I've also seen clips of a 1943 Batman serial that looked like it may have been pretty bad, though I've never actually seen it in full.That reminds me of some of the trashy SF movies from the early 50s. A few greats, mostly junk. But they all have a certain amount of charm to them. The same thing for the SF magazines.
Interestingly, Star Trek DS9 did an ep once with everyone out of their DS9 personae, and into a setting of one of the famous New York City SF publishing boilerrooms. Quite well done, especially if you can figure out the famous SF personalities they portrayed.
The only decent thing about Star Trek Voyager were the episodes that featured Tom Parris and his whacked-out black&white holodeck simulations of the very worst of 1950s space opera serials. The hokiness was quite authentic, and showed a great mastery of cornball SF.
That reminds me of some of the trashy SF movies from the early 50s. A few greats, mostly junk. But they all have a certain amount of charm to them. The same thing for the SF magazines.Definitely! Even the junky ones are fun to watch/read. I just picked up this one on sale for $1:
THE ROCKET MAN (1954)
An orphan comes by a magical space gun that helps him in a fight to save the local orphanage. Look at the title. Be aware that the cast features John Agar, Anne Francis and Beverly Garland in it. Know that the script was co-written by Lenny Bruce. Read that plot description again. Know that the movie is one of those small-town, feel-good, light comedies about nice decent folk being manipulated by a corrupt politician who not only engages in fraud, but also drives drunk and almost runs over a child. Then you can do as I did as I watching this one; scratch your head a lot.
I like the magazines, too--have some 1950s issues of Amazing, Fantastic Science Fiction, Fate, The First World of If, Other Worlds, Startling Stories, and Wonder Stories. Occasionally they have a good story by a major SF author, but mostly they're just silly entertainment :)