Around the dial

Let's see; this week, I think we'll start with The Twilight Zone Vortex and season five's "You Drive," written by Earl Hamner Jr., and starring the great character actor Edward Andrews. As Brian says, it's "not terrible," but not the best, either. 

You can also read a nice remembrance of Swit by Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts. And while you're at it, check out his 21st anniversary post. I thought I'd been at this awhile, but he's got seven years on me!

It wouldn't be Friday without the "Sylvia Coleridge Season" at Cult TV Blog, and this time John is looking at the sci-fi series Out of the Unknown and the episode "The Dead Past," featuring a research tool that looks suspiciously like AI, especially in its trustworthiness and reliability.

In honor of the late Loretta Swit, RealWeegieMidget takes a gander at "Hail to the Chief," an episode of Supertrain, which manages to work in some improbable presidential political intrigue with Roy Thinnes playing a dual role. It's either very bad or very fun; find out which it is!

We haven't heard from Garroway at Large for awhile, but Jodie pops in this week to give us a portrait of "Garroway at peace": in this case, the peace of Laurel Hill Cemetery, where the great man was laid to rest. A short but moving piece.

At The Horn Section, Hal's back for another round of F Troop and the second season episode "Reach for the Sky, Pardner," with O'Rourke scheming to increase the amount of convention business coming into Fort Courage. As delightful as it is goofy.

A couple of classic pictures make the Broadcast Archives well worth checking out: first, a terrific picture of William Boyd in character as Hopalong Cassidy; second, an equally great picture of Bob Keeshan as Mister Mayor, a single-season Saturday morning show that took the place of Captain Kangaroo.  

At Drunk TV, Paul looks at the terrific third season of The Odd Couple, which captures the series at his creative best, including one of the great episodes of any sitcom: Felix and Oscar appearing on the game show Password, with Allen Ludden and Betty White as themselves.

Paul is back at Mavis Movie Madness with a plug for one of my favorite TV blogs, David Hofstede's Comfort TV, which you'll recognize from my many links to his site. If you don't make this part of your regular reading, you should. (He also gives yours truly a nice shout-out; the check is in the mail.)

Cult TV Lounge reviews the Mike Hammer telemovie Murder Me, Murder You, starring Stacy Keach as the world's most violent private detective. I recently wrote about how TV never really gets Hammer's essence, but Keach is almost always worth a watch.

The View from the Junkyard takes us to The A-Team and the episode "The Rabbit Who Ate Las Vegas," and you'll want to find out from Roger whether or not this episode can possibly live up to its title.  TV  

Around the dial

Let's kick off things at bare•bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project looks at the rare Hitchcock Western, "Outlaw in Town" by Michael Fessier, a wry, fun story with terrific performances from Ricardo Montalban, Constance Ford, Arch Johnson and Bernard Kates. 

I was living in the World's Worst Town™ when the landmark TV special "Free to Be. . . You and Me" aired, so my knowledge of it is limited to second-hand observations. Fortunately, David takes a measured look back at it in this week's Comfort TV essay, which I found quite illuminating.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues with the "Sylvia Coleridge Season" and "A Touch of Home" from the 1972-73 series The Lotus Eaters, about British expats living on Crete. It makes for uncomfortable viewing, John says, as it holds up a mirror to Brits with not necessarily flattering results.

F Troop Fridays is back at The Horn Section, and this time out, Hal looks at "How to Be F Troop Without Really Trying" from the show's second season. Seems they're going to be shipped out to Bloody Creek, with Agarn's staying behind to train their replacements. You know, I don't like that "Bloody" part.

Martin Grams shares an essay that he and Robert Tevis wrote on the 1957 Playhouse 90 episode "A Sound of Different Drummers." I devote a chapter in my upcoming Darkness in Primetime to that episode, and I'm so grateful to Martin and Robert for making it possible to see the episode at the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention a couple of years ago.

At Mavis Movie Madness, Paul takes a thoughtful look at hwo movies got to be such a popular part of television programming. As you'll know if you've read my TV Guide reviews, television used to be literally dominated by movies, and Paul's review is quite instructive.

Terence shares his frustrations about favorite shows being pre-empted in this piece from A Shroud of Thoughts, and even though I've never seen an episode of Wild Cards, the show in question, he has my profound sympathies. Now you know what it was like trying to watch TV in the aformentioned World's Worst Town™.

