Love That Bob: A 70th anniversary celebration

Today I'm pleased to welcome Hal Horn to "It's About TV" for a look at the 70th anniversary of Love That Bob, also known as The Bob Cummings Show. You'll recognize Hal from his blog The Horn Section, where he's demonstrated his status over the years as an expert on F Troop and Hondo, among other shows; this week we'll benefit from his expertise on Bob Cummings, one of the most popular television stars of the era, reflected in the success of Love That Bob, which ran for five seasons and 173 episodes. Take it away, Hal!  

by Hal Horn

Oargaret: He's an example of good, clean living!  Early to bed, early to rise—

Bob: —and your girl goes out with the other guys!

The year 2025 marks the 70th anniversary for a trio of genuine classics of the sitcom genre. The Honeymooners stayed in the public consciousness for decades despite only having 39 filmed installments available: testament to the brilliance of Jackie Gleason's vision and the timelessness of the Gleason/Carney comedy team, still one of the medium's very best. Nat Hiken's venerated Phil Silvers Show might not be as ubiquitous on the airwaves as it once was, but MeTV has aired it in recent years and the eight-time Emmy winner is (like The Honeymooners) available in its entirety on home video.  

Our third pioneering septuagenarian series has receded significantly from cable channels since its most recent memorable run on CBN during the 1980's, and has seen innumerable episodes lapse into the public domain since that time. With its 173 segments (nearly as many as the aforementioned shows combined) relegated to cheap PD DVD releases of the same (mostly late season) twenty-ish episodes over and over, it has never seen remastering nor even a complete season made available on VHS, DVD or Blu. As a result, one of the greatest situation comedies of TV's first decade and the first hit for the producer who would dominate its second is sadly far less available than it deserves to be: Love That Bob, also known as The Bob Cummings Show.

Love That Bob was TV's first sex comedy, about a man taking Hugh Hefner's playboy philosophy to heart and living it out while his married peers often lived vicariously through him. Set in Los Angeles, the show centered around the adventures of single ace photographer Bob Collins, surrounded by beautiful fashion models--among them Joi Lansing, Lisa Gaye, and Miss Sweden Ingrid Goude.  Squiring all of them around town every chance he got, Bob carefully tiptoed away every time the subject of marriage came up.

And it came up often, as he lived with his widowed sister Margaret (Rosemary DeCamp) and her son Chuck (Dwayne Hickman, aka Dobie Gillis). Margaret was always worried about the example being set for her son, who clearly emulated and envied Uncle Bob. Plots centered around Bob's active dating life and numerous attempts at romantic conquests, the efforts of several of his models to settle him down for good, and the attempts of his loyal, plain Jane assistant Schultzy (Ann B. Davis, The Brady Bunch) to win her boss' heart herself. (Davis won two Emmys for her work, the only ones the show would win, but Cummings and director Rod Amateau were among the others receiving well-deserved nominations) 

While marriage was a sacred institution in shows ranging from Father Knows Best to Leave It to Beaver, Love That Bob stood proudly in presenting an alternative view. Married life was represented by henpecked Harvey Helm (named after the Burns and Allen writer in one of the show's numerous in-jokes; Burns' McCadden Productions co-produced and co-owned this series). Helm's wife Ruth ruled the roost in his household, intimidating her Air Force vet hubby physically as well as mentally, despite her slight stature. Of course, as played by King Donovan, Harv seems even slighter than his 5'8" height by a good five inches. Harv lives in perpetual terror of Ruthie and completely harried by their two kids every time we see him. "Wolves" Bob and their Air Force buddy Paul Fonda (the omnipresent Lyle Talbot) sure seem to be having a lot more fun being single than Harv ever will.

Produced by Paul Henning (who as mentioned would later rule the 1960s with The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction), The Bob Cummings Show was wittily written by a crack staff headed by Henning for the entire five-season run. That staff at various times included Phil Shuken, Dick Wesson and Bill Manhoff, with Shirl Gordon providing a very welcome female perspective on the proceedings. The bulk of the episodes were directed by Rod Amateau (the first two seasons) and Bob Cummings himself (he took over from Norman Tokar halfway through the third season and guided each episode until the 1959 finale).  

Many of those who do comment on the show make fun of how unlikely a ladies' man Bob was, citing his overly theatrical mannerisms and cliched pickup lines. I think these reviewers miss the point. I mean, Hef didn't have all of those women around him because of his looks or cool either. Bob Collins was not only a financially successful single man, but he was also in a position to further a model's career as one of Hollywood's top shutterbugs. If he was objectifying the models, they were certainly objectifying him too. Tit for Tat—literally! 

Also, Bob's age (his late 40's offscreen, though Collins is probably pushing 40—both older then than they are now) is not ignored and hints are dropped regarding the coming youth revolution. He is reminded by his sister that "it's later than you think" and he clearly feels threatened on those rare occasions when a younger muscleman is around. "Bob Gets Out-Uncled" is a great example of the latter, guest starring Los Angeles Rams star Elroy Hirsch; another is "Bob Meets Miss Sweden" which saw him competing with Tarzan himself, Gordon Scott. While Bob is an Air Force reserve Colonel (distancing him considerably from pure Bon Vivant Hefner) and in good shape, he's no physical match for these younger he-men.

