Around the dial

Let's start off the week with a question from one of our readers. Mark is a fan of Mission: Impossible, and wonders if there's any information about the music from the first season episode "The Short Tail Spy," which has Eric Braedon (who was then going by Hans Gudegast) romancing Barbara Bain's Cinnamon Carter. "I love it, but can't find it anywhere. Can you help?" I don't see a separate music credit for the episode, which means either than it was done by Lalo Schifrin or, more likely, was from CBS's music stock. It's possible that it could be on this boxed set of music from the show, but I'm throwing it out there to my knowledgeable readers to see if one of you might have further information, and I know you won't let me down. Now, on to this week's features.

No sooner did I wrap up last week's feature, musing about the legends who'd recently passed on, then news kept coming about more of them: Cicely Tyson, the trailblazing actress; Allan Burns, writer for some of television's best shows; and the legendary Hal Holbrook, who was Mark Twain and a whole lot more. At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has thoughtful appreciations of them all. The toll this year just keeps rising, doesn't it?

I don't know why, but I've always had a fondness for banks, and that's even before I started keeping my money in them. To a kid, there's something very impressive about them: clean, institutional. And, of course, money. It's not quite the same now with ATMs and direct deposit and online banking, but the fascination with banks continues. That's the focus of this week's Comfort TV, as David looks at classic TV episodes that take place where you keep your cash.

It's taken awhile, but at The Horn Section, Hal's taken us all the way through the 17 episodes of Hondo, and now it's time to take stock and rank those episodes in order, along with other links of note regarding this short-lived but enduring series and its star, Ralph Taeger.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie shares a wonderful hour of conversation that resulted when Dave stopped by to talk with his old friend Studs Terkel on his Chicago radio series back in 1974. They don't make 'em like that anymore—either the shows or the people on them.

There was a time when Disney used to make quite a few exciting adventure movies that weren't simply live-action remakes of their cartoons; they'd often wind up on TV in two- or three-part stories. Third Man on the Mountain, starring James MacArthur and James Donald, Michael Rennie, Laurence Naismith and Herbert Lom, is one of them, and at Classic Film & TV Café, Rick tells us what to expect from it.

When I started slumming around YouTube channels like FredFlix, I ran across all kinds of shows I'd never heard of before. One of them was It's A Man's World, starring Glenn Corbett, Ted Bessell, Mike Burns and Randy Boone. To learn more about it, I went to the some of obscure TV shows, TV Obscurities, where Robert tells me all about it.

At Shadow & Substance, Paul revisits one of the most beloved Twilight Zone episodes, "Night of the Meek," and revisits his interview with  Larrian Gillespie—the elf who welcomes Art Carney's Santa to his sleigh for a return to the North Pole. TV  

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Do you remember the NBC prime-time soap Number 96? It was a sensation in Australia in 1972, where the night it premiered was known as "the night Australian TV lost its virginity" due to the copious amounts of sex (including full-frontal nudity) for which the show would become infamous. An American version of the series, also known as Number 96, premiered in 1980; NBC billed it as "The series they tried to ban in Australia!" but despite this, and even though I no longer lived in the World's Worst Town™, I have absolutely no memory of the series, which was much tamer than its Aussie counterpart. (Even so, you can bet the young viewers in the picture above wouldn't have been watching it at that age) Good thing Television.AU is here to rectify the gap in my knowledge. By the way, for those of you familiar with our Twin Cities TV listings, you might recognize that the ad for the American version used at Television.AU comes from the Minnesota State Edition of TV Guide. What do you know, even KCMT carried it!

At Comfort TV, David explains how those classic Christmas episodes are bringing him more pleasure than usual this year, and I know just what he means; I believe that it was in 2001 that WPIX brought back the Yule Log because it was comfort food for people after a traumatic year, and the same goes this year. Check out the episodes that are particularly meaningful to him.

