Around the dial

We'll start off the week with a twin bill from the "American TV" series I do with Dan Schneider: episode #1 is a look at the history of ABC and its reputation as a network willing to take chances, while episode #2 is a fun change-of-pace, in which we answer questions about how our series started, some of our favorite shows, early TV crushes, and more! 

My friend Alan Hayes has some exciting news on the horizon: Escapades: An Exploration of Avengers Curiosities, a new book co-authored with J.Z. Ferguson, which takes a deep dive into aspects of the classic series that haven't been previously covered, such as the London stage play, the South African radio series, a couple of unmade TV scripts, and a Mexican wrestling film—and that's just for starters! The book is available for pre-order here, and I'd encourage all you Avengers fans to look into it. And stay tuned to this space over the next few weeks, for an interview with Alan and a review of the book.

Let's work it a little more, as Roger's review of The New Avengers continues at A View from the Junkyard, with the latest episode being "Target!" He sees it as "another superb episode in a season that hasn’t put a foot wrong yet," and even ventures that it's better than the original series. What do you think?

The Broadcast Archives has several classic TV stories this week, covering everything from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me to the first made-for-TV movie. They're all fun, but why not start out with the single-season series Mr. Lucky, a Blake Edwards creation starring John Vivyan. 

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project continues with "Total Loss," a fourth-season episode by J.E. Selby that is most assuredly a product of its times. Nancy Olson and Ralph Meeker star; find out if the bad guy gets away with it.

The Rose Medallion is the next series in line in John's continuing "private detective season" at Cult TV Blog. John says that we have to watch this 1981 series about an uncovered skeleton and the quest to find out the rest of the story, and he's a pretty good judge of shows.uuu

The Globe and Mail has this essay on ditching streaming in favor of DVDs. I've been in this camp for quite awhile; aside from the fact that it's difficult to find some of the more obscure programs on streaming, it's too often a case of "here today, gone tomorrow." I'll always be a believer in physical media.

David's journey through 1970s TV at Comfort TV has now come to Wednesday, 1975, and if we can't remember When Things Were Rotten, Kate McShane, and Doctors' Hospital, we can certainly recall Little House on the Prairie, Starsky & Hutch, Cannon, and more.

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill (and Darlin' Husband) take a look at movie recommendations from January, including a miniseries with Barry Bostwick and Stefanie Powers, a movie with brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, and Gary Coleman as a pint-size arsonist!

Do we ever get tired of the latest schemes cooked up by Sgt. O'Rourke and Corporal Agarn at F Troop? Not if we're Hal at The Horn Section, and the latest sure-to-fail scam, "The West Goes Ghost," involves ghosts, the railroad, and the two passing themselves off as medical men, for starters.

At Drunk TV, Paul reviews the second season of Simon & Simon, one of the quintessentially '80s series of, well, the '80s, with Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as the brothers running the Simon & Simon detective agency. Thrilling cases and beautiful women galore!

Martin Grams, who wrote one of the definitive books on The Twilight Zone, looks at books containing adaptations of Rod Serling's TZ scripts (done by Serling himself), as well as adaptations and original stories written by Walter Gibson, all of which were quite successful.

I've written before about Turn On, the legendary one-episode ABC series that was virtually cancelled before that one episode was done. But was it really as bad as history says? Not so fast, says Travalanche, who believes it was far from the worst show of all time. TV  

Around the dial

Xt Comfort TV, David addresses a topic near and dear to my heart: the 15 best classic TV shows still not available on DVD. People who depend on streaming for their classic TV may be sorry when those programs suddenly disappear, but your DVDs are your own. And not only The Defenders: where are the second seasons of Burke's Law and The Eleventh Hour? 

Gill is back at Reelweegiemidget with another edition of recommended TV movies from the last month. The viewing list from August includes flicks starring William Shatner, James Brolin, Mike Farrell, Cheryl Ladd, and more; be sure to look for your favorites. 

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project looks at the ninth-season episode "A Nice Touch," by Mann Rubin. Anne Baxter and George Segal star in a murder mystery that has a nice touch, indeed. By the way, I remember how nice it was to find out that Mann Rubin was an actual person and not a pseudonym; it always sounded like one of those names WB would come up with during a writers' strike.

John starts a new series at Cult TV Blog in which he focuses not on the shows, but on the stars who appear in them. First up on his list is the British actor Denis Shaw, and John looks at his performance in The Prisoner episode "Checkmate." Looking forward to this.

At Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy has a charming story of the time her mother met Roy Rogers and Trigger. Roy was one of the most accessible of stars, and it's nice to see others sharing their stories of meeting him!

Peter Marshall's recent death brings to mind Bob Quigley, the producer of The Hollywood Squares and, coincidentelly, the head writer on Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge. And that is what brings us to The Lucky Strike Papers, for Andrew's mother, Sue Bennett, was a singer on Kyser's show. Read all about it.

