Around the dial

Wt Cult TV Blog, John revisits the BBC 1980s-90s series Forty Minutes  (not to be confused with 60 Minutes), and the episode "Separate Tables," which takes us back stage at a residential hotel, and how they work.

David's moved to Tuesday nights in 1978 in his Comfort TV survey of 1970s TV. What should we remember from then? How about ABC's big-hitter lineup: Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Three's Company, Taxi, and Starsky & Hutch. Not a bad lineup, huh?

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill looks at the late, great Sam Neill, and his "devilishly dapper" performance in Omen III: The Final Conflict. There's been quite the outpouring of praise and appreciation for Neill since his death, all of it well-deserved.

Someone once said that when you reach a certain age, every time you drive by a cemetery, you feel like you're looking at a "Lease with an Option to Die," which is a long way to go to set up this week's A-Team episode with Roger at The View from the Junkyard.

I mentioned that as part of my research for The Book of Revelations, I started listing to the '60s Gold channel on SiriusXM, which is where I became acquainted with Freddy Cannon, who died last week, age 89. Terence appreciates him at A Shroud of Thoughts.

Another obituary to report is Joanna Pettet, who died earlier this month at 83, and Shadow & Substance remembers her multiple contributions to Rod Serling's Night Gallery, part of her impressive television career.

And to end the week on a lighter note, here's Martin Grams with a look (including some wonderful illustrations) at 1958's The Lone Ranger Adventure Stories No. 2, a great little book with adaptations of the Ranger's radio and television stories.  TV

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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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On this day before Independence Day, let's see if we can find some fireworks in the world of classic television.

One of the hallmarks of this country is, at least in theory, free speech, so it's appropriate that we begin at Cult TV Blog, where John looks at the Play for Today, and "Speech Day," a story which, as John says, explores "who benefits and how the structures of society and state aren’t quite real." Very appropriate for today.

Free speech is also a key component of CBS's Lou Grant, with our beloved hero from Mary Tyler Moore running a newspaper. Why do I bring that up? Because David's on to Mondays in 1978 at Comfort TV, which for me meant Monday Night Football, but there's also Little House, WKRP, Kotter, and plenty else to keep us busy.

Whenever I start to worry about a week with light content, I can rest assured tha Roger's going to bail me out at The View from the Junkyard with another A-Team summary, and this week is no exception, with the episode "Incident at Crystal Lake," which does, in fact, occur at a lake, and has plenty to keep us going.

Character actor David Sheiner died last month, age 98, and if the name doesn't mean anything to you, the face likely will, as well as a very impressive list of television and movie credits. At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence talks about his long career, and you're sure to find shows you'll recognize on the list.

It is, I think, appropriate, that we wrap up a light week with a heavyweight miniseries, Centennial, which, as Paul says at Drunk TV, was NBC's "ambitious" 1978 attempt to explore the history of the United States. Based on James Michener's similarly epic novel, the miniseries failed on many levels, as Paul details, but what a cast! It's hard to imagine that there were many unemployed actors left while this was being shot.

I've never cared for holidays like the 4th of July falling on a weekend; it seems to make it too much like a regular day off (of course, when you're retired, every day is like that), but that doesn't mean that it's not still a reason to celebrate, so I'd suggest you go out tomorrow and do just that. And remember to be careful and not go out there and shoot your eye out, as Ralphie's mother might say. TV

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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

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At Comfort TV, David gets the week off to a flying start with a look at Sunday night television in 1978. If you were around you remember the hype machine for Battlestar: Galactica, but what were people actually watching? See if it rings any bells.

"Double Vision" is what I feel I've been having, working on the lead-up to the release of my new novel, The Book of Revelations, next week. But it's also the title of the latest episode of The Omega Factor, which is John's topic at this week's Cult TV Blog. It's a doozy, setting up next week's finale.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger's weekly review of The A-Team takes us to "Bounty," not as in "Mutiny on the," but as in a group of bounty hunters out to claim the reward for the capture of the Team. Kidnapping, mental hospitals, Decker returns: what more could your ask for?

