‘The Swarm’: Grandaddy of the ‘Sharknado’ craze
With “Sharknado: The Fourth Awakens” just three days away, we really need to re-appreciate Irwin Allen.
The 1970s really belonged to Allen, the master of disaster. Famous for 1960s television classics “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” “Lost in Space,” “The Time Tunnel” and “Land of the Giants,” he would dominate the next decade with such films as “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno.”
In 1978, Allen gave us the killer-bee shocker “The Swarm” (10 p.m., TCM). It features a sprawling cast of actors both famous and past their prime, including Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia de Havilland, Henry Fonda, Jose Ferrer, Patty Duke, Slim Pickens, Fred MacMurray and many more!
Decades before the “Sharknado” spoof-movie phenomenon, the disaster films of the 1970s blended blink-and-you-missed-them cameo casting with hyperbolic natural disasters to get people by the millions back to the movie theaters.
A tale of millions of bees besieging Houston, “The Swarm” arrived as if to announce that the disaster movie vogue had run its crazy course. The Sunday Times of London called it “simply the worst film ever made.” Star Michael Caine — never shy about discussing his failures — generally agreed. The “Alfie” star simply felt it was unfair that despite the crowded cast, he was singled out for its epic failure.
Master showman Allen never had another blockbuster. He would spend his last years making less-than-memorable television movies and receive a Worst Career Achievement Golden Raspberry Award in 1985.
Irwin Allen died in 1991, but the big-concept ecological disaster movie has never gone away.
FOOTBALL POWERHOUSE
Now streaming on Netflix, the six-part documentary series “Last Chance U” profiles football players from East Mississippi Community College, an unlikely and unglamorous place to prepare for a potential pro football career.
A powerhouse in junior college sports, EMCC had a 24-win streak and had won three of four community college national championships when the documentary was filmed last year. Under coach Buddy Stephens, it has attracted superior athletes held back by poor academics or behavior issues and enabled them to focus and improve.
The school sends more than 20 players per year into football scholarships at four-year universities. Nine former players from East Mississippi Community College are currently in the NFL.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS
› Auditions continue on “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC, repeat, TV-PG). › No strings attached on “Bones” (8 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14). › Setting a new American standard on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, repeat, TV-PG). › The final dozen cook for teens on “MasterChef” (9 p.m., Fox, repeat, TV-14). › “What Would You Do?” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) captures ethical dilemmas on candid cameras.
› A grim reunion on “Killjoys” (9 p.m., Syfy, TV-14). › Erin struggles with guilt on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14). ›
A dangerous foe has a familiar face on “Dark Matter” (10 p.m., Syfy, TV-14). ›
The Rev. Anderson grows increasingly detached on “Outcast” (10 p.m., Cinemax, TV-MA). › A North Korean spy evades capture on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (8 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› Dean Cain hosts “Masters of Illusion” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG). ›
A floating victim on “Hawaii Five-O” (9 p.m., CBS, repeat, TV-14).
› Will Sasso and Nicole Sullivan guest-star on a new incarnation of “MADtv” (9 p.m., CW, repeat, TV-14).
“Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC). “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC). Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com.