67. Alien (1979)

Show Notes

Alien is a 1979 science-fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. Based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, it follows the crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo, who encounter the eponymous Alien, a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial set loose on the ship. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. It was produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill through their company Brandywine Productions, and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. Giler and Hill revised and made additions to the script; Shusett was executive producer. The Alien and its accompanying artifacts were designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, while concept artists Ron Cobb and Chris Foss designed the more human settings.

PODCAST NOTES

Jason is joined by Bruce Edwards, a veteran of the TV and film business whose shared background with Jason includes time spent at the MTV Networks offices working for VH1 in the later 90's.

Bruce's time working at the Garden State Plaza Mall in the 90’s (02:00)

Working at the Starlog Magazine/ Starlog Store (04:00)

Meeting Lazlo from 'Real Genius' at the mall (5:00)

WPIX Chiller Thriller opening from 80's and 90's TV. (07:00)

Seeing Alien for the first time (09:00)

Renting movies from video stores (10:00)

Dan O’Bannon and Ronnie Schusett original screenplay origins (15:00)

Walter Hill/ David Giler renaming characters and editing the original version (18:00)

John Carpenter’s The Thing as influences by Alien (20:00)

3 perfect movies: Jaws, Alien, and The Thing (24:00)

Script controversy by Hill and O Bannon (30:00)

Scene where crew of Nostromo haggles over investigation of signal. (34:00)

Alternative Casting with Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and the original Kane, John Finch (36:00)

Latch Key TV with 'Three's Company', 'Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee', and '227' and 'Night Court'. (45:00)