e6726dbc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4510, '0303', 'episode', 'Spencer', '', 'And so as we start with these words……“and now…Mystery Theaterâ€ the listener is introduced to the essence of what MYSTERY THEATER is!!!!!!…( or as our hopes expect it should be )…….a story bizarre, unique, and fascinating, while remaining extremely meaningful and relevant. Henry Slesar’s “The Slaveâ€ , like “The Rise And Fall Of The Fourth Reichâ€ amalgamates historical human atrocity with drama to give us an absorbing study of the consequence of subjecting “one human being over anotherâ€. The consequence of propitiation is the essence of our story here…….Our vitiated protagonist Cory Jensen lurks at a level so base that he requests of his “loveâ€ Inger to offer her services to his Master, Ray, who desires of Inger to “keep you warm and happy“…..And in turn the corrupted Cory says to Inger; “I’d appreciate it if you wouldâ€…..as Ray laughs in observance.\r\n\r\nThis may be accurately viewed as a “sickâ€ power struggle with unhealthy results of one human being over another. The product of this domination is masterfully manifested by Fred Gwynne. The actor truly seems to be enjoying himself. He is that good. By voice alone….he portrays a complete character!!!! The sideline observations, due to Slesar‘s writing of Cory’s “crying his heart out “ to Inger fills out our despot Ray. His laugher is beautiful…..in a sicko way. A leering genius.\r\n\r\nCory’s promise to Inger of course is that all of this is temporary……..â€Nine more weeks Inger, that’s all, just nine weeks and it will be “overâ€, or so he says. Cory deludes himself to believe his scheme is set as an illusory feat to get Ray to think the relationship between Cory and Inger is over……….thus true freedom may be enjoyed! But Ray is too realistic, cynical, grounded and pervasive. Ray knows they are together and seeks a new slave. In his arrogance he throws sexual overtones at Inger. She explicitly asks Ray to stop the bet. She is missing the point. He wants power. Power means control of Cory as a man and Inger as a woman…thus sexual. He wants to dominate, to own her…the money is secondary (tertiary?). He, like Cory, is defiled by the bet which is steeped in intimate motives and pervasive consequences. If he can own her, and Cory, each in their unique way…he wins……….money has become irrelevant. “You must really have something. ‘The Master is superior to the slaveâ€. The psychological “paybackâ€ is to get both to act as “slavesâ€.\r\n\r\nThe crux of the story is of course the consequence of such subservient domination. With “The Rise And Fall of The Third Reichâ€ we are presented with justifying vengeance upon the modern symbol of evil---Hitler. In “The Slaveâ€ we become immersed in the perspective of the slave himself and are shown that such horrible servitude………..NOT THE MONEY/BET……defiles Cory (the human) to desire returning humiliation to the “Masterâ€ in order to gain a sense of power…or gain his sense of self. He, like a lab rat, is conditioned, and truly out of control. His dominating environment has shaped him. Of those who ridicule his action, think of the attitude and action of the “Master Raceâ€ of the 1940’s, their actions, and what you wanted to do to Hitler in “The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reichâ€…or the real Hitler………..\r\n\r\n\r\nIt is not far fetched that Cory would turn into the monster, or the “Masterâ€ as he does. Essentially, in a moral sense, this is a grave mistake. He loses doubly. However, realistically, in the response of the real world it is perfectly believable that Cory would indeed give in to the temptation. He is corrupted. He was vulnerable and changed. It is a sad and poignant outlook…..For a 48 min radio show to present this effectively and additionally in an entertaining manner is stupendous! What an accomplishment! Thus, we the listeners hope for episodes of the CBSRMT to be like this…and remain devoted to the art of this form.\r\n\r\n\r\nPS….my wife says I need to stop the unholy union of two ideas ( run on sentences ) and the dot dot dot ( …) does nothing to add to my writing. What do you think?', '2013-02-28 15:46:51', 1, 'c86a769836a8c0c9b495b0fc9e8e5abf', '112.200.20.61'),
(4511, '0303', 'episode', 'Borge', '', 'Now this one reminded me of Star Trek\\''s \\"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,\\" where two men, enemies, were locked in this destructive battle with each other--it didn\\''t matter that their world and everything they knew was destroyed by behavior such as theirs; they just kept on going.\r\n\r\nI know Fred Gwynne was a good actor, and when I saw him in films, I had no problem. But when I just hear him, I keep picturing Herman Munster. Sometimes Herman Munster with a Southern accent.\r\n\r\nIt did annoy me, though, that the fiancee\\'' kept allowing herself to be pulled back in. She really had no purpose of her own.<br>', '2013-02-28 15:47:42', 1, '8fcf2b6b6236394daf3703c79fd94ec9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4512, '0303', 'episode', 'Jayvee E.', '', 'Okay, so this was a good episode, but it freaked me OUT! I didn\\''t want to think about someone being a slave and then wanting to have a slave!\r\n\r\nIt was too creepy for me to get past the story to focus on the acting and such. I should have, but I couldn\\''t.\r\n\r\nIn retrospect, this episode had such an effect on me I should have LOVED it. But, again, taste can\\''t be explained.', '2013-02-28 15:47:15', 1, 'ed7ddd244649656a25909362f7cb7289', '112.200.20.61'),
(4513, '0303', 'episode', 'Gon', '', 'Intriguing.\r\nGood acting, Good script.', '2013-02-28 15:46:39', 1, '01690380e5b5dc894e3cf89b153c9625', '112.200.20.61'),
(4669, '0958', 'episode', 'C. Weil', '', 'The way this story built up to a third act climax was excellent indeed. I, too, am a sucker for the RMT music and sound effects, and it was well used indeed. This, to me, ties "The white wolf" as best performance for Kristoffer Tabori.\r\n\r\nThanks for the great choice!', '2013-03-06 00:30:00', 1, '9e4dff1e4ef70ab2f3aef603fe5b1125', '112.200.20.61'),
(4670, '0958', 'episode', 'Jerome Juggs', '', 'I don''t think Himan Brown explored the realm of sound effects and descriptive text nearly often enough in the RMT. Many times the writers leave out a lot of details, probably because of both time restraints and to keep the story moving along.\r\n\r\nThis tale is a marvelous example of how the use of sound and descriptive commentary just power-packs a tale and takes it to another level.\r\n\r\nThe scene where the two lead characters are in the library, there''s a furious storm outside, and the "creatures" are pressing their faces to the glass window is simply horrifying! Not only are the actors describing this scene with voices caught in terror, but the sound effects of them moving around, the phone voice, the storm outside, and finally the shattering glass of the window (only to have them running for their lives) dropped me right into the scene. The ability to create a scene that takes the listener from inside a brightly lit room with a fire in the fireplace, to a room that has been flushed into darkness, to running for dear life outside in a raging storm is nothing short of brilliance.\r\n\r\nAn excellent choice, an excellent story, and an excellent production all over the place! A high-five on this one. Nice selection!!!', '2013-03-06 00:34:05', 1, '8f42f1f6219561d630b6052aabc26154', '112.200.20.61'),
(4517, '0300', 'episode', 'Angie Dona', '', '\\"The Golden Cauldron\\" took me by surprise. I hate to admit that I ever have low expectations for CBSRMT, but when an episode is not one I\\''ve ever noticed anyone discussing, one that was not written by any major contributor to the series, and one that was not adapted from a well-known classic, well...\r\n\r\nBut this episode is completely charming and held me from beginning to end. In its \\"old dark house\\" setting as well as its lighthearted dialogue the story reminded me of films like THE CAT AND THE CANARY and THE OLD DARK HOUSE, as well as the Agatha Christie classic novel and film AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Characters in these sorts of stories always seem strangely happy to have bullets whizzing past their heads, scary things popping up out of nowhere, etc. (I\\''ve often thought that the movie AND THEN THERE WERE NONE makes it look positively fun to be under constant threat of violent murder!)\r\n\r\n\\"The Golden Cauldron\\" really strives to throw in absolutely everything common to this genre, and it pretty much succeeds. Obviously we have the old dark house---in this case a castle---with the obligatory middle-of-the-night thunderstorm. But we also have ominous warnings (delivered by the required guy-with-a-weird-accent, Mr. Lockridge); murder, both recent and ancient; references to Stonehenge, Druids, and human sacrifice; and a fun little whodunit to wrap it all together.\r\n\r\nOverall, this was one of the most purely entertaining CBSRMTs I\\''ve heard. And by the way, kudos to the writer, Ralph Goodman, for integrating E.G. Marshall into the beginning of the story in a really creative manner.\r\n\r\nGoodman seems to have penned only a handful of RMTs, but on the basis of this one, I\\''ll certainly listen to the others. According to my guidebook, they are:\r\n\r\n\\"Them!\\" (2/27/75)\r\n\\"Brain Drain\\" (3/24/76)\r\n\\"Free the Beast\\" (6/10/76)\r\n\\"The Gloria Scott\\" (Sherlock Holmes adaptation---11/14/77)\r\n\r\nAnyway, thanks for a great choice.<br>', '2013-02-28 15:48:26', 1, 'be028e3398ae567bee6e903d3262d1b0', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4575, '0983', 'episode', 'Jerome Juggs', '', 'This is a well-written episode with a tight script that keeps the listener on the hook, wanting to see how it will be resolved. I put this episode in the category with other great CBSRMT "strange small town" stories like "The Summer People" and "Sleepy Village" and "A Holiday Visit." It''s sort of a reverse Brigadoon (the story where this small town appears once every 100 years). Here these people are trapped in a town where time does not pass...and they desperately wish that it would. As is often the case in speculative fiction, immortality is not all it is cracked up to be. What is the value of life if we cannot grow and change and evolve?\r\n\r\nI agree with Steve that this is one of Bob Juhren''s classic "Twilight Zone-ish" stories which is probably why I like it so much.', '2013-03-02 03:08:38', 1, '260280123a9a68abc79f650944485658', '112.200.20.61'),
(4663, '0134', 'episode', 'DAVY JOE', 'davidjoshuas@yahoo.com', 'Eh, not one of the best episodes, but certainly not the worst. The nun believable and appropriately cast. 3 stars.', '2013-03-04 03:11:48', 1, '9a03f6bc374d9d0ef1018db891de515d', '66.177.154.200'),
(4522, '0300', 'episode', 'Jude', '', 'i absolutely enjoyed this program. it was a great choice and kept my interest from start to finish. it\\''s what i would call the epitome of Mystery Theater.\r\n\r\ni kept thinking how this was created to be almost a mock of Sherlock Holmes, complete with his own Watson, when funny enough, they make reference to \\"Sherlock\\" in the story. &nbsp;great show and i\\''m really happy we all got to hear this one!<br><br>', '2013-03-25 21:45:24', 1, '7bc4bc92a7d56eddd2089d4fe709195f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4523, '0300', 'episode', 'Jackie F.', '', 'I enjoyed the creepiness of the castle, complete with a thunderstorm, spooky servants, and a sinister statue. But while listening to the program, I couldn''t help but think of the Thin Man series.\r\n\r\nThe casual and charming mystery-solving style Brad generates, and his flirting interaction with Julie, reminded me of the relationship Nick and Nora Charles share. Sherlock Holmes would have never behaved so badly\r\n\r\nEven with the comical dialogue, the story still manages to create a sense of drama and foreboding. I agree with ApplCinamn, I could almost see this one playing out in my head.', '2013-03-03 16:49:00', 1, '48da4835979ea0499590645290d9b8ec', '112.200.20.61'),
(4524, '0155', 'episode', 'LeMay', '', '\\"The Bride That Wasn\\''t\\" is another winner. The story seems to begin as yet another TWILIGHT ZONE-ish entry, with the listener suspecting that the would-be bride is caught in a time warp or another dimension-- but it quickly turns into an episode which resembles nothing so much as Himan Brown\\''s earlier series, INNER SANCTUM, which generally featured apparently inexplicable events that would always be \\"logically\\" explained.\r\n\r\nOnce Florence\\''s true murderous nature becomes apparent, the story really takes off. For me, the entire thing is more funny than frightening, but then that was always true of INNER SANCTUM as well. The dialogue helps the humorous effect enormously. Some of it is deliberately comic, as here:\r\n\r\nJACK: Give me the ax, Florence!\r\nFLORENCE: I\\''m tempted to ask where you\\''d like it.\r\n\r\n...Whereas some of it features the kind of over-explaining that was common to bad radio writing, as when Jack and Amy are confronted by Florence and Amy says: \\"Your wife--standing in the doorway--an ax in her hand!\\" (Think about it. Would anybody actually say this unless Jack was blind?) Or, even better, this exchange:\r\n\r\nAMY: Joe, she\\''s got a gun!\r\nJOE: I can see that, Amy.\r\n\r\nGood radio writers knew that they had to be more subtle in making the dialogue create the picture in listeners\\'' heads. But that\\''s not to take away from \\"The Bride That Wasn\\''t,\\" which is sheer fun all the way through. Its one slight fault, a standard one for RMT, is that it simply runs a bit too long. Brother Joe is a completely superfluous character, obviously introduced simply to fill air time; he does nothing that Jack and Amy couldn\\''t have done themselves in a tighter script.\r\n\r\nTwo things played in my mind while I was listening. One was the wonderfully campy horror films of William Castle, director of such \\"fright\\" fests as HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (the original), 13 GHOSTS, and--the one I kept thinking of here--STRAIT-JACKET, which featured a seemingly homicidal Joan Crawford. (For a certain kind of masochist there may be no more alluring vision on earth than that of Joan Crawford with an ax in her hand.) The other, not relevant at all but I\\''ll put it here anyway, was the title of an early Pink Floyd song: \\"Careful With That Ax, Eugene.\\" Given the nature of this story, the episode might have been titled \\"Careful With that Ax, Florence.\\"\r\n\r\nOr, given the nickname she says her husband had for her, maybe it should have been \\"Careful With that Ax, Stupid.\\"\r\n\r\nA very enjoyable episode, and I\\''ll go ahead and post this early, so that no one comments on the sound of crickets chirping here on the board.', '2013-03-03 16:49:19', 1, 'dd14335d586532143ca0708d0e9a1602', '112.200.20.61'),
(4525, '0155', 'episode', 'Benny A.', '', 'I relistened to this episode yesterday (yup, itmakes me think of Careful With That Axe, Eugene, too). I enjoy this episode a lot- not really a classic, but a fine listen. This one definitely features one of the nuttiest characters to make the RMT scene- you know she''s a "bit mental" (as my UK friends would say) when she mentions visiting a friend at the asylum early on. In fact, this is a whole castful of folks whose behavior borders on the irrational at one point or another in this episode.\r\n\r\nSome notes-\r\n\r\nthis show contains one of RMT''s best act ending lines- "What are you doing with that axe? at the end of Act 1.\r\n\r\nI actually enjoy Acts 1 and 2 more than the climax in Act 3.\r\n\r\nAnother interesting point is that the opening teaser serves to open the story- rather than coming as a preview of a plot point later in the show.\r\n\r\nAll in all, worth a listen, and a good OTR show!', '2013-03-03 16:49:20', 1, '14113d0cd1b1a6156e6f71bc329471b3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4526, '0155', 'episode', 'James L.', '', 'Thanks to Psycho, in the first act, I kept expecting it to be the mother who was crazy. Then again, they had at least a day to escape and nebbish Jack didn''t whack Florence, grab Mom and make a run for it?\r\n\r\nOkay, can Amy be any more stupid? But I guess she''s perfect for Jack, since they were Mr. & Mrs. Stupid! "Oh, honey, let''s name our daughter after the axe-murderess who tried to kill us all." And, of course, Amy gave up her career to marry a man she knew for two weeks who lied about having a wife/former wife who killed his father and was in an asylum. I guess they needed Joe because they were such idiots!\r\n\r\nI see Bernie Barrow did this the year before he began playing Johnny Ryan on "Ryan''s Hope." I didn''t realize he was playing Jack until the end. Interesting when you know/don''t know what the actors look like and it affects your imagining of the story. I had a totally different image of Jack in my mind than BB.', '2013-03-03 16:49:21', 1, '2b5ac47f141fd0f8a511bbdb71ff4198', '112.200.20.61'),
(4527, '0777', 'episode', 'S. Carlson', '', 'This was a good episode, but there wasn''t too much mystery about it. The guy didn''t intend to kill the first girl, he did intend to kill the second, and he is caught. As a listener, there wasn''t as much mystery as I like in my mysteries. I listened and was entertained, but I go for the creepier, supernatural RMT''s myself.\r\n\r\nNice story with a good moral though!', '2013-03-03 16:49:22', 1, 'd307e73f8eb87083e48a3988bd6a47b5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4528, '0777', 'episode', 'Jeremy Bushong', '', 'i have to agree with your comments on the show. it was a good listen and it got my attention, but i just never understand certain shows when, to me, there seems to be that easy way out, and the characters always choose the hardest way. it was a good show, but not a favorite by any means. I gave it a 3.9.\r\n\r\nas for your tastes, how''s about pitching an upcoming show? i don''t mind the Anniversary shows, but i prefer the hand-picked ones, myself! just send me a PM or an email if you''re interested!', '2013-03-03 16:49:22', 1, 'f83c85018de83eb04a28d6197c4b7ae7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4529, '0777', 'episode', 'Vinnie', '', 'This was one I remember from childhood. It had strong dialogue between the two main characters, but some poorly written dialogue for Dryden''s hippie character.', '2013-03-03 16:49:23', 1, '6b1d5b76ef18de71e5cac66b3f2ef258', '112.200.20.61'),
(4530, '0777', 'episode', 'Archie', '', 'I think this one was Ed Ames'' only appearance on the RMT, wasn''t it?\r\n\r\nHe seemed almost a bit ill at ease to me in character on this show...maybe he''d been away from radio too long while on the "Daniel Boone" show. When with his siblings as part of the Ames brothers he had to have seen his share of radio work.\r\n\r\n(Anyone remember, back in the latter years of the RMT, "The gong show movie", based on TV show producer cum CIA agent Chuck Barris'' show of the same name? At one point Barris'' character had a nervous breakdown while dancing with a mop to the tune of the Ames Brothers'' "rag mop".)', '2013-03-03 16:49:24', 1, '61d1eb75fe7f1695064875e820c78fea', '112.200.20.61'),
(4531, '0777', 'episode', 'Brian Golden', '', 'I thought Ed Ames did seem kind of wooden, too, kind of like some of the performances on the Sears show. I only heard a few of those when they were on the air, but they really sounded like they were being read without much opportunity for rehearsal. All in all, this is not a bad episode, but not Sam Dann''s best. Not many real twists, just kind of a straight line from beginning to end.', '2013-03-03 16:49:25', 1, '04a1127453df80cb592a496367ba37f8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4532, '0777', 'episode', 'M. Meyers', '', 'Not a good one. Ed Ames'' acting was pretty bad. If nothing else its one of many reasons not to cheat. Some of the writing was a bit cheesy as well (e.g. "You don''t know what people do with a revolver?").\r\n\r\nThe women in this episode (other than the photographer) seemed weak and wishy-washy.\r\n\r\nEd Ames'' character was bizarre - it seemed out of character for him to shoot the photographer so quickly and easily.\r\n\r\nIn the end its not a very good episode (although a bad radio show is still light years ahead of most of the dreck on TV).', '2013-03-03 16:49:26', 1, '6ba2b26e753627c1be7f420f8a3d3562', '112.200.20.61'),
(4533, '0777', 'episode', 'C. Burton', '', 'This one was pretty cut and dried. Not terrible but not great either. Ed Ames did seem rather wooden. I wasn''t surprised by his character''s actions, though. Bob displayed a coldness and calculation throughout the story. He cheated on his wife, apparently repeatedly (and implied that if she were less accomodating of his trips he wouldn''t have strayed). He coldly dumped his mistress. He took advantage of his company. He did whatever it was convenient for him to do.\r\nI guess it wasn''t enough to have just one needy woman in this story but three. All three were dependent on Bob in one way or another. His wife figured she was secure as long as she let him do whatever he wanted. His mistress wanted emotional support from him and to be taken care of for the rest of her life and was willing to kill herself over him. The bar girl picture-taker wanted his financial support. All four characters were rather pathetic, really. Oh, and can I just add...I really hate those little-girl voices the actresses sometimes have to affect.', '2013-03-03 16:49:26', 1, '19a108a117c624d60125f9261e1e90ab', '112.200.20.61'),
(4534, '0354', 'episode', 'Troy M.', '', 'Joan Lovejoy and Joan Shay (the latter doing her patent "Frumpy old woman" voice, kind of like the "hoarse Irish cop" impersonation by Lloyd Battista) in the same scene...I LOVE IT!', '2013-03-03 16:49:15', 1, '1291aebc1f5585be82d6614d1c54510e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4535, '0354', 'episode', 'Aljohn', '', 'You know...this isn''t my favorite RMT episode, but I liked the ending. DaSilva had the voice to portray a man who was suffering from inner conflict and pain, and quite frequently his characters (in episodes like "Come back with me", "Night shift", "The doppelganger") would meet a sad fate.\r\n\r\nIt wasn''t the easiest story line to follow (Dann usually did a bit better in that department) but it was still a nice choice. Thanks!', '2013-03-03 16:49:27', 1, 'af3fecb1f1fafeab8833d53cc3ed19f1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4536, '0354', 'episode', 'Revo A.', '', 'I wasn''t too keen on this one. I''ve listened to a few now featuring Howard DaSilva, enough to get the sense that, with that voice, he seems to play a fair amount of tortured souls. Some stories I can take it better than others. This one...I was tired when I listened to it so that didn''t help. By the time he was going on and on about the wrong rifle I was starting to lose consciousness.', '2013-06-19 22:57:22', 1, '6181ada476c698d268e930c9549762e3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4537, '0354', 'episode', 'Jenn', '', 'Joan Lovejoy and Joan Shay (the latter doing her patent "Frumpy old woman" voice, kind of like the "hoarse Irish cop" impersonation by Lloyd Battista) in the same scene...I LOVE IT!', '2013-03-03 16:49:29', 1, 'c515455f7158421bc9234e9916207b2d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4538, '0354', 'episode', 'Rod Spiers', '', 'You know...this isn''t my favorite RMT episode, but I liked the ending. DaSilva had the voice to portray a man who was suffering from inner conflict and pain, and quite frequently his characters (in episodes like "Come back with me", "Night shift", "The doppelganger") would meet a sad fate.\r\n\r\nIt wasn''t the easiest story line to follow (Dann usually did a bit better in that department) but it was still a nice choice. Thanks!', '2013-03-03 16:49:30', 1, '670890aab6f2b725a79cd2d9daf0f271', '112.200.20.61'),
(4539, '0354', 'episode', 'Lisa', '', 'I wasn''t too keen on this one. I''ve listened to a few now featuring Howard DaSilva, enough to get the sense that, with that voice, he seems to play a fair amount of tortured souls. Some stories I can take it better than others. This one...I was tired when I listened to it so that didn''t help.  By the time he was going on and on about the wrong rifle I was starting to lose conciousness.', '2013-03-27 15:34:24', 1, 'e6a4ba781d28beffa91fe0732e030530', '112.200.20.61'),
(4540, '0319', 'episode', 'Hendrix', '', 'Aug 1, 1975 The Onyx Eye\r\nStarring Frances Sternhagen\r\n\r\nA man who is down on his luck and looking for work enters an old curio shop to buy an inexpensive present for his wife''s birthday. THe mysterious shopowner sells him a small piece of onyx that looks like a human eye, telling him it will bring him good luck. It does, but for every piece of good luck it brings...it also bring horrible consequences. This is a classic tale in the tradition of the old story "The Monkey''s Paw." This episode is an example of what CBSRMT does best--a great story executed well with excellent actors (including the fantastic Frances Sternhagen who plays the man''s wife and the only one in the episode who realizes that the onyx eye is not a thing to fool around with. Sternhagen has been in everything from a regular spot on "ER" to a voice on the "Simpsons.")', '2013-02-28 15:34:52', 1, '52ad02ef0914d7722dab20dffac41ef2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4541, '0319', 'episode', 'Leticia S.', '', 'To be honest, I didn\\''t enjoy this episode as much as some of the others. I guess it was a little too predictable. The acting was high quality of course, but I couldn\\''t buy the reporter deciding at the end that he had to have the Eye. But then that is the beauty of the series ... no matter the individual preference as to shows, they were always excellent in the presentation. Having said that, I will enjoy reading the subsequent posts, to get other opinions on this show.<br>', '2013-03-06 21:49:16', 1, 'e43ab3e2f8ac39bf24a9c58388c306cb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4542, '0319', 'episode', 'P. Smith', '', 'I reviewed this one earlier in my listening log. A couple months ago, I gave it a 7.5. After another listen, I''ve not changed my mind.\r\n\r\nI enjoyed this episode both times. It is a standard morality tale, and even if the story is not "A" material (and this was probably "B"), Mr. Marshall usually delivers a stand up performance that rescues the show.\r\n\r\nI gave it a 4, but a lower 4. While there are certainly a number of better episodes out there, this one did not disappoint.\r\n\r\nThanks for a good selection.', '2013-03-03 16:49:31', 1, '3f9feb7b81e34650bdac630a120c0e03', '112.200.20.61'),
(4543, '0319', 'episode', 'Hayden', '', 'Ok, so perhaps I was overly gracious in my praise of this episode. Just for some reason it''s one of those I''ve always enjoyed listening to. It has fun elements: strange little owner of a strange little shop, cryptic warnings, mystical object of mysterious origin, a "is something supernatural really happening" plot, and characters who slowly come to realize that having everything you ever wanted isn''t always the best thing in life. As a side note, it''s always interesting to see how differently we all react to various episodes--just goes to show what an eclectic web community we are. ', '2013-03-03 16:49:32', 1, '1a035a6338062ce6db9476cc0c331e41', '112.200.20.61'),
(4544, '0319', 'episode', 'J. Cochran', '', 'I enjoyed this episode and give it a six. I agree that it was a bit predictable at times but itdid not lose my interest. I am an antique hunter and have seen many strange objects in the shops. You never know what you might find.', '2013-03-03 16:49:33', 1, '8870374be632d0bf300f8d06e2f870c3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4545, '0319', 'episode', 'J. Nimitz', '', 'I liked this episode, it was an interesting story, Simialar theme to the Imp In The Bottle. I give this a 4 because this is one of those typical CBSRMT episodes that would have kept me on the edge of the radio speaker as a kid. I try to reflect back when I originally listened to these episodes and how I felt, not so much as an adult. I will leave the adult listening to my wife (I know that sounded bad for me). She never heard these as a kid being a few years younger than me.\r\nMy father in-law loves these shows I make him normal audio CD''s of them. This will be included in the next batch of shows he gets.', '2013-03-03 16:49:34', 1, '8c19c2339eac67c7d0dff51137fd2e38', '112.200.20.61'),
(4546, '0319', 'episode', 'Marlon', '', 'I am new to this website, but I am looking forward to listening to these shows and reading what others think about the programs. I remember hearing this story when it was on the radio in 1998. I liked it then and liked it again this time.<br>', '2013-03-03 16:49:52', 1, '33dadfdc7a9eca4c0937cd09be06a030', '112.200.20.61'),
(4547, '0319', 'episode', 'Greer Owen', '', 'fun episode - as already pointed out, it''s another in a series of Monkey''s Paw clones.\r\n\r\nWhat made this one unique was the inability to be rid of the totem, the randomness of the luck, and the unrelatedness of the consequences. Those qualities made the object more incidious.\r\n\r\ngood pick\r\n\r\ncheers', '2013-03-15 00:37:06', 1, 'dfc50c29b564e8e62747e71d3194d666', '112.200.20.61'),
(4548, '0319', 'episode', 'Harlan Dave', '', 'Somewhat predictable since it''s the formula of the evil talisman being passed from person to person. I did wonder why he was apparently sold on it by a ghost, as opposed to a previous owner desperate to be rid of it. What''s the history of the thing and why did it seemingly appear out of nowhere along with the ghostly curio shop proprietor? That question was kind of hanging over the story for me but I still thought it a good story. You knew bad things were going to happen but not what exactly.', '2013-03-06 21:49:21', 1, '4bef402dc0eeed9e0f66849960ce8e08', '112.200.20.61'),
(4549, '0319', 'episode', 'Jodie', '', 'I do remember listening to it a couple of years ago, and I enjoy it for what it is- not great, but a pretty good engaging listen with some nastiness tossed in. Not bad.<br>', '2013-03-03 21:44:17', 1, '81136c7db3809e1f295ab89818898e02', '112.200.20.61'),
(4664, '0200', 'episode', 'Don Heiland,Jr.', 'hdon698808@yahoo.com', 'I enjoyed this episode. I thought the music in the background was perfect for this episode when the younger sister Constance was riding the horse. Pulling Berenice teeth out with the pliers at the end gave me the creeps. A fitting end for this episode. A must listen. I gave this episode five stars.', '2013-03-04 12:58:44', 1, '2469958bbcbfc22a57f5a17f332fcff2', '68.103.21.229'),
(4550, '1178', 'episode', 'Elli Isaac', '', 'I was rather disappointed with this one. I was hoping the story had more of a thriller/horror aspect to it. That is to say, I would have liked a story where it did turn out some of the dead were brought back--not as zombies or anything, but in the \\"normal\\" living state. Their survivors would have to deal with what that entailed and the returnees would have to deal with what they were and maybe even where they had been while they were dead.\r\n\r\nI guess I was hoping for a Buffy type of situation--being brought back, some perhaps who wouldn\\''t have allowed themselves given the choice--and everyone dealing with that. I was disappointed that the whole thing was a con and that the murderer of the girl was revealed rather easily and predictably.\r\n\r\nAdded note: the version I downloaded from the link shows a length of 56 minutes but the story is about 40 minutes long. The last 15 minutes is a portion of another mystery.', '2013-02-28 15:34:56', 1, '8c6443ede56da86ba1ca62ea768a3c6b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4551, '1178', 'episode', 'Elli Isaac', '', 'Just wondering, does anyone know of a story, in any genre, besides "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" where a person who was dead and buried was resurrected, ostensibly to resume the existence they had before? I don''t mean zombie stories, or ghost stories where they inhabit people, or people getting a second chance via time travel to the past (where nobody else knows what happened). I mean a story where someone who was dead for some time was brought back and everybody knew it and had to deal with it. Buffy''s story was mostly about how she reacted to it, and her friends, who were responsible for bringing her back, were just so happy to have her alive again, they didn''t really think too much about how she would feel about it. They thought they were somehow saving her when, in fact, Buffy had been in heaven and considered life on Earth hell. I just think it would be such a fascinating story, in the right hands, to have it happen to a group of people who can have different reactions to it.', '2013-02-28 15:35:01', 1, '8b4256f076d68dc0f45b6f96b6c298f8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4552, '1178', 'episode', 'Geron D.', '', 'An interesting but predictable story. I liked it but the copy that I had was a bad one. There was no intro and instead of an epilogue at the end of this story, it jumped right into a another completely different one that made absolutely no sense.\r\n\r\nDid anyone else have the same problem?\r\n\r\nWhat I was able to listen to I enjoyed immensely. I''ve always loved storys that involved the art of deceit. The larger the audience that gets deceived (like the town for instance), the more enjoyable it becomes for me.\r\n\r\nI would like to get a clean copy of it though - so if anyone can oblige I''d be very grateful.', '2013-02-28 15:35:05', 1, '40408f4d49b8a75b7613462425556d36', '112.200.20.61'),
(4555, '1195', 'episode', 'Marco', '', 'When put on the ultimate spot - when someone is forcing you to decide your own fate - the stress, I imagine, must be overwhelming.\r\n\r\nThat''s the whole basis of this bizarre little crime drama. While not a wholly "mysterious" show, it had enough twists and dilemma''s to keep me happy.\r\n\r\nI really enjoyed the concept. A dermatologist being forced into performing surgery. I wonder if the writer toyed with making him a chiropractor or perhaps, a psychologist.\r\n\r\nDepsite the main tale being the impending surgery and fate of the doctor because of the procedure, the side story of a questionable relationship between the doctor and his nurse, sparked by a jealous wife, was interesting and a nice addition to the plot.\r\n\r\nFor me this was a middle of the road tale, not a blow-away experience, yet not even close to a let down, either. It was a good, solid and enjoyable performance with good character development and a story that held together well.\r\n\r\nMy only complaint was that the doctor was just too whiny, but that''s what the role called for, so...\r\n\r\nI gave this one a 4.6... a great choice!', '2013-02-28 15:35:16', 1, 'ce44358b089c35396b4037780276c980', '112.200.20.61'),
(4556, '1195', 'episode', 'Reuben', '', 'In just 42 minutes, it''s difficult to have a real subplot working. A lot of episodes never even get a good main plot working. But this one has a great plot with the gangsters pressuring the dermatologist to do surgery and the doctor''s troubled relationship with his wife and illicit relationship with his nurse.\r\n\r\nIt has been awhile since I listened to this one, but it is memorable. I gave it a four.', '2013-02-28 15:35:21', 1, '8ef9163ba3ece31b0e925f6d6548f1ae', '112.200.20.61'),
(4557, '1195', 'episode', 'Ross Antonel', '', 'I have heard this one probably 200 times at least, and is one from my childhood collection. It is one of my faves. I like how in this RMT, as with others, they use the "non-speak". i.e. you know "Eddie" is there, but he doesn''t say anything. Helps flesh out the number of characters without having extra actors and unnecessary dialog.\r\n\r\nI thought that the subplot was good, but I think the Private detectives were on scene pretty quick at the end though. Doc''s wife must have had some $$$ tucked away to get them there like that! but, like I said, I''ve heard it a lot, so I have had time to think of these things.\r\n\r\nAnd as usual, I listen to it in November. Preferably when it is raining!\r\n\r\nGlad you guys liked it.', '2013-02-28 15:35:27', 1, '8bad17f10ca25114439becb1b259906a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4558, '1195', 'episode', 'N. Ada', '', 'Nice choice.\r\n\r\n- The closing music at the end of the third act was used in one of my favorite RMTs: "The Laughing maiden". It''s a winsome acoustic piano and strings number that seemed almost too melancholy (but still was appropriate) for the ending.\r\n\r\n- I did like the plot tension elements as elaborated before.\r\n\r\n- Tony Roberts was one of the younger actors (like Russel Horton and Paul Hecht) who was a regular on the show. Always enjoyable to hear him and it''s good to know (as someone elsewhere has said) that he''s still quite busy.', '2013-02-28 15:35:35', 1, '34bb8d117c6c5e333d81f6ca04ee9242', '112.200.20.61'),
(4559, '1195', 'episode', 'Benjie F.', '', 'Was it just me or did "Pop" sound like Jackie Mason with a sore throat? \r\n\r\nOMG, the doctor''s whining...I think I would have whacked him over the head with the butt of the gun just to shut him up. I was a little confused about EG Marshall''s comment at the end that "Sue Ann found a new and more viable romance." I didn''t see anything in the story to indicate she even considered the doc, romantically speaking. The whole thing seemed to be more a belief on the wife''s part than based on any romantic feelings between the two.\r\n\r\nI must admit, I''m not really a Tony Roberts fan and, in this particular story, I felt like he was overacting just a tad, especially in the first act.', '2013-03-15 00:37:07', 1, '0678f18bad11f027164d9dd097b89a68', '112.200.20.61'),
(4560, '0047', 'episode', 'Steve Jusko', '', 'This is a really interesting well-acted episode that poses a challenging ethical/moral conundrum: If you could get out of a terrible situation by committing a murder of a despicable person, with no chance of getting caught, would you do it?\r\nThis is a fine example of good storytelling with a very satisfying, although disturbing, ending.', '2013-02-28 15:35:31', 1, '6e3abfe88f3f86f8d49ab1f8727126c2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4561, '0047', 'episode', 'Brian Pontillas', '', 'First, did anyone else notice the dog? The dog makes his appearance infrequently, but at moments when things are amiss. Once when Mr. Bailey comes home after meeting Kessler and he tells the dog to \\"shut up!\\" Again when Bailey meets Mr. Bliss and Bailey says, \\"I\\''m trying to walk my dog who is being a non-performer.\\" Again when Bailey\\''s wife becomes tense, she tells him to \\"shut up!\\" and finally, toward the end after Kessler\\''s death when the dog stared at the door barking. Coincidentally, the dog\\''s name was Lockjaw.\r\n\r\nI doubt any of that means anything, but funny enough to note.\r\n\r\nSecond, This was among the first three episodes I\\''d heard when I re-discovered the RMT here. However, the outset of this program is so much like many, many other stories in which the character fails to see the obvious solution right in front of him: honesty.\r\n\r\nI kept thinking to myself, \\"Why wouldn\\''t you just come clean with your wife?\\" It would have rid him of the blackmailer, rid him of any guilt he had festering within, and would have put him in a more honest position in his marriage, giving his wife the respect she deserved in knowing the truth.\r\n\r\nI remember watching Three\\''s Company where Jack Tripper (John Ritter) would always find himself in the most ridiculous situations, which made watching the show dreadfully hard. If he\\''d just come clean up front it woud be done with.\r\n\r\nIt boggles me. Especially when Mr. Bailey begins to reason and plea with Kessler, giving him explanation. It was painful to listen to, and I mean from a critical viewpoint. Of course, the show must go on.\r\n\r\nThe episode really begins with the entrance of Mr. Bliss (?), who eventually reveals himself as the true \\"villain.\\" This is also where the writing turns from painful to masterful. And this is not only what saves the show, but makes the show as well.\r\n\r\nThere were many character flaws in this story which made the suspension of disbelief a little harder to raise. The fact that Kessler collected money in person instead of using a PO Box or something. The writer should have considered that. The chance that he would encounter confrontation was too great. Bliss could have still followed him and such, but the idea that Kessler was visiting at least 12 people monthly was a bit of a stretch.\r\n\r\nOther flaws, like Bailey cheating on his wife, was out of character itself. Suspending disbelief, it can be accepted, but this is a man who would not have been able to live with that guilt. A man who would not have been able to supress a mistake like that. Not a man who won a prize as a child for memorizing the Commandments and still adhered to them. Again, a bit of a stretch but within the realms of believable.\r\n\r\nBailey himself was an ironic character. He was an official in the transportation department and he used his car as the vehicle of death for Kessler. HA! Funny stuff!!\r\n\r\nAnd finally, the wife. If my spouse were making monthly payments to someone in person for reasons that were as vague as a Pollock painting, you can bet bean sprouts to bacon that I\\''d have been a bit more curious about it. Why she didn\\''t inquire about the transaction a little further was a question in my mind. Again, Bailey said it was for a car... coincidental that it in the end it was a car that killed the blackmailer, driven by an official in the transportation department (Sorry for repeating).\r\n\r\nLastly, the words of EG Marshall were especially humorous:\r\n\\"Welcome to the fear you can hear;\\" \\"It\\''s not your eyes we want, it\\''s your ears!;\\" and \\"Join us again to be an EARwitness\\"... yuk yuk...\r\n\r\nOverall, this was an enjoyable - if not dark humored - episode, and by suspending disbelief a little further than normal, and not questioning certain character flaws, it was a high-octane thrill-ride that blindsided me, only to rear-end me at the finish-line.<br>', '2013-03-25 21:43:44', 1, '85f407321dd0c73cebd0273fe1899ecb', '112.200.20.61'),
(5678, '0075', 'episode', 'DanR', 'ddanrr@hotmail.com', 'I thought it was a good ending, because I also include finding out what really happened to the girls father as part of the ending, it really ties it all together.', '2013-03-26 13:43:20', 1, 'f02684fae9b16f26253aa7ede3901655', '99.141.140.252'),
(4562, '0047', 'episode', 'Meljohn Forbes', '', 'I listened to this program during the first few months of my re-awakening to the CBSRMT. I enjoyed it then and I think it may have even improved with a second listen. Though a bit predictable, Henry Slesar wrote an enjoyable tale of blackmail and intrigue. Call it odd, but I tend to like programs, such as "A Choice of Witnesses", where we find ourselves pulling for the lesser of two evils. Great pick!', '2013-02-28 15:35:46', 1, 'cd8edf2b3711a0317e68698decaf0524', '112.200.20.61'),