SerlingFest 2024 is next weekend in Binghamton, New York, and Paul has all the details at Shadow & Substance, including a stimulating lineup of guest speakers, video presentations, and, on Sunday, the dedication of the Rod Serling statue. We'll have to visit this fest some year!

 

A Shroud of Thoughts and Travalanche both have tributes to the late James Darren, who died earlier this week at the age of 88. From Gidget to The Time Tunnel, from singing to acting, his was an impressive career; he was also, from what I hear, a great guy as well. Terence's piece is here, while you can read what Trav has to say here.

Finally, A View from the Junkyard gives us our weekly Avengers fix, with an excellent episode from the Steed/Tara season: "Requiem." Or is it excellent? See what Roger and Mike have to say; better yet, watch it for yourself and make up your own mind. TV  

Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project turns to "The Cheyney Vase," an episode from the series' first season, written by Robert Blees, and starring Darren McGavin as a would-be thief who gets quite a surprise.

By contrast, at The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan looks at the classic "Living Doll," from the series' fifth and final season, a Charles Beaumont story ghostwritten by Jerry Sohl, due to Beaumont's increasing dementia. It stars Telly Savalas and a very nasty talking doll.

At Cult TV Blog, John shares his thoughts on a pair of thoughtful, dystopic stories: The Guardians, a 1971 series presenting a totalitarian government in Britain, which looks quite interesting; and the very black 1969 comedy The Bed Sitting Room, featuring Dudley Moore and Rita Tushingham.

Despite my love for classic Doctor Who, I've had no interest in watching the last few seasons of the reboot, and no intention of doing so in the future. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to point out that a new season has begun with a new Doctor, and The View from the Junkyard has all the details.

Worth mentioning as well is news of a more positive (in my opinion) nature: Television Obscurities shares word that Warner Archives is releasing (in Blu-ray!) the 1959-60 series The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore, Jeff York, and Dorothy Provine. It's already on my want list.

Remember the Campbell's Soup Kids? They were a hallmark of Campbell's advertising, which had a significant presence on both radio and television. Travalanche looks at some of Campbell's offerings through the years, including a couple of vintage print ads featuring the Kids.

Finally, no fan of MST3K could overlook the news of Roger Corman's death last week, aged 98. At S Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has an appreciation for Corman's body of work, as well as his filmmaking legacy, which is just as considerable. R.I.P. TV  

Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack kicks things off this week with the first of Thomas Grant's Hitchcock scripts, "I Can Take Care of Myself," a thin if nasty story with Myron McCormick, Linda Lawson, and Will Kuluva. Not a great episode, but it is Hitchcock.

John returns to the mysterious world of Sapphire & Steel at Cult TV Blog with part four of "Assignment Six," continuing the story that he's been relating the last few days. This assignment has its strengths and weaknesses, but it's an interesting glimpse into the direction the series might have taken had it continued for another series.

At Classic Film & TV Café, Rick reviews the streaming service Tubi and answers the question of whether or not it's worth watching. The answer is "yes," if you don't mind commercial interruptions in return for it being a free service. Read it and find out why it might be an essential part of your viewing options.

Let's stay on FAST (free, ad supported TV) for a moment, as Silver Scenes presents us with some December picks that are currently streaming on Roku. If you're looking primarily for Christmas favorites, you can find that out here. Again, if the commercials don't bother you (as they didn't for the first 50 or so years of TV history), you'll find some good viewing options.

At Drunk TV, Paul enlightens us on a massive DVD undertaking: the complete series box set of Bonanza. For those of you keeping score at home, that amounts to 431 remastered episodes on 112 discs. Stay tuned for season-by-season reviews—good luck, Paul!

We're currently making our way through the classic ABC WWII series Combat!, so it was sad to see that Jack Hogan, who played PFC Kirby, died last week, aged 94. I get that information courtesy of Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts, who has a thoughtful review of Hogan's career and credits, which include Detective Sergeant Miller on Adam-12.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger and Mike compare notes on the Avengers episode "The Joker," a Steed/Peel adventure that's a remake of the black-and-white story "Don't Look Behind You." How does it work? Read and find out.

And let's end on a Yuletide note: The Imaginative Conservative compares versions of A Christmas Carol, including the acclaimed made-for-TV movie starring George C. Scott. How do they shape up, and how does this compare to your own rankings? TV  

The 2024 It's About TV Gift-Giving Guide

I am old enough, I believe, to remember when Black Friday wasn't a thing. Oh, the day after Thanskgiving has always been the biggest shopping day of the year, but according to the always-reliable Wikipedia, the term wasn't officially coined until it appeared in the paper of record, The New York Times, in 1975. Since then, it's become virtually a holiday of its own, even threatening to overshadow Thanksgiving when stores started the abomination of opening on Thanksgiving Day itself. But when I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving meant a long weekend, an extra day off from school. It meant a day of cartoons on ABC, and, later on, a flood of college football games. We did our share of Black Friday shopping back in the day, when we were younger, but there aren't so many people to shop for nowadays, and like so many of us, we do most of our shopping online.

