Why I Won't Sign Up for Threads

Ever since Twitter changed ownership in October 2022, users have been leaving the microblogging service for other social media services. I joined Mastodon, then a few months later Spoutible and finally Bluesky (it was still by invitation then). Following the election and changes to Twitter's (I refuse to call it "X") terms of service, even more people left. Many left for Bluesky. I abandoned Twitter entirely and devoted myself almost entirely to Bluesky. One microblogging service I have never considered and still won't is Threads, Meta's take on microblogging.

Now Meta has fixed some of the objections that I had when Threads first launched in July 2023. While one still needs an Instagram account (which I already have) to use Threads, your Instagram account is no longer deleted if you delete your Threads account. One can also now access a chronological feed on Threads. While these problems have been fixed, Threads still has one major problem which prevent me from ever signing up for Threads.

The first is that Threads does not have hashtags per se. I have always found this curious, given both Instagram and even Facebook have hashtags, even though few people I know actually use them on Facebook. I have no idea why Meta decided not to allow the use of hashtags on Threads, particularly given hashtags originated on Twitter and are part of nearly every other microblogging service out there. Of course, while Threads do not have hashtags, they do have what they call "tags." Now Thread's tags do have one advantage over hashtags in that one can actually tag phrases in which the words have spaces between them. Unfortunately, that is about the only advantage they have over hashtags. Indeed, one can only use one tag per post. For example, if one were watching Out of the Past (1947) on Noir Alley on TCM, they might hashtag any live posts they made to Bluesky "#TCMParty #NoirAlley #OutOfThePast." On Threads they would have to choose only one of these tags for their post. Many people I know who live post movies on Bluesky generally use more than one hashtag per post. They will post a hasthag for the channel or show they are watching the movie on (for instance, #TCMParty or #Svengoolie) and the name of the movie (for instance,#Frankenstein). This is impossible on Threads.

Beyond limiting users to one tag per post, there is also a petty irritation regarding tags on Threads. Quite simply, tag searches are sorted by algorithm by default. and I am not sure there is any way to sort tag searches chronologically. Even if one can sort tags chronologically, the fact that they are sorted by algorithm by default is unappealing. Even on Twitter as it is now, one can click on "Following" and almost never see the algorithm sorted feed. I have to think Threads, being a Meta product, sorting tag searches chronologically is probably a bit more bit tricky. Of course, on Mastodon, Spoutible, and Bluesky there is no algorithm....

Ultimately, it seems clear that Threads is not for me, nor was it ever designed for people like me. Indeed, I have to wonder if Meta even meant for Threads to compete with Twitter and other microblogging services. It certainly seems different given its use of an algorithm and its use of "tags"instead of hashtags. At any rate, regardless of how much Meta might try to promote it in Instagram from time to time, I am not signing up for it.

A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on Christmas in Film & Television

On November 10 of this year my latest book was published. It's titled A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on Christmas in Film & Television. It contains essays on  movies from It's a Wonderful Life to Love Actually and television specials from A Charlie Brown Christmas to Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. You can order it on Amazon here.

Michael Cole Passes On

Michael Cole, who played Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad, died yesterday, December 10 2024, at the age of 84.

Michael Cole was born on July 3 1940 in Madison, Wisconsin. He did not know his biological father. As a young child he lived with his mother and his older brother in his maternal grandmother's house. When he was 16 he dropped out of high school and married his girlfriend, who was already pregnant. They would have another child before they divorced when Michael Cole was 20. Michael Cole left Wisconsin for Las Vegas, where he worked as a bartender. It was on the advice of Bobby Darin that he moved to Los Angeles. There hew as homeless for a time. Fortunately he met acting coach Estelle Harman. She let him sleep on a bed on her stage at her workshop and gave him acting lessons for free.

Michael Cole made his film debut in 1961 in Forbid Them Not, starring Jose Ferrer. He made his television debut in 1966 in an episode of Gunsmoke. Aaron Spelling offered him the role of Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad after Michael Cole came to the attention of a casting director after he had read a scene from Picnic with another one of Estelle Harman's students. Initially Michael Cole turned down the role, not particularly wanting to play a young person who informed on other young people to the police. At last Michael Cole relented and he would spend five seasons on the show. In the Sixties Michael Cole also appeared in the movies The Bubble (1966) and Chuka (1967). He guest starred on the show Run for Your Life.