Love That Bob is downright educational, too—to see what passed for a sex comedy within the rigid rules of 1950's television, and it is startling at times to see how far BOB (and Bob) could go within those boundaries. Margaret was his sister, but she acted an awful lot like a wife in most episodes, and her son Chuck looked a lot like Bob. . . enough to pass for his son. Bob was constantly put in the position of having to hide his latest romance from Margaret for various reasons, often sneaking out the kitchen (back) door to avoid "getting caught". Viewed within this context some episodes operate as "how to cheat on your spouse" primers, a full decade before Guide for the Married Man and in an era far more noted for gentle family comedy along the lines of Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It to Beaver.

In Love That Bob you also get to see Paul Henning laying the groundwork for his later series. as the Collins family traveled "back home" to Joplin, Missouri (both Henning and Cummings were natives) often. This allowed Cummings to whiten his hair, hunch over and play his own grandfather--an older and arguably hornier version of Bob, right down to the penchant for aviation and his own country photography studio where the old-timer could woo models too. Future "Miss Jane" Nancy Kulp plays a birdwatching expert in multiple episodes who, like Schultzy, pined for Bob but couldn't compete with the curvy models. And while Henning was credited with introducing multi-episode arcs to sitcoms on Hillbillies, he actually started doing it on Love That Bob. Among the more memorable ones: a "will he or won't he" with guest star Lola Albright almost getting Bob to the alter across six 1955 episodes; Chuck's four episode foray into singing; and a screamingly funny two-parter with Bob saving Harvey Helm's job by double dating with obnoxious furniture king Jesse White.

While Bilko and Ralph Kramden almost always failed in their get-rich-quick schemes, Bob Collins frequently succeeded in his romantic conquests despite the forces of conventionality lined up against him.  Yes, he crashed and burned often under his own hubris (two great examples: "Bob Batches It" and "Bob and Automation") but there's a startling number of times that Bob has either succeeded already ("Bob and the Ballerina") or it is clear that he's about to ("Bob Traps a Wolf," "The Dominant Sex") before we diplomatically fade to black. Bilko never got rich, but Bob certainly did get laid.  Offscreen, of course—we had boundaries seven decades ago. Rather strict ones, and in a decade with precious few subversives on the tube, you can make a strong case that Bob Collins out-rebeled Kingfish, Bilko and the Maverick brothers.  

Getting Love That Bob/The Bob Cummings Show the greater recognition and availability it deserves has been a cause celebre of The Horn Section for some time now. To that end, I'm 48 episodes into my episode guide for the show, and my YouTube channel has nine episodes that aren't among those twenty-ish in public domain Hell available for viewing. While two are from the disappointing final season, the other seven are from the show's prime years, its second through fourth seasons. I hope to have more on the way in the coming months. In closing, I'd like to thank Mitchell for inviting me to guest post on It's About TV. TV  

Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's first Hitchcock Project of the new year is "Make My Death Bed," a sixth-season episode by "Henry A. Cogge," dealing with a nasty suburban triangle that invariably involves murder.

The "Ann Way Season" continues apace at Cult TV Blog, and this week John visits the British detective series Shoestring and the episode "The Farmer Had a Wife," which features Ann as an informant who triggers a murder investigation.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes note of the 70th anniversary of The Bob Cummings Show, which we know from Hal Horn as Love That Bob. You'll pardon me if I still have difficulty accepting that some of my favorite shows are that old, because it means I'm getting close to being that old myself.

Those Were the Days takes a look back at the career of character actor Hal Smith, whom we probably know best as Otis, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. It shouldn't surprise us that his body of work encompassed many more roles in television, the movies, and voice work.

It's quite possible that you only remember Betty Furness as the commercial spokeswoman for Westinghouse on Studio One, but as Travalanche reminds us, she had a very successful career in movies and television, and did a stint as LBJ's Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger takes on "House of Cards," the second episode of The New Avengers, in which we find Steed in a precarious position, with Purdy needing to stay one step ahead in order to save him.

Finally, it's impossible not to think about the fires currently ravaging the Los Angeles area. I don't know how many of our readers are affected by them, but it warrents a moment or two of consideration. The losses suffered by these poor people is unimaginable—and yes, while it's true that many of them are wealthy, many of them aren't, and most of them have lost everything they have; in a few cases, even their lives. There's every reason to believe that certain officials and their policies bear a responsibility for what is happening, but there's not much most of us can do about that. What we can do, and should do, is pray for the safety of all concerned, and that the fires will be brought under control. It might also be a good idea for us all to take a moment and be grateful for our blessings, for the fact that our lives, regardless of whatever challenges we face, might not be so bad after all. TV  

Around the dial

Most of today's commercials are—what would you say? Odes to crass materialism? Of course, that's always been a part of advertising. But sometimes a commercial can evokes an era long left behind, and at Comfort TV, David looks at one such commercial: the 1977 "Here's to good friends" commercial for Löwenbräu. I think you'll know just what David is talking about.

Christmas has produced more than its share of good times, at least for me, and at Christmas TV History Joanna continues her month-long look at some of those memories created by various adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Next up: Ebenezer, a 1998 Western-themed remake with Jack Palance as a terrific Scrooge.

At bare•bones e-zine, Jack continues the Hitchcock Project with the second of Charlotte Armstrong's scripts for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Sybilla," a domestic drama with a very big twist, starring Alexander Scorby and Barbara Bel Geddes.

John takes a break from his American Dream and The X-Files series at Cult TV Blog to watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the second-season episode "The Birds and the Bees Affair," an "insane" story about bees being used as killer weapons. Some of the ideas could have come right out of the CIA handbook. . .