Roger's latest New Avengers review at The View from the Junkyard centers on the episode "Obsession," in which our heroine Purdey finds herself involved with a man obsessed with the idea of revenge. Roger's astute observation: "An obsession is like an addiction. He’s enslaved by it." TV 

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

We'll begin the week with couple of blog updates. First, if you read Wednesday's article on Combat!, you'll notice that I've added the series to my Top Ten favorites. With this, the revised Top Ten is now complete; you can view the list here, or through the link on the sidebar.

Speaking of updates, I've also updated the links to my podcast appearances, which you can find on the "Video and Podcasts" tab on the top; they're also available on the It's About TV YouTube playlists page. I'm hoping to add more material to that in the future, by the way.

Finally, I've been pleased to publish several excellent guest essays here over the nearly fourteen years, of this blog. If you have something you'd like to share, please email me, and we'll talk. As I get closer to completing my latest book, your contribution not only entertains our readers, it helps me devote more time to the book.

Now, on to something more interesting, beginning with the latest look at private detective series from John at Cult TV Blog. The series is The View from Daniel Pike (a series that sounds like it's right up my alley), and the episode is "The Manufactured Clue." Try it; I think you'll like it.

At The Horn Section, Hal is back on the F Troop route, with "The West Goes Ghost," Am I giving anything away by saying that it involves another scheme courtesy of O'Rourke Enterprises? And that said scheme is doomed to failure? Probably not.

A week or two ago I mentioned the passing of baseball "legend" Bob Uecker; this week, Inner Toob takes a look at some of the Ueck's more memorable TV appearances, both as himself and as an actor. I'm not sure there was much of a difference; what you see is what you get, and it's always funny.

Roger is back at A View from the Junkyard with another in his continuing series of reviews of The New Avengers, and this time it's "Cat Amongst the Pigeons," which plays very much like an episode from the Emma Peel era, but done in the style of the new series. 

At The Hits Just Keep On Comin', JB has a nice remembrance of the famed NBC radio program Monitor; if you're not familiar with it, I urge you to check out the links JB provided, or to read my review of the definitive book on the program, Dennis Hart's Monitor.  

At Television's New Frontier: The 1960s, it's the 1960 episodes from the single-season sitcom Angel, with Marshall Thompson and Annie Fargé. It comes off somewhat as an imitation of I Love Lucy, but with somewhat less success. However, thanks to Classic Flix, it's out on DVD; take advantage of it. TV  

Around the dial

On Wednesday, you saw my contribution to the Aaron Spellingverse Blogathon hosted by Gill at Realweegiemidget; well, now that it's all done, head over there to see all of the entries, including those by blogs I'd ordinarily be mentioning here, such as The Last Drive In. By the end, you'll know more about Aaron Spelling than you ever thought possible!

Last week I mentioned the death of Peter Marshall, and that we'd likely be reading about him in this space this week. As promised, Terence has a look at the great man's career at A Shroud of Thoughts. Continue reading, and you'll also read his fine appreciation of the late Phil Donahue, who died earlier this week.

This week, Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine shines the spotlight on one Evan Hunter, who under that name wrote Blackboard Jungle, while under the pen name Ed McBain he wrote the long series of 87th Precinct novels, several of which are on my bookshelf. Here, we're concerned with his only Hitchcock contribution, "Appointment at Eleven," a terrific adaptation of Robert Turner's short story.

At Cult TV Blog, John has spent the past few weeks reviewing the dystopian series The Guardians, and this week he comes to the conclusing episode, after which he offers some of his own conclusions as to the provocative series. Thanks to you, John, I've had to add this series to the lengthy list of programs I have to watch if I live long enough.

Guess what came from Amazon last week? The complete series of F Troop! We'd always enjoyed this series when it was originally on, but I'd be lying if I didn't give some of the credit for my renewed interest to Hal at The Horn Section and his F Troop Fridays. This week, he returns with a look at "Reunion for O'Rourke," celebrating the Sergeant's 25th anniversary in the service.

At Comfort TV, David muses on what he calls his "least favorite sitcom plot," as seen in the Doris Day Show episode "The Matchmakers," and how an annoying cliche can nonetheless teach a valuable life lesson for those open to it. I probably ought to take a page or two from these episodes myself.