(4563, '0047', 'episode', 'A. Neumann', '', 'This was a pretty good episode. It could have been avoided if Mr. Bailey didn\\''t cheat on his wife in the first place, but what\\''s done is done. ops:\r\n\r\nWhat I was thinking was that when he finally told his wife, why didn\\''t he tell her the REST of the story? Not only that, but when Bailey told Bliss that he had told his wife, what made Bliss think he didn\\''t tell her all about him murdering the blackmailer, too? If Bailey DID tell his wife about Bliss, then Bliss killing Bailey would have accomplished very little.\r\n\r\n\\"Okay honey, now that I told you I bonked some hooker, there was a really bad man who had pictures of me bonking said hooker who was whacked by another schmoze he was blackmailing. Now that I have come clean with you, I\\''m going to narc on this other guy, okey dokey?\\"\r\n\r\nSee? That wasn\\''t that hard.\r\n\r\nI loved the dog.<br>', '2013-03-06 21:03:56', 1, '7c7489adb9cb9afcd92cea1ed807027c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4564, '0047', 'episode', 'C. Mueller', '', 'I really enjoyed the show, but then I''m a sucker for moral dillemas in drama.\r\nI found it interesting that Baily was a man of such divergent moral primacies. For example, the unwillingness to actively participate in a murder with the apparent (if only temporary) acceptance of being an accessory. Also, the guilt of cheating on his wife that was tempered by the belief that he was forcibly coerced by his boss.\r\nI know I''ve found myself to be morally inconsistent on a few occaisions (a lot more than I''d like, that''s for sure), so I found Baily''s actions quite believable - the other characters I found a lot less so, but I blame time constraints on lack of their character development. I give the CBSRMT credit, though, as television would likely have taken the easier road and made Baily a white knight. Playing the shades of gray made the story so much more believable and thought provoking.\r\nHoly smokes! I used the phrase "divergent moral primacies" in a sentence - Sorry, it must be time for another glass of wine and an episode of Mr. Ed on Nick@Night. Goodnight Wilbur!', '2013-02-28 15:35:54', 1, '3de776c7dbb5f17139235e8a18f5576f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4565, '0047', 'episode', 'Nick', '', 'The RMT, at its best, captured the humanity of people so well. More so than so many programs have since.\r\n\r\nWe all, in our earthly bodies in this fallen world, have a mixture of virtue and sin. Bailey exemplifies that so much...as proof, it\\''s striking that after he makes the big revelation to his wife (Evie Juster could be tremendous, and sound so vulnerable with her little-girl-grown-up voice) and she not only forgives him but asks him to hold her, that he skips out on her when given the chance to close the loop with Robert Dryden\\''s character.\r\n\r\n(BTW, Dryden\\''s portrayal in this show reminded me of his role as the, for lack of a better term, \\"dispatcher of assassins\\" in \\"The moonlighter\\". Notice also the references to the Ten Commandments, specifically \\"thou shalt not kill\\"? Just like \\"The moonlighter\\''s\\" corrupted protagonist did.) And Bailey\\''s disdain for Christian hypocrites is the hallmark of a scriptwriter who knows a lot about people and how they work, rather (as so many scriptwriters seem to do today) than creating fantasy on fantasized behavior.\r\n\r\nI enjoyed this when I first heard it last year. Thanks.<br>', '2013-02-28 15:36:16', 1, '3b0f7b3142fc8f9c5231c30054433356', '112.200.20.61'),
(4566, '0047', 'episode', 'Ricky B.', '', 'I think the story was very clever and plausible. While some of the mechanics can be viewed as silly, such as visiting and collecting monies in person, the overall premise is sound. A guy cheats on his wife, feels guilty and hides the fact. In the fantastic realm of radio, a master blackmailer finds similar guilty parties and exploits them I think at this point in the drama we are to enjoy the ride as entertainment, a fantastic idea who''s application would probably be impossible. So, I suppose I am so enamored with the story itself that I overlook the flaws. I enjoyed it an hope you do too.', '2013-02-28 15:36:19', 1, '26e168654e3694a34865871e259f4ffb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4567, '0047', 'episode', 'Gemini', '', 'I felt this one was pretty predictable, although it was just well written enough that I listened to the whole thing hoping that maybe there would be a clever twist. Unfortunately there wasn''t. I was distracted during the whole show because I just kept thinking, "If the guy really loves his wife, why doesn''t he just tell her the whole story first thing and not pay the blackmailer?" Oh well. Guess there wouldn''t have been a story if he''d done that. For that reason, I thnk it''s a pretty weak story----although the acting and production values were great as usual.', '2013-02-28 15:36:22', 1, 'ec0b5de01f2c913fbd6d61c6edf21715', '112.200.20.61'),
(4568, '0047', 'episode', 'Angelo D.', '', 'This show is another one of my favorites. (Following my formula - interesting idea and thought provoking, not supernatural, but quite unlikely to occur. I did see sort of a twist).\r\n\r\nI believed the character. He cheated on his wife (in his words by coercion). Every one makes mistakes, even good people. This was just a big one and he was sorry. Everyone thinks he should have come clean to her in the first place. I kind of see why he didn\\''t - because when he did she almost seemed more angry that he told her and upset her when she would not have known. \\"Why did you have to tell me? I never would have found out.\\" She acted like it was a selfish move on his part. Telling her to make himself feel better at the expense of her feeling hurt. Maybe she felt what she didn\\''t know wouldn\\''t hurt her.\r\n\r\nAlso, I believe her character. I know that many households have a primary wage-earner that handles the money. This was probably more true in the 70\\''s. I know my mother left it all to my father to handle and she would not notice $40 a month. (We were very traditional...she was no Gloria Steinem.)\r\n\r\nI did find myself comparing this one to The Chinaman Button. They are both written by Henry Slesar, both morality subjects, and each had someone trying to \\"inch\\" the other toward committing an evil. In the Chinaman Button, he asked Walter if he cared if any of the people in the obituaries were dead...In Choice of Witnesses Bliss asked him if he would have been upset if the blackmailer was killed in a true accident, or if he would have been happy. In the Chinaman Button Walter finally caved, but in this story Bailey never could accept murder. He was about to turn the others in.\r\n\r\nAt the end, I noticed Bliss was one of the witnesses to Bailey\\''s shooting. I felt this was a bit risky since he had just been cleared in the \\''accident\\''. I thought they would use all different witnesses to prevent any connection.<br>', '2013-03-03 21:20:40', 1, '41dc3c9dbe457b9000a6a45ce12ae2e4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4569, '0047', 'episode', 'Jus Ralph', '', 'Another excellent episode! I didn''t see the twist until near the end.\r\n\r\nI had to listen to it in the context of being broadcast in the mid-1970''s. Scandal was still not wanted. I just can''t see a blackmailer making any money today. After the Clinton scandal and Jerry Springer and all those other shows, it is not a a scandal to do what this guy did. You just admit your mistakes and beg forgiveness. I am not saying I would want such secrets known about me, but today we mostly admit, forgive, and forget.\r\n\r\nKeep the good episodes coming!', '2013-02-28 15:36:31', 1, 'c6e546117583b527b010e9428e79e0b3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4570, '0047', 'episode', 'Jerby', '', 'This one wasn''t bad, although Bailey''s fate was pretty much predictable the moment he admitted to Bliss he couldn''t promise he wouldn''t go to the cops. Ya don''t tell a group of people harboring a murder secret that you''re a loose cannon. Bailey was actually pretty stupid throughout the whole thing, not to mention, as Bliss pointed out, something of a hypocrite. First, he put impressing his boss over fidelity to his wife. And it seemed pretty clear that he would have never admitted anything to her had Kellerman''s blackmail never happened--even when it did, he held off saying anything. Then, as Bliss mentioned, he didn''t rat out Kellerman to the cops because it served his purpose not to but he didn''t consider Bliss a threat at that point and considered squealing on him because he didn''t think he would lose anything by doing so. Then, knowing what he knew about the deadly dozen, he still was stupid enough to meet with Bliss at the bar.\r\n\r\nI found myself not really having much sympathy for Bailey. Maybe he was supposed to be the "good" guy to root for but I thought him rather idiotic and someone whose sense of morality seemed to come into play more with regard to how it would affect him. Even his ultimate confession to his wife had more to do with relieving his conscience and loosening the blackmail stranglehold on him than it being out of respect for her.\r\n\r\nI would probably give this one a 3.5 out of 5. It was well-acted and the concept of a group of strangers being complicitous in the "perfect crime" is interesting. But the onset of Bailey being blackmailed and ultimately sent to his demise by Bliss was predictable long before it happened.', '2013-02-28 15:36:34', 1, '9bf6fd695f9233b09355e39c9ca1e0e1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4577, '0983', 'episode', 'Alfred', '', 'A nice episode of CBSRMT at its most Twilight Zoney. The story resembles several TZs--not only \\"A Stop at Willoughby,\\" which someone else mentioned, but also \\"Valley of the Shadow,\\" about a similarly impossible-to-escape small town. \\"The Outsider\\" made for quite engrossing listening, I thought, though I must confess to a feeling of letdown at the end. This kind of tale seems to demand a double whammy--something more at the climax, some new revelation that throws everything we\\''ve heard before into a new perspective. Maybe the whole town suffered a catastrophe back in 1950 or whenever it was, so everyone we\\''ve met in the show is dead--and our narrator has unwittingly brought them all back to life in 1980. Something like that. Thoroughly enjoyable.<br>', '2013-03-03 16:54:15', 1, '41de9f6f72576185c5ae7d2370a22da2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4578, '0983', 'episode', 'Mark Lester S.', '', 'After Act I, I was asking myself the same question that Doug had asked when he discovered the kind of life that they were living, "And you want to change all of this? It''s utopia!" Here they were living in a land where nothing grows older, nothing''s worn out, everything stays the same. How can this be such a bad thing? I guess that it was in the concluding act, when it was explained by E.G. Marshall how this kind of life disallows one from being able to look forward to new things, made me realize that maybe it wasn''t such a great thing afterall.\r\n\r\nStill, I liked the story very much. I''ve always had a keen interest in sci-fi when it explores the time-space continuum thingy. And this one does so quite nicely and that''s why I gave it a 4 out of 5 rating.\r\n\r\nIn true fashion (as per the rules of this board), I''m writing this without having read other posters comments, but I''m betting that someone has already mentioned how this story is eerily similar to something taken right out of the Twilight Zone.', '2013-03-27 15:34:34', 1, 'd7874f2f3f49d32e269d0628c5b99cdb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4579, '0983', 'episode', 'Lynn', '', 'AHA! I knew it! The Twilight Zone comparison was made in every post preceding mine.', '2013-03-03 16:53:46', 1, '8603600232a162441ac6b61fb2caca52', '112.200.20.61'),
(4580, '0983', 'episode', 'P.J. Azana', '', 'I enjoyed this the first time I heard it, and I enjoyed it more just now upon finishing it.\r\n\r\n- Good comparisons to \\"The twilight zone\\". (I\\''m reminded of the aforementioned \\"A stop at Willoughby\\" (train travel to a strange place) and, I think, an episode named \\"A hundred yards over the rim\\" with Cliff Robertson playing a country man whose child is very sick, and while in search of a doctor he goes over a hill to (as I recall) stumble into a future town, and then somehow finds his way back home with medicine that cures his child.)\r\n\r\nHowever, this one had a very nice ending that, in an RMT sort of way, kindly tied everything together. It\\''s nice to hear stories like this.\r\n\r\n- John Beal was cool.\r\n\r\n- I enjoyed the music in this. I truly love the music at the beginning of the first act, when Beal\\''s character is describing the mysterious stone. It has a wonderful both slightly sinister yet dreamy (in a reminiscing sort of way) quality. This same interlude was well used in a previous RMT: \\"The secret chamber.\\"\r\n\r\n- A lesser used but very menacing piano, marimba, piccolo and bassoon interlude is at the very end of the first act, when the man tells Beal\\''s character they\\''re relying on him to get them out of their situation (while Beal has no idea how he got into it). This was used, as I recall, at the end of an act of another episode, \\"The house on Chimney Pot Lane\\".\r\n\r\n- \\"The vampire plant\\", used quite frequently the strange sound (I don\\''t exactly know how they made this sound effect, though it appears to use an echo chamber) that they used when Beal\\''s character finally goes into the mist. (It\\''s not the humming noise...I\\''m not sure if I\\''d ever heard that before on the RMT, but it\\''s playing right underneath it.)\r\n\r\n- I love it when, during the aforementioned \\"into the mist\\" scene, Beal describes it as \\"like a disco\\". (Would have been funny if he\\''d have encountered John Travolta in a white leisure suit on the other side of that stone. &nbsp;Thanks for suggesting this...I\\''m glad to listen to it again.<br>', '2013-03-15 18:02:55', 1, 'f6553a465734a792368a11fffacad919', '112.200.20.61'),
(5429, '0314', 'episode', 'Mike in Grand Rapids', 'incident57@hotmail.com', 'This is one of the odder episodes - sounds like they switched reels in Act 2 to ???? - then back to the original story. Must be heard to be believed.\r\n\r\n\r\n', '2013-03-16 01:21:49', 1, '1898b00fcc05c427e30c9b2ae107f482', '144.160.5.25'),
(4581, '0983', 'episode', 'Jaymar Lacebal', '', 'I really enjoyed this one, very engrossing and entertaining, great escapism.', '2013-03-02 15:47:38', 1, '0c1c11e8888c3bbc3e833211212fd565', '112.200.20.61'),
(4582, '0983', 'episode', 'Laura', '', 'OK, I cheated a bit, I posted a one-liner so I could go back and read everyone else''s comments to gauge the thread.\r\n\r\nSince I have mentioned TZ a time or two already around here, I thought I''d lay low on that comparison, but, as a TZ lover also, the similarity in this episode is one reason I found it so riveting. For some reason, I can get picky with certain perceived absurdities in some of the episodes that have a "real world" base. But, because life in a TZ type world is intrinsically absurd, it didn''t bother me at all that gas, oil and groceries never disappear in Hanover Hills, etc.\r\n\r\nI loved the scene in the diner where the malcontent spouted off about how it sucks that, among other things, his kids never grow up!\r\n\r\nHere are comments I wholeheartedly second:\r\n\r\nAs is often the case in speculative fiction, immortality is not all it is cracked up to be. What is the value of life if we cannot grow and change and evolve?\r\n\r\n\r\n...when it was explained by E.G. Marshall how this kind of life disallows one from being able to look forward to new things, made me realize that maybe it wasn''t such a great thing afterall.\r\n\r\n\r\nI enjoyed the music in this.\r\n\r\n\r\nI love it when, during the aforementioned "into the mist" scene, Beal describes it as "like a disco". (Would have been funny if he''d have encountered John Travolta in a white leisure suit on the other side of that stone.\r\n\r\nVery good choice, Hamlet! I hadn''t heard this one before and I really enjoyed it. A solid 4+ episode.', '2013-03-03 16:53:50', 1, 'ee5806d2cf423bc949ac6fdf48bae2a0', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4583, '0983', 'episode', 'Tony D.', '', 'I would have to agree with the TZ comparison. Which I love.\r\n\r\nI was a little disappointed with the ending. Not from any fault of the show. I had recently listened to Journey Into Space and the whole time halting of time and the results of a return to normalcy, or earth in the case of JIS, were the same. Long winded way of saying "I saw it coming".\r\n\r\nAll in all a very good show. I was surprised when it neared the ending. Time had flown by for me also.', '2013-03-03 16:53:51', 1, '13c4a6eaa815e1d1404c8a2bada3c372', '112.200.20.61'),
(4584, '0983', 'episode', 'B. Belle', '', 'I really enjoyed the Journey Into Space shows, though it was somewhat laughable when they were trying so hard to be serious.\r\n\r\nBard, are you loving the Hitchhiker series? I assume it''s the BBC collection, right? That''s the series that stared me on this whole whacky, OTR thing! Hitchhiker is just wonderful!', '2013-03-03 16:53:52', 1, 'f19b2bc94e8de9c667a1b9be544b4dbc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4585, '0983', 'episode', 'Bard', '', 'I like Douglas Adam\\''s humor. I had read Hitchhiker\\''s Guide and I think maybe So Long And Thanks For All The Fish about 16 years ago. This series is as good as the book. In fact, it is laid out like the book with the alternation between dialogue and narration. Yep, Ima likin\\'' it<br>', '2013-03-03 16:54:24', 1, '44c984ddf9940e88eb04c6239552d81d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4586, '0983', 'episode', 'Sonny', '', 'I really enjoyed this episode. It was creepy and a story that captured me and brought me to that town. I liked the story line and was impressed the man who stepped into that town was able to bring it back to the future. My only complaint is that this story gave only a little of an explanation for why the town was stuck in the past. I have an active imagination and can come up with my own explanation, but I want to hear what the writer thought it was. What was that rock? What happened in the past to create that fissure and that rock? Just my questions!\r\n\r\nOverall, a good episode.', '2013-03-03 16:54:33', 1, '456e2d78b5ed4cfad40f974512e804f0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4587, '0983', 'episode', 'Liz', '', 'I\\''m thinking the \\"time freeze\\" was caused by the sort of thing that was often a tool of sci-fi in the 50s and early 60s -- failed nuclear experimentation. These people had been frozen since about 1950... a time when these kinds of stories were, including TZ, were popular.', '2013-03-15 00:37:08', 1, '1a9875dd948234dba7bbd661854e17e0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4588, '0983', 'episode', 'Gleason', '', 'I really liked this story. At first I thought that either everyone was dead or that Doug was dreaming. There were some things that confused me or that I thought weren''t really explained. For instance, what happened to all of the people on Doug''s train and why was he the only one that was left, not even the conductor? How/why did Doug and the train breach the curtain of time that day and never any other day? Are we supposed to think it was because his birthday was coming up and he was wishing time would slow down? If that were the case, then everyone would have visited Hanover Hills at some point.\r\n\r\nAlso, if time had frozen or was rewinding itself every day (like the store shelves being refilled), why did the people continue to remember from day to day and note what would have been the passage of normal time? Maybe I''ve watched too much Star Trek. I''m reminded of a scene in DS9 where O''Brien is working with his future (a few hours ahead) self to save the station and they''re trying to make sense of the whole time thing in terms of having memory of it and they both blurt out something like "I hate temporal mechanics." But this story was more "Twilight Zone" than "Star Trek." It had that whole "average guy being snapped up into the Zone to achieve some outcome" thing going.\r\n\r\nBut I did like the story a lot.', '2013-03-27 15:34:48', 1, 'dc940fca6dc74135897590190a838de9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4589, '0983', 'episode', 'Harry', '', 'ApplCinamn, I find that the problems you describe in this episode (which I remember well; I''ve heard it a couple of times) are pretty typical of the RMT''s forays into Twilight Zone-type stories. Too often a fantastically interesting situation is set up, only to have the story itself dissolve in contradictions and unresolved questions (try "A Holiday Visit," 12/25/80, for another example of this syndrome). Part of the issue was certainly the crazy rate at which scripts had to be written for the series, most of them originals, with only a very few writers--sloppiness in plotting could hardly help but creep in. Also, I''ve long felt that the three-act structure crippled a lot of the tales, forcing writers to find ways to fill time in a piece that would have worked better, and left fewer illogical and confused moments, if it had simply been shorter.\r\n\r\nBut you know what? I like "The Outsider," too--quite a lot, in fact. (And "A Holiday Visit," as well.)', '2013-03-03 16:54:41', 1, '18be3ac0756fb574270b6b5ab87a188d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4590, '0047', 'episode', 'Larry Peeps', '', 'First, did anyone else notice the dog? The dog makes his appearance infrequently, but at moments when things are amiss. Once when Mr. Bailey comes home after meeting Kessler and he tells the dog to \\"shut up!\\" Again when Bailey meets Mr. Bliss and Bailey says, \\"I\\''m trying to walk my dog who is being a non-performer.\\" Again when Bailey\\''s wife becomes tense, she tells him to \\"shut up!\\" and finally, toward the end after Kessler\\''s death when the dog stared at the door barking. Coincidentally, the dog\\''s name was Lockjaw.\r\n\r\nI doubt any of that means anything, but funny enough to note.\r\n\r\nSecond, This was among the first three episodes I\\''d heard when I re-discovered the RMT here. However, the outset of this program is so much like many, many other stories in which the character fails to see the obvious solution right in front of him: honesty.\r\n\r\nI kept thinking to myself, \\"Why wouldn\\''t you just come clean with your wife?\\" It would have rid him of the blackmailer, rid him of any guilt he had festering within, and would have put him in a more honest position in his marriage, giving his wife the respect she deserved in knowing the truth.\r\n\r\nI remember watching Three\\''s Company where Jack Tripper (John Ritter) would always find himself in the most ridiculous situations, which made watching the show dreadfully hard. If he\\''d just come clean up front it woud be done with.\r\n\r\nIt boggles me. Especially when Mr. Bailey begins to reason and plea with Kessler, giving him explanation. It was painful to listen to, and I mean from a critical viewpoint. Of course, the show must go on.\r\n\r\nThe episode really begins with the entrance of Mr. Bliss (?), who eventually reveals himself as the true \\"villain.\\" This is also where the writing turns from painful to masterful. And this is not only what saves the show, but makes the show as well.\r\n\r\nThere were many character flaws in this story which made the suspension of disbelief a little harder to raise. The fact that Kessler collected money in person instead of using a PO Box or something. The writer should have considered that. The chance that he would encounter confrontation was too great. Bliss could have still followed him and such, but the idea that Kessler was visiting at least 12 people monthly was a bit of a stretch.\r\n\r\nOther flaws, like Bailey cheating on his wife, was out of character itself. Suspending disbelief, it can be accepted, but this is a man who would not have been able to live with that guilt. A man who would not have been able to supress a mistake like that. Not a man who won a prize as a child for memorizing the Commandments and still adhered to them. Again, a bit of a stretch but within the realms of believable.\r\n\r\nBailey himself was an ironic character. He was an official in the transportation department and he used his car as the vehicle of death for Kessler. HA! Funny stuff!!\r\n\r\nAnd finally, the wife. If my spouse were making monthly payments to someone in person for reasons that were as vague as a Pollock painting, you can bet bean sprouts to bacon that I\\''d have been a bit more curious about it. Why she didn\\''t inquire about the transaction a little further was a question in my mind. Again, Bailey said it was for a car... coincidental that it in the end it was a car that killed the blackmailer, driven by an official in the transportation department (Sorry for repeating).\r\n\r\nLastly, the words of EG Marshall were especially humorous:\r\n\\"Welcome to the fear you can hear;\\" \\"It\\''s not your eyes we want, it\\''s your ears!;\\" and \\"Join us again to be an EARwitness\\"... yuk yuk...\r\n\r\nOverall, this was an enjoyable - if not dark humored - episode, and by suspending disbelief a little further than normal, and not questioning certain character flaws, it was a high-octane thrill-ride that blindsided me, only to rear-end me at the finish-line. I gave it a 4.4 on the scale.\r\n\r\nThank you once again for a great show! Best wishes!<br>', '2013-03-15 00:37:08', 1, 'd937a74f6e7eb649c1573cd42783373b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4591, '0047', 'episode', 'Gina', '', 'I listened to this program during the first few months of my re-awakening to the CBSRMT. I enjoyed it then and I think it may have even improved with a second listen. Though a bit predictable, Henry Slesar wrote an enjoyable tale of blackmail and intrigue. Call it odd, but I tend to like programs, such as "A Choice of Witnesses", where we find ourselves pulling for the lesser of two evils. Great pick!', '2013-03-15 00:37:09', 1, 'f9ac7cea767b2a9a1de6b1d86e278c15', '112.200.20.61'),
(4592, '0047', 'episode', 'Dennis G.', '', 'This was a pretty good episode. It could have been avoided if Mr. Bailey didn''t cheat on his wife in the first place, but what''s done is done. ops:\r\n\r\nWhat I was thinking was that when he finally told his wife, why didn''t he tell her the REST of the story? Not only that, but when Bailey told Bliss that he had told his wife, what made Bliss think he didn''t tell her all about him murdering the blackmailer, too? If Bailey DID tell his wife about Bliss, then Bliss killing Bailey would have accomplished very little.\r\n\r\n"Okay honey, now that I told you I bonked some hooker, there was a really bad man who had pictures of me bonking said hooker who was whacked by another schmoze he was blackmailing. Now that I have come clean with you, I''m going to narc on this other guy, okey dokey?"\r\n\r\nSee? That wasn''t that hard.\r\n\r\nI loved the dog. Good name; Lockjaw.', '2013-03-15 00:37:10', 1, '387c88ccf02e459b3a8fce1c34d518ed', '112.200.20.61'),
(4593, '0224', 'episode', 'M. Deterala', '', 'The twist at the end of this one was somewhat satisfying, however I found the rest of the play distasteful. It seems to have been conceived as a story about the infidelity of men (The father''s, as well as the implied infidelity of Barbara''s ex-husband) and that Anton was a metaphor for the father''s past indiscretion finally coming home to roost and damage his family. But the actual plotline of a rapist holding a houseful of women hostage with this magical power was just offensive---not to mention inaccurate. There is nothing in Greek mythology endowing satyrs with such a death-wishing power. It was obviously something invented by Ian Martin to keep all the other characters at this guy''s mercy. Weak. Really weak. Also, I thought that Barbara''s dialog was written in an idiom that was ridiculously anachronistic---even if she was a "modern" experienced woman, she still sounded far too modern for the Victorian age. I mean, come on..."Cushy?" "Ralph-the raper?" Badly written. Big thumbs down on this one.', '2013-03-15 00:37:11', 1, '01aa1cb43f6b21b218b448c435bdfaeb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4594, '0224', 'episode', 'Vlad', '', 'Yes, it was a bummer about Scout!\r\n\r\nI thought this one was going to be a bomb in the first act. It took forever to get going! Once it did, it built the tension nicely. Everybody seemed powerless against the guy, then the really great twist!\r\n\r\nAs Steve said, the women seemed a bit modern for the Victorian Age. I didn''t find anything offensive about the play and I try not to look for metaphors -- prefering just to hear a good story. This was a good story with horror, suspense, and a twist. Good for a 4.', '2013-03-15 00:37:12', 1, 'ef9a978637153d5e5d9da48d94b4e19c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4595, '0224', 'episode', 'Millie', '', 'I agreed that this one started out somewhat slow, but once the title character started delivering his \\"money shots\\" (I\\''m sorry to use what I know is a term for the pornography industry, but unfortunately that\\''s appropriate here) the tension shifted (for me) dramatically.\r\n\r\nThanks for calling my attention to \\"cushy\\", which according to dictionary.com didn\\''t start appearing in the American language until around WWI. It\\''s interesting that some of the other phrases Barbara used such as \\"peeping Tom\\" (which apparently originates from the (10th century?) legend of Lady Godiva, describing a lecherous man named Tom who allegedly was struck dead as he attempted to peer out his window at the naked noblewoman as she rode by) would have been known in Victorian times. Martin wrote some good scripts, but thanks for catching this flaw.\r\n\r\nAnd yet...\r\n\r\nI liked this story when I first heard it, but it grew on me even more when I heard it again and started thinking about both its content and when it aired (1975.)\r\n\r\nFirst of all, it might be easy to think of satyrs as lecherous but innocuous creatures, as dirty old men in cloven hooves. (Did you ever see the Disney animation of \\"Hercules\\" back in 1997? Danny DeVito played a satyr who was one of the GOOD guys...Hercules\\'' friend. Perfect voice for the part.)\r\n\r\nSatyrs, however, are not just limited to Greek mythology. In fact, they are referenced twice in some translations of the Old Testament chapter of Isaiah, when he said \\"satyrs will dance\\" on a certain land. By saying that, he meant that land would become desolate and dead for human habitation, and indeed, prophecy was apparently fulfilled though I\\''d have to look up what land he was referring to.) Lasciviousness by itself isn\\''t a virtue, but apparently in the Bible (elements of which were used so heavily in earlier RMT episodes) \\"satyrs\\" (and there\\''s no doubt in my mind about which side of the ground \\"Anton Gitano\\" and his ilk live) carried a far more sinister connotation.\r\n\r\nThe biblical elements I so often seemed to hear in the RMT was \\"sin = death\\". In one of the most depressing episodes (to me) of the RMT entitled \\"Out of focus\\", a beautiful succubus directly quotes \\"the wages of sin (is death)\\" to her not-so-innocent victim.\r\n\r\nOriginally I thought the episode was slightly heavy handed, but...again...it was aired in 1975, and with that in mind, I think Martin was making this episode about:\r\n\r\n-Divorce, and the unintended consequences of this sin - Steve, despite any implied infidelities of Barbara\\''s ex-husband, I got the feeling that she was the one who may have had just as much if not more of a hand in initiating it. E.G.\\''s comments at the end of the show seemed to imply she had a lot to learn about marriage.\r\n\r\nI think Martin was trying to suggest that people who engage in divorce can open themselves up to sins and consequences they had no clue to expect. He wrote this play in or before 1975, when we apparently began to see the effects of \\"no-fault\\" divorce which itself mushroomed as a by product of the so-called \\"sexual revolution\\" in the previous decade. I know there have been people here who\\''ve been affected by divorce and I\\''m not trying to insult or condone them. I just know that my wife\\''s parents were split by a so-called \\"no-fault\\" style divorce (initiated by her mother) and 20 plus years later her now grown siblings and she (and their children) are STILL feeling horrible aftereffects of it.\r\n\r\nThe reason this play seemed slightly \\"heavy-handed\\" to me was because we (or at least many of us) now know what horrendous things divorce can open the door to. Yet back then 29 years ago, though, we as a society were just beginning to collectively learn these side effects as D-I-V-O-R-C-E no longer became a \\"dirty\\" word.\r\n\r\nWho, after poor Millie, Scout and that barn owl gets to suffer the most due to \\"Anton\\''s\\" presence? Barbara, the one who (at first) didn\\''t seem to think that she had sinned in getting a divorce.\r\n\r\n-Absentee fathers, and effects on their sons - When he lets his guard down, Anton shows himself to be a bitter, angry, self-centered man, instead of just being a self-centered one. What did he say: \\"I have no father.\\"\r\n\r\nObviously, his war-hero father (or whomever) was never around to show him such things as the meaning of true love, of sacrifice, of living for things bigger than one\\''s self, and how to treat the fairer sex. Obviously, he never gave him even respect for life.\r\n\r\n-Families, and why a family unit is so important. (And believe me, I know we unfortunately can\\''t all have one in this fallen world, as I lost my Dad at age 15 when I really (though I didn\\''t know it at the time) needed him most.)\r\n\r\nSo often, we refer to the Victorian times as a stuffy era that we\\''d never want to go back to. Indeed, we can\\''t, and there are good reasons...but some things from that era weren\\''t bad, either.\r\n\r\nOne of them, at least as seen by Martin, was the importance of the family unit. It was interesting to me, for example, how Barbara seemed to be rebelling from it, not only by divorcing her husband but by not calling her parents \\"mama\\" or \\"papa\\" until after being confronted directly by evil. Or how she started trying to protect her little sister by that time, where previously (to a degree) she\\''d been poisoning her with her (Barbara\\''s) views on men and marriage.\r\n\r\n-The dangers of bitterness (or \\"unforgiveness\\") and the all-consuming desire for revenge. It\\''s been said that harboring bitterness (again, warned against in the Bible, mainly because of its effects on those who harbor bitterness) is like drinking rat poison and expecting the rat to die.\r\n\r\nAnton\\''s mother harbored bitterness. And she apparently wanted revenge. Were he not such a character utterly lacking in any need for sympathy it would be tempting for me to say \\"poor fool\\"...because he NEVER KNEW why his mother (who was supposed to nurture and protect him...see \\"families\\" above) sent him (albeit unknowingly) to...well, end up experiencing the plot twist.\r\n\r\n-The sin of \\"lasciviousness\\". As I said, some might think a satyr, if indeed he was the epitome of this sin, would be no more dangerous than Arte Johnson\\''s doddering old lecher in the old Laugh-in TV show.\r\n\r\nNot so, given the fact that sin does indeed equal death.\r\n\r\nA true satyr, by definition, could not be satisfied. And (from everything I see) would sooner or later (and probably quite frequently) show his true colors in the way that Anton did with Millie the maid. (And note how even though she was \\"cheeky\\" in a pleasant sort of way she wanted to preserve her virtue. Remember Satan and his one-track mind in the episode \\"The fall of Gentryville.\\"?) What was it Anton said to Millie about virtuous women: \\"They\\''re the best sort\\", then made that immature yet sinister snickering after she left the room?)\r\n\r\n-The dangers of keeping certain secrets from those you love. Some things, perhaps, a spouse might not always have to tell if they\\''ve done them prior to marriage. Others, though, need to come out. Like when said secrets are coming to live at one\\''s house for purposes unknown. Or why you\\''re being SENT to live at the house of a family whom you\\''ve never met.\r\n\r\nI\\''m sure I\\''ll think of some other points I\\''ve missed later. I would have given this a \\"4\\", but knowing the message I believe Martin was trying to say for the time this program was created I give it a \\"5\\".\r\n\r\nAnd yes indeed, poor Scout, and that barn owl, and especially poor cheeky little Millie.<br>', '2013-06-19 23:08:59', 1, 'bfe04d3fd8b96f5d7480dc2988511e62', '112.200.20.61'),
(4673, '1116', 'episode', 'P. Alice', '', 'This is CBSRMT at its most comic-bookish; illogical, garish, deliriously over-the-top, and pure pleasure to listen to. Hey, you gotta hand it to ''em!\r\n\r\nThe fact that logic doesn''t play much role here is illustrated by the way in which our hero gets his new hand. Did it cross anyone''s mind that hacking off a dead guy''s hand and sewing it onto somebody else might be the teensiest bit illegal? No matter. The psychobabble in the third act, designed to provide a "logical" ending, is similarly, well...suspect.\r\n\r\n"Hand in Glove" is a great reminder that Himan Brown''s best-known OTR credit from earlier days was INNER SANCTUM, a show which ran endless stories like this. I loved the way that the spirit medium showed up for no real reason whatever (the character could have simply decided to take a cruise to try to relax and forget his troubles!). And the little siren-alarms that the people carried around sounded, I swear, exactly like New Year''s Eve party favors. It truly doesn''t get any better than that.\r\n\r\nCreepy-hand stories have a long tradition, going back at least to Maupassant''s famed tale "The Hand" and moving right through Hollywood''s Golden Age, with movies like THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS. "Hand in Glove" doesn''t really add anything to the tradition, but it provided some of the best fun I''ve had with the RMT in quite awhile.\r\n\r\nI say let''s give ''em a hand!\r\n\r\nA GREAT BIG hand!', '2013-03-06 01:43:26', 1, 'e4ef718a0ea4dfb850880848962e76e4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4597, '0224', 'episode', 'Norman', '', 'This episode has to be the one with the most bizarre plot progression I\\''ve heard to date. Initially, it was not very alluring. Fairly happy family meets new guest who seems to good to be true. But, as in a previous episode, perhaps EG Marshall\\''s words of \\"too true to be good\\" are more appreciable here.\r\n\r\nI really enjoyed the show. This fellow Antoine was a real bugger, to say the least. I didn\\''t like him from his initial introduction. However, I had no idea what was around the corner.\r\n\r\nOne thing that was a relief in this episode, was the whole \\"family\\" dynamic they shared. That the daughter went to her father and trusted him enough to disclose such disgraceful goings-on.\r\n\r\nMuch like the blackmailer in another recent episode, this was a cancer that could easily have been done away with if the right measures were to be addressed. In this case, it was obvious that they needed to dispense with this character and quickly.\r\n\r\nI felt bad for three characters in the show. The Owl, The dog Scout, and - Antoine\\''s mother! It seems to me that the father\\''s \\"sin\\" with her was the actual root of this whole mess, and had he dealt with her more appropriately and respectfully, perhaps this event may never have risen.\r\n\r\nBut, he who is without should cast first, right? &nbsp;Everything was above average for an RMT show.<br>', '2013-03-15 17:59:39', 1, 'fcf4a9678568ee4511d53dbb0096b63c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4598, '0224', 'episode', 'Fritzie', '', 'Thanks for putting so much thoughtful consideration into your writing. As one who tends to run on around here, it is nice to read such a hearty presentation.\r\n\r\nYour review really opened my eyes a bit more. While I think production/acting/presentation of the show were worthy of a higher rating, I applaud your candor and respect your position on being offended. I think the idea had slipped right by me. It''s refreshing when someone can have a point of view that enlightens me. Or, as UNT might say, "when someone slams a show." Thanks!\r\n\r\nI guess, for me, I didn''t get too involved in the family. Though they were fairly well developed, there wasn''t much warmth coming from them. They weren''t exactly cold, either though. And let''s just say it is hard to relate to or identify with or even sympathize with anyone who is luke-warm.\r\n\r\nAnd I wonder if that may have been part of the intention of the writer? To create a family that is somewhat snooty and satisfied with their position, despite its obvious bruises, that the coming of the Death Wisher was meant simply to shake their foundation and awaken their sense of vulnerability. Perhaps, too, it could have been a reminder for the audience as well. Perhaps again, I am rambling and the writer was eating a tuna sandwich when he wrote it! Who knows!\r\n\r\nAnd yes, a total bummer about Scout.', '2013-03-02 15:48:10', 1, '74b5ee88c5c3b45580c3d7501667c957', '112.200.20.61'),
(4599, '0224', 'episode', 'Jeff Lindsey Oliver', '', 'You know, if I were going to try and place bets on one metaphor, allegory, comparison, lesson, whatever that Ian Martin was trying to make with this show, I''d be willing to place money that he was trying to show, in a very interesting way (which was a delayed reaction with me) the effects of the aforementioned "sexual revolution" of the 60s. Remember, we were just starting to intensely experience the aftereffects (which are, sadly, lingering with us today) of it around the time of this play''s original airing.\r\n\r\nBut I''m not a betting man, and that''s probably for the best.', '2013-03-02 15:48:15', 1, '8ae70fc62f63f1349a30ccb38beb860f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4600, '0224', 'episode', 'C. Osborne', '', 'Hmmmm.....I still liked this story better when it was "Wuthering Heights".', '2013-03-02 15:48:20', 1, '36e67ad4e79a7f015f4d68ea29eb4b22', '112.200.20.61'),
(4601, '0224', 'episode', 'D. Garbo', '', 'I always appreciate that you pull no punches in your reviews.\r\n\r\nIn the earliest days of the band "Alice Cooper" (who, in a strange way, were contemporaries of the RMT in the mid-70s) it was said that the late musician Frank Zappa was impressed when he went to one of their shows and everyone but he walked out of the auditorium in mid-performance.\r\n\r\nHe was convinced that a band which could evoke that much of a reaction had something going for it. Guess this show''s somewhat the same, IMO.', '2013-03-02 15:48:25', 1, '59dac4c8195d63e6edfed0b947acdaad', '112.200.20.61'),
(4602, '0224', 'episode', 'D. Lamit', '', 'Well, actually, I listened to the whole thing, so I guess that''s not really the equivalent of walking out of the auditorium. Anyway, what the hey! Everyone else liked it. Thanks for an interesting show choice. I definitely enjoy just listening to what I consider good stories and not looking for metaphors. But I also very much enjoy analyzing all kinds of stories and their subtexts---even if I don''t like ''em so much! Thanks for enduring my opinions/insights.', '2013-06-19 23:09:05', 1, 'f90823981408c6319841d7f2b1ee3e43', '112.200.20.61'),
(4603, '0224', 'episode', 'Dwight Cetera', '', 'This was a strangely written one. I completely forgot it was supposed to be set in Victorian times because Barbara''s speech was too modern. It could just as easily have been set a century later in a conservative town in the countryside.\r\n\r\nI did guess at the twist of Anton being the son at the point when the father was saying he couldn''t tell him to leave because he had to repay a debt. I thought only a father''s guilt would have compelled him to keep around the guy his family begged him to throw out.\r\n\r\nWhat a nice surprise to hear at the end that Anton was played by the late Michael Zaslow, who won an Emmy for playing a character not too far removed from Anton, the unforgettable Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light. Both actor and character are still missed.', '2013-03-15 00:37:12', 1, '85e7ff273c334792df2bbdbbd3d1f979', '112.200.20.61'),
(4604, '0315', 'episode', 'Franc N.', '', '...and I love this one.\r\n\r\nFirst question: I wonder if "Anton Kryzewski" was supposed to be a knockoff of "Roman Polanski"?', '2013-03-15 00:37:13', 1, '02acec4b6f9fd5743f1e096435a484f9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4605, '0315', 'episode', 'Jerby', '', 'According to Anton, Jennifer''s "insolence" and "beauty" made her perfect for the part. Were these the same qualities that Polanski saw in his nubiles?', '2013-03-15 00:37:14', 1, '865204cf8feb390f8726030ca10dc672', '112.200.20.61'),
(4606, '0315', 'episode', 'Lar', '', ' "Claude Hooper Bukowski\r\nFinds that it''s groovy\r\nTo hide in a movie\r\nPretends he''s Fellini\r\nAnd Antonioni\r\nAnd also his countryman "Anton Kryzewski"\r\nAll rolled into one\r\nOne Claud Hooper Bukowski..."', '2013-03-27 15:36:58', 1, '427692f29eb83afed13b3b6c01cecccd', '112.200.20.61'),
(4607, '0315', 'episode', 'Marc T.', '', ' "I''m no expert, but don''t most suicides leave a note?", asks Lawrence, Jennifer''s husband, over coffee in a restaurant to private investigator Jones. "No, not all of them," replies Jones, "but more do than don''t." \r\n\r\nThis little fact, which seems plausible, is very important because it increases Lawrence''s (and our) suspicions. But is it true?\r\n\r\nI located one (old) reference at a CDC webpage to the rate of suicides that leave notes.  \r\nA 1963 study shows "... only about one third of persons who commit suicide leave such notes."\r\n\r\nSometimes fact-checking diminishes my enjoyment of these stories but in doing so I always learn something. Overall, a very good episode.', '2013-03-27 15:35:00', 1, '1cdcddaeb8eef86541d60e6b01111057', '112.200.20.61'),
