disembodied heads in 70s live action scifi
July 11, 2023 2:15 PM
I'm trying to remember a science fiction program I saw on TV at the end of the eighties. I only caught the last few minutes. A rich man had paid to have his body cryogenically frozen so it could be revived in the future when medical technology had advanced. When he wakes up, he finds that only his head has been preserved.
He is wheeled on a cart to an auditorium where he is placed among many other disembodied heads to watch movies all day. The heads all argue about what movie they should watch. I'm not sure when the program was produced but it had a 70s look. And the actor playing the revived head was someone like Zero Mostel
He is wheeled on a cart to an auditorium where he is placed among many other disembodied heads to watch movies all day. The heads all argue about what movie they should watch. I'm not sure when the program was produced but it had a 70s look. And the actor playing the revived head was someone like Zero Mostel
I don't know for sure, but I think they spoofed this on The Simpsons.
posted by limeonaire at 4:16 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by limeonaire at 4:16 PM on July 11, 2023
you might check through the list of TV & films in this wikipedia article though I didn't spot anything likely-looking there.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 4:30 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 4:30 PM on July 11, 2023
I know exactly the show you are talking about. I can't remember the name right now but I can fill in some details.
The rich man was a famous movie producer. I believe they initially tell him that he can't get up from bed as a temporary side effect of the revival process. He meets a young woman at the revival facility who had herself died young and been revived and they strike up a friendship. She was a fan of his movies and spends time talking to him and I believe possibly moving his bed around. I think at one point where she is seen looking at his body in bed and there is a reaction shot of her shocked face. Towards the end of the film he deduces that the young woman had died by suicide and he starts mocking her for her weakness just before he is wheeled into an elevator by a member of the staff. In the elevator he sees his reflection in the polished ceiling that his body has been replaced by a machine because his body had been so ravaged by cancer that it was un-savable. I think, in fact, that he had deduced the young woman had died by suicide because he saw the scars on her wrists when she lit a cigarette for him and placed it in his mouth. The final scene shows his head being hooked up to a more permanent sustaining apparatus on a shelf of other heads, who greet him and express the hope that with the famous movie producer joining them that they might get to watch some decent movies for a change, which is what they do all day because they have no friends to come visit them.
posted by Reverend John at 5:07 PM on July 11, 2023
The rich man was a famous movie producer. I believe they initially tell him that he can't get up from bed as a temporary side effect of the revival process. He meets a young woman at the revival facility who had herself died young and been revived and they strike up a friendship. She was a fan of his movies and spends time talking to him and I believe possibly moving his bed around. I think at one point where she is seen looking at his body in bed and there is a reaction shot of her shocked face. Towards the end of the film he deduces that the young woman had died by suicide and he starts mocking her for her weakness just before he is wheeled into an elevator by a member of the staff. In the elevator he sees his reflection in the polished ceiling that his body has been replaced by a machine because his body had been so ravaged by cancer that it was un-savable. I think, in fact, that he had deduced the young woman had died by suicide because he saw the scars on her wrists when she lit a cigarette for him and placed it in his mouth. The final scene shows his head being hooked up to a more permanent sustaining apparatus on a shelf of other heads, who greet him and express the hope that with the famous movie producer joining them that they might get to watch some decent movies for a change, which is what they do all day because they have no friends to come visit them.
posted by Reverend John at 5:07 PM on July 11, 2023
It looks like Welcome Back Mr. Fox fits.
This scenario only reminded me of Futurama, and I found a reddit post talking about the possible sources of the head-in-a-jar spoofs.
The film sounds horrifying!
posted by hovey at 5:10 PM on July 11, 2023
This scenario only reminded me of Futurama, and I found a reddit post talking about the possible sources of the head-in-a-jar spoofs.
The film sounds horrifying!
posted by hovey at 5:10 PM on July 11, 2023
I remember this, and I remember it as an episode of either The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, or possibly Night Gallery, but I’m not finding it. But maybe someone with stronger google skills than me could take a shot at it.
posted by MexicanYenta at 5:51 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by MexicanYenta at 5:51 PM on July 11, 2023
Since you're obviously into this sort of thing, check out The Thing with Two Heads too!
posted by JimN2TAW at 7:14 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by JimN2TAW at 7:14 PM on July 11, 2023
I think Welcome Back Mr. Fox might be the one I'm thinking of. If I could find a clip of it I'm pretty confident I could tell for sure.
posted by Reverend John at 7:30 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by Reverend John at 7:30 PM on July 11, 2023
Thank you! I've been wondering about this for *years*. Now that I know the name, a search turns up a stackexchange page where the writer/director give his email address. Next I'd like to find out how I can see it.
posted by dunhamrc at 8:07 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by dunhamrc at 8:07 PM on July 11, 2023
If you find out let me know. This show has haunted me for decades too. I'd also like to see how much the story matches up with my memory and how much I may have hallucinated. XD
posted by Reverend John at 8:25 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by Reverend John at 8:25 PM on July 11, 2023
If you know someone who has a membership to TVVault, that would be the only place I can think would still have it. Sadly, it's not open for signups.
posted by Bigbootay. Tay! Tay! Blam! Aargh... at 9:36 PM on July 11, 2023
posted by Bigbootay. Tay! Tay! Blam! Aargh... at 9:36 PM on July 11, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rongorongo at 2:39 PM on July 11, 2023