© Indianapolis Star
June 4 1999

Set of Seven Welcomes
Viewers to Vonnegut
by STEVE SLOSAREK

''Kurt Vonnegut, that bizarrely brilliant Indiana native son, has long been a favorite among contemporary literary types, but now videophiles can appreciate his works on their TV sets with the release of 'Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House.'

''Vonnegut supervised the production, and he makes short introductions in the three-volume boxed set  which contains seven half-hour fantasy-science-fiction programs based on the author's critically acclaimed collection of short stories, Welcome to the Monkey House.

''The prophetic and sometimes frightening topics are laced with Vonnegut's customary wit and satire, delightfully tempering the seriousness."

 All seven videos are thematically similar, with illusion metamorphosing into reality. Surprising twists and turns that exist in the realm of 'Monkey House' include chess games played with real people, with the stakes being life and death; a doctor who treats elderly patients and gets a dose of his own medicine; and an overheard conversation with potentially fatal consequences.

''In the episode 'Epipac,' Ally Sheedy is courted by a co-worker (Garwin Sanford) at a research technology lab, but it turns out she is better suited for his newly built computer named Epipac, who falls for her. Can a relationship between computer and human last?

''If the plot sounds familiar, you're thinking of ''Electric Dreams,' or a little of 'Short Circuit,' which starred Sheedy. But they're just pale imitations; those movies were made in 1984 and 1986, while Vonnegut wrote these particular stories in the early 1950s for a wide range of national magazines, then published them as a collection in 1968.''

© Indianapolis Star