In the Seventies Michael Cole continued to appear on The Mod Squad. He guest starred on the shows Get Christie Love!, Police Story, Wonder Woman, Flying High, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, The Love Boat, CHiPs, The Littlest Hobo, and Beyond Westworld. He reprised his role as Pete Cochran in the TV reunion movie The Return of the Mod Squad. He appeared in the mini-series Evening in Byzantium.

In the Eighties he appeared in the movie Nickel Mountain (1984). He guest starred on the shows Fantasy Island; Vega$; CHiPs; and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in the two-part TV movie IT (1990), based on the Stephen King novel fo the same name.

In the Nineties he had a recurring role on the soap opera General Hospital. He guest starred on the shows Shades of LA, Good Sports, Acapulco Bay, Diagnosis Murder, and 7th Heaven. He appeared in the movie The Apostate (2000). In the Naughts he guest starred on the television movie series Mystery Woman and the TV series ER. He appeared in the movie Mr. Brooks (2007).

Michael Cole will probably always be remembered as Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad, the rebellious son of a wealthy Beverly Hills family who winds up working for Police captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews). Much of the show's success was probably due to Michael Cole's performance, as well as those of his co-stars Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton. Of course, he also appeared in other roles during his career. He appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, playing Earl Tuchman in the episode "Murder, She Spoke" and Police Lieutenant John Meyerling in the episode "The Big Show of 1965." In the Get Christie Love! episode "Deadly Justice" he played a police academy dropout who begins killing criminals. Michael Cole would play a wide variety of roles, and played all of them well.

Godspeed Julie Stevens

Julie Stevens, who played John Steed's partner Venus Smith on The Avengers and co-presented the British children's how Play School from 1966 to 1979, died on December 5 2024 at the age of 87. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019.

Julie Stevens was born Julia Bulias on December 20 1936 in Prestwich, Lancashire. There she attended Philips High School. She trained as a nurse at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. When she was twenty a talent contest led to her signing with former broadcaster ABC Weekend TV. She made her television debut in 1958 as the voice of a secretary in an episode of the TV series Armchair Theatre. In 1959 she appeared in two episodes of the show All Aboard.

In the Sixties she was cast as Venus Smith, a nightclub singer who was also a partner of secret agent John Steed, in the second series of The Avengers. She began co-presenting Play School, a BBC2 programme aimed at preschool children, in 1966 and continued to do so until 1979. In 1967 Miss Stevens presented the long-running children's show Watch with Mother. Towards the end of the decade and the first part of the Seventies, she was one of the stars of the sitcom Girls About Town. She guest starred on the shows Our House, The Human Jungle, Z Cars, and Friday Night. She played the hand maiden  Gloria in the movie Carry On Cleo (1964).

In the Seventies she continued as a presenter on the show Play School and also appeared on its sister program Play Away, which was focused on older children. She provided vocals on songs for the children's show Look and Read from 1978 to 1992. She was one of the regular performers on the children's show Cabbages and Kings. Julie Stevens later vocals for songs on the children's show Through the Dragon's Eye. She made her last appearance on television in a guest appearance in an episode of Holby City in 2001.

Julie Stevens also served as the personal manager of Sir Harry Secombe for many years.

On The Avengers Venus Smith was not a particularly demanding role, but Julie Stevens made the character more interesting than she might have otherwise been and also got to show off her singing voice.In Carry On Cleo she got to display a more comedic side than she had on The Avengers.  She certainly had an impact on a generation of British children co-presenting Play School. Brits who grew up with Play School, as well as fans of The Avengers and the "Carry On..." films paid tribute to her on social media. Julie Stevens was clearly beloved, and she will always be remembered as John Steed's first female partner and the co-presenter of Play School.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Turns 40

This post is part of the John Saxon Bloghaton hosted by RealWeedgieMidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis)

On November 9 1984 a film went into limited release in the United States that would forever change horror movies. Although often classed as a "slasher film," A Nightmare in Elm Street (1984) could better be described as a supernatural horror movie with some characteristics of a slasher movie. The film would spawn an entire franchise, not to mention several imitators.