Next to the annual Christmas catalogs from Sears and Penneys, one of the most exciting days of the year, for me at least, was when the TV Guide Fall Preview issue came out. Somewhat to my surprise, they still publish one, although I've not paid any attention to broadcast television for years. At Television Obscurities, reliable Robert reminds us that it's out there, if you can find it.

I'm not sure that a week goes by when I don't see character actor Jay Novello appearing in one classic TV episode or another; sometimes I might see him twice in one night. Travalanche looks back at Novello's long career, and even if you don't recognize the name, he'll tell you what to watch so you can recognize the face. TV  

Around the dial

Xfter last week's break, we're back for another look at the classic TV blogosphere, so let's dive right in and see what's what.

Sadly, a trio of classic television figures have passed in the last couple of weeks, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has tributes to each one: Lynn Loring (who died in December, but her family just announced it last week), Ron Harper, and the legendary Barbara Rush.

Jack's Hitchcock Project continues at bare-bones e-zine with "Don't Interrupt," the sole script for the series written by Sidney Carroll, a prime example of Hitch's description of the difference between surprise and suspense, and with a nasty twist at the end.

At Comfort TV, David continues his countdown of his 50 favorite classic TV characters with Ricky Nelson as Ricky Nelson. Was he an actor, a character, or a person? You can decide that, but there's no question about his memorable impact.

Hal continues his deep dive into the truth behind F Troop's ratings at The Horn Section,  demonstrating that the perception that the series underperformed in the ratings is a myth, and speculating on what might have been, if it had had more support from the studio and network.

"The curse of the old TV fan," John says at Cult TV Blog, "is the prolific wiping of shows, especially black and white shows." (Truer words were seldom spoken.) To back that up, he looks at another episode of the anthology series Armchair Mystery Theatre, "The Man Who Came to Die."  

At Drunk TV, Paul reviews volume three of the series Greatest Heroes of the Bible. The bad news: these episodes lack that certain "badness" that one gets from a typical Schick Sunn Classic production. What does that mean? Paul has the answer.

Cult TV Lounge returns to the world of Boris Karloff's Thriller with the 1961 episode "Late Date." We all know that Thriller can be uneven at the best of times, but this one happens to be a hit on the hit-or-miss scale, with Larry Pennell (Ripcord) in a starring role.

Certainly The Mickey Mouse Club would count as one of the iconic shows of the late 1950s (although I recall it from reruns when I was small), and Travalanche gives us his own memories of catching the show in reruns.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger recalls the fifth season Twilight Zone episode "In Praise of Pip," a touching story (thought it didn't touch Roger in quite the right way) of a father and his son. Notable for being one of the first mentions of Vietnam on series television.

Finally, last week I appeared in a pair of episodes of Dan Schneider's Video Interview, looking back at some of the major figures in television's history: first, Barbara Walters, and second, Dave Garroway, for which Dan and I were joined by the wonderful Jodie Peeler for a delightful hour. TV  

Around the dial

At bare-bones e-zine, we start the week with Jack's Hitchcock Project, looking at Irving Elman's seventh-season teleplay "The Door Without a Key," starring the great Claude Rains, John Larch, and Billy Mumy, familiar faces all.

The Broadcast Archives has a small but important explanation for why it's important to preserve broadcast archives. I wish--no, I ache for all the material that's been lost over the years because it wasn't preserved.

Did you ever wonder how TV bloggers get ideas on what to write about? One way is by having a constant supply of programs to watch, and at Cult TV Blog, John shares some of the contents of his laptop. We'll be reading about them later!

At The Horn Section, Hal is back to continue his series dispelling myths about the ratings for the series F Troop, which were actually much better than those for more heralded show such as That Girl.

The Avengers returns at The View from the Junkyard, with "The Forget-Me-Knot," and a restatement of what the series is all about: "lots of fights, some baddies with a dastardly plan, eccentric secret agents, a gimmicky element to the story, and plenty of humour." Find out how all these come together.

Was The Love Boat the most influential program ever to air on television? This article from CNN, discussing the impact the show made on the cruise industry, makes a compelling case that it was; what do you think?

Did you ever wonder how James Garner wound up as Jim Rockford? My old friend Billy Ingram has the story at TVParty, the site that gave me my start in the classic TV business!

