Around the dial

Let's get back to normal here and start off the week right. Since we could all use a good laugh, John at Cult TV Blog  has the answer: the Monty Python Science Fiction Sketch. I think it marks the first time I ever heard the word "blancmange," and life hasn't been the same since.

At Comfort TV, David continues his series on "Still Stuck in the 1970s,"which is as good a catalog as you're going to find explaining why so many of us of a certain age despair at what our culture has been. Be sure to go back and read part one here. Extremely thoughtful.

Jodie is back celebrating Dave Garroway's birthday, as well as marking the anniversary of Garroway at Large, and what better way to celebrate than with a throwback to Dave's radio DJ days, a series of records called "Dave Garroway’s 11:60 Club Favorites."

It's the return of Love That Bob at The Horn Section, and this week Hal is reviewing the 1955 episode "It's Later Than You Think." It's the third-ever episode of the show, so fans might recognize a few changes from what they're used to, and it's by all definitions a classic.

The latest star to enter the obituary roll for 2026 is the great Sam Neill, and not surprisingly we've got a pair of tributes to him, beginning at Classic Film and TV Corner, and continuing at A Shroud of Thoughts. At the latter, Terence also commemorates Hal Williams, Officer Smitty on Sanford and Son as well as many other TV roles.

Who knew that Sherlock Holmes was so popular in Russia? Well, now you do. At Cult TV Lounge, we read of The Treasures of Agra, one of a series of Holmes TV movies made between 1979 and 1986 that became quite the thing over there. Fortunately for all of us, the Russian DVD set includes English subtitles!

At Mavis Movie Madness, Paul takes a look at the first season of Bronco, which true classic television fans will remember as having started out as a "replacement" for Cheyenne when Clint Walker, worn out by the gruling schedule, walked off. It may not be as well remembered, but it holds its own.

And this week's A-Team episode at The View from the Junkyard asks the question, "Where is the Monster When You Need Him," a question which I've asked myself many times through my life. It's a show-within-a-show episode, among other things, and asd Roger mentions, it makes a point of who the real monsters are. TV

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Around the dial

Goodness, I've been so busy with my fiction this week that it's nice to return to television for a break! So let's get right to it!

The Avengers is part of our regular Friday night schedule, and right now we're winding down the Tara King years. What comes next? The New Avengers, of course! And at Comfort TV, David looks at Imprint's Blu-ray edition, and gives it flying colors.

At Cult TV Blog, John braves the suffocating British heatwave to bring us something completely different: The Great Birdseye Peas Relaunch of Monty Python in 1971. Unsure of what I'm talking about? Then you'd better head over there and check it out!

"Trouble Brewing" is this week's A-Team adventure, and at The View from the Junkyard, Roger looks at a typical tale of small-business vs. corrupt corporation shenanigans, which I can only too well understand as a small businesman myself. 

At A Shoud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the career of the great comic character actor Ronnie Schell, who died earlier this month, and was a fixture of the television shows of my youth, particularly (but not limited to) Gomer Pyle. R.I.P.

At a used bookstore the other night, I noticed a copy of Herbert Philbrick's book I Led 3 Lives, the story of a man who worked undercover posing as a Communist agent while in the employ of the FBI. Martin Grams looks back at the TV series that the book spawned. TV

If you enjoy the content here and want to support my broader creative work, please consider leaving a tip at my Ko-fi page. Any amount you contribute helps me continue writing, researching, and sharing these articles and projects. Thank you!

Around the dial

We’ll start off this week with a shameless self-promotion for the latest episode of Eventually Supertrain, in which I join Dan Budnick to discuss our favorite topic of conversation, Bourbon Street Beat, And don’t miss Dan and Amanda talking about Masquerade—plus a surprise!

Speaking of podcasts, Ed Robertson’s TV Confidential is always recommended, and in his latest episode, he welcomes actress and director Michelle Danner, and pays tribute to Robert Conrad and Kirk Douglas.

Jodie returns to Garroway at Large with video links to a 1962 science series that Dave Garroway hosted for NET after having left Today. Titled “Exploring the Universe,” it’s further proof of the relentlessly inquisitive and eclectic Garroway, and it comes to us courtesy of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, which has a growing collection of programs dating back to the early days of national educational television.

“Of Late I Think of Cliffordsville” is the episode up for review at The Twilight Zone Vortex, and as Jordan tells us, it’s another one of those nasty time-travel stories that reminds us the past is seldom the way we remember it. Oh, and did I mention that it also features the Devil? Take it from me, this is not going to turn out well.

