Around the dial

First things first: the terrific podcast Eventually Supertrain, which is even more terrific now that yours truly is guesting on episode 45. I'll follow Dan's lead in withholding the name of the series we're reviewing over the next little while, but let me take this opportunity first to thank Dan (aka Some Polish American Guy) for inviting me to join him; you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer, more gracious partner, and he's a knowledgeable aficionado of classic television to boot! I hope you enjoy listening to it as we enjoy doing it; it's a lot of fun.

Our Twilight Zone fix this week comes from Realweegiemidget Reviews, looking at the fabulous Ida Lupino in the season one episode "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine," which as Gill points out is as much a commentary on the difficulties facing older actresses as it is a trip into dimension of imagination.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's latest Hitchcock Project entry is Stanley Ellin's story, "The Specialty of the House," which appeared on the fifth season of Hitchcock. Robert Morley leads a terrific cast; as always, Jack's magic is in following the journey of this story from page to screen and showing the changes that take place on the way.

I remember watching The Magician when I grew up; part of that was because I was trapped into watching it courtesy of the one TV station in The World's Worst Town™, but partly because I had fond memories of Bill Bixby, probably from My Favorite Martian. Is The Magician worth purchasing on DVD? Go to Comfort TV, where David gives you the answer.

Kliph Nesteroff is back at Classic Television Showbiz with part one of an interview with William Schallert, one of the most beloved and best-known television character actor. It's been too long since we've had one of these in-depth interviews; they're a real pleasure to read.

A really interesting piece from Jodie at Garroway at Large, talking about what it's like to write a book. It's a fascinating look at the process - the historian's craft, as she says - with links to some extremely valuable resources for anyone doing research on a project. I wish I'd read this before I started writing!

Martin Grams looks a 1961 ABC prime-time cartoon that was, in essence, the animated version of Amos 'n' Andy: Calvin and the Colonel, created by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, and detailed in Kevin Scott Collier's new book of the same title.

Television's New Frontier: the 1930s moves into 1961, a year that contains the second half of season three of Rawhide, and the first half of season four. It was a time of change for the popular Western, both on-camera and behind-the-scenes.

Finally, as I'll be explaining in tomorrow's piece, I'm taking a couple of weeks off from new blogging. That doesn't mean you'll be without content; I'll have encore presentations from two TV Guides (along with brand-new program listings for those Mondays!), and best-of pieces on Wednesdays and Fridays. Then, it will be as if I'd never gone anywhere. TV