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In Tremors 3, why didn’t Burt “tickle the worms stomach” with his desert eagle?

We had to ask around about this one.  We think it’s a reference to something that happened in Tremors 5, which we did not work on.  If so, we can only say that after Tremors 4, all the creature rules and comedy/horror rules we tried to keep consistent have apparently been thrown out by the current filmmakers.  Fans have told us the movies are now farcical comedies.

What was the RC tank that Burt used to kill his first graboid?

I was about to write, “Oooh, that one has escaped into the mists of time” when I remembered — I actually OWN the tank!  So I dug it out of storage.  It looks like the props department deliberately obscured the maker and model info, but I’ve put some pictures on my S. S. Wilson Facebook page.  Maybe one of you can identify it.  It was running when I stored it all those years ago, though I’m not sure now.  A few parts are falling off, as you’ll see.

Update! A fan wrote in with the full ID: The Tank in Tremors 2 is a Tamiya 1/16 scale Leopard A4.

Thanks!

Hypothetically, If Val (Kevin Bacon) had decided to be in Tremors 2, even if it meant leaving by T-3, as Earl (Fred Ward) did, how different would the movie be if that happened? And what do you think Val’s Reaction to the then-new Shriekers would have been?

We KNOW how Val would have reacted, because the first few drafts of the script had his character in them (we did not know when we started that Kevin Bacon was going to decline the role).  The scene in which he and Earl meet the Shriekers was almost identical to the one in the movie, with Grady’s dialog done by Val.  That said, many other things were different, because Val and Earl have such a long history as bickering buddies.  They complained a lot to each other about whose fault all this new trouble was. Also, there were fun scenes with Burt and Heather, who BOTH came to help, because we didn’t know Reba McIntire wasn’t going to come back either.  Ah, missed opportunities.

Rosalita being braless was a huge success for the series (Gladise Jimenez – in “Blast from the Past”). They just didn’t use her physical attributes as much as they could have to help the ratings! If they would have allowed her to continue to reveal more I am convinced the series numbers would have spiked and then there would have been no reason to cancel it.

Well, we had internal arguments at Stampede about how far to go with exploiting Gladise’s exotic beauty.  Most of us felt the infamous water trough escape scene went too far, so yes, we did dial it back in later episodes.  Maybe we were wrong.  And hopefully Gladise will appreciate the opinion that she could have single-handedly saved the show!

Did Jodi run Desert Jack off with her craziness?

Uh — we don’t think so.  Jack (Shawn Christian) was a restless entrepreneurial type and he probably just moved on.  But it is a fun idea to consider.  If we’d been able to continue the series, maybe we’d have written a “Jack Returns” episode and learned what happened.  And he and Tyler Reed (Victor Browne) could have argued about how to run the Graboid Tours.

Do you guys agree with me that Susan Chuang [who played Jodi in Tremors 3] was a better Jodi than Lela Lee?

No!  We love them both!  We were sad that Susan did not want to come back to play Jodi in the series, and it was tough finding someone to replace her.  We knew Lela would put a different “spin” on the character, but we loved the more business-like Jodi she did.  BTW, Lela went on to create and run the comic series Angry Little Girls, complete with a clothing and accessories line:

https://angrylittlegirls.com/

Why do lights flash before the shriekers get someone?

We’re not sure what this means, but we’re making a guess that it may be a reference to the episode “Night of the Shriekers.”  There are several times in that episode where shriekers and other things are affecting the power in Burt’s bunker, so lights are flashing.  Also, for dramatic effect, the editor put in a negative close-up shot of the scientist Megan (Melinda Clarke), right before the shriekers get her.  It’s sort of an odd shot, but presumably the director okayed it.

In the episode “Night of the Shriekers,” the power goes out for everyone but Burt, who has a backup generator. When the attacking shriekers blow that generator, Burts “backup-backup generator” kicks in. Being the paranoid person that Burt is, do you think he would have had ANOTHER backup generator, or do you think 2 was his limit?

We think two was his limit.  He’s is extreme, but not that extreme.  However, AFTER the experience of actually needing his back-up-back-up, Burt might have decided a third one was a good idea!

At the end, Val chucks Burt’s explosive device PAST the Graboid. Yet the Graboid then takes a full 10 seconds — much of that going at ‘super-graboid-speed’ — to even reach Val before exiting thru cliff-face model to its untimely demise. Can Val chuck a boom pipe 100 yards? {and perchance you thought us fans were out of questions}

Well, it’s one of those movie action-scene editing things.  Editors and directors like to “stretch” such moments to get maximum dramatic impact.  But we also often disagree on how much stretching is too much.  At some point, the timing gets so unrealistic it works against the drama.  This one is probably right on the edge.   Yes, Val has a really good arm.