On Wednesday I wrote of Orson Bean, who died last week; Inner Toob shares a retrospective of Bean as well (and how could I have failed to mention his memorable performance as Mr. Bevis in The Twilight Zone?), along with some personal remembrances. And while you’re at it, check out A Shroud of Thoughts for Terence’s wonderful look at Bean’s career. Bean once said that he was someone famous simply for being famous, which as Terence says, is far from the truth. It’s clear that Bean’s career touched a great many people

At Cult TV, John dips into the world of Monty Python with “The War Against Pornography,” an episode that demonstrates how even (especially?) comedy can give us a shrewd (and hilarious) insight into the times from which it comes. Now that I think about it, “especially” is probably the right word.

We all have things in life that give us great pleasure, although we’d be hard-pressed to say why. In the case of our friend David at Comfort TV, it’s the 1977 series Magic Mongo, a production of Sid and Marty Krofft. I have no memory whatsoever of this show, which I’m perfectly willing to blame on the World’s Worst Town™.

The Hitchcock Project continues at bare•bones e-zine, and this week Jack takes us to the sixth Hitchcock episode written by Sterling Silliphant, “The Canary Sedan,” with Jessica Tandy and Murray Matheson. As always, it’s fascinating to find out how the scriptwriter adapts a short story into a teleplay—what he adds and subtracts, alters or changes outright, and the effect it has on the story. TV  

Around the dial

Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, one of the most delightfully bizarre, surrealistic, laugh-out-loud cartoons ever to make it to television, died earlier this week from ALS. He was only 57. Among the many tributes paid to him was this article from The Ringer, in which the staff discuss some of the show's greatest moments. For me, it would undoubtedly be the one in which SpongeBob and Patrick wind up crew members for the Flying Dutchman. "You're good, you're good, keep moving, you're good."

Speaking of favorite episodes, at Classic Film and TV Café Rick has his own list: the five best Monty Python skits. Classics, each and every one, but I'd have to include "Deja Vu" and "The Spanish Inquisition" as part of my own list, not to mention "Philosopher Football." (Which I've mentioned before, so I guess it is to mention.)

The richness of Dave Garroway's time at Today extends to the people who surrounded him during those years (or, considering Garroway's influence over the show, it would probably be more accurate to call them the people with whom Garroway surrounded himself). As Jodie points out at Garroway at Large, that includes the fascinating Beryl Pfizer, who had quite a time during and after her stint on Today. It's yet another glimpse into the complexities of Garroway.

Things wrapped up early at the Blog last week, it being Thanksgiving and all, which meant I missed Jack's latest "Hitchcock Project" installment at bare-bones e-zine. I intend to rectify that now, by looking at "The Jokester," the grimly satisfying fourth season episode brilliantly adapted by Bernard C. Schoenfeld. As usual, it has an ending that's pure Hitchcock.

OK, so The Third Man is treading into movie territory (unless you're talking about the television version with Michael Rennie), but I figure I first saw it on TV, so I'm going to count it anyway, since The Last Drive-In writes about it this week. It features one of the great all-time movie quotes, spoken (and perhaps written) so memorably by Orson Welles: "Like the fella says, in Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love—they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." 

At Cult TV Blog, John takes a first look at one of the legendary shows in British television: the police drama Target. John calls it "a visual delight" of images of the '70s; I hope he writes more about it; I'm looking forward to reading about it.

The recent death of Stan Lee prompts David at Comfort TV to reminisce about classic television's checkered treatment of the Marvel universe. Let's just say that this is one situation where, compared to the spectacular superhero movies of today, older isn't necessarily better.

Finally, the Broadcasting Archives at the University of Maryland links to this article at Advertising Week on the history of the NBC peacock. TV  

In honor of the World Cup

The World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world, kicks off tomorrow in Russia, and so I thought it only right to take this very, very funny look at soccer as seen through the eyes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. If you're a fan of either soccer or philosophy, then I think you'll appreciate the utter absurdity of this situation.


"Beckenbauer" is one of the great German soccer players of the era; I think you'll recognize the rest of the "players." TV  

Election Night the Monty Python Way

Since today is Election Day, I thought something topical might be appropriate - but what?  I've touched on election coverage a few times in the last month or so, which leaves me looking for something new.  But most of the clips on YouTube are of presidential election coverage, and while those can be fun, they're usually multi-part epics (1960 and 1968, for example), and even if you did have a few hours to peruse them*, today isn't a presidential election.

What to do, what to do?

Simple - enter "Election Night" and see what comes up.


This doesn't deal with a midterm election either, but it's a hell of a lot funnier - and, if you've ever seen the way Parliamentary-form elections are covered, especially on the BBC, it's a whole lot more accurate than you might think...

Be sure to vote today - unless you're one of these voters.