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108-546: The single's cover artwork features a skeletal figure inspired by the titular character from the 1946 film serial The Crimson Ghost . The figure became a mascot for the band, and its skull image would serve as the Misfits' logo for the rest of their career. On October 12, 1978, the body of Nancy Spungen was discovered in the bathroom of her room at Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan , New York City. Spungen had been living at

216-407: A masked, secret, or unsuspected villain menacing an unspecific part of America. This episode traditionally has the most detailed credits at the beginning, often with pictures of the actors with their names and that of the character they play. Often there follows a montage of scenes lifted from the cliffhangers of previous serials to depict the ways in which the master criminal was a serial killer with

324-535: A Misfits recording session. "Horror Business", " Teenagers from Mars ", and "Children in Heat" were recorded from January 26 to February 5, 1979 at C.I. Studios in New York, where the band had recorded their proposed debut album Static Age a year prior. Beverley attended at least one of the sessions. Writer and vocalist Glenn Danzig insisted that the band record as many tracks as possible during their allotted time in

432-659: A New World LP on an EP that was marked "Part 1". A second EP was planned, but never appeared; only the sleeve was printed. The first double EP released in Britain was the Beatles ' Magical Mystery Tour film soundtrack. Released in December 1967 on EMI's Parlophone label, it contained six songs spread over two 7-inch discs and was packaged with a lavish color booklet. In the United States and some other countries,

540-406: A bit longer than most, for its tasks were to unmask the head villain (who usually was someone completely unsuspected), wrap up the loose ends, and end with the victorious principals relieved of their perils. In 1936, Republic standardized the "economy episode" (or "recap chapter") in which the characters summarize or reminisce about their adventures, so as to introduce showing those scenes again (in

648-493: A cliffhanger. This serial was directed by Richard Donner and featured the first African American action hero in a chapter play. The violence present in most of the episodes, though much of it was deliberately comical and would not be considered shocking today, also raised concerns at a time when violence in children's TV was at issue. On February 27, 1979, NBC broadcast the first episode of an hour-long weekly television series Cliffhangers! , which had three segments, each with

756-655: A coup by licensing the comic-strip character Flash Gordon for the screen; the serial was a smash hit, and was even booked into first-run theaters that usually did not bother with chapter plays. Universal followed it up with more pop-culture icons: The Green Hornet and Ace Drummond from radio, and Smilin' Jack and Buck Rogers from newspapers. Universal was more story-conscious than the other studios, and cast its serials with "name" actors recognizable from feature films: Lon Chaney Jr. , Béla Lugosi , Dick Foran , The Dead End Kids , Kent Taylor , Robert Armstrong , Irene Hervey , and Johnny Mack Brown , among many others. In

864-543: A detoxification program during his time in jail at Rikers Island , but at the dinner gathering, Vicious had English photographer Peter "Kodick" Gravelle deliver him heroin . Vicious died of an overdose at some point during the night, and was discovered by his mother, Anne Beverley, and Robinson the following morning. Prior to Vicious's death, the Misfits were rumored to potentially back Vicious on his proposed debut solo album. After learning of his death, Only helped Beverley collect Vicious's possessions, and invited her to attend

972-499: A different serial: a horror story ( The Curse of Dracula , starring Michael Nouri ), a science fiction/western ( The Secret Empire, (inspired by 1935's The Phantom Empire ) starring Geoffrey Scott as Marshal Jim Donner and Mark Lenard as Emperor Thorval) and a mystery ( Stop Susan Williams! , starring Susan Anton , Ray Walston as Bob Richards, and Albert Paulsen as the villain Anthony Korf). Though final episodes were shot,

1080-405: A double EP could usually be more economically and sensibly recorded on a single vinyl LP . In the 1950s, Capitol Records had released a number of double EPs by its more popular artists, including Les Paul . The pair of double EPs (EBF 1–577, sides 1 to 8) were described on the original covers as "parts ... of a four-part album". In 1960, Joe Meek released four tracks from his planned I Hear

1188-504: A flat rental basis. Further, the stock market crash of 1929 and the added expense of sound equipment made it impossible for many of the smaller companies that produced serials to upgrade to sound, and they went out of business. Mascot Pictures , which specialized in serials, made the transition from silent to sound and produced the first "talking" serial, King of the Kongo (1929). Universal Pictures also kept its serial unit alive through

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1296-543: A further album in this format, 1985's " Drinking Gasoline ", on the Virgin Records label. Double EPs can also contain the work of multiple artists split across different sides, akin to split albums . An example of this is the Dunedin Double EP, which contains tracks by four different bands. Using a double EP in this instance allowed each band to have its tracks occupying a different side. In addition,

1404-493: A long portion of the film's first act driving through the night before ultimately ending up at the Bates Motel. The songs "Horror Business" and "Teenagers from Mars" were considered for inclusion in a 1979 12" record which would have also featured the song " Who Killed Marilyn? ". An acetate disc of this proposed release was pressed, but completing a run of 12" records for the release was deemed to be too expensive, and so