We haven't heard from The Horn Section for awhile, so this week Hal makes up for it with a two-parter from Love That Bob's final season in 1959: "Bob Helps Martha," and "Bob Helps Von Zell." The great Rose Marie plays Martha in the first episode, while Harry Von Zell appears as himself in the second, as does George Burns. 

At Cult TV Lounge, we're up to a fine Tara King episode that I quite enjoyed: "The Interrogators," with Christopher Lee in terrific form as a sinister British office who may or may not be what he seems. Of course, any episode in which Steed gets to use his armored bowler hat is a guarantee.

Martin Grams has some book reviews for you in you're in the mood for some nice reading material. The five books in question are career bios of Betty White, Carol Lynley, Jeanne Eagels, Barbara Nichols, and Sylvia Sidney. A star and an era for just about anyone, I'd say.

Here's something from last week that I'm catching up on: at Television Obscurities, Robert celebrats "Lost TV Day" with a look at the programming shown on ABC on Thursday, January 12, 1961. This inclusive article shows just how difficult it can be to accurately research American television. It also shows how such a valuable archive was treated with so little care.

At  The View from the Junkyard, Roger reviews the Columbo episode "Murder in Malibu," one of the "new" Columbo episodes, and a rarity: a truly bad episode, featuring bad acting from almost everyone, a weak twist, and a case against the killer that's "falling apart at the seams, inside-out, back-to-front, and the label is showing." Ouch!

Travlanche celebrates the 110th birthday of Dave Garroway, and talks about his legacy in television history, especially Today. And if there's anyone who can tell you what that legacy is all about, it's my friend Jodie at Garroway at Large, who wrote the book on Dave. Her book, Peace, is a winner for anyone who wants to know more about both Dave Garroway and television history, and you can buy it here.

Finally, a link to my latest appearance on The Dan Schneider Video Interview. It's a real treat this week, as the aforementioned Martin Grams joins us to talk about The Twilight Zone, and I can't think of anyone more qualified to do so. You can view it here. By the way, things have been a bit busy here, so if you've left a comment on the blog and haven't seen a reply yet, I'll be doing those today. TV  

This week in TV Guide: April 9, 1955

When I was a kid playing with model trains, there was a line of accessories that you could use to build your own village, complete with stores, factories, and even a depot. It was called Plasticville, and it was (and is; it's still around) pretty cool. But can Plasticville possibly compete with Videotown, U.S.A.? 

Videotown is also known as New Brunswick, New Jersey, a community of nearly 40,000, which has been studied—"relentlessly scrutinized," as Frank De Blois calls it—for the last seven years to find out the impact TV has had on the community, "and, by extension, on all the rest of us." The raw figures tell us that 83 percent of families in Videotown own televisions (compared with 64 percent who own cars, and 80 percent with telephones), that the average size is 21 inches and that the family room is built around it, that 74 percent turn on the set at least once a day, and that the longer they have a set, the more they use it—at least three hours a day. What those numbers don't tell us is the effect television has had on these people. That is what we're about to find out.

It all started in 1948; there were 267 sets in the town at that point, and because of its proximity to New York City, the advertising firm of Cunningham and Walsh decided to launch their study. One of their initial conclusions was that, interestingly enough, television brought families together. "Children stopped playing stickball in the street. Parents quit going to the movies. Bowling leagues broke up. Even the sale of comic books went down. Result: the living room once again became the social center of the family." Said one mother in 1950, "We all stay home now. TV is wonderful." Women began doing their daily routine early in the morning, so they could get to watching TV. "It takes up so much of my time," one woman confided, "that I don't have enough left to do my housework." 

Since then, things have evened out a bit; "[P]eople began to go out to the movies again, to read books and magazines once in a while, and to get back into the bowling league. Even radio made a comeback." Even so, people continued to watch as much TV as ever: "Monday through Friday nights husbands total 13.3 hours; wives, 13.8 hours; kiddies 7.7." The conclusion, according to the firm's research chief Gerald Tasker, was that "for one thing, most viewers had completely stopped visiting their friends." When television first came along, one housewife recalls, "our neighbors used to come in every week and look at Milton Berle with us. But now they got the TV too—and whenever Milton Berle goes on, why, me and Pa just sit there and watch him all alone." Sure enough: whereas 25 percent used to go visiting or entertain, the number has now dropped to 10 percent. And that's how they can continue to go to movies, go bowling, read, or listen to the radio. Those who go out have simply traded one kind of socializing for another, but for those who don't leave the house at all, it's just them and their TV.

One of the broad conclusions that everyone seems to agree on is that people love their TVs ("It's the greatest thing in the world!"), and they'd hate to go without it. ("We'd rather hock the ice box.") The rest of the results are, as you might say, mixed: TV either starts or stops fights, it's good or bad for the eyes, it's better or worse than radio, and so on. 

It's hard to draw a direct parallel between 1955 and today, thanks to social media; you'd have to compare the number of hours people watched television back then with the number of hours they spend looking at their screens now. There are other differences; the multiplication of options and the introduction of various options for on-demand viewing mean that television—media, we have to call it—is no longer a unifying experience, with people watching the same shows at the same time. What it has succeeded in doing is isolating people, not only from their neighbors but from their own family members, as everyone retreats into his or her own virtual world. And it's trivialized so, so much; I do wonder if everyone still thinks of television as "the greatest thing in the world." 

On my reading list is Neil Postman's provocative Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, which I expect is going to have a lot to say about the effect television has had on our society. Once I've read it, you can be sure I'll be back to this subject. Maybe Videotown, U.S.A. is just another Plasticville after all.

