October 25, 2024

Around the dial




This week begins at Reelweegiemidget, where Gill reviews Bionic Ever After, the 1994 telemovie that wraps up the saga of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman love story. Hopefully.

At Cult TV Blog, John takes a rare excursion into the world of Monty Python and the final series episode, "Michael Ellis." And I wonder if you really can purchase a flame thrower in a department store? I'll have to head over to Wal-Mart and find out.

If ever there's a time to sit back and enjoy a good horror movie (or even a non-so-good one), it's Halloween, and so David is right on point at Comfort TV with his look at the 1972 movie "Moon of the Wolf," with David Janssen, Barbara Rush, and John Beradino on hand to lend gravitas.

Let's continue with the genre at Classic Film & TV CafĂ©, where Rick riffs on 1981's Ghost Story, with Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. If the movie could have measured up to the book, or its distinguished cast, we might have had one for the ages. . .

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to Ron Ely, most famous as the star of the late-60s series Tarzan and the movie Doc Savage, who died last month, aged 86. He also appeared in the early-60s series The Aquanauts, many, many TV guest-star roles, and, infamously, as the man who replaced Bert Parks on Miss America. I also enjoyed his piece on the Los Angeles Dodgers on 1960s television; they were kind of the default team of TV, in some very enjoyable episodes. With the World Series coming up, this seems appropriate!

I always enjoy reading Andrew's posts at The Lucky Strike Papers when he references his mother, singer Sue Bennett, and her appearances on television, especially on Your Hit Parade or, in this case, Kay Kyser's television show. Some nice pictures as well.

The Hits Just Keep On Comin' goes back 20 years, to October 23, 2004, when, as JB remembers, there was a presidential election going on as well, as well as a World Series. There's something reassuring in tsignposts like those, the dependability that one can find in the rhythms of the calendar.

At Classic Fim and TV Corner, Maddy looks at one of the great acting dynasties of film and television, the Mills family: father John, and daughters Juliet and Hayley. All terrific, and of course I've got a soft spot for Juliet, whose autographed picture appears in our den. Maybe we'll add Hayley next year.

Finally, singer Jack Jones died today, aged 86; in addition to his recording career, he was a guest star on many variety shows over the years. And yet, for TV viewers, he's perhaps best-known for a show you didn't see him in, but he was part of every episode: The Love Boat, which wouldn't have been nearly as memorable if his rendition of the theme song didn't set the stage. Since we're only a couple of months from Christmas, why not end with a clip of him on the famed Judy Garland Christmas specialTV  

3 comments:

  1. Good bunch of stuff to check out. I am very happy the Bionic group got that last “happily ever after” movie. Thanks for the posts to explore.

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  2. With you on the hopefully Mitchell, btw did you get my invite for my John Saxon blogathon, be great to have you.

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Thanks for writing! Drive safely!