Which brings me, in a roundabout way, to the subject at hand today. Undoubtedly, some of you will be doing your Christmas shopping this weekend, and I'd be remiss if I didn't give you some excellent gift-giving ideas, based on what we talk about here, for the cultural historian among your family and friends, or for yourself if you're so inclined. And this year I'm doing it early enough to allow you to build it into your shopping schedule.

My first recommendation is always going to be my own books, which you can purchase at Amazon through this link, or at Barnes & Noble, or any of your other favorite online retailers. The Collaborator and The Car are novels, provocative mysteries that will give you something to think about. The Electronic Mirror is a collection of essays on classic television and its relationship to American culture. All of them are worth reading, and hopefully by this time next year there'll be one more book to add to the collection.

I've reviewed several books over the past few years that I strongly recommend: Peace: The Wide, Wide World of Dave Garroway, Television's Original Master Communicator, by Jodie Peeler, Dave Garroway Jr., and Brandon Hollingsworth, is the biography of one of television's greatest pioneers: the first host of Today, one of the original "communicators" of the landmark radio program Monitor, and much more. And yet, if his accomplishments are largely forgotten, the private life of this public man has never really been known, until now. Available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle, I can't recommend this enough.

Another book I strongly recommend is David Hofstede's When Television Brought Us Together: Celebrating the Shows and the Values That Shaped America's First Television Viewing Generations, available in paperback and Kindle. David's elegant prose demonstrates that a love of classic television is more than a nostalgic wish for the past: it's a look at shows that offer examples of the ideals and ethics that were once common in America but, especially in recent years, have seemed to be shrinking away from us. Reading this book, you'll find yourself nodding in agreement more than once.

For something a little more lighthearted but no less enjoyable, there's From Beverly Hills to Hooterville: Exploring TV's Henningverse 1962-1971, Daniel Budnik's affectionate and thorough look at Paul Henning's three iconic sitcoms of the 1960s: The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres. Even though these shows all share the same universe and cross over from time to time, they have their own distinctive styles, themes, and characters, and Daniel covers them all in a way that will both delight longtime fans and create new ones. (Paperback, Kindle)

(Full disclosure: I'm mentioned in the acknowledgements section of one of these books, and have cover blurbs on the other two. This absolutely should not be taken to mean that my opinions are biased in any way, right? Seriously, all three of these books are ones that I've enjoyed thoroughly; I don't profit from my recommendations other than to share that enjoyment with others.)

Longtime readers know my fascination with the pivotal year 1968, and the effect it's had (and continues to have) on our political, cultural, and communications history. If you share that interest, you're going to want to read Heather Hendershot's When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America. (Hardcover, Kindle) The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago was one of the most consequential events in recent history: it reflected the deep divisions not only in the country but in one of its political parties; and displayed for all to see the changing relationship between Americans and the news media. I can't add to this description of the book as "A riveting, blow-by-blow account of how the network broadcasts of the 1968 Democratic convention shattered faith in American media."

Do I write too much about sports? It's not surprising, since sports and television are two of my great material loves, and what could be better than a book that combines the two? That would be Keith Dunnavant's The Fifty-Year Seduction: How Television Manipulated College Football, from the Birth of the Modern NCAA to the Creation of the BCS (Hardcover) Even though this book is nearly 20 years old, it's a valuable recounting of the history of college football on television, and how the medium has changed the sport over the years. (You youngsters out there might be surprised to see how different coverage of the game was once upon a time.) Dunnavant points out a myriad of problems with the sport, and 20 years later, a lot of them still exist.

Having recently finished watching the astonishing final season of Twin Peaks (The Return), I have to add Mark Frost's two epistolary novels, The Secret History of Twin Peaks (Hardcover, Kindle) and Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier (Hardcover, Kindle). Among the raft of scholarly books that attempt to dig deeper into the series' meaning, why not go with the two written by the show's co-creator? They may or may not help explain what it was all about, but, as was the case with the series itself, they'll take you on a hell of a ride. 

There are a number of other books I've reviewed over the years that are worthily worth your consideration; you can read those reviews here.

Turning to the video side, it's unfortunate that, for the most part, the well of classic television on DVD has pretty much dried up. Except, that is, for ClassicFlix, which has brought out three little-seen programs from the 1950s that deserve a place on your DVD shelf: The O. Henry Playhouse, 21 Beacon Street, and World of Giants. You can read about and order each of these series at the ClassicFlix website, as well as find out news on upcoming releases, such as season two of The Abbott and Costello Show, and the sitcom Angel. These have all been handsomely restored in glorious black-and-white, and they'll make perfect gifts, especially for those of you who think you've already seen everything there is to see out there.