1512-415: A motive. In the first episode, various suspects or "candidates" who may, in secret, be this villain are presented, and the viewer often hears the voice but does not see the face of this mastermind commanding his lieutenant (or "lead villain"), whom the viewer sees in just about every episode. In the succeeding weeks (usually 11 to 14), an episode of two reels (approximately 20 minutes) was presented, in which

1620-401: A pair of 7-inch discs recorded at 45 or 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm , or two 12-inch discs recorded at 45 rpm. The format is useful when an album's worth of material is being pressed by a small plant geared for the production of singles rather than albums and may have novelty value which can be turned to advantage for publicity purposes. Double EPs are rare, since the amount of material record-able on

1728-477: A permanent position in Columbia's serial unit. Horne had been a comedy specialist in the 1930s, often working with Laurel and Hardy , and most of his Columbia serials after 1939 are played tongue-in-cheek, with exaggerated villainy and improbable heroics (the hero takes on six men in a fistfight and wins ). After Horne's death in 1942, the studio's serial output was somewhat more sober, but still aimed primarily at

1836-843: A playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive than an album and more "non-committal". An extended play (EP) originally referred to a specific type of 45 rpm phonograph record other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and 33 rpm long play (LP), but as of 2024 , also applies to mid-length CDs and downloads as well. EPs are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album, and have long been popular with punk and indie bands. In K-pop and J-pop , they are usually referred to as mini-albums . EPs were released in various sizes in different eras. The earliest multi-track records, issued around 1919 by Grey Gull Records , were vertically cut 78 rpm discs known as "2-in-1" records. These had finer grooves than usual, like Edison Disc Records . By 1949, when

1944-674: A popular form of movie entertainment dating back to Edison's What Happened to Mary of 1912. There appear to be older serials, however, such as the 1910 Deutsche Vitaskop 5 episode Arsene Lupin Contra Sherlock Holmes , based upon the Maurice LeBlanc novel, and a possible but unconfirmed Raffles serial in 1911. Europe had its own serials: in France Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset launched his series of Nick Carter films in 1908, and

2052-513: A popular radio series); from the British novelist Edgar Wallace , the first archer-superhero, The Green Archer; and even from television: Captain Video . Columbia's early serials were very well received by audiences—exhibitors voted The Spider's Web (1938) the number-one serial of the year. Former silent-serial director James W. Horne co-directed The Spider's Web , and his work secured him

2160-559: A recognizable mascot and logo for the band throughout their career. The back cover of the single features black-and-white portraits of the individual band members, along with a rendering of Lon Chaney as the Phantom from the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera . All tracks are written by Glenn Danzig "The first [Misfits] singles just knocked me out. They were so interesting and mysterious. I had no idea what to make of them ... [Danzig]

2268-480: A single song, instead resembling a mini album. EPs of original material regained popularity in the punk rock era, when they were commonly used for the release of new material, e.g. Buzzcocks ' Spiral Scratch EP. Ricardo Baca of The Denver Post said in 2010, "EPs—originally extended-play 'single' releases that are shorter than traditional albums—have long been popular with punk and indie bands." Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks. In

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2376-439: A standard 45 rpm phonograph . In the early era, record companies released the entire content of LPs as 45 rpm EPs. These were usually 10-inch (25-cm) LPs (released until the mid-1950s) split onto two 7-inch EPs or 12-inch (30-cm) LPs split onto three 7-inch EPs, either sold separately or together in gatefold covers. This practice became much less common with the advent of triple-speed-available phonographs. Introduced by RCA in

2484-423: A subsidiary of Jerry Hyams's Hygo Television Films, bought the 1936-1946 Universal serials (including all titles, rights, and interests) for $ 1,500,000. Also in 1956, Columbia's TV subsidiary Screen Gems reprinted many of its serials for broadcast syndication. Only the films' endings were changed: Screen Gems replaced the "at this theater next week" title card with its standard Screen Gems logo. Screen Gems acquired

2592-410: A trilogy of three EPs, beginning with She Is Coming , stated: "By delivering a trio of EPs throughout a period of several months, Miley is giving her fans more of what they want, only in smaller doses. When an artist drops an album, they run the risk of it being forgotten in a few weeks, at which point they need to start work on the follow-up, while still promoting and touring their recent effort. Miley

2700-422: Is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, generally advancing weekly, until the series is completed. Usually, each serial involves a single set of characters, protagonistic and antagonistic, involved in a single story, which has been edited into chapters after the fashion of serial fiction and

2808-478: Is doing her best to game the system by recording an album and delivering it to fans in pieces." However, this release strategy was later scrapped in favor of the conventional album release of Plastic Hearts . Major-label pop musicians who had previously employed such release strategies include Colbie Caillat with her fifth album Gypsy Heart (2014) being released following an EP of the album's first five tracks known as Gypsy Heart: Side A three months prior to

2916-466: Is just as arresting as its predecessor [...] 'Horror Business' was greeted by the growing Misfits fan base as an instant classic." He goes on to note that the title track "offers a bluesy feel at times, almost as if nothing more is at stake than the melody." Dan Ozzi of Diffuser.fm ranked "Horror Business" #7 on his list of the 10 best Misfits songs, and noted the "vague" nature of the track's lyrics. Eduardo Rivadavia of Ultimate Classic Rock also ranked