We're up to the 1962 episodes of the sitcom Dennis the Menace, and Television's New Frontier: The 1960s takes an in-depth look at the year's episodes and the direction the show is headed, including the transition from Joseph Kearns to Gale Gordon.

TV Obseurities presents a new audio exhibit looking at the closing credits to the 1975-76 season of All in the Family,. It's worth it for the voiceover promotions you hear over the credits, a great look back at what the network had to offer almost 50 years ago.

At Cult TV Lounge, it's a look at one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone, the chilling, surprising "The After Hours," starring Anne Francis as a department store customer who isn't what she seems, in a store that isn't what it seems.

Finally, the podcast Flipside: The True Story of Bob Crane presents a special Bob hosted to mark the 8th anniversary of his KNX-CBS radio program. It's a reminder of what a great radio host he was, and how entertaining his show was. TV  

Around the dial

I think we'll open the scoring this week at the A.V. Club, where Kayleigh Dray makes a plea to return to the 20+ episode season. (And standalone episodes!) This was, of course, the norm in the classic TV era, and there are sensible reasons why it would be a good idea today.

At bare•bones e-zine, the Hitchcock Project turns to the first of two Richard Fielder teleplays for the hour-long edition, the first being "Night of the Owl," based on a novel by Andrew Garve, with Brian Keith, Claudia Cravey, and Patricia Breslin. A novel fits in very well to the hour-long format, as you'll see from Jack's review.

A few weeks ago, Hal started a deeper look at the 1965-66 ratings for F Troop, and now he's back with part two, looking at the 1966-67 season. Did the move to 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday night have an effect on the show's ratings? Is it true that F Troop had better ratings than I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek, The Wild Wild West, and The Monkees, among others? Tune in and find out.

At Cult TV Blog, John's latest series focuses on the idea that The Prisoner's Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) was actually a plant, not a prisoner. This week, we see him apply this theory to the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben," one of the series' more puzzling episodes. Does the theory still hold up? 

We don't often talk about "seasons" when it comes to a Saturday morning cartoon; most of them just kept running the same episodes over and over. But Star Trek: The Animated Series wasn't your average Saturday fare, and this week's The View from the Junkyard looks at the second season opener, "The Pirates of Orion."

I was watching an episode of Rawhide on MeTV the other day; it's not a series I usually watch, but I had nothing better to do at the time, and the print was so clear, it was hard to believe that the series is now celebrating its 65th anniversary. Terence looks back at the show's history this week at A Shroud of Thoughts.

Good news from Martin Grams: the second volume of The Lone Ranger: The Radio Years is due for publication this year. Volume one, written with Terry Salomonson and covering the early years (1933-37), came out a few years ago; volume two covers the years 1938-42. Stay tuned for more details.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew has a story that isn't TV related, but it bears reading nonetheless. A woman named Maureen Flavin Sweeney died December 17th last, aged 100. You've probably never heard of her, but the role she played in D-Day is extraordinary. Read it to find out another of those footnotes that make history so interesting.

Finally, Glynis Johns died last week, also at the age of 100. At Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy has a look back at her remarkable career in the theater, movies, and television. Quite a career; quite a lady. TV  

Around the dial

Up first for this last "Around the Dial" of the Spyear is Jack's Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, where we're up to Thomas Grant's second contribution to the series, "Hooked," airing in 1960 and starring Robert Horton and Anne Francis, with a terrific twist ending.

At Cult TV Blog, John looks at The Avengers episode "Quick-Quick Slow Death," and just as Jack often compares the TV version of a story with the original source material, John looks at the episode from two different angles: the television broadcast, and a version aired on the South African Springbok Radio. Interesting comparison.

The View from the Junkyard travels to Avengers territory as well, with Roger and Mike comparing notes on "Return of the Cybernauts," a sequel to the hugely popular original Cybernauts story; the show's favorite villains are back with a cautionary message about the growth of technology. See what the two of them have to say.

Last week I linked to Variety's 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list, which I managed to avoid reading. If you're curious, though, head over to Comfort TV, where David's done the heavy lifting so you don't have to. Hint: it's what you'd expect, with a few pleasant surprises along the way. Unpleasant ones as well: no room for Gunsmoke or Perry Mason, but Sex and the City at #6? Bite me.

Speaking of "Bite Me," if you're a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, you'll recognize that phrase. And for those fans, you'll enjoy Jeffrey Blehar's appreciation of the series at the unlikely site of National Review. Over the many years of this feature, I've linked to both National Review and The Atlantic, which I think says something for my open-mindedness.

