Wednesday, October 23, 2013

TODAY'S BOO TUBE: IN SEARCH OF JACK THE RIPPER

SEVERAL DAYS AGO I MENTIONED THAT I HAD A "JACK THE RIPPER" DAY ON A PREVIOUS HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN.  However, there was one thing I didn't watch that day because I didn't own it . . . then.  But I do now. 

Happily, the complete series of that classic 70's show IN SEARCH OF starring Leonard Nimoy has been released in a DVD box set earlier this year.  And now I can pop in the Jack the Ripper episode for today's Halloweenie viewing.  I remember that waaaaaaaaaaaay back in the late 70's, before VCRs, I plopped my Radio Shack tape recorder in front of the TV speaker and recorded the audio for this episode -- so watching it today gives a strange sense of nostalgia because I basically know every line by heart!  I listened to that audio tape countless times over the years and it's wonderful to have the entire series on DVD at long last.  The episode is exactly what you'd expect it to be:  re-enactments of the murders, experts (including Donald Rumbelow) being interviewed on camera and the then-popular theory on the solution to the Ripper's identity which, in the intervening years, has pretty much been discredited (provided by the late Stephen Knight, also interviewed on camera).  But IN SEARCH OF is just so seventies and is always a highly entertaining watch.  And there are plenty of Halloweenie episodes to choose from -- especially when Saucy Jack is involved! 

2 comments:

Wings1295 said...

In Search Of used to scare me! As soon as I heard the music from the open, I knew something weird, eerie or downright scary was about to unfold.

Cerpts said...

I know, wasn't that a great show? It made you feel like all the monster movies you were watching were actually running around in real life! Plus, I remember the scariest episode of IN SEARCH OF ever was the one that examined Michael Bolton! Brrrrrrr!!!!