(4608, '0315', 'episode', 'Lamont', '', 'It was a good episode, but no Rosemary''s baby. The acting was good. I guessed the twist.', '2013-03-15 00:37:16', 1, '0be87b1e88d7d0f8d215eb87c7cbefc0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4609, '0315', 'episode', 'Elli Isaac', '', 'Good episode, although I wasn\\''t sure why the coven would wait so long to get rid of Jenny when they felt she had betrayed them. They did away with the other woman quickly. It also seemed strange that the ex-boyfriend went to the trouble of hiring the p.i. yet was pretty much out of the action.', '2013-03-15 00:37:17', 1, '82956b35e391fd84edbeee9d8adee7c6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4610, '0060', 'episode', 'Thomas', 'thomas9@dslextreme.com', 'One of the lesser episodes. No scares. No suspense. Just three old biddies chit-chatting about this and that, with a tepid ghost occasionally dropping by. \r\n\r\nSo old-fashioned. It felt like it was done in the 1940s, not 1970s. I could almost see the ghost''s ascot and pencil mustache. ', '2013-03-15 00:37:24', 1, '4d4fede8ee10ee6e413c9a5b8368f7a3', '71.165.54.46'),
(4611, '1339', 'episode', 'Nancy Cassidy', '', 'the poor quality of this program really took away from the potential intensity this program could have offered.\r\n\r\nas for the show, while it was not a mystery by any means, i found it to be a wonderful study of the actors themselves. everyone involved was in such unique and often disturbing roles. the story lured me in immediately, though i was left feeling a bit cheated at the end with a quick-way-out ending. i shouldn''t complain as they fit all the drama they did into a 45 minute program.\r\n\r\nbut for me, the most alluring character was Dryden''s. salty and honest, yet, morally exhausted. the one person a boxer should be able to be cornered by and succumb to seemingly had no control over the fate his "boy" was falling into, let alone the fate of himself.\r\n\r\nthis was a tragic tale on many levels. there was a deep current of pain and fear to the extreme that flowed below the surface, as for me, i kept finding myself thinking, "what an arse!" or "why don''t you just leave him then?" only to be left with little resolve.\r\n\r\neven though the ending became a somewhat "happy" ending of sorts, it just seemed to me there was an anvil hanging over all the characters and not one person was responsible for another.\r\n\r\nand i think this kind of theme runs over into real life as well. whether work, friends, or family, even the most respectible, high profile figures are finding loopholes in simply taking responsibility for their own actions and leaving it all up to the lawyers to deal with. the media-created role models of our culture are teaching our youth that it is okay to bully, ignore, or take advantage of, because you can always "get off."\r\n\r\nGwynne''s character, in the end, was not let off, but rather shaken down in a last minute breath which offered for me, at least a moments sigh of relief.\r\n\r\ni rated the show itself a 3.8, but the quality of the file was just lousy and i apologize for that.', '2013-03-15 00:37:27', 1, '50b1aa68ed4b305a8b466b29194cfbdf', '112.200.20.61'),
(4612, '1339', 'episode', 'Robbie', '', 'Yeah, it took us back to the old AM radio days, didn''t it? (Did you, like me, keep hearing the static bursts and think: "Man, there''s a lightning storm around here somewhere.")\r\n\r\nThis show reminded me very much of an earlier RMT classic starring Marian Seldes (and William Redfield, I think) called "Killer''s appointment". In that show she played a loving fiance who took the rap for her crooked accountant husband-to-be''s white collar crime. She rotted in prison, he married and pretty much forgot about her, and her anger and desire for revenge boiled like a pot of hot water.\r\n\r\nThere were some strong similarities between these two shows. For a 1982 RMT (I hate saying that) I really enjoyed it.', '2013-03-15 00:37:27', 1, '91120517a98312ca724277e8858e73aa', '112.200.20.61'),
(4613, '1339', 'episode', 'Natasha', '', 'It was difficult to listen to this due to the poor quality of sound but it was a pretty good story for the most part. Fred Gwynne did a great job of portraying a character that you really loved to hate. A real nasty, mean spirited type that you wanted to see get his block knocked off.\r\n\r\nWhat I didn''t much care for was the credibility of Gwynne''s profession. It just wasn''t believable to me for him to be an up-and-coming heavyweight boxer on the verge of winning the championship. As much as I love to listen to him on the radio, he definitely sounds too old to pass for someone that''s in a sport where the athletes have peaked physically in their twenties. I also found it odd the reaction of his trainer towards him after he beat up his daughter earlier in the story - the old man was just a little bit too mellow for my liking.\r\n\r\nOverall, not a bad show (except for the quality of the sound) and I would listen to it again - which automatically gets a 3 from me if I find myself coming back to it at a later date.', '2013-03-15 00:37:27', 1, 'ef4b65f5a53ac35d177563b2ae370c17', '112.200.20.61'),
(4614, '1339', 'episode', 'Joey Dona', '', '“A Most Dangerous Animalâ€ is a solid hit. Fred Gwynne plays a very effective bully. I have heard this fine actor in several CBSRMT’s where he plays the heavy very well. Prior to the CBSRMT my only exposure to Mr. Gwynne was as Herman Munster…heavy in body mass only, otherwise a gentle soul. The story here maintained itself well and had an enjoyable resolution.', '2013-03-15 00:37:29', 1, 'fffabc7c90874778056720e71a7948dc', '112.200.20.61'),
(5252, '0848', 'episode', 'Lady Crystal Palafox', '', 'One of the best RMT\\''s I\\''ve ever heard. A very sad, haunting, and insightful tale about the moral ambiguities of war, and about loss of innocence---about how war destroys lives . . . one way or another. The fishing scene with the body is an especially brilliant piece of writing, an eerie and compelling piece of foreshadowing that encompasses the themes of the story in one beautifully simple stroke. This is a gem of a short story and makes a terrific Mystery Theater play.\r\n\r\n\r\nPS: I actually don\\''t think the ending is supposed to be a big mystery. Maybe just a little bit at first. But the fact that it begins to dawn on us pretty quickly what\\''s going on, I think, actually creates a certain tension as we move toward the end of the story, as well as evoking a terrible poignancy. A great and skillful piece of writing.<br>', '2013-03-25 21:44:30', 1, 'd185396bf5c6b83e597d0649c251524e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4616, '1339', 'episode', 'Crissie', '', 'Natasha wrote: "I also found it odd the reaction of his trainer towards him after he beat up his daughter earlier in the story - the old man was just a little bit too mellow for my liking.".......................................... ...............................This does stand out as odd. I can surmise two possible explainations: 1) He is punch drunk , or 2) He is incredibly wise and thus able to mollify his rage in knowing Tiger will eventually get his dues.', '2013-03-15 00:37:29', 1, '57257fb7ae8c9c4611ae99577967048d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4617, '1339', 'episode', 'B. Adoremos', '', 'I thought this was a very good show.\r\nDryden was terrific.', '2013-03-15 00:37:22', 1, '422b941a17fbe9d870f380fc65d48615', '112.200.20.61'),
(4618, '0194', 'episode', 'Marlon R.', '', 'First thing I remember about this is the "Hawai''ian" music bed, playing as Paul Hecht''s character is talking with the (formerly nekkid) lady. It''s the same music bed used in a 1974 RMT, also set in the Aloha State, called "Wave of terror".\r\n\r\nThis show is...quite interesting. With a necklace of radioactive pearls there could have been some additional suspense added. (I''m thinking of an episode of Micheal Douglas'' (as a pup) old "The streets of San Francisco" detective show with Karl Malden entitled The 24 karat plague.)\r\n\r\nIn that episode, Anthony Zerbe played an ill-fated fence who was hoodwinked into melting down a cargo of stolen gold, without being told what he was being exposed to were in fact trailings of a highly radioactive gold isotope which was a byproduct from a nuclear reactor.\r\n\r\nAfter seeing that TV show this episode plot seems kind of tame, but I especially liked Paul Hecht''s acting job in the play.', '2013-03-15 00:37:24', 1, '779a0ef694e0835c27b8f78825eec4d7', '112.200.20.61'),
(5521, '0061', 'episode', 'Gregory Hupp', '', 'i thought this was a good detective story. acting was pretty good. julie numar was probably the weak link. was she the catwoman on the 60s batman show? i was taken in by the detective''s feet burning.\r\n\r\nhow about the guy who''s feet were first burned? Tim Burns!', '2013-03-20 00:34:28', 1, '5d712be033c7d4246fb235bc23f4502e', '112.200.20.61'),
(5524, '0006', 'episode', 'K. Mullins', '', '“Our mystery drama, ‘ Honeymoon with death’ was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Sam Dann.\r\n\r\nThe story line, particularly the mystery, is clever. Some of the “howsâ€ add doubt to poor Jennifer’s story- the wet tub that is dry, the corpse and blood that is not there. The solution is OK, and works because Jennifer is perpetually hysterical. Fortunately she meets up with a police officer that likes the pleading type...or so it seems. This may seem rather a hard view of our suffering lady in light of the fact that she was married and as far as she can tell saw her husband done in. It is a personal thing. Her nasally, about to cry or breakdown voice gets to me. In radio, the voice must carry emotions in such a way that conveys them alone, no physical cues. Our pathetic Jennifer has the emotions poured in and overflowed. And they tend to be pretty much the same emotions...â€ooooh ooohâ€, etc. I also thought officer Ted tried to be cute with some Columbo like lines, “ Hey, you do have a red sports carâ€....just thought you would like to know you have a 1000 miles more on it than you said, just thought you might like to knowâ€. This was the second or third listening of this episode, I did enjoy them more with the previous listenings. It’s not a bad episode overall, and the creepy Howard and Margaret help quite a bit. If it weren’t for all that whinning.', '2013-03-20 00:36:33', 1, 'e808a9f9fdb8f5b2f76256b691f76ccc', '112.200.20.61'),
(5523, '0006', 'episode', 'Gabe', '', 'I think this story is intriguing enough to warrant a listen and since I selected it, I hope all of you find some entertainment from it as well.\r\n\r\nJennifer Brady and her "husband", Howard, have recently returned from a honeymoon. Before long, it''s apparent that Jennifer is suffering from perceived delusions. Her sister, Maggie, is concerned and offers assistance when a flatfoot happens upon the scene. The policeman, Ed Helmut, has a bit of "Columbo" in him and before long, he asks the right questions and annoys the story''s antagonists. Soon, the young policeman couples the answers to his questions with some cunning intelligence to get to the bottom of the story.\r\n\r\nThis play is interesting in that, from the perspective of Jennifer Brady, it must be very confusing to have everything you''ve thought to be true come into question - to find that everything you see or experience is a figment of your imagination and that others think you are insane. The acting in this play is on par with the excellence we all appreciate in a CBSRMT presentation. Though I didn''t hear any significant morals in this play, I was entertained by the writing and think this is a good RMT presentation for someone new to the series.', '2013-03-20 00:36:04', 1, 'a9f77042bdf9fe99a59d5a0479334724', '112.200.20.61'),
(4627, '0194', 'episode', 'R. Crenshaw', '', 'This has got to be the best quality encode that I\\''ve ever heard from the Mystery Theater archives! Was this taken from one of those mid-90\\''s rebroadcasts? I couldn\\''t really tell if it was in stereo or not, but the sound quality was first-rate.\r\nParticularly fine performance from E.G. Marshall. Until his closing remarks, I was kind of disappointed in the ending of the tale. His narration put everything in context for me. The point was not \\''whodunnit\\'' anymore, or solving the mystery, but something more profound. Sophisticated story.<br>', '2013-03-20 00:32:55', 1, '93bf97cb5e4ce26faa497ec401f3aab4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4629, '0194', 'episode', 'Lymuel F.', '', 'This was a fairly well-done story of a lightweight, throwaway sort. Two aspects stood out for me.\r\n\r\nFirst, I was delighted to hear in the role of Nora Babcock the great Kate Reid---a really marvelous Canadian stage actress. I\\''d had no idea she ever appeared in RMT, and indeed, according to my guidebook, this was her only episode. A couple of years prior to this she\\''d been in a very fine film of Edward Albee\\''s play A DELICATE BALANCE, with Katharine Hepburn; a few years later she would play Willy Loman\\''s wife Linda in the Dustin Hoffman film of DEATH OF A SALESMAN. A wonderful actress with a most distinctive voice, perfect for radio. I wish she\\''d done more.\r\n\r\nThe other aspect that stood out was the fact that this was the second episode in a row to feature a woman in her birthday suit.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-22 16:45:26', 1, '3bb88476e07ef58d98c6e378da3edae6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4630, '0194', 'episode', 'Anro', '', 'Using lines that we have been introduced to before, the “Deadly Pearlsâ€ unloads upon the listener 3 philosophers, or at least “philosophies“, as E.G. puts it. These “thinkersâ€ are to take us away from the existence we have, “the humdrum livesâ€, to a road of adventure! Thus by derivation of their “eccentricâ€ characters; namely, off center persona’s , we have a thus-described “brainless blondeâ€ who is found nude and oblivious…..promising much with her lack of scruples, a colonel who ''By George'' is British, and lastly a spinster who defines existence by Astrology. These characters are neither unique, eccentric, nor are they to prove puzzling. We the listeners know intuitively, nay instinctively, from so much past experience of such banal nonsense, that Miss Barbara Walsh will let down her fraudulent indifference and offer her well exposed goods to our P.I……â€What do you think of my pad?â€….â€You said you would show them to me!â€……Even our arthritic little old lady Nora becomes suggestive, “ I love to feel them in my hands…“I take them to bed with meâ€. These nocturnal adventures must be what E.G. was referring to initially, and certainly they are highlighted by our boring colonel shooting boar at 3AM.\r\n\r\nAhhh…it all comes down to the deadly pearls. Forget the well-worn red herring , without support, reason or explanation, of the push down the cliff or the poisoning by the astrologer based on conflicting signs. “Deadly Pearlsâ€, like “Ghosts at High Noonâ€, features many of the worst aspects of Elizabeth Pennell’s’ writing style. --No coincidence of title with the soon to be cancer ridden Carr who produced a painful novel bespeaking his end of vitality and loss of literary power with a similar titled novel--. Our protagonist is largely sidelined to experiencing over worn characters. Pennell seems more interested in creating a bank account than a story, much in contrast to her fascinating “Stairway to Oblivionâ€.\r\n\r\n“The Deadly Pearlsâ€ is not a mystery, it is not a puzzle. It is a focus on titillation as means to save or justify listening to a program for an hour. The “mysteryâ€ is padded beyond Miss Walsh’s obvious atributes.', '2013-03-20 00:33:02', 1, '1385f55544234d72f2462acf06fff395', '112.200.20.61'),
(4631, '0194', 'episode', 'Rhody', '', '\\"nekkid ladies month\\" is unintentional. perhaps one of our female members might recommend a hearty \\"nekkid men\\''s\\" episode, just to keep things balanced. as of now, i have yet to come across one... whew!\r\n\r\nas always, a wonderful analysis and perspective! i love the comment regarding the \\"nocturnal adventures.\\" nice.\r\n\r\nall the feedback is fantastic and i for one, am grateful for all the participation!<br>', '2013-03-22 16:45:27', 1, 'd8070ae4757f07237cc22a7463debd44', '112.200.20.61'),
(4632, '0194', 'episode', 'Jesty', '', 'I can think of an episdode with (implied)nude men, or certainly, at least compromised! It is a true horror story, though I think it has been reviewed already; "The Deadly Hour"', '2013-03-20 00:33:05', 1, '256350e23a0210dd237c418b5bff1163', '112.200.20.61'),
(4633, '0194', 'episode', 'G.N.', '', 'I can think of another episode with a nude man. It was the program "The secret sharer" based upon a Joseph ("Heart of Darkness", the novel which inspired in part the movie "Apocalypse now") Conrad story.\r\n\r\nMandel Kramer was the nude guy swimming off the bow of a military ship, and was brought in by the captain of the vessel (Norman Rose, I think) as a secret stowaway that he kept in his cabin (fully clothed, fortunately).', '2013-03-20 00:33:09', 1, '6567f561d04e5dd9bfc537613d73495f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4634, '0194', 'episode', 'Lanzuel', '', '"Mandel Kramer was the nude guy swimming off the bow of a military ship, and was brought in by the captain of the vessel (Norman Rose, I think) as a secret stowaway that he kept in his cabin (fully clothed, fortunately). ''\r\n\r\nWell, Norman Rose responded much more sensuously in "The Deadly Hour"...to the point that the story became doubly horrific!', '2013-03-20 00:33:12', 1, '2d2ae4e4dbc4b8a41b06eb242548727b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4635, '0857', 'episode', 'Nomar P.', '', 'Well, this was certainly a fun episode, and an improvement over the last couple of (which I listened to but couldn\\''t think of anything to say about). As with so many RMTs, the Twilight Zone influence is clear in this story, and I found myself trying to guess which Twilight Zone ending they were going to borrow from. At first I thought it would turn out he was dead and on his way to heaven or hell---in Act 1 Polly says something like, \\"You look dead on your feet,\\" which I suspected was a, well, dead giveaway. I also guessed that he might be locked in some sort of eternally replaying nightmare. But the real resolution was more creative and more thought-provoking, even if it seemed a bit tacked-on---we needed to know more about our brilliant physicist\\''s mental magnificence throughout the story to really make the \\"knowledge\\" idea hit home, I think. Still, I certainly never guessed where we would be in that last scene, and with whom.\r\n\r\nPedantic note: the opening credits indicate that the episode was written by that most prolific of tale-spinners Sam Dann, not the nearly-as-prolifically-spinning Ian Martin.\r\n\r\nI mentioned this a long time ago, but I\\''ll say here again that Sam Dann wrote a couple of novels back in the 1970s and \\''80s that are worth searching out on the Internet. One, \\"Goodbye, Karl Erich,\\" has as its basis the RMT episode of the same name (though the book itself never acknowledges this).\r\n\r\nAnyway, I found \\"Good Times Express\\" a very engaging show, prime CBSRMT.<br>', '2013-03-27 15:13:25', 1, 'ea33dcf96d423c7ca1d2bee802e309ec', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4636, '0857', 'episode', 'Guillian James', '', 'for me, i think the basis of this show is the main character\\''s inability to make a moral decision despite the obvious consequences of his actions. for example, he designs a children\\''s game that promotes global annihilation? yikes! and in the end, despite knowing the rule of the apple in Eden, he decides to indulge... or so we are led to believe.\r\n\r\nthe whole redirection of \\"knowledge\\" seemed more of a device to keep the story going than it did as an integral part of what was going on, though Dann certainly kept it all tied together wonderfully.\r\n\r\nthere were a lot of themes at play here, ranging from ethics and morals, to psychology and sanity, to even the theme of death, which is said or implied throughout the show. &nbsp;overall, i really enjoyed this one. it was a quick listen that moved along at a good pace and held me til the very end. i especially like when an episode has some moral dilemma at its core and this one delivered that in full.<br>', '2013-03-22 16:46:38', 1, '4baf0452d8f2704aad9456a2296c80f1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4637, '0857', 'episode', 'Manny B.', '', 'To me, this show boils down to a phrase I\\''ve heard more than once, in reply to a question:\r\n\r\nQuote:\r\nQ: \\"Would you ever go back in time to your teenage/childhood years?\\"\r\nA: \\"Only if I could take the wisdom I\\''ve gained as a mature adult back with me.\\"\r\nThere was an episode that dealt with this subject ...it involved Mercedes McCambridge as a woman who had the chance not to steal some money (which she had, and had messed up her life) and was given a second chance...which she messed up again.\r\n\r\nThis OTR, however, goes back to The ultimate mistake...another RMT reference to the Christian Bible. And...it was predictable. (I liked the touch of the train whistle in the background as Ralph Bell\\''s surveying his final destination.)<br>', '2013-03-22 16:47:35', 1, 'bb2b63d26feb00a763f26f81f35c39da', '112.200.20.61'),
(4638, '0857', 'episode', 'T. Woodrow', '', 'a terrific show. just getting re-acclamated. great script, effects, twists and turns in the story. and that voice of eg marshall. wow - its like im a ten year old kid again!\r\n\r\nthanks for setting this up.', '2013-03-22 16:46:50', 1, 'fcd9bee8a5311460a880cd2301f4cc5d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4639, '0857', 'episode', 'Harry', '', 'An interesting tale that collapses under its own whimsical weight, “The Good Times Expressâ€ keeps the listener wondering to the bitter end. The provender of a crab apple?. Neglecting here to prune beyond the teeniest tendrils of meaning, substance and consistency, the tale grows wild. What sustains us is the mystery. Our imagination is nourished with the hope (expectation) of deriving some order from this tale. Just what is developing here? At root, in the end, we discover, and this is most pervasive since it is discovered and not told, (or is it?) that men and women will do what the want and be blinded by it. Did not Polly-2, Meliphisant, deny the oncoming ugliness of WW2 for the sake of living out her Shangri-La fantasy of 1937? Did not Max 2, the historian, focalize the greatest meaning to American history as a disgruntled citizen and historian? I do not begrudge the characters their decisions….in fact they make sense for what we know of them. However, our scientifically minded physicist entertains a fantasy that can not hold up to the barest of inspection. Surely he has a more fertile mind! This is manifest whether or not one takes the Adam and Eve-Garden of Eden scenario as fact or myth. In either case the story becomes unsustainable. If one does not take credence with the tale, the significance and relevance here in our story suffers because after all…it is just a myth. Contrary, if the tale of the Garden of Eden is to be accepted wholly, as by our Calvin Smith, then we must ask: Knowing that all ( or at least most) knowledge will be absent when existing pre-gnash, how in the world can our protagonist not understand, especially AS A SCIENTIST that the acquisition of knowledge is an inalienable human characteristic. A structure of human anatomy…the frontal lobe, is blatant enough for physical evidence…the fact that we have acquired knowledge historically, and feel it’s lure as individuals whom may and probably are not even scientists…So, this leaves this listener with the above stated conclusion that people will do and believe what they want, despite the evidence. Surely, Calvin Smith here was making an emotional decision, that is what he wanted, for an intellectual perspective can not rationalize his behavior. I do not infer here that the author intended this meaning consciously…though it is possible.', '2013-03-22 16:46:50', 1, 'e5d0f3f025812e8b85dfdb9859b7d295', '112.200.20.61'),
(4641, '0857', 'episode', 'Lanier', '', 'As for the show, I was fascinated by the context within the story. Fast paced and edge-of-your-seat kind of story that was very enjoyable to listen to. If Sam Dann had any kind of sense of humor, I wonder if it didn\\''t cross his mind to end this show where the character winds up getting off the train only to be greeted by a bunch of primates instead - ala Darwinism?\r\n\r\nThat would\\''ve been good for a laugh!&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-22 16:47:48', 1, '0be21b2aa2fc1f63fa4fcb624f58a50a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4644, '0857', 'episode', 'Marse', '', '"If Sam Dann had any kind of sense of humor, I wonder if it didn''t cross his mind to end this show where the character winds up getting off the train only to be greeted by a bunch of primates instead - ala Darwinism?\r\n\r\nThat would''ve been good for a laugh! "................................................. ...............................Interestingly enough the same thought occurred to me, though not as a source of humor, irony or bemusement. Finding primates, or at least primatives, would have enriched the story and allow it to evolved beyond the expected.', '2013-03-22 16:47:52', 1, 'f15a49786e3cb804a2f676bd9dc4e89f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4645, '0509', 'episode', 'Sarah Batan', '', 'This is an Elspeth Eric play, and I''ll tell you why I personally like it so much.\r\n\r\nThere''s not much action, not much (though some) supernatural element to it, not much suspense, though some.\r\n\r\nBut I love Eric''s lines about fathers and daughters, and thought that she was indeed insightful in the way she wrote Norman Rose''s character''s monologue.\r\n\r\nAt one point he, a widower raising a nearly grown daughter whose eye is on a mysterious stranger who visits the town daily on a certain train, says something to the effect of "There''s really no perfect man a father sees for his daughter, because in his heart HE thinks he''s the pefect man for her." (My daughter and I recently got a chuckle out of that one with me saying "Honey, I don''t know if I''d WANT you marrying a guy like me.)\r\n\r\nI also love trains, and I think this captures the (inevitable, IMO, with the rise of autos and planes) decline of passenger train traffic quite well.\r\n\r\nGreat choice.\r\n\r\n(BTW, a funny train story today as well. I took a drive back from church across the line through Westville and Watts, OK, where I could drive by the main line of the Kansas City Southern railroad. At the latter town a train hauling some interesting cargo (machinery) had stopped, and I stopped to get a better glimpse. As I was standing alongside my car (in coat and tie) a fellow obviously from the train crew walked up to me and made small talk. Very nice guy...he told me he wondered if I was the RAILROAD PRESIDENT checking up on them.\r\n\r\nI told him I''m big, but not THAT big.', '2013-03-22 16:47:54', 1, 'e8ab778aeb4b04fe486dc4f90d6f7fe7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4646, '0509', 'episode', 'Jasper', '', 'This was such a sad story, from start to finish. while not a typical RMT thriller by any means, it was certainly a typical Elspeth Eric jaunt into psychology.\r\n\r\nThe only word I can find to describe this episode is "peculiar."\r\n\r\nEvery character in this situation has something "peculiar" with it. The train conductor which everything around him seems to happen with no control or feedback from him... he''s sort of a silent observer - until the end when he comes to the father.\r\n\r\nThe strange man whom we never hear from, but whose presence is so powerful over the girl... just what was it that he was ill from? hmmm...\r\n\r\nThe strange woman, the wife who appears and disappears at random. Who was she exactly? I kept thinking that she was actually a future version of the young girl.\r\n\r\nThe father. He seemed to have no particular control over his daughter''s well-being... most parents, it seems to me, would be able to somehow be able to connect better with their child and retain more of a responsiveness from them. The idea of control not being a "controlling" nature, but only in the normal, parental way. He gave off a sense of helplessness, an administrative parent, not a firm, sensible one.\r\n\r\nThen there''s the young girl herself. Beyond peculiar. I felt sorry for her, but at the same time she drove me a little bananas. Maybe it was the character, maybe it was the actress... maybe both. She gave off a sense of disconnectedness, a person who questions every question. Perhaps she was in some trance-like state, but if this episode was testament to her personality, then i''d have to say she was a bit too self-centered.\r\n\r\nBut again, it was a sad show. The train being phased out of that stop gives indication of the dimishing relevancy of trains over the last centure; the conductor man who was seemingly losing himself as well into irrelevancy; the strange woman, potentially losing her husband; the father potentially losing his (or his paternal control over) daughter; the strange man dying; and lastly the young woman retiring into her wreckless trance only to give her life up for the ideal of love.\r\n\r\ni really sank into this episode, and while i didn''t love the actual story, i cannot deny how well written and performed it was. The emotion and character strength of Elspeth Eric either hit or miss, and this episode hit very hard.\r\n\r\ni gave the show a 5. not a typical RMT and not what you might typically expect... it drew me in and held me all the way through, and to be honest, the ending choked me up a little.\r\n\r\nexcellent pick! thank you!', '2013-03-22 16:47:54', 1, '6ffe694911e285c8f153534db719bb7f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4647, '0509', 'episode', 'Jake', '', 'I liked this show, it had that twilight zone feel to it, halfway between drama and horror/scifi. There are interesting remarks about a man raising a daughter on his own (not a very common scenario especially in retrospect) and also this (1976) was when the railroads were really on the ropes. Amtrak didn''t really have an identity yet, basically the passenger trains had been "wrecked" and many railroads in general were going into bankruptcy. Norman Rose always brings gravity to his roles, especially those involving narration. The bit at the end about the Doctor''s wife was a bit far-flung, worked well enough with the rest of the story but could have been omitted and the story focused on the alienation of his daughter. But for me this show is a winner because of the trains and the supernatural aspects.', '2013-03-22 16:47:55', 1, 'b49127cd9be91715fda87f241357fb91', '112.200.20.61'),
(4648, '0509', 'episode', 'John Michael M.', '', 'The chief. and...\r\n\r\n\r\nThe 20th century limited\r\n\r\nBoth mentioned by E.G. at the beginning of the show.\r\n\r\nPowerful line: "A man shouldn''t bring up a girl alone". Someone back in the 70s realized single parents (and Dads) who care don''t have it that easy.', '2013-03-22 16:54:27', 1, 'b2ad686ba8ed2467b67a9304b2422761', '112.200.20.61'),
(4649, '0509', 'episode', 'Meljohn Forbes', '', 'I''m taking the Capitol Limited to Washington, D.C. next weekend. I got a first class accomodation and am really psyched about going.\r\n\r\nI''m not what you''d call a train enthusiast, but I do enjoy riding Amtrak. I get lots of reading and listening done.', '2013-03-22 16:48:30', 1, '482e319c3645f3bf93780f7552f0d05b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4650, '0509', 'episode', 'Ed Mallari', '', 'for several years i worked for a company that was 50 minutes away... that meant, the typical commute was 1.5 hours each way, driving. i often spent more than three hours of each day in a car with nothing more to do than watch the other cars or listen to music.\r\n\r\nthen... they opened up a commuter line right near my work. i began taking the train which was almost always just under one hour each way. i got to read, listen to music, talk to other people, and (gulp!) even snooze once in a while. then, i had to walk about five minutes to get to work... exercise!\r\n\r\nwhile it wasn''t much fun in the rain or snow, i will always consider that change in my commuting routine as wonderful. it made the commute not only bearable, but something to look forward to.\r\n\r\nnow that i''m in a different role, well... i miss the train. i miss it a lot! especially the snoozing!', '2013-06-19 23:11:36', 1, '9ddb28bf03f36baeec1f4951a24916bc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4651, '0509', 'episode', 'Joshua', '', 'Texas those are really cool posters. I just ran across some old train schedules in a box of old family papers. My folks used to ride the super chief. I was a big HO model enthusiast as a teenager but it got swept away in the same wave of youth as RMT did at the time. About ten years ago I was able to travel in europe for a month on vacation, it was trains, trains, trains, had a one-month eurail pass. coolest thing about trains is, they put you right downtown, instead of 20 miles outside the city.', '2013-03-22 16:48:29', 1, '82d3ad4573aecec409495d8d5b9726eb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4652, '0509', 'episode', 'Mike Rooney', '', 'I''m the "generous presenter" of "The Train Stops," and I''d like to offer a few words as to why I proposed it.\r\n\r\nI don''t know if I would say that this episode is my all-time favorite--it''s too atypical of the series to be called that--but it''s the only one that has ever genuinely moved me. I''ve felt lots of different emotions while listening to CBSRMT (amusement, tension, occasional boredom), but this is the only one of the 100 or so I''ve heard that packed an actual emotional wallop. It helps, of course, to be fascinated by trains. Like Mary, I grew up in a time long past the heydey of trains, yet I was always attracted to them. When I was a child I could hear the Southern Pacific freights going by in the distance at night as I was drifting off to sleep. And for my 12th birthday, my mother took me on my first actual train ride, up the California coast.\r\n\r\nI agree absolutely with Texas, that a lot of the power here comes from the usually perceptive writing about fathers and daughters, who calls it "such a sad story, from start to finish." Everyone in this tale is tired, lost, used-up, helpless. Dr. Barnes has no idea how to deal with his daughter and appears to have little human contact with anyone else other than the station master (and, one assumes, his own patients). Ben has outlived his time--a station master whose station is gone. And Mary is an 18-year-old girl with no apparent direction or future. The possibility of her going to college or getting a job is never even mentioned; she dismisses the idea of marrying any of the boys in town. The best she can do, it seems, is serve dinner to her father, at least until she meets the mysterious man.\r\n\r\nHaving heard this episode numerous times, let me say what I think is happening in it.\r\n\r\nI believe that the man on the train suggests Opportunity. Like many of Elspeth Eric''s characters, Mary is wrapped up in a psychological dilemma, in this case trying to visualize a future beyond the little town she''s in. Yet she has no apparent job skills, no obvious passions (other than the 5:16 train), no notable talents. In every way throughout the episode she appears depressed, even despairing. She complains of tiredness, illness; her father calls her "troubled" and "haunted." In short, I believe she''s trapped, and doesn''t know how to escape. The man (whether a hallucination or an actual manifestation) is her way out...If only she can commit herself to him. At one point he even promises her a ring, the ultimate symbol of his commitment to her. And yet, ultimately, she is unable to ever actually board that train, unable to say yes to the idea of leaving the town forever. Later she tries to make up for her mistake, and stop the train with her own body--but it''s too late. The "man," Opportunity, is dying/has died, and now all that''s left is another kind of trip out with another man--Death, whom she "marries" with the ring that should have been her ticket to a new life.\r\n\r\nThe one element I think doesn''t quite work here is the mysterious woman, apparently intended to be the dead mother. Here again, as in so many CBSRMTs, I sense a bit of padding going on. She really doesn''t add anything, and doesn''t affect the situation in any way; still, she''s a haunting presence (literally and figuratively), and does enhance the emotion Dr. Barnes feels at the conclusion, left alone, "a very old man," with both his wife and daughter having come to tragically early ends.\r\n\r\nI trust you all will let me know if you think my interpretation is completely off-base....\r\n\r\nTo me, this script is the great culmination of all those unsuccessful psycho-babble scripts Eric foisted on the series. This is the one where, finally, all the elements come together just right to create the kind of lyrical, suggestive, beautiful story she''d been trying to write all along. The production is lovely--Norman Rose couldn''t be better as the father, and the mournful music, along with the sound effects (the wind, the train whistle) all add up to an episode that is, to my mind, one of the very best CBSRMTs. I''m glad others seem to like it too.', '2013-03-27 15:30:21', 1, '2b4a6da1a3bd82e1f341f284179f471d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4653, '0509', 'episode', 'Hani', '', 'I really appreciate your interpretation of this episode. I heard this show for the first time a few months ago and found it perplexing, but listened to it with "fresh ears" this week and did find it a meaningful, if rather strange and troubling, episode. I hear you suggesting that much of the story is allegory and symbolism and that approach adds a lot of weight to a story that otherwise might have too many loose ends. It would perhaps have been helpful to have more of the back story on the relationship between the doctor and Mary, rather than to just be told that they lack a strong connection. I was confused as to the plot element of having Mary refuse to tell her father anything about the "man" -- not even his name, but if we are not to see him as a literal person, this seems less important. If the girl indeed felt trapped and needed an "opportunity" to allow her to get out of the town, I am still a little puzzled as to why the writer thought death was the only option.\r\n\r\nOn a side note, I thought the music worked especially well in this episode for setting the odd, almost dream-like mood.', '2013-03-22 16:48:27', 1, 'b544e9b97e7bf8d67ff5499e06e69d70', '112.200.20.61'),
(4654, '0509', 'episode', 'Jeruel B.', '', 'my impression of it is that (and I''m just guessing, mind you) this little mousy girl feels so trapped that she really believes she only has the one opportunity to escape--to try to find the strength to reach for a destiny other than her aimless life in that little town. When she fails, the failure seems permanent (as failure often does to young people). She sees no other way out and *wills* herself to die--in a sense, committing suicide. This would certainly square with the intense emotional pain she''s in throughout the play.\r\n\r\nThe dead mother character bothered me for a while until I decided that she was simply trying to save her daughter from her likely (or inevitable?) fate by saying that the man was "hers"--trying to tell Mary (through Dad) to be satisfied with the life she had, as she knew that only catastrophe awaited if Mary tried to go forward with The Man. (How did Mom know that? Well...she *is* dead, after all!)\r\n\r\nBut yes, allegory, symbolism, definitely. At least I hope so. I dearly love this episode...It would be nice if it made some kind of sense!', '2013-03-22 16:48:26', 1, '86a99b24ef19e4c5dad9dc4b9d808046', '112.200.20.61'),
(4655, '0509', 'episode', 'Harley', '', 'Quote:\r\n\r\n"A father knows how to love a daughter, oh, he knows that very well. But...when it comes to her life, her happiness, picking the right man\r\nhe doesn''t know a thing. I suppose maybe because in his heart he thinks he''s the really right man...and of course, that''s not possible.\r\nSo he''d like "Mr. second best" to be the best of all those others."\r\n\r\nThe actual words of Norman Rose''s character in "The train stops"\r\n\r\n"I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old Dad,\r\nShe was a pearl and the only girl that Daddy ever had.\r\nA good old-fashioned girl with heart so true,\r\nOne who loves nobody else but you.\r\nI want a girl just like the girl that married dear old Dad."\r\n\r\nLyrics from "I want a girl"\r\n\r\nI''m not good at describing the exact differences between metaphor and allegory and so forth, so I''ll just say this.\r\n\r\nThough I don''t think there was anything oedipal or (sexually at least though perhaps emotionally on the daughter''s part) inappropriate going on, after I listened to "The train stops" again on Friday I''m convinced that the daughter was in love with her father, and that in her own flawed Elspeth Eric way the author was showing us a story of a series of love stories that could never be on this earth.\r\n\r\nLove story #1, Rose''s wife dies (in childbirth?) He was a widower who for whatever reason (probably deep love for his wife, and I''ve known of such people) could or more likely would never remarry.\r\n\r\nNow, granted, if one isn''t wise and prayerful on such things, one could marry a woman who becomes a stepmonster to one''s children. (See Rose, Norman in his RMT performance of the excellent show "The white wolf" where he marries a werewolf woman.)\r\n\r\nBut in his and his daughter''s case, I think that the daughter NEEDED a womanly presence in her life as a counterbalance of sorts...to BE a second "Mom" and to be a wife for the grieving (and very kind-hearted) doctor...to help her stepdaughter grow up and not be dependent upon her father (and vice versa...didn''t she assume many "wifely" duties of cooking and cleaning for her Dad) because:\r\n\r\nLove story #2 - It''s quite common that (whether one is always conscious of it or not) one marries someone like their Mom or Dad...they find they''re attracted to someone with qualities they liked in their opposite sex parent.\r\n\r\nHowever, look at Rose''s characters comments above. Deep down he wanted his daughter to marry someone like him. (Though on the surface he was aware that was impossible.) Conversely his daughter, on the surface, felt she was going to get away and elope with the mysterious man on the train.\r\n\r\nThe mysterious woman visitor (apparently Rose''s character''s wife, perhaps in a perfect yet not immediately recognizeable body, like Christ was to His follower Mary after His resurrection?) says the mysterious man is hers, though she has no "rights over him" (I think that''s how she said it)?\r\n\r\nWho else could the mysterious man be then but her husband, Rose''s character (or his doppelganger)...she as a deceased woman would indeed have no legal rights over him.\r\n\r\nAnd what about the strange ring the dead daughter was found clutching, the one apparently just like her Mom''s wedding ring? What else could it have been BUT that ring?\r\n\r\nI think when all was said and done the daughter wanted someone not only just like her Dad, but her Dad himself...and no other. Yet she knew that was impossible, and the strain of the unobtainable relationship killed her. Conversely, her Dad''s secret wish that she marry not HIM but someone LIKE him, was manifested in a way that he would never have wanted.\r\n\r\nI think the train was a metaphor for the love described above that could never be fully possessed...as trains come and go. However, at least when the train stopped there was contact, acknowledgement and hope within the town. When the train was going to be rescheduled to go right through the town it would essentially have no relationship, no contact at all. And that was essentially (again, I think) the end of the daughter''s raison d''etre, her reason to live.\r\n\r\nYou wonder at the end of the play when Rose''s character says "the train never stops" if he, too, were never going to love a woman again, for reasons of perpetual grief. One hopes not.\r\n\r\nWhat made this play was Rose''s character''s dialogue, and Rose himself, who was married 60 years and the father of three daughters, who did a great job of putting himself in the other man''s shoes. (As a good actor must do.)\r\n\r\nThat and the trains, which I can''t get enough of...\r\n\r\nExcellent show choice,', '2013-03-22 16:48:25', 1, '8cddc70bbd0d7d42c7cc2ae3b8d877d0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4656, '0509', 'episode', 'Lud', '', 'I have no problem with your interpretation whatsoever. I think this episode works in the way that poetry works--it''s suggestive rather than literal, and the listener must bring something of him/herself to it. My view on it is sort of allegorical/mythical, whereas yours might be called psychosexual. What''s interesting is how differently we''re looking at the story...yet we both find it powerful and meaningful. What more can one ask for from any radio play, or poem, or indeed any work of art? This discussion just reinforces my belief that "The Train Stops" is a wonderful, memorable piece of writing--and your response helps give me new ways of looking at it. Thanks!', '2013-03-22 16:48:25', 1, '9d434b27edc75d2e0787f5ea3812bcb3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4657, '0509', 'episode', 'Rannie', '', 'Sorry folks, but this one didn''t do much for me. I found it to be slow moving, melodramatic and even sappy.\r\n\r\nThe story failed to really capitalize on what could have been even the least bit of suspense. Some may argue that it is subtle and nuanced, but I just say it''s boring.\r\n\r\nI know this is stark criticism for a program we all love, but with 1400 shows, there''s bound to be some clinkers and this one of them.\r\n\r\nThanks,', '2013-03-22 16:48:59', 1, '290fdb155808ceb543093c4cd46ab9f9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4658, '0509', 'episode', 'Liz', '', 'The point of this comment section is to express your reaction, criticism, or appeasement of these programs. your feedback is vital to lending a realistic and true perspective to the show for everyone.\r\n\r\nwhile you say your crit was stark, i think you nailed it. the show was a bit boring and sappy... i hadn\\''t thought that way prior to your post; but after reading it, i laughed and thought to myself, \\"yeah, he\\''s right!\\"\r\n\r\ni found some redeeming qualities in the program, especially regarding the trains and the period where they were becoming obsolete. also, production quality (acting, sound effects, etc) always play a factor for me in the show. when something stands out i try to make note of it, good or bad.\r\n\r\nfor me, your words come much appreciated. thanks for sharing your feedback and your honest criticism!', '2013-06-19 22:58:56', 1, 'ea8f0ba94cf3975d71ecef9e63e62ca4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4659, '0509', 'episode', 'Helen', '', 'RMT friends, I''d forgotten about this show but...if anyone chooses to listen to "The train stops", I''d suggest then a listen to 750613 - "Stairway to oblivion".\r\n\r\nThe show involves a train, a stationmaster in a remote town, and a spunky DAUGHTER (played by Ann Shepherd, whose voice I''ve always loved) who, after her father dies goes to take care of her uncle...kind of a mirror image of "The train stops".', '2013-03-22 16:48:57', 1, '144594c2e79e8dd22d594393f37b1116', '112.200.20.61'),