3024-427: Is the mini-LP , which was a common album format in the 1980s. These generally contained 20–30 minutes of music and about seven tracks. A double extended play is a name typically given to vinyl records or compact discs released as a set of two discs, each of which would normally qualify as an EP. The name is thus analogous to double album . As vinyl records, the most common format for the double EP, they consist of

3132-528: Is understandable that this practice was adopted in view of their success in theaters on a Saturday matinee exhibition policy. But cliffhangers simply cannot be treated on TV as they were in theaters and still maintain the suspense so vital to their entertainment content. This suspense factor is diluted by the vast amount of other TV entertainment beamed between weekly showings." TV stations began showing serials daily, generally on weekday afternoons, as children's programming. In July 1956 TV distributor Serials Inc.,

3240-633: The Record Mirror also printed EP charts. The popularity of EPs in the US had declined in the early 1960s in favor of LPs. In the UK, Cliff Richard and the Shadows , both individually and collectively, and the Beatles were the most prolific artists issuing EPs in the 1960s, many of them highly successful releases. The Beatles' Twist and Shout outsold most singles for some weeks in 1963. The success of

3348-456: The 1940s Universal's serials employed urban and/or wartime themes, incorporating newsreel footage of actual disasters. The 1942 serial Gang Busters is perhaps the best of Universal's urban serials; Universal often cannibalized it for future cliffhangers. Don Winslow of the Navy may exemplify Universal's best war-themed chapterplay. The studio's reliance on stock footage for the big action scenes

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3456-642: The 1940s and completed in 1966. The plot involved a masked villain named The Master Duper, one of three members of a Film Commission who attempts to steal the only known prints of priceless antique films, and the heroic Captain Celluloid, who wears a costume reminiscent of that of the Black Commando in the Columbia serial The Secret Code and is determined to uncover him. Roles in the serial are played by, among others, film historians and serial fans Alan G. Barbour , Al Kilgore , and William K. Everson . In

3564-537: The 1950s. Examples are Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender from 1956 and "Just for You", " Peace in the Valley " and " Jailhouse Rock " from 1957, and the Kinks ' Kinksize Session from 1964. Twelve-inch EPs were similar, but generally had between three and five tracks and a length of over 12 minutes. Like seven-inch EPs, these were given titles. EP releases were also issued in cassette and 10-inch vinyl formats. With

3672-442: The 1960 film Psycho , which features a scene involving a character being stabbed to death in a bathroom . The line "Psycho '78", which also appears in the song, has been interpreted as transposing the year in which the film was released (as well as when the film's narrative takes place) to the year that the song was recorded. The line "driving late at night" may also be a reference to Psycho, in which Janet Leigh 's character spends

3780-516: The 1980s) were introduced in 1970, with tracks selected from an album and packaging resembling the album they were taken from. This mini-LP format also became popular in America in the early 1970s for promotional releases, and also for use in jukeboxes . In 2010, Warner Bros. Records revived the format with their "Six-Pak" offering of six songs on a compact disc. Due to the increased popularity of music downloads and music streaming beginning

3888-544: The 1980s, serial fan Blackie Seymour shot a complete 15-chapter serial called The Return of the Copperhead. Seymour's only daughter, who operated the camera at the age of 8, attests that as of 2008 the serial was indeed filmed but the raw footage remains in cans, unedited. In 2001, King of the Park Rangers, a one-chapter sound serial was released by Cliffhanger Productions on VHS video tape in sepia. It concerned

3996-524: The 45 rpm single and 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm LP were competing formats, 7-inch 45 rpm singles had a maximum playing time of only about four minutes per side. Partly as an attempt to compete with the LP introduced in 1948 by rival Columbia , RCA Victor introduced "Extended Play" 45s during 1952 . Their narrower grooves, achieved by lowering the cutting levels and sound compression optionally, enabled them to hold up to 7.5 minutes per side—but still be played by

4104-678: The A-side and "Teenagers from Mars" and "Children in Heat" on the B-side. Many copies contained an insert with a fabricated story claiming that the band had recorded the single in an abandoned haunted house in New Jersey, and that, when later mixing the tapes at a recording studio in New York City, they heard strange voices and noises in the background of the recordings. According to a 1993 interview with Jerry Only: What happened was, there

4212-467: The Black Dragon , and Panther Girl of the Kongo . With the rise in popularity of Super 8 sound-film equipment in the late 1970s, Columbia issued home-movie prints of entire 15-chapter serials, including Batman and Robin , Congo Bill , and Hop Harrigan . These were in print only briefly, until the studios turned away from home-movie films in favor of home video. Film serials released to

4320-517: The Doctor ", the BBC character introduced in 1963. Doctor Who serials would run anywhere from one to twelve episodes and were shown in weekly segments, as had been the original theatrical cliffhangers. Doctor Who was syndicated in the US as early as 1974, but did not gain a following in America until the mid-1980s when episodes featuring Tom Baker reached its shores. Although the series ended in 1989, it

4428-506: The EP in Britain lasted until around 1967, but it later had a strong revival with punk rock in the late 1970s and the adaptation of the format for 12-inch and CD singles. The British band Cocteau Twins made prolific use of the EP format, releasing ten EP's between 1982 and 1995. In the Philippines , seven-inch EPs marketed as " mini-LPs " (but distinctly different from the mini-LPs of