And, yes, I’m amazed that I’m still answering NEW questions 30 years later.

At end of the movie Rhonda says there is going to research on the graboids. I’m assuming this would be inspecting the dead graboids’ bodies. So wouldn’t they be able to see that the new creatures (shreikers) were developing inside? And therefore, Burt would have had his critical, need-to-know information in Tremors 2. Anyways, I love the films. Thanks.

Hah, again we are challenged to explain more about the graboid life cycle.  Here’s what we think: the Tremors graboids were at an early stage of development (earlier than in Tremors 2).  Researchers dissecting them did find small hard-to-identify embryos, but assumed that they were undeveloped eggs that the graboid would lay at some point.  A few scientists argued that there was no apparent birth canal, and that something else must happen for the embryos to be “born,” but their comments were ignored as being too outlandish, because no one imagined an animal spontaneously “erupting” into young the way graboids do.  So no, Burt did not get the heads-up he would have liked.

When did Burt find out about Walter and Nestor’s deaths and how did he react?

It’s a good question because, really, it’s an emotional moment we kind of skipped over.  Looking at it now, Burt and Heather probably should have noticed Nestor and Walter were missing when the people arrive with the bulldozer and trailer.  So we’ll have to say they found out right after the bulldozer leaves and on the long drive up to the mountains.  And of course they were very upset to hear that two long-time friends were gone!

Why did the graboids travel to other continents and how did they? What was the reason for attacking certain locations in the movies?

The graboids did not travel to other continents in our time.  They are an ancient life form and “moved” only as continental drift connected different land masses in the past. South America and Africa were connected millions of years ago, for example, and shared life forms then.  We’re probably stretching the rules of biology a bit, here, but hey, they’re our monsters!  As for why graboids attack certain locations, they are simply predators attracted to noise and vibrations.  If you make noise, they attack. So it’s really a matter of being unlucky enough to be near where they are.

Were the graboids “hibernating” between T1 and T2?

We don’t think so.  They are extremely rare after all, and limited to environments with suitable soil for them to move around in.  So it’s actually uncommon for humans to come into contact with them.  Our feeling is that the noise of ongoing expansion at the remote oil field in Mexico attracted the graboids to the operation.

I heard Tremors 2 was originally supposed to be a theatrical production with a budget of 17 million but the studio decided in the end to make it a $4 million direct-to-video movie. Is that true?

Yes, except for the budget numbers which were somewhat different.  Here is how it happened:  the studio said if Kevin Bacon agreed to play Val again in Tremors 2, it would be theatrical.  If he did not, it would be lower budget direct-to-video.  At the time he thought Tremors was one of his worst movies, and he didn’t want to be in Tremors 2.  So the decision was made.

More on that Ghost Dance mine: Even though they are not the same mine in reality, are they supposed to be the same mine in the Tremors universe, or at least part of the same mine network (i.e., both originally owned by Hiram)?

I’m embarrassed to say we did not think of that!  We were shooting and writing the TV series at the same time we were shooting Tremors 4, so things were pretty crazy.  Excuses aside, we now adopt this idea officially!  Yes!  The Ghost Dance mine is at least part of Hiram’s original silver mine!

What was the make of the bicycle the boy Fu Yien rode?

If we remember right, the bike was actually custom made for the Tremors 4 production. It had to look right for the late 1800s, and bikes were pretty different back then but isn’t a specific brand/make.  After the movie it was sold at auction.

Where did Melvin and Mindy go to school? It certainly didn’t seem like one was nearby.

Love this question!  This is totally something we talked about during writing and even during shooting, but we never worked explanations into the script.  Our thinking was that Melvin’s parents go off to Vegas and leave him alone, somewhat irresponsibly.  And he just skips school (where ever it is!)

Mindy is easier.  Nancy is absolutely a dedicated home-schooler — which is why Mindy became so successful later, though Melvin did pretty well in real estate, too, it turns out.

What kind of gloves did Burt wear in tremors 2.

Yikes, these wardrobe questions! Sadly, S.S. Wilson, director of T2, totally let the wardrobe department do what they thought was best.  So Burt’s black gloves are probably like for tactical military or police work (or something they found that just looked right).  But we can’t track down the specific info now.

How do you think the characters of tremors 4 would have stood against a fight of shriekers and ABs instead of just graboids?

Man, you fans really have it in for the people of 1800s Perfection!  Well, jokes aside, it would have been fun to continue the evolution in the Western version of Tremors.  I’m sure the townsfolk would have come up with creative ways to fight the other incarnations.   We’ve always prided ourselves on having our characters do what they can with what they’ve got.  Hiram gallops across the desert dragging a burning side of beef to lure shriekers into a box canyon — where Fu Yien and Christine open up on them with the Gatling gun!