tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post8333923360108469431..comments2024-03-27T22:27:16.556-04:00Comments on It's About TV: This week in TV Guide: August 6, 1966Mitchell Hadleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08695771505209080030noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-3714419606166476722019-06-20T06:39:48.843-04:002019-06-20T06:39:48.843-04:00He was in town for 3 days, his commentary was conf...He was in town for 3 days, his commentary was confined to Sherlock, as far as I recall. I'd love to see those clips.tontonmacoutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12089929935876314270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-58604459422711031832013-08-14T14:27:23.506-04:002013-08-14T14:27:23.506-04:00It's interesting that in the Ali/London fight ...It's interesting that in the Ali/London fight clip, Howard Cosell is only doing analysis, and not play-by-play.<br /><br />Calling the blow-by-blow was Chris Schnekel, who although best remembered for bowling telecasts, did do a lot of boxing in the mid 1950's for the now-defunct DuMont network. In fact, Schnekel called the boxing card at St. Nicholas Arena in New York a decade earlier on August 6th, 1956.<br /><br />I believe it was also the first time a live boxing match from overseas was telecast live-by-satellite back to the 'States.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-88611129857734135442013-08-14T10:44:24.308-04:002013-08-14T10:44:24.308-04:00Off-topic, sort of:
Since this TVG is from the &#...Off-topic, sort of:<br /><br />Since this TVG is from the '65-'66 season, I thought I might pass along this reminiscence of a local Chicago "series" from that year.<br /><br />WGN, Channel 9, was <i>the</i> independent station in town (UHF was only getting started that year). Ch9, owned by the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, invested heavily in old off-network series and vintage movies; since this was before the practice of "stripping" (showing series five nights a week), they had a quite diverse schedule in the fall and winter (spring and summer belonged to the Cubs).<br /><br /> Anyway, in '65 WGN acquired the Universal <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and announced <i>The Sherlock Holmes Theater</i>, to run Monday nights in the fall.<br />And here was the grabber: the studio host would be <i>Basil Rathbone</i> himself, in person.<br />There was a problem of sorts: there were only ten Holmes films in the Universal series, plus two more that Rathbone and Bruce had done previously for 20th-Fox. Not enough for a whole season.<br />WGN's solution was to fill out the schedule with their other major whodunit asset - Charlie Chan, all of whose 40-odd films were in the ch9 vaults.<br />So it was that late in summer of '65, Basil Rathbone came to Chicago to tape the inros, outtros, and in-betweenos for <i>The Sherlock Holmes Theatre</i> - including the Chans.<br />Regrettably, I was still a teenager at the time, with no TV of my own, and my parents had an ongoing commitment to Andy Williams and <i>Run For Your Life</i>.<br />So I never got to see the <i>Holmes</i> show, or the Chans included therein.<br />Pity - I always wondered what Basil Rathbone would have said about Mantan Moreland.<br />Rathbone died two years later, in 1967: WGN paid tribute by running a few of the <i>Holmes Theatre</i>s with his interstitials intact.<br />And to this day I wonder - did WGN save <i>all of Rathbone's tapes - Chans included?</i> I suppose I'll never know ...<br /><br />Anyway, that's the story, which I pass along for its possible amusement value.<br /><br />Standing by ...Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-24574159040441561852013-08-13T11:02:29.932-04:002013-08-13T11:02:29.932-04:00More or less in order:
- Pernell Roberts was dis...More or less in order:<br /><br /> - Pernell Roberts was disenchanted with <i>Bonanza</i> long before he actually quit the show. Proof of that was how he would appear on game or talk shows without his toupee.<br />Roberts wasn't completely bald yet, as he eventually was on <i>Trapper John, MD</i>. He had what I called "Barry Morse hair" (or "see-through hair" in more irreverent moments), to the clear disappointment of female contestants he was paired with on the game shows.<br />Still, Roberts was committed to his version of honesty, and was proudly bald and bearded to the end of his TV career (and was as much a griper about his later shows as he was about <i>Bonanza</i>).<br /><br /> -Sullivan vs. <i>Palace</i>:<br />The Peter Sellers clip on <i>Sullivan</i> was most likely a scene from <i>After The Fox</i>, which was about to be released theatrically.<br />Ed used to do this a lot, when he couldn't get this or that star to appear in person "on <i>ahr</i> stage".<br /><br /> - This is the second time in as many weeks that you've mentioned, in passing, Morecambe & Wise, probably the most beloved comedy duo in British history.<br /><i>Piccadilly Palace</i> would have been more accurately titled <i>The Morecambe & Wise Show</i>, since they were front and center throughout the hour, with Millicent Martin and their writers (Sid Green and Dick Hills) in support.<br />Perhaps more telling is that all of this was before they had their greatest success in Britain, with a long-running BBC show that got the top stars in GB to do low comedy with Eric and Ernie.<br />You can find a lot of their stuff on YouTube - and you should.<br /><br /> - Anne Shirley was hardly a "silent film star".<br />She was a contemporary of husband John Payne; her career had its peak in the late '30s and early '40s.<br />OK, that's seventy years ago, but still ...<br /><br /> - Not much else I can comment on here that already hasn't been done to death elsewhere.<br />I had a reluctantly long weekend, and I'm several entries behind; I'll catch up as I can.Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.com