(4674, '1116', 'episode', 'T. Feria', '', 'It was, all in all, a fun episode- call it a Twilight Zone reject plot.\r\nIt is of course part of a long tradition of reattached hand stories, such as the Hands of Orlac- this one is a bit different in that the protagonist definitely knows he is getting a killer\\''s hand, and the killer knows he is giving it to them. The psychobabble element tries to keep the story in the realm of reality rather than the supernatural, but I\\''m not sure that helps.\r\n\r\nReminds me of the fun times I had listening to RMT as a kid- I don\\''t recall hearing it when it first aired but I\\''m sure I would have been thrilled with it then.<br>', '2013-03-06 03:05:18', 1, 'b9f3598d4439950148095f187e014019', '112.200.20.61'),
(4675, '1116', 'episode', 'J. Kidd', '', 'when i first heard this one, i wasn\\''t sure whether to giggle or to roll my eyes. the performances were great and the production was, as usual, top notch.\r\n\r\nchris, i couldn\\''t agree more with your views! for me, one of my favorite elements was the killer\\''s voice that \\"possessed\\" the lead character. it wasn\\''t a very scary voice, but rather sort of humorous. i kept thinking, \\"is that Ed Asner?\\"\r\n\r\nonce the show got going, i was quickly reminded of the intensely creepy 1935 Peter Lorre film, Mad Love.\r\n\r\nWhile i assume this episode was intended to be very serious and maybe even scary, it truly did come off with a light air about it and a campish sense of humor that, i think, most of us here can appreciate.\r\n\r\na good show with a lot of things to love going on within.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:04:45', 1, 'dcac7af0f09fc143c7a90023550e4609', '112.200.20.61'),
(4701, '1038', 'episode', 'Lorrie Jane A.', '', 'Henry Slesar is probably my favorite CBSRMT writer, and he certainly deserves the title of "most consistent." He had more background in this type of material than any other of the show''s major scripters, having penned many episodes of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and countless mystery/suspense short stories; as a result, a Slesar episode is more or less guaranteed to be at least competent, as this one is...At least until the last few minutes.\r\n\r\nIt''s too bad that this otherwise fascinating, thought-provoking plot is thrown away at the climax by the revelation that it''s all a completely ludicrous alien plot. Really, can anyone possibly imagine, in their wildest dreams, aliens from another world coming up with this? "Gee, let''s make this guy believe that he''s watching movies of himself, let''s bring him in week after week, and then as he remembers his old life he''ll forget all about that deadly Space Heat! Man, what a ¤¤¤¤¤in'' way to save our planet!"\r\n\r\nThe only other ending this catastrophically stupid I can think of offhand is that of the movie SIGNS, in which aliens who are instantly destroyed by water decide to land on Earth, which is...9/10ths water.\r\n\r\nThat said, 9/10ths of "The Movie Makers" is a gripping episode. The idea can''t help but generate the listener''s own speculations: If we could watch movies our earlier lives, what moments would we choose to see? Would the moments be as we remember them? Would it prove to be exhilarating to see our lives play out on a movie screen, or horrifying? (Or a little of both?)\r\n\r\nWhat''s more, are we so sure we would want to see any such images at all? Or would we come to realize that the past is best left where it is already--safely and privately tucked away in our memories?', '2013-03-06 03:09:19', 1, '49c0933362ae3e60dc670015defbec8c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4676, '1116', 'episode', 'Brian Pontillas', '', 'Real theatrical drama - the music and the people true over the top acting and mellow dramic great stuff. Poor Dan sounds like he needs a good pick me up...such a weak and feeble voice. I think the oscar for this episode goes the the women (Dracula''s Sister) with the crystal ball..she was fantastic what a great voice and dont you just love those spells.....the whole show in mho went on a roller coaster speed one minutre fast next slowing down and the end was like a wet weekend in Washington! Entertainment value for giggles 4 out of 5 - Keeping in the tradition of RMT to scare your socks off 1 out of 5. Well thats my 5 cents worth', '2013-03-06 03:03:33', 1, 'f7818ee19260985283848bcc46771533', '112.200.20.61'),
(4677, '1116', 'episode', 'Robbie', '', 'that voice! i can\\''t help but wonder if the killer\\''s voice was done by mandel kramer and the fortune teller\\''s voice wasn\\''t done by Diana Kirkwood... it\\''s happened before where one actor will provide two voices.\r\n\r\nhmmm....\r\n\r\nbut yes, this was definitely a roller coaster ride.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-06 03:05:07', 1, '68b0347c172d7df64e16a2e1c154644d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4678, '1116', 'episode', 'Roland Abot', '', 'I LOOOOOVE the mysterious, dreamlike music bed under the intro sample to the episode.\r\n\r\nI''ve always wondered...sometimes during this time E.G. would say: "Our mystery drama, (the title)". In this (and other) cases, he''d say: "Our suspense drama, (the title)". Wonder what the difference was.\r\n\r\nInteresting story on this one. The bad guy at the beginning played by Russel Horton was amusing.', '2013-03-22 17:04:46', 1, '1e3c098d4db67e712e7f663969ca58c8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4679, '1116', 'episode', 'Custiss W.', '', 'It was an enjoyable story, but I just listened to "Death by whose hands" last week. It was a very similar story line so I was not as in awe of the story. My loss! It is interesting though how the same theme comes up again and again--hands from one person on someone else hold the essence of the other person.', '2013-03-22 17:04:47', 1, '9bfe5ec140fcddb353402fa91c10c90c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4680, '1116', 'episode', 'Larsen C.', '', 'Quote:\r\nIt is interesting though how the same theme comes up again and again--hands from one person on someone else hold the essence of the other person.\r\n\r\ni''m still waiting for the perfect episode about a spleen transfer... an EVIL spleen transfer, of course! hehe!', '2013-03-22 17:04:57', 1, '8a4c7360ad1fc5f266e95e7195b204d4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4681, '1116', 'episode', 'Archimedes T.', '', 'Em "Evil Spleen Transfer" sending out evil white blood cells to cause infection rather than fight infection.....Filtering the blood and ADDING unwanted and efective red cells.....Yup I think you certainly need ot go back on the medication', '2013-03-22 17:09:04', 1, '0a541166bd23d78d961ed3805526b39e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4682, '1116', 'episode', 'Cletus', '', 'Do they transplant spleens? I thought they just took them out and left you without one?', '2013-03-22 16:54:16', 1, 'f21ae114f03048bff2fbcc523e894d06', '112.200.20.61'),
(4683, '0098', 'episode', 'Annie', '', 'Quite the disturbing episode! The worst part was there seemed to be no ending. So, this girl was channelling the ghost of the dead wife of the man who had gotten her pregnant. But then what? I was hoping for an ENDING. I didn''t get one.\r\nA creepy mother''s day choice', '2013-03-22 17:09:08', 1, 'f36d1f4f88b273337c4206a6996ce70f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4684, '0098', 'episode', 'Dale', '', 'In terms of plot this story is fairly slight, but I like it for the same reason I like a number of the much-maligned Elspeth Eric''s scripts: It''s unconventional. Her stories rarely follow a standard "dramatic arc," and as a result they develop in truly unexpected ways. Also notable is the fact that in many of her scripts there is an attempt at some psychological depth. Finally, her tales tend to be ambiguous, with endings that individual listeners seem to find either evocative (as I do) or irritating (as many more seem to!). All these qualities, if qualities they are, are present in this episode.\r\n\r\nAnyway, this was an interesting, quiet ghost story, as indeed E.G. Marshall promises us at the beginning.', '2013-03-22 17:09:18', 1, '9abed003296975f93e78878a47d40e68', '112.200.20.61'),
(4685, '0098', 'episode', 'Jason Praeter', '', 'this was such a peculiar tale, that it seemed a good opportunity to be heard on a day such as mother''s day.\r\n\r\none characteristic of elspeth eric''s writing is that she leaves a bounty of character development up to the audience. by having mason''s character tell brief but crucial details, she has opened up numerous possibilities to that character''s own story. for me, it''s a very interesting style of writing.\r\n\r\ni liked this episode for a few reasons, but mainly i chose it for the holiday because it dealt with three different mothers, each whom experienced a different respect of motherhood:\r\n\r\n1. the girl''s mother - protective, nurturing, and loving; she even goes so far as to decorate the apartment for her daughter.\r\n\r\n2. the girl (daughter) - for some reason, decided that abortion was the only resort to her situation. she was being deprived, at this point in her life, of being a protective, nurturing, and loving mother. she was making a painful decision in which many consider abominable.\r\n\r\n3. the ghost mother - another nurturing, protective, loving mother (we assume), until her depression overwhelms her (again, we assume), and she does the unthinkable, not only to herself, but to her helpless child.\r\n\r\nall the women in this tale are suffering. it''s actually pretty horrible! and while the father is stricken, mason''s character is just plain weird... i was a bit surprised when he responded to the father''s questions saying "never... NEVER... NEVER!!"\r\n\r\nall in all, it was a very peculiar episode. because of the tragic events befallen to the three mothers, i thought this might make an interesting show of the week for the holiday.\r\n\r\ni look forward to reading the other comments!', '2013-03-22 17:09:19', 1, '24f1abe5cd5b19a858b9e67128242639', '112.200.20.61'),
(4686, '0098', 'episode', 'Aldrin', '', 'In the intro to this show, an unusually effusive EG Marshall suggests an old-fashioned ghost story. But the show ends up being something quite different, and more real. The Mason Adams character (John) begins as a minor character, unusual for Adams\\'' roles in the RMT, and there is a disturbing angst in the protrayal. There is a good understated role for Bob Dryden. There is the controversial issue of abortion (\\"ending an incipient life\\") and the uncomfortable fact that John is as old as his girlfriend\\''s father. The opening scene was a very long take and built a good tension. The plot thickened and I was drawn in and involved in the story. Only the end seemed anticlimactic. With all the other, powerful issues involved, the ghost story was overshadowed, then brought back in at the end to close the show with a supernatural overtone. Despite this, I gave this show a 5. This was a real drama and the writing and acting were outstanding. At each change of Act, I was reminded that I was listening to RMT. During the Acts themselves I was focused on the character dialogue.', '2013-03-22 17:09:19', 1, 'df88141c19483e776c8c7e7f67d40f3f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4687, '0933', 'episode', 'Jed', '', 'The biggest surprise this episode held for me was that the version I have is one of the Himan Brown-hosted revival shows. I''d never heard any of these, and it was interesting, if a bit jarring, to hear Brown''s voice in place of E.G. Marshall''s. (Even more jarring was the fact that Brown also played the arresting officer at the start of the program!) I''d thought that all the shows provided by this discussion group were the originals, but apparently a few of the later ones somehow snuck into the mix.\r\n\r\nThe story itself I found routine and not terribly interesting.', '2013-03-22 17:09:52', 1, 'e729332770b354ac13e9c7b7680b4f7d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4688, '0933', 'episode', 'Harry', '', 'i was not overly impressed with the story. it started out interestingly enough, but just when i began to think, \\"please tell me the wife wasn\\''t in on this,\\" we find out the wife was in on it. the script was obvious and offered little to the imagination. what especially bothered me, is that i really wanted to sympathize for the main character. i did... but it was just too difficult. i mean, i imagined myself in the same predicament, and if some psychologist were to tell me the info the fellow in this story did, i\\''d have probably just started laughing. it became a bit too ridiculous. it would have made sense if the wife and the doctor were in on it together, but even still, it just got too flat by then anyhow.\r\n\r\nthe performances were a bit over the top and it reminded me of a bad columbo episode or something... and even at their worst, columbo was usually better structured than this one.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-22 17:09:52', 1, '79841fc507295002fd195549e3e633ec', '112.200.20.61'),
(4689, '0933', 'episode', 'Jared J.', '', 'My first thoughts were, \\''what\\''s up with E.G.\\''s voice tonight?\\'' This was the first time that I\\''ve ever heard Himan Brown (the show\\''s producer) narrate the show - and he did a really good job. Very impressed with his overall performance as both actor and narrator tonight.\r\n\r\nThe story took off rather quickly and had a lot of interesting elements that made this mystery drama \\"click\\", but then it kind of fizzled for me at the end. I liked the setting for how the suspect was being framed. Kind of a step-by-step process with evidence mounting against him. Eventually the evidence becomes overwhelming and by the end of the second act, he actually starts doubing his own innocence and starts believing his own guilt.\r\n\r\nI loved the detective\\''s determination in finding the truth to this case. In most cases, if this were a real case, the initial arrest would\\''ve stood and an innocent man would\\''ve gone to prison for a very long time. But the detective refused to quit and got lucky with a nice piece of circumstantial evidence.\r\n\r\nWhat I didn\\''t like was how the real murderer and his accomplice (the innocent man\\''s wife) handled the confrontation with the detective. The accomplice cracked under the questioning - and that was weak.\r\n\r\nIt reminded me of an old Perry Mason episode.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-22 17:09:54', 1, 'dc202963c9e4cb513b32c65c47c3fb35', '112.200.20.61'),
(4690, '0933', 'episode', 'Carlson H.', '', 'I did like this one even though I figured out something was fishy before the restaurant scene.\r\n\r\nDefinitely an enjoyable episode.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:09:57', 1, '76382ad2d50d7fe2315e07dc5e00cfbb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4691, '0266', 'episode', 'Charles', '', 'GREAT use of music on this one. This is the RMT I know and appreciate!', '2013-03-22 17:09:58', 1, 'cc6b67de2474f337acb91d999bb46a86', '112.200.20.61'),
(4692, '0266', 'episode', 'D. Memering', '', 'I agree, the musical score added a lot to the effectiveness of the episode. Was this show\\''s music also from \\"The Twilight Zone\\" soundtrack library? I believe I\\''ve read that the Mystery Theater theme was.\r\n\r\nQuick aside, I just saw Marian Seldes as the cranky neighbor in \\"Home Alone 3\\". Scary, but not CBSRMT scary.', '2013-03-22 17:10:23', 1, '2c1b83d10104e4022abfcde9808e6240', '112.200.20.61'),
(4693, '0266', 'episode', 'Frtzie', '', 'apparently they shared the CBS stock music library. I\\''ve read about one or two of the composers...I think you can google and find out more. (Who\\''m I kidding? You can \\"google\\" and find out more about just about anything nowadays.)\r\n\r\nI enjoyed this one. At first, I wondered how Seldes\\'' character was going to suffer from saying \\"We\\''ll marry over father\\''s dead body\\" (cue CBS music) but that was resolved in a better way that I figured was going to happen. I have to say it was amusing considering the \\"ghosts of the departed monks\\" (who really didn\\''t play much if any of a role themselves) wandering around the abbey...I\\''d think said ghosts (like any) would end up in one of two places.\r\n\r\nAll in all, great episode<br>', '2013-03-22 17:10:20', 1, '158fdcc4893194e9bf63a1a14b45c020', '112.200.20.61'),
(4694, '0266', 'episode', 'Jane', '', 'This was a very enjoyable episode for me. Had all the aspects within the story that I really love - drama, mystery, and a dash of the supernatural.\r\n\r\nGreat ending too. There were a couple of twists and turns, but not many, and the story was pretty easy to follow.\r\n\r\nThe audio was excellent as well. There''s nothing worse than trying to listen to a good story only to have the audio fade in and out - which thankfully wasn''t the case.', '2013-03-22 17:10:17', 1, '94eac9c11ca53397852214a44a1ae803', '112.200.20.61'),
(4703, '1038', 'episode', 'Jhace', '', 'This is one of my favorites!\r\nWhen I first heard this episode, It stired up all kinds of discussions about what if?...\r\n\r\nMakes you wonder doesn''t it.\r\nit''s kind of like the Robin Williams movie "The Final Cut" (ok a bit of a streach, but it''s cool too.)\r\n\r\nGood episode!!', '2013-03-22 17:12:37', 1, '41a15ade2f879646ad36552f6b607fb2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4696, '0321', 'episode', 'J. Kidd', '', 'The storyline was very interesting with a plot that I''d never heard before. It really had a lot of potential. But then, in the final portion of the third act, it fell flat on it''s face; becoming just plain silly.\r\n\r\nThere was no rhyme or reason for him to suddenly have a change of heart and confess to the killing other than to gain glory from a complete fabrication that he created.\r\n\r\nSo when he suddenly jumps up as a juror and starts shouting that he''s the one who committed the murder, even though his well thought out scheme was going as planned, I''m sitting there thinking how stupid it suddenly had become.\r\n\r\nBecasue of that I''m giving it a 2 in our poll.', '2013-03-06 03:09:36', 1, '8584cd3f90345df537cd8d3815a9ba44', '112.200.20.61'),
(4697, '0321', 'episode', 'Mr. Magods', '', 'I suggested this one after it came up randomly in my shuffle mix. I have been getting a lot of dogs that way recently--lots of Elspith Eric Episodes. So I enjoyed this episode. Here is a guy who seems totally boring but, wait, he has a girlfriend. He can''t afford his alternate lifestyle so he thinks about killing himself. Then he randomly crosses paths with a really bad guy and he actually KILLS the guy instead of himself. He is racked with guilt for letting someone else get caught for his crime. Not racked with guilt for killing someone, mind you, but for letting someone else take the blame. I guess you could say it falls on its face, but I didn''t catch that. I was wrapped up in this one. It had me all along. I thought the guy was going batty all along so I could take the outburst. He was quite the wack job.\r\n\r\nFor me, there was the unexpected twist and the really different story line. It was just a different one than what I have been listening to recently.', '2013-03-06 03:09:28', 1, '4d91ff64e313011e496b62554d7d062f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4698, '0321', 'episode', 'Mr. Reynolds', '', 'I must say that although I had some serious problems with the story development here, I nonetheless enjoyed this episode thoroughly. The twists of the tale kept me engaged until the end--even if it was those very twists that gave me the troubles I had with it. "Hung Jury" is a really contrived script, when you come right down to it. There are at least five "whoppers" in the tale: 1) that the protagonist would just happen across an escaped Nazi war criminal who just 2) happens to be carrying around a small fortune, the very amount our hero needs to get out of debt; 3) that said hero would then manage to kill said Nazi; 4) that the hero would then be chosen for jury duty for this very case; and 5) that our man would proceed to undergo an inexplicable last-second conversion and blurt out the truth in the courtroom. Any single one of these would have been acceptable in a well-made story; possibly even two. But three is over the edge, and four...Well...And FIVE...!\r\n\r\nStill, "Hung Jury" has, for me, the kind of delirious illogic of a good crime-story comic book from the 1950s. It''s more fun to just sit back and have fun with each new wild plot twist than to worry about the credibility of it all. So, for that, I deem it a fine episode, good listening from beginning to end. Great choice!', '2013-03-06 03:09:25', 1, 'fb399572dab22d111bbb90ec7a8d8248', '112.200.20.61'),
(4699, '0321', 'episode', 'Jorge B.', '', ' This was a very interesting show because it presented a bunch of moral dilemnas. The guy is cheating on his wife, but he pulls over to help a stranded motorist. Then there is the complex situation of a nazi war criminal, who freaks out and tries to shoot the guy, who ends up shooting him, and it all is blamed on the one person who really is a victim of the war crimes of the nazi.\r\nThen at then end, the cheater tries to grab credit away from the victim, who tries to avoid actually implicating the war criminal.\r\nThe situation, early in the show, when Howard DaSilva''s character is faking the phone conversation with "work" when it is actually his little bimbo, caught me off guard even as it caught the character off guard, and was very effective and dramatic.\r\nI must say, as a WW2 history buff, I don''t know if there actually was a "Werwolf of Warsaw", but this is pretty chilling. During the tragedy of Warsaw there were many terrible figures.\r\nThis kept twisting and turning and was a very good choice.', '2013-03-06 03:09:21', 1, '0861677cf07325b78dda589484ec6223', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4700, '0321', 'episode', 'Jeremy Bushong', '', 'the SS officer in charge of the destruction of Warsaw was Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, and if he doesn''t qualify as a bloodthirsty monster no one does.', '2013-03-06 03:09:00', 1, '0ea1d47b42329151085105d5f6958ce7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4702, '1038', 'episode', 'Anne', '', 'I feel as you do, but in some different ways. My thoughts:\r\n\r\nQuote:\r\n"Can you imagine a mind...EMPTIED by that thing?"\r\n\r\nCaptain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek episode "Dagger of the mind"\r\n- When is an non-Elspeth Eric episode like an Elspeth Eric episode? For awhile I thought it was this one, but then I re-listened a few times and believe it to be creepier than most of her shows, save "Star Sapphire" and "A horror story".\r\n\r\n- While (unlike in other episodes) I''m not convinced that a TV show inspired an RMT episode, I found the concept of what was happening to "Dr. Saville" (Norman Rose''s character) much like what happened to those who got caught in the psychiatrist''s chair, er, neural neutralizer in the "Star Trek" episode referenced above.\r\n\r\nWhile indeed that device worked differently in that it made people vulnerable to the suggestions of whomever was operating the controls, the end result was still very much the same, IMO. I found this concept to be quite plausible, which brought me to the interesting thing to ponder;\r\n\r\n- I thought this episode could also have been named "Alien assassination". Isn''t it interesting how a race so devoted to peace had to use these means to ostensibly keep the same on Earth?\r\n\r\nThere are some interesting parallels one could draw today. (And FWIW, I''m very much a "hawk" when it comes to national security. Come to think of it, even though he had a Federation "prime directive", Captain Kirk could blast a few phasers to keep the peace if he needed to.)\r\n\r\n- As for the music, listen to how it changes from that somber cello-and-clarinet ensemble to the weird electronic effects as Marian Seldes'' character reads the letter from "Life films, Inc." (What an oxymoron.) Sounds like a "Space DJ" scratching records, er, whatever.\r\n\r\n- As for Ms. Seldes...I wonder how this show could have been done if she''d turned angry at the men who killed her husband in the end rather than simply doing what she did?\r\n\r\n- And in the end...did you notice how, where in some RMTs we get the plot twist/payoff in as little as three spoken words of dialogue at the end (Listen to the RMT''s "Blood will tell" for a perfect example of this) but here it took almost the entire third act to explain this? Again, one wonders how this could have been handled differently, although this wasn''t the worst way it could have been handled.\r\n\r\n- BTW (to echo Chris''s comments) regarding that "Space heat". Can any of you think of a worse "Mutually Assured Destruction" device than "a planet wrapped in flame"? I guess if our military turned completely suicidal it would make a good weapon, but in the meantime it reminds me of another "Star Trek" episode (and I won''t go there now, boldly or not...):', '2013-03-06 03:09:16', 1, '6e14fa95cc553ea55dc7f7d1219349d2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4704, '1038', 'episode', 'Jack Cassidy', '', 'i too really enjoyed this pick. i\\''d heard it a while back, but it was great to revisit and was as strong as i\\''d remembered.\r\n\r\ni had a high school math teacher, who was kinda off-the-wall but a nice guy in his own right, who used to pose questions\r\nlike this... as well as:\r\n\r\n\\"what if when you die, you go to the pearly gates and they make you watch the movie of your life and base your entrance to heaven on what was seen?\\"\r\nor\r\n\\"would the movie of your life be a comedy, a drama, a horror movie, a tearjerker, a thriller, or an action film?\\"\r\n\r\ni think my own movie would be a cross between \\"dude, where\\''s my car\\" and \\"my dinner with andre.\\"<br>', '2013-03-22 17:12:38', 1, 'd3cbcefb019b3f8d176cad140119abcb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4705, '1038', 'episode', 'Robemar', '', 'I thought this was a pretty cool show. Guess I should have figured out about the telepathy part, but I was thinking time travel or something like that. I liked the music and the sound effects and the ending pretty much came as a surprise. Marian Seldes was especially good as Vera and there were some good transitions between her and John in the flashback sequences. Throughout, the show reminded me of the old TV show The Invaders, where a seemingly innocuous house or shed or basement would conceal some type of infernal installation. The aliens were quite well done although one of them had an accent that was middle-eastern or something and a bit out of place, though it didn\\''t detract from the story.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:12:47', 1, '49a52aa926a754fc1c64ba66f665851d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4707, '0761', 'episode', 'L. Strothers', '', 'This particular episode is a sentimental favorite of mine because it was the very first CBS RMT show that I had the pleasure of listening to.\r\n\r\nAt the ripe ol'' age of ten, I stumbled upon this episode while playing around with a brand new AM transistor radio that was given to me as a Christmas present from my father. I had no idea what the creaking door noise was suppose to be but thought it might be worth checking out. As soon as E.G. Marshall began with the opening monologue, I closed my eyes and began listening very intently as the plot unfolded. It wasn''t long into the story before I found myself completely immersed in it, setting the wheels in motion that would later create the lifelong fan that I am today.\r\n\r\nIn the story of the Ninth Volume, oil drillers stumble upon a subterranean cavern several billion years old that contains modern trappings and a library of great literary works, including eight volumes of a history of the world up to the present time. The ninth volume is missing, but should (presumably) record the future as evident by the eighth volume, that covers historical events through the year 2000 (it''s 1998 in the story''s setting). The problem is that time is not on their side in their quest to find the ninth volume. The oil rig has a deadline to meet and it''s drill is headed directly towards the cavern which will destroy everything in it''s path. As the desperate men make their way back to the cavern, you find yourself right there along with them, hoping that they''re successful because the final volume parallels our future and will enlighten us as to what lead to mankind''s demise.\r\n\r\nAnd so the story goes...\r\n\r\nThe Ninth Volume is simply a wonderful sci-fi story. Well, at least for me anyways as I''m certain that most will agree here that it makes an excellent choice if you''re a first time listener.', '2013-03-22 17:14:08', 1, '4214183a883164c3ccbee8572ec48de0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4708, '0761', 'episode', 'Alex', '', 'I\\''ve always wondered if this episode was inspired in part by a \\"Quiet, Please\\" radio show called \\"The thing on the fourbleboard\\", which also took place on an oil drilling rig. (Much bloodier tale, though, and different plotline.) &nbsp;..it was a tale that should have been able to have been told in two hours rather than one, but I loved it nonetheless.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:14:09', 1, '767613f370b25c7181cda9d2b3f54eca', '112.200.20.61'),
(4709, '0761', 'episode', 'Martin N.', '', 'This is a major favorite of mine.\r\nWhile re-listening to it today, I was struck by a curious thought. It was produced in 1977. It''s set in the year 1998, which was 21 years in the future for the show''s original audience. They had a ''cushion'' of two decades between the events of the episode and their own present-day. For today''s audience, 1998 is just a few years ago. Having this episode set in our recent past made it seemed more immediate to me, more suspenseful. The 1990''s setting, which would have seemed ''unreal'' to the 1977 audience, is more ''real'' to today''s fans than a show set in the 1970''s. It is for me, anyway, and I do remember 1977.\r\n\r\nWe''re living in the future.', '2013-03-22 17:14:10', 1, 'bb015fbbacc80225e69b9d50936886f0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4710, '0761', 'episode', 'J. Webb', '', 'This is one of my favorite RMT shows. One of my first recollections, too.\r\n\r\nI think the most poignant dialogue comes in the exchange between Milo ( the drilling foreman) and the Professor:\r\n\r\nThe Professor:\r\n\\"You can\\''t keep drilling! Don\\''t you understand that by drilling, you might destroy an invaluable clue to our past?\\"\r\n\r\nMilo:\r\n\\"I don\\''t care about the past, Professor, I only care about the future!\\"\r\n\r\nAnd Milo\\''s future concern was only in regard to retreiving the oil. How funny was that line to have in there, only to be unveiled later in the episode exactly as such.\r\n\r\nBut, what interested me most, was what would John have done with the information contained in Volume 9 if he were able to present it to the public? Who would have believed him, first, but secondly, the whole conundrum of \\"if you know something\\''s going to happen so you try to change it, by changing it you could be triggering the event to happen anyway!\\" It\\''s a paradox. Very sci-fi.\r\n\r\nRegarding the episode, I kept thinking how it would make a great movie. When they make films such as Sphere, which, in my opinion, was both a mediocre book and an even more mediocre movie, I wonder why these episodes never made it that far. Legality? Copyright? Lack of interest? who knows. &nbsp;An excellent selection and a great on to listen to again.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:14:11', 1, 'a11d08fa2df1c66797f981bba760243c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4711, '0761', 'episode', 'Aleli', '', 'Just listened to it again. My thoughts:\r\n\r\n- I remember my business communication teacher in college talking about how in the 60s many corporations began moving away from a linear way of thinking toward a more circular "two-way" (or however many levels of management there were) way of thinking. Those of you who went through business school probably remember "Theory X" (linear), "Theory Y", "Theory Z" and so forth.\r\n\r\nThis change in the 60s came about when eastern religions such as Buddhism began to be seen as an influence. Such a religion saw history as cyclical as opposed to linear, exemplified by Christianity. (For those interested, there appears to be a reversal of the trend in modern-day China among a growing number.)\r\n\r\nLooks like the author of this took a story that indeed saw history as cyclical. Which meant in a few billion years there was likely going to be ANOTHER drilling rig, which was going to strike the roof of ANOTHER subterranean ranch house, etc.\r\n\r\n- I mentioned the "Quiet Please ''Thing on the fourbleboard'' " episode. Relistening to this makes me believe even further that this show was an influence on "Ninth volume".\r\n\r\nQuick summary of "fourbleboard"...a few guys on a remote drilling rig dredge up (without knowing it) a hideous, invisible, half-woman (?) creature from the earth''s depths which is pulled up by the drill bit and deposited on the "fourbleboard" (platform on the fourth level) of their rig. One of the first clues that they''ve brought something horrendous up is that the geologist (I believe) finds a finger, wearing an ornate filigreed ring, in the mud. When he wipes the mud off the finger is invisible.\r\n\r\nApart from the modern touch of the ranch house (like the modern (?) ring in the other episode) in "The ninth volume" there was that red mud/clay which disappears on contact with air. Similarity to "fourbleboard"? Could be, but not worth much pondering on.\r\n\r\n- I loved the combination of Court Benson, Robert Dryden and Michael Wager. I also loved it when Benson''s drill boss character "Milo" said, mockingly, "But, he went to college."\r\n\r\n- On first listen, was there anyone else besides me who thought something or someone very creepy was going to pop out of that underground ranch house''s basement and devour one of the characters? Don''t know, but I would have been a lot more uneasy about poking around down there than Wager''s character was.\r\n\r\n- I also wondered how feasible it was that a drilling bit that far underground was able to be found by one blast through a wall of a deep cave, but then, that''s central to what made this story. Impossible by physics or not (and maybe it wasn''t) it was still forgivable and enjoyable.\r\n\r\nWonderful RMT...again, too bad it couldn''t have lasted longer, though this is the first listen where I''ve actually felt the limited amount of time it took to tell this tale was justified.', '2013-03-22 17:14:11', 1, 'a43a335cf95b5445e78e7a1dfe7edef4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4712, '0761', 'episode', 'Donald Clarence', '', 'I liked the surrealistic underground house with the naugahyde recliner and collection of great literature. The concept was captivating and the story flow held my interest throughout. The urgency of the deadline, the danger of the treks to the center of the earth, the strong,&nbsp;identifiable&nbsp;characters, the betrayal, the near miss, the disappointment... a very richly developed tale.\r\n\r\nI give this episode a rating of five, one of the precious few I have rated so highly.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:14:12', 1, '5f3d325f3663f72363275f993b58f9b3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4713, '0761', 'episode', 'C.J.', '', 'It\\''s an excellent show. Thanks again for the suggestion.\r\n\r\nBTW, two other things:\r\n\r\n1. Another great line from Court Benson as \\"Milo\\": \\"So what if that stuff down there acts weird? If I was down there, I would act weird.\\"\r\n\r\n2. In real life, oil well drilling is dangerous work, and men can make a lot of physical sacrifices (read: lose fingers) doing it. In old time parlance, the oil drillers were called \\"roughnecks\\". My wife\\''s great grandfather was one, though he worked high up building the rig towers. He was one of those guys who isn\\''t afraid of any height, kind of like those mohawk construction workers in New York City who can run along girders eighty stories above the city streets.\r\n\r\nA riddle I was told by a man who used to work with drilling rigs (He was in some sort of engineering position):\r\n\r\nQ: \\"What\\''s this?\\" (Holds up his index and pinky fingers with all other fingers pointed into the palm of his hand, kind of like the University of Texas \\"hook \\''em, horns\\" sign.)\r\n\r\nA: \\"A roughneck ordering 5 beers.\\"<br>', '2013-03-22 17:14:18', 1, '49422214abc3e9f735f064e2e1fc8cb8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4714, '0761', 'episode', 'Jadelson', '', 'I really loved this show.I like the sci-fi feel and the way each probable reaction was represented. Beside being drawn into the story, I found myself justifying just about each character\\''s position. I think each differing stance was valid to a greater or lesser degree. I could see wanting to know the future and not wanting to know it. I could see the science\\''s quest for answers and even the business side.\r\n\r\nBut, being caught up in the story line was the best part! I could really imagine what it was like in the caves. There was a make-up tycoon that built an underground house in Las Vegas and that was how I imagined the house in the story to be.\r\n\r\nGreat story.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:14:19', 1, '8149767a72c1e5afd6ba8a6ca6d766c5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4716, '0761', 'episode', 'Nimfa', '', 'I also gave this one a five. I thought the script idea was incredibly original and the story was well paced . It was a little light on character development, but that\\''s a minor detail in a plot-driven story.\r\n\r\nI never saw the end coming. Better yet, I really couldn\\''t predict how it was going to end.\r\n\r\nI\\''m not a big Court Benson fan. I don\\''t mind it when he is doing his straight voice (which he does in this episode), but the guy can\\''t do voices worth a damn. He does come through in this episode.\r\n\r\nRobert Dryden usually can lift an episode to another level with his acting and he does not disappoint in this episode.', '2013-03-22 17:14:20', 1, 'bc80ddb13973d88dee2179ac175d72cc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4717, '0761', 'episode', 'Justin M.', '', 'I hadn''t heard this in 30 years (a high school / elementary school buddy had it) but I just found and downloaded "The thing on the fourbleboard".\r\n\r\nAgain, I''m guessing this helped inspire "The Ninth Volume", but boy, is this a different kind of tale...', '2013-03-22 17:14:22', 1, 'f7c3e471f12380e63263e98d441d46d8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4718, '0815', 'episode', 'June A.', '', 'First off...I always got a kick out of that particular sound effect used for the "shriek"...the same sound effect is also used for the guttural screams of "Bertha" in the RMT''s episode of "Jane Eyre".', '2013-03-22 17:14:31', 1, 'a15e35b7aa3789d3f23e4ddee7f6ff2d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4719, '0815', 'episode', 'Carol', '', 'This was a fun episode, I guess. What mostly occurred to me as I was listening is that this story is truly OTR-like--it could have been broadcast on SUSPENSE or any of those old programs. And I love the shriek itself....', '2013-03-22 17:14:35', 1, 'ecc6cad6788e2fe25d583cebc472bf5f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4720, '0815', 'episode', 'Lester', '', 'This show is a pretty good mystery, at any given point each of the characters seems likely to be the killer. That said, I dislike this show for one reason: the waste of a great title. When I first listened to it 2 years ago I was drawn purely by the title. I expected some 16th c. drama involving alchemists, potions, treachery etc. I think the mystery could have been effective using some other centerpiece. I do think the sound effect itself was very good, but would it be real scary coming out of a cassette recorder?', '2013-03-22 17:14:37', 1, 'aa04142c4217563a528c5fc6c9b0f3b8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4721, '0815', 'episode', 'Miriam', '', 'This one is a straight mystery and does a pretty good job. I liked the sound effect of the mandrake and I thought the performances were all good. I think my only problem with it is that it plays it''s hand too soon and pretty much gives away the murderer.\r\n\r\nStill, on the whole, I would say this is a pretty decent episode.', '2013-03-22 19:57:18', 1, 'dc0c554291f6830be333542ad6d03c54', '112.200.20.61'),
(4722, '0015', 'episode', 'Hector', '', 'I just listened to this one about two weeks ago and I feel that it is a near perfect episode. Good moral delimma, great tension, good performances, and an unexpected ending.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:15:03', 1, '7bddf41d3eff5d32faf01b3f9246a659', '112.200.20.61'),
