September 13, 2019

Around the dial

Personal note #1: over the past few months, I've alluded to my employment situation, which has been less than ideal. That, as I mentioned in my Liz Trotta piece a couple of weeks ago, has now been rectified. I'm quite grateful to all of you out their for your encouragement and best wishes, and your erudite comments that have added a great deal to my knowledge base and to my life. While we may not have the readership numbers here that other websites have, I wouldn't trade you for any of them.

Personal note #2: Due to the circumstances alluded to in personal note #1, we aren't at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention this year. If I saw you there last year and said something along the lines of, "I'll see you next year," I did mean it at the time; hold that thought for another year. To my friends and fellow classic TV buffs, I miss you all, and we won't wait until next year to get together. In the meantime, Andrew has a preview at The Lucky Strike Papers. He won't be there this year either, so I don't feel too bad.

That's enough of the schmaltz; now, let's get on to the good stuff.

Thanks to Jodie for the link to The New Atlantis and this article on what she calls "the comfort and ache of YouTube." When I first discovered YouTube all those years ago, I instantly saw it for what it was, "the closest thing we have invented to a time machine." Much of what you read at this site has been shaped in one way or another, directly or indirectly, by YouTube. It is, in many ways, a miracle.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack comes to the end of Arthur A. Ross's contribution to The Hitchcock Project, with the tenth-season "Wally the Beard," a sly story with a great twist at the end. I guess it isn't only clothes that make the man.

Here's a shout-out to Rick at Classic Film and TV CafĂ©, celebrating ten years of blogging about, well, classic film and TV. We should be so lucky as to make it that far, but as long as the TV Guides hold out. . .

One thing I can always count on each week is a thoughtful piece from David at Comfort TV, and this week is no exception, as he writes about why Rhoda was necessary, a lovely tribute not only to the show, but to the woman who made it possible, the late Valerie Harper.

I really do wish I'd paid more attention to The Twilight Zone Magazine when it was around; that's how good Jordan's summaries are at The Twilight Zone Vortex. I'm particularly intrigued by John Boonstra's interview with Philip K. Dick, who died shortly after the interview was conducted.

At The Last Drive-In, it's a very nice appreciation of the late Carol Lynley, who died last week. In addition to her many movies, she did some very nice TV work; I think I most recently saw her with Darren McGavin in the terrific The Night Stalker.

Let's take a u-turn now to radio, if you don't mind. At Once Upon a Screen, Aurora reflects on the enormous legacy of Orson Welles (no pun intended) and the Mercury Theatre on the Air. It strikes me that Welles was a man who never quite fit in anywhere, but perhaps he fit more in radio than anywhere else.

I always enjoy Television Obscurities because I'm never quite sure what I'll find next, and this week is no exception: Robert's latest project is TV Guide 365: 1964-1965, a daily look at "the prime time listings published 55 years earlier in TV Guide." I can't wait to read them! TV  

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout-out, Mitchell! In just a couple of years, you'll be celebrating a decade of blogging, too.

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  2. Glad things have worked out, Mitchell. I was about to offer you something in Utica...We all appreciate the yeoman work you put into this blog every week that brings nostalgia and joy to all of your readers. Your tireless work does not go unnoticed and is deeply appreciated.

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  3. Off-topic(s), more or less:
    I had the unfortunate task of having to inform Dan Budnic that he - and by extension, you - have seen the last of Melody (Arlene Howell) on Bourbon Street Beat.
    Apparently, Miss Howell's contract with Warner Bros. TV came to an end at the two-thirds mark of the BSB season (whether this was her idea or theirs is lost to history); Kenny's auditions for a new secretary are going to be a running gag for the remainder of the episodes (the "W. Hermanos" period).
    Just so you know, when you and Dan get around to Episode 77 …
    PRESENTED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE.

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  4. Thanks, Mitchell. I'm very glad you found a job. I saw a very good talk on Bill Finger at the MANC yesterday.

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!