Around the dial

 

At Comfort TV, David moves through the 1970s to primetime Thursday, 1977, and if you're any kind of vintage TV fan, you'll recognize the hits on this list, from The Waltons to Barney Miller, and CHiPs thrown in for good measure.

John's latest at Cult TV Blog is the 1980s British anthology series Unnatural Causes, which is what it sounds like (strange deaths), and the play "Ladies' Night," written by the great Nigel Kneale, whose name readers of Darkness in Primetime will recognize, and starring one of my favorites, Alfred Burke. Good stuff.

Actress Valerie Perrine died this week, age 82, after a long battle with Parkinson's; Gil at Realweegiemidget and Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts both have tributes to her long and successful career. 

Terence gets a second mention this week, because he also has a 100th birthday feature on Gene Shalit, the longtime movie critic on Today. Like Terence, I grew up watching Gene on the show; there were times when he was the only sufferable person on the show. Happy birthday!

If it's Friday, then you know it's time for Roger's weekly review of The A-Team at The View from the Junkyard, and this week it's the episode "The Bells of St. Mary's," which is in no way to be confused with the movie of the same name, but a group of pop singer-damsels in distress from their corrupt management company. (Is there any other kind?)

Martin Grams turns to the written word with information for Twilight Zone fans as to where they can find more of the same kinds of stories. From short story collections to the magazine Gamma, Martin has some great suggestions.

At Drunk TV, Paul takes a break from the mundane horrors of modern life to look at season four of The Odd Couple, one of the really underrated classic sitcoms. I mean, people generally know it's good, yet it's often overlooked on best-of lists. Find out how good season 4 is.

If you'll remember, last week at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie presented the first in a series of photos, both candid and publicity shots, from classic film and television. This week, she's back for a second go-around, and many of these shots are just as fascinating and descriptive as the others. Check them out. TV

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