Around the dial

We start off the new year by looking back 50 years, to 1975, as David continues his Comfort TV voyage through television of the 1970s andTuesday nights in 1975. It's the beginning of ABC's dominance in the ratings, and with shows like Happy Days and Welcome Back Kotter, it's not hard to see why. But don't ignore Police Story and Good Times.

The "Ann Way Season" continues at Cult TV Blog, and this week, John looks at The Dick Emery Show, which ran on British TV from 1963 to 1981, and Ann's appearance in the episode "The Daily Grind." If you like Benny Hill, it sounds as if Dick Emery might be your kind of show.

Cult TV Lounge returns to the world of TV tie-in novels, in this case Michael Avallone's novel The Blazing Affair, based on The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. It tells a tale of baddies trying to revive the Third Reich, and has a somewhat more serious tone than the TV series itself.

At Drunk TV, Jason reviews the 2020 telemovie A Ring for Christmas, one of those wretched Christmas movies that pollute our TV screens; this one presents one of those absurd plots that, taken in limited doses, can make for good fun. Not for me, perhaps, but not everyone's like me!

The View from the Junkyard wrapped up The Avengers a while ago, but not to fear: they've moved on to The New Avengers! Its first episode, "The Eagle's Nest," introduces Steed's new sidekicks, and it's a nice continuation in tone from the old series.

Travalanche celebrates "Science Fiction Day" (January 2) with a look at TV's kid-oriented sci-fi shows of the late '40s and early '50s. As was the case with TV Westerns, the sci-fi genre would eventually become more adult-oriented, but here are eight that are still fun.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the late Linda Lavin, who died last week at 87. Although she's most-known for her starring role in Alice, she had a long career on Broadway and television, and Terence looks at some of the many highlights.

Cliff Norton was one of those character actors you might not recognize by name, but you may recall him when you see one of his many TV appearances. Those Were the Days gives us a capsule look at some of his roles, on shows from The Dick Van Dyke Show to Green Acres.

There was something magic about doing live television, and at The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew gives us an excerpt from a 1963 essay in which Norman Mailer writes about how the end of live TV meant the loss of a particular connection with viewers. Something to think about. TV