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Here's something for my friend Hal Horn at The Horn Section: a profile of Bob Cummings, the "up and coming" star of The Bob Cummings Show, better known as Love That Bob. He's also the star of My Hero, which is currently in reruns and scoring healthy ratings. And he's also "a man endowed with a talent for spinning yarns so complicated and so fantastic—and yet, coming from him, so believable—that people believe them." For example, there are at least five different versions of how he came upon "Robert S. Beanblossom," the name of his My Hero character; the latest one says Beanblossom was a man who found a mechanical pencil that Cummings had lost and carried it with him for 16 years until he could return it to Cummings. 

Bob with co-star Ann B. Davis

Cummings is considered one of the most versatile performers in Hollywood, particularly in light comedies, but he's also made several movies, a Studio One drama, and a musical for NBC. (That Studio One drama, although the article doesn't mention this, was "Twelve Angry Men," in which he played the Henry Fonda role, and brilliantly.) And he's not afraid to use his influence, either: not only does he deliver the commercials on his show, he won the right to write them as well.

The concept for his new show—a Hollywood photographer with an eye for the starlets he snaps—came to Cummings in an episode he wrote for My Hero; independent of that, a similar idea had also come to Paul Henning, writer for Burns and Allen. When Henning approached Cummings with the idea, it turned out that Cummings had been about to call him with the same idea. Henning is now the show's producer and its only writer. The Bob Cummings Show will run for five successful seasons, and though Bob will have two other series and will appear many times on other shows (including a memorable appearance on The Twilight Zone), audiences will never love Bob as much as they do now.

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Sunday is Easter, and as is to be expected in the 1950s, television takes notice. Besides five chuch services on Sunday morning (two Catholic, two Episcopal, one Baptist for those of you keeping count at home), we have coverage of New York's Easter Parade on not one, but two stations. WPIX's ambitious two-hour broadcast, starting at 11:30 a.m., features Ed Sullivan as host and actress Haila Stoddard providing fashion commentary, plus the Georgetown Chimes a cappella group performing Easter songs, actress Patty McCormack reciting an Easter powm, Easter art fromt he Metropolitan Museum of Art, UN members talking about how the holiday is celebrated in their countries, appearances by Nancy Kelly, Don Ameche and other stars, and President Eisenhower's Easter message from Washington. Over on WRCA, coverage begins at 12:30 pm, with Ben Grauer on Fifth Avenue, Arlene Francis covering an international fashion show from the Hotel Pierre, and music from soprano Mimi Benzell and the Robert Shaw Male Chorus. Another Easter fashion show follows on WRCA at 1:00 p.m., this one from the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, hosted by Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg. The show's called "The World of Silk," and it's sponsored, surprisingly, by the International Silk Association.

One of the day's highlights has to be The Kuklapolitan Easter Show (6:30 p.m., ABC), starring Fletcher Rabbit, with Fran Allison and the rest of Burr Tillstrom's Kuklapolitan puppets, plus a "special appearance" by Kukla and Ollie. It's an "egg-sighting" tour of the Easter Bunny's famous Egg Plant, and I think this would be a delightful show to see. The Hallmark Hall of Fame presents "Lydia" (5:00 p.m., NBC), with Sarah Churchill as a Greek pagan converted by the apostle Paul; there's also a special Easter show by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians on G.E. Theater (9:00 p.m., CBS) to round out the evening.

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There's music in the air this week as well, with a couple of specials to look forward to. Max Liebman's monthly "spectacular" on NBC is the Franz Lehar operetta, The Merry Widow, with Anne Jeffreys, Brian Sullivan, Edward Everett Horton, and John Conte heading the cast. (Saturday, 9:00 p.m.) And on Sunday, The Colgate Comedy Hour turns itself over to an hour-long adaptation of Roberta, the Jerome Kern-Otto Harbach operetta, starring Gordon MacRae, Nina Foch, Agnes Moorehead, and Jack Carter. The orchestra is conducted by Carmen Dragon, whom, we all know, is the father of Daryl Dragon, the former husband of Toni Tennille. (8:00 p.m., NBC)

As if that isn't enough, baseball season starts on Monday, with two traditions: the Cincinnati Redlegs, the first professional baseball team, opens the National League season at home against the Chicago Cubs, while in Washington D.C., President Eisenhower is on hand for the Senators opener against the Baltimore Orioles. However, in New York the television season begins much earlier; on Saturday, WOR carries the pre-season game betwen the Yankees and Dodgers from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn (1:55 p.m., with Vin Scully on the play-by-play!). and on Sunday the two teams meet again, this time at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. (1:55 p.m., WPIX, with Mel Allen and Red Barber) You might wonder how baseball was handled in a three-team city like New York; WOR is the hme of the Dodgers, with all 77 home games and 25 road games on the channel; the Yankees and the New York Giants both call WPIX home, with each team having their 77 home games carried. Including the two exhibition games over the weekend, that means New Yorkers will be blessed with 258 games from which to choose. And here's a footnote: all three teams start weekday night games at 8:00 p.m. or so, much later than teams do today. Fewer night games, shorter games, and less crime are your reasons.

Keeping with the baseball motif, Ed Sullivan introduces all the stars on Toast of the Town. (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., CBS) The lineup includes Willie Mays, Pee Wee Reese, Dusty Rhodes, Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, Vic Wertz, and Jerry Coleman. The first televised regular season games are on Tuesday (Dodgers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:25 on WOR; Yankees vs. Senators at 1:55 on WPIX.) Play ball!

