April 26, 2019

Around the dial

Since this space tends to get used as a catch-all from time to time, I thought I'd lead off with a couple of unrelated notes. First, a big thanks to Bruce, who ran across the August 9-16, 1958 issue of TV Guide in his mother's possessions, and was generous enough to send to me as a contribution to the Hadley TV Guide Archives. (You'll be reading about this issue come August.) I really am touched by the kindnesses shown by you all; it's gratifying, as well as humbling, to know that what I'm doing is connecting with you.

Second, a question that came up in the comments thread from Brune, who asks, "Can I please buy a copy of the show Get It Together. where these artist performing The Ides of March / Vic Dana / Little Anthony and the Imperials?" Well, Brune, if you want to buy that, it's OK with me! Wait, what's that? Oh, you want to know where you can buy a copy of it? Well, so would I, because then I'd be able to tell you, and it would make me look like I really know what I'm writing about here. I'm afraid I don't, though: does anyone out there have a suggestion for Brune?

And now on to our regular programming, and since we were off on Good Friday, we have some catching up to do. At bare-bones e-zine, it's Part 8 of Jack's Hitchcock Project look at the works of James P. Cavanagh, and it's the fifth season opener, "Arthur," a black comedy directed by Hitch himself, starring Laurence Harvey, Hazel Court, and Patrick Macnee.

Meanwhile, over at Comfort TV, David returns with part two of his look at the 100 most memorable songs introduced by classic TV. (Part one was during our bye last week.) You can count me in on any list that includes "The Lumberjack Song."

Amanda's launching a new project over at Made for TV Mayhem: a look at the long-running religious series Insight, produced by our old friend, Fr. Elwood Kieser.  Lest you be scared away by "religious" programming, Fr. Kieser was always careful to avoid being "preachy" in his program, which (as was the case also with Bishop Sheen) made them even more effective.

A couple of remembrances by Jodie at Garroway at Large: first, Sarah Lee Lippincott, Dave Garroway's third wife, who passed away in February; and then, a really wonderful piece on Charles Van Doren, whose death I mentioned in passing a couple of weeks ago. Again, we need to keep these pieces of TV history alive.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan reviews another of the episodes on the show's new incarnation, "A Traveler," starring Steven Yeun, which aired last week. A very interesting observation by Jordan, who notes that while he likes the new series, "there is a noted lack of humanism in the new series which is replaced with a bleak and sometimes utterly hopeless outlook on the future of human relations."

Kirk Cameron and Jason Bateman are on the cover of the April 22, 1989 edition of TV Guide: find out more about what's inside in Television Obscurities' continuing look back at TV Guide 30 years ago. Farrah Fawcett, Mr. T, and Nazi hunters - who can beat that?  TV  

1 comment:

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!