by Robert Gillis 2/2015
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Leonard Nimoy. The man from Boston who did so well for himself as an actor, poet, writer, director, photographer, has passed on. He was a role model and inspiration for so many.
Although not recently, I attended MANY Star Trek conventions in the 1980s and early 1990s and saw him speak twice. He was always a gentlemen, always graceful, always so engaging, so grateful, always had so much to say.
by Robert Gillis
On another excellent CW show, Supernatural, the prophet “Chuck” said this in a season finale (that was almost the series finale): “Endings are hard. Anyone can create a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.”
by Robert Gillis
Published in the Boston City Paper 2007, Foxboro Reporter 2008
It’s Halloween and my one of my favorite Holiday TV specials is, “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.” I was two years old when it premiered in 1966 and I never missed an airing, and the DVD is watched at least twice a year. But upon closer inspection, Charlie Brown’s world is a little odd, and that got me thinking (never a good thing on a slow news day) what if Charlie Brown and his world was real?
by Robert Gillis
Originally published in The Foxboro Reporter 6/1999 and revised for the Boston City Paper 11/2006
The recent release of the film “Hollywoodland” has cast new light and brought new interest in the unsolved death of George Reeves, star of the 1950s series, “Adventures of Superman.” He died before I was born, but I knew him well, and I regret his passing.
His death was officially classified a suicide — Reeves was despondent over not being able to find work after the series was canceled, having been typecast as the man of steel — but there have been lingering questions about his death for over four decades.
by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, February, 2006 and the Boston City Paper 7/2007
She was the first love of my life; the first girl I wanted to marry. But it was not meant to be; she was 24, I was 11. Her name is Joanna Cameron, and you might remember her as the stunningly beautiful “Isis” on the 1970s Saturday morning TV show, “The Secrets of Isis.”
Isis was the story of a wise and very likable high school teacher, Andrea Thomas.
by Robert Gillis
Published in the Foxboro Reporter, 6/2001
Monday night. The music is over, the host faces the players and snarls, “One of you is about to leave with nothing. It’s time to vote off … ” (dramatic emphasis) ” … The Weakest Link!”
I love this show.
A ratings winner, Weakest Link is strategic, fast, psychological and ruthless.
The “Weakest Link” began in Britain last summer on BBC, and arrived here in April amid a deluge of NBC advertising and an email blitz.
by Robert Gillis
March 25, 1995
“Hello! Duh! Clark Kent is Superman. Ha, ha, ha. Well, that was worth the whole trip. To actually meet the most galactically stupid woman who ever lived.” — Tempus, remarking that Lois Lane couldn’t figure out Clark’s secret
Acknowledging that it is just a TV show, and recognizing that I do have a life, I must still comment on my great disappointment with “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.”