March 4, 2022

Around the dial




Xf these aren't crisis times right now, I don't know what is. And yet it's also true that life keeps going on; it's important to realize that it does no good to worry about things that are out of your control. You pray about them, and then move on and get on with life—after all, we only get one shot at it. At Comfort TV David looks back at how television has always been a source of relief during those times, and why those programs can still work for us today.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie provides a welcome update on the progress of her Garroway biography, focusing on adventures with gaining access to reproducing various photos of the Master Communicator. (I thought focusing was a good way to describe that, don't you?) I'll really be ready to enjoy this book when it's published.

The Flaming Nose is back with a tribute to The Musketeers, the 2014 BBC adaptation of the Dumas classic that's been so much a part of the adventure genre. A very interesting note: "Twenty years ago, there were 182 series produced. Today, that number has exploded to 559 series." And even so, it can be hard to find gems in all that content.

Let's keep the accent on Britain with Cult TV, and an episode from the BBC comedy Rutland Weekend Television, which John describes as "a Pythonesque account of the nature of television itself." Now, I'm not sure how much more you can satirize television than its reality, but they managed to do it. 

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence says farewell and looks back at the career of Sally Kellerman, who died last week aged 84. She was a mainstay on television in the 1960s before moving to the big screen, but continued her TV work into the 21st Century. 

Television's New Frontier: The 1960s investigates the 1962 episodes of the curious series Thriller. I say "curious" because this series never seemed to quite figure out what it was supposed to be, and never really utilized Boris Karloff to the best advantage. As a whole, it should have been better than it was, but it still has some stellar episodes. 

At Shadow & Substance, Paul looks back at how Rod Serling's attitude toward "the right length for a Twilight Zone" changed over time. (Get it?) At first, Rod thought an hour was the perfect length, but by the time CBS asked him to lengthen the show, he'd come to see that a tightly-written 30 minute script can say a lot.

Care for a little self-promotion? At Eventually Supertrain, yours truly is back with Dan Budnick talking about Search. Sadly, it's the next-to-last episode, so don't miss it! Also on the show, The Night Stalker and Battlestar Galactica

And ending on a light note, here's Martin Grams with some very funny cartoons featuring the Lone Ranger and Tonto. If we must face the crisis, we might as well do so with a smile. TV  

1 comment:

  1. Apart from her role in the original "M*A*S*H" movie, Sally Kellerman is best remembered for her guest star role of Starfleet/United Federation Of Planets psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the second pilot of the original "Star Trek" series.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!