And since we're on the subject of favorites, Christmas is, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year, and one of my favorite specials from the Yuletide season is the 1966 edition of The Andy Williams Christmas Show. You can both see it and read about it in this Christmas present from the Metzinger Sisters at Silver Scenes.

At Drunk TV, Paul has moved on to season four of Mister Ed, and it's a return to form for the series, with the season featuring some of the show's best episodes (including the epic "Leo Durocher Meets Mister Ed"), along with a new supporting cast for Ed, Wilbur, and Carol. This was one of those after-school shows for me when I was in grade school, along with Gilligan's Island.

The Horn Section is back, and with it comes F Troop. This week, Hal gives us part one of a more in-depth look at how F Troop did in the ratings during the 1965-66 season. Did it really only place 40th in the ratings for the season, or does it deserve more credit than that? Inquiring minds want to know, and Hal has an answer.

At The Classic TV History Blog, Stephen Bowie interviews director Robert Butler about his experiences directing the first episode of Shane, the 1966 series starring David Carradine that was an ill-fated attempt to continue the story of the legendary movie of the same name. It's a sidebar to this piece from last month, which has more on the background of the series

Tom Smothers died a couple of days ago, aged 86, and not surprisingly, we have a couple of remembrances of the man who formed one half of the influential comedy team; this one from Travalanche, and this one from Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts. I have never pretended to be a fan of the Smothers Brothers; neither, however, have I ever denied their influence and impact.

At Shadow & Substance, Paul has the details on this year's Twilight Zone marathon on Syfy. Well, actually, it would be next year's marathon as well, wouldn't it? It starts on Saturday, December 30, and runs through the early hours of Tuesday, January 2. I'm going to stick to my continuing rewatch of the series on DVD, but this is still a great thing to have.

Before we close, I want to take a moment to thank all of these bloggers, many of whom I know, for their contributions to classic television history over the past year—and to simply providing entertaining reads. Let's do it again next year! TV  

Around the dial

At Comfort TV, David honors the late David McCallum with a look at some of the actor's finest classic television roles, from a 1953 performance on British TV to his 1986 reunion with Robert Vaughn on The A-Team—a career marked with warm and intelligent portrayals.

Dick Carr's work on Alfred Hitchcock Presents continues at bare-bones e-zine as Jack looks at the first season story "Salvage," co-written with Fred Freiberger, and starring a young Gene Barry, along with Nancy Gates and Elisha Cook, Jr.  

If you have the same trouble keeping up with what's on various streaming services as I do, you'll welcome this helpful note from Silver Scenes with a look at some of the latest offerings on Tubi. Classic television is always on the list, including the 1966 WWII adventure series Jericho.

At The Horn Section, Hal returns to F Troop with the season one episode "Go For Broke," in which our heroic Sgt. O'Rourke must figure out how to replenish the fort's pension fund—which O'Rourke lost in a shady poker game—before the Inspector General arrives.

Cult TV Blog continues a look at the 1970s, as John moves on to the BBC series Paul Temple, which was a big hit—in Germany!—and, hence, is only available today by watching episodes dubbed into German. Watch the episode "The Quick and the Dead," and you'll see it's worth it.

At Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy has her recommendation for five TV horror series for Halloween. Among the series are two I can testify to: Night Gallery and Sapphire & Steel, the latter starring none other than the aforementioned David McCallum. 

Eyes of a Generation has a very interesting piece on the history of ABC's first handheld cameras. If you watch historic coverage of news and sporting events, you know the impact handhelds have had, and ABC had not one but two designs: one from LA, the other from New York.

Martin Grams has a great look at the history of the radio show Bold Venture, which starred none other than Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It's long been highly sought after, and now a Kickstarter campaign seeks to make them available to OTR fans.  

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the career of the great Sir Michael Gambon, who died last month aged 82. Gambon starred in such diverse projects as the Harry Potter movie series, Maigret, and the unforgettable The Singing Detective. 

Remember Andy Griffith's foray into science fiction, Salvage 1 (not to be confused with the above-mentioned Salvage)? Television Obscurities does, and Robert reviews the initial episode (after the pilot), "Dark Island," which takes place a long way from Mayberry.