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4536-533: The Highland Rogue ; and The Fighting Prince of Donegal ) edited into segments for television presentation often had a cliffhanger-serial-like feel. In England, in the 1950s and 60s, low-budget six-chapter serials such as Dusty Bates and Masters of Venus were released theatrically, but these were not particularly well-regarded or remembered. The greatest number of serialized television programs to feature any single character were those made featuring "

4644-602: The Hygo company in December 1956, and packaged both Columbia and Universal serials for broadcast. Republic's TV division, Hollywood Television Service, issued serials for television in their unedited theatrical form, as well as in specially edited six-chapter, half-hour editions ready made for TV time slots. In the late 1970s and 1980s, serials were often revived on BBC television in the United Kingdom. Both Republic and Columbia issued "highlights" versions of serials for

4752-591: The Pirates , Mandrake the Magician , The Phantom , and Brenda Starr, Reporter ; from the comic books, Blackhawk , Congo Bill , time traveler Brick Bradford , and Batman and Superman (although this last owed more to its radio incarnation , which the credits acknowledged); from radio, Jack Armstrong and Hop Harrigan ; from the hero pulp characters like The Spider (two serials: The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns ) and The Shadow (despite also being

4860-504: The US in 1952, EMI issued the first EPs in Britain in April 1954. EPs were typically compilations of singles or album samplers and were played at 45 rpm on 7-inch (18-cm) discs, with two songs on each side. The manufacturing price of an EP was a little more than that of a single. Thus, they were a bargain for those who did not own the LPs from which the tracks were taken. RCA had success in

4968-487: The United Kingdom, an EP can appear either on the album or the single chart. The Official Chart Company classifies any record with more than four tracks (not counting alternative versions of featured songs, if present) or with a playing time of more than 25 minutes as an album for sales-chart purposes. If priced as a single, they will not qualify for the main album chart but can appear in the separate Budget Albums chart. An intermediate format between EPs and full-length LPs

5076-529: The United States, the Recording Industry Association of America , the organization that declares releases "gold" or "platinum" based on numbers of sales, defines an EP as containing three to five songs or under 30 minutes. On the other hand, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that any release with five or more different songs and a running time of over 15 minutes is considered an album, with no mention of EPs. In

5184-618: The Universe (Hearst), Adventures of Captain Marvel (Republic Pictures), Batman and Batman and Robin (Sony), Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman (Warner). The Universal serials had been controlled by Serials Inc. until it closed in 1970. The company now known as VCI Entertainment obtained the rights. VCI is offering new Blu-Ray and DVD restorations of many Universal serials, including Gang Busters , Jungle Queen , Pirate Treasure , and three Buck Jones adventures. All of

5292-477: The Weisses essentially disappeared from the serial scene. Mascot Pictures was absorbed by Republic Pictures , so that by 1937, serial production was now in the hands of three companies – Universal, Columbia, and Republic, with Republic quickly becoming the acknowledged leader in quality serial product. Each company turned out four to five serials per year, of 12 to 15 episodes each, a pace they all kept up until

5400-664: The Western Sea", "The Secret of Mystery Lake", "The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Ghost Farm", and The Adventures of Clint and Mac . Other Disney programs shown on Walt Disney Presents in segments (such as The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh , The Swamp Fox , The Secret of Boyne Castle , The Mooncussers , and The Prince and the Pauper ) and Disney feature films (including Treasure Island ; The Three Lives of Thomasina ; The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men ; Rob Roy,

5508-414: The action, and staging more elaborate stunts. Republic was one of Hollywood's smaller studios, but its serials have been hailed as some of the best, especially those directed by John English and William Witney . In addition to solid screenwriting that many critics thought was quite accomplished, the firm also introduced choreographed fistfights, which often included the stuntmen (usually the ones portraying

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5616-424: The advent of the compact disc (CD), more music was often included on "single" releases, with four or five tracks being common, and playing times of up to 25 minutes. These extended-length singles became known as maxi singles and while commensurate in length to an EP were distinguished by being designed to feature a single song, with the remaining songs considered B-sides , whereas an EP was designed not to feature

5724-515: The adventures of a Park Ranger named Patricia King and an FBI Agent who track down a trio of killers out to find buried treasure in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. A second ten-chapter serial, The Dangers of Deborah, in which a female reporter and a criminologist fight to uncover the identity of a mysterious villain named The Terror, was released by Cliffhanger Productions in 2008. In 2006, Lamb4 Productions created its own homage to

5832-500: The character's likeness in a flyer promoting one of their gigs on March 28, 1979 at Max's Kansas City , after Danzig and Only came across a picture of the Crimson Ghost while searching for images to silkscreen on T-shirts. The "Horror Business" single marks the first time that the Misfits had incorporated the character's likeness into the cover artwork of one of their releases, and the character's skull-like visage would become

5940-419: The compilation album Collection II . These releases were all included in the 1996 boxed set The Misfits . "Teenagers from Mars" was also included on the album Static Age , which was part of the boxed set and which received a standalone release in 1997. The single's cover artwork features an image of the eponymous character from the 1946 film serial The Crimson Ghost . The Misfits had first made use of

