Around the dial

Photo by Stockcake.com

We start this week at Comfort TV, where David takes a look at five classic shows overdue for a remake. Keeping in mind how often these remakes fail (and even the ones that didn't, should have), I wouldn't mind seeing new versions of Playhouse 90, Ellery Queen, Honey West, and more.

John steps away from his Prisoner series at Cult TV Blog to review the 1988 miniseries Menace Unseen, a sinister little tale that takes from conspiracy theories, tech revolutions, some nice '80s vibes, and Ian Ogilvie to craft a compelling, if perhaps overly ambitious story.

At Television Obscurities, Robert shares an interesting compilation video of interviews taken with Ithaca College students regarding Rod Serling, who was a visiting professor at Ithaca for many years. Like Robert, I can't imagine what it would have been like to take a class from him.

Terence honors Rock Hudson at A Shroud of Thoughts on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of Rock's birth. The man really had an impressive CV of movie and television work; whether or not you think he was a great actor, there's no question he was a star. 

Care for some literature? Martin Grams has a look at Dick Tracy, Ace Detective, a full-length novel "written" and illustrated by Tracy creator Chester Gould. It's the first of two Tracy novels published by Whitman in the 1940s; I really should give him a second look.

At A View from the Junkyard, The A-Team comes to the assistance of a crime-fighting minister in "Pure-Dee Poison"; unfortunately, the episode has more than a few flaws, including what may perhaps be the dumbest group of bad guys forever, who make The Three Stooges look like geniuses. 

I always enjoy giving a shout-out to blogs celebrating anniversaries, and it's the third anniversary of Classic Film and TV Corner: congratulations, Maddy!

Finally, my latest American TV History video with Dan Schneider is up; it's the 100th anniversary of the Golden Age of Radio, which seemed like a good reason to talk about radio series that made the transition to television. It's a fun topic, and there are bound to be a few of your favorite TV shows that you didn't know had their origins in the theater of the mind. Enjoy! TV

If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider making a donation at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!