Around the dial

It looks like someone didn't get the lesson in school about never sitting too close to the television set. Remember how they used to tell us it would ruin our eyes? They never said anything about it runing our mind. At any rate, your mind will only be enhanced by today's offerings. 

First off, in case you haven't seen this (I retweeted it earlier this week), you have to see this very smart, hilarious video by Rachel Lichtman of "Programme 4," the funniest network that never was, this side of SCTV. "Pinpoint parody," one viewer called it; I settled for "Sheer genius." Either way, you can see it here.

Next is Classic Film & TV Café, where Rick reviews Saddle the Wind, a 1958 movie written by Rod Serling, someone we generally associate with television. But this big screen movie, with a big-name cast including Robert Taylor, Julie London, and John Cassavetes, is well worth your time despite its flaws.

At Comfort TV, David returns to the concept of "Terrible Shows I Liked," or, in this case, would have liked: Dick Tracy, a 1967 pilot for a proposed series that never came to pass. It was produced by William Dozier, the brain behind TV's Batman, and would have been in much the same vein (even including Batman vet Victor Buono as Mr. Memory); it's too bad nothing came of it. 

There's a new subject in the Hitchcock Project at bare•bones e-zine: Charlotte Armstrong, who penned the fifth-season story "Across the Threshold," a tight little mystery with a twist ending, starring George Grizzard, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Patricia Collinge. A worthy addition to the Hitchcock collection.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues his series on the American Dream as seen in The X-Files, and I hope you've been keeping up with it, because it's the kind of thing that's going to make you think, something I thoroughly enjoy. I particularly like this entry, because it's excursions into capitalist wealth, Watergate, and allegory make some very good points.

You won't be surprised to know that I'm typing this on Thursday evening; as much as I love you all, I'm not getting up at 6 AM Friday morning to get this ready. And Thursday is the 45th anniversary of the murder of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane. Bob Crane: Life & Legacy remembers the event, and reminds us there was much more to him than some would have you believe.

The Broadcast Archives does some remembering as well, of Sonny Fox, best-known for hosting the children's show Wonderama, but responsible for much more, including the book But You Made the Front Page!, published in 2012. Ah, the stories he had to share.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas, especially if the name of your website is Christmas TV History, and this week Joanna announces her plans for this year's Christmas in July. I can promise you'll want to keep up with this!

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger and Mike put their minds to the wonderful Avengers episode "The Girl from AUNTIE," which of course has nothing to do with The Man from U.N.C.L.E. beyond the title. But it's The Avengers, right? And Steed is the centerpiece of the story. What more do you need?

One of the most controversial, as well as most influential, television programs of the 1970s was the PBS docuseries An American Family, which aired 50 years ago this year. I wrote about it a few years ago, and this week Travalanche looks back at the series and how it influenced television for decades to come.

Television's New Frontier: the 1960s looks at the medical series The Eleventh Hour, starring Wendell Corey and Jack Ging. Those of you following along here know that this has been one of my favorite series of recent years, and this gives you a good look at the 1962 episodes. Why WB never released the second season of this series—well, we probably know why, but I'd snap it up in a second.

I told you this would be an educational week, didn't I? TV