Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project turns to "The Cheyney Vase," an episode from the series' first season, written by Robert Blees, and starring Darren McGavin as a would-be thief who gets quite a surprise.

By contrast, at The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan looks at the classic "Living Doll," from the series' fifth and final season, a Charles Beaumont story ghostwritten by Jerry Sohl, due to Beaumont's increasing dementia. It stars Telly Savalas and a very nasty talking doll.

At Cult TV Blog, John shares his thoughts on a pair of thoughtful, dystopic stories: The Guardians, a 1971 series presenting a totalitarian government in Britain, which looks quite interesting; and the very black 1969 comedy The Bed Sitting Room, featuring Dudley Moore and Rita Tushingham.

Despite my love for classic Doctor Who, I've had no interest in watching the last few seasons of the reboot, and no intention of doing so in the future. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to point out that a new season has begun with a new Doctor, and The View from the Junkyard has all the details.

Worth mentioning as well is news of a more positive (in my opinion) nature: Television Obscurities shares word that Warner Archives is releasing (in Blu-ray!) the 1959-60 series The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore, Jeff York, and Dorothy Provine. It's already on my want list.

Remember the Campbell's Soup Kids? They were a hallmark of Campbell's advertising, which had a significant presence on both radio and television. Travalanche looks at some of Campbell's offerings through the years, including a couple of vintage print ads featuring the Kids.

Finally, no fan of MST3K could overlook the news of Roger Corman's death last week, aged 98. At S Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has an appreciation for Corman's body of work, as well as his filmmaking legacy, which is just as considerable. R.I.P. TV