Staying with the Yule theme, at Christmas TV History Joanna lists some of the best Christmas variety shows, including classic episodes available for streaming. This is a genre that really gives me pleasure each year, because so many of them contain the lavish Currier & Ives-type Christmas trappings that have come to define the holiday; they're also not afraid to point out the sacred nature of the day. 

Let's hope that Christmas doesn't make you want to give someone a whoopin', at least not the kind that Hondo gives. This week at The Horn Section, Hal reviews the 17th and final episode, "Hondo and the Rebel Hat," which proves you shouldn't mess with a man's hat.  

At Silver Scenes, the Metzinger Sisters provide a nice review of the career of character actor Joe Flynn, most memorable in McHale's Navy, but a standout in almost every part he plays. Like John Banner, Flynn was an actor who really knew how to steal a scene, and although Joey Bishop apparently didn't like that, there were plenty of more secure actors who profited by having him alongside.

I'm ashamed that although I've read a great deal about the British sci-fi character Quatermaas, I've only seen a part of one of the movies, which means I'm doing a gross disservice to the classic series. John goes in-depth on the 1955 The Quatermaas Xperiment, the beginning of adult science fiction on television, at this week's Cult TV Blog.

If you're like me—and by that, I mean that you have an appreciation for the Rat Pack—you'll want to check out Alain's Facebook page dedicated to Frank, Dean and Sammy. What better way to establish your credentials as a cool customer? In conjunction with this, you might want to check out the new book Deconstructing the Rat Pack: Joey, The Mob, and the Summit, by Richard A. Lertzman and Lon Davis, which has some in-depth info on Joey Bishop, including both of his television shows.   

And in case you missed it, my 2020 Holiday Gift Guide is up; be sure to take advantage of some great shopping ideas! TV  

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No prattling on from me this week; we'll just get right to it.

At bare-bones e-zine, the Hitchcock Project moves on, with Jack introducing us to the works of Bill S. Ballinger—specifically, the 1959 episode "Dry Run," with Robert Vaughn, Walter Matthau, and David White. Quite a cast, wouldn't you say?

Speaking as we were of Hitchcock, at Classic Film and TV Café Rick has a list of his choices for Hitch's best movies. Try not to get dizzy looking at these titles, a reminder of how great, and how successful, Hitchcock was as a director.

If you've ever thought that The Brady Bunch was a live-action comic strip, here's your confirmation: The Secret Sanctum of Captain Video takes a look at the Brady Bunch comic book story "T.V. or Not T.V.," a cautionary tale of "television and its' effect on the newly-blended family!" Ooh. . .

At Comfort TV, David has a look back at highlights from the career of Sherry Jackson and her journey from a child star on The Danny Thomas Show to her very grown-up guest roles in the 1960s and beyond: everything from Star Trek to Lost in Space to Charlie's Angels.

Now, this is the kind of thing I'm a sucker for: nearly three hours of retro television introductions, courtesy of The Last Drive In. It was videos like this that got me into watching the FredFlix channel at YouTube, many, many pleasant hours ago.

It's time once again for Hondo at The Horn Section, and this time Hal's watching "Hondo and the Apache Trail," the follow-up to "Hondo and the Apache Kid," with guest appearances by Nick Adams and Annette Funicello.

This would have been about the time that I wrote about our experiences at this year's Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, but as you know, real life intervened this year. Never fear, however, for Carol has her own write-up at Bob Crane: Life & Legacy.

Now, which Doctor Who story was "The Macra Terror"? Ah yes, now I remember. At Cult TV Blog, John takes a closer look at the reconstructed story, with animation filling in the gaps where the original footage was unavailable. (Thanks, BBC.) Time for me to start watching again, perhaps.

Do you remember The Baileys of Balboa? Television Obscurities does, so take a trip back (including the links provided in the story) to learn more about this single-season sitcom, starring Paul Ford and John Dehner, which premiered 55 years ago. Has it really been that long? TV 

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We’ll start this week with another look outside the classic TV blogosphere, beginning at Uni Watch, the website devoted to the obsessive study of athletic aesthetics. In this article, Paul leads off with a fabulous commercial for the 1968 Dodge Charger, featuring members of—who else?—the San Diego Chargers! Chrysler was a great sponsor of the American Football League, and it’s great to see an example of it in this commercial.