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Some big names on Monday's shows: Robert Montgomery Presents stars Montgomery himself as Jay Gatsby in "The Great Gatsby" (9:30 p.m., NBC), which also includes Phyllis Kirk as Daisy, Ed Binns as Nick, John Newland (host of One Step Beyond) as Tom Buchanan, and Gena Rowlands as Myrtle. And at 10:00 p.m. on CBS's Studio One, Louis Jourdan stars as a Czechoslovakian hockey player plotting to defect after the Soviets take over his country, in "Passage at Arms"; Theodore Bikel is part of the supporting cast.

On Tuesday's Today (7:00 a.m., NBC), Dave Garroway interviews film producer Stanley Kramer; if Kramer's there to promote a movie (the listing doesn't say), it's probably Not as a Stranger, which comes out in June, and stars Olivia de Havilland, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, and Lee Marvin. Also, "[a]n armored truce is scheduled to drie up with a million dollars worth of jewels and Jinx Falkenburg inside." Whether the guards are for the jewels or Jinx isn't said. 

But since this is the second mention of Jinx Falkenburg in a handful of pages, let's take a timeout for a minute. Last year, after she appeared in a TV Guide from 1951, I noted that Jinx Falkenburg was the owner of the nightgown that Rita Hayworth wore in her famous pinup. Which is why I'm submitting this for your approval.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Tuesday night Wendell Corey and Keenan Wynn star in Rod Serling's "The Rack" on The United States Steel Hour (9:30 p.m., ABC). "The Rack" is a Korean War story about a decorated Army officer being court-martialed for collaborating with the Chinese as a result of being tortured in a POW camp. Marshall Thompson (Daktari) plays the young captain facing charges of treason; when the story's made into a movie the following year, the role's played by Paul Newman. The lesson remains that torture is second in immorality only to war itself.

Wednesday's Disneyland sees the premier of the three-part story "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter" (7:30 p.m., ABC), shot on location in the Great Smoky Mountains and along the Ohio River, an impressive achievement for television. Fess Parker stars as Crockett, with Buddy Ebsen as George Russell. The Hollywood TV Teletype reports that Disney has already decided on four more Crockett films for next season.

This month's Shower of Stars (Thursday, 8:30 p.m., CBS) is called "Show Stoppers," and it figures to deliver, with Ethel Merman, Red Skelton, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, Harold Lang, and Cindy Robbins. It's nice to see how the ad reassures us that, even if you don't have a color set yet (a status that applies to roughly most of the country), you can still enjoy it in black and white. Later, on Four Star Playhouse (9:30 p.m., CBS), Charles Boyer and Angela Lansbury star in "Madeira! Madeira!" and Charles Bickford stars in "The Woman at Fog Point" on Ford Theatre (9:30 p.m., NBC). A big night for stars, indeed.

I don't know why, but I noticed the debut of a program on WOR called A Man's World (Friday, 7:00 p.m.), described as "a weekly series of fashion hints for men," starring a man with the unlikely name of Bert Bacharach. And no, of course it's not the composer. It's his father. 

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Finally, a collection of those clever slides you used to see on your screen whenever technical difficulties would arise, which in the early days of television happened relatively often. There must have been a million of these at one time or another; these are some of them.

I'm sure we're all grateful that technology has become more dependable over the decades, but there's something charmingly playful that's missing from our oh-so-serious way of doing things, even as the things we do continue to seem less and less serious. The 3D, CGI graphics, slick and polished and identical no matter what or where the channel is—is there really no room for them today? As the pioneers of television might say, so uncreative. TV  

Around the dial

This week begins with the return of Love That Bob to The Horn Section, and this time Bob's not the wolf preying on a lovely—he's actually trying to protect the lovely from another wolf: his friend Paul Fonda (Lyle Talbot). How does it work when the shoe's on the other foot, so to speak? Read what Hal has to say.

Something unusual at Cult TV Blog; John looks at the never-aired pilot for Blackadder, Rowan Atkinson's wonderfully funny alt take on British history. The entire Blackadder series is one of my favorites, and its quite interesting to document the differences between the series as aired and this pilot; as John says, it's hard to disagree with the changes made between the pilot and the series.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the career of producer and director Bert I. Gordon, who died last week, aged 100. Dedicated MST3K fans will recognize many of his movies, which tormented and delighted the show's fans: King Dinosaur, Beginning of the End, The Amazing Colossal Man, War of the Colossal Beast, Earth vs. the Spider, Tormented, Village of the Giants. Colossal!

Here's something you're not going to see in any store anytime soon, unless it deals in antiques: a television tube tester, courtesy of the Broadcasting Archives. I'm grateful, of course, for the new technology in TV, but there was something warm about those old sets, especially in the store, that I still remember. Wouldn't the tech who operated the tube tester have had a great line for What's My Line?

Episode 144 of Eventually Supertrain is up, and while we haven't gotten to Supertrain yet, Dan does have discussions of Lucan, Gemini Man, and something new, so be sure and check it out when you've got some time.

At Travelanche, a subject that, as he says, is sure to divide his audience: Jerry Lewis on television. I've always enjoyed him as a performer and humanitarian (I'm agnostic on his personal life), but there's no questioning that the man made a major impact on television history.