6048-427: The early days of television. Veteran producers Louis Weiss and Nat Levine were among the first to offer their serials for broadcast. The traditional week-to-week format of viewing serials was soon abandoned. As Republic executive David Bloom explained, "Attempts to program serials with full week intervals between chapters during the earlier days of television just about killed them off as effective sales product. It

6156-435: The end of World War II when, in 1946, Universal dropped its serial unit along with its B-picture unit and renamed its production department Universal-International Pictures. Republic and Columbia continued unchallenged, with three serials per year each. Republic's serials ran for 12, 13, 14, or 15 chapters; Columbia's ran a standard 15 episodes (with the single exception of Mandrake the Magician , which ran 12 episodes). By

6264-477: The episodes cannot be shown out of order or as a single or a random collection of short subjects. Each chapter was screened at a movie theater for one week, and typically ended with a cliffhanger , in which characters found themselves in perilous situations with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to return each week to see the cliffhangers resolved and to follow the continuing story. Movie serials were especially popular with children, and for many youths in

6372-456: The film serials of the 1940s with its own serial titled "Wildcat." The story revolves around a super hero named Wildcat and his attempts to save the fictional Rite City from a masked villain known as the Roach. This eight-chapter serial was based heavily on popular super hero serials such as "Batman and Robin," "Captain America," and "The Adventures of Captain Marvel." After its premiere, "Wildcat"

6480-402: The first half of the 20th century a typical Saturday matinee at the movies included at least one chapter of a serial, along with animated cartoons , newsreels , and two feature films. There were films covering many genres, including crime fiction , espionage , comic book or comic strip characters, science fiction , and jungle adventures . Many serials were Westerns , since those were

6588-484: The first serial to be released on Blu-ray. An early attempt at a low-budget Western serial, filmed in color, was entitled The Silver Avenger. One or two chapters exist of this effort on 16mm film but it is not known whether the serial was ever completed. The best-known fan-made chapter play is the four-chapter, silent 16mm Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates, made to resemble Republic and Columbia serials of

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6696-443: The format with Elvis Presley , issuing 28 EPs between 1956 and 1967 , many of which topped the separate Billboard EP chart during its brief existence. Other than those published by RCA, EPs were relatively uncommon in the United States and Canada, but they were widely sold in the United Kingdom, and in some other European countries, during the 1950s and 1960s. In Sweden, the EP was a popular record format, with as much as 85% of

6804-406: The full album; and Jessie J 's fourth studio album R.O.S.E. (2018) which was released as four EPs in as many days entitled R (Realisations) , O (Obsessions) , S (Sex) and E (Empowerment) . The first EPs were seven-inch vinyl records with more tracks than a normal single (typically four of them). Although they shared size and speed with singles, they were a recognizably different format than

6912-404: The groove on the physical record could be wider and thus allow for a louder album. In the 1960s and 1970s, record companies released EP versions of long-play (LP) albums for use in jukeboxes . These were commonly known as "compact 33s" or "little LPs". The jukebox EP was played at 33 1 ⁄ 3 rpm, was pressed on seven-inch vinyl and frequently had as many as six songs. What made it EP-like

7020-481: The hat would stay on during fight scenes. Exposition of what led up to the previous episode's cliffhanger was usually displayed on placards with a photograph of one of the characters on it. In 1938, Universal brought the first "scrolling text" exposition to the serial, which George Lucas first used in Star Wars in 1977 and then in all of the following Star Wars films. As this would have required subcontracting

7128-399: The heroine would be placed into a deathtrap and the hero would come to her rescue. The hero and heroine would face one trap after another, battling countless thugs and lackeys, before finally defeating the villain. Notable American serials of the silent era include The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine made by Pathé Frères and starring Pearl White . Another popular serial

7236-474: The home video market from original masters include most Republic titles (with a few exceptions, such as Ghost of Zorro )—which were released by Republic Pictures Home Video on VHS and sometimes laserdisc (sometimes under their re-release titles) mostly from transfers made from the original negatives, The Shadow , and Blackhawk , both released by Sony only on VHS, and DVD versions of Flash Gordon , Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars , and Flash Gordon Conquers

7344-514: The home-movie market. These were printed on 8mm silent film (and later Super 8 film) and sold directly to owners of home-movie projectors. Columbia was first to market, with three abbreviated chapters from its 1938 serial The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok . When Batman became a national craze in 1965, Columbia issued a six-chapter silent version of its 1943 Batman . Republic followed suit with condensed silent versions of its own serials, including Adventures of Captain Marvel , G-Men vs.

