Books: What's the Worst that Could Happen? By Donald E. Westlake (1996)

“Dortmunder is in the midst of a routine burglary of a Long Island mansion when who shows up toting a gun but the owner, nasty billionaire Max Fairbanks. Worse, Fairbanks takes Dortmunder's supposedly lucky ring. Highly insulted, Dortmunder and his gang execute their own peculiar reign of terror, and although they acquire quite a bit of Fairbanks' swag, they never quite get the ring back. Which leads Dortmunder to wonder precisely what sort of luck the ring carries.”

It’s a thin premise to hang a novel on, but there is some charm and wit within What’s the Worst that Could Happen? to make it worth the read. Like a lot of Westlake’s books, there is a lot of conveniences and coincidences that make the story flow, sometimes iy makes the reader wonder at the conceit of it all. The set up and the heist are not as intricate as previous Dortmunder (or Parker) tales (though, again, could this be Westlake’s take on Ocean’s 11?) but I still liked it. I do question Dortmunder’s male ego though –after all it is a silly, inexpensive ring. As noted in earlier reviews of previous books, this ninth volume was released in 1996, some twenty-six years after The Hot Rock started this franchise and no one’s aged a day. Westlake takes advantages of the technology, like the early use of mobile phones, but while time moves on, Dortmunder and his crew seem stuck in the 1970s. Still, the crew is always likable and even if one tale seems weaker than others, you also know that Donald E. Westlake has many more books to get it right.

 Note:

There was a loosely-based movie version of this book, same title, and released in 2001 that starred Eddie Murphy, Danny DeVito, John Leguizamo, Glenne Heady, Bernie Mac, Larry Miller, Nora Dun, William Fichtner, Anna Gasteyer and Richard Schiff. The film was reviewed poorly, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times giving the film an unfavorable review, stating that there were "too many characters, not enough plot, and a disconnect between the two stars' acting styles". Even Marc Shaiman, who scored the film, told Playbill Magazine that the "worst job" he ever had was "scoring a hideous movie called What's the Worst that Could Happen? I'm not kidding.” It grossed only $38 million on a $60 million budget.

Books: The Seventh By Richard Stark (1965)

"The robbery was a piece of cake. The getaway was clean. And seven men were safely holed up in different places while Parker held all the cash - until the heat was off and each could collect his seventh to spend on booze or broads or dreams. Except this sweet heist turned sour. Somebody stole Parker's stash. Killed Parker's girl. And made Parker murderously mad. Now Parker's looking for the lowlife who did him dirty. The cops are looking for seven clever thieves. The killer is looking for a way to shoot Parker. And when hunters and hunted meet - some win, some lose, and some die"

At this point in my reading of the Parker novels, I have to reconcile my feelings about the violence and death that occur in this series. I’m not a huge fan of this type of genre where you end up rooting for a sociopath. It puzzles me why this subgenre does so well, because it’s such a ruthless universe (I cringed when Parker killed a 19 year-old hick in the last book). I will grant you the prose by Stark/Westlake is great, imaginative, and vivid, but Parker and his world is not one I want know or live in, and I guess it’s small victory that these novels are short (this ones the shortest so far) and not very complex. Finally, the title seems to be a bit meta or jokey as seven people pull off a heist, and they are supposed to get a split, a seventh of the total take, but it's also probably intentionally named as well, as this is also Stark’s seventh Parker book.

In the end, The Seventh is as ruthless and horrible as one might expect with men who kill like you and I breath. Maybe I need to take a break from this nihilistic world and get back to goofy universe of John Dortmunder?

Note:

There was a film adaptation of The Seventh, released in 1968 as The Split which starred Jim Brown (as Parker, but named McClain here), Diahann Carroll, Julie Harris, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Klugman, Warren Oates, Donald Sutherland, and Gene Hackman. The music was scored by Quincy Jones and was notable for being the first film with an R rating. While Jim Brown’s casting in the lead role was revolutionary at the time (lets also note the 1967 French-made version of The Score turned Parker into a woman), the film performed poorly both at the box office and in reviews. Interestingly, this would’ve been a follow up to Point Blank, which was based on Richard Stark’s first Parker book, The Hunter. Lee Marvin, who starred in that film as Parker (named Walker in it) was not available to do this film. Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff first wanted Steve McQueen for The Split, but when he went off to do Bullit instead, they chose Brown, who they had worked with before and who was (conveniently?) on contract at MGM.

In the book, the impressive set-up and execution to steal the cash is only about 25% of the book, the other 75% focuses on the who killed Ellen and who stole the money; in the film (which I saw a few months ago on TMC) 75% of the film focuses on the heist –which makes it sort run-of-the-mill thriller. The film plot varies in other aspects as well, but it’s got a fairly good score by Jones; Jim Brown and (especially) Diahann Carroll, who does much with what they gave her, are pretty great –but it’s not worth going out of your way to see it.