And if all this talk about classic television has got you in the mood for watching some, a reminder that one of the best places on the whole internet for viewing is Uncle Earl's Classic Television. This is one of my go-to sites, especially for shows that lack a proper DVD release. If you want to see for yourself what I keep talking about, go over there and visit the library. TV  

Around the dial

Here we all are, at the end of another year. Some of you will be taking the weekend off, so I'll wish you all a Happy New Year now. Fortunately, we've got some items here to help you see the year off.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack wraps up the Jerry Sohl segment of the Hitchcock Project with the sixth season episode "A Secret Life," based on the short story by Nicholas Monsarrat. One of my favorite aspects of the Hitchcock Project is how Jack shows the evolution of an adaptation from its origins to the screen; in this case, the results are somewhat lacking.

As you know from reading Comfort TV, David has been going through 1970s TV, year-by-year, night-by-night. We're now up to Wednesday, 1971, and that means everything from Adam-12, Bewitched, and Mannix to Shirley's World and The Man and the City. See how many of them you remember.

Jack returns to the British series Tales of Unease this week at Cult TV Blog, and the episode "Ride Ride," a variation on the vanishing hitchhiker story that goes beyond some of the usual tropes to strike at the fears inside all of us.

At The Horn Section, Hal is back with Love That Bob!, and this week it's the story about a character having to live up to their tall tales about being a star in Hollywood. In this case, the character is Schultzy, and it's up to Bob (with some help from Alan Ladd!) to get her out of the jam.

Remember that the Christmas season runs through January 6. That means Christmas specials are still in the queue for viewing, and at Silver Scenes, the Metzingers have highlighted some specials available at Tubi, ones that you might not have seen lately. Check them out!

One of the specials we watch every year is "Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank," the Christmas episode of The Frank Sinatra Show that features guest star Bing Crosby. At Drunk TV, Paul takes a delightful look back at this quirky episode, including a comment from Bing that might give one payse today.

Finally, last week I mentioned that Diane McBain had died, along with my suspicions that we'd see a more in-depth obituary this week. Terence has that at A Shroud of Thoughts, showing the wide range of roles she could play, and why she'll be missed. TV  

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Xhat picture on top is of grade school kids in my former hometown of Minneapolis, watching a video "classroom lesson" on TV while the city's public schools are on strike in 1951. Regardless of what you may think, I'm not in this picture; I freely admit to being old, but not that old. After I saw this, I tried to recall whether or not there was ever a strike while I was in school, and I believe there was, though I don't remember what us kids did while we were home. Probably watching television. Amazing what pictures can remind you of. 

Speaking of memories, at The Horn Section, Hal looks back at the Love That Bob! episode "Hawaii Comes Calling," which aired in 1955 (at which time, you'll recall, Hawaii wasn't yet a state!) and features Bob discovering he might have inadvertently become engaged to a Hawaiian beauty.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's latest Hitchcock Project subject is Jerry Sohl, whose initial Hitchcock script, "Dead Weight," premiered in 1959. The great Joseph Cotten stars in a nasty little story that includes murder, blackmail, and the consequences of doing something you oughtn't be doing. Fun fact from Jack: Angela Greene, who plays one of the supporting characters, once dated John F. Kennedy.

Jon Pertwee, the beloved third Doctor Who, as a villain? Perish the thought! Yet he is, and a very effective one as well, in "A Torch for Silverado," from the 1992 British series Virtual Murder. You can read more about it from John at Cult TV Blog.

Remember Joe Pyne? I don't know if I saw him back when, or if I just remember him from having seen him in so many TV Guides of the time, but the controversial TV talk show host is the subject of a Smithsonian article linked to at the Broadcasting Archives.

In the heydays of syndicated television, few shows were more beloved than The Muppet Show, and now, at ReelWeegieMidget, you can read about the upcoming Great Muppet Guest Star Caper blogathon, which ought to bring back some happy memories!

If you're in the mood for Christmas movies--and, since we're now in December, you should be--and you have access to Turner Classic Movies, Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts has the rundown on their schedule. And, although the Christmas connections for some of them are tenuous, they're all ten times better than anything you'll find on Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, et al. But you knew I'd say that, didn't you? TV  

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Before we get to our regular programming, just a reminder that I'm down to two copies of The Electronic Mirror. If you'd like a free copy (save only for shipping and handling), send me an email. These books need a good home!

The Horn Section is back, and this week it's back to Love That Bob!, with the 1957 episode "Air Force Calls, Grandpa Answers." Grandpa, of course, is played by Bob Cummings, who also directs this episode, the 100th of the series' history.

You probably know that David has been working his way through his project of watching at least one episode of every prime time television series that aired in the 1970s, and at Comfort TV you can read the results as he's now reached Fridays in 1970. See if your memories match his.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack continues the Hitchcock Project with the second of Kathleen Hite's contributions to the series: the 1958 episode "Two for Tea," with Margaret Leighton, Marsha Hunt, and Murray Matheson making up a nasty little triangle.

I vaguely remember the 1984 primetime soap Glitter, although you would have had to prompt me to recall it. That's why these blogs exist, though, and at RealWeegieMidget, Gill rectifies this with a review of the series pilot, starring Morgan Brittany and David Birney. Do you remember it?

I've enjoyed several classic Doctor Who audio stories by the studio Big Finish, so when John at Cult TV Blog reviews "The Passenger," a 2005 Big Finish release of Sapphire & Steel with David Warner and Susannah Harker as the two principals, I figured it would be a quality production, and it is.