7452-574: The hotel with her boyfriend, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious . Her body was found with a fatal stab wound in her abdomen, and Vicious purportedly owned the knife that made the wound. Vicious was arrested and charged with second degree murder , and after pleading not guilty, he was released on bail, awaiting trial. On the evening of February 1, 1979, a small group of Vicious's friends, including Misfits bassist Jerry Only , gathered to celebrate Vicious having made bail at his new girlfriend Michelle Robinson's Greenwich Village apartment. Vicious had undergone

7560-662: The idea of the episodic crime adventure was developed particularly by Louis Feuillade in Fantômas (1913–14), Les Vampires (1915), and Judex (1916); in Germany, Homunculus (1916), directed by Otto Rippert , was a six-part horror serial about an artificial creature. Years after their first release, serials gained new life at "Saturday Matinees", theatrical showings on Saturday mornings aimed directly at children. The arrival of sound technology made it costlier to produce serials, so that they were no longer as profitable on

7668-630: The juvenile audience. Batman (1943) was quite popular, and Superman (1948) was phenomenally successful despite using cartoon animation for the flying sequences instead of more expensive special effects. Spencer Gordon Bennet , veteran director of silent serials, left Republic for Columbia in 1947. He directed or co-directed the studio's later serials. In 1954 producer Sam Katzman, whose budgets were already low, slashed them even further on serials. The last four Columbia serials were very-low-budget affairs, consisting mostly of action scenes and cliffhanger endings from older productions, and even employing

7776-407: The late 1940s. Although Republic discontinued new serial production in 1955, the studio continued making older ones available to theaters through 1959. Columbia, which canceled new serials in 1956, kept older ones in circulation until 1966. Columbia still offers a handful of serials to today's theaters. Serials, with their short running times and episodic format, were very attractive to programmers in

7884-415: The late 2000s, EPs have become a common marketing strategy for pop musicians wishing to remain relevant and deliver music in more consistent timeframes leading to or following full studio albums. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, reissues of studio albums with expanded track listings were common, with the new music often being released as stand-alone EPs. In October 2010, a Vanity Fair article regarding

7992-432: The least expensive to film. Although most serials were filmed economically, some were made at significant expense. The Flash Gordon serial and its sequels, for instance, were major productions in their times. Serials were action-packed stories that usually involved a hero (or heroes) battling an evil villain and rescuing a damsel in distress . The villain would continually place the hero into inescapable deathtraps, or

8100-412: The manner of a clip show in modern television). Serials had been including older scenes for years, as flashbacks during later parts of the narrative, but the wholesale insertion of entire sequences was introduced in the 1936 outdoor serial Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island . It was scheduled as a standard 12-chapter adventure, but when bad weather on location delayed the filming, writer Barry Shipman

8208-535: The market in the late 1950s consisting of EPs. Billboard introduced a weekly EP chart in October 1957, noting that "the teen-age market apparently dominates the EP business, with seven out of the top 10 best-selling EPs featuring artists with powerful teen-age appeal — four sets by Elvis Presley, two by Pat Boone and one by Little Richard ". Other publications such as Record Retailer , New Musical Express ( NME ) , Melody Maker , Disc and Music Echo and

8316-442: The mid-1950s, however, episodic television series and the sale of older serials to TV syndicators by all the current and past major sound serial producers, together with the loss of audience attendance at Saturday matinees in general, made serial-making a losing proposition. The classic sound serial, particularly in its Republic format, has a first episode of three reels (approximately 30 minutes in length) and begins with reports of

8424-509: The moon. The end credits promised a second serial, Commie Commandos From Mars. Dark Horse attempted to promote the release as a just-found, never-before-released serial made in 1946, but suppressed by the US Government. Extended play An extended play ( EP ) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record . Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have

8532-797: The new VCI releases derive from Universal's 35mm vault elements. Notable restorations of partially lost or forgotten serials such as The Adventures of Tarzan , Beatrice Fairfax , The Lone Ranger Rides Again , Daredevils of the West and King of the Mounties have been developed and made available to fans by The Serial Squadron. A gray market for DVDs also exists consisting of DVD companies releasing titles from privately owned 16mm prints or even copies of previously released VHS or laserdisc editions, and various websites and internet auctions. These DVDs vary between good and poor quality, depending on their source. In 2017, Adventures of Captain Marvel became

8640-642: The new serials. Most of the studio's serials of the 1950s were written by only one man, Ronald Davidson —Davidson had co-written and produced many Republic serials, and was familiar enough with the film library to write new scenes based on the older action footage. Republic's last serial was King of the Carnival (1955), a reworking of 1939's Daredevils of the Red Circle using some of its footage. Columbia made several serials using its own staff and facilities (1938–1939 and 1943–1945), and these are among

8748-596: The noble but clueless Dudley. The Hanna–Barbera Perils of Penelope Pitstop was a takeoff on the silent serials The Perils of Pauline and The Iron Claw, which featured Paul Lynde as the voice of the villain Sylvester Sneakley, alias "The Hooded Claw". Danger Island , a multi-part story in under-10-minute episodes, was shown on the Saturday morning Banana Splits program in the late 1960s. Episodes were short, full of wild action and usually ended on

8856-553: The optical effects, Republic saved money by not using it. Columbia used printed recaps until 1941, replaced by spoken recaps by offscreen announcer Knox Manning . Universal had been making serials since the 1910s, and continued to service its loyal neighborhood-theater customers with four serials annually. The studio made news in 1929 by hiring Tim McCoy to star in its first all-talking serial, The Indians Are Coming! Epic footage from this western serial turned up again and again in later serials and features. In 1936 Universal scored