(4723, '0015', 'episode', 'Gilbert N.', '', 'I''ve got an additional, fun question on this show.\r\n\r\nIn it (from 1974) to pull off his scam Paul Hecht''s character used a combination of a typewriter, rub off lettering, a guy from his art department, and a "service which posts letters from overseas".\r\n\r\nHow do you think he would have tried to pull that off with the technology we have today, were this show to have been written around and recorded March 14, 2005, about 31 years later?\r\n\r\nGreat writing on this one, IMO.', '2013-03-24 22:15:04', 1, '31bdd3ebc4774bf2f82f919141511d0f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4724, '0015', 'episode', 'Dylam Iam', '', 'I''d heard this one before, but listened again to refresh my memory. First-rate all the way, no doubt about it. A terrific CBSRMT.\r\n\r\nLike many of Slesar''s episodes, this is an unacknowledged adaptation of one of his short stories (in this case also called "The Chinaman Button"). Since CBSRMT had a policy against buying stories for adaptation (any adaptations done were of classics which were out of copyright), prose writers like Slesar and Alfred Bester frequently just adapted theirs anyway, without mentioning their original story (or charging Himan Brown for it--more to the point).\r\n\r\nInterestingly, another show Slesar worked for, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, had exactly the opposite policy--virtually *all* their episodes were adaptations of purchased stories. The producers felt that by buying something already extant, they could stave off disaster--in other words, as long as a decent plot and characters were in hand, an episode couldn''t go too wrong. (Certainly some CBSRMTs went pretty far wrong, so maybe it wasn''t such a bad idea.)\r\n\r\nAnyway, great choice. One of the all-time classics.', '2013-03-24 22:15:05', 1, '5ac98f7d03b3660efd113409d8db7217', '112.200.20.61'),
(4725, '0015', 'episode', 'R. Campbell', '', 'This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. It presents a really fascinating ethical conundrum. The Twilight Zone 80''s revival did a version of this exact idea, but in their episode this couple receives an actual box with a button on it. They are told they will recieve tons of money if they will just push the button and cause the death of some person completely unknown to them.\r\n\r\nThis story has very interesting characters, builds the tension well, and suggests by its finale that it is often the most pious among us who are capable of committing the greatest sins. I guess we call that irony. : )\r\n\r\nOn a side note: I belong to a circle journal project where my friends and I trade around each others journals, writing in each one that comes to us and then passing them on to the next person in the circle. This past month I wrote about my love of old time radio and CBSRMT in particular. I included a cd copy of this episode in the journal for everyone else to listen to as I thought it was representative of the best of the Mystery Theater shows.', '2013-03-24 22:15:06', 1, '1210f6e33cb6eb2ea8067b7eb0a685aa', '112.200.20.61'),
(4726, '0015', 'episode', 'Andrew', '', 'I have listened to this show several times so I listened to it again with the above comments in mind. I agree that it is a moral dilemna. Unfortunately, many people would probably push the button for a lot less than a million dollars. What has struck me every time I have listened, is that there can be no Honor Among Thieves. The first time around, the ending caught me completely off guard.\r\nI also agree that the writing is top-notch. It seems many of the shows that have the great writing, have believable dialogue in "long takes", very dramatic, and in this show that is especially the case. The bedroom discussion of the "alternative" to Mrs. Van Haas'' pregnancy is notable. From the "time capsule" standpoint, I got a kick out of the use of the word "chick", and the notion that a digital clock would be new and expensive.\r\nIt would be interesting to extrapolate, how Van Haas might have reacted when it slowly dawned on him that no check was in the mail, that he had murdered for nothing. Maybe he might have cracked up from guilt, or maybe he would have tried the ploy on someone else (there were mouths to feed...).\r\nI think this is a four-star show and am always glad to listen to it again.', '2013-03-24 22:15:06', 1, '76c44eb030f661bba9efd1f0083c36e7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4727, '0015', 'episode', 'Lacie D.', '', 'i think part of the reason i am so fond of this particular series is in part because there was/is always the anticipation, for me, to find a new, "perfect" episode... especially in knowing that many of the shows were not perfect. i only imagine what they would have produced had their budget been larger, their rehearsal/writing/production time doubled, etc.\r\n\r\nthe CBS RMT is very human. when you compare it to say, the Zero Hour series, Rod Serling always gave me a bit of the creeps. Hitchcock gave me the heebies, as well. i love those programs as well, but the humanity in the RMT shows went far beyond commercially viable programming... they took chances, pushed limits, yet always maintained a classy presentation. EG Marshall''s introductions were always the welcome mat into each program. even Tammy Grimes didn''t bring the same warmth that Marshall conveyed.\r\n\r\nanyhow, this is also one of my favorite episodes but it would make an excellent encore show... apparently has been well received and i am happy we got to hear this classic episode again.\r\n\r\n..... now, to bring this topic to a new level. would YOU press the Chinaman Button?', '2013-06-19 23:06:49', 1, '47ddddd033919d675b6272a85a62bb25', '112.200.20.61'),
(4729, '0015', 'episode', 'Reese', '', 'you of course ask the exact question that the writer of this episode is hoping every listener is considering as they listen. I think what makes this episode so fascinating is that it confronts us with "what what I do in this situation?" It''s hard to know what we might do, if we are desparate enough. I think it would be very easy for someone to rationalize that killing an anonymous person really is not that big of an ethical breach -- after all, we do it in war all the time (collateral damage, we call it) in order to gain our safety and sense of security. I don''t think it''s too much of a stretch to say that we do the same thing with the animals we eat -- it''s easy to devour a hamburger as long as we don''t have to see the cow being slaughtered. Would I push the button? I don''t think so...I hope I wouldn''t. But....', '2013-03-06 14:32:41', 1, '92498d0da9c957c2cc86005351df83d0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4730, '0015', 'episode', 'W. Gaines', '', 'For me, one of the most interesting parts was the issue of Van Hass\\'' morality and the impact of his family. The story leads us on that Van Haas is so moral that he won\\''t fall for the offer, and seems to be leading that way, until the announcement of the pregnancy. Is this just last-minute justification on his part, or would he have caved if he had no new baby on the way? I wonder...', '2013-03-06 14:32:53', 1, '62d3c4bfae54c19ca997d37328cc3af2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4731, '1385', 'episode', 'Mr. Osborn', '', 'I found this an interesting if rather slow-moving episode. It seems to be leading us down a familiar path--the same path as the movie "E.T.," in fact, which came out the same year, I think--but instead heads in a totally different direction. It was an engaging listen generally, though I had serious trouble with the all-too-convenient, and totally unbelievable, hypnotist/psychiatrist who appears in Act III.\r\n\r\nI don''t think I''ll remember this episode for long, but it was worth hearing.\r\n\r\nBy the way, Tammy Grimes has often been slammed on this site. It''s obvious that no one could ever possibly replace E.G. Marshall in the hearts of CBSRMT listeners, but honestly, I rather like her hosting style. The shows have a different feel with her--more like a PBS "Mystery!" broadcast, somehow. Not unappealing, at least to me.', '2013-03-06 14:33:05', 1, 'deb96e37b80da08d9fcc2c238bff52a7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4732, '1385', 'episode', 'D. Memering', '', 'This is one of those shows I wish I could have heard in the original broadcast. It would have creeped me out totally. Not the UFO tie-in but the psychological aspects and especially the sound beds. The child''s voice was disturbing and not something that occurred much in RMT. Unlike the usual haunts, ghost voices etc., the sound of an emotionally traumatized child has a troubling aspect that a classic gothic horror ghost voice doesn''t have.\r\nI don''t think I can grasp the psychological aspects entirely, I don''t know how Arl came to appear to Robbie in the first place but I figure what transpired after that was due to the beating. If it was in fact the first time the father hit his son, and did it "over and over again", then the rest would follow. I also remember thinking, does he really want a discredited lush of a psychiatrist hypnotizing him and bringing this stuff out? Seems the discrediting was warranted, as this guy didn''t know enough not to laugh off Robbie''s innermost traumas as figments of his childhood imagination. Arling might represent the progression of the emotional disorders beyond childhood, when the imaginary friend becomes a sexual fantasy.\r\nI''m just thinking out loud here and looking forward to reading the posts. This is a great show, I know some people who aren''t fans who may well become fans upon hearing it.', '2013-03-06 14:33:17', 1, '860882e4d109eab3dd8134b4b938e0f7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4733, '0463', 'episode', 'Chris', '', 'Shows like this fascinate me because they dwell into the science fiction fantasy aspects of mystery drama, one of the strengths of CBSRMT. From the start, we''re led to believe that this is some sort of a "treasure hunt". In it, we find this guy checking out anyone with the last name of Buchanan. He doesn''t explain why he seeks out these people with this last name until confronted by another group of con men who have the same purpose but with a different hidden agenda, a desire in cheating people out of there money by running a scam. When the gentleman (who we later find out is named Warback) explains why he is pursuing a young boy with the last name of Buchanan, he quickly convinces the con men to join him on this endeavor.\r\n\r\nAs the story progresses, we find out that the "Boy Wonder" is some sort of 10 year old kid genius that has invented a series of scientific marvels that would make anyone who possessed such things incredibly rich. We also discover that those who go looking for him somehow wind up disappearing without a trace. It seems no matter how close one gets to finding this kid, he always manages to stay one step ahead of them as if knowing that they''re on to him. In each passing minute as the story unravels, you begin to wonder just who exactly is this kid and what is it that makes him so special.\r\n\r\nThe story does a good job of keeping you guessing throughout the ordeal, a lot of twists and turns as you listen on the edge of your seat. I liked it a lot and would have rated it a 4 out of 5 if the rating system still existed.', '2013-03-06 14:33:32', 1, 'c0812a7a45ac530c1d36357856a808d9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4736, '0463', 'episode', 'Jerome Juggs', '', 'The funny thing is, I thought this was supposed to be a humorous show. I thought William Redfield''s character had some kind of scam going on the con men, especially when he read the letter about the "spinack".\r\n\r\nI''m going to listen to this one again very shortly.', '2013-03-06 14:34:15', 1, '287a0915de4eec3e5033ba25acc35a57', '112.200.20.61'),
(4737, '0463', 'episode', 'Gheena', '', 'Wow this is a good show. This is my second listen and I just upgraded it from ***1/2 to **** (top ranking). From the beginning there is something weird going on, I think great writing involves among other things involving the listener directly into something already happening and not having to build the story first. First the show brings to my mind the OTR sci-fi shows of the 50''s like Dimension X. By that time these shows had gone beyond trips to mars and were bringing the science and the mystery down to earth. The gangster angle brings to mind some of the cold war film noirs that got into some weird ("atomic") science. And I think the character names were great, like Charlie the Clown. And finally the notion of kids constructing a world of their own and keeping out adults (whether wildly-talented kids or all-too-real troubled teenagers) was disturbing, especially the line, "what happens when they grow up?".\r\nAnother great line: "and she gets into movies for free".\r\nSo I''ll just say I really enjoy this show, I''ve listened to it twice and it involved me all the way to the end both times.', '2013-03-06 14:34:06', 1, 'b6721ed1c769662d6d8bb91ae03fa75b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4738, '0463', 'episode', 'J. Hemp', '', 'This is what I like to call a gimmick script. It relies almost completely with the listener buying into the hook-concept and be carried along. I think the episode would have been stronger if the writer had provided supporting evidence to the boy’s letter. I think if the lead character had found an article in the newspaper citing a disturbance (or destruction of) on an orbital satellite. This would have been more concrete evidence than the letter and led credence to the concept of the “disintegration beam.â€ Maybe also include a series of mysterious and unexplainable robberies to support the teleportation concept. I think the inclusion of these sorts of items would have only taken a minute to include and increased the credibility of the boy’s concepts in his letter because the boy could just be a nutcase.\r\n\r\nMy other problem with this one is that it takes awhile to get going. I would have like to have seen the story get into the action a little quicker.\r\n\r\nThe last niggling problem I had with the episode is the portrayal of the woman conspirator. I could it somewhat anachronistic and too much of a characterization rather than trying to make her real.\r\n\r\nOn the whole, the episode had more potential than it delivered. I liked the ending but felt that a sound effect (disintegration or teleportation) would have been a nice way to end the episode after the character is cut-off. I would give it two stars (out of four).', '2013-03-06 14:34:28', 1, '0dd00324f2c2e93d4a6dbd2964922b7f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4739, '0463', 'episode', 'Joey Dona', '', 'I enjoyed this episode, primarily because I couldn''t figure out where it was going. I do think it was written to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The characters were just a little too easily taken in to the whole plot, just a little too gullible, a little too trusting, and basically led around by the nose by children we never see. Perhaps some commentary adulthood?', '2013-03-06 14:34:37', 1, '0ce056c130b991f25864c67ad5111dcf', '112.200.20.61'),
(4791, '0559', 'episode', 'Rod', '', 'Yes, this one was a bit risque for the time.\r\n\r\nThe story definitely contains some elements of Nabikov''s Lolita.\r\n\r\nHowever, the story was not as strong as it could have been, nor as interesting.\r\n\r\nI gave it a three.', '2013-03-06 20:23:41', 1, 'b3cfda634776f7a1916fde5e2c37ea7a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4792, '0559', 'episode', 'Aimee P.', '', 'I recall back when I did a stint as a college teacher, a mentor-like colleague told me very early on, "If the situation arises that you are alone in a classroom with a female student, always make sure the door to the room is open. In fact, it would be wise to stand near the door."\r\n\r\nHis point was that he''d seen in his tenure, too many occasions in which a young teacher''s career was either in question or jeopardy because of the promiscuous shenanigans of a student.\r\n\r\nI never had to worry about something like this happening, but this RMT tale is a vivid reminder of what "could" happen. How one young individual''s obscure behavior can certainly affect - even disrupt the life of - someone unsuspecting.\r\n\r\nWhile the show itself was definitely a bit of a shocker (especially for the 70''s, like you said), it just never seemed to really bowl me over. The male character was too easily swooned by the young girl, which may be due to the time factor of the show. However, it''s a theme that often appears in film, literature, and television time and time again.\r\n\r\nThanks for the pick! A very good show.', '2013-03-06 20:23:45', 1, '879f182b30d0808a2bcaf65e1bf3a1d8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4741, '1256', 'episode', 'Jerry', '', 'Well, that was certainly interesting, if not totally clear in its intent. The idea I get is this: that the brain-dead husband is lost in the wrong time-world(s), as is his wife (intermittently), until she frees him/them by having his life-support machines disconnected. At that point they are reunited in yet another world. If I recall correctly, the Karen Ann Quinlan (sp?) case was very much in the news around this time, so maybe it shouldn''t be a surprise that CBSRMT did an episode which is partly an argument for legal euthanasia.\r\n\r\nBut this story somehow never quite pulled me in completely, and somewhere in Act 2 I started to become impatient with it--like a lot of CBSRMTs, I had the feeling it would have worked better in two acts than it does in three. We simply get far more memories of the husband, mysterious phone calls, and scenes of time-displacement than we need. "Between Two Mirrors" strikes me as an honorable if overlong attempt at an ambiguous, allusive sort of tale (and one with a bit more cliched romance than I care for).', '2013-03-06 14:35:05', 1, '590182871d87bf75d69499a3df15d5d0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4742, '1256', 'episode', 'Victoria', '', 'E.G. Marshall introduces this episode this way: " Today''s tale takes you into the fourth dimension. Into the realm of a world in which the past, present and future are one and time moves forward and backward in unexpected ways." This is truly odd episode that involves a pair of lovers whom time and death cannot keep apart. I give the writer credit for trying to pull off a fairly complicated weaving together of different stories and possible timelines. I was intrigued with the premise and it kept me going for awhile, though I was hoping for a more satisfactory ending.', '2013-03-06 14:35:15', 1, 'bc605bfebc139790dd71afe8831a8fed', '112.200.20.61'),
(4743, '1256', 'episode', 'Jimmy N.', '', 'This show is a good example of something RMT did very well, a cross between a real-life drama and something weird (unearthly) going on. Kind of a twilight zone thing as opposed to a pure horror story or a crime drama. Years ago I worked with a woman whose husband was in a freak accident and was on life support with no real brain activity. Obviously it is very difficult to deal with and sometimes she was in denial and talking about their plans for the evening, things like that. I didn''t know her well, I just mention it because things like this could easily take on an unearthly dimension. The show made a good transition from the weird time-distortions to the decision Judy was going to have to make. When I listened to this show the first time, several months ago, I missed the significance of the lead-in to act 1 entirely, where James pays little attention to the emergency vehicles. I just thought, along with E.G.''s life-is-good narration, that James was a snob or something. Another enjoyable show.', '2013-03-06 14:35:29', 1, 'acb705258d7726f21881a6d84647c540', '112.200.20.61'),
(4744, '1256', 'episode', 'Ace V.', '', 'i really enjoyed this episode. i thought the way the emotional strain on the wife was performed was classic RMT, a great job. while the ending was not as strong as i was hoping for, the story itself carried me through and i was touched by the sentiment.\r\n\r\nin some weird way, i always kind of wish something like this would happen to me. i guess it\\''s the fantasy of it, moving in and out of reality/dimension. but, i\\''m also sure the terror of such an event would be a bit more extreme than just my romantic desire!&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-25 00:21:48', 1, 'c94ee4bd93d42e76c13d9228c15eeec9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4745, '1256', 'episode', 'Kertch', '', 'This is an example for me of how varied the CRMT were. I didn''t particularly enjoy this episode. I kept waiting for something to happen. For me, it never did. The mixing of real and imaginary didn''t work for me because I couldn''t tell what the story thought was real and imaginary. I guess this story was also just to lovey-dovey for me. With the advancement of modern medicine the medical side of this story will be with us for a long time though.', '2013-03-06 14:35:41', 1, '3193be66e0827a9d0cdee43cc4315227', '112.200.20.61'),
(4746, '0492', 'episode', 'Jenny', '', '"Pension Plan" is an example of what I call an undercooked script. It starts promisingly, as a serious drama that I actually found a bit reminiscent of "Death of a Salesman"--an aging man near the end of his working life, bewildered at finding himself with so little. Norman Rose and Leon Janney are my two favorite CBSRMT actors, and their confrontation scenes early on really crackle.\r\n\r\nBut to me this becomes a different story when the Devil enters. The tone changes, and the promise of psychological depth hinted at in Act 1 disappears. I was left wondering why the Devil would have been so dumb as to not provide the protagonist with a *real* pension plan, thus avoiding all the arguments that come later. And is it believable that in all those years, the protagonist never sought to nail down the details of the pension plan he thought he had?\r\n\r\nThis is one of those stories that can only move forward if the characters in it act dumber than anyone in real life actually would. Still, it was reasonably entertaining overall, and it kept me listening. Another draft from Mr. Dann, though, might have allowed him to create stronger motivations and more credible situations.', '2013-03-24 22:15:08', 1, '7b2835ddf907eee2ab35ef3b87ec2d4a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4747, '0492', 'episode', 'Marcus', '', 'an excellent analysis, to say the least. i was really lured into the first act, and actually felt the stress of being an honest (well, i try anyway) person.\r\n\r\nthe introduction of the devil was one of those devices found in television crime shows where a character you never heard of for 7/8 of a show, suddenly appears and ends up being the guilty party.\r\n\r\nit would be okay to assume that the protagonist *did* actually try to get the details of his pension plan, but seeing as how he and his boss were friends, it might also be safe to assume that the boss just kept saying, \\"don\\''t you worry about a thing... it\\''s all taken care of!\\" and he would likely have bought it.\r\n\r\nyes, i\\''m being forgiving a bit. I enjoyed the show because the performances were as good as always and the production was as good as ever. but it was the story, that needed to bake for another few hours. i would assume that to be able to write show after show of this nature, there must have been some amount of pressure put on the writers to just \\"get it done.\\"<br>', '2013-03-25 11:14:09', 1, '552e840894b61e3f5e3e1015799e5769', '112.200.20.61'),
(5673, '0028', 'episode', 'Mike', 'trash@sawyerhome.net', 'Not an exceptional episode in any good way. The writing is clumsy, too much unexplained & confusing, ending unsatisfactory. Some good parts, though, and generally a good storyline. Wish a different writer could have given it a treatment.', '2013-03-25 16:11:53', 1, '9a67dcfd33266abca7f4017ec5fcbe15', '204.246.145.6'),
(4748, '0492', 'episode', 'George', '', 'When I heard the teaser I thought, oh, another version of Faust. But this was an interesting twist and a good one. I was struck by how this show was entirely based on dialogue, much of it in ''long takes'' of up to five minutes. When RMT achieves good contemporary drama, the dialogue is very natural and sounds like the way people really talk to each other. I winced a bit at the notion of a pension (today health benefits aren''t even a guarantee) but fortunately the words "Social Security" didn''t pop into my head until after I was done listening... For some reason, Leon Janney (Joe the company president) always cracks me up with his delivery. Maybe because in other shows he frequently plays absurd characters who say outlandish things. Norman Rose and William Redfield are always solid. This show would have aired right about the time I started listening to RMT as a teenager but I don''t remember the plot (I remember quite a few plots from then but very few titles). A very good show (but then I enjoy them all).', '2013-03-24 22:15:09', 1, '8919756c3c32cf73683fad22877a3ed1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4749, '0492', 'episode', 'Ester Barnes', '', 'Pension Plan works for me on the strength of Leon Janney and Norman Rose. Great dialogue with some laugh-out-loud moments...\r\n\r\nGlad the group here posted on one of my favorites!', '2013-03-24 22:15:10', 1, '21be065c17d2230c20279f0d597705ec', '112.200.20.61'),
(4750, '0492', 'episode', 'Phil M.', '', 'I don\\''t think that Pension Plan is one of the best episodes. &nbsp;I think it\\''s biggest problem is that there seems to be two plots dilemmas going on. One with the man and his pension (and his boss) and the other with the devil making his claim.\r\n\r\nThe fact that devil doesn\\''t show up until the 3rd act makes his impact on the story sort of weak. And doesn\\''t the devil make better contracts than the one he originally set up with the protagonist?\r\n\r\nHe always seemed like a smoother operator than that.\r\n\r\nAnother problem I had with it was that the wife seemed to have a dual personality -- part shrew at one point, harping on him to find out what is up with his pension and the next, saint -- everything will work out.\r\n\r\nAlthough, I tend to like the episodes in which supernatural elements happen, I think this one would have been better off with the devil\\''s entrance.<br>', '2013-03-25 11:14:24', 1, '601a0281da767617f2369837dff2555d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4751, '0901', 'episode', 'Mailiol', '', 'I didn''t care for this one. The main character is extraordinarily doctrinaire and a caricature rather than a real person.', '2013-03-24 22:15:12', 1, '5ad4c68c72040c19088e2262f5f6ad2b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4752, '0901', 'episode', 'Janet P.', '', 'This show had all the trappings of a good horror story. A lurking supernatural presence, a Conan-Doylesque narration, some spooky sound effects. And using the parrot to sense the presence was effective because the parrot can only react, not speak. Norman Rose is always good in these types of tales. But a few inconsistencies bothered me. The Professor''s loneliness and inability to love is not explained. But more was the notion that a haunt represented love. This story was adapted and it would be interesting to read the original. Also EG Marshall was cut off before he could give his idea about what the story meant. The story held me to the end but I was still stuck between the concept of love and the sinister nature of the haunt. Like when the parrot seems to desire its affections. Maybe a purely evil spirit, a manifestation of the Professor''s misanthropy, would have worked better.', '2013-03-24 22:15:13', 1, 'e8ca11e9fb1b2132f85e6b0f61658d25', '112.200.20.61'),
(4753, '0901', 'episode', 'Erik Lensherr', '', 'I though this was an interesting, although somewhat creepy episode. And that sound effect for the parrot was really strange. The show was fun, but certainly not one of my favorites. I would probably rate this among the average shows, but hey, when your cranking out a show every day, I guess you can''t expect everything to be a classic. When it comes down to it though, I enjoy them all, even the so called "duds"!', '2013-03-24 22:15:14', 1, '9fde50772cf390d4c0871f1463af123a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4754, '0901', 'episode', 'C. B.', '', 'I liked this one. It kind of reminds me of "Green Tea" by Sheridan Le Fanu, which you can get from audiobooksforfree.com. I think the comments above about characterization are true, but generally it''s an entertaining installment.', '2013-03-24 22:15:14', 1, 'c97fe4b8be77c1e953ea69b86adcfb93', '112.200.20.61'),
(4755, '0901', 'episode', 'Kristoff', '', 'I must say that although I understand the criticisms here, I loved this episode. FYI, the script is adapted from a classic Robert Hitchens short story, "How Love Came to Professor Guildea"--a tale which had appeared earlier on ESCAPE and would also be done a few years after CBSRMT on the Canadian series VANISHING POINT. (The story itself, from around 1900, is available online in various places--a Google search will bring interested parties to the text immediately.) Perhaps one limitation of the CBSRMT version is the updating and Americanization of the story--the tale probably would have worked better in its original late-19th century English setting. Still, at least for me, a beautiful piece, well-told--Norman Rose is really effective here, especially in his freak-out scene in Act 2.\r\n\r\nI certainly agree with dnagle that it''s a shame the recording cuts off that idea E.G. Marshall says he''s "dying" to tell us about! And I''ll add that, though this is a minor thing, CBSRMT continued here their tradition of giving new, and vastly inferior, titles to classic stories. Who wants to hear something called "Shadow of Love" when they could hear something called "How Love Came to Professor Guildea"?\r\n\r\nStill, from my perspective, a first-rate episode.', '2013-03-24 22:15:15', 1, 'c5473cc0e7c207115e8a7d9b79a9a1bb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4756, '0756', 'episode', 'Vernel N.', '', 'ANOTHER "Millicent" in this one!!!!', '2013-03-22 19:56:36', 1, '1b7deda89be1f7369be54be772c2eae0', '112.200.20.61'),
(5663, '0007', 'episode', 'Kristin', 'harlowgoldblonde@hotmail.com', 'This is a Great 5-star story from CBSRMT.  She repeatedly warns the reporter but; like all men he can''t see past the pretty face and honey-colored hair and doesn''t take her warnings seriously.  He shrugs off even the warnings of her husband about what she is capable of and regrets it in the end. Just because a woman is pretty doesn''t automatically make her a sweet & nice person and incapable being nasty & evil.  You only have to look at today''s crop of so-called "celebrities" and "stars" to see evidence of that.', '2013-03-23 01:25:08', 1, 'f313adb7567c82b3b5124653414de302', '63.27.92.185'),
(4758, '0756', 'episode', 'Vernel N.', '', 'This wasn\\''t a bad play...Ralph Bell and Evie Juster had two great voices working together.\r\n\r\nI always got a kick out of the oboe and bassoon music at the very end of the second act...that was ALWAYS in a light-hearted RMT play. It\\''s just that this one kind of lost me. In the third act where I should have been rapt, I found myself drifting away, then unsure of the significance of Bell\\''s final words.\r\n\r\nStill, not a bad listen whatsoever.<br>', '2013-03-22 19:56:52', 1, 'c2acb0cc1e4b3af8619019abdf8655da', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4759, '0756', 'episode', 'James', '', 'I thought this episode to be a bit on the sillier side of the RMT. The twist at the end of such an elaborate plot scheme seemed a little expected, if not predictable.\r\n\r\nI didn\\''t like how the \\"sister-in-law\\" sort of appeared out of nowhere and became a critical element of the story, tho it made more sense later.\r\n\r\nMorally, I am constantly surprised by the news in our world at just how often crimes of this nature actually occur. It seems that a lot of people fall into the prey of confidence artists all the time, despite years of RMT shows, Columbo, and Dennis Weaver giving us examples to avoid.\r\n\r\nMakes me wonder how people can be so easily taken in... and how can I get in on the action! :shock: (just kidding!)\r\n\r\nIn all, it was an easy listen, well produced, and on the lighter side.<br>', '2013-03-22 19:57:03', 1, 'ddee117566132736a94e692a2e06c080', '112.200.20.61'),
(4760, '1342', 'episode', 'Allister L.', '', 'While this is not among the best programmes the RMT has to offer, it is a fun study of the concept of contrasts and opposites. The two brothers: one a level headed, clear-thinker; the other a compulsive, irrational and impatient brat.\r\n\r\nI don''t usually condone violence as a solution of discipline, but at one point during this tale, I had wished the level headed brother had just butt-whooped the annoying brother. But, through the strange events, just desserts were served and with a humorous, dark twist at the end.\r\n\r\nAs a study, it was interesting to see how in human behavior there truly are two sides to most points of view. Even here on this website while we contrast opinions on shows, we also exhibit our points of view on everything from film, to sports, to music. I think it''s what makes our world so wonderful, yet so powerfully strained.\r\n\r\nEven the recent US elections showed us clearly that the United States is divided by contrast... more than one hundred years after our Civil War.\r\n\r\nLight versus dark, loud versus silent, large versus small. It''s the night and day of our world that this story is written under and I think Elspeth Eric did a nice job at fitting it all together, as well as a special performance as well!\r\n\r\nI gave this one a 4.6, a fine production as always.', '2013-06-19 22:59:07', 1, '0ec85acf98008142d22dadb299ad907a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4761, '1342', 'episode', 'Stelson', '', 'I don''t care for most of Eric''s work because I think she is more character driven than plot driven in most cases. However, her antagonist in this story is creepy enough to make it worth listening to. I gave it a four.', '2013-03-24 22:15:17', 1, '07dae1424f22d258598618b65f5b4465', '112.200.20.61'),
(4762, '0736', 'episode', 'K. Mullins', '', 'I really enjoyed this one! I was very surprised to find that the cat was in fact, a Witch. It was a great example of a seducing Witch out for financial gain, becoming seduced her self by the seducee. I think the mother ( the White Witch) should have known that getting a cat from the Black Witch daughter, would spell trouble in her efforts to become a possible new wife to her Boss, Mr. Joyce. I think that Mr. Henry Joyce might want to reconsider getting another cat. It was not the the cat he was in love with, but really the Witch. Anyway, this was in my opinion, one of the" Great Ones."', '2013-03-24 22:15:17', 1, '9fa1b6a216c44c42742c30ce208f8129', '112.200.20.61'),
(4763, '0736', 'episode', 'Manuel', '', 'I hadn''t listened to this one in over a year...then when I recently revisited it I was surprised to find out how much I enjoyed it. A few thoughts:\r\n\r\n1. From a moral standpoint, I don''t like witches, or the thought of a "white witch" (they exist in fairy tales but not necessarily in real life) wanting to become a "gray witch". (Reminds me of the supposedly pure Olivia Newton-John character becoming a leather-clad slut at the end of "Grease" to attract her John Travolta...speaking of the RMT era.) But it makes for an interesting story.\r\n\r\n2. I LOOOOVE the jazzy outro (used in several RMTs like "Return of the Moresbys" and "Transmutations, Inc.") at the end of the first act, when Gwynne''s character finally decides to get a cat.\r\n\r\n3. One of my favorite all-time Fred Gwynne performances. May be my favorite in the RMT.\r\n\r\n4. Speaking of black and white...the cat Gwynne got in "The therapeutic cat" was a piebald, like "Sadie" pictured below:', '2013-03-24 22:15:18', 1, '4c0b6ffa36235f1d27997c7f8a87286b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4764, '0736', 'episode', 'Russel', '', 'I also forgot to say this is an Elspeth Eric play...I add it to "A horror story" and "Star Sapphire" for my favorite works of hers.', '2013-03-24 22:15:19', 1, '13f2fae5da2610864819aa51521ad5a4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4765, '0736', 'episode', 'Vlad B.', '', 'This was an episode that I''d listened to a long while ago. I wasn''t a fan of it then, and admittedly, I''m still not a fan of this one.\r\n\r\nWhile I find it to be one of Fred Gwynne''s finer performances, the story itself just never grabbed me. I think it is in part the RMT''s fault... whenever they decide to feature a cat in an episode, the cat always sounds silly. Maybe unnatural is a better word. That could work, I suppose, but I find it grating.\r\n\r\nKind of like Mercedes McCambridge in Stephanie''s Room when she puts on a "little girl" voice... her voice was just not convincing; the cat in this episode was distacting for me.\r\n\r\nAlso, the idea that two witches would fight over a man is just a bit odd. I mean, women who are serious in the art in the craft are typically quite independent as well as self-sufficient, and do not regard men as terribly necessary. So, for them to "fight" over a man seemed a bit of a stretch.\r\n\r\nI should add that I''m highly allergic to cats, so as soon as I began listening, my eyes got red and I began sneezing. inkietoo:\r\n\r\nNot a bad show, but just not one of my personal favorites. I gave it a 4.0, as it was well performed (except that cat!) and produced.\r\n\r\nA good choice for show! Thank you!!!!', '2013-03-24 22:15:20', 1, '94ba5f8336702d5eb10cf679e6025ca1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4766, '0736', 'episode', 'Jerby', '', 'we''ve talked about RMT "cats" here before. (You''d think that since it was their logo, they''d have gone out of their way to impersonate a good one.)\r\n\r\nThe best cat I''ve heard on this program was in one of the very first episodes: "The return of the Moresbys". Reason being? They apparently used the sound effect of a real one. (Good thing they did, as I''m sure those of you who''ve heard the episode would agree. And it was only used once, but most effectively.)', '2013-03-24 22:17:28', 1, '76a9c277be3cba2f7e71ef959c2a1988', '112.200.20.61'),
(4767, '0736', 'episode', 'Mr. Formanez', '', 'This one interested me at the beginning because I have the winter blahs, or "something" (as Henry puts it). Well, I don''t have a cat, but my dog is pretty theraputic. I liked the little string/harp music with the cat observations and I am enjoying the Fred Gwynne ''marathon''. A little trivia I saw on one website: he appeared in 79 episodes of RMT. He has such a familiar and interesting voice. I like the way he stutters and pauses...so much character. He is one of my favorites!\r\n\r\nI was surprised that mother Bingham didn''t catch on to the cat - her being a witch and Denise being her daughter?? I also don''t care for the cat sound effects (in any episodes - there have been worse). I can do a much better one...drives my dog nutty!', '2013-03-27 15:11:35', 1, '4245cc64e3dfb04fb714c17641258a23', '112.200.20.61'),
(4768, '0736', 'episode', 'Tony Mend', '', 'I agree, Ang... Gwynne''s technique of delivery is unique and not heard often, especially today. I studied voice-over for a while, and my favorite teacher, Will LeBow, most popular for a character on the cable show Dr. Katz, taught us the same technique. He called it "believable stumbling" or something to that effect, and it is normal to speak this way... so much so, that the listener often identifies more with the character without being aware.\r\n\r\nAnother thing he taught us was to use our arms and hands when we speak. The vocal delivery can be climaxed, balanced, and completely controlled by using one''s body to push the presence of the voice.\r\n\r\nPoint is, I can just imagine the studio full of RMT players all waving their arms and hands about while performing some of these roles. They must have had an absolute BLAST!', '2013-03-24 22:17:30', 1, '08dc12ff8c0923c025b5052096d0e6e8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4769, '0710', 'episode', 'Norman Ada', '', '1. Normally, I don''t like any story on the RMT that has even a hint of "anti-military" about it.\r\n\r\nHowever, in this case that was almost secondary to the plot, and was almost subverted by the plot twist. Nice coup by Victoria Dann.\r\n\r\n2. One of my favorite Larry Haines performances.', '2013-03-24 22:17:31', 1, '47065fbb99a0f897f126bffb2d9ac968', '112.200.20.61'),
(4770, '0710', 'episode', 'Antonel Ross', '', 'Yeah, this is a good one. Having been involved with the military and with the civil service as a data/financial analyst, I can relate to the main character. The twist at the end was pretty cool! I remember the first time I heard it years ago, I was like WOW!\r\n\r\nGreat epsiode!', '2013-03-24 22:17:33', 1, '2c6438df5cc9d61d8ba7ff13475bea63', '112.200.20.61'),
(4771, '0710', 'episode', 'Andy Young', '', 'Death on Project X really had me going for a while, depsite it\\''s slow pace and lackluster subject matter.\r\n\r\nThe performances, I thought were terrific as usual. The man who played the accountant (Robert Dryden?), was especially convincing in the role. I just really dug the whole concept, mainly because it happens to all of us at one point, when we\\''re forced to wear many hats in our career or job.\r\n\r\nThe particularly disturbing twist at the end, left me wanting to know more. Immediately after it ended, I had to look at the status bar to see if it was over, or if there were still more left... to my disappointment, it was done.\r\n\r\nAh well... too bad it wasn\\''t a five parter!\r\n\r\nI gave the show a 4.6 - an nice pick by an even nicer feller!', '2013-03-24 22:17:34', 1, 'c4bdc73a2b8ed409be59cd1d7176a3cc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4772, '0902', 'episode', 'Benny', '', 'Interestingly, I think this was Court Benson\\''s best performance (when he was \\"Captain Cragie\\" on the RMT. However, you\\''ve said Benson had a good voice when he was being a leading man, but his \\"other voices\\" left some to be desired.\r\n\r\nHe\\''s also the voice of \\"Mr. Manson\\", and it\\''s amusing that around the 25:01 mark he , or rather his voice, almost breaks character when he says \\"I didn\\''t think I should move him\\". As \\"Captain Cragie\\", at the mark he almost breaks it again at the 13:51 mark when he hoarsely says \\"You have your orders, Mr. Walker.\\"\r\n\r\n- Errrrrr, what were the captain and his woman, er, ghost, er, hallucination doing in the captain\\''s cabin?<br>', '2013-03-24 22:16:22', 1, 'b5d381f81c94bf2b50d5832a3811d0be', '112.200.20.61'),
(4773, '0902', 'episode', 'Pete Mack', '', 'This one had a great atmosphere. The setting is a creaky old ship cruising the lonliest place on earth. It''s storming and the crew isn''t certain they''re going to make it back.\r\n\r\nAdd to that a captain who is driven by seeming hallucinations and madness and it''s not hard to discern why the crew is increasingly concerned for their own welfare.\r\n\r\nI gave it a five! It was a spectacular episode.\r\n\r\nCourt Benson wasn''t bad. I can''t stand when he tries to do that old man voice. It sound very fake and of all the voices any of them do, that''s the worst. Dryden, Raeburn, Shea, and Juster did good voices. But others did just fine with the same voice week after week. Janny, DaSilva, and Gwynne played a large variety of roles without varying their voice.', '2013-03-24 22:16:18', 1, '04fb688333519e2f81b9f013efda5e7b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4774, '0902', 'episode', 'Jack', '', 'I\\''ve always respected Lloyd Battista\\''s talent, and I remember an episode (\\"Search for Eden\\", I think) where he gave a good if not convincing spanish accent. But, while I hate putting down any actor\\''s work, I\\''ve talked here before about his \\"hoarse Irish cop\\" accent which he\\''s done several times. When he made that voice he didn\\''t sound as if he was acting, but rather play acting.\r\n\r\nAlso,\r\n\r\n- The RMT was very good, often, when they were doing episodes taking place on a boat of some sort. \\"The laughing maiden\\" and \\"The great white shark\\" come to mind. In this case, the sound effects were tremendously done...when Dr. Ray and Mr. Manson see \\"the Polar bear\\" you hear two ship\\''s bells, ostensibly chiming one o\\''clock in the morning (as Dr. Ray said it was in the darkest part of the night). (Then again, they were near the pole so who knows what time of the day it was.)\r\n\r\n- I loved how Dr. Ray attacked the problem as a true physician would, trying to rule out one cause after another as he would diagnose a disease.\r\n\r\n- \\"The captain of the Polestar\\" was the title of a collection of short stories by Conan Doyle. The man was certainly a gifted writer.\r\n\r\n- The closest (and only other, frankly) comparable RMT tale to this one was \\"Sea Fever\\", which took place on a \\"blackbirding\\" slave ship, in warm waters (as I recall), with a captain who didn\\''t give a rat\\''s rear end about his crew. \\"Captain of the Polestar\\" (apart from having a possibly deranged captain) was the anti-Sea Fever.\r\n\r\nInterestingly, with the genuine care he seemed to have for his men, Captain Craigie of the Polestar reminded me of another misunderstood but driven commander of a ship, William Bligh. Good thing no one got flogged on this ship, though.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:16:10', 1, 'c3bb4aa0376317580a86b9a823b93671', '112.200.20.61'),