Other series that I'd recommend, in no particular order: Hogan's Heroes, The Defenders (season one), The Wild, Wild West, Combat, The Eleventh Hour (season one), Burke's Law (season one), Sam Benedict, The Prisoner, Danger Man, The Saint, Perry Mason, and Mission: Impossible. You're probably familiar with most of these, and might even have them already, but I want to especially single out The Defenders, The Eleventh Hour, Burke's Law, and Sam Benedict; you might not be as familiar with them, and if you check them out I think you'll be delighted with the results. There are also a couple of British imports that require a region-free player: The Human Jungle and Maigret (with Rupert Davies). Again, there are many more shows than I have room to mention, but I point these two out because of their relative unfamiliarity to American viewers. I think these are all available on Amazon, and I've mentioned almost all of them on the blog at one time or another; they've provided us with many, many hours of enjoyment.

If you've got recommendations of your own, please mention them in the comments section; I'm always looking for classic TV gift ideas myself, and I can't think of anything that makes our little community stronger than sharing our favorites. Happy shopping!

For those of you reading this on Wednesday, I add my wishes to all of you in America for a happy and blessed Thanksgiving; it is, after all, a time to give thanks for the many blessings we've been given, both personally and as a nation; it's also a reminder how easily those things we take for granted can be taken away, and why we always have to be prepared to fight to preserve and defend them. If you're reading this after the big day, I hope you had a wonderful time, and remember to keep telling yourself that the tryptophan torpor is a myth! TV  

Review: 21 Beacon Street (1959), the latest from ClassicFlix

JOANNA BARNES, DENNIS MORGAN, AND BRIAN KELLY: PART OF THE TEAM OF 21 BEACON STREET

The people you see above are part of an elite team, dedicated to providing sophisticated, unorthodox solutions to situations that fall beyond the scope of traditional law enforcement agencies—situations that run the gamut from blackmail to political assassination. In order to achieve their objective, the team concocts elaborate plans based on deception and disguise, not to mention split-second timing. Each member is an expert in one or more areas, and when they bring their talents together, they form an unstoppable unit, one against which the criminal mind has no chance.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: watch all thirteen episodes of 21 Beacon Street. 

And now you can do just that; thanks to our friends at ClassicFlix, the entire run of 21 Beacon Street is available on DVD, in handsomely restored black-and-white episodes transferred from the original 16mm prints held at the UCLA Film & Television Archives for the first time since, I dunno, probably it's original airing.*

*Full disclosure: I received this disc gratis for the purposes of 1) reviewing, and 2) enjoying. Thanks to ClassicFlix for supplying both.

21 Beacon Street originally aired on NBC from July 2 to September 10, 1959, as the summer replacement for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. Subsequently, reruns were shown on ABC from December 1959 to March 1960. And, as you might have gathered, the premise bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Mission: Impossible, which came along in 1966--enough so that the show's producer, Filmways, sued Bruce Gellar, creator of M:I, for plagiarism. The suit was settled out of court; in what may or may not have been a related development, Beacon Street's story editor, Laurence Heath*, went on to write several episodes of M:I.

*Laurence Heath's story is a remarkable one in and of itself, and some enterprising scriptwriter out there might want to consider pitching it to some studio. You can read more about it in this piece by Stephen Bowie; our own commentator, Mike Doran, has also added some knowledgeable comments about it at various websites, such as this one.

There are differences, of course. While the Impossible Missions Force is a quasi-governmental agency, 21 Beacon Street is the brainchild of private investigator Dennis Chase (Dennis Morgan), and his clientele consists mostly of private citizens who find themselves in apparently impossible situations. (The show's title refers to the address of Chase's home, where his office is located.) Working with his three-member team—secretary Joanna (Joanna Barnes) savvy attorney Brian (Brian Kelly) and tech expert Jim (James Maloney)*—Chase carefully analyzes the situation and, often working against time, concocts a plan to trap and/or expose the evildoers while thwarting their nefarious schemes. As is the case with the IMF, Chase's plans create situations where not everything—or everyone—is what it seems. 

*Not only does each character share the first name of the actor playing them, the pseudonyms used in their various plots also utilize their real first names. Surely that must be some kind of record.

While M:I's episodes had a one-hour running time, allowing for extremely complex (and detailed) setups, 21 Beacon Street episodes clock in at a tidy 30 minutes each, which means that the schemes aren't quite as elaborate, the plans aren't quite as detailed, and the stakes aren't usually as high (except for those retaining Chase's services). Still, the stories are fast-paced and entertaining, and it's always fun to see the team ad lib when things don't go quite as planned. It's also a pleasure, as always, to see guest appearances from familiar faces, including DeForest Kelley, Donna Douglas, Whit Bissell, Jerry Paris, Steve Brodie, Barney Phillips, Harry Bellaver, Sally Fraser, John Hoyt, Paul Richards, and others.

There are no extras save one, but it's an extra that I certainly appreciate. It's sometimes difficult to place these shows in any kind of context; black-and-white, no matter how clear, can make a program look older than it is, and it's often hard to tell whether or not one is watching a network series or a little-scene syndication show. Fortunately, several episodes of 21 Beacon Street include a bonus option to see the original commercials, which, in addition to being fun to watch, help put the show in historical perspective (in one episode, actor Robert Horton shills for the new line of Fords, while we also get to see promos for other ABC series) And each episode includes the standard "ABC Television Presentation" that appeared during the show's repeat run.