We'll wrap things up at The View from the Junkyard, where Mike continues his reviews of the Saturday morning series Land of the Lost with the episode "The Hole," a literate, intelligent installment in a series that was a cut above the standard Saturday life-action fare. TV  

Around the dial

Whenever we'd go to Chicago, we'd always include in our stops a trip to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, one of my favorite museums. The Broadcast Archives has the story of how the MBC has been forced out of its home; hopefully, this won't be the end of the line for them.  

At Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick shares seven things to know about The Jimmy Stewart Show, the 1971-72 comedy that marked the star's first foray into series television. As was the case with so many 1970s series fronted by major movie stars, the show lasted a single season, so here's your chance to learn more about it.

The Hitchcock Project continues at bare-bones e-zine, with Jack beginning his look at the teleplays of Halsted Welles. This week's episode, from the show's fourth season, is "The Dusty Drawer," a revenge story starring Dick York and Philip Coolidge. Not one of my favorites, but Jack's writeup, as always, is spot-on.

Keeping with the Hitchcockian theme, The Last Drive In series on the leading ladies of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour returns with some fine work by Betty Field, Teresa Wright, Kim Hunter, Margaret Leighton, and Juanita Moore. Stand by for extensive episode descriptions and pictures galore!

At The Horn Section, Hal is back in F Troop land with the season one episode "A Fort's Best Friend is Not a Mother," and the mother in question is Captain Parmenter's own. How do O'Rourke and Agarn get the Captain out of this jam and preserve the good thing they've got going with O'Rourke Enterprises? Don't worry; they're up for the challenge.

Hammer House of Horror is always good for a chill or two, and at Realweegiemidget, Gill takes us through the chilling "Children of the New Moon," with a terrific performance by British film star Diana Dors as the "far too helpful and friendly" woman we always know we should be wary of.

One of the things I always appreciated about Columbo was that the show didn't skimp on big stars in supporting parts—not just the killer, but smaller roles as well. This week, at Once Upon a Screen, Aurora focuses on those murderers, with five movie stars turned Columbo killers. Not that they actually killed Columbo—you get the point.

Cult TV Blog makes a rare trip across the Atlantic as John reviews the Kojak episode "The Chinatown Murders," a terrific two-hour episode in which Theo Kojak has to deal with a Mafia war in Chinatown, including plenty of twists and turns. 

One of the more interesting aspects of domestic sitcoms is the architecture of the family home. While most of them were similar in construction, Terence looks at a couple of exceptions at A Shroud of Thoughts: the homes seen in The Real McCoys and Dobie Gillis. Find out what makes these homes unusual.

Speaking of Dobie Gillis, at Travalanche, Trav looks at the many shows of its star, Dwayne Hickman. Thanks to the aforementioned Horn Section, we know Dwayne from Love That Bob as well as Dobie, but you'll be able to see a long list of credits here.

And where would we be without a look at The Avengers, a show which is about to reappear on our personal weekly viewing schedule. At The View from the Junkyard, Roger and Mike take turns on the sci-fi flavored "Man-Eater of Surrey Green," with Steed and Mrs. Peel battling man-eating plants.

There—that should give you all something to chew on, so to speak. TV  

Around the dial

We'll start this week with a leftover from last week, as F Troop Fridays returns to The Horn Section. Hall looks at the episode "Captain Parmenter, One Man Army," and if you remember the series, you know that's a recipe for disaster. Find out what happens to Fort Courage when everyone but Parmenter is suddenly out of the Army?

At Cult TV Blog, John has moved on from The Prisoner and starts a series on TV shows from the 1980s, beginning with Scully, which has nothing to do with The X-Files and everything to do with the surreal depiction of the life of a British schoolboy. Any other attempt to describe it would be useless, so check out John for all the details.

We'll stick with British TV for a moment, or at least TV with a British connection; Cult TV Lounge explores Hammer Films' 1980 TV series Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, a co-production with Fox that should have worked, but didn't. Find out why, and whether or not it had anything to do with Hammer's American partners.

At Drunk TV, Jason looks back at the first season of Magnum, P.I. (the original, which as we know is the only real one), and tells us how Thomas, Rick, T.C., Higgins, and that dynamic Ferrari combine with the gorgeous Hawaiian landscape (and a few shapely adorables along the way) to produce a show that's much loved all these years later.

