Around the dial

It came as a revelation to me, many years ago, to see a reference in an old TV Guide to "Win" Martindale. At first I assumed it was a typo, but as we can see in this post from the Broadcast Archives, Wink Martindale was known, for a time, as Win. Either way you look at it, he was one of game show history's biggest winners.

At Comfort TV, David's journey through 1970s TV takes us to Monday nights, 1976. The highlight, of course, was Monday Night Football, but for every touchdown (Little House), there's an incomplete pass or two: The Captain and Tennille, All's Fair, Executive Suite. Stick to the movies and the game.

John returns to the world of the private detective at Cult TV Blog, with a look at the Shoestring episode "Find the Lady," with our heroic private "ear" on the trail of a murder—or is it? Check out an interesting story with a stellar guest cast.

At Captain Video's Secret Sanctum, we take a look at 2009's Spaceballs: The Animated Series, which ran for 13 episodes, and is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from an animated Mel Brooks project. I wonder what I was doing that I don't remember this?

Does a movie count as TV if you saw it on your television? It does in this case, as at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy reviews the top four performances from one of the all-time greats, Toshiro Mifune. I've seen all four of these movies, and I can't argue with a one of them; they're all superb.

Speaking of superb, at The View from the Junkyard, Roger reviews the concluding episode of The New Avengers, "Emily," which serves as a fitting end to the series, "a celebration of everything this show does best."

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the legendary Brian Wilson, who died last week at 82. He was certainly a familiar face on television in the 1960s, given the prominence of the Beach Boys, and one of those tortured geniuses who accomplished so much, and paid a price for it.

Martin Grams is back with another selection of book reviews designed to appeal to the TV and film buff in you. I mention these not just because they sound interesting, but to remind me that I have a pile of books to review myself, all on hold while I finished my own book. Which is done, by the way.

And that leads to my reminder that if you'd like to sign up for updates on Darkness in Primetime: How Classic-Era TV Foresaw Modern Society's Descent into Hell, you can do so at this link. There's another reveal next week leading up to the August release date; why not take a moment to sign up? TV