While 21 Beacon Street is hardly the greatest DVD release in history, it is a series that was unique for its time, an entertaining and often creative half-hour that serves us classic TV aficionado well. And all credit to ClassicFlix and their Rare Television line; they're perhaps the only company out there still dedicated to bringing to market those little-known series from the 1950s and '60s instead of simply recycling and repackaging the same old titles time after time. You'll remember a while back I reviewed their release of The O. Henry Playhouse, and future titles include the sci-fi espionage series World of Giants with Marshall Thompson, and the sitcom Angel from 1960, with Marshall Thompson and Annie Farge. Even if these shows might not have been on your most wanted list, bravo to ClassicFlix for showing you what you've been missing. TV  

Around the dial

I just finished watching a Road Runner-Coyote cartoon, so you'll forgive me if I have that on my mind even as I'm linking to John's story about the X-Files episode "Roadrunners," this week at Cult TV Blog.

Something else I've thought about lately is the pleasure of holding a physical copy of a magazine in your hands after it's just arrived in the mail, and what it was like to have that to look forward to. At Comfort TV, David recalls how magazines mattered in classic TV shows; those were the days.

I don't often do current television, but when you see a character named "Bearclaw Bugle," well, you're not going to pass it up. That's part of Gill's review of the TV-movie The Warrant: Breaker's Law over at Realweegiemidget, so head over there and find out if this is for you. 

No story to read here, but I couldn't resist linking to the Broadcast Archives and this ultra-cool picture of the greatest entertainment center you're ever going to see. I don't know what it would look like in our living room, and I'm not sure I'd care.

Newton Minow, one of the major figures in television history, died last weekend, aged 97. Yes, it's true that the boat in Gilligan's Island was named after him, but he also delivered the "vast wasteland" speech that defines how we look at television even now. Terence remembers him at A Shroud of Thoughts.

Robert at Television Obscurites reports on yet another rare television series coming to DVD, courtesy of ClassicFlix: World of Giants. It's only 13 episodes, but it's excellent that obscure shows continue to come out, and let's hope for more.

Whenever there's another Avengers review at The View from the Junkyard, you can bet you're going to read about it here. This week: "Dial a Deadly Number," a fine Steed-Emma episode; check and see what Roger and Mike have to say. TV  

Around the dial

It's 1964, the start of the third season of The Saint, and at Silver Scenes, it's a look at that episode, "The Miracle Tea Party," a delightful episode that serves as an entry in that "Favorite TV Show Episode" blogathon I was talking about on Wednesday. Be sure to check them out; maybe I'll have another chance next year!

Here's another entry from that blogathon—at Once Upon a Screen, Aurora takes us back to a Columbo episode that, I think, ranks near the top in everyone's list of favorites: "Any Old Port in a Storm," with a terrific performance by the always-outstanding Donald Pleasence as the murderous winery owner, and Gary Conway as his deceased brother. I always enjoy this one.

And since Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts is hosting the blogathon, I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight his contribution as well. It's "Home," a 1996 episode of The X-Files, that is truly disturbing, not least because the story occurs not in the big city, but in a small town (the sheriff is even named Andy Taylor, though not that one), and it brings the horror—home.

John's latest entry in his 1980s TV series retrospective at Cult TV Blog is the excellent series Mapp and Lucia, based on the equally respected novels by E.F. Benson. and the episode "Lobster Pots." There have been two versions of the series, so if you want see what John's raving about, be sure to look for the 1985 version.

At Comfort TV, David brings his trip through 1971 television to a close with a look at Saturday night, and again I have to stress how Saturday used to be a killer night for television: All in the Family, Funny Face, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore, and Mission: Impossible were CBS's dominant lineup, but there were some others to check out, including The Persuaders (sorry, David).

We're coming up on Holy Week, which means it's a good time to review a series called Greatest Heroes of the Bible (a series that could never be aired on broadcast television today), and at Drunk TV, Paul looks at volume two of this 1978-79 series, with a collection of episodes dealing with "God's Chosen Ones." I only hope I'll get to be one.

The Broadcast Archives has a brief pictoral look back at Carol Burnett back in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and aside from the pictures, it's a good reminder that next month she turns 90, and if that makes you feel old, then just  go back and watch more of her shows, forget about your problems, and have some fun.

Some more promising news from Television Obscurities, where Robert reports that ClassicFlix, which has brought back several rare series via DVD, has another one in store come June: 21 Beacon Street, a detective drama with Dennis Morgan. I confess that I don't know anything about it other than recognizing the titles from TV Guide, so it could be interesting.

Cult TV Lounge revisits the 1976 limited anthology series Beasts, which draws its credibility from its cxreator, Nigel Kneale, who is responsible for the legendary British sci-fi series of the 1950s, Quatermass. Sounds like it's well worth watching—and by the way, Kneale is responsible also for a British TV movie that you'll be reading about in a future "Descent into Hell" essay.

