Around the dial

Xt Comfort TV, David addresses a topic near and dear to my heart: the 15 best classic TV shows still not available on DVD. People who depend on streaming for their classic TV may be sorry when those programs suddenly disappear, but your DVDs are your own. And not only The Defenders: where are the second seasons of Burke's Law and The Eleventh Hour? 

Gill is back at Reelweegiemidget with another edition of recommended TV movies from the last month. The viewing list from August includes flicks starring William Shatner, James Brolin, Mike Farrell, Cheryl Ladd, and more; be sure to look for your favorites. 

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project looks at the ninth-season episode "A Nice Touch," by Mann Rubin. Anne Baxter and George Segal star in a murder mystery that has a nice touch, indeed. By the way, I remember how nice it was to find out that Mann Rubin was an actual person and not a pseudonym; it always sounded like one of those names WB would come up with during a writers' strike.

John starts a new series at Cult TV Blog in which he focuses not on the shows, but on the stars who appear in them. First up on his list is the British actor Denis Shaw, and John looks at his performance in The Prisoner episode "Checkmate." Looking forward to this.

At Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy has a charming story of the time her mother met Roy Rogers and Trigger. Roy was one of the most accessible of stars, and it's nice to see others sharing their stories of meeting him!

Peter Marshall's recent death brings to mind Bob Quigley, the producer of The Hollywood Squares and, coincidentelly, the head writer on Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge. And that is what brings us to The Lucky Strike Papers, for Andrew's mother, Sue Bennett, was a singer on Kyser's show. Read all about it.

SerlingFest 2024 is next weekend in Binghamton, New York, and Paul has all the details at Shadow & Substance, including a stimulating lineup of guest speakers, video presentations, and, on Sunday, the dedication of the Rod Serling statue. We'll have to visit this fest some year!

 

A Shroud of Thoughts and Travalanche both have tributes to the late James Darren, who died earlier this week at the age of 88. From Gidget to The Time Tunnel, from singing to acting, his was an impressive career; he was also, from what I hear, a great guy as well. Terence's piece is here, while you can read what Trav has to say here.

Finally, A View from the Junkyard gives us our weekly Avengers fix, with an excellent episode from the Steed/Tara season: "Requiem." Or is it excellent? See what Roger and Mike have to say; better yet, watch it for yourself and make up your own mind. TV