And if I didn’t need something else to remind me that I’m getting older by the second, Bryan Curtis has an article at The Ringer on “the present and future of broadcasting” as heard on the NBA finals. Since I’m not a basketball fan, I can’t speak firsthand; I can only read it and wonder if the days of Chris Schenkel were really that long ago.

At bare-bones e-zine, Jack wraps up his look at the Hitchcock works of James P. Cavanagh with the seventh-season story “Where Beauty Lies,” and a summary of Cavanagh’s output.

“Hondo and the Hanging Town” does not sound good, especially if your name happens to be Hondo. Find out the exciting conclusion from Hal at The Horn Section.

David offers a reflection on actress Season Hubley that’s as fresh as a springtime morning, with a review of her many television credits providing some Comfort TV indeed.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan celebrates the upcoming first day of summer with a retrospective on the several excellent episodes that prove “summers are always strange” in the Twilight Zone.

Opera Winfrey looks like something out of a dystopic dictatorship in the ridiculous getup she’s wearing on the June 3, 1989 cover of TV Guide. Find out what else is in that issue at Television Obscurities.

On the other side of the ocean: Paul Darrow, one of the stars of the British sci-fi cult classic Blake’s 7, died over the weekend at age 78. Terence has an appreciation of his career at A Shroud of Thoughts.

And that, my friends, should hold you until tomorrow.  TV  

Around the dial

Ithink most of you can tell that's Lyndon B. Johnson. LBJ was a great television watcher, both before and while he was president; in the Oval Office, he had a console installed with three television screens, so he could watch news coverage on all three networks at the same time. But what is he watching here? The answer at the end.

Since we're in a mystery frame of mind, let's continue with the latest Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, with Jack continuing his look at the works of James P. Cavanagh. This week it's the season one episode "The Creeper," based on a real-life murder mystery that was unsolved at the time it was originally dramatized for radio.

At The Horn Section, Hal is back to Hondo, with "Hondo and the Death Drive," from December, 1967, a four-star whoopass episode if ever there was one. But as Hal reminds us, "Your lives are meaningless compared to HONDO!"

Most classic TV fans know that the British series Till Death Us Do Part was the model for the American series All in the Family, but as Thrilling Days of Yesterday points out, since Till Death never achieved the mass release in America that, say, Monty Python did, not a lot of people know what that British series was like. Ivan sets out to shed some light on it.

Keeping it all in the (British) family, Cult TV Blog offers a first look at a series that's new to John, Gideon's Way, from 1965. Does it hold up well today? Does it make John want to watch more? Read and find out.

The Broadcasting Archives at the University of Maryland links to this Washington Post article on how the average American has even more ways to stream television. I look at this kind of thing frequently, always wanting to weigh my options, to see what the possibilities are. It always gives me a headache when I do.

One of my favorite shows, Peter Gunn, is the latest subject of Television's New Frontier: the 1960s.  A fascinating look at how the show comes to an end, and the future endeavors of cast and crew.

Continuing his look at 1989, Television Obscurities explores the issue of January 28, 1989, with the stars of Roseanne, Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, on the cover, and a variety of stories guaranteed to take you back 30 years in time.

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So what is LBJ watching? I plucked this picture from Google images, and although there was no description with it, I'm sure you could find one if you looked moderately hard. But even without a description, we know a few things. The man speaking has a longish badge on his left lapel, probably a convention credentials badge. The curtain behind the speaker has stars on it, and the only occasion I can think of that fits the bill is the 1960 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. Since the Speaker of the House traditionally served as convention chairman back in the day, and since the gentleman on the screen looks bald, I'm prepared to identify him as "Mr. Sam," Sam Rayburn, longtime House Speaker and LBJ's mentor. Which means this picture is probably LBJ in his hotel room, preparing to watch the roll call for president, at which he'll finish second to John F. Kennedy. Look at his expression—I think he knows he's going to lose this vote. Could anyone possibly imagine what the future has in store for him?  TV  

Around the dial

This week, a particularly good installment of the Hitchcock Project at bare-bones e-zine, as Jack shows how Bernard C. Schoenfeld's touch resulted in a faithful adaptation of an R.E. Kendall short story, while making one little tweak that packs a wallop.