(4775, '0902', 'episode', 'Coney', '', 'There were many things I enjoyed about this program. Mainly, the storyline. It was very slow, which I usually don\\''t care for, but most sea-faring tales I can recall seem to take their time in leaving port, so to speak.\r\n\r\nConan Doyle creates another mythic landscape with this tale - one I had not been aware of prior. I am so used to the whole Sherlock Holmes settings, that this was in such contrast to Hound of the Baskervilles, and the rest.\r\n\r\nAmong the other things that struck me well with this tale was the consideration of sound editing. I just love when you tap into one of these programs to discover that someone, whether it was H.Brown or someone else, had paid the mind to put special attention on what was going on behind the main characters. In most cases, this tale allowed me the opportunity to feel as though I were on that boat. Wonderful escapism!\r\n\r\nLastly, the acting, as is typical, was superb, though the Captain\\''s voice did often make me frown.\r\n\r\nOn the down side, it was again, quite slow moving. I had the patience, so it didn\\''t cause me annoyance or anything, but it was noticeable. The only other thing that got me to \\"snap\\" out of my immersion was the sound of the spectral woman. In part because I didn\\''t expect it and in part also because the teaser at the start of the show suggested a polar bear, the effect of the moaning woman struck me peculiar. I wasn\\''t sold on it immediately. Once it was in there, it became elemental; but upon introduction, it sounded odd... out of place. &nbsp;A very unique episode for sure!<br>', '2013-03-24 22:16:04', 1, '8e370a2fe70f84fcff45ce3b5cbcf0ae', '112.200.20.61'),
(4776, '1024', 'episode', 'Shiela', '', 'I guess I may have stated before, but my favorite kind of RMT shows are the ones that deal with people\\''s sanity and psychology.\r\n\r\nWhile this episode begins with that kind of \\"this guy is totally nuts\\" kind of drama, it seems to build on a theme only to revert to the oldest trick in the book: a simple deception and someone playing tricks on him.\r\n\r\nOnce the notorious plot is revealed, I began to lose interest. It was great while it lasted, but then it seemed as though the writer just had no where else to go. &nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-24 22:18:04', 1, 'df7ab28a3e388bac06052a46fb492c40', '112.200.20.61'),
(4777, '1024', 'episode', 'Bernice W.', '', 'Once the deception was revealed, the whole thing failed to hold my interest. &nbsp;The first act really had my intrigued although I began to suspect what ultimately would be revealed. I was surfing the net while listening by the end. Just not that engaging.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:17:49', 1, 'ca507955b0c63ba7403ca1a1f7744e32', '112.200.20.61'),
(4778, '1024', 'episode', 'Jan Marini', '', 'Hmmm...a show about a Viet Nam vet whose last name is "Kerry".\r\n\r\nYou trying to send us a subliminal message', '2013-03-22 17:07:11', 1, '221cba2b4ec12aecb2cc7cd69d8ba44d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4779, '1024', 'episode', 'Malcolm Granger', '', 'How perceptive of you! I missed the Kerry thing altogether!', '2013-03-22 17:07:13', 1, '03dbfa4bc0a3a055f0d8a94ce47e43de', '112.200.20.61'),
(4780, '1024', 'episode', 'Lynette', '', 'Ha!! Had I been aware of that, I may have thought twixe about posting this show! (Don''t forget, I''ve had to deal with Kerry''s politics for the past 20 years)', '2013-03-22 17:07:27', 1, '0c1c4c325d21f6c560f19f8b806d6955', '112.200.20.61'),
(4781, '1024', 'episode', 'Ian C.', '', 'It is actually spelled "Carey" in the CBSRMT Episode guide. I do agree what a werid coincidence. I enjoyed this episode. It might have been predictable in some people''s opinion but I still enjoyed it. I was not sure if there would be some sort of twist still so I listened to the entire episode.', '2013-03-24 22:17:53', 1, '545a2a591db7bd0fdbc25c5ca27d4637', '112.200.20.61'),
(4782, '0725', 'episode', 'A. Gico', '', 'WOW!\r\n\r\nI\\''m going to compare this to the most disturbing show I ever heard on the RMT (that I\\''ve mentioned ad infinitum here) \\"Star Sapphire\\".\r\n\r\nFred Gwynne, in \\"Return engagement\\" as in \\"Star sapphire\\", completely transforms himself. In \\"sapphire\\" he goes from a gentle, would-be adoptive father to cold-hearted abuser.\r\n\r\nIn \\"engagement\\" he goes from befuddled-sounding, washed-up thespian to insane would-be killer.\r\n\r\nIt takes a great actor (such as the Yale-trained (?) ) Gwynne to pull this off.\r\n\r\nOriginally I started to get sleepy listening to this, but Gwynne pulled me into it ever so gradually, then suddenly with all the subtlety of a, well, a blow to the head with a pair of fire tongs. Gwynne\\''s performance alone was great, and the supporting cast was good also.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:07:58', 1, 'f6c314c517292e3b67b0219bba6b842a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4783, '0725', 'episode', 'Charles Bagget', '', 'I thought this one was good, but not great. It didn\\''t move very fast and kind of stumbled toward the end until it gave us a nice twist.<br>', '2013-03-22 17:08:22', 1, '0ed4c3896b36d338c9333ebeb91e037d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4785, '0725', 'episode', 'Ringo', '', 'I finally caught up to this show. It always puzzles me to think that Fred Gwynne, a man with such versatile and intense talent will likely be remembered by pop culture fans as Herman Munster. Blows me away.\r\n\r\nAs I\\''ve said many times, my favorite RMT shows deal with characters who are plagued with psychological curses. I guess because they are so horrifying in a fictional sense, but so very real and believable to everyone.\r\n\r\nGwynne delivers this performance like a great chef, cooking up a personality that is not only believable, but chilling. This was a character I would not wished to have stumbled upon, or on me.\r\n\r\nThe scene where he is picked up in his pajamas was particularly stunning, as I could only imagine myself offering the same service to a poor sod wandering the streets. But hearing this tale certainly would make me more cautious on that position, knowing what I know.\r\n\r\nWhile not a terrifying horror character in a villainous role, Gwynne\\''s man has our sympathy and our pity. He holds a flame of greatness from a career that elevated him to star. But, as we\\''ve seen in our pop culture far too many times, even the brightest and highest of stars can be subject to fall at the hands of fate.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-22 17:08:18', 1, '0390cfce06ae148cb66956d0356aa339', '112.200.20.61'),
(4786, '0929', 'episode', 'Juries', '', 'I had the pleasure to listen to it last night. If you\\''ve never heard this tale before don\\''t read this review! It is a wonderful show and should be heard without any bias or info going into it.\r\n\r\nThanks!\r\n\r\nIt was just after midnight - on Halloween - when I listened to this program. I had heard it once a very long time ago, so the details were not fresh in my mind.\r\n\r\nEven some of the more diabolical episodes that had been written for the RMT can\\''t compare to the brutality, the grimness, and the sheer menace of this \\"Hannibal\\" type character.\r\n\r\nThe show paints a timeless portrait of a man who struggles with his own existence, and even perhaps mortality, at any cost. After the show, I kept wondering what his parents were like. What his childhood was like. Much the same way when I read about someone in real life who has committed atrocities such as our villain.\r\n\r\nElspeth Eric always writes very deep, provocative stories which tend to stir the imagination and evoke something emotional on many levels. While some of her works are a sure-hit, many often miss. However, this episode transcends. It not only hits, but it hits with a kitchen mallet right on the soft spot of every RMT listener.\r\n\r\nI assume we all expect (and allow) a fair amount of foul play, violence, betrayal, and even evil behavior to seep into our minds when we tune in, but this show doth spilleth over. She holds back in her writing, only in a way that someone of aristocracy holds back from being crude. This episode is gallant in every word, and the actors - especially Drydon - perform them as though they in fact, were the characters themselves.\r\n\r\nEven the character of the wife is delivered with bored restraint and exhibits a life of unenthusiasm, disappointment, and complacency.\r\n\r\nWhile being vile in most respects, the acts of our villain are not, I believe, so far off from our own behavior. \\"He didn\\''t comment on the truffles?\\"\r\n\r\nHow many times have we put out an extended effort into something, only to be praised - but not where we needed the praise most? How often do we take such incredible pride in our work that we\\''d be willing to take risks to present it? Indeed, this character was only flawed by one mark: he was a flippin\\'' psychopath!\r\n\r\nAnd that\\''s why I gave this show a 5 rating. Perfect on every level, for me. There were a couple of moments during the show where I thought the writing was a bit overboard (the slippers coming to life) and off-tone (why would he think it was the police coming to arrest him so quickly? He appeared much too cool to drop his guard so fast), but I overlooked them based on how well everything was pulled off.\r\n\r\nAlas, I\\''m writing a book. A great episode and a perfect selection for this Halloween show.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:18:51', 1, '07c62bffe74939647d8d6cb4ef71d901', '112.200.20.61'),
(4787, '0929', 'episode', 'Antonel Ross', '', 'Yup. Listened to it while driving to TX from CA a couple of weeks ago. Most definitely the creepiest RMT I have ever heard. I played it for my race teammate last year while driving back from racing in Vegas. He thought it was pretty darn creepy too. That from someone who hasn''t heard many RMT''s. He was surprised at the content, pleasantly surprised.', '2013-03-22 17:06:13', 1, 'ab6863c32cacac05b0be554e670200a3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4788, '0929', 'episode', 'J. Valens', '', 'I can''t imagine introducing someone to the RMT using this show. I mean, not for nothing, but if this were the first show I''d heard, (almost) everything else wouldn''t have met up!', '2013-03-24 22:18:25', 1, '1643c83d16305bad53234fb6178562d9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4789, '0929', 'episode', 'H. Pym', '', 'I disagree that Elspeth Eric evokes strong emotions. I think much of her work is unadulterated sappiness. She overuses the "abused woman talking to her therapist" device. Furthermore, she often tells two thirds of a good story only to disappoint you with a sappy or stupid ending.\r\n\r\nHowever, Elspeth hits the mark with "A Horror Story". There is no sap or stupidity here. This is pure horror with all the gore you can get in a radio drama.\r\n\r\nWhat makes it a masterpiece is Dryden''s fantastic portrayal of the narrator. This is by far his finest performance.\r\n\r\nThis ranks, I think, as the best episode ever. Only Hickory, Dickory, Doom comes close for me.', '2013-03-06 15:22:57', 1, '45035953b2f1e00a79f10fd65213f5f5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4790, '0929', 'episode', 'Jercs Soltes', '', '- I always love a show when they do \\"New Orleans accents\\" (as Ian Martin\\''s character did) but the actors sound more like they\\''re in Mississippi or Alabama at the time. Maybe they had accents like that in New Orleans about the era when this was done, but my Orleaneux friends used to get the biggest kicks out of seeing films supposedly in their city with accents like that.\r\n\r\n- Speaking of Martin...he was a gem. It\\''s so hard to find pictures and information on him. Howard Moss, who does have pictures out there on the Web, was tremendous as well. The RMT had their \\"A\\" team of character actors out for this one...a tremendously talented bunch.\r\n\r\n- The funny thing was, as spooky as this was supposed to be, I cracked up listening to the feminine grunts and cackles the shoes made.\r\n\r\n- Dryden was indeed excellent on this...as good as he was in \\"The rise and fall of the fourth reich\\". The transformation between his chef/proprietor character and his \\"spirit\\" was fascinating as well.\r\n\r\n- Indeed, I was astonished that this was an Eric work. Psycho-drama was her specialty. I honestly wondered if she was a psychology student in college at one point.\r\n\r\n- The orchestral strings and tympani music bed was tremendous under the \\"ghost\\''s\\" voice. That one always evokes an uneasy feeling in me.<br>', '2013-03-25 21:44:21', 1, 'f5464ef95a11a47ef99eae8877e2b548', '112.200.20.61'),
(4793, '1122', 'episode', 'Godfrey', '', '1. John Beal was cool.\r\n\r\n2. Mandel Kramer and Teri Keane worked so well together. (See another RMT "Guilty Secret" for even more of this.)\r\n\r\n3. Very touching episode, and Elspeth caught the mood of the mother quite well, I thought. (I thought she''d lost twins, but apparently they were separate pregnancies?)\r\n\r\n4. This is a couple that I hope God was able to bless with as many children as they wanted after the episode was over. (Or that they were able to adopt the same.)', '2013-03-06 20:23:51', 1, 'c8285b0a8ff7c2d7e4233a47ed539713', '112.200.20.61'),
(4794, '1122', 'episode', 'Mamu', '', 'The whole idea of losing children is a very uncomfortable one and I think the show did indeed capture that mood. I didn''t care for the show.\r\n\r\nNot just the idea of losing your children but it seemed to me that the whole paranormal stuff was thrown in just to fit it in to CBSRMT. I don''t feel like the story flowed. To me it seemed kind of "shake and bake". Throw in some paranormal, a pinch of sorrow and human interaction. Shake it all up and you have mediocre radio drama. In my opinion, not one of the best shows.\r\n\r\nAt least, there was a happy ending.', '2013-03-06 20:23:55', 1, '5a3671c209b5358f720c9dc4d972fa8b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4795, '1122', 'episode', 'Resty', '', 'This is an odd tale that I was able to listen to only once and "get it" (I think). The mood we''re in when listening can affect one''s perception; the somber nature of this one was fascinating to me; the resolution might have been seen as soppy had my mood been different. But I felt as if the unfolding tale, complete with the sci-fi element of the "thought camera" contained enough mystery, symbolism and eerie references to keep the tale interesting and the story moving.\r\n\r\nA woman is distraught after having borne two stillborn sons. For some reason, as she obsesses about the whereabouts of their remains, her husband decides not to tell her. I wasn''t sure why; all he told his friend was "You know how she is." I thought maybe she''d be less obsessed had he told her.\r\n\r\nMaybe I''m getting soft; I feel like I could be more critical of this episode, but it just grew on me and I enjoyed it. Another one that had a bit of a "Twilight Zone" feel. ("A Very Special Camera"— albeit a dark comedy, unlike this — featured a camera that would produce a picture from a few minutes into the future; "Little Girl Lost" featured a dog that saved its master, trapped in another dimension; and there were several TZ episodes with heartstring pulling emotional content and warm fuzzy endings.\r\n\r\nCan''t wait to read "Until Next Time''s" review. That person is awesome!', '2013-03-06 20:23:57', 1, 'caf824a781322d9a22615095079d3abc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4796, '1122', 'episode', 'Norman P.', '', 'This was an entertaining episode, but not a "Gotcha" type of episode. I wasn''t grabbed from the beginning as to why I should care about the story. I think that stems from two diverging themes:\r\n1. The fact that the husband wouldn''t tell his wife where he buried the bodies of their babies AND\r\n2. The photos created from brain waves.\r\n\r\nI think these ideas were too divergent and not pulled together well enough by the story. The story should have focused on the issues between the husband and wife OR the mind photos. Since this story seemed to go in two directions, I was not able to really take in this story. It was a good diversion, just not one of my favorite stories.', '2013-03-06 20:24:02', 1, '5e6d8450aa062bf7bdd6fa1301115d03', '112.200.20.61'),
(4797, '0631', 'episode', 'Jesswani', '', 'I just listened to this episode and couldn''t believe it was over when it was over! I was listening to the story and trying to figure it all out as the film noir aspects were really capturing my interest. The problem came when it was over without me hearing what happened. I didn''t like the ending where we were told by the woman in the green dress what happened out in the bar. That is always my biggest complaint about movies or radio mysteries--action that is told to us instead of shown to us. I just didn''t see why we couldn''t witness the police attack instead of hearing it second hand. This episode just ended too soon for my liking. The first half of the show was great. The second half left me cold. ARG!', '2013-03-06 20:24:06', 1, '5b25ca8ea4963eaf3b2f3ff9438801fc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4798, '0631', 'episode', 'N. Ricci A.', '', 'This episode attempts to recreate the <span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/hardboiled-detectives-p-48546.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"hardboiled\\">hard boiled genre of detective radio fiction circa 1940’s</a></span>. This is a formidable undertaking as the expression of the original art form was both the written and spoken…namely books and <span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"otrcat\\">OTR (Old Time Radio)</a></span>. Indeed, the peak of radio extended into the 40’s. Classics such as “<span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/suspense-p-1882.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"Suspense\\">Suspense</a></span>â€, ‘<span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/whistler-p-1975.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"Whistler\\">The Whistler</a></span>â€, “<span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/pat-novak-for-hire-p-49046.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"Pat Novak\\">Pat Novak For Hire</a></span>â€ and are known to most still today.\r\n\r\nOur 1977 revisit borrows from these shows in character and story. Indeed, it can be argued that it borrows from the movies and their respective characters of the era as well. ( an off-shoot of the books ) Unfortunately, it does so only in a most inane, boring and superficial manner.\r\n\r\nThrough the story E.G. reminds us of one of the Master’s of the genre, Chandler. This serves nicely to raise our expectations. Notoriety by association is not enough. The story itself borrows from many. He does let us know that Colbridge is no Marlow. This P.I. is less successful…even self deprecating when introducing himself. Immediately the character of Pat Novak comes to mind, and this is solidified by his being knocked out after some verbal sparring with the Sidney Greenstreet rip-off “Shakespeareâ€ and his stereotypical dumb, lackey Dickey. Unlike Webb’s Pat Novak, Kramer’s Colbridge never really sounds tough and lacking mental or physical prowess can’t even compensate by being funny. Sure, he uses the words of the genre, but they sound simply scripted. Hell, he ends up not even solving the story and is ultimately a guy half conscious through the show, in the dark literally and figuratively.\r\n\r\nWe the listeners (victims) are not in the dark because there is zero suspense. We know Bo Peep will be found dead because we know the uninterested and tired Colbridge will get off his duff and go to the flat. Sure enough, Bo Peep is found dead and described with some blood soaked verbiage. Meanwhile the thunder continues to pound on in the background with its inevitable though unseen correspondent (lightening) only illuminating to us that 1) thunder doesn’t go on and on like this, surely?, and 2) it illuminates the cheese in “cheesyâ€.\r\n\r\nSince the story is unable to leave the listeners in the dark because there is no suspense, the writers keep Colbridge unconscious a good deal and have the characters retell the events of the story to “Sugarâ€, played by a cotton filled mouth Bob Dryden. This serves the purpose of turning a 15 minute story into 45. Meanwhile the thunder goes on, though at about 30 minutes into the show Dickey promises the audience that the storm is about to break ( a promise to keep us listening…a bribe?)……(un)interestingly the thunder never does end. It’s like listening to bad heavy metal, a wall of sound that gets old fast.\r\n\r\nThe only character that is not stereotypical is Miss Lane. Her independence ends there, for she is as dull as the rest. She simply doesn’t sound like she is trying to fit in, whereas the others try to, albeit unsuccessfully. Colbridge even has to tell us who she is!!!! This despite the fact that she is described as being in all green with red hair! As a saving grace, she does “solveâ€ the story. When I heard her name, I thought, “You are no Margo Lane!â€\r\n\r\nE.G. ends his dialogue with a quote from Chandler. I was compelled to think of Chandler at the time, and one of his novel’s, “The Big Sleepâ€. This show should have been called “The Bigger Sleepâ€. So much OTR is out there from the 40’s that is absolutely fantastic…and available to listen to.&nbsp;<br><br>', '2013-03-06 20:33:14', 1, '6ef88cba554bde9ac3f8aa095789f671', '112.200.20.61'),
(4799, '0631', 'episode', 'Cedrix', '', 'This was a fun episode in that it was unlike any other RMT that I\\''d heard so far. The \\"noir\\" style, Sam Spade approach was refreshing if not unique to anything else I\\''ve come across.\r\n\r\nHowever, it took me about five listens to finally get through the episode. I just wasn\\''t drawn into it. I think the first act had an allure about it, being in that particular genre of private dics and what not. But after that, everything seemed to have plateaued and remained at the same pace throughout the show. Even at the end, I wasn\\''t quite sure it was over. I pictured the characters smiling at the camera and holding up old-style bottles of Coca-Cola saying, \\"G\\''night now!\\" and then winking... fade to black.\r\n\r\nThree cheers for the writers exploring different avenues and trying to keep the audience full of fresh, new mysteries to uncover, but this episode pretty much lacked any real mystery to it.\r\n\r\n\\"The film was under his body!\\" really ticked me off. What criminal who is desperately searching for some piece of valuable information fails to search the body? For me, this was the dramatic flaw that pinched the nerve in the tooth of the episode. It seemed as though the writer had perhaps written himself into a corner and this was the only way out. A lot of irrelevent details and dialogue, all for naught, had they only checked the body first.\r\n\r\nI gave the show a 3.5 based on the production and the acting quality, which I found to be above par for the RMT standard.<br>', '2013-03-06 20:28:18', 1, '1763f80a9091c21567bc98cae8752883', '112.200.20.61'),
(4800, '0631', 'episode', 'Jenkins M.', '', 'I realize imitation is a form of flattery, but this didn’t even come close.\r\n\r\nUm, UNT, next time you shouldn''t hold back so much, k?\r\n\r\nHOLY BOB DRYDEN have I missed that kind of feedback on these boards! Welcome back, UNT... your amazing insight is inspiring as always. I drill for ways to express my thoughts, which seem to come out like taffy, while you seem to whistfully capture every nuance and generate ideas which were completely peripheral and passed by in my head. Good work!', '2013-03-06 20:30:20', 1, '832e24919e1a60c4cd03164cfa497bfd', '112.200.20.61'),
(4801, '0631', 'episode', 'Cloud', '', '1. I always like when Mandel Kramer plays a cop. Three other such performances:\r\n\r\n1. \\"The raft\\" \r\n2. \\"The long blue line\\" 3. \\"Cool killer Carl\\"\r\n\r\n2. At the 6:44 mark is a simple 4-note music bed that I have always remembered from the RMT. It may be my all-time favorite, even though it\\''s so simple. (There\\''s also a sped up version of it.)\r\n\r\nIn the aforementioned show \\"Cool Killer Carl\\" the very same bed plays while Kramer is talking first person. His voice and that music bed work great together.\r\n\r\n3. IMO, William Griffis was somewhat a wasted talent in this...I always like his work. (I think he played the cabbie and the younger thug.)\r\n\r\n4. Jackson Beck, on the other hand, fooled me early. I thought for awhile he was a different actor.\r\n\r\n5. Kind of an unusual ending, as some have said. I did enjoy listening to this.<br>', '2013-03-27 15:13:30', 1, '3bd4f9c3e6d77ba60b18c307c755ebaa', '112.200.20.61'),
(4802, '0631', 'episode', 'Kriston L.', '', 'I enjoy the genre, the references to Chandler got me hooked early but may have raised my expectations.\r\n\r\nIt started out well enough, but Mandel Kramer seemed to underplay the character, trying to be dry, but he came off seeming disinterested and uninvolved. Once he got taken prisoner this thing really fell apart, the central character became a bystander.\r\n\r\nI thought maybe it was supposed to be funny, with the Shakespeare thing and all, but it fell flat in that department, too. No clever ironies that I could pick out. Just a literary alias thrown in. Lots of cliche-ish stuff\r\n\r\nThen, this woman shows up, walks freely right into the bad guys lair, and wraps up the whole thing very neatly, after being repeatedly told not to talk, it\\''s a trick, they\\''re listening, etc. And the bad guys just walk away and leave them together? I didn\\''t get it.\r\n\r\nOur hero detective really didn\\''t do anything except get beat up and bound. The case was \\"solved\\" without him. We spend 15 minutes on him being grout, then grggy, then helpless, then not knowing anything. Then we got blitzed in the last few minutes with all of this plot info that he could have been learning if he\\''d escaped from his captors from Bo Peep\\''s place in Act 1 (after taking a few hard shots fom the punk), caught up to the green gal, and they pursued leads together, maybe took a shier under the eye, solved the caper and fell into a big smooch at the end. That would have been more satisfying (for both my enjoyment and to honor the traditions of the genre), than him just being held captive while she comes in, tells him about everything and announces that she had already solved the mystery that he hardly ever knew anything about. I realize that my suggestion would be perhaps more cliched than what we got, but I\\''d rather the thing be predictable than nonsensical. This was sort of like watching the first half of a flm and then having someone else tell you about the second half.\r\n\r\nI like this style and I had not heard it before on RMT, but I am afraid I was disappointed by most of the last two acts after a very promising start.\r\n\r\nStill, as always, it is a treat to kick back and listen to these plays. I\\''m wondering if there are any others utilizing this style in the RMT catalog. I like the style. I\\''ve heard some of the stuff, like <span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/johnny-dollar-yours-truly-johnny-dollar-p-2020.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"Johnny Dollar\\">Johnny Dollar</a></span> and, of course, <span><a href=\\"http://www.otrcat.com/philip-marlowe-p-1727.html\\" target=\\"_self\\" title=\\"Marlowe\\">Philip Marlowe</a></span>, that seems more authentic. probably because it originated during that era instead of 30+ years later.<br>', '2013-03-06 20:32:24', 1, '87d5e3814b92055caabd9cd1be370049', '112.200.20.61'),
(4803, '0631', 'episode', 'Kristine C.', '', 'Looks like I wasn\\''t the only one who thought this episode could have been better.\r\n\r\nSay, has anyone ever heard of Firesign Theater? In about 1969 they made an album, one side of which was called \\"The Further Adventures of Nick Danger.\\" It is a spot-on parody of this genre, old radio, movies, as well as 60s counterculture (i.e., drug lingo and Beatles White Album quotes).\r\n\r\nIt is absolutely hilarious. The more of these movies and radio programs you\\''ve heard, the funnier it is. You can listen a dozen times and hear new stuff every time. &nbsp;You\\''ll enjoy the sound effects, voices, puns, double entendres, etc.<br>', '2013-03-06 20:33:35', 1, '227738fad47e6d58a2821e769a15a7c7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4805, '1196', 'episode', 'Anna Miranda', '', 'I gave this one a 9 in my 1-10 scale based on the exceptional dialogue and Tammy Grimes'' stellar performance. This was masterful writing and acting. Norman Rose was also strong.\r\n\r\nI did not much care for the for the CBS Radio HISTORY Theater that seemed to come later. My reasons for picking this episode are:\r\n\r\n1. Almost everybody who starts listening to the show starts from the beginning. Few get through to the end. I wanted to pick a later show that I rated highly for others to listen to.\r\n\r\n2. I really liked the show alot.', '2013-03-06 20:38:15', 1, '1dfd014c30e248785bc1ebed90fc07b2', '112.200.20.61'),
(4804, '1196', 'episode', 'F. Irons', '', 'I hate to be anything but totally positive, but for me \\"End of a Queen\\" was a pretty typical CBSRMT foray into historical drama--never the strongest type of story for this program. The tale only really came to life near the end, as Marie was being readied for execution--her emotion at having her hair cut off I found quite powerful, and the music and sound effects as she approached her death really made the climax an intense listening experience. And I think I could listen to Norman Rose\\''s Godlike voice for hours, even if he was only reading from the phone book. Though if he was reading from the phone book I might ask him to drop the slightly dubious French accent.\r\n\r\nClearly this story is in no way a \\"Mystery.\\" which is maybe why it was hard for me to get very interested in the first two acts. The third went some distance in redeeming the episode for me and making it worthwhile overall.\r\n\r\nAnd I must say that this is far from the worst historical drama I\\''ve encountered on CBSRMT. I heard a 1982 episode recently called \\"The Great Catherine\\" which was approximately as interesting to listen to as dial tone.<br>', '2013-03-06 20:42:16', 1, '361ba4dd0537113d8c532a5657e9c8a6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4808, '1196', 'episode', 'Mica', '', 'This episode didn''t grab me. I wasn''t sure what the purpose was during my entire listening experience. The take away message was that Marie Anntoinette was a queen and she was put to death. I didn''t hear any reason to be sympathetic to her. History says she didn''t care about the little people and this episode illustrated that aspect of her life. Overall, I was not moved by this episode. Maybe someone who really likes French history would like this episode. For me, I wasn''t interested.', '2013-03-06 20:38:08', 1, '02c6860d0373f8fd74788748e821cff4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4809, '1196', 'episode', 'Brad Dolph', '', 'I thought Tammy Grimes was excellent, and was surprised at how compelling I found this play. I don''t always love RMT''s historical dramas, but this one drew me right in. (Better, I think, than the "Nefertiti" series they did in ''79, which also starred Grimes).\r\n\r\nThis episode was structured very well----her life told in flashback while she''s awaiting execution. It gave emotional punch and suspense to the play. The ticking clock. The writing was great, revealing Marie Antoinette as a human being with whom we could sympathize, without hiding the less savory aspects of her personality and social class----this is a tricky dramatic tightrope which I think they walked very successfully. Also, as I said, Tammy Grimes was AWESOME, especially at the end. I only just recently heard this episode for the first time and would definitely count it as one of my favorites.', '2013-03-06 20:42:20', 1, '196c40a2113dcb6c8589a03a363f4554', '112.200.20.61'),
(4810, '1222', 'episode', 'Joshua', '', 'This episode had the Mystery part I like so much for Radio Mystery Theater. I like the fact that this episode takes place in 1907 and some later date in the future that isn''t 1981. That way it is an episode that isn''t dated to one time period.\r\nI liked the way the married couple interacted. It reminded me of my interactions with my husband. Not the "I don''t know what to do with money" part, the "I knew I was right" part of course!\r\nThe creepy part that makes me wonder was the whole tobacco smoking part. What was it in that other professor''s pouch? Why wouldn''t the main character believe his visions? That is the way it always goes though, the characters never believe the future if they see it.\r\nOverall, an entertaining episode.', '2013-03-06 20:43:54', 1, 'd6a4bbe675e4712383bc5b20043f022f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4811, '1222', 'episode', 'Elwin Jason', '', 'I will say that I enjoyed the episode a lot. It had great richness in detail, especially in word use. For example, just saying the word \\"PIE\\" can make a person hungry because of the way the lips smack out the letter P... I could almost smell the pipe tobacco whenever it was discussed. The rich, velvety \\"mojo\\" which carried the tobacco was never described, but somehow, I got a wonderful image of it.\r\n\r\nAs for the story, I was engrossed. Right from the start I was guessing. This is my favorite kind of RMT tale. It was a sweet, foreboding tale!<br>', '2013-03-24 22:19:20', 1, '8bded570b8ace6df5e76d4e25b2aabab', '112.200.20.61'),
(4812, '1222', 'episode', 'Mr. Magods', '', '\\"The only things that matter,\r\nare the things that gold can\\''t buy,\r\nso let\\''s have another cup of coffee,\r\nand let\\''s have another slice of pie.\\"\r\n\r\nAlternative chorus to \\"Another cup o\\'' Coffee\\", by Irving Berlin, with MIDI file and lyrics at this link. (Bob Kaliban\\''s character kept singing or saying this tune, and in an unusual ending an old-time windup instrumental version of the song was under E.G.\\''s outro to the final act.)\r\n\r\n\r\nHey, gang...this was a good episode, though not my all-time favorite.\r\n\r\nIf he\\''d be my \\"D.J.\\" on this one (\\"D.J. Jazzy Fizz\\"?) and let me dedicate it to my daughter. For my daughter, it\\''s because she\\''s starting a new school year in her life, and it\\''s turning around after a horrible year last year when she was diagnosed with major depression.\r\n\r\nThe other day after her school open house (she\\''s in 8th grade, and you know how junior high is anyway without having to live through a problem like that) we were so happy that she (a devout RMT fan at age 14) and I kept singing alternative choruses to \\"another cup of coffee\\". It\\''s so good to see her with happiness and hope again. That Irving Berlin song was released during the great depression, and the musical its from (\\"Face the music\\") basically focuses on staying cheery and upbeat in the face of tremendous adversity.\r\n\r\nMy daughter has, and that song kind of captured the moment for us this past Tuesday. There\\''ve been some good school-related RMTs before, but this time I wanted to do this one in honor of her. &nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-27 15:30:34', 1, 'ef000826dc8249a982b3e392b00e861e', '112.200.20.61');
INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4813, '1222', 'episode', 'Barry', '', 'E.G. Marshall really nailed it for me when he asked near the end of the epilogue; "How many people out there lament what they consider their lost opportunity?" God knows that I did as I thought back to 1999 and the year of the "Dot.bomb" euphoria that was going on in the stock market. I''m sure that there many posters here who have similar stories as well. But this story really wasn''t about gaining riches monetarily. No, it actually rose above that as it''s meaning was trying to convey that true riches came from within and not something as superficial as financial wealth.\r\n\r\nHere, we have a story of a couple looking back on their lives when they were younger and the chance to strike it rich with a little financial windfall that Luther''s wife, Agnes, received in the form of an inheritance back in 1907. Luther was given sound investing advice from a professor who happened to be an aquaintance of his at the faculty club. At three different points in the story, the professor tried to convince Luther to invest the inheritance in automobiles, airplanes, and electrical power. Knowing as we all do now, either one of these investments would have payed off handsomely for the two if only Luther had listened to the professor.\r\n\r\nThe fact is that Luther didn''t listen, preferring instead to leave the money in a savings account. It wasn''t until near the end of the story that Luther had almost given into the idea of investing since Agnes, too, was pressuring him to do something with her inheritance. That night, after Luther had told his wife to do with the money what she wanted, he had a bad dream of being filthy rich and living a grand life full of luxury. The professor (who was also in the dream) had shown him what his life would be like if he would only consider investing. The problem is that Agnes was not a part of his life in this dream, as it was explained to him by the professor that she had left him after Luther met another woman because of the money.\r\n\r\nLuther wakes from his dream and decides once in for all to keep the money safely in the bank while keeping Agnes safely in his life.\r\n\r\nIt was at this moment of the story that Luther realizes that his life with Agnes, even though a much poorer one financially, was far richer than a life full of wealth and her removed from him.\r\n\r\nAnd isn''t that what life really is about?\r\n\r\nNow take that and put it in your pipe and smoke it...', '2013-03-24 22:19:04', 1, '75d8a667055ec577d06733755f3fae2c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4816, '1222', 'episode', 'Steve', '', 'A couple of thoughts:\r\n\r\n1. Can anyone identify for me (I honestly don\\''t know the name of it) the song that\\''s playing on the phonograph at the 4:50 mark on this show? (It goes: \\"dahh...dahh...dahhhh....dada-da-da-da-da-da-dadada-da-da-DAAAA-dada-da-da-da-da-da?\\" (I\\''ve heard the Texas A &amp; M band play this song when they\\''re playing (and usually LOSING) a football game vs. the Texas Longhorns.\r\n\r\n2. Chris, I agree with most of your comments, but did you notice that Bob Kaliban\\''s (the \\"good\\" professor) character kept asking: \\"What happened to Agnes...what happened to AGNES\\" at the end?\r\n\r\nThose of us who\\''ve been through, nearly been through or had family members go through divorce know how deeply it hurts, especially when you still love the person. In the professor\\''s case, he clearly, deeply loved his wife and couldn\\''t bear the thought of life without her (or of hurting her) no matter what other material possessions he\\''d give up.\r\n\r\nI\\''d cited the alternate chorus to \\"Another cup \\''o coffee\\" (\\"The only things that matter, are the things that gold can\\''t buy\\") above...at one point during the professor\\''s \\"I\\''m a rich man now\\" dream sequence he said that everything he\\''d chosen had turned to gold, but notice how little it meant to him at the end? I think that was Sam Dann\\''s main message on this.\r\n\r\n3. BTW, speaking of how things could have been, did you hear E.G.\\''s final outro about the fate of the \\"other\\" professor? One could almost miss it if you tune out after the third act outro as I often do.\r\n\r\n4. Here\\''s a little more interesting background on \\"Face the music\\", the musical from which the \\"Another cup o\\'' coffee\\" song came from. I also like reading about its composer, Irving Berlin, who really seemed to have written \\"cup o\\'' coffee\\" from the bottom of his heart.\r\n\r\n5. This summer, we lost another RMT regular who made one of his first appearances in the RMT with this episode. Bernard Grant, who played both the \\"other\\" professor and the doctor in this episode, did a lot of plays for the RMT in its final two years. He passed away from lymphoma and pneumonia a couple of months ago.\r\n\r\n6. I couldn\\''t tell if Teri Keane\\''s character\\''s comments about how she grew up learning how to please a man (and how someday women would be more free to be financially independent) were meant as a backhand to stay-at-home wives or as a backhanded compliment to them. In the end, I get the feeling it was the latter.\r\n\r\n(It\\''s really funny...the daughter I\\''ve talked about above has gone from wanting to be the first lady president of the U.S.A. to (and she reiterated it on the way to school today) wanting to be a novelist and stay-at-home wife/mom of 8 kids. I just want and pray what\\''s best for her, whatever that is...I\\''m not wise and/or precognizant enough to know.)', '2013-03-27 15:27:09', 1, '88dd018e5ccd00a6ab519f628583dd56', '112.200.20.61'),
(5686, '0080', 'episode', 'Russ', '', 'I''ve read Guy De Maupassant''s short story before and I think Ian Martin did a terrific adaptation to this. His choice of words of writing about the Hand in ACT 2 were creepily descriptive as if you were actually staring at it with Henri Donnet (played by Alexander Scourby) & Sir John Rowell (played by Guy Sorel). Listen to Alexander Scourby''s voice at the 26-minute mark when he says the word "black and desiccated", it sounds like he overstated it, but entertaining. The music in ACT 2 and ACT 3 was bone-chilling & wickedly sinister. And what an ending!', '2013-04-01 16:41:14', 1, '129e1511478f1c224d2f8d06405e3098', '64.136.211.54'),
(4817, '1222', 'episode', 'Luther', '', 'Ok, I am a beginner and I don''t know much but...\r\n\r\n1. What was the significance of what he was smoking?\r\n\r\n2. What exactly happened to him? time warp, worm hole?\r\n\r\nAll in all, I liked the nostalgic feel. I really liked the moral or point of the story. The wife getting her "told you so" in was overdue. My wife would have hit me with it by at least 1929.', '2013-03-24 22:19:52', 1, 'c70e328f8ff199563336880b3d9990c7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4818, '1222', 'episode', 'Elliot', '', 'What was the significance of what he was smoking?\r\n\r\nGood question that''s open to conjecture, but:\r\n\r\n"''jyou cut me ANOTHER slice of that pie an...hey man, we havin'' an earthquake or somethin''?"', '2013-03-06 20:52:33', 1, '40e74e8e28e7182d1002c0ee7ff95f5d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4819, '1222', 'episode', 'Annette', '', 'I really don''t think it''s specified how the time travel is being achieved. It certainly has something to do with what''s in the professor''s pipe. That''s the fun of this sort of story, I suppose.\r\n\r\nAnd sure, Texas, I understood Dann''s point. My only argument is that the character gives up on his alternate future awfully quick. To me it might have been more interesting to have him spend an entire act in that time--to get a real sense of what it would be like to live there/then, as the rich guy he might have been. In other words, to allow the character to make an informed choice about which life he wanted, as opposed to a minute or two of panic in which he decides to immediately head back to the familiar pie-heavy world that he knows. It''s pretty easy to equate money with shallowness and superficiality, as this episode does. I have noticed that Hollywood movies often do this too--the same movies that are generally made by some of the most affluent people in the country!', '2013-03-24 22:19:53', 1, '8c20244372a47298077c3752a674ba70', '112.200.20.61'),