Terrence pays tribute to the late Anthony Head at A Shroud of Thoughts, and for those of you who, like me, tend to trend older in our classic TV appreciation, he's best known as Rupert on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He's got a long list of credits to go with that, though: learn more about him, as you'll find out.

One of the great pleasures of attending nostalgia conventions (or working at them, if you're on that side of the table), is getting to meet so many people, from those interested in your books, to your entertainment heroes. Martin Grams tells of one such encounter, when he met the great Christopher Lee. 

And why not close out things with some video? The latest edition of American TV with Mitchell Hadley sees Dan Schneider and I discussing two game show icons of the 1970s, appropriate for the month: Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly. Enjoy! TV

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Let's begin the week at The Twilight Zone Vortex, where Jordan watches the comedy episode "From Agnes–With Love" so we don't have to. It's prime, and sad, evidence of the show's dramatic decline in its final season.

John is up to episode three of The Omega Factor at Cult TV Blog, "Night Games," which shows the thickening plot as Crane discovers Department 7's involvement in government-conducted mind control experiments. 

David's journey through 1970s TV continues at Comfort TV, with a look at Saturday nights, 1977. It's the last season of CBS's Saturday powerhouse with Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett, plus ABC's The Love Boat, NBC's The Bionic Woman, and more.

At Drunk TV, Paul looks at the second season of The Patty Duke Show, and the season's 36 (!) episodes show that even if the ratings had started to slide, the stories themselves remain fresh and entertaining.

Roger reports a change of pace in this week's A-Team at The View from the Junkyard, as the Team moves to Kenya for the episode "Skins," with a slightly more serious topic: the illegal poaching of elephants in Africa. 

It used to be that we had a proper understanding of how to use the word "great," meaning large, significant, but not necessarily good. In that sense, it can certainly be said that Ted Turner was a great figure in television history. And there's no denying that his broadcasts of Atlanta Braves on the Superstation was a good thing for baseball, especially in American League cities that were seldom exposed to National League teams. Likewise, his creation of Turner Classic Movies was a very good thing, even though the quality of the channel has diminished in the last few years; someone had to keep these old movies alive. (We'll overlook, for the time being, his involvement in colorization.) 

And then, there's CNN, and I really don't know how to feel about that. The original Cable News Network was substantive, far more non-partisan than today's networks, and did much to keep America better informed on what was going on. Headline News was, in a sense, even better, cutting out the fluff in favor of a concise, 30-minute recap of the news on a constantly updating basis. However, it also pointed out the difficulties inherent in maintaining a 24-hour news cycle, and the consequent need to elevate certain stories to occupy a greater need for programming. And it brought us gavel-to-gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial. And it spawned Fox News, MSNow, and all the other constant news sources, which quickly evolved into a video version of English newspapers, simply recycling the same stories over and over through their own ideological slant. Someday, we may actually be able to understand just how much damage this has done to society. 

So, it would seem appropriate to say that Ted Turner's legacy, as is so often the case with great men, is a mixed one. And that figures, because, as any baseball fan would tell you, the only batters who never swing and miss are those who never step up to the plate. Turner did, and the fact that all of his media properties have suffered since he relinquished control of them, says much about exactly how great his impact was. TV

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Welcome to May, my favorite month of the year outside of the holiday months in fall and winter. Amidst the up-and-down weather so many parts of the country have had, we have a freeze warning here in Indiana. So let's see if we can find something to warm us up.

At Comfort TV, David explores "the psychology behind classic TV viewing," based on a YouTube video that attempts to explain what kind of personality types prefer watching shows they've seen 50 times rather than watch something new.

John's review of The Omega Factor at Cult TV Blog continues with episode two, "Visitations," as the death of Crane's wife continues to provide mystery, as well as the role played by Department 7.

Mr. T returns to the boxing ring in this week's A-Team episode, "Champ!" which is the subject of Roger's review at The View from the Junkyard. The Team aims at a group of corrupt operators, and all I can say is that I'm shocked that there is corruption in boxing.