In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) a group of teenagers find themselves targeted by the malignant spirit of a child killer named Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who has their ability to enter their dreams and kill them there. Twenty years earlier Freddy Krueger had been captured, but then released on a technicality after having killed 20 children. A lynch mob then hunted them down and burned him alive in the boiler room of the power plant at which Krueger had worked. It is up to one of the teenagers, Nancy Thomposn (Heather Langenkmap) and her father, Police Lieutenant Don Thompson (John Saxon), to put an end to Krueger's killing spree.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was written and directed by horror legend Wes Craven. By the time he made A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Mr. Craven had already made such movies as The Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and Deadly Blessing (1981). Inspiration for A Nightmare on Elm Street came from multiple sources. One was a story he read in The Los Angeles Times regarding a child who was a refugee from the Cambodian genocide who refused to go to sleep for fear that he would not wake up. Sadly, he died not long after he finally went to sleep. This was not an isolated incident with regards to refugees from Southeast Asia, as several died due to mysterious circumstances. Most often they were young Hmong men who had fled Laos following the Vietnam War. In the October 15 2008 issue of Cinefantasique, Wes Craven commented, "t was a series of articles in the LA Times; three small articles about men from South East Asia, who were from immigrant families and had died in the middle of nightmares—and the paper never correlated them, never said, 'Hey, we've had another story like this."

Wes Craven also drew inspiration for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) from Eastern religions and the 1975 song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright. The synthesizer riff used in the movie stems from that song. As to the villain, Freddy Krueger, his name was taken from a boy named Fred Krueger who had bullied him as a child. Inspiration for the character of Freddy Krueger was also taken from Wes Craven's childhood. Once when outside his home, young Wes Craven saw a man in a battered fedora who seemed to be looking right at him. The man frightened Wes Craven very badly.

Other elements of the character of Freddy Krueger stemmed from an effort to make him different from other antagonists in horror movie of the time. Wes Craven observed that many horror villains of the time, such as Michael Myers in the Halloween movies and Jason in the Friday the 13th movies, wore masks. Wes Craven thought Freddy should wear a mask, but he should also be able to talk and express himself. It was because of this that Freddy Krueger had a disfigured face. Wes Craven also observed the most villains in horror movies of the time used knives. Initially Wes Craven had considered having Krueger use a sickle, but then decided he use a glove with steak knives sewn into it.

Wes Craven would have some difficulty selling A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). As hard as it may be to believe, Walt Disney Productions was the first to show interest in the script, but they wanted Wes Craven to soften the movie's content so it could be rated PG-13 by the MPAA ratings board. Paramount Pictures turned down A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) because they thought it was too similar to Dreamscape (1984), which was already in pre-production. Universal Studios also turned him down.

Wes Craven was finally able to find a studio produce the film in the form of New Line Cinema. At this point New Line Cinema had only produced a few movies, most notably Polyester (1981), having primarily served as a distributor for films produced by others. New Line Cinema was unable to provide all of the financing for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but fortunately they were able to find other investors.

By far the most famous member of the cast of A Nightmare on Elm Street was John Saxon, who played Lt. Don Thompson. Although John Saxon had started his career as a teen idol in such movies as Rock Pretty Baby (1956) and The Restless Years (1958), he made a name for himself in a wide variety of movies from the Sixties into the Seventies, from Queen of Blood (1966) to Enter the Dragon (1973). Ten years before A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), John Saxon had played another police lieutenant in another horror movie, Kenneth Fuller in the early slasher movie Black Christmas (1974). Having played in a wide variety of movie genres and having played a number of heroes in movies, John Saxon was ideal as Don Thompson, the police lieutenant who initially fears for his daughter's sanity, but then helps her stop an undead killer.

As to the role of Freddy Krueger, David Warner was initially cast, but he had to drop out of the film due to conflicts in his schedule. Wes Craven considered several different actors before casting Robert Englund in the role. Robert Englund had made several guest appearances on television and appeared on such movies as Big Wednesday (1978) and Galaxy of Terror (1981). The roles of the teenagers in the film were filled by unknowns, although one would soon become famous. A Nightmare on Elm Street marked the film debut of Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp went with his friend Jackie Earle Haley to an audition. It was ultimately because of Wes Craven's daughters that Johnny Depp got the role. Wes Craven had pictured the role of Glen as  a jock, but it was Johnny Depp's headshot that Wes Craven's daughters chose out of the headshots he showed them.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would run into trouble with the MPAA ratings board. Two cuts to the movie had to be made before they would give it an R-rating. Oddly enough, it was released in the United Kingdom, which is sometimes stricter on horror movies than the MPAA, uncut.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) went into limited release on November 6 1984 in the United States and then into wide release on November 16 1984 in United States and Canada. Most critics at the time gave A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) positive reviews. Paul Attanasio in The Washington Post wrote of the film, "The genre has built-in limitations--the immediate reaction is to say you've seen it all before last Friday the 13th, so that there's constant pressure on the director's inventiveness....But Wes Craven faces the challenge admirably. A Nightmare on Elm Street is halfway between an exploitation flick and classic surrealism." In The Monthly Film Bulletin, Kim Newman called A Nightmare on Elm Street, "...a superior example of an over-worked genre."

