July 31, 2020

Around the dial

Heads-up: sometime next week. you'll be able to hear me on Love 98.5FM in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, chatting about classic television with David Hendrickson. It's the first of what we're hoping will be a weekly 10-minute-or-so segment on the station; in this initial episode, David and I talk about various television and streaming services that air classic TV shows, and some titles that the casual TV viewer might not be aware of. (Apropos of this piece from a couple of weeks ago.) I'll have more details on the date and time as well as how you can listen, so keep an eye here, as well on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and thanks to David for the invitation to appear with him! Now, let's see what the rest of you have to say.

At bare•bones e-zine, Jack continues the Hitchcock Project with Harold Swinton's 1959 adaptation of the famous Ambrose Bierce story "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge." Some of you may have seen a French adaptation that aired on The Twilight Zone some years later, but as Jack points out, the "outstanding" Swinton version is well worth your time.

On Wednesday I presented an appreciation of Regis Phlbin, who died last week; this week at Bob Crane: Life and Legacy, Carol presents a 1965 episode of Bob Crane's radio show that includes, around the 51:00 mark, Bob's interview with Regis and LA broadcaster Michael Jackson. Good fun; check it out.

In addition to Regis Philbin, classic television fans lost three more familiar faces over the last week, with the deaths of John Saxon, Olivia de Havilland and Jacqueline Scott. I remember John Saxon best from his years on The Bold Ones, although everyone will have their favorite memories; Terence recalls him in-depth at A Shroud of Thoughts. Terence also summarizes the magnificent career of Olivia de Havilland, including her Best Actress Oscar for The Heiress; The Last Drive-In has a pictoral recollection of her as well. And you can read more here on the life and times of Jacqueline Scott, who will always be remembered for her appearances as Dr. Richard Kimble's loyal sister on The Fugitive. Our commenter Mike Doran mentions her here.

We haven't looked at television across the pond lately, so it's time to stop in at Cult TV Blog, where John looks back at Chance in a Million, starring Simon Callow, a man to whom very strange things happen, with future Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn as his girlfriend.

And at Garroway at Large, Jodie shares a story about one of the prized items in Dave Garroway's collection of odds and ends: an original Norden bombsight, famed for its use by American bombers during World War II. Sounds like perfect vision to me. TV  

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Mitchell! By the way, it's Swanton, not Swinton. I'm looking forward to hearing your new talk show.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!