At Shadow & Substance, Paul visits an unlikely suburb of TZ; "The Hound of Heaven," a short dramatic sketch written by Earl Hamner Jr. for The Kate Smith Hour in 1953 (I didn't even know that show had dramatic sketches.) and has a cast including John Carradine and a very young James Dean. The story would become the bases for the third season TZ episode "The Hunt." TV  

Around the dial

At Comfort TV, David leads off the week with an intriguing question: whatever happened to "America's Sweetheart"? It's a title that's been dispensed on many luminaries over the years: Annette Funicello, Karen Valentine, Sally Field, and Mary Tyler Moore, to name but a few. Can you think of anyone who'd fit the bill today?

Jack's Hitchcock Project continues at bare-bones e-zine with Oscar Millard's second and final teleplay for the show, "One of the Family," with Jeremy Slate and Kathryn Hays as a young couple worried that their baby's new nurse (Lila Skala) may be a child killer. 

I've said this before, but then there's a real knack to coming up with just the right title, and there's no way I'm not going to write about any show with an episode called "I Was Hitler's Bookie." The show is The Steam Video Company, a British comedy show with a bit of SCTV about it, and John has all the details at Cult TV Blog.

At Television's New Frontier: the 1960s, it's the 1962 episodes of Have Gun—Will Travel, starring Richard Boone as the man in black, Palladin. The episodes comprise the first half of the show's sixth and final season—find out how the stories stand up to the rest of the series.

In one of the more surprising developments, Robert at Television Obscurities reports that the 1957 sitcom Blondie, starring Arthur Lake and Pamela Britton, is coming to Blu-ray. I'm always delighted to see vintage shows being upgraded, but I'm also wishing they might get to some of the ones on my list! 

More Blu-ray news: Martin Grams says the Rankin-Bass classic Mad Monster Party is headed that way this May, with some special features and collectibles included. If you're interested in it, you can pre-order right now! 

At Vintage Leisure, Gary Wells takes a look at the book The Untouchables, written by Eliot Ness himself, with Oscar Fraley. It is, of course, the basis for the TV series of the same name, and you may remember a few years ago we looked at a TV Guide with a feature article by Ness's widow. Sounds like a fun book.

Cult TV Lounge features four early episodes of The Avengers featuring Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale. I always think it's important to point these out, because American viewers didn't get to see them when they were originally on, and Mrs. Gale is such a wonderful character. It is, as noted, a "startling" difference compared to the Emma Peel era. TV  

What's old is new again

The other night we were watching a YouTube video of ABC's 1968 summer schedule, with the openings to all of their shows, and a programming grid at the end. You know the kind, right? We'd seen this one before, as we have with most of them; it's the type of video that's easy to have on in the background, without having to concentrate too much or take your eyes off what else you might be doing. Like having dessert, for instance, which just happens to be what we were doing at the time.

At some point in the proceedings, though, my wife turned to me and said, "Look at how many of these shows we've got. We've seen most of them!" I started thinking about that, not only the ones we've got on DVD, but those we've started watching on various YouTube channels. It occurs to me that the 1968 season must be close to the tipping point at which a majority of TV series still exist, either on DVD, the gray market, or through YouTube. It would certainly be a contender for the 1960s season having the most shows; the Golden Age of DVD releases was very kind to this era. (Going to all-color programming didn't hurt, either.)

I'm also intrigued by how many of those series are from ABC. I'm sure if we were looking at an NBC or CBS video, we'd find the same thing. But you wouldn't necessarily think that so many of these shows from the perennial third-place network still exist. Or maybe you would; someone—it might have been a comment someone left here—once mentioned that because ABC had nothing to lose, they took more chances creating new and different shows than did the other two networks. True, that includes shows like The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, but as we all know, different does not necessarily equate to better.

At any rate, I've taken a screenshot of the schedule from the end of the video (don't worry; you'll get to see the video)—look at how many of these shows we could be watching right now:

In our own DVD collection, we've got The FBI, The Rat Patrol, N.Y.P.D., The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, and The Guns of Will Sonnett. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Big Valley, It Takes a Thief, The Invaders, The Flying Nun, Bewitched, That Girl, and at least some of Peyton Place have gotten commercial releases. The complete (or nearly complete) Garrison's Gorillas, Judd, for the Defense and Felony Squad are on YouTube, along with nearly 150 episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show (plus those you can catch on PBS), at least 75 episodes of The Hollywood Palace, 16 (at least) out of 26 episodes of The Second Hundred Years, and a few from Cowboy in Africa, the Newlywed and Dating Games. You can even find an episode of Dream House! And I suspect many of the movies that aired on Sunday and Wednesday nights, as well as on Off to See the Wizard, are available. (We've watched nine of them on a regular basis.) 

All in all, I figure there are 17 series (out of 25, not including the movie shows) that are complete or nearly so, plus four that have a high number of episodes available. Only the three game shows and Cowboy in Africa are significantly less than complete. No matter how you look at it, that's a pretty high percentage, especially when you're talking about shows that were on 54 years ago. In fact, you've got an excellent chance of being able to reproduce any given week from this schedule in its entirety. That is impressive. And since 1968 is a year of particular interest for me, you can see why I appreciate this.