Books: The Jugger By Richard Stark (1965)

"A jug, once upon a time, was slang for a bank. Thus, a jugger was a bank robber. Joe Sheer, a former safecracker, had worked with Parker on several bank heists before, like Handy McKay, he decided retirement suited him. Now his only connection to his past is being Parker’s go-between when someone wanted to get hold of him. So when Parker gets Joe’s letter, which was one long aganoized scream for help, he left Miami for Sagamore, Nebraska. But it wasn’t for Joe Sheer that he came there. As far as he was concerned the old fool could drop dead. He came because in Joe’s letter he saw danger to himself, much more obvious and lethal than any personal peril Sheer had been describing. Joe was just an old jugger turned rusty, shaky, and scared. But was this old jugger ready to trade secrets for some peace of mind? So Parker had come to Nebraska to find out… and probably murder him. But what Parker found was trouble: Joe was already six feet under; something very valuable was missing; and somebody was planning a funeral…Parker’s. Too bad for somebody — that Parker wasn’t an easy man to kill."

Westlake once said about this Parker tale: “I spoiled a book by having him do something he wouldn’t do. The sixth book in the series is called The Jugger, and that book is one of the worst failures I’ve ever had. The problem with it is, in the beginning of the book this guy calls him and says ‘I’m in trouble out here and these guys are leaning on me and I need help,’ and Parker goes to help him. I mean, he wouldn’t do that, and in fact, the guy wouldn’t even think to call him!”

Westlake may have been right, as no actual jugging takes place in this book and in fact, not that much memorable really happens here as well.  Stark/Westlake comes up with a convoluted, yet believable reasons for Parker to have venture to Nebraska, which was to protect his false identity. There is a whole section that justifies the travel:

“There were more numbers on this second sheet, but they weren’t what caught Parker’s eye.  Besides the numbers there was a list of names, scattered down the right side of the paper.  Loomis, McKay, Parker, Littlefield, Clinger…a long, long list of thirty or more names, all of them men Joe Sheer had worked with at one time or another.

“But not in Joe’s handwriting.  The list of names, and the figures over on the other side of the page, were all done in the same handwriting as the total on the first sheet.

“Younger looked up, smiling his smug smile, tapping a finger against the list of names.  ‘See that there?  It wouldn’t surprise me none if your name’s down there.  Don’t think I ever bought that Willis name.’ Parker looked at him, seeing him definitely for the first time as a dead man.”

Of course, something does go wrong and Parker fails to anticipate a few thing, which I assume is a set up for the next book.

Yes, it’s not a heist tale, not even a whodunit in that traditional mode, but more of a tale in classic noir style. But it's certainly a cold story and mean, with very brutal ending that made me question why I should continue to read these books. 

Battlestar Galactica

We’ve known for a long time that while Battlestar Galactica was an attempt to capitalize on the success of Star Wars, but it never quite achieved the intend goal and was canceled after one season of 17 original episodes (five were two-parters, equivalent to the standard 24-episodes TV season).

Creator Glen A. Larson envisioned Battlestar Galactica as a series of three made-for-TV movies, a three-hour pilot (Saga of a Star World), followed by two additional two-hour films (Lost Planet of the Gods & Gun on Ice Planet Zero). Then, if ABC wanted, he would do a one-hour series, but would need a year to assemble scripts. However, it was during the final days of production on Lost Planet of the Gods that ABC decided in a format change, asking for a full series immediately –which caught him and his production staff completely off guard. Now with no scripts beyond Gun on Ice Planet Zero, there was a rush to suddenly fill twenty-four hours of air time (and also included re-filming certain scenes in the second movie). Subsequently, this change meant several substandard “crash of the week” episodes were rushed into production. By the time some better quality scripts got into production, the show’s ratings had slid from its debut, with CBS counter-programming it with their hit series All in the Family, which was attracting 40% of the TV audience to BG’s 28%. But ABC did not help, preempting the show multiple times, frustrating the cast, crew, and the fans.

But there were other factors that led to its end beyond sliding ratings.

The pilot cost $8 million, something unheard of back in 1978. The two additional TV films (re-cut into episodic length) and rest of the season, would run $1 million an episode –again, something unheard of during the era. To help with the cost, Universal (the show’s co-production company) released a 125-minute version of the pilot in the summer of 1978 (where it did fairly well) in Canada and other overseas markets. But to keep that budget, ABC wanted a top 5 series. When the show’s ratings slipped, when cost over-runs started to add up, the bean counters saw an opportunity to blame this as reason to end the show. In April of 1979, ABC officially canceled the show, despite ending its run a respectable top 20 show. There was a huge outcry and protests outside ABC studios, but the show was done. Universal, however, was still trying to recoup the startup costs for the show and released the shortened version of the pilot in theaters in the US (in Sensurround) in May of 1979.