(4820, '1222', 'episode', 'M. Dude', '', 'I enjoyed the nostalgia and whimsy of this episode, and who can resist a sappy ending like this when it is oh, so true that it is the people, not the possessions in our lives, that make our lives whole. In essence, the sequence where the prof realizes he has riches but has lost his wife along the way, is akin to a kidnapping; he willingly pays the ransom to help ensure that the most valuable, irreplaceable part of his life remains in it. And, at the end of the day, no matter how much sits in the bank, or what kind of motorcar is in the garage, a slice of pie with a soul mate is priceless.\r\n\r\nThe pipe smoking angle was weird to me. The doper prof didn''t have his own pouch but was still preaching new visions of the future. The poor prof had the wacky pouch, but one of his time warps was backwards; he didn''t remember his speech and lost four hours. I do recognize that hort term memory loss, in addition to hallucinations, can each result from an altered mental state, but I thought the backwards time lapse was just an unnecessary red herring. It woul have been more consistent if it were reversed; if she said it was dinnertime and he said that he had already given his speech, like what happened with the prescription.\r\n\r\nKaliban and Keane did a great job with their voices as interchangeably old and young characters.\r\n\r\n\r\nNow I''ve read others'' comments. Someone pointed out that these dramas about how love is more important than money often come from the affluent. That makes perfect sense. People that have money but no love are generally unhappy, and may imagine that they could get by on love and pie to exorcise their woes and relieve the pressure. People without money often imagine what their life would be like if they had it. People without love do the same thing.', '2013-03-06 20:54:41', 1, '1790b576ddf37f7825e219a2f41d74f5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4821, '0049', 'episode', 'B. Crawford', '', 'This reminded me (though it\\''s not a parallel story by any means) of the movie \\"The Ninth Configuration\\", which I also think was released under the name of the William Peter (\\"Exorcist\\") Blatty book which inspired it called \\"Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane\\".\r\n\r\nIn that film, a colonel named Hudson Kane, a strong yet quiet, kindly and reassuring military psychologist, is brought in by his psychologist (or psychiatrist? can\\''t remember) brother, also a military officer, into a special military psychiatric hospital. This hospital is located in a spooky old castle, and the only patients are military officers who\\''ve gone insane. (The first half of the movie is almost comedic and filled with one liners. Remember Jason Miller, who played Fr. Damien Karras in \\"The Exorcist\\"? He dresses in drag as a cigarette smoking, sunglasses wearing nun, and tells visitors that he\\''s \\"Sister Eve Black\\".) The colonel is perceived to be crazier than the other patients (and perhaps they\\''re right). He immediately befriends an astronaut from the old \\"Apollo\\" program who was hospitalized after he suffered a breakdown prior to launch and refused to get in the space capsule.\r\n\r\n(Spoiler ahead for those who\\''ve not seen the movie)The astronaut is dismayed to learn that the colonel is a Viet Nam combat veteran nicknamed \\"Killer\\" Kane, who went crazy after he decapitated a viet cong fighter with a wire. Kane claimed that while holding the VC\\''s severed head in his hands that the head \\"kept on talking\\".\r\n\r\n(Second spoiler) This could have been another in a parade of anti-war films. The second half, however, is anything but a comedy. It becomes a story of why we indeed have to fight sometimes, and more importantly, why sometimes we have to make supreme sacrifices.\r\n\r\nBack to \\"Prognosis Negative\\". This episode involves a patient, like Col. Hudson Kane, in a military psychiatric unit. His name is Kent Hatcher (played well by Mason Adams) and he appears to have been some type of operative beyond a normal enlisted man. He, like Kane, has apparently been behind enemy lines, and also appears to have a past, with the ability to \\"snap\\" at any minute. Unfortunately, this operative has been programmed by an apparent combination of torture and hypnosis to kill innocent people. He\\''s described by a (former?) commanding officer as a \\"time bomb\\".\r\n\r\nI hadn\\''t heard an element like this in any previous CBSRMT episode. What makes this interesting is how Hatcher is \\"assimiliated\\" into society after living as a fugitive murder, by a con artist \\"medium\\" and her, for lack of a better term, \\"audio visual\\" specialist. (Take note how unafraid the \\"medium\\", who recognizes a mark when she sees one, seems to be of Hatcher). Add to this an element of the supernatural (no plot spoilers from me here) and, like \\"The Ninth Configuration\\", an element of sacrifice, and it makes for a haunting yet very interesting RMT listen.<br>', '2013-06-19 22:59:40', 1, '104652fcbf7204c54dc16bbc34392df7', '112.200.20.61'),
(4822, '0049', 'episode', 'Adelle', '', 'Prognosis Negative- Yes, it is a good show. How to create a monster? Abuse a human being. The Frankenstein, we know, will turn on his new captors. The supernatural aspect here, is to me, irrelevant. His damage and inevitable destruction of self and the manipulating creepo’s is what makes the story. We want him to turn out OK, but we know he will not. He is damaged goods. “Everything dead, or gone, or over.â€â€ 6-5-3-Listen to me!â€ His only salvation is the destruction of the new captors...at least he can do that. He has been manipulated to the “enthâ€ degree and still turns on the captors...although he is an out of control murderer. It is a sad and interesting story. Drama (supernatural claptrap) 9.', '2013-03-06 21:02:42', 1, 'c1b65fb92fe258023596f517059b8dcf', '112.200.20.61'),
(4823, '0049', 'episode', 'F. Seymour', '', 'Yes, it is a good show. How to create a monster? Abuse a human being. The Frankenstein, we know, will turn on his new captors. The supernatural aspect here, is to me, irrelevant. His damage and inevitable destruction of self and the manipulating creepo’s is what makes the story. He is damaged goods.\r\n\r\nHis only salvation is the destruction of the new captors...at least he can do that. He has been manipulated to the “enthâ€ degree and still turns on the captors...although he is an out of control murderer.\r\n\r\nUntil_next_time, you almost could be describing that movie I\\''ve quoted above. &nbsp;Col. Kane was damaged goods, too in that movie, in a state somewhere between amnesia and walking catatonic schizophrenia. (His brother has an emotional scene in which he admits to bringing the killer there as a type of therapy.) Like Kane is effectively humanized in several ways in that movie, so too is Hatcher, both in his visit to his wife (who remarried in his absence) and in his last seance with the grieving mother. Hatcher may be a murderer, but he almost doesn\\''t seem out of control at the end.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-24 22:20:39', 1, 'eb6295e7e111ee74fccc692a101a6763', '112.200.20.61'),
(4824, '0049', 'episode', 'Jorge B.', '', 'Prognosis Negative\r\n\r\nAn interesting tale of a former P.O.W. who has been mentally damaged by his tormentors. Kent Hatcher murders people after speaking a halted mantra of “6...5...3, Listen to me, listen to meâ€. He\r\nis a fugitive when he happens upon a medium and her partner. They are determined to use Kent as, “Mazumodarâ€, an Indian mystic in their confidence game.\r\n\r\nAs noted, this play is loaded with potential but it didn’t feel finished to me when the final door closed. I was intrigued but unsatisfied because I don’t understand the significance of the “653\\" pre-murder mantra. Further, I didn’t understand why Kent needed to visit his former wife. This part of the play seemed out of place and like a filler. Otherwise, the writing was excellent and the music was even better (the seance scene was completely set by the music complete with a haunting piano) but, and I repeat myself, I just needed a few more minutes or I needed an opportunity to quiz the author, Sydney Sloan, before I could let this one go.<br>', '2013-03-06 21:02:32', 1, 'eab782ae2a8fca451f6e64fd59b68354', '112.200.20.61'),
(4826, '0049', 'episode', 'Jerby', '', 'Ahhh. Now that is something I can agree with. I think the character and the topic was intriguing but incomplete. I could have seen where at least a two parter would have worked much better. I still want someone to explain the pre-murderous chant to me!! Sorry if I''m being a simpleton.', '2013-03-06 21:11:54', 1, 'e7a736cd55e7671281c3e480d1796357', '112.200.20.61'),
(4827, '0049', 'episode', 'John C.', '', 'I listened to this a second time all the way through yesterday for re-reviewing:\r\n\r\n- I fully agree with you that some episodes needed to be two or three-parters. (I like that quote from Stephen King). Over in my listening log I said as much on the episode "The Ninth Volume" (You''re hung up on "ninths" this thread)...some episodes have too much promise to be relegated to one hour.\r\n\r\n- I''m sort of with you on the "six..five..three" stuff...however, I think that''s the brilliance of the CBS RMT writer in using certain elements as descriptive rather than narrative tools.\r\n\r\nA further case in point...did you notice that sometimes Hatcher would say: "No...no...no..." before he''d say his "signature" phrase?\r\n\r\nA. Was he trying to tell himself "No...don''t do this...I don''t want to do this"?\r\n\r\nB. Was he trying to tell his intended victim to stop doing something. (At one point, though, he said it in front of the colonel and the doctor, neither of which he was ready to kill.)\r\n\r\nC. Was he remembering something hideous the enemy had done to him in "programming"?\r\n\r\nWe''ll probably never know, and that''s one of the things that IMHO can sometimes make a well-written program like an RMT episode.\r\n\r\n- On that note, did you notice the fake medium, after Hatcher escaped the first time? When her partner was saying "Let''s forget about Hatcher" she said, twice: "No...no..." - like Hatcher. Interesting.\r\n\r\n- Another subtle yet equally powerful element. We have no visuals so much of the RMT "theatre of the mind" must rely on dialogue.\r\n\r\nYou know how much I respect the military so this isn''t a slight on anyone there. Notice however, whenever the colonel was contacted by the doctor (including at the very end) he''d always say something to the effect of "Will this take long, doctor? I''ve got an appointment." Whenever the doctor would say "It''s about Hatcher" the colonel would nonchalantly say "oh, him."\r\n\r\nIt''s likely the colonel was indeed a very busy man. However, this served to set the tone for how (seemingly) insignificant Hatcher''s life really was in this episode.\r\n\r\n- At the 11:04 mark is a piano and brass interlude (a sped up version of a music bed I commented on in "Hickory Dickory Doom") that was probably one of CBS'' most used "bad things are happening" music pieces. I, too, like the eerie (viola?) seance music around the 20:03 mark.\r\n\r\n- I''ve talked about some of my favorite male RMT personalities. One of my favorite female personalities is Bryna Raeburn (sic?) who apparently plays both the "fake medium" and Hatcher''s first victim in this episode.\r\n\r\n- One last thing...anyone get the feeling that the wealthy client (whose son "Kenneth" was shot down in wartime) of the "medium" was about to learn that Hatcher was her son? I know he wasn''t, and her last name was different than "Hatcher", but there was some kind of connection made as well. Perhaps one former POW looking after another, or both of them doing the same?', '2013-06-19 23:09:15', 1, 'ce2a9ec88cc578616e1baafd84116750', '112.200.20.61'),
(4828, '0049', 'episode', 'Rudy', '', 'I listened to this program for the first time a few months ago - and then again today. It''s a weird one.\r\n\r\nWritten especially for the Mystery Theater, it is certainly creative. Going all the way from the mental institution after being a POW to the crooked seance clan - that''s an interesting story line.\r\n\r\nKent is certainly an oddball. Especially the voice. I don''t know whether it''s too convincing or not convincing at all. Let''s say too convincing! It''s strange how much Kent does seem to know. His personality is strange but it is hard to judge what he really is. He seems to go along with the con job all too easily and does such a good job for not being able to do anything else.\r\n\r\nWithout a doubt, Kent is a time-bomb. But, as much as he seems to know, you would think he could get a handle on himself somehow. Of course, this is over-analyzing a dramatic production but these are the kinds of things that I think about while the program is running.\r\n\r\nAt the end, the inscription on the inside of the bracelet - I am unsure how this plays into the story. Obviously, the mother would have known what it said and no one else would have. So, there we have a mystery in and of itself but how does that connect to any other events? We were not supposed to believe that Kent was her son - that would not make sense. His name was known. So, what is that all about?\r\n\r\nI will read to see if anyone else has an explanation...', '2013-03-06 21:11:32', 1, '49553f4ee811d72ca5c8608ed68a2051', '112.200.20.61'),
(4829, '0049', 'episode', 'Charles', '', ' You know how much I respect the military so this isn''t a slight on anyone there. Notice however, whenever the colonel was contacted by the doctor (including at the very end) he''d always say something to the effect of "Will this take long, doctor? I''ve got an appointment." Whenever the doctor would say "It''s about Hatcher" the colonel would nonchalantly say "oh, him."\r\n\r\nIt''s likely the colonel was indeed a very busy man. However, this served to set the tone for how (seemingly) insignificant Hatcher''s life really was in this episode.\r\n\r\nI definitely picked up on the "oh, him" comment and wondered if the colonel wasn''t more involved in the destruction of Kent''s mind. During the initial stages of the RMT plays, I find my mind searching for the possible story lines and the "colonel as a sinister character" plot certainly crossed my mind.\r\n\r\nAt the end, the inscription on the inside of the bracelet - I am unsure how this plays into the story. Obviously, the mother would have known what it said and no one else would have. So, there we have a mystery in and of itself but how does that connect to any other events? We were not supposed to believe that Kent was her son - that would not make sense. His name was known. So, what is that all about?\r\n\r\nWith the bracelet inscription being correct and Kent having a name similar to the woman''s son, I was sure the author was going to turn this into a "mother reunited with her son" story.', '2013-03-06 21:18:47', 1, 'bb48b21e4eb7138030af3d01c1d64a86', '112.200.20.61'),
(4830, '0049', 'episode', 'Mae', '', 'When I first listened to the program and heard how that was going I was sure that it was going to turn out that Kent &nbsp;was her son. But, that just doesn\\''t make sense the way the story is written. But still, I do not understand how the inscription appearing on the faked bracelet ties in with anything else.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:20:08', 1, '699d8dd81f5421a117ba40458acbe13e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4831, '0049', 'episode', 'Mae', '', 'When I first listened to the program and heard how that was going I was sure that it was going to turn out that Kent was her son. But, that just doesn''t make sense the way the story is written. But still, I do not understand how the inscription appearing on the faked bracelet ties in with anything else.', '2013-03-06 21:17:54', 1, 'a89993c0c6495586e081d740cfd82ae3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4832, '0049', 'episode', 'N. Matawaran', '', 'Another episode I''ve enjoyed tremendously that I wanted to ressurect for us newbies, especially in light of the great discussions posted here. The more I analyze it the more I find it to be flawless.\r\n\r\nI decided to read everyone''s comments BEFORE posting, so as not to be repetitive ( a no-no, I know...no) . I figure that''s OK on the oldies.\r\n\r\nAnyway, the episode was awesome and I agree with much of the observations already posted here, except that I think we all missed the crux of it -- that the unknown powers of the brain could be so strong as to actually make contact with spirits. Remember, E.G opened the episode with: "My story explores the dark uncharted area of the human brain. Despite medical research, scientists admit that there is much still unknown about the flesh and blood computer that guides our conscious and unconscious lives." Because the medium was a fake, we all assumed that the seances were fully contrived.\r\n\r\nI don''t believe this play needed more segments. It''s all there. Kent was highly susceptible to hypnotism and that''s how he was so easily led into the "fake" seances... but that wasn''t the only reason he was so convincng at it. Someone wrote that he seemed very competent at this charade for someone who couldn''t do anything else. But I assert it was no charade. Defintely not the second one, anyway.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe answer to the bracelet inscription is that, despite the medium''s crooked intent, Kent''s connection to the otherworld was "real." Kent had formed a wavelength with the real son. The bracelet was transformed from beyond into the real one! A step way above spoon bending, for sure.\r\n\r\nI also believe that the visit to his ex-wife was not filler. It marked the transition from the previous brainwashing (6-5-3), when he remembered nothing at all about his life, to the connection he had now made with the otherworld, which awakened his own memories as a prelude to bringing him over.\r\n\r\nThe first seance began the process of his mind tuning into the other side. Right after that, he had his last 6-5-3 episode when he attacked the medium''s accomplice. She ordered him to his room and to stay there until commanded otherwise. But during the two days that it took to have the fake bracelet made, he was compelled by something else, stronger that the medium''s spell, but obviously NOT the original spell, to disobey the command and go out into the world, follow his ex-wfe without knowing why, or who she was at first, before the recollections of her name, and most tellingly, their dead daughter, came back to him.\r\n\r\nThen, he was compelled to return to the medium''s place, seemingly back under her spell, but actually driven by the dead son, who traded Kent some memories, perhaps even contact with his own dead daughter, in exchange for the ability to reach out to his mother one (more?) time. After Kent had gone out and seen his wife, he never had a 6-5-3 moment or attacked anyone. The old spell, which doctors could not reverse, was gone, changed by something more powerful, which may have actually been triggered by the phony medium.\r\n\r\nPrior to the first seance he told the mother, "I am sympathetic to the sorrows of a grieving mother," at the prompting of the medium. During the second seance, he told the mother, as Mazomodar, that he must produce evidence only known to the two of him... which he actually did do. At that time, he said that it was something that she had given him "shortly before I left for overseas on my last furlough home." While the medium knew that the ID bracelet was a gift from the mother and that it was never recovered, there was no indication that she knew the exact time the mother gave it to him.\r\n\r\nAfter the seance, Kent''s last words were "I am sympathetic to the grief of a lonely mother." Then, his contact with the dead became complete as he immediately joined the son (and his own daughter) on the other side.\r\n\r\nKent''s damaged, manipulated psyche, the susceptibility for hypnosis, the powerful suggestions of the medium, the fervent power of the mother''s intense needs, and his own impending death paved a road to the other side. So, rather than being a extraneous add-ons, the visit to the former wife was part of the transition out of the previous brainwashing and onto the bridge, and the inscription on the bracelet, performed from the other side, took all of his own power, and life.\r\n\r\nI listened to this three times and I have to say that I didn''t get any of this theory until after I read the previous comments and listened yet again, intent to figure out why the wife visit and bracelet inscription were included. That''s the best explanation I can come up with. Why else would the writer have the guy wander, of all places, into a psychic''s lair? If this was just about a brainwashed guy unable to control murderous, implanted commands, he could have just kept on going around killing people and met a sad fate at the hands of the cops. Instead, he utilized the power of his stretched out mind to do something good.', '2013-03-24 22:20:25', 1, '8f418baea9dde79a5ce9cfcb53de53f1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4835, '0143', 'episode', 'G. L. Lace', '', 'I give this on a five, it was well acted and the story was one of the better ones.... It had a happy ending in a weird radio play world where usually the main character gets screwed. The mental imagery here was one of a kind, the bottle, the burn victim, the dictator..etc... there was a lot of imagery in this one. This has to be in my top 100 shows of all time.&nbsp;<br>', '2013-03-06 21:40:45', 1, 'a2b967a7ff7b6e169c81591d1a219cff', '112.200.20.61'),
(4838, '0143', 'episode', 'Dino', '', 'This is one of my favourite episodes and is the genre of story I enjoy the most - the supernatural. In amongst the crime dramas and murder mysteries, there are a few real gems like this one that present an interesting idea and explore the consequences.\r\n\r\nI thought the juxtaposition of the tremendous potential of the imp with the well defined morals of the owner made for an interesting plot.', '2013-03-06 21:42:11', 1, '54e9e65c16111a265dbb26f58f10ed5f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4836, '0143', 'episode', 'M. Lobrigo', '', 'This was a well-made show. I probably didn''t get the full effect because I''ve read some old horror stories with the theme of the talisman that must always be sold for less than it cost to purchase. Nonetheless the first shriek caught me off guard and I enjoyed listening to the show. When the bottle got lost in the ocean I was kind of wondering where that would go, would he feel he was doomed and go crazy or something. When it reappeared around his neck I was surprised and I thought that was a neat twist. I wonder what kind of bug was in that jar ...?!', '2013-03-06 21:40:16', 1, '966b5a566b096aa8c4769313e1c9cc1e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4837, '0143', 'episode', 'P. Garman', '', 'This was a fun afternoon listening to this.\r\n\r\n- One of my favorite performances by William Redfield.\r\n\r\n- Ian Martin had another excellent play (three in a row now on the OTR)\r\n\r\n- I know some of you have reviewed the RMT episode entitled "The Devil''s Boutique". Martin''s accented voice as the "imp" sounds almost identical to his performance as the mysterious shopkeeper "Arch" (Satan) in the "boutique" episode.\r\n\r\n- I love the music bed at the 8:12 mark and later. This same bed''s been used elsewhere, most memorably in the RMT episode entitled "The Hand".\r\n\r\n- Martin''s script threw out some zingers. Here''s one, spoken by Redfield''s character to his lady friend:\r\n\r\n"I just seem to have pushed the important button that turns you on", but;\r\n\r\n- My favorite of the episode, spoken as an on-the-spot incantation by Redfield:\r\n\r\n"Abra cadabra,\r\nright on the bed,\r\n$250,000 in hundreds and fifties like...POW!"\r\n\r\nGreat choice.', '2013-03-06 21:40:56', 1, 'ca9555cf0ba1a3536deef5bce7213256', '112.200.20.61'),
(4839, '0143', 'episode', 'Wayne C.', '', 'Another one to put on my favorites list!\r\n\r\nI loved the whole concept. It was the kind of show that had me thinking about it days after I first heard it. The twists in the plot were great. When the bottled was dropped overboard I thought for sure that the main character was going to live out the rest of his life with the knowledge that he wouldn''t be able to sell the bottle but then it reappears. Also, toward the end I guessed that the wife would buy the bottle for a penny but for some reason am so narrow-minded that we were talking U.S. currency. Based on this bad assumption, I thought there was nothing less she could sell it for. I was a little disappointed by this final twist as I thought she didn''t get what was coming to her but like other''s have mentioned it was refreshing to have an episode where things turn out on a positive note.\r\n\r\nAlso... did anyone catch the Budweiser commercial at the 2:20 mark? The spokesman basically said that Budweiser should not be "sipped" but was meant to be guzzled! Can you see a commercial like that airing today? Awareness of alcohol and alcoholism have really changed in the past thirty years.', '2013-03-06 21:42:19', 1, '8d7502dd0c5503e33e9f7296fe9575bb', '112.200.20.61'),
(4840, '0143', 'episode', 'Mark Henry J.', '', 'Great episode. I listened to this one recently and noted several items i particularly liked. First, the Imp''s voice was campy enough to be perfect! Second, the plot was intriguing and I particularly liked that the riches gained by using the Imp were temporary.', '2013-03-06 21:45:31', 1, 'a66adcedf87f91a62b21fbafa35ce1e3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4841, '0143', 'episode', 'Reese', '', 'You mentioned the Budweiser commercial as if to say guzzling beer is a BAD thing!\r\n\r\nAs for the show, I have to agree that I was hoping the ex-wife would regret her greed. Happy endings are great, at times, but I could have accepted a zinger for this one.', '2013-03-06 21:45:33', 1, '0832369d7779a2f6e49c5792e0c3bb8a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4842, '0143', 'episode', 'Raven', '', 'This episode was well written and well acted. Strong characters are essential for a good story, and each character was deep and complex.\r\n\r\nI, too, loved some of the dialogue. Some of it was a bit risque for CBSRMT, but still rated G.\r\n\r\nThis was a strong morality tale, something that CBSRMT almost always did well. EG Marshall sums up our moral so well in the end.\r\n\r\nExcellent selection! Thank you.\r\n\r\nI don\\''t much care for sipping beer either. However, I don\\''t like to pour it \\"down the middle\\" to create a big head as they advise. I think bartenders like to put about 1/4 inch head on the beer. That\\''s the way I like it.<br><br>', '2013-03-14 23:13:23', 1, '06f807cb89879920170cf7eb0691d54c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4843, '0143', 'episode', 'Jake', '', 'This is an epsiode I would highly recommend. Though my version is pretty messed up in a few places, I still found it frightening and interesting. The sound effects of the imp\\''s voice were pretty chilling.\r\n\r\nNow, playing by the rules, I get to go and read what everyone else has already said about this classic!<br>', '2013-03-24 22:20:48', 1, '3ca4cfb14788e69fc3e32917ce41043a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4846, '0280', 'episode', 'Dennis Austria', '', 'Thanks for a great pick! I enjoyed this one, though I thought at first I had heard it before... turns out it was similarly styled to The Summer People, if memory serves.\r\n\r\nMy favorite thing in the show was the clock. It had twenty-four numbers on it, like a military clock, and the young girl just happens to arrive on the scene at exactly one o\\''clock - which, of course, is the thirteenth hour. The clock chimes thirteen times... very nice.\r\n\r\nWhile the show really didn\\''t \\"grab\\" me in a headlock for very long (the beginning was great, but once Kathy met the reporter, it was all downhill for me), I found great excitement in the production of this tale, specifically the attention to the sound effects: the clock, the hammering out of the iron, the bubbling of the elixir, etc.\r\n\r\nThese little details paint a wonderful landscape behind the talented craftspeople who are performing. Their art is enhanced by the effects which alone often boost the image in the mind\\''s eye.\r\n\r\nI must admit though, that the show had an extreme jump in Act 2, where the writing became somewhat predictable and droll. Comments like \\"I\\''m going to sleep like the dead\\" and \\"it\\''ll settle your stomach\\" were a bit over the top. We got it without needing to be told. Lastly, I find it interesting that here we have another episode which seems to put the religious norm in the minority. When Aunt Sarah gasps because Unlce Jason says the word \\"mass\\", I nodded lightly with a smirk on my face... typical for the CBSRMT. Of course, it IS a tale of witchcraft, so I suppose the whole Satan versus God thing is justified.\r\n\r\nI don\\''t like to admit it, but part of me wishes Kathy had never gone to New York. I would have found it interesting to see how the coven of witches faired with their new-found supply of virgin blood. :twisted:\r\n\r\nAll in all, a very enjoyable show. I gave this one a 4.3. Thanks again and best wishes!<br>', '2013-03-25 00:26:22', 1, '47db72d35c68dd9d2da73eed741318c6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4847, '0280', 'episode', 'S. Sanders', '', 'This episode struck me as a well-rounded story. The witches have a problem, the girl has a problem, they solve it for each other then it gets complicated and there is a solution. And the girl gets out alive!\r\n\r\nI enjoyed it for the story. Also, this one did seem more timeless. There weren''t any glaring 1970''s sayings or opinions in it, unlike the episode I had listened to right before it "The Plastic Man".\r\n\r\nI have to admit, the title is also intriguing. That has pull for me sometimes. So, I didn''t suggest this as the best episode ever, it was very listenable and entertaining.\r\n\r\nGlad folks liked this episode!', '2013-03-06 21:50:56', 1, '7aa716a937d8f3ed5a2e79c504fa0043', '112.200.20.61'),
(4849, '0327', 'episode', 'Fritzie', '', 'I sort of feel the same way as you, Lantis.\r\n\r\nI did somewhat feel for the man who was her governor husband, but his politics seemed kind of muddled to me in some ways.\r\n\r\nStill, this wasn''t the worst of RMT episodes. And again, in the RMT whenever we see Satan or one of his demon associates its never (to my knowledge) in a positive light. ', '2013-03-06 21:53:08', 1, 'c2395eec5c94fc08de3a2763c97bc6a8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4850, '0327', 'episode', 'Vinnie', '', 'Patricia Elliott was excelent, Mandel Kramer great as always. I like the way Ian Martin wrote the nurse in with the name of "Elspeth." This thing had the supernatural and time warpage going, not bad. I give it 3 as a play, a 4 for acting. 3.5 overall.\r\n\r\nAnd you know I''ve gotta pick on something. Deborah had no reflection and was even dodging photographers. Yet she attended the funeral wearing a veil, implying that her clothes could be seen (and photographed), just not her body. Then, when she and Nicky are walking through the hall, he said he didn''t see her in the mirror, as if he were walking alone. So, either she had stripped off all of her clothes while she was walking down the hall, or...', '2013-03-24 22:20:49', 1, 'd3733762b4b10b4812a3d177870878a9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4851, '0327', 'episode', 'Denver Delovino', '', 'Another good episode, however, I am getting hit over the head a bit much with the morality of these shows. Doesn''t anyone ever make a deal with the devil (or his helper) and get rich off of it? I mean, not happy, but rich or something!\r\n\r\nI was hooked the whole time. It was more a question of "How bad can it get for this woman?" I knew it wasn''t going to end well, but I liked the effects of her scary looks!\r\n\r\nHowever, I get the point, don''t sell your reflection to the devil, or you will regret it.', '2013-03-06 21:55:14', 1, 'd01373219d30dabf50016e36d78ea32e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4852, '0327', 'episode', 'Miles', '', 'further to: No good coming from Satan''s ''help''\r\n\r\nEpisode 414\r\nJan 11, 1976\r\nMARK TWAIN WEEK: The Mysterious Stranger\r\n\r\nThe protagonist meets the Devil''s nephew and asks favours of him which are granted to the letter. It is not so much the Devil''s doing that creates problems as it is the human reactions to the intervention.', '2013-03-06 21:55:27', 1, '4dba591e2cad2b0e9b1346b639e5c27e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4853, '0327', 'episode', 'Oliver Revo', '', 'I found this episode somewhat interesting and was intrigued to find out where it would go and how it would be resolved. I particularly like the time-warping ending, putting her right back where she started. I however agree that there was some confusion on how the loss of her reflection was played out (e.g. was it just her body that couldn''t be seen in a mirror, or did it include the clothes she was wearing?)', '2013-03-24 22:20:50', 1, '5bcce2e86dfb56fd81bbf59e07bd03ff', '112.200.20.61'),
(4854, '0094', 'episode', 'Nick B.', '', 'This is one of my all-time favorites. A nice twist on "The Monkey''s Paw". It''s a very eerie play, and Celeste Holm is always great. She is one of my top favorite RMT actresses, although she didn''t do very many episodes. She was a real old-time pro. Amazing voice.', '2013-03-24 22:20:51', 1, '7ae0fbfd532e5db52370b4bc53679a91', '112.200.20.61'),
(4855, '0094', 'episode', 'Freddie S.', '', 'Hmmm. I find myself wanting to split this story. One portion contains the observation that we have a fairly spooky episode. The other portion involves the interpretation of this tale. The combination, methinks, gives a good tale. It is spooky, particularly the howling, yearning pleas from the dead daughter. The recently departed Bob Dryden, as Helper, consistently plays impish devil types with effectiveness. He could sound old, middle aged or devilish most effectively. The crack that mysteriously won’t mend is intriguing. This reminds me: there is an excellent Inner Sanctum, with Boris Karloff, “The Wailing Wallâ€. It is a masterpiece and if anyone would like a copy let me know and I’d be happy to send it. Back to the story: The wailing is effective.\r\nWhat really is interesting here is what is not said, or demonstrated. The story requires much interpretation. We can take it, that the existence of the “soundsâ€ of the daughter and Helper are real. We can also conclude that Nora and Paul are not “crackedâ€ themselves. The wall nicely represents a couple of things: a crack in Nora’s heart that cannot be filled, and also a split in her religious faith. With these in mind, we see that the “devilâ€ moves in to take advantage of Nora’s yearning for her daughter. Most interesting, and unusual, (though not so unusual for the great CBSRMT) concerns a conclusion that results in the devil winning. We must assume he claims Nora’s soul. Helper told her she could have her daughter back—at a price. Here, as in “The Monkey’s Pawâ€, a grieving mother wants her dead offspring back and then uses up her last wish to send the offspring back. Why? Because the offspring is pretty much an animated corpse. So, is Nora doomed? Was her daughter caught in the devil’s clutches here, or was he luring the mother with sound effects? In other words, if he had the daughter caught and tormented, why is she not in Heaven? Many questions. It is also interesting to note the wall sealing up after this is over. Ahhh…it sucked up a soul. Or is it closed because Nora wanted her daughter to remain dead? Thus its symbolism transforms. I’m looking forward to hearing some comments on this.\r\n\r\nI would also like to ask a question of the reviewers in general. When we review these episodes I hope all think it is appropriate to criticize as well as praise. My question is this: do you reviewers agree that an episode should get an honest review? If an episode screams “slam meâ€, then slam it! I think it is a part of the fun. I have wondered about this in the past.', '2013-03-06 22:10:29', 1, '4b6d441590a0491648d195ad8c20d01e', '112.200.20.61'),
(4856, '0094', 'episode', 'Mr. Harris', '', 'I can''t say this is one of my absolute favorite programs but I''m giving it a 4/5 because I had listened to it previously and it defintely stuck with me. When listening to it a second time, I realized it had made a big impression on me. As a kid, I was always terrified of anything related to the devil so I probably wouldn''t have made it through this program. The sound effects are among the creepiest I''ve heard and the wailing girl sends a shiver up my spine.', '2013-03-24 22:20:52', 1, 'eeeb2f56ea8351f8545a860868f6b8bd', '112.200.20.61'),
(4857, '0094', 'episode', 'Bambam', '', 'This was a real good show, I didn\\''t have an idea how it would end until the end. The contemporary nature and the grimness of the story sets a show like this apart from more traditional gothic horror (like the Conan Doyle shows on RMT), which can sometimes have a quaintness. I didn\\''t give it the highest ranking because I wasn\\''t completely convinced by the motivations of the mother ... seemed to decide to make a pact with the devil abruptly. But the ending made it complete for me and was pretty intense. Was Robert Dryden the Helper? He has a unique voice and can cast it many different ways. Also found myself wondering about the particular circumstances of the daughter\\''s death, I suppose it didn\\''t affect the story line but might have brought her into more focus.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:20:52', 1, '442a27fcc3df75b6a90be3770e176249', '112.200.20.61'),
(4858, '0094', 'episode', 'Fritzie', '', 'This, to me, is what the Mystery Theater is all about. Though it may arguably not be the best episode of the whole, it is without a doubt among the creepiest tales I''ve come across. I listened to it very late last night, as I usually do (one of the two headphone "buds" in my ear as I listen with my other ear to the pillow). Almost from the start of the show I was creeped out. Pretty much from the mention of the dead daughter. I knew it was going to be one of "those" episodes.\r\n\r\nThe tale is quite Poe-like, and reminds me of several stories I''ve read over the years. There''s one in particular, I think called The Monkey Paw or something, in which the son returns from the dead after a devastating industrial accident.\r\n\r\nThings I disliked about this episode: At the beginning, the husband consoling his wife with religious clichés and calmly trying to find the spiritual side of their daughter''s death - if someone said that stuff to me while I were grieving, I''m sure I''d consider socking them in the nose.\r\n\r\nAlso, the story took a lot of time going back and forth between believing and not believing, doctors and priests, and such. And the "Helper" seemed almost an unnecessary instrument, but did add that little bit of creep-factor to make him a useful tool, in part. It seemed to me that there was just too much going on and not enough getting to the point. I often wonder why characters in these stories don''t just vacate at the first indication of something "odd" going on. Eddie Murphy has a whole bit devoted to this behavior.\r\n\r\n"Why is it when white folks enter a house and hear a scarily echoing voice telling them to "Get out!" they stay anyway? When black folks hear that same big bad voice, they say, "Too bad we can''t stay, baby!"\r\n~ Eddie Murphy\r\n\r\nThe show makes me wonder how I might have handled the situation. My intelligence would tell me this is all wrong, but like the mother, my heart would be swept away with grief for my child and wish by any means to have her back. What a ghastly predicament!\r\n\r\nI gave this episode a 3.8/5 based on the originality of the tale. It was really well performed and produced, but as I said, I''ve heard it before.\r\n\r\nThank you for choosing such a wonderful selection and for keeping me creeped out from Sunday evening until Monday afternoon!!', '2013-03-24 22:20:53', 1, '2cde401e8a9d7bd94261413a00c88aae', '112.200.20.61');

INSERT INTO `comments` (`id`, `subject_id`, `subject_type`, `name`, `email`, `comment`, `date_created`, `is_approved`, `actkey`, `ip_address`) VALUES
(4919, '0275', 'episode', 'J. Lunie', '', 'The Rise and Fall of the Fourth Reich is my all-time favorite CBSRMT radio drama. It''s one of the programs I remember hearing as a 12 year-old kid and it''s probably the single most important reason I was drawn to find the CBSRMT as an adult. I selected it for our show of the week, on the 29th anniversary of its initial broadcast, because I believe this program deserves a bit of a special tribute. As a 12 year-old growing up in a small town in Wyoming, I truly didn''t have the life experiences necessary to understand the magnitude of Adolf Hitler''s horrific crimes against man. If I''m being honest with myself and with the rest of you, I really don''t have the life experiences to imagine the suffering and violence of these crimes even now that I''m an adult - and I hope no one does. However, I think I''m adult enough to understand justice and I believe Hitler, in his final act of malevolence, deprived his victims of the justice they deserved when he cowardly took his own life. Fast forward to our radio drama and 1975. Henry Slesar crafted a terrific script that allows us to think, "what if?" Our author delivered us incredible characters and a rich texture to our radio drama by weaving his work into the real-life horror of the Holocaust. He took us down a path where the Führer is resurrected and revered only to reveal the true intentions of his neo-disciples. In the end, we are allowed a moment of delicious vengeance. But maybe it isn''t vengeance we are allowed...maybe it''s justice in it''s purest form. From the History Channel''s, "This Day in History" for May 16, 1943 (32 years, to the day, before our CBSRMT broadcast and 61 years, to the day, before our OTR review of the program)...the Warsaw ghetto revolt was finally put down with the destruction of the Warsaw synagogue. The revolt began on April 18 when Jews, walled into a stifling area after the massive German assault on the city, began a heroic armed revolt against their German persecutors. After all was said and done, 14,000 Jews were killed in the revolt or sent to the death camp at Treblinka and another 42,000 were sent to labor camps in Lublin.', '2013-03-24 22:27:08', 1, 'da7d341b9912e5c6589035e9303977dc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4920, '0275', 'episode', 'Ricky Magno', '', '- One of the best uses of the cornucopia of RMT/CBS music ever, IMO. Tremendous. Just tremendous.\r\n\r\n- I love the chemistry between the late Robert Dryden, the late Joe Silver and the very living (he''s doing the radio spots for lendingtree.com).\r\n\r\n- Dryden was fascinating as he played an old German attempting to speak spanish with a Mexican accent.\r\n\r\n- Yes, GREAT scriptwriting. I love learning things. Fuehrerbunker?\r\n\r\nWhat a line:\r\n\r\n"The lips that had once blared out martial music loud enough to stir the world had vanished into a black, toothless hole."', '2013-03-27 15:27:33', 1, '63e8c1588e2410f14d1c93be8c969a78', '112.200.20.61'),
(4921, '0275', 'episode', 'Vince', '', 'I was blown away by this episode.\r\n\r\nMaybe the best plot twist in the entire series. You never see it coming. Yet it is so plausible when it hits you. This is truly masterful writing.\r\n\r\nOne of the very best.', '2013-03-24 22:27:09', 1, '2e06575fdf5cb6b7d1cc8d0ddca86c67', '112.200.20.61'),
(4922, '0275', 'episode', 'Antonel Ross', '', 'Oh yeah! Just listened to this one not too long ago. One of my faves! Great write-ups guys. The ending just blew me away the first time I heard it. If I remember correctly, there was still a lot of speculation in the 70s if Hitler actually made it out of Germany and was in hiding. Taking it in context, it was one of the Unsolved Mysteries and a huge curiosity back then. Slesar took the idea a nd ran with it. What an excellent script.\r\n\r\nFor the record, I used to walk through and explore parts of the Fuehrerbunker and ventilation shafts right after the wall came down when I was stationed in Berlin. The bunker was located in what was known as \\"no mans land\\" between East and West Berlin. I think they built apartment buildings on that spot now.', '2013-03-24 22:27:10', 1, 'c69fcfcf03b555e6de317dfae12788a1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4923, '0275', 'episode', 'Ben', '', 'This episode definitely falls into my top ten list. The fact that this is one I can listen to over and over again and still love it speaks to its excellence. The twist at the end makes it all the more interesting to listen to the episode again to see all the clues they were leaving for us along the way. The acting and writing are so well done that you can really visualize everything...the abandoned building, the old man being brought back to "life." Great choice!', '2013-03-24 22:27:11', 1, '0b6492772e24c73f467bbe322c97e5f5', '112.200.20.61'),