Speaking of Magnum, Realweegiemidget takes a gander at the sixth episode from that first season; Gill tells us how this episode, "Skin Deep," is a tribute to the noir classic Laura, with Tom Sellick assuming the Dana Andrews role of the detective trying to find out who killed Laura—er, Erin.

Over at Comfort TV, David shares the top TV moments from the great Sammy Davis Jr. As David mentions, few big stars appeared on episodic television as often as Davis did (occasionally playing himself), and his appearances on shows from Zane Grey Theatre to Charlie's Angels, with a little All in the Family thrown in. Who can beat that, besides the Candy Man?

Finally, Tim McCarver, one of the most familiar voices on baseball broadcasts of the last few decades, and a pretty fair player as well, died Thursday, aged 81. Here's a look back at his career, and the impact that he made. TV  

Around the dial

Thanks for indulging me last week when I preempted this feature to participate in the Donald Pleasence blogathon (and if you haven't read my review of the Twilight Zone episode "The Changing of the Guard," you can do so here). This week it's back to normal, and we'll start off at ReelWeegieMidget, co-sponsor of the Pleasence blogathon, with Gill's recap of this year's entries. Read through some very good articles on a very good actor.

Next, it's the latest Hitchcock Project entry by Jack at bare-bones e-zine: "The Baby-Blue Expression," Helen Nielsen's nasty little story about infidelity and foolishness, with Sarah Marshall, Peter Walker and Richard Gaines. The satisfaction factor in this one is high.

David continues his "journey through 1970s TV" at Comfort TV; he's into the second year now, looking at Sunday nights in 1971. Remember The Bold Ones? Bonanza? The Jimmy Stewart Show? They're all there, along with Cade's County, the underrated Glenn Ford contemporary Western that ran for two seasons. Let David bring back some memories. 

At Cult TV Blog, John has been reviewing a number of interesting documentaries, and the latest is "Cromwell Street," about the infamous serial killers Fred and Rose West, and particularly on the role Cromwell Street itself played in the commission of these murders.

At Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick reviews the 1954 romantic drama Three Coins in the Fountain, which, as I've mentioned before, was based on the novel Coins in the Fountain by future ABC news correspondent and documentarian John Secondari. It's also the only time Frank Sinatra sang the theme for a movie that he didn't appear in. 

We're still thinking about the late, great Angela Lansbury, and since Halloween was just a few days ago, it's appropriate that at Silver Scenes, the Metzingers look back at the 1987 Murder She Wrote episode "Night of the Headless Horseman." And this one isn't in Cabot Cove!

Keeping with that Halloween theme, at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes us back to The Beverly Hillbillies and the show's only Halloween episode, "Trick or Treat," the sixth episode of the show's first season, and the first (of many) to hit #1 in the ratings.

For F Troop Friday at The Horn Section, Hal revisits the first-season episode "Too Many Cooks Spoil the Troop," with O'Rourke and Agarn up to their tricks again, this time taking on guest stars James Gregory and Jamie Farr.

At Shadow & Substance, Paul tells us about the expanded edition of Scott Skelton and Jim Benson's book Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour. And when he says "expanded," he means it; check out what he has to say, and you've got until tomorrow to get in on the Kickstarter and get a copy.

Finally, at The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shows us what can happen when you're doing live television, with this look at Buddy Holly and the Crickets and their 1957 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. We wouldn't have it any other way, though. TV  

Around the dial

It's often been said that to grab people's attention you need a good hook, and, at least around here, you're not going to get a better hook than the one David has at Comfort TV: "Terrible Shows I Like." In this case the show in question is The Governor and J.J. with Dan Dailey and Julie Sommars, and while I didn't love it, I do remember it being enjoyable, and as David points out, it's very hard not to like Dan Dailey in anything.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack's Hitchcock Project continues with the works of Victor Wolfson, and this week we've got the second-season episode Toby, with the very recognizable character actor Robert H. Harris and Jessica Tandy in a strange little tale that is unsettling but effective. 

In honor of the late Larry Storch, Hal has a special edition of "F Troop Fridays" at The Horn Section. "The Ballot of Corporal Agarn" gives us Storch's Agarn, who holds the critical absentee ballot that will determine the next mayor of his hometown of Passaic, New Jersey. The candidates come to woo him, but they'll have to deal with Sgt. O'Rourke. 