Mary Beth Hurt, who did much work in both television and the movies, died last month at the age of 78, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks back on her long and successful career.

I've never been part of the cult of Joss Whedon; I enjoyed Firefly enough, but I wouldn't say that it's anything remarkable. (I'll pause here while you cast aspersions at me.) At Cult TV Lounge, Maddie looks at Whedon's follow-up, the cyberpunk series Dollhouse. TV

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Around the dial

 

At Comfort TV, David moves through the 1970s to primetime Thursday, 1977, and if you're any kind of vintage TV fan, you'll recognize the hits on this list, from The Waltons to Barney Miller, and CHiPs thrown in for good measure.

John's latest at Cult TV Blog is the 1980s British anthology series Unnatural Causes, which is what it sounds like (strange deaths), and the play "Ladies' Night," written by the great Nigel Kneale, whose name readers of Darkness in Primetime will recognize, and starring one of my favorites, Alfred Burke. Good stuff.

Actress Valerie Perrine died this week, age 82, after a long battle with Parkinson's; Gil at Realweegiemidget and Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts both have tributes to her long and successful career. 

Terence gets a second mention this week, because he also has a 100th birthday feature on Gene Shalit, the longtime movie critic on Today. Like Terence, I grew up watching Gene on the show; there were times when he was the only sufferable person on the show. Happy birthday!

If it's Friday, then you know it's time for Roger's weekly review of The A-Team at The View from the Junkyard, and this week it's the episode "The Bells of St. Mary's," which is in no way to be confused with the movie of the same name, but a group of pop singer-damsels in distress from their corrupt management company. (Is there any other kind?)

Martin Grams turns to the written word with information for Twilight Zone fans as to where they can find more of the same kinds of stories. From short story collections to the magazine Gamma, Martin has some great suggestions.

At Drunk TV, Paul takes a break from the mundane horrors of modern life to look at season four of The Odd Couple, one of the really underrated classic sitcoms. I mean, people generally know it's good, yet it's often overlooked on best-of lists. Find out how good season 4 is.

If you'll remember, last week at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie presented the first in a series of photos, both candid and publicity shots, from classic film and television. This week, she's back for a second go-around, and many of these shots are just as fascinating and descriptive as the others. Check them out. TV

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A few personal notes lead off this week, beginning with my latest appearance with Dan Schneider to discuss American TV History. This month, we look at two overlooked stars of the past, one who was once known as "one of America's great entertainers," and the other a talented actor and teen idol of the 1970s: Danny Thomas and Lance Kerwin.

Also, from a few weeks ago, Herbie J Pilato did a very nice profile of me on his Substack. I'm very grateful to Herbie for his kindness and generosity, and I'm also going to trademark the description "One-Man Literati Delivers a Media Mosaic"! Thanks again, Herbie.

Finally, just a reminder that my novel, The Book of Revelations, comes out in June. You can get exclusive features on that, plus advance word on coming projects of mine, by subscribing to my monthly newsletter. Please take a moment to do so, won't you?

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill takes a look at the 1979 telemovie The Return of the Saint, with Ian Ogilvy eschewing the role of Simon Templar, aided and abetted by Britt Ekland, Helmut Berger, and other international stars. Ah, but is he Roger Moore?

John is investigating the iconic police procedural Z-Cars at Cult TV Blog. The show ran on British TV from 1962 to 1978, and in the episode "Waste," we get to see the first television role for Lewis Collins, who would later go on to star in The Professionals.

I'm one of those who's always dropping names and lines from classic shows, much to the confusion of my friends (which tells me I need new friends). David takes a look at the classic TV name drop at Comfort TV, and wonders if anyone gets these references anymore. 

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger's weekly look at The A-Team takes us to "Sheriffs of Rivertown," which, as you may have guessed, involves our heroes assuming the roles of police officers in a town plagued by official corruption.

Judy Pace, one of the early black pioneers in television, and best known for her appearances on Peyton Place and The Young Lawyers (remember that show?), died this month at the age of 83, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence remembers her career. 