Audiences loved A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as well. During its opening weekend in limited release, at only 165 theatres across the United States, it grossed $1,271,000." It eventually made $25,504,513 at the US and Canada and  $57 million worldwide. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) proved to be one of New Line Cinema's earliest successes, so much so that the studio was sometimes referred to as "the House that Freddy Built."

The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would lead to seven sequels. A remake,directed by Samuel Bayer, was released in 2010. There was also a TV series spun off from the film. Freddie's Nightmares was an anthology series with Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger serving as its narrator. It ran for two seasons in syndication. There have also been novels, comic books, video games, and other merchandise inspired by the movie.

The reasons for the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) aren't hard to find. The movie has a particularly good cast. John Saxon, as Lt. Don Thompson, stands out as the father and police officer who finally realizes the threat of Freddy Krueger. It was Robert Englund's performance as Freddy Krueger that made the character one of the most famous movie monsters of all time. The younger cast, including Helen Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson and Johnny Depp as Glen, also deliver solid performances. The cast make the events of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) all the more believable.

Of course, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) also benefits from a very sophisticated script. In fact, the film works on multiple levels. In the above cited Cinefantastique article, Wes Craven said,"...the notion of the screenplay is that the sins of the parents are visited upon the children, but the fact that each child is not necessarily stuck with their lot is still there." Even at the time of its release, some critics saw A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a very Freudian work. In the February 1985 issue of Films in Review, Roy Frumkes saw Wes Craven's earlier works, such as The Hills Have Eyes, as Freudian, and wrote of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), "...and, here, in its latest incarnation, John Saxon and Ronee Blakeley are the untending parent of a daughter, whose nightmares have red claws, and whose pleas for help go unanswered."

What might be the strongest theme in the film is one that Wes Craven's script and direction capitalize upon: the borderlines between reality and fantasy.In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) the characters, and hence the audience,can often not distinguish between reality and dream. It can easily be argued that being able to determine what is and is not a dream is central to the defeat of Freddy Krueger in the movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would have a lasting influence on the horror genre and launched a franchise that still sees merchandise between produced to this day. The movie often makes lists of the greatest horror films ever made. It can be safe to say audiences will be watching A Nightmre on Elm Street (1984) forty years from now.

The Centenary of Wally Cox's Birth

It was 100 years ago today that Wally Cox was born in Detroit. He became famous playing the title character on the sitcom Mister Peepers, but is perhaps best known to younger Baby Boomers and the whole of Generation X as the voice of Underdog and a regular on the game show Hollywood Squares. Wally Cos also guest starred on shows from The Beverly Hillbillies to McMillan & Wife and appeared in such movies as Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Fate is the Hunter (1964).

Wally Cox began his entertainment career in stand-up in 1948, his act consisting of a monologue and often stories and songs. In 1949 he appeared on the radio show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. That same year he made his television debut on Fireside Theatre. By 1950 he was appearing on Broadway in the revue Dance Me a Song. He continued to appear in night clubs and appeared on such television shows as The Ford Theatre Hour, Danger, Suspense, and Goodyear Television Playhouse.

It was in July 1952 that Mister Peepers debuted. The show starred Wally Cox as Robinson J. Peepers, the shy, quiet science teacher at Jefferson Junior High. Much of the rest of the cast would also become well-known, including Tony Randall as history teacher Harvey Weskit, Marion Lorne as English teacher Mrs. Gurney, and Jack Warden as athletic coach Frank Whip. Mister Peepers originated as a summer replacement for Ford Festival, but proved to be so popular that NBC brought the show back after the new show Doc Corkle proved to have miserable ratings.

Mister Peepers typecast Wally Cox, much to his dismay. and for much of his career he played soft-spoken, mild mannered characters. To a degree what might be his most famous role is an exception to this. On the Saturday morning cartoon Underdog, Wally Cox played Underdog's alter ego Shoeshine Boy as soft-spoken and mild-mannered. Indeed, Shoeshine Boy was described as "humble and lovable." Wally Cox gave Underdog a lower voice (pretty much Mr. Cox's natural speaking voice) and the character was as brave and courageous as one would expect a superhero to be. Underdiog proved to be a success. It ran for nine years on the broadcast networks (eight on Saturday, one on Sunday) and had an extremely successful syndication run.

