Around the dial

I trust you all had a great day yesterday, and you've recovered from any tryptophan hangover you might have had. So how about a classic TV hangover? I'll see what I can do.

At Comfort TV, David talks about the basic truths that we don't seem to understand anymore, but are embedded in many classic television shows. This is something I've been trying to articulate for many years, but wasn't able to do it nearly as well as David does. I understand that many people think television of today is superior, but I wonder how they feel about the values so many of these shows exhibit? I mean, does everyone live next door to an international drug dealer?

I am, of course, intrigued by a show called Virtual Murder, and even more intrigued by an episode called "Last Train to Hell and Back." The series is from 1992, and, as you might have guessed, John has all the details at Cult TV Blog, and I think you'll find it quite interesting.

The Broadcasting Archives has a note about Craig Allen of Arizona State University, winner of the 2022 Broadcast Historian Award for his book, Univision, Telemundo and the Rise of Spanish-Language Television. I mention this because I've taken to watching some of the World Cup matches on Telemundo rather than Fox—at least the ones that have the American announcers. I can't understand most of what they're saying, but soccer is a universal language, and it's one that American announcers don't communicate well.

At Bob Crane: Life & Legacy, Linda has a touching tribute to the late Robert Clary, which includes a portion of the correspondence Clary provided during the writing of the Bob Crane autobiography. He was, to be sure, a remarkable man. 

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks back at the career of Jay Silverheels, whom we probably know best as Tonto in The Lone Ranger, but as Terence points out, he played Geronimo three times in the movies, and they weren't cheap flicks either, with stars like James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, and Audie Murphy. 

Finally, in my next update of what I've been watching, you'll get some of my thoughts on Combat!, the great 1962-67 World War II series on ABC, a series that really brought the war home. But why wait until then, when you can read about the Combat! episodes from 1962 at Television's New Frontier: The 1960s. TV