August 26, 2022

Around the dial




A bit of business to take care of first: only four copies of The Electronic Mirror remain, so if you're interested in getting one for free (plus postage and handling) send me an email! And now we return to our regular programming.

A new writer steps into the spotlight of Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare•bones e-zine: it's Kathleen Hite, and her third-season story "Disappearing Trick," with Robert Horton, Betsy von Furstenberg, and Mr. Drysdale—I mean, Raymond Bailey.

At last, one of John's shows that I've seen! I haven't actually seen the episode of Sapphire and Steel he's writing about this week at Cult TV Blog; it's part of the third assignment, and I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'll want to have this up when I do reach it.

Not many actors get a third act when it comes to TV series, but Dick Van Dyke did, with his eponymous sitcom, followed by his new eponymous sitcom, followed by Diagnosis: Murder, and at RealWeegieMidget, Gill looks at a DM telemovie, "The House on Sycamore Street." 

Once we cut the cord, we didn't get TCM anymore (but we do subscribe to The Criterion Channel, so I think it's a fair trade), but one of the things I do miss is Noir Alley, and for those of you with access to TCM, Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts has the highlights.

I've mentioned more than once that hanging around this site can make you old, and JB contributes to the feeling with his The Hits Just Keep on Comin' piece about two recent articles: the demise of the manual transmission, and Lynn Spigel's book TV Snapshots: An Archive of Everyday Life, which shows midcentury pictures featuring the television set as a focal point of the home. Not unlike the pictures you see at the top of each week's "Around the Dial." 

JB ends with a quote I'll borrow for the end as well, from novelist L. P. Hartley: "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." TV  

6 comments:

  1. Thanks, Mitchell! We haven't cut the cord yet, mainly due to TCM, Jeopardy!, and the NY Yankees.

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  2. Thanks for the mention Mitchell, have a fab weekend!

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  3. Your link to the Hitchcock review goes to a page called "Sapphire & Steel".

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  4. Hi Mitchell, would you consider sending a book to Finland if I throw in a review later this year?

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    1. Hi Gill! I'm going to the post office on Saturday--let me check out how much the shipping is, and I'll get back to you. I want to make sure it's not more expensive for you than it would be if you got it from Amazon, and I'd happily send a signed bookplate you could put in the front. But let me find out first--if it works, I'd be delighted to send it to you. Stay tuned!

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!