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Five Things – 5.13.13

May 13, 2013 ·

1.  Gemini Man – In 1976 someone had the bright idea to make an action series on TV based on H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man.

The Gemini Man

 

Called Gemini Man, it featured established TV actor Ben Murphy as a special agent who had had some sort of accident which turned him invisible.   He wore a watch which helped him control this, allowing him  to become invisible for 15 minutes every 24 hours.  What a weird restriction to a super power.

The show itself lacked a defining edge, and fell into a vat of similar sci-fi-themed action television shows of the 1970s.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing; there’s a lot of awesome stuff about those shows.  The “future” technology is usually a pretty fun variant on an already-extinct technology, like reel-to-reel computers that filled up an entire room, and the futuristic outfits are usually the same way.  Plus, these shows are a font-lover’s dream.

 


Gemini Man lasted one season and then was no more.  In that year, it spawned a couple of gorgeous magazine covers:


Gemini Man Magazine

 

Gemini Man Annual (front)

 

Gemini Man Annual (rear)

 

The Annual included a comic intro, linked from fourcolorcraic:

Gemini Man Comic

In 1981, somebody slapped two episodes together and called it a TV movie.  Titled “Riding with Death”, the movie was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is how it got on my radar.  I loved the episode so much that I found and watched (some of) the first season.

Stick with the MST3k episode.


2.  London 1927 – Check out this amazing color video of London in the 1927.  Really, stunning:

 

London in 1927 from Tim Sparke on Vimeo.
 

3.  17th Century Fonts – Here’s a 17th Century book on the art of writing, complete with amazingly, beautifully unreadable fonts.

 

Fonts

 

A

 

W

 

4.  1981 Atari Ad – I have to admit, the Atari gameplay footage looks fantastic here.  The colors really pop.  And that music button at the end is perfect.

 

5.  Salvador Dali on What’s My Line –  Just that.  It’s awesome. 


-ds

design, mst3k, news, sci-fi, television, video games ephemera, typography

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