It's another quality interview by Rick at Classic Film & TV Cafe, this time with Nancy Olson Livingston, who went from a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Sunset Boulevard  to a long career in movies and television. If you look closely, you'll see her name in tomorrow's TV Guide article!

I don't know why I remember Roller Derby from my youth--who knows how or why we retain such memories?--but they start with black-and-white broadcasts, followed by the more "modern" matches from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I even wrote to receive the newsletter, so I could stay on top of the "action." So there's a nostalgic delight to Paul's article at Drunk TV, reviewing a pair of documentaries on the sport's long and colorful history. 

Finally, the passing yesterday of Queen Elizabeth II marks, unquestionably, the end of an era. The telecast of her coronation in 1953, by contrast, took place at the beginning of an era: the era of television. And yet, all these decades later, and until the coronation of Charles III takes place, it remains the only telecast of a British monarch being crowned. I wrote about that, along with a look at that TV Guide, last year. The Queen was, indeed, a remarkable woman. TV  

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Where should we start today? How about at Drunk TV, where Paul takes a look at the first season of the syndicated series Ripcord, of which I have fond memories from back in the day. I don't remember the stories so much, but the idea of guys jumping out of planes with parachutes was tremendously appealing. Remember the toy plastic skydivers they used to make with the flimsy parachutes attached to them? They never worked for me, either.

And then there's the sitcom Julia, which I remember but seldom ever watched. There's no question that it was a significant program in the television history of the 1960s, although, as Terence points out at A Shroud of Thoughts, it would be seen as fairly innocuous today. Still, it was, appropriately enough, a groundbreaking series.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shares a heartfelt tribute to his father, who died on New Year's Day at the age of 100. For anyone who's read Andrew's book on his mother, the elegance of his writing will come as no surprise.

In that nostalgic mood? Over at The Hits Just Keep on Comin', JB looks back to February 15, 2003—what was in the news back then, and how it all looks in retrospect today. As with Andrew, there is a strong sense of remembering the warm embrace of the past, and I don't think it's coincidental. Aren't we all feeling a little bit—or maybe a bit more than a little—that way right now? Yup, back to the grind.

Once upon a time, and maybe once again in the near future, it was a big deal when a television show went to the Soviet Union. At Comfort TV, David recalls the Head of the Class episode "Mission to Moscow," which was just such an event when it aired in 1988.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues to look at orphaned episodes with 1964's comedy The Diary of a Nobody, a quasi-silent program (with only narration), directed by none other than Ken Russell. I always enjoy these links. 

It's time again for Love That Bob!, and at The Horn Section, Hal reviews the 1957 episode "Chuck at College," wherein we see Chuck (Dwayne Hickman) heading off to school, where he's expected to live up to (or is it down to?) the reputation of his famous Uncle Bob (Bob Cummings).

And finally, I'm back on Eventually Supertrain this week, where Dan and I have another pleasant chat on Search. And look at that who's on the cover of the TV Guide that Dan shares—why, it's none other than our intrepid heroes from World Sercurities! TV  

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Oh, why don't we start this week at The Horn Section, as Hal returns to the world of Love That Bob and the episode "The Double Date," in which Bob finds himself stuck having to take nephew Chuck (the late Dwayne Hickman) out for his 18th birthday the same night Bob has a date with the delectable Boom Boom Laverne.

At Cult TV Blog, it's "Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown," a very, very funny parody of four of the most popular British TV detectives of the 1970s, as seen by the stars of the London comedy club "The Comic Strip." 

Cary O'Dell has a wonderful article at TV Party (courtesy of the Broadcasting Archives) on a Christmas gift boxed-set of the complete Lucy Show, which demonstrates that Lucille Ball's career after I Love Lucy was far from, as one critic put it, coasting on the “fumes” of her past glories.

The tributes to Betty White continue to pour in, and this week it's The Last Drive In, where Joey gives us a clip-filled retrospective of Betty's career. And it was quite a career, wasn't it? And that's not all—

Meanwhile, over at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks at her groundbreaking first sitcom Life with Elizabeth, of which Betty was a co-producer, one of the first women to fill such a role. (Terence also has a great piece on the 50th anniversary of Sanford and Son that you should check out.

At RealWeegieMidget, it's the start of a new blogathon: the Odd or Even Blogathon. Rather than have me try to explain it, why don't I just send you over to Gill's site so you can see for yourself. And Gill, don't hold it against me that I haven't been in the last few. I'll be back again, I promise! 

Finally, Terry Teachout—author, drama critic at The Wall Street Journal, opera librettist, essayist and playwright—died last week at the far-too-young age of 65. You might recognize the name; I mentioned him many times here, and a couple of times in The Electronic Mirror. I never met him, but we corresponded several times through Twitter. He had some very kind things to say about my writing—both the blog and the book, which he had read and enjoyed. He wasn't singling me out for praise; Terry was a generous man, always quick to let people know when they'd said or written something that gave him pleasure, a lesson we could all learn. Whenever I asked him a question, he was quick to try and find an answer, even if it meant tweeting his friends in search of it. His books, like his writing, were elegant and straightforward, a pleasure to read. It's always seemed to me that social media has played fast and loose with the term "friend," but if it's possible to have as a friend someone you haven't met, then he was a friend, and I will miss him. TV  

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We'll start the final Around the Dial of 2021 at bare-bones e-zine, where Jack's Hitchcock project focuses on "The Lonely Hours," the first solo Hitchcock script by William D. Gordon. Once again, one of the most interesting aspects of this very interesting writeup is Jack's description of how the episode differs from the original source material.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie is back to give us an update on the progress of her Garroway biography. This is another book that I'm really looking forward to reading when it comes out, and my suspicion is that the Garroway family will be very pleased with the final product.