In Hondo-speak, that wallop would be called whoopass, and there's some to be had over at The Horn Section, as Hal reviews Hondo's twelfth episode, "Hondo and the Ghost of Ed Dow." By the way, I had no idea that Hondo, which ran a grand total of 17 episodes, was on TNT for ten years.

At Garroway at Large, Jodie looks back at Election Night 1960, a marathon of waiting and watching and waiting into the morning hours, as the Kennedy-Nixon deadlock drags on. But the real highlight is when tonight becomes Today, so to speak, and a certain Garroway makes an appearance.

Meanwhile, Jordan at The Twilight Zone Vortex presents a terrific list of a dozen TZ episodes that show how heavily the series was influenced by film noir. I really enjoy lists like this; they serve to remind me how great some of these episodes really are.

It's snowing here in Minneapolis as I write this, which makes the beach picture at Some Polish American Guy even more inviting. It's "The Two Million Dollar Hustle," the final episode of B.J. and the Bear. Don't let the moment pass without checking it out. Good Gravy!

Cult TV Blog travels back in time to 1966 and the Doctor Who story "The Smugglers." It's actually a reconstruction, the original being one of the infamous "lost episodes" that invariably add an aura of mystery to the story. I don't watch the new Who anymore, but I wonder: in years to come, will people look back on current episodes with the same affection that they have for those that have been rediscovered or reconstructed? Something about the thrill of the hunt.

Television's New Frontier: the 1960s looks at Gunsmoke in the year 1961, a year marked by change—most important, the show's expansion from 30 minutes to an hour. Was it the right thing to do? Read it and judge for yourself. But isn't that what you always do anyway? TV  

Around the dial

We begin the week at bare-bones e-zine, where Jack continues his Hitchcock Project look at John Cheever's stories with "O Youth and Beauty!", a sixth-season episode adapted by Halsted Welles and starring Gary Merrill. Successful? You decide...

At Comfort TV, David returns to his occasional feature, "Purchase or Pass." This week's entrant: the single-season detective series Honey West, with Anne Francis. So should we purchase, or pass? Considering David's comment that Honey West was the role Francis was born to play, I think you know the answer.

Ed Nelson and David Opatoshu, two actors I've always liked, star in the Twilight Zone episode "Valley of the Shadow," written by Charles Beaumont and the subject of The Twilight Zone Vortex. It doesn't really work, says Jordan, but it's worth a look anyway.

The Bob Crane: Life & Legacy website is active again, and Carol celebrates with some rare photos of Bob behind the mic at KNX radio in Los Angeles. Great as he was in Hogan's Heroes, he had a rare talent on radio; if you're not familiar with it, now's the chance to find out more.

It's Hondo time again at The Horn Section and I love the title of the episode in question: "Hondo and the Sudden Town," featuring Noah Beery Jr.; if you only know him as Rocky from The Rockford Files, you owe it to yourself to check out his many classic TV performances. Oh, and it also has Rod Cameron - what else do you need?

It's "Christmas in July" time at Christmas TV History, and you'll want to peruse the entries throughout the month, starting here. Joanna's come up with some very interesting questions on tap this year, and the answers should be fascinating to read. Hopefully I'll get my own responses over to her soon.

Good news from Television Obscurities, where the UCLA Film & Television archives have uploaded some of their vintage episodes of The United States Steel Hour to YouTube. Any time we get a chance to see some more examples of Golden Age anthologies, it's a treat - and if they're not all masterpieces, neither is everything on TV today.

Finally, if you enjoyed part one of Jodie's look at Today's Number Two man, Jack Lescoulie, you'll want to be sure and read part two at Garroway at Large, with more to come. TV