8964-406: The release was scrapped. The first pressing of the "Horror Business" single, issued by Danzig's own label Plan 9 Records on June 26, 1979, consisted of 25 sleeveless black 7" vinyl copies. The second pressing, from August 1979, consisted of 2,000 copies on yellow vinyl. Due to a pressing error, approximately 20 copies had the track "Horror Business" on both sides, rather than "Horror Business" on

9072-403: The reprised scene would add an element not seen in the previous episode, but unless it contradicted something shown previously, audiences accepted the explanation. On rare occasions the filmmakers would depend on the audience not remembering details of the previous week's chapter, using alternate outcomes that did not exactly match the previous episode's cliffhanger. The last episode was sometimes

9180-576: The rights to the newspaper comic character Dick Tracy , the radio character The Lone Ranger , and the comic book characters Captain America , Captain Marvel , and Spy Smasher . Republic's serial scripts were written by teams, usually from three to seven writers. From 1950 Republic economized on serial production. The studio was no longer licensing expensive radio and comic-strip characters, and no longer staging spectacular action sequences. To save money, Republic turned instead to its impressive backlog of action highlights, which were cleverly re-edited into

9288-655: The same actors for new scenes tying the old footage together. The new footage was so threadbare that it would often show the new hero watching the action from a distance, rather than actually participating in it. Columbia outlasted the other serial producers, its last being Blazing the Overland Trail (1956). There was always a market for action subjects in theaters, so as far back as 1935 independent film companies reissued older serials for new audiences. Universal brought back its Flash Gordon serials, and both Republic and Columbia began re-releasing its older serials in

9396-528: The same cliffhangers, stunt and special-effects sequences over the years. Mines or tunnels flooded often, even in Flash Gordon (reusing spectacular flood footage from Universal's 1927 silent drama Perch of the Devil ) and the same model cars and trains went off the same cliffs and bridges. Republic had a Packard limousine and a Ford Woodie station wagon used in serial after serial so they could match

9504-426: The serial, often given different signage, or none at all, just being referred to differently. There would often be a female love interest of the male hero, or a female hero herself, but as the audience was mainly children, there was no romance. The beginning of each chapter would bring the story up to date by repeating the last few minutes of the previous chapter, and then revealing how the main character escaped. Often

9612-536: The series was canceled and the last program aired on May 1, 1979 before all of the serials could conclude; only The Curse of Dracula was resolved. In 2006, Dark Horse Indie films, through Image Entertainment, released a 6-chapter serial parody called Monarch of the Moon, detailing the adventures of a hero named the Yellow Jacket, who could control Yellow Jackets with his voice, battled "Japbots", and traveled to

9720-621: The seven-inch single. Although they could be named after a lead track, they were generally given a different title. Examples include the Beatles ' The Beatles' Hits EP from 1963, and the Troggs ' Troggs Tops EP from 1966, both of which collected previously released tracks. The playing time was generally between 10 and 15 minutes. In the UK they came in cardboard picture sleeves at a time when singles were usually issued in paper company sleeves. EPs tended to be album samplers or collections of singles. EPs of all original material began to appear in

9828-465: The shots with the stock footage from the model or previous stunt driving. Three different serials had them chasing the Art Deco sound truck, required for location shooting, for various reasons. Male fistfighters usually wore hats so that the change from actor to stunt double would not be caught so easily. A rubber liner on the hatband of the stuntman's fedora would fit snugly on the stuntman's head, so

9936-408: The single was first issued. In 1980, the songs were included on the Misfits' EP Beware . In 1986, "Horror Business" and "Teenagers from Mars" were included as tracks on the compilation album Misfits , also known as Collection I . A live version of "Horror Business" was included on the EP and album Evilive , released in 1982 and 1987, respectively. "Children in Heat" was re-issued in 1995 on

10044-561: The song #7 on his list of the top 10 Misfits songs, comparing the track's "knuckle-scraping riffs" and Danzig's "distinctively punchy pronunciation" to the music of the Ramones . Aaron Lariviere of Stereogum ranked the track #9 on his list of the best Misfits songs, calling it an example of a Misfits song with lyrics that are "just awesome". The Misfits Production Serial film A serial film, film serial (or just serial ), movie serial , or chapter play ,

10152-531: The songs are spread across two 12" 45 rpm discs. Also, the vinyl pressing of Hail to the Thief by Radiohead uses this practice but is considered to be a full-length album. In 1982 Cabaret Voltaire released their studio album " 2x45 " on the UK-based label Rough Trade , featuring extended tracks over four sides of two 12-inch 45 rpm discs, with graphics by artist Neville Brody . The band subsequently released

10260-426: The songs were augmented by the band's single A- and B-sides from 1967 to create a full LP –a practice that was common in the US but considered exploitative in the UK. The Style Council album The Cost of Loving was originally issued as two 12-inch EPs. It is more common for artists to release two 12-inch 45s rather than a single 12-inch LP. Though there are 11 songs that total about 40 minutes, enough for one LP,

10368-414: The studio in an effort to save money. The title track, "Horror Business", contains lyrics such as "You don't go in the bathroom with me" and "I'll put a knife right in you". Because of such lyrics, along with the connections between the Misfits and Vicious, the song is commonly said to have been based on the unsolved murder of Spungen. However, the song's lyrics have also been noted as possible references to