John at Cult TV Blog (yup, changed the name again) recalls the 1980s series Max Headroom, with a look at the brilliant pilot that established the story behind one of the stranger series of the time. I remember seeing that movie, and thinking that the series never lived up to its heights.

At Comfort TV, David takes a look at the classic TV year in review. There are actually several highlights here that I'd forgotten about, as well as a look at some of David's most popular posts of the year. And let me echo his wishes for 2022.

In a similar vein, Rick spends this week's Classic Film & TV Cafe looking back at his top 10 posts of 2021. I always enjoy these retrospectives, because it's so easy to forget some really good writing over the course of a hectic year. (I don't do them myself, because I hate rereading most of what I've written.)

Let's get a final Christmas 2021 post from The Horn Section, as Hal looks at Love That Bob's 1955 episode "Grandpa's Christmas Visit." Grandpa, of course, is played by none other than Bob Cummings himself. 

Sally Ann Howes, the British musical comedy star, died this week, aged 92. I did not know her from her movies, such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but from her appearances on American game shows like Password. Fortunately, Terence has a more comprehensive look at her career at A Shroud of Thoughts.

And with that, we'll say farewell to 2021; the next time you visit here, whether tomorrow or sometime next week, we'll be in 2022, with hopes for a happy New Year indeed. And remember, let's be careful out there. TV  

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We've got a full slate of stories to look at this week, and we'll begin at bare-bones e-zine, where Jack's Hitchcock Project focuses on the seventh-season episode "What Frightened You, Fred?", an excellent and taut story starring R.G Armstrong, Ed Asner, and Adam Williams, and directed by Paul Henreid.

I think I've mentioned this before, but a great episode title can do wonders, and if you're an occasional viewer of Love That Bob, an episode called "Grandpa Meets Zsa Zsa" is going to be hard to turn down. Find out if Hal agrees with our instincts at this week's The Horn Section.

At Silver Scenes, the Metzinger Sisters take a gander at The Entertainers, the 1964-65 variety series that boasted a trio of rotating hosts: Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, and Caterina Valente. The Entertainers may be an example of one of those shows that sounded better in practice; I wrote about its troubled season a couple of years ago.

Inner Toob has a fun look at John Astin's portrayal of Gomez on The Addams Family, and the crossover potential with other Astin characters, including his version of The Riddler in Batman. 

Nothing sells like courtroom drama; remember that what's interesting in legal dramas is not the lives of the lawyers, but the cases they try in court. In a continuing seres, David looks at three memorable such episodes from the world of Comfort TV.

Stepping away from the exclusive world of classic TV for a moment, it's time to wish a happy blog anniversary to Gil at one of my favorite blogs, Realweegiemidget. And you can't beat the blogathons she hosts, a couple of which I've been privileged to be in.

At Cult TV Blog (or, as John now calls it, "That Blog Where the Bloke Who Never Wears a Shirt Blogs about TV and Tries to Stay on the Subject"), it's a look at a Freudian episode of The Tomorrow People, and I'll take John's word on the analysis of the episode.

One of the more controversial periods of The Twilight Zone is the brief era of videotaped episodes, made necessary in order to cut costs and meet the budget. At Shadow & Substance, Paul invites your vote on which taped episode was the best; taken as a whole, they're really pretty good.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence provides us with a handy guide to the Christmas movies appearing this year on Turner Classic Movies. I think I've seen 14 or 15 of them, most of which I enjoyed quite a lot. Of all the cable stations we're without since cutting the cord, I'd say that I miss TCM the most, although having The Criterion Channel more than makes up for it. Japanese noir, anyone?

Speaking of noir, The Last Drive-In begins a series of 31 flavors of noir on the fringe. As it happens, I've seen a few of these as well, and I urge you to check them out—they're the perfect antidote to those Christmas movies over at Hallmark. TV  

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At bare•bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project examination of the works of Joel Murcott continues with the third-season episode "Last Request," a death-row drama with that little twist at the end that makes the series so enjoyable. Harry Guardino is at his hammy best.

Had an episode called "Bob the Body Buider" been written nowadays, people would have thought it a painful pun on the kids' show. Instead, it's the latest episode of Love That Bob, directed by Bob Cummings himself, and Hal has all the details at The Horn Section. 

L for Lester is a fairly obscure 1982 British sitcom that folded after only six episodes. At Cult TV Blog, John calls it "a pleasant way to spend half an hour," and since all six are on YouTube, you can easily tell whether or not he's right.

At Television Obscurities, Robert reviews "Halloween's On Us," a seasonal (but I'll bet you figured that out) episode of 1967's Accidental Family. In case you'd forgotten, the stars are Jerry Van Dyke and Lois Nettleton; it's about par for the course for Jerry, but Lois really deserved better.

I didn't subscribe to Ed Asner's Twitter feed, but it seems as if he was fairly active (I often saw his Tweets), and so his death at age 91 was more surprising that it perhaps should have been. It's really difficult to find a classic TV show in which he didn't appear, and Terence has a good appreciation of his career at A Shroud of Thoughts.

At Shadow & Substance, it's a look at yet another Twilight Zone episode that presents us with some harsh realities about ourselves: "The Encounter," an episode often left out of syndicated packages, starring Neville Brand and George Takei. Read about what makes it so controversial. TV