Stephen Phillips

How much you enjoy Doon is going to largely depend on how much you enjoyed Dune. It's a brilliant satire of the story and style of Herbert's work, and hard to separate from it. If you've never read the original book, then this might not work for you. A lot of the jokes will simply not register, and what you'd be left with is basically a MAD Magazine parody - which is still pretty darn good. That said, for Dune fans it's a glorious piece of work that compares favorably to Bored of the Rings and Mark Twain's satirical Victor Hugo pastiches. It's funnier than it has any right to be and endlessly quotable.

This series is fun for Marvel fans who want to see the Bronze Age versions of their heroes. Each book has an original story but also fills in the backstory, so even new readers can jump in without knowing who everyone is. The Cap story is action packed - except for the two reporters who are investigating the same case as SHIELD. There, the book is more of a retro romantic comedy and it doesn't entirely fit in with the rest of the story. These books are very "comic book" in their writing and plotting (which makes sense because most of the flashbacks are direct prose adaptations of the original comics adventures), and this might come off as cheesy to some readers. But cheesy was practically Marvel's trademark in those hyperbolic days so it works very well for these novels. I would recommend it.

The 1979 Dracula is basically a remake of the 1931 classic, as both are adapted from the stage play by Hamilton Deane and John Balderston. The difference is this is a largely romantic, sexy Dracula. He's as evil as ever but Langella's Count is a handsome, Byronic brooder and they really lean into that aspect. The scares and tension are great, most of the effects hold up well today, thanks to the use of simple cut scenes and in camera tricks to achieve them (particularly when the Count turns into a wolf while jumping through a window and a later bat transformation). The cast is an epoc roster of heavy hitters. The score by John William's is THE Dracula theme and deserves to be as loved as his more famous soundtracks. Highly recommended if you like your vamps romantic and old school.

To this day, the show is brilliant. Both ahead of its time and so very of its era, Sledge Hammer! pushed all the boundaries of network TV back in the 80's. Probably why it's still funny. Both seasons are filled with satire of (then) current TV and movies, but Sledge himself remains timeless. Dirtier than Harry, tougher than Rambo, more merciless than Ming, Sledge Hammer is the only thing standing between us and anarchy. Well, Sledge and his gun (named Gun)...

The world today is inundated with superhero adaptations. After a while, the cliches become tired, the storytelling gets repetitive and it's hard to break new ground. This was exactly the case in the late 1970's and early 80's, which gave us live action versions of Wonder Woman, Shazam, Superman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Doctor Strange, among others. So along came a show that exploded the tropes and did "superhero in the real world" stories long before the Nolanverse. The Greatest American Hero is a parody, first and foremost, but if you look past this you'll find some truly great storytelling and great performances (Culp as Bill Maxwell is a great example). Highly recommended.