March 21, 2013

Around the Dial

My apologies in advance for a short summary this week, but to be honest, I've got a headache and staring at the computer screen isn't the thing I want most to do today.  But that isn't going to stop me from sharing a couple of favorites.

Classic Film and TV Cafe has a terrific interview with David Hedison, who played Captain Crane on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and appeared as Felix Leiter in a pair of James Bond movies.  Voyage is one of those shows that I enjoyed as a kid, but doesn't wear as well today.  Nevertheless, I maintain an affection for it, and I might just grab a season or two on DVD if I see them on the sales table.  I did not know that Hedison had originally been approached to play Captain Crane in the movie version of Voyage, more's the pity.  (The role was instead played by Robert Sterling.)  Regardless of the merits of the stories, he and Richard Basehart (as Admiral Nelson) were a great team.

Appropriately for today, Classic Sports TV and Media has a retrospective on television coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament.  To give you an idea of my age, when I started watching the tourney there were only 24 teams, and the phrase "Final Four" was only a colloquialism, not a trademark.  Unlike many people, my interest in the tournament has eroded over the years to where I have virtually no interest in it today, but I still enjoy looking back at the "good old days" when a team had to be of truly championship caliber to make the "Big Dance," and the Final Four had room for schools like New Mexico State, Jacksonville, Western Kentucky, San Francisco and (my personal favorite) St. Bonaventure.  This also hearkens back to the days when TVS was a major player in college basketball coverage.  Jeff's piece is, for me, another welcome trip down memory lane.

And be sure to check out the Classic TV Blog Association for details on this week's blogathan tribute to Valerie Harper.  I don't really have anything to contribute so I'm not taking part, but for fans of Harper, there's some very good stuff.

That's all for today - I'm going to take a couple of aspirin and see you back here Saturday! TV  

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!