Paul's back at Mavis Movie Madness!, which is good news for all of us, and he's back with the real good news, as he reviews volume two of the NBC series Greatest Heroes of the Bible, which includes plenty of entertainment, both intentionally and unintentionally. (Oops!)

No specific tie-in, but at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie has some wonderful photos from the classic film and television era, both candid and publicity. It works as a great pallet cleanser to round out the week.  TV

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t Cult TV Blog, John continues his "Tony Wright Season " by looking at two episodes of the 1954 Sherlock Holmes series, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion-Crawford as Watson. It's a fun series, and the two episodes in which Wright appears are no exception.

David is up to Wednesdays in 1977 in his review of 1970s primetime television at Comfort TV. It's another dominant night for ABC, with a new hit in Eight is Enough and a returning one in Charlie's Angels; let's see what the other networks have to offer in competition.

Television presenter Robert Symes was a well-known personality on the BBC when he hosted The Model World of Robert Symes, a series dealing with his love of various types of models, which he would build and operate. Read all about it this week at Silver Scenes. 

If you watched any kind of variety show in the Sixties and Seventies, you probably saw Neil Sedaka performing at some point. Sedaka died last week at the age of 86, and Terence looks back on his legendary career at A Shroud of Thoughts. 

"The Island" is the latest episode of The A-Team to come Roger's way at The View from the Junkyard, and Face is the face of this episode, in which our heroes battle the bad guys, a drug gang trying to control a, you guessed it, island.

I've written before about Clellan Card, who played Axel, the beloved kids' show host of Twin Cities television, and Minnesota KidVid continues its look at his work, concentrating on the period 1953 to 1960. They don't make 'em like Axel anymore!

At Cult TV Lounge, it's a look at the 1999-2002 series The Lost World, based on the sci-fi adventure novel of the same name by the man responsible for the stories in the series that kicked off this trip around the dial: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A great way to wrap up the week! TV

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Remember the sitcom Angie? I do, although I'd have to be prompted for it; it's not the kind of show I'd think about casually. But David remembers it, and at Comfort TV, he gives us five reasons the show didn't last longer, despite having a lot going for it.

At Cult TV Blog, the Tony Wright Season continues, with John looking at the 1968 Avengers episode "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" I just saw this episode a couple of weeks ago, in fact; it has some very funny lines about treating a computer like a human.

At RealWeegieMidget Reviews, Gill remembers Catherine O'Hara and Bud Cort with a pair of "cautionary tales with a twist," with O'Hara in "I'll Die Loving," from Really Weird Tales; and Cort in the Twilight Zone revival episode "The Trunk." 

Now, this isn't television related, but you don't think I'm going to pass up a post titled, "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...Vampires!" do you? That's the brilliant header for Rick's post on The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, aka The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, at Classic Film & TV Cafe.

Roger continues his look at The A-Team at The View from the Junkyard, with "Trouble on Wheels," which finds our heroes dealing with a stolen car parts ring that quickly escalates into kidnapping, torture, and more. 

Another of our beloved figures from the past has passed on: Lauren Chapin, Kitten from Father Knows Best, who died of cancer aged 80. At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks back at a career that may have been short, but also made her a lot of fans.

Martin Grams looks at the comic book series Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, based on the radio series, which itself wound up moving to television. Ah, for the days of simple adventures like this on television!

The Winter Olympics may be over for another four years, but they're not forgotten: Garry Berman gives us a brief history of the winter games on American television, starting with 1960 and the broadcasts from Squaw Valley. I don't watch them anymore, but back in the day, they were great fun, especially on ABC. TV

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Ahis week at Cult TV Blog, John continues his "Tony Wright Season" with another of my favorite series, The Persuaders!, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis, and, in "Someone Like Me," Tony Wright. If you find you're seeing double after watching it, don't say I didn't warn you.

Speaking of seeing double, at The View from the Junkyard, Roger is reviewing The A-Team episode "Double Heat," in which the Team travel to Marina del Ray to involve themselves in a kidnapping designed to keep a key mob informer from testifying.