Of course, many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers will also remember Wally Cox as resident of the upper left square on Hollywood Squares. Wally Cox on Hollywood Squares also offered a sharp contrast to the meek characters he often played. On Hollywood Squares not only did Mr. Cox display considerable wit, but often biting sarcasm. It seems likely that Wally Cox's persona on Hollywood Squares was closer to Mr. Cox in real life that the mild-mannered characters he played. In real life Wally Cox was very athletic and even rode motorcycles. He also possessed considerable skill as a handyman. According to an article in Popular Science in the Fifties, Wally Cox had a small workshop in his dressing room on Mister Peepers. In his memoir Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square, Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall said that Wally Cox installed the wiring in his own home.

Aside from Mister Peepers and Underdog, Wally Cox played the lead in one other series. The Adventures of Hiram Hollliday was a sitcom that aired on NBC during the 1956-1957 season. The series centred on Hiram Holliday, a newspaper proofreader who actually possessed considerable skills in firearms, physical combat, and many other areas of knowledge. After saving his publisher from a potential lawsuit, his publisher awarded him with a trip around the world. Each week then saw Hiram Holliday on a different adventure, from solving crimes to thwarting spies. Although the show lasted only for one season, it would develop a cult following.

Of course, in addition to the shows on which he regularly appeared, Wally Cox also made numerous guest appearances. In two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies  he played birdwatcher Professor P. Caspar Biddle. In the Wagon Train episode "The Vincent Eaglewood Story" he played the title character, a school teacher from the East. On Car 54, Where Are You? he played master pickpocket Benny, who proves better at catching thieves than the NYPD. Wally Cox was a frequent guest star on television shows from the Fifties to the Sixties, and guest starred on such classics as The Loretta Young Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, 77 Sunset Strip, Burke's Law, Mission: Impossible, Ironside, and The Odd Couple. He had a notable role in the sequel to the TV movie The Night Stalker and the second Kolchak television movie The Night Strangler, playing researcher Titus Berry, who assists Carl Kolchak in his investigation.

While Wally Cox is best known for his work in television, he also appeared in several movies throughout his career. He played Preacher Goodman in Spencer's Mountain (1963). In The Bedford Incident (1965) he played Seaman Queffle, who detects a Russian submarine on sonar while the U.S.S. Bedford is patrolling the coast of Greenland. In the Sixties he also appeared in the movies State Fair (1962), Fate is the Hunter (1964), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), A Guide to the Married Man (1967), The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Up Your Teddy Bear (1970), The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970), and The Boatniks (1970). Wally Cox's last feature film was The Barefoot Executive (1971). During his career, Wally Cox only got to play the male lead once. Unfortunately, that was in the obscure, but not particularly well-received sexploitation film Up Your Teddy Bear, playing opposite Julie Newmar.

Sadly, Wally Cox died when he was only 48 on February 15 1973. The cause was a heart attack caused by a coronary occlusion. His last work on film was a guest appearance on the television series Search that aired only a few weeks before his death.

The death of Wally Cox is one of the earliest celebrity deaths I remember. Even at that tender age I knew he was the voice of Underdog, and I also recognized him from his many guest appearances on television. It is the mark of a truly great performer that even a young kid can recognize him from many different roles. Wally Cox was remarkable in many ways. While he mainly played milquetoasts, he was capable of playing other roles. He was one of the best-loved celebrities on Hollywood Squares, where his many quips about the game show. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, Wally Cox is still one of the best loved television performers of the mid-20th Century.

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

Most Christmas songs seem to be written about Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or the season as a whole, but one song seems to have been written especially for this time of year. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"was written by Meredith Wilson, now best known for the musical The Music Man. Indeed, the song mentions such things as the five and ten store "glistening once again," "toys in every store," "the tree in the Grand Hotel," and so on. I have always thought it was written about that time of year that stores and individuals first start decorating for the Yuletide.

Like The Music Man, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" could have been inspired by Meredith Wilson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa. There is a theory that the"Grand Hotel" mentioned in the song could have been inspired by the Park Inn Hotel in downtown Mason City. The hotel was designed by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright himself and is the last remaining hotel in the world that he designed. It takes its name from Mason City's Central Park, which it overlooks. Making the idea that the Park Inn Hotel could have served as the inspiration for the Grand Hotel in "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is that the park is immediately mentioned after the hotel in the song: "There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one  in the park as well..."

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra was released on September 18 1951. The song proved to be a hit, peaking at no. 12 on the Billboard chart. It has since charted every holiday season over they years. In 1951 Bing Crosby also recorded his own version of the song. It has since been recorded by such artists as Kate Smith, Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick, Dean Martin, and Michael Buble.