tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post3429360658822061669..comments2024-03-27T22:27:16.556-04:00Comments on It's About TV: This week in TV Guide: September 10, 1977Mitchell Hadleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08695771505209080030noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-75843974592005559552020-09-17T22:43:56.863-04:002020-09-17T22:43:56.863-04:00That episode of Happy Days where the Fonz and the ...That episode of Happy Days where the Fonz and the Cunninghams goes to Hollywood would be very notable. The actual reason for the cast going to California was that a talent scout looking for the next James Dean set up the Fonz for a screen test, only for the studio wanting to sign Richie up as the All-American apple pie type. However, that is not what was notable.<br /><br />The notable part of this 3 episode arc is one of the subplots. This deals with the Fonz being dared to water ski over an area inhabited by a shark. As you guessed it these were the "Jump the Shark" episodes in which Fonzie jumped over the shark with the actual jumping concluding the following week. <br /><br />For a show to "jump the shark" means that the show's quality starts to go downhill by subjecting the series to gimmicks and events that make a show become irrelevant to audiences. Many people have said that these episodes of Happy Days were the episodes that signaled a deterioration of quality. I kind of disagree. I always thought the show went downhill once Ron Howard (Richie) left for directing in 1980(season 7) Still others say that the show had gone downhill once Paramount started to film before a live audience (originally Happy Days used a single camera format the first and the bulk of its second season before converting to a multi-camera/ laugh track format. Regardless, the show was on the air for another 7 seasons.<br /><br />Also of note, these episodes shoe the beginnings of one Chachi Arcola (Scott Baio) as first a recurring, then later, an established character of the show, for what it's worth.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08378333389919276031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-3290940587456428832020-09-15T16:26:42.680-04:002020-09-15T16:26:42.680-04:00"Lucan," "Logan's Run" and..."Lucan," "Logan's Run" and "Tabitha" all received DVD releases, so there was a belief that some people would still be interested in them! David Hofstedehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288510542472710879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-85538058890747338772020-09-12T22:09:27.638-04:002020-09-12T22:09:27.638-04:00This has to do with Washington: Behind Closed Door...This has to do with <i>Washington: Behind Closed Doors</i>, and an Incredible Coincidence that calls itself to mind:<br /><br />As circumstance would have it, <i>W:BCD</i> was recently released on a legal DVD by the good folks at Acorn.<br /><br />Today (Saturday) I took it down from The Olde DVD Wall and gave it a preview (it's six feature-length TV-movies; I'll have to plan out the full viewing slate).<br />As we all should know, <i>W:BCD</i> is based on John Ehrlichman's <i>roman a clef</i> about his old gang at the Nixon White House, with names changed to turn it into a game show.<br />When ABC bought it and turned it into a miniseries, they gave it to two writers, David Rintels and Eric Bercovici, who took Ehrlichman's disenchantment with Nixon and ramped it up to the n+1th degree - but that's another story ...<br />What I'd forgotten in the 43 years since its original airing was one particular bit of casting:<br />"Elmer Morse", the J. Edgar Hoover cognate here, was played by Thayer David.<br />Also in 1977, Mr. David had starred in ABC and Paramount TV's <i>Nero Wolfe</i> pilot film - you know, the one based on <i>The Doorbell Rang</i>, in which Hoover and the FBI figure prominently (if not favorably).<br />The <i>Wolfe</i> pilot and <i>W:BCD</i> had to have been in production in close proximity to each other, something that ABC had to be mildly aware of at the time.<br />I was aware of the <i>Wolfe</i> pilot (I read about it in <i>TV Guide</i>'s Teletype), and was really looking forward to it; seeing Thayer David playing J. Edgar (sort of) in that same time frame ... well, it only made me want to see the pilot more - and made the disappearance, and posthumous reappearance in '79, all the more frustrating for me.<br />Ah well ... now both the <i>Wolfe</i> pilot and <i>Washington: Behind Closed Doors</i> reside in The Wall, to be reviewed at my leisure - So There Too!<br /><br />More later, maybe ... Mike Doranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427528138598549103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-40396876731543621262020-09-12T16:30:49.488-04:002020-09-12T16:30:49.488-04:00I really liked the series Rafferty at the time and...I really liked the series Rafferty at the time and watched it every week. I was a big fan of Patrick McGoohan.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-14118132955644733112020-09-12T15:19:00.454-04:002020-09-12T15:19:00.454-04:00I wouldn't mind finding some old episodes of S...I wouldn't mind finding some old episodes of San Pedro Beach Bums someday.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com