Larry Storch is also the subject of this obituary from Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts, who reminds us that Storch was also the voice of Phineas J. Whoopee on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, and no matter how many times I watch it, I can still never quite hear him in that role, which is, of course, a compliment to him, since so many of today's voiceovers are too obviously linked with the actor playing them. Terence also has a nice tribute to the great character actor L.Q. Jones, who died this week as well. There's 193 years between those two actors; not bad at all.

Wednesday was Dave Garroway's birthday, and also the fifth anniversary of Garroway at Large, Jodie's great website devoted to the Master Communicator. Some great pictures, and also an update on the status of Jodie's bio on Dave.

It's Fake Mediums Week at Cult TV Blog, and John kicks things off with a look at "But What a Sweet Little Room," a murder-strewn episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). After you've finished this, you'll want to continue on to the rest of the week's entries.

At Shadow & Substance, Paul has a poll on Charles Beaumont's best Twilight Zone script, and even though we all know what a terrific writer Beaumont was, and what good work he did for TZ, it's still a little overwhelming to read the list of the great episodes he wrote. That kind of talent—it just doesn't come along that often, does it? TV  

Around the dial

At Comfort TV, David is continuing a very interesting series he started recently, to watch at least one episode of every prime-time network series to air in the 1970s. This week, he's up to Tuesdays in 1970. How many of them do you remember?

The Horn Session returns to the wacky world of F Troop, as Hal reviews the episode "Spy, Counterspy, Counter Counterspy," from the show's first season. With Pat Harrington, Jr. and Abbe Lane as guest stars, it's as wacky as you'd expect.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues his look into the alternative explanation behind The Prisoner. "The Prisoner in the Asylum" has been a very provocative series, and as I've mentioned before, I'm looking forward to watching the series again, only this time from the standpoint of his scenario.

At The Classic Film Connection, Jillian reviews the TCM documentary on Dean Martin, Dean Martin: King of Cool. Personally, I'd give that title to Steve McQueen, but as I mentioned here, Deano was always cool, and Jillian's analysis is terrific.

Rick is back at Classic Film & TV Cafe with another edition of the Movie-TV Connection Game, and as usual I'll warn you to refrain from checking the comments before you've given your own answers. These are always a lot of fun!

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence remembers the late Bo Hopkins, the latest TV and movie star to pass on, who died last week, aged 84. In addition to the many movies in which he appeared, he was also a familiar face on television throughout his career, including a regular role in Dynasty. 

At The Hits Just Keep on Comin', JB takes one of his periodic looks back at a date in living history; this time, it's June 1, 1982. You know, I'm surprised at how much of this I remember, and how long ago it seems. I think it's called getting old. TV  

Around the dial

Xet's start this week at Soul Ride, where Gary reviews Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan, by James McGuire. You'll recall that several years ago—in fact, now that I look at it, it was the second piece on this blog—I reviewed Gerald Nachman's Sullivan bio; I enjoyed it, but it could and should have been much better. If I ever want another crack at Sullivan's life, this is the book I'd check out. 

At The Horn Section, Hal's look at F Troop continues with "El Diablo," a 1966 episode in which Larry Storch takes center stage as Corporal Agarn and his evil cousin, the notorious bandit El Diablo, who has a $10,000 price on his head. No matter what, this isn't going to turn out well.

Lately, I've been reading Rodney Marshall's Twitter posts on Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased, so naturally I was game for John's take on the series over at Cult TV Blog. He doesn't disappoint, with "The Best Years of Your Death," featuring the late Peter Bowles.

At Television's New Frontier: the 1960s, the focus is on the 1962 episodes of The Flintstones. The cartoon's been on since September 1960, and it's not as fresh as it used to be. It also brings home the question of whether or not this adult cartoon was ever a kids' show.

Terence looks back on the career of Marvin J. Chomsky at A Shroud of Thoughts. Chomsky, who died earlier this week, aged 92, had a glittering resume of directorial work for television, including Roots, Holocaust, Mission: Impossible, Banacek, Mannix, The Wild, Wild West, and many, many more.

I recently saw a comment online from someone who thought it was wrong to consider Gilligan's Island a classic, because it wasn't very good. How can you say that, though, about a series that's had such a profound pop culture impact? At Drunk TV, Paul reviews another of the venerable show's spinoffs, the 1982-83 cartoon Gilligan's Planet. TV