Around the dial

This week at Cult TV Blog, John revisits one of my favorite British imports, The Saint. Why do I like this series, aside from Roger Moore? "[T]hese episodes are a gift to the blogger. They draw on so many classic tropes of TV and film that it's pretty much impossible not to like them, they are old enough to have a number of outdated attitudes expressed that are a gift to comment on, and there's always the way Templar takes the nearest woman and flirts with her or does something outrageous to her. Seriously these posts write themselves." Amen. And John, I'd agree that The Saint is right there with Mission: Impossible and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

For this year's "Christmas in July" at Christmas TV History, Joanna is sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of It's a Wonderful Life, along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Go back and visit them all, but the most recent entry is this one on the 2014 sitcom Mulaney. 

Can you believe that William Schallert would have been 100 years old this year? I trust that if you're reading this blog you either know who Schallert is, or you'd recognize him if you saw him, especially as Martin Lane in The Patty Duke Show. Read about four of his credits that link back to that role Inner Toob.

At Classic Film & TV Café, Rick has a very interesting piece on Chandler, the 1971 mystery starring Warren Oates as a world-weary former P.I. trailing a woman played by Leslie Caron. (And who wouldn't?) The movie was let down by some horrid editing after the fact, blamed on your favorite villain and mine, James Aubrey. Read for some interesting comments by our own Mike Doran!

David is continuing his trek through 1970s TV at Comfort TV; this week, we're up to Wednesdays in 1970. I do, indeed, remember watching these series back in the day, when I'd watch whatever happened to be on at the time. That's not intended as a knock, by the way; it's the best way to find out what you like and don't like. Read them and see what you think.

A couple of weeks ago, Carol and Linda from Bob Crane: Life and Legacy presented a virtual event, entitled “Bob Crane: His Life, Career, and Unsolved Murder," and you can now see that entire event at this YouTube link. Even if you've read their book or are familiar with the story, you'll want to watch.

In a similar vein, Television Obscurities takes a day in the life of TV—in this case CBS on Tuesday, October 20, 1964—and shows how difficult it can be to research the status of lost shows. On that one day, on that one network, there are 11 hours of programming; multiply that by three networks and seven days a week, and you'll see, as Robert says, "The idea of trying to track down each and every program is staggering." Very interesting.

And in one of JB's retrospectives that I enjoy so much, he's taken a trip back to July 4, 1974, to see what it was we were watching, reading and listening to, what the world was dealing with, and how the sports world was shaking out. The more I remember, the older I feel! TV