10476-602: The studio's best efforts: The Spider's Web , The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok , Batman , The Secret Code , and The Phantom maintained Columbia's own high standard. However, Columbia's serials often have a reputation for cheapness, because the studio usually subcontracted its serial production to outside producers: the Weiss Brothers (1937–1938), Larry Darmour (1939–1942), and finally Sam Katzman (1945–1956). Columbia built many serials around name-brand heroes. From newspaper comics, they got Terry and

10584-566: The transition. In the early 1930s a handful of independent companies tried their hand at making serials. The Weiss Brothers had been making serials in 1935 and 1936. In 1937 Columbia Pictures , inspired by the previous year's serial blockbuster success at Universal, Flash Gordon , decided to enter the serial field and contracted with the Weiss Brothers (as Adventure Serials Inc.) to make three chapterplays. They were successful enough that Columbia then established its own serial unit and

10692-689: The trend noted post-album EPs as "the next step in extending albums' shelf lives, following the "deluxe" editions that populated stores during the past few holiday seasons—add a few tracks to the back end of an album and release one of them to radio, slap on a new coat of paint, and—voila!—a stocking stuffer is born." Examples of such releases include Lady Gaga 's The Fame Monster (2009) following her debut album The Fame (2008), and Kesha 's Cannibal (2010) following her debut album Animal (2010). A 2019 article in Forbes discussing Miley Cyrus ' plan to release her then-upcoming seventh studio album as

10800-427: The villain and his henchmen commit crimes in various places, fight the hero, and trap someone to make the ending a cliffhanger. Many of the episodes have clues, dialogue, and events leading the viewer to think that any of the candidates were the mastermind. As serials were made by writing the whole script first and then slicing it into portions filmed at various sites, often the same location would be used several times in

10908-402: The villains, never the heroes) throwing things in desperation at one another in every fight to heighten the action. Republic serials are noted for outstanding special effects, such as large-scale explosions and demolitions, and the more fantastic visuals like Captain Marvel and Rocketman flying. Most of the trick scenes were engineered by Howard and Theodore Lydecker . Republic was able to get

11016-535: Was a weird sound on there, and we didn't know where the hell it came from. So we said, "What are we gonna do? Are we gonna remix it?" I said, "Well, I don't got no more money. This is it. You gotta like what you got." We thought about it, and we thought, we don't want everybody to think we're a bunch of jerks. So I think I mentioned it, "Let's just say it was recorded in a haunted house. Everybody'll love that!" The songs "Horror Business", "Teenagers from Mars", and "Children in Heat" have been re-released multiple times since

11124-469: Was certainly economical, but it often hurt the overall quality of the films. When the studio reorganized as Universal-International, it shut down most of the production units, including the serial crew. Universal's last serial was The Mysterious Mr. M (1946). Republic was the successor to Mascot Pictures , a serial specialist. Writers and directors were already geared to staging exciting films, and Republic improved on Mascot, adding music to underscore

11232-451: Was deeply talented, a genius as a kid. His lyrics puzzled me. 'Paint my mirrors black for you'—what the fuck does that mean?" – Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi on the Misfits' early singles and the lyrics of "Horror Business". In his book This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of the Misfits , author James Greene Jr. writes of the single as a whole: "While more muddled production-wise than ' Bullet ', 'Horror Business'

11340-788: Was forced to come up with two extra chapters to justify the added expense. This was an emergency measure at the time, but Republic recognized that it did save money, so the recap chapter became standard practice in almost all of its ensuing serials. Recap chapters had lower budgets, so rather than staging an elaborate cliffhanger (a runaway vehicle, a stampede, a flooding chamber, etc.), a cheaper, simpler cliffhanger would be employed (an explosion, someone knocked unconscious, etc.). The major studios had their own retinues of actors and writers, their own prop departments, existing sets, stock footage, and music libraries. The early independent studios had none of these, but could rent sets from independent producers of western features. The firms saved money by reusing

11448-486: Was posted on the official Lamb4 Productions YouTube channel for public viewing. The serial format was used with stories on the original run of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–58), with each chapter running about six to ten minutes. The longer-running dramatic serials included "Corky and White Shadow", "The Adventures of Spin and Marty ", " The Hardy Boys : The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure", "The Boys of

11556-570: Was revived in 2005, now following a more standard episode format. The 1960s cartoon show Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle included two serial-style episodes per program. These spoofed the cliffhanger serial form. Within the Rocky and Bullwinke show, the recurring but non-serialized Dudley Do-Right , specifically parodied the damsel in distress (Nell Fenwick) being tied to railroad tracks by arch villain Snidely Whiplash and rescued by

11664-600: Was the 119-episode The Hazards of Helen made by Kalem Studios and starring Helen Holmes for the first forty-eight episodes then Helen Gibson for the remainder. Ruth Roland , Marin Sais , and Ann Little were also early leading serial queens. Other major studios of the silent era, such as Vitagraph and Essanay Studios , produced serials, as did Warner Bros. , Fox , and Universal . Several independent companies (for example, Mascot Pictures ) made Western serials. Four silent Tarzan serials were also made. Serials were

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