Bob Sassone has some nice footage, unseen for 60 years, of the great Vince Guaraldi performing "Linus and Lucy," which was actually written for an unsold Charles Schulz documentary, before it went on to great fame in A Charlie Brown Christmas. 

My first introduction to Dick Tracy was not through the comic strips, nor the movies, but through the cartoon version that featured Tracy with some animal assistants. I know, sounds like some kind of drug hallucination, doesn't it? Anyway, Martin Grams has a piece about a Tracy adventure novel from 1945, Dick Tracy Meets the Night Crawler.

Daniel Boone is another of those shows I remember from my childhood, but I never really stopped to watch it much. Why? I don't really know—I like Fess Parker and all— even after reading Paul's review of the series at Mavis Movie Madness. Maybe someday.

We throw the word "great" around quite a bit; I did so myself in referring to Vince Guaraldi above. But Robert Duvall truly was great, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has a fine tribute to his remarkable career; he also shares the TCM Remembers short honoring Duvall.

How about a little more video? At Television Obscurities, Robert has the network promo for ABC's series Room 222, from 1970. Was that series a comedy or a dramedy? I lived in The World's Worst Town™ when it was on, and it aired in our market, as I recall, in a late-afternoon, off-network slot.

And last, but most assuredly not least, I'm back on Eventually Supertrain with Dan to discuss the penultimate (I think) episode of Garrison's Gorillas. And stay tuned for The Yellow Rose and Ghosted; it's another fun show. But how could it not be with that crew? TV

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A really thoughtful piece from David at Comfort TV leads off the week. It's called "Defending the Traditional," and while it's primarily about traditional television shows, it has a great deal to say about tradition in general, and what it means (or doesn't) today.

At Forbes, Marc Berman notes that it's the 50th anniversary of Rich Man, Poor Man, the series that changed television history. It wasn't the first miniseries, but it was the most influential, and it paved the way for Roots and a succession of others. Ah, what a glorious time!

The "Tony Wright Season" continues at Cult TV Blog, and this week John looks at the 1970 Play for Today episode "The Lie," an English adaptation of an Ingmar Bergman play. There's a fascinating history to go along with this dark story about a loveless marriage.

At The View from the Junkyard, Roger looks at the latest episode of The A-Team, "Fire," in which our heroes are called on to prevent a rival fire department (don't ask) from taking over a town. Just enjoy Hannibal and the team outwitting yet another colonel out to get them.

Terence offers remembrances of two more television stars this week, as we mourn the deaths of the great Catherine O'Hara, and the wonderful Demond Wilson, both of whom died in the past week. The roll call of classic stars is getting long, and we're only in February.

At Classic Film and TV Corner, it's a look at an underappreciated Agatha Christie series, Partners in Crime, which aired in 1983, and do not mistake this version for any other later adaptations you might see; this is the one to stick with.

Finally, given that I offer an MST3K alert (when I can ) in each week's TV Guide review, you'd have to know that I'd be all over Variety's news that the series is coming back for a four-episode run, courtesy of the crew at Rifftrax, which includes the original actors who made the last few seasons of the original series so enjoyable. This promises to be an improvement on the previous three-season revival, and it's such good news that I think I'll have to write at further length about it on Wednesday. TV

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If you're in a part of the country that's going to get hammered this weekend, I can't think of a better way to spend your time than with some classic television. Well, actually, I suppose there are several ways that would be better, but seeing as how this is a family website, let's stick to television.

And let's start with my latest podcast appearance with Dan Schneider, as we talk about one of television's forgotten stars of the past: Garry Moore. He hosted daytime and primetime variety shows and game shows, was one of the most genial and well-liked personalities of the time, and at one time was not only the highest-paid entertainer on television, but had spent more time in front of the camera than anyone in human history. Did I say "forgotten"? Instead, as Dan says, let's think of him as "misfiled," because someone like him can never be truly forgotten. Anyway, give it a watch and let us know what you think; it was a fun show to do!

At Woman's World, of all places (never let it be said that I don't scour