Here's the video in question; undoubtedly, I'll do the same with CBS and NBC someday.

TV  

Odds & ends

Since I don't have anything big to write about this week. it seems like a good time to go through some miscellaneous items that you might find interesting.

The Daytime Delilahs. Commenting on last Saturday's TV Guide (December 26, 1964), MemotoSelf asks, "Who are they? And why do 'they make housewives' blood boil'?" 

The Daytime Delilahs in question are, from left to right, Lee Lawson (who plays Barbara Sterling on Love of Life), Haila Stoddard (Pauline Rysdale on The Secret Storm), Ludi Claire (Elizabeth McGrath from The Edge of Night), and Audra Lindley (Liz Mathews on Another World). (Joan Anderson, aka Nora Hansen on The Doctors, is not pictured. They are the vixens of video, the harlots and harridans who exist to lure your favorite male heroes from home and hearth and ensnare them in their deadly webs of sin, and female viewers love to hate them. All five of the featured vixens report having been accosted in the street by fans, and the mail they receive is often so venomous that the networks won't let them see it. (One anonymous woman, reports Lawson, writes regularly "telling me that I am wicked and that I must die.") People like that haven't disappeared, by the way; they've just moved to social media.

Name That Episode! From that same issue, I mentioned that quite a few of the programs from Sunday's listing are available on DVD or streaming, but that I didn't have time to list the episodes. Well, I'm not sure I have any more time now than I did then, so maybe I was just lazy. But here's a sample for you. In addition, since shows like Bullwinkle are out as complete series, we know this week's episode is available even if we don't have its name.

The Roaring 20's: "So's Your Old Man"

Surfside 6: "Spring Training"

87th Precinct: "Man in a Jam"

Profiles in Courage: "John Adams"

Harbor Command: "Illegal Entry"

My Little Margie: "Margie, the Writer"

Car 54, Where Are You?: "The Biggest Day of the Year"

My Favorite Martian: "Won't You Come Home, Uncle Martin, Won't You Come Home?"

West Point: "Start Running"

Bonanza: "The Saga of Squaw Charlie"

The Rogues: "The Real Russian Caviar"

Men of Annapolis: "Blinding Light"

What's My Line?: Season 16, Episode 17

The Ed Sullivan Show: several individual acts on YouTube

Pretty much all of the movies from that day are available as well:

Going My Way

Slattery's Hurricane

The Thing

The Ride Back

Never Wave at a WAC

Blue Murder at St. Trinian's

The Dummy Talks

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Jackpot

If you ever wanted to try and recreate a day of television, this might be a place to start. 

And Now For Something Completely Different. Finally, speaking of Ed Sullivan, we've often talked about how jarring it can be seeing rock acts performing alongside pop singers, Broadway actors, ventriloquists, animal acts, and Topo Gigio. Here's a great example: a terrific rendition of "Keep Me Hangin' On" by Vanilla Fudge from January 14, 1968. This isn't your grandfather's really big shew.

TV  

Around the dial

T
he week leads off at Eventually Supertrain, where Dan and I discuss the final episode of Bourbon Street Beat, the Warner Bros. detective series we've been following for the last couple of years. Listen also for discussions of Nero Wolfe and Shadow Chasers. And don't worry about me—I'm gone for now, but. . .

At Shadow & Substance, a great Twilight Zone/Rod Serling site, Paul talks about the availability (or lack thereof) of classic television programs on streaming services, and makes an excellent point. Two, actually. When classic shows disappear from Prime or Netflix or Hulu, we can always get them on DVD if we know about them. What about people who discover them while they're surfing around Netflix?  As Paul says, "A lot of our cultural memory is fading bit by bit—memory-holed not by censorship, but an accidental victim of convenience." For old shows to survive, they need to be "discoverable by new fans" or they'll drift into obscurity. And that will happen anyway, unless studios open their vaults and either release their inventory on DVD themselves, or let someone else do it.

Rick provides a very good primer on the history of Perry Mason adaptations over at Classic Film & TV Cafe. I've seen several of the pre-Raymond Burr movies that Rick mentions (one each for Warren William, Ricardo Cortez and Donald Woods), which are fun if you forget that the character's name is Mason. I have no appetite for the new version, though.

At Inner Toob, it's a tribute to the late Hugh Downs, including not only his turns on The Jack Paar Show, Concentration, The Today Show and 20/20 but also the many times he played himself on other shows, always with good humor.

That Today reference is a good segue to the latest at Garroway at Large, as Jodie continues her look at Dave Garroway's brush with late night television in the form of Nightlife, ABC's failed Les Crane challenge to The Tonight Show. Garroway would have made a great late night host.

Television's New Frontier: The 1960s moves to the 1962 episodes of My Three Sons, at this point still airing on ABC, with Mike and Bub still part of the family. Always interesting to read about this era of the show; I never watched it that much, but it was always from the CBS/William Demarest era.