(4924, '0275', 'episode', 'Alexander', '', 'The ending was great. I did not see it coming. So far this has been one of my favorite episodes of the week. I look forward to next week!!!!!! Thanks for providing such a great way of listening to RMT.', '2013-03-24 22:27:12', 1, '944a97b3ab98cac5681ed973c0e4ac40', '112.200.20.61'),
(4925, '0275', 'episode', 'Jeremy Bushong', '', 'I completely agree that the clues Henry Slesar left us were surprising. When I listened to it the first time, I missed so much because the clues seemed to fit with the original plot line. The few things that were slighty askew didn''t bother me at all. Subsequent listens made me scratch my head and wonder how I missed so much.\r\n\r\nI think it''s interesting that you picked up on the description of the man with many names. In my mind, this must mean that "Gunter" had used many names to track down other Nazis prior to finding Hitler. I wonder how many were treated in a similar manner.\r\n\r\nIt''s great to have your participation and I''m glad you enjoyed this program as it''s my favorite.', '2013-03-24 22:27:13', 1, '40049808024679d294c9d8811bf56987', '112.200.20.61'),
(4926, '0275', 'episode', 'Myra', '', '"The Rise and Fall of the Fourth Reich", a play on Shirer''s masterpiece? Unlike "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", of which the 1500 pages contain the best single volume history this reviewer has read, our radio drama involves the rejuvenation of a different kind of Reich all together. Hitler is brought to power again, but only in his mind and only to a sufficient degree to allow his "benefactors" the satisfaction of tearing him down. It is a story about revenge. In the drama it is suggested, if memory serves, that it is about "justice"...well, ok, call it that if you like and if the terminology will help to you accept the action. It is revenge. "The angry, spiteful, or malicious return of an injury or wrong suffered; the deliberate and malignant infliction of injury or hurt upon a person in retaliation for a wrong or injury done by him". It is understood by many that Justice is right and Revenge is wrong. While this is no doubt true in many cases, particularly since Justice presumably involves judicial rendering, I do not think it an absolute. Individuals can and do take "justice" on their own hands and exact revenge. In my mind this is perfectly proper in our story here, as it is acted out on Hitler. Will this be healing or damaging to their psyches? Should they have forgiven and unburdened their hearts long ago of the hate? Are these men damaged and beyond repair, only able to gain satisfaction with revenge? It would be interesting to know.\r\n\r\n..Technically, and all the components going into the show such as script and story were marvelous. I will leave that at that and again commend the CBSRMT for often going into places other forms of entertainment do not.', '2013-03-24 22:27:14', 1, 'cc46fb37b189299ad42125b94adf6935', '112.200.20.61'),
(4927, '0275', 'episode', 'C. Briggs', '', ' I listen to these episodes with a really harsh ear I guess. Then, after I read the posts I see I was too hard and missed something in the episode.\r\n\r\nThis one did have a great twist I should have seen but didn''t. I also wonder "Will this be healing or damaging to their psyches? Should they have forgiven and unburdened their hearts long ago of the hate? Are these men damaged and beyond repair, only able to gain satisfaction with revenge? It would be interesting to know."\r\n\r\nAs horrible as the Holocaust was, I can''t seem myself being able to kill someone for revenge. I just couldn''t do it, I don''t think. It does make you think, this episode. Hitler was creepy and crazy, but can this revenge really do any good for anyone?\r\n\r\nI really think this episode was deeper than I gave it credit for originally.', '2013-03-24 22:27:15', 1, 'e3d50e76cf27fa8f0aa80a18e8d5f40f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4928, '0275', 'episode', 'Lenny', '', 'As I mentioned in my introduction post, I went 20 years between listening to the start of this episode, to finally hearing the whole thing. It was worth it.', '2013-03-24 22:27:18', 1, 'f9e1af317ff930cb09270a5e603d9389', '112.200.20.61'),
(4929, '0002', 'episode', 'Kristin', 'harlowgoldblonde@hotmail.com', 'This one\\''s a stinker!!!  It is predictable and Patrick O\\''neal always sounds like he is half asleep or drunk in his roles. The wife is a dippy doofus!!<br>', '2013-04-15 05:47:50', 1, '195febbb731674e9f8513e8e590720ad', '63.27.7.111'),
(5794, '0128', 'episode', 'Andy', 'aapoe@charter.net', 'There were enough clues to figure out exactly what was going on...sadly, I did not.  It was "obvious" at the end.  Horror, no supernatural elements.', '2013-04-15 13:41:37', 1, 'afff10ddcc220d512b0a97912d91b4fb', '24.177.171.209'),
(4930, '0174', 'episode', 'Philip V.', '', 'Although I have listened to "The 36th Man" before, I will listen again and post my comments in a day or two. I may get to it today but it is unlikely with today''s schedule that I will be able to do any listening.', '2013-06-19 23:00:06', 1, '088deacbce8ee1d954611b882a2a7171', '112.200.20.61'),
(6031, '0020', 'episode', 'Robert RJMGREEN', 'RJMGREEN@AOL.COM', 'This was a mere rip off of Rosemary''s Baby and Barbara Eden''s, The Stranger Within. Not impressed. :(', '2013-06-21 13:56:45', 1, '0ceee38cf0ac008d411e7e633eb649b9', '69.40.206.205'),
(6032, '0054', 'episode', 'Robert RJMGREEN@AOL.COM', 'RJMGREEN@AOL.COM', 'Marian Seldes is annoying with her Carol Lynley/ Poseidon Adventure character; whining, terrified of everything, and a nerve wracking, theatrical voice. I, however, did enjoy the story.', '2013-06-21 13:56:30', 1, '92dd15452adaf520593a980243c35d37', '69.40.206.205'),
(6033, '0100', 'episode', 'Mike', 'mike@sawyerhome.net', 'The ending was really satisfying after a head-scratcher of a story. Spoiler alert: If she were the culprit, WHY was she so insistent on finding the husband? She had to have ZERO back story to explain her presence in the town. She could have gone shopping in the mall or stayed in the back garage or, jeez, ANYthing. Just NOTHING to gain by looking for the husband--or, rather, getting others to help her find him. She knew where he was the whole time, yet insisted the police follow up on the ONE clue that was the weak link in the whole disappearance act. Unsatisfying.', '2013-06-21 15:27:15', 1, 'aa1363dec10eed111b1a2a7e976326a2', '71.199.36.217'),
(4931, '0174', 'episode', 'Chas', '', 'The reason I say that is that this whole program makes sense to me and is easy to understand. Some programs are somewhat confusing and I find myself listening to passages over and over to try and understand what is happening. That is not the case here.\r\n\r\nTo me, The 36th Man is a very creative and unique story. Sometimes I listen to these programs while I am working on projects around the house. At times I find my mind wandering and starting to think about other things. Again, not the case here. This program is riveting and it is nearly impossible to think of anything else while listening.\r\n\r\nThe acting is superb and this comes together as the complete package to me. I would say that this is one of the best CBSRMT programs that I have ever heard and if I were introducing someone to the program, this would be one of the first programs I would play for them.\r\n\r\nThe pace is constant throughout the program and it reaches a fantastic conclusion. An epic in the world of CBSRMT!', '2013-03-24 23:33:02', 1, '88dfbb4f1c330d3d542435bd978ecdd1', '112.200.20.61'),
(4933, '0174', 'episode', 'Margie', '', '“The CBS Radio Mystery Theater Presentsâ€.....The 36th Man.\r\n\r\nI like everything about this episode. The story of Harry as a Lahmed Vovnik, written by Sam Dann , is interesting enough. It is unique. There are fun elements, such as the various efforts to tempt Harry who will not be provoked to do something through promises or persuasion but only to do for the betterment of people. There is the heavy consequences of Harry’s failure.....Our demise. His attitude and direction are simple, yet profound...Help people. I found myself liking Harry quite early on, and even envying his ability to be so good. But, I know it is a story, and this alleviates the guilt, and allows for the fun. What is brilliant about this, and many CBSRMT episodes, are the curve balls thrown in the end. The curve ball here of course is Harry’s anger. This anger isn’t just tossed in to add drama. It is, as revealed when his anger and the storm subside, something Harry has had but not acted on. True, he is a thoroughly decent fellow. But he is a fellow, and fellows are human. They are all vulnerable to temptation. He isn’t a shallow character, who finds goodness only because that is all he can do. He turns out to be quite complex. He has made a choice to do so, I think, and it has been a burden. He can’t carry this forever, and he indeed, ultimately, needs his wife’s “ Understandingâ€. The goodness he has provided has no doubt taught him the value of this action. But being a human, and frustrated and wore down by his wife’s dissatisfaction, we see how even Harry can get ugly. The storm erupts in Harry...and the world. This, interesting enough, is needed before the wife realizes what a wonderful person she is married to. All of her wants turn out to not be worth changing Harry. She now understands the value of Harry, and really as a consequence learns what counts in life. It is a great moment, and Ross Martin at this time highlights a splendid performance. I THINK THE STORY OFFERS A VALUABLE LESSON, THROUGH EXAMPLE AND WITH LISTENING PLEASURE...All of this from a 48 min radio show demonstrates the “whyâ€ I love OTR.', '2013-03-24 22:30:32', 1, '160bfff35b708c0e6cb94ad9478fb2e9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4934, '0174', 'episode', 'Nate Panambers', '', 'This was an excellent episode. The content was deep and thoughtful.\r\n\r\nIt was well acted, well scripted, and well directed.\r\n\r\nThe good versus evil is the most recurring theme through the series, and this was one of the best representation of that theme. Sam Dann was probably the strongest of the writers that Himan Brown had on staff. His stuff could frighten and intrigue like no others.\r\n\r\nAn excellent episode.<br>', '2013-04-03 15:34:10', 1, '60c98f50189664847e72bc6f5d100fd6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4935, '0174', 'episode', 'Dave B.', '', 'While many episodes are good, this one never has a dull moment. I burn some in audio format and keep in a binder for repeat listenings.......this one now too!', '2013-03-24 22:30:34', 1, '2f5442bb9e29edf08d2ac814b456f75f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4936, '0174', 'episode', 'Kimberly Clarrise', '', '741114 - The 36th Man\r\n\r\nSet in the early 1900’s, this tale is based on a Hebrew legend which states that the earth is protected by the lives of 36 human beings whose lives are virtuous. Harry Cohen appears to be a poor businessman and this wife, Ruth, is frustrated by his childlike kindness which prohibits them from getting ahead. When approached by an elderly man, during a torrential rainstorm, Harry accepts the burden of being one of the 36 unblemished souls. He is tempted several times by the Prince of Darkness, his mistress Lilly, and by his wife, but Harry accepts his burden and assumes the role of the 36th man.\r\n\r\nThis program was interesting in that I actually heard myself say, “Oh, wowâ€ when I realized that the 36th man had the responsibility to find his replacement. The story was well written and coherent with just enough characters to make it interesting. The acting was excellent and E.G. Marshall is in rare form with interesting bridges between acts. For the history buffs, Sam Dan weaves the advent of the airplane, the onset of World War I and a silent cameo by Sigmund Freud into the story. Overall, this is a very good story which is firmly grounded in an interesting and thought provoking Hebrew legend.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:30:53', 1, 'e0c7e59738405883a7c0c67aab30aec9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4938, '0174', 'episode', 'Lyndon B.', '', 'The storm erupts in Harry...and the world. This, interesting enough, is needed before the wife realizes what a wonderful person she is married to. All of her wants turn out to not be worth changing Harry. She now understands the value of Harry, and really as a consequence learns what counts in life. It is a great moment.\r\n\r\nYes, I agree this was a good moment in the program. But, would she have come to that realization had he not wished for it?\r\n\r\nFor the history buffs, Sam Dan weaves the advent of the airplane, the onset of World War I and a silent cameo by Sigmund Freud into the story.\r\n\r\nAs the story was set in the first part of the 20th century, this was interesting. Of course, we now know the historical significance of those things but that was an interesting spin to put on it with the devil seeing airplanes as instruments to be used to drop bombs.', '2013-03-24 23:33:02', 1, '2fa0beadc5eed4b0271052f3397c3c86', '112.200.20.61'),
(4939, '0174', 'episode', 'N. Osborn', '', 'Hmmm. I think "what" converted her was more important than the fact that her "understanding" was what he wished for. For the story to hold up, and for the meaning to be maintined, she would have to truly change because of the humanity with her. I think his "storm", his falling and uglyness, brought her to change. If supernatural influence is being exercised here, it is in creating the circumstance to bring out his storm, rather than waving a wand over her, to create the change. Her change came about because of the change in Harry......rather than because ( at least directly ) he wished it and it was done for him. Otherwise, his excellent humanity is cheapened and shown to be rather insignificant. Now, were forces woking to make Harry rage direct or indirect.......they seem indirect. We accept as a premise that they exist. But, they rely on Harry, and Harry has a choice. Remember the old man pleading with Harry not to change. He knows Harry is capable of change. This capacity to change is the crux...and fortunately when he does change he gets what he needs, his wife''s understaning. With the understanding, the stregnth to go on. If this were to be artificialy created, then I think the story suffers. For it diminishes Harry, and all of us, as people with choices.', '2013-03-24 23:33:02', 1, 'ab9a933b06bd472bf5d02b800f2cad5b', '112.200.20.61'),
(4940, '0174', 'episode', 'Al', '', 'What a wonderful episode! Although my ''repetoire'' is very limited to under 20 shows, this easily jumps to the top of my list.\r\nAll of the elements were first rate - the writing and the acting is a real treat, beautifully directed and it easily sustained my interest from beginning to end.\r\nOur hero is instantly likable, and not only because he is such a darn good guy and is full of noble deeds, but his manner and spirit are so upbeat and infectuous. As I was listening, a thought crossed my mind several times, why would someone like our hero be married to such a woman? Not that she was the most despicable person ever born, but definitely a bit of the nag and not always easy on our hero. Ah, but the pay-off when she "understands" during his outburst and his almost "fall from grace" -- she saves him and I realized like in many relationships, the two of them as a team are yin and yang, they are who they are by their union, counter balancing the other and in a way, keeping each other in tow. By the end of the show, their relationship is now redefined -- and although it will be very new for the both of them, I''d wager a much stronger relationship for both. (I''m sure their yin and yang will be fine)!\r\nThe act two section made me laugh a little (my musical roots are showing) --- it reminded me of "Damn Yankees". In that show, the devil brings to his aid the temptress Lola, who tries seducing our hero only to fail. What struck me funny as well was the prince of darnkess/devil in "The 36th Man" was also played a bit tongue in cheek ala "Damn Yankees" and the similarity of the names of the tempresses of both shows, Lilly and Lola ("Damn Yankees"). From this point on, I could imagine Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon in those two roles!!!\r\nWonderful show!', '2013-06-19 23:00:13', 1, '659a0446cc431bd0b80c61c04be0e8b8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4941, '0174', 'episode', 'Fritzie', '', '....and an interesting first post it was. I didn''t think of the Damn Yankees twist but I can certainly see the connection now that you''ve put it on the table.', '2013-03-24 23:33:46', 1, 'ab10b802593b750cb1eb9242dc04415d', '112.200.20.61'),
(4942, '0174', 'episode', 'Ingrid P.', '', 'I just read all the posts here -- fun! I must admit all of the comments regarding the husband and wife are more on the money than my own! I guess we''re all in agreement that this a terrific episode. I guess the only thing unanswered for me (small point) is why the author chose to set the story not in the present but early on in the century. I enjoy stories set in different time periods, past and future, but wasn''t quite sure why the choice was made here. Was it anything more than the "Prince of Darkness"''s references to airplanes and bombs? I don''t know why, but I was half-waiting for some sort of pay off during the show. Oh, I didn''t mention before, I love the whole conceit of the Earth being protected and allowed to continue by 36 virtuous men. That got me hook, line and sinker.', '2013-03-24 23:34:00', 1, 'c981db43a623e0e956a126ccfcf893e4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4943, '0174', 'episode', 'Roland Abot', '', 'Why does the story take place in the past? It can provide a reference to us in the here and now of the \\"evil\\" forces at work. The Devil in the story relates to us how the future will have planes and bombs that will be beyond what has been seen. Bigger and better distruction. I also suspect that by creating a past-tense story we have a place of more believable innocence. Harry is more believable there.', '2013-03-24 23:35:23', 1, '52cc7359e085debaf68a3db2579bc215', '112.200.20.61'),
(4944, '0174', 'episode', 'J. Roswell', '', 'i was very happy to hear Ross Martin on cbsrmt. he is one of my favorite actors from the 60s. the idea of the last guy finding his own replacement before he died reminded me of an episode of the ty series the night stalker. i also liked the turn of the century setting. the actress who played Lola sounded familiar too. i was glued to this show. i enjoyed it.', '2013-03-24 23:36:52', 1, 'fd082060c695f1ee2f953de919a1acf4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4945, '0174', 'episode', 'Justin Ralph', '', 'I remember the Night Stalker very well and recently the BRAVO channel showed several episodes. Darren McGavin was great!', '2013-03-24 23:36:53', 1, '5fcd1ff8e3bc428af0af28b270ed47a0', '112.200.20.61'),
(4946, '0174', 'episode', 'Demi', '', 'darren mcgavin is another one of my favorites. i like the way played the unwilling hero. i also liked him in christmas story. a classic!', '2013-03-24 23:36:54', 1, '737a426056245ab1297811c9dad7c6db', '112.200.20.61'),
(4947, '0174', 'episode', 'Len', '', 'It is never to late to add my two cents, right? Ah, the power of the internet.\r\n\r\nGreat episode! I think this episode appeals to me now more than it would have as a child--the relationship aspect would have not interested me. I like the ying/yan interpretation of the importance of the wife. It did make me wonder that such a nice guy would have such a nag as a wife. Then, realize that is the way of life. Nothing is perfect!\r\n\r\nThanks for the suggestion and the chance to see others ideas about the show from a while back.', '2013-03-24 23:37:13', 1, '1dbcce54a95863d33f2984cc98426c4c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4948, '0174', 'episode', 'Lowell', '', 'I like this one. I really enjoy these plots based on folklore, great literature and/or religious writings.\r\n\r\nI loved the main character, Ross Martin is great and I wish he''d been in more CBSRMT episodes. Found much humor with the devil and his seductive sidekick, and, as urged, couldn''t stand the wife. Reminded me of someone I once lived with. \r\n\r\nI''m glad she came around, that was a fortuitous wish he made for her to understand him better.', '2013-03-27 15:14:07', 1, '024adb529dfe256d5e617146665fa87f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4949, '0174', 'episode', 'Antonel Ross', '', 'Reading other''s comments I am seeing Darren McGavin''s name. I don''t have the episode here with me at work, but I''m pretty sure it was Ross Martin and that''s who is listed on mousetrap.\r\n\r\nBut I do like McGavin''s work and the Christmas Story.\r\n\r\nYou know, I could swear I''ve heard McGavin on CBSRMT but his name doesn''t surface in the mousetrap database.... Why am I thinking I have so recently heard his voice, and on an RMT episode? ..... :?:', '2013-03-24 23:37:21', 1, '72d4859e44618bc0193c3e49fc757265', '112.200.20.61'),
(4950, '0174', 'episode', 'Jeremy Bushong', '', 'The mastermind behind the whole Nightstalker concept was Richard Matheson who wrote about a dozen Twilight Zones and some incredible books including What Dreams May Come, I Am Legend, Duel, and The Incredible Shrinking Man.\r\n\r\nHe is Stephen King''s idol and that alone makes him impressive.', '2013-03-24 23:37:21', 1, '62c0283cb08abcf674e62beea5e460c6', '112.200.20.61'),
(4951, '0174', 'episode', 'Dick', '', 'I assumed Stephen King was Stephen King''s idol. (sarcasm)', '2013-03-27 15:00:42', 1, '5724e79d5a20be801222447558b1a490', '112.200.20.61'),
(4952, '0308', 'episode', 'Vinny Viola', 'Vinnyv07@aol.com', '    I liked this story but it is now a bit dated. There are still cultures in the world today that look at women less than equal, but there are definitly less of them today. The story still managed to keep me interested and I secretly rooted for the truth to reveal itself. I can''t stand when the the two main characters all of a sudden express how beautiful they find each other. I''ll listen to the story without the cheese please. I give this story 4 stars. ', '2013-03-24 23:37:42', 1, 'e103f84d4b4b80ac0673691035f89446', '70.192.65.71'),
(4953, '0056', 'episode', 'kevin', 'clashfan@att.neti', 'best non-supernatural themed episode ever! i listen to it over and over.', '2013-03-08 04:00:45', 1, '6e60640cfa40cec7165981844c9ef4af', '67.182.6.185'),
(4955, '0402', 'episode', 'Jim', '', 'One Christmas Eve, my brother and I couldn''t sleep, the house was dark, and warm, and we were teenagers. I think my brother had moved out but was home staying all night to celebrate Christmas. I had a Radio Shack Transistor radio, and all we could find turning the dial was christmas music, and then........Rochester NY came in quiet clear, and heard these blissful words ''Good Evening, my name is E G Marshall, welcome to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, tonight I will not only be narrating tonights story, but acting in it as well......BAH Humbug'' A Christmas Carol.....a christmas I have never forgotten to this day.....', '2013-03-08 17:36:47', 1, '90a12203718e41c576d9d3d3c4a9e6f8', '64.136.212.123'),
(4956, '0003', 'episode', 'Jerry', '', 'Larry Haines (as Jerry Price) does another tremendous job of acting as a paranoid man, just like in Ep.167-THE BLACK ROOM. Every time when Jerry''s buddy, Paul Gardener (played by Marin Newman) appears, there comes that piano music that makes the scenes dark & illusory. The main character''s death would''ve been better if the bullet that killed Paul was the same bullet to kill Jerry. Other than that, it''s worth listening to. ', '2013-03-24 23:37:45', 1, 'a418b084e4a630983feaad2850ae0aa5', '64.136.212.123'),
(4957, '0402', 'episode', 'Robert', '', 'Very nice memory! It\\\\\\''s funny how we remember what radio we listened to the CBSRMT on. I had my grammas old RCA from the 50\\\\\\''s that was molded light blue plastic with a glowing gold tuning knob. I can see (and hear) it now...', '2013-03-24 23:37:48', 1, '0b02166363678b260411c0f1b99a19fe', '64.136.212.123'),
(4958, '0070', 'episode', 'carriagedriver', 'jamesgleon@hotmail.com', 'Nice old lady....good story...love the Theatre.', '2013-03-08 21:40:32', 1, 'f09acaf0125cd832b72f6dad98e554f4', '64.90.209.15'),
(4959, '0015', 'episode', 'Lisa', '', 'Phil (aka Mr. Thompson) is in every office in every corporation in America. He is the Harold in "I Hate Harold" to a degree. He believes he is a deservant recipient of the American Dream. He is a purveyor and personification of the Deadly Sins. He is reprehensible. Yet, he exists and he thrives. What''s worse is that our culture accepts him. Allows him. Applauds him.\r\n\r\nThis episode is deeply disturbing. Not so much by the extreme actions Phil puts forth to deceive Walter Van Hoss, but by exposing the natures of people who believe that "the mention of a million bucks is an incantation of the American Dream." This has been portrayed time and time again in literature and film. Even the reality show Survivor is based on this philosophy. Coincidentally, last night''s Survivor All-Stars Finale put two young players who brutally severed true friendships and used deceipt and betrayal to achieve exactly this - a million bucks and the American Dream.\r\n\r\nThroughout the episode we are subjected to Phil''s rhetoric regarding human desire and need for greed, which he uses to justify his own actions and behavior. My favorite line is toward the end of the show, when he addresses the hotel waiter regarding his "rubbery" eggs. "If these eggs aren''t better [than yesterday] you tell the cook he''ll be hearing from me!" Classic.\r\n\r\nMason''s character, Walter Von Hoss, is inevitably the villain, tho. A man, adhered to do doing the right thing. A man who is capable of exposing his peers at the risk of his own dismissal. A man who is incapable of becoming involved in a lecherous bargain - until he is tempted by fate. Or at least "the million bucks."\r\n\r\nThe irony of the tale occurs, in my opinion, when the two men are anxiously watching the hands of the clock ticking closer to the deadline. Van Hoss snowballs into fury at the sound of the cheap clock ticking, which taunts him as being financially impotent. Meanwhile, Phil is on the verge of frenzy trying to possess the thoughts of his victim, and how Van Hoss could resist his offer.\r\n\r\nThe moment the phone rings, time stands still. We, the audience, anticipated the call, but likely hoped in our hearts for Van Hoss to stand firm. But when temptation and hunger are too great, it is hard not to reach for the cookie jar.\r\n\r\nThe ending was sublime and painful. It was even laughable to a point. Both men being caught in the sticky web of their own demise. I was disappointed when the show ended. I wanted more. I wanted to hear how Van Hoss began to grow paranoid and obsessive waiting for the letter to come. I wanted to hear how he stopped going to work, stopped shaving, believing his fortune was on its way, and how he would sit glaring out the window each day waiting for the mail to arrive, only to be cast back to the shadow of his own guilt and remorse.\r\n\r\nThis episode is a prime example of the best the RMT has to offer. The depth of the writing, the flawless performances, and the ability to immerse the listener into a scenario where we ask, "what would I do?"\r\n\r\nI gave the episode a high 5... for me, this is what the RMT is all about.\r\n\r\nThank you for another fine selection and very best wishes!!', '2013-03-24 22:14:57', 1, 'bd290243af1a778b60853e0a2700a663', '112.200.20.61'),
(4960, '0015', 'episode', 'J. Miarza', '', 'It\\''s been a very long time since I listened to this program but it was one of the best shows I can recall. To this day I think of the moral issue and it struck me so much when I first heard the story that I took the issue to work. I posed the circumstance to three co-workers and the results surpised me. Two of my co-workers said they could push the button while one woman and I were quite sure we couldn\\''t. Anyway, I haven\\''t listened to the program again but it\\''s been one of the most powerful dramas I\\''ve heard from the CBSRMT.<br>', '2013-03-24 22:14:55', 1, '8e7259b41aef36cd0004d083624c68c9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4961, '0015', 'episode', 'Lou', '', 'THE CHINAMAN BUTTON- A great premise is taken to the extreme, and all the more interesting with a sympathetic character turned into Frankenstein.\r\n\r\n.......I do like stories of this sort. A scenario is set that has moral implications sufficient and real enough to have we, the listeners'' ask "What would I do?"...I love the CBSRMT for having the temerity to resolve the dilema that is both ugly and more likely than the candy coated "nice endings" so many other forms of entertainment conclude with. This is not to say that all would go the way of Walter Van Hass. Certainly not all WW2 Germans were ''Goose stepping Goons''....but an awful lot were and many more turned a blind eye. Yes, it is absolutely plausable the Walter gives in to the corruption. The CBSRMT recognizes this, and thus acts as a veracious witness to life. This makes the drama........drama. It touches on reality and becomes compeling. Will Walter make the phone call, we ask? We want him not to and simultaneously know he will! The stinger here in our drama is not only does he make the call but then applies his new found liberation from a sense of right and wrong on his creator. I suppose it is a logical ending, but more than that it is a brilliant surprise.\r\n\r\nIf this story conveys anything it is that tremendous moral strength is requisite to the survival of humanity.', '2013-03-24 23:37:51', 1, '522d7b37d81d8d420fb784d0750bfb9c', '112.200.20.61'),
(4964, '0015', 'episode', 'F. Gellar', '', 'This one was really, really entertaining. I usually prefer episodes that have some element of the fantastic; ghosts, monsters, aliens, magic, etc. This had none of those, but did have a fascinating moral dilemma at its heart. I for once didn\\''t see the twist coming. Great choice!\r\nI give it a 5.', '2013-03-24 23:37:54', 1, 'a578964d7253d61ef56f460a2068ad7a', '112.200.20.61'),
(4965, '0015', 'episode', 'Jeremy Bushong', '', 'I too enjoyed the episode as all of you did. But I found myself wondering why Van Hoss and his wife were having financial difficulties when he seemed to be doing quite well at the advertising firm. I did not see the end coming either.....that was prety good.', '2013-03-24 23:37:57', 1, '655a09750eb93e8d7344f29a36b96f29', '112.200.20.61'),
(4966, '0015', 'episode', 'James', '', 'This episode was superb! I listened to the episode yesterday at lunch, so I have had a full day (and then some) to think about it and, frankly, if the price was right, I can''t say I wouldn''t push the button.\r\n\r\nThe ultimate moral dilemma. Could I, would I, should I. It''s all hypothetical until someone presents the opportunity. Every action, no matter how crazy it may sound to a sane individual, can be justified by the one taking that action.\r\n\r\nUsually when I hear a great radio drama, I think "man, this would make a great movie or a great book". I didn''t think that with this episode, I thought this episode was perfect for the medium it was written for. I can''t really explain it, but I think that as a radio drama, it created the right effect and stimulated the brain in the right way. If this were a book or a movie, it would take too long to resolve and the audience would get bored and lose interest quickly.\r\n\r\nI kept asking myself, "so, am I Von Hoss or am I Thompson?". I think that was what held me and made me relate to each of the characters. If you look close enough and are open to self scrutiny, you begin to see you are a little of both. Maybe more than you feel comfortable with. :?\r\n\r\nI must say that when Von Hoss showed up at Thompson''s hotel room, I knew what he was there for. It was the only ay the story could have ended, in my opinion.\r\n\r\nGreed makes the work go around. I have always said, with all seriousness no matter how many times people think I''m trying to be funny, that anyone who says that money can''t buy happiness doesn''t know where to shop!', '2013-03-24 23:38:00', 1, '62175c01486f2b420b1ee3fdd688d5e8', '112.200.20.61'),
(4967, '0015', 'episode', 'Lantis', '', 'I am so glad to see this episode as Show of the Week. It is my favorite episode so far (I\\''m on CD number eight). I have noticed that my favorites are not necessarily supernatural, but situations that are physically possible (though quite unlikely) and very thought provoking. This one gets a 5++ on my scale. It was an interesting idea, suspenseful, good characters, and had that juicy twist at the end that I so crave. He was going to prove his million dollar theory if it killed him! A million dollars was worth a lot more back then. Everyone has wondered what they might do for 1 million dollars. I also wonder how many people would push the Hitler button (or some contemporary \\''evildoer\\'') for free or even for a fee?<br>', '2013-03-24 23:38:03', 1, '4575e65a573993e1f01ecf1730ab7446', '112.200.20.61'),
(4968, '0015', 'episode', 'Jodie', '', 'This is one of my all-time favorite episodes, with strong performances (especially by Mason Adams) and a great plot. It was interesting to see the way they took the old Chinaman button concept and applied it to a real-world setting. The new version of the "The Twilight Zone" that came out in the 80''s had an episode where a couple recieved a box with an actual button and were offered a million dollars if they would push it (resulting in the death of someone they would never know or meet). I''m glad CBSRMT choose to take a more metaphorical route.\r\nThe ending of this episode is particularly satisfying. On reflection, we should have see it coming. Van Hoss was so pious, so seemingly beyond reproach...yet willing to stab others in the back to maintain those high standards. He was a moral accident waiting to happen.', '2013-03-24 23:38:06', 1, 'bb7bbd36037894af45fc876e422e50cc', '112.200.20.61'),
(4969, '0015', 'episode', 'Phil M.', '', 'I''m listening to ALL episodes. Starting at number 1. So, undfortunately I don''t participate in the show of the week much.....\r\n\r\nBUT... I listened to this one several weeks ago, and I''m not up to 100 episiodes.\r\n\r\nThis one by FAR surpasses anything I''ve heard yet. It was compelling drama. It was thought-provoking. I couldn''t turn it off.\r\n\r\nTHIS is what radio drama is all about.', '2013-03-24 23:38:09', 1, 'ba71cbf483571f5b18bb9b6b3d791d5f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4970, '0015', 'episode', 'Glenn', '', 'I played the audio CD of this on a long drive with my grad advisor and another grad student. Both had not heard CRMT ever and were not sure why I was downloading so many episodes. They even made a few comments at first in a not so nice manner. Then, as the show progressed, they started asking "What is going to happen now?" at the breaks. Then, for the rest of the week, my boss kept saying "What we need now is a Chinaman button!" when we talked about politicians he didn''t like.\r\n\r\nThis show even led to a discussion about being a vegetarian or meat eater. Aren''t we really all pushing a "Chicken button" or a "Cow button" when we buy a hamburger at a restaurant? I am not saying I am a vegetarian, just that this is one way to interpret it.\r\n\r\nAnyway, could someone tell me what Thompson thought he was going to get out of Van Hoss? Was it going to be enough for Thompson to just pull a trick on Van Hoss or not? That is the only part that had me scratching my head.\r\n\r\nOtherwise, GREAT episode! Thanks!', '2013-03-24 23:38:12', 1, '340a7f3fbb483ed432348a3b9a9dd70f', '112.200.20.61'),
(4971, '0015', 'episode', 'C. Briggs', '', 'This is one of my all-time favorites and whoever gave it a \\"1\\" rating probably owns a diamond mine in South Africa, or is Chinese or Dutch or a Boy Scout or named Walter or has five kids.\r\n\r\nI know y\\''all have already dissected this one but I believe in following instructions, so I haven\\''t read anyone else\\''s comments yet.\r\n\r\nI love the absolutes, the black and white, good versus evil moral dilemma thrown at us here. As we roll along, knowing that this is a set-up, don\\''t we find ourselves asking what we would decide if confronted with this proposition? With five kids and the oft-mentioned dental bills? A new one in the oven and a wife so frazzled that it\\''s a wonder she had time to get pregnant (or the inclination to procreate with Mason Adams at his wimpiest?)\r\n\r\nThe absolutes... what is that old saying, something like \\"corruption corrupts absolutely,\\" something to that effect? I was not surprised that Walter caved in and took the proposition, but the ending... incredible. On repeated listenings I cannot help but laugh when Walter says something like , \\"I thought I should have brought a hammer or something, but... a poker!\\" God, Johnny Too Good suddenly a connoisseur of blunt instrument technology!\r\n\r\nWhaddya wanna bet he rips the maibox out of the ground and pounds stars into the mailman when the check never comes! Brilliant. I loved this show.', '2013-03-24 23:38:15', 1, 'af003ab74766a32144c1cb385f97be78', '112.200.20.61'),
(4972, '0015', 'episode', 'L.J. Woodrow', '', 'After Walter makes the decision to \\"push the Chinaman button\\", he confronts Mr. Thompson (Phil) at his hotel room. Upon the encounter, Walter suddenly allows his evil greedy side to come out when he whacks Phil with the poker, killing him instantly. Three seconds later, Walter has Phil\\''s body in the shower with water running and he exclaims, \\"What a shame that you slipped in the tub Mr. Thompson, what a terrible shame! Now I have to go home...to wait for the mailman.\\"\r\n\r\nCan we just assume that Mr. Thompson (Phil) had greeted Walter already dressed in his birthday suit? Or is it considered common for someone from that neck of the woods to accidently slip in the bathtub fully clothed?\r\n\r\nI know it may seem petty but the ending never suggested that Walter took the time to undress him after he tossed the body in the tub. No, it seemed just quite the opposite, based on Walter\\''s last words in the final sentence*.\r\n\r\nI loved the irony in how Walter told Phil how before he had always felt so stupid all of his life, a coward, a weakling. And now, thanks to Mr. Thompson, he now felt like a giant. He never felt better even though he was an accessory to murder. He told Mr. Thompson that he never thought murder could be so easy.\r\n\r\nWhat a wonderful way for Walter to turn the table on good ol\\'' Phil... :twisted:\r\n\r\nEditor\\''s note: Had to edit this once I listened to the ending again. Somehow I missed the part of Mr. Thompson[/i:fb9d3dd557] telling Walter when he greeted him at the door, \\"As you can see, I\\''m just about to take a shower\\". Can\\''t believe I missed that part during the first preview. Can I change my vote to a 5 out of 5?<br>', '2013-03-27 15:00:48', 1, 'a853e965d129e09ae5f971c6cce033df', '112.200.20.61'),
(4973, '0015', 'episode', 'Antonel Ross', '', 'I completely agree, you really did nail it with that thought provoking post of yours.', '2013-03-24 23:38:21', 1, '2886d8b0e1a83a3d95135527c367a7b4', '112.200.20.61'),
(4974, '0119', 'episode', 'Lyndon B.', '', 'A brief synopis: A couple looking for a bargain on an apartment seem to find the place of their dreams. When they arrive to look at the apartment it appears they are the only ones who saw the ad in the paper. The location and the rent are perfect, even if the landlord is a little weird (he keeps a locked closet full of bizzare occult items in the apartment). Unfortunately, anything that looks too good to be true always is. This is a frightening episode. If you want a real scare, listen to this one in the dark...alone.', '2013-03-24 23:38:24', 1, '8bf753b6f48d4ad402744a663a3b07e3', '112.200.20.61'),
(4975, '0119', 'episode', 'Chas', '', 'Wow. This program freaked me out. I''ll be honest in that I simply wouldn''t have been able to handle this one as a kid and it''s probably the creepiest program I''ve heard to date. First, I have to admit that I find cats to be one of the scariest things on the planet. I had a bad experience as a kid so I find them to be unpredictable and dangerous. The cat in this program sent shivers up my spine and it exploited almost every fear I have. Second, (plot spoiler coming) the play was crafted with three principle characters and one seemingly ancillary character, the aunt, whom I thought would be our last minute saviour. Instead, our protagonists actually lost their battle with the devil (the dramatic music during this scene was fitting of the drama that unfolded)! Whoa - what a shocker!!!\r\n\r\nOne point of interest I noted: Our author, Ian Martin, chose to use the opening segment of the program as a "working" lead-in to this drama. In general, the opening segment is drawn from the body of the program so we know it will be repeated somewhere in the play. However, this program''s opening segment was truly a unique part of the play.', '2013-03-24 23:38:27', 1, 'c8ab03dcf39495ce3db5f24061a0bd72', '112.200.20.61'),
(4976, '0119', 'episode', 'Cedrix', '', 'It''s funny...did they ever mention anything about printing in the play? (I had a printer back in the 90s who had an assistant I joked in calling "his printer''s devil". He told me how the term originated, and I thought it was because the young kids who helped the printers way back in the early days of the profession would get black ink all over themselves, and since the color black is associated with satanic things...)\r\n\r\nI agree...I would have been very shaken by this one as a child. I thought one of the most compelling and powerful scenes in the play is when the woman opens the closet door. We''ve got a hint as to what''s behind it, but the music bed underneath (again, way to go, RMT folks) plus her shaken voice as she delivers a stream of adjectives without ever saying what they describe. Priceless.\r\n\r\nI like Ian Martin''s acting and his plays.', '2013-03-27 15:27:36', 1, '0276d0c8982d8cdcc046b997fa07e314', '112.200.20.61'),
(4977, '0119', 'episode', 'John Mina', '', 'First off, I just love the fact that the opening monologue by EG Marshall was part of the story. Usually, his comments are disconnected from the show, so to hear this format really caught my attention. It was enough to make me stop nailing the shingles on my roof and wear a skewed face!\r\n\r\nTalk about a fun, chilling journey. I kind of had that "feeling" of knowing what was going to happen, but I admit, I was a bit surprised that there was no last-minute heroics to save this couple. And what a way to go... an elevator shaft!\r\n\r\nThis tale led me into the thoughts of Rosemary''s Baby and even a bit of the Amityville Horror. All the signs were there for the couple to be aware of. Even a person who puts no stock in superstition would have to draw a red flag on the circumstances in this situation. Too true to be good? Nice!\r\n\r\nThen there is the cat. The RMT has a way of transmogrifying cats into demonic devices. Enough so, that beyond my natural dislike for cats (due to lifelong allergies of them), I now have a new respect for them... in fact, I pretty much steer clear of them altogether!\r\n\r\nThough this show was fairly predictable, it''s traditional ghost story quality never waivered and held me to the end. Our ghost was charming and a totally convincing devil, indeed.\r\n\r\nThe title was cute, as the etymology of a "printer''s devil" comes from when a printer''s apprentice would become black with ink - suggesting, of course, witchcraft or black magic. The title was also a title used in an episode of the Twilight Zone, called Printer''s Devil, in which Burgess Meredith plays the Devil. Very appropriate!\r\n\r\nI gave the show a solid 4.5 rating. The fairly predictable nature of the tale kept it from being higher, but the production quality, acting, and script were of expected standard, if not above.\r\n\r\nFinally, one question that must be asked: What the heck do you think was in that closet, anyway?? :twisted:\r\n\r\nGreat choice! Thanks and best wishes!', '2013-03-24 23:38:33', 1, '2f2c8a38b60aaa19eb730bd2664badf9', '112.200.20.61'),
(4978, '0119', 'episode', 'Dennis G.', '', 'I liked this one too. I wouldn''t have been able to sleep for a month if I''d heard it as a kid--which, actually, I may have. I can''t really add anything to what everyone''s already said ''cept that I love cats, and dogs (And most other warm blooded animals. No reptiles, thanks.) It kinda bums me out that they always use a cat as a symbol of evil on these shows. How ''bout a hellhound for a change? Or a meeeeaaan parakeet!', '2013-03-24 23:38:36', 1, 'ade1b9f3f1f8fe10c7554151bfa3fb54', '112.200.20.61');
