Around the dial

This week's Hitchcock Project at bare•bones e-zine is the kind I really like, not that I don't like them all, but Jack prefaces his episode description by putting it into historical context—what was happening in the country at the time the episode was originally broadcast. It informs how the viewer of the time would have watched it, and by pointing this out, Jack helps us to appreciate the episode even more. That episode, by the way, is Harold Swanton's "Bang, You're Dead," from October 1961, directed by Hitch himself.

At Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick takes us on another of his "Seven Things to Know About" features; this week's honoree is the popular Karen Valentine, who was a very busy actress through the 1980s, but will always remain best-known and loved for her role in Room 222.

The comic strip "Blondie" is turning 90, and Once Upon a Screen celebrates the anniversary by looking at the history of the strip, the long-running movie series, the less well-known radio series, and the two unsuccessful attempts to bring the Bumsteads to television.

Jodie's reached a milestone at Garroway at Large: she's concluded her Newspapers.com search for clippings about the Master Communicator. The number tops out at over 3,000 (and that's just through Dave's death) and now it comes time to put those clippings to work in telling the story of Dave's life.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the great Diana Rigg, who died yesterday at 82. I'll have my own thoughts on that next Wednesday.

Howard Duff is terrific in the Twilight Zone episode "A World of Difference," and at Shadow & Substance, Paul looks at the two interpretations of this story of a man's dual identity, and how it fits into the Serling portfolio.

Finally, today is September 11, and 19 years ago it was one of the worst days in American history, one of those occasions when anyone who was alive remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Most of us were gathered around the television watching the unbelievable unfold, and the sight of those two towers coming down is something that can't be forgotten. The thought that people in their early twenties don't have any memory of it is sobering. It also makes me feel old—but then, what doesn't? Anyway, take a moment when you have time today to reflect on September 11, 2001, and how it changed the world. Even after 19 years, it remains a day of profound sadness. TV