But soon after, ABC started to rethink their strategy with the property and after some deliberations, they finally contacted Glen A. Larson to see about reviving the series, albeit in some modified and less expensive format. Instead of continuing on from the last episode, Larson and Donald P. Bellisario would set a spin-off set some five years later, which would allow the show to weed out supporting and recurring characters deemed not essential (Colonel Tigh, Boxey, Athena, Cassiopeia) to what would be a leaner show.

“The only major characters to return from the original series would be Commander Adama, Colonel Boomer (replacing Tigh), Apollo, Starbuck, and Baltar, who was to have made atonement for betraying the Colonies to the Cylons, and was now the President of the Council of Twelve. Upon discovering a "present-day" Earth completely unable to defend itself from the Cylons, Adama decided to just head off into deep space to lead the Cylons away from the planet, but Baltar suggested using time travel technology to alter Earth's history so its technology would develop more rapidly up to a Colonial level. The Council votes this suggestion down, so Baltar steals a ship capable of time-travel and heads into Earth's past to carry out his plan anyway. After some deliberation, Starbuck and Apollo are sent after him to bring him back or at least undo his changes to history. Episodes would feature a new "Time Mission" every week, generally with Apollo at some different time in the past, and Starbuck flying back and forth between ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ to give information and support to Apollo." This was the pitch ABC approved to shoot a pilot for what became Galactica 1980.

But Dirk Benedict was not available and Richard Hatch was dubious of the spin-off, mostly due to how all the characters had changed, so he passed. It was then decided the series would take place thirty years after the end of the original series, and that Boxey would be renamed Troy and take Apollo's role, while a character named Lt. Dillon would take over the Starbuck part. Nothing is ever mentioned about the fates Colonel Tigh, Sheba, Athena, or Cassiopeia. President Baltar was also written out entirely, and Commander Xavier or Doctor Xavier was created to take up his role as the villain. After the pilot was completed, the network was unhappy with the time travel aspects of the story, which was intended to be an ongoing premise in each episode as the Colonials chased Xavier through different periods in Earth's history. They agreed to pick up the series only if the time-travel element was dropped. Larson and Bellisario reluctantly agreed, and the series instead became focused on Troy's and Dillon's attempts to protect some Colonial children on Earth. The spin-off would last only ten episodes, as almost everything that made the parent show work was removed in favor of reducing the show to Saturday morning moralistic kids show. Beyond some aspects of the three-part pilot, the only other memorable episode was The Return of Starbuck, which had returning actor Dirk Benedict playing the Lieutenant one more time and gave the character closure.

Side note: Not letting a good idea go to waste, Bellisario later returned to the original time-travel concept, and reused it as the basis of the considerably more successful Quantum Leap.

The franchise went into hibernation, though there were many attempts at reviving it, with Bryan Singer, Tom DeSanto, and even Richard Hatch coming up with ideas to continue it (all while ignoring Galactica  1980). Berkley Books released ten novels that were adaptations of episodes, along with four original tales. Richard Hatch, along with various co-writers, also released seven original novels that were, essentially, continuations from the last TV episode (and, again, ignored Galactica 1980).

 In 2002, license holder Universal Studios decided to remake the show instead doing a sequel series. 

David Eick approached Ronald D. Moore about a new four-hour miniseries for Universal. Moore developed the miniseries with Eick, writing the scripts and updating the old series, also developing a backstory that could work for a regular weekly series, should the miniseries be successful. At the same time, Moore was approached by HBO about running a new television series, Carnivàle. While Moore worked on the first year of Carnivàle, Eick ran the day-to-day production of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries in Canada. The miniseries aired in 2003 and became the highest-rated miniseries on cable that year, and the best ratings that year for any show on Sci-Fi. After Carnivàle reached the end of its first season and the Sci-Fi Channel ordered a thirteen-episode weekly series, Moore left that show to assume a full-time executive producer role on Battlestar Galactica. 

The series had a successful, but bumpy road and lasted for four seasons and seventy-six episodes. It also produced a spin-off, a 19 episode prequel series called Caprica.  

Starting in 2009 and taking up the next ten years, there was various attempts to reboot the franchise, with all of them being a continuation of the original series. But it was all fits and starts, with scripts being written and rewritten, and adding to the burden was the passing of both Glen A. Larson in 2014 and Richard Hatch in 2017. Then on September 17, 2019, NBCUniversal  announced a straight-to-series order of a reboot (but don't call it that), produced by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail as part of their new Peacock streaming service, set to premiere in 2020 (though due to the COVID pandemic, it might not reach the TV screen until 2021). The new show appears to be borrowing elements from both Larson's version and Moore's version, and because it's a streaming series, it will not be boxed in by conventional episode lengths.