At Ed Robertson's TV Confidential podcast, it's an encore of the July 2014 conversation with Dwayne Epstein, author of Lee Marvin: Point Blank, and how Marvin became a household name partly because of television (and, particularly, the terrific nourish crime drama M Squad). TV  

Around the dial

This week at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan tells us of being pleasantly surprised by the first season of The High Chaparral on DVD. That's happened to me a few times with various series, and it is indeed a pleasure. A high one, in fact.

Did you ever wonder why Colonel Hogan's German accent was so bad on Hogan's Heroes? Wonder not! Carol comes to the rescue at Bob Crane: Life & Legacy. And you might be surprised at the answer.

Ah, the DVD dress is done! You can read about it (and see it!) at Christmas TV History, as Joanna gives you the details of this massive project.

Garroway at Large commemorates Veterans' Day with Jodie's look back at the career of Lt. Dave Garroway, USNR.

At Comfort TV, David quizzes us on the Eilbacher sisters, Cindy and Lisa. Do you know which is which? Take the test and find out!

Television Obscurities has good news for Burt Reynolds fans: his one-season police series Dan August will be out on DVD next month, just in time for Christmas!

Short but sweet this week; see you back here tomorrow. TV  

Around the dial

Last month at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan reviewed the new Blu-ray Television's Lost Classics Volume 1, which featured a pair of John Cassavettes performances; this week he's back with a look at Volume 2. which gives us a look at four pilots, gloriously restored. You might find these two sets well worth your time.

As you know, I always enjoy Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, not only because of the episode reviews, but because he looks at everything about the stories, including the original source material. This week, it's Bernard C. Schoenfeld Part Six: "The Percentage," from Hitch's third season. Find out how Schoenfeld changed David Alexander's original story, and see if he made it better.

I like this promo for Creature From the Black Lagoon at the Broadcasting Archives at the University of Maryland. After all, I got to see the Creature himself, Ricou Browning, at last month's Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention.

So intrigued was I by Jodie's promise of big news coming soon to Garroway at Large that I almost forgot the point of this week's post: a wonderful photo of Dave Garroway, signed to his friend, the jazzman Red Norvo.

I don't know if you've been following the story of Joanna and her Netflix DVD dress; no description I can provide would do this project justice, so I recommend you pick up the story at Christmas TV History.

At Bob Crane: Life and Legacy, Carol celebrates the appearance of the Dodgers in this year's World Series with some pictures of Bob and family with Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley as Bob presents O'Malley with a model Jeep from Hogan's Heroes.

David celebrates Halloween at Comfort TV with pictures of TV tie-in costumes. Good memories of those days, although I never dressed in any of the costumes that David shows; mine were more like Caspar and Yogi Bear. In Minnesota, you can have snow on the ground at Halloween, you know, so a lot of times those costumes were under heavier jackets.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan takes a comprehensive look at one of TZ's problematic episodes, the hour-long "Mute," with Ann Jillian as a telepathic child. That's really a simplistic description of an episode that raises some very provocative questions about assimilation, a question that's always relevant.

And what would the week be without a Crazy Like a Fox update when Hal has one at The Horn Section? Never fear; it's a look at the satisfying 1985 episode "Fox and Hounds."  TV  

Around the dial

Another week, as they say, another collection of gems from the classic television blogosphere. And if someone hasn't said that, they should.

While looking something up, I came across this very good 2007 interview with George Maharis from Route 66 News, in which he talks some about his experiences on Route 66, what made the show successful, and why it wasn't quite the same after he left.

It's military sitcom week at the AV Club, and we get a look at a couple classics that transcend their settings: the hilarious Phil Silvers Show, with the wonderful Ernie Bilko pulling a con on everyone, and the sublime final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, where our heroes learn what paying the ultimate price means, and what it's all about.

I thought this was such a good piece from David at Comfort TV on people who look at his DVD collection and ask him if he's really watched them all. I have to admit that in my own case, the answer would be "no," but when I look at the state of today's television, I have no doubts that I'll wind up running out of DVDs to watch before I run out of time.

At Vote for Bob Crane, Carol has 20 things we didn't know about Bob Crane. I have to admit knowing some of them, but then I've read the book - and you should too!

Martin Grams talks about old-time radio (OTR), a foray we've taken from time to time here, with another of the shows that made the transition from radio to television, albeit briefly: Gangbusters. I have to admit I never warmed to this show either on radio or TV, but that's probably just me. By the way, Gangbusters was a top-ten hit on TV, alternating weekly with Dragnet, but only lasted one season - apparently, it was never intended as anything but a stopgap until enough Dragnet episodes had been made for that series to run weekly.

Tomorrow we'll be talking about the highest-rated programs as part of the TV Guide review, but TV Obscurities looks at the shows that were in the bottom 10 of the ratings in October, 1987. How many of these shows do you remember? I recall a couple of them, and actually enjoyed Max Headroom (which may have just been ahead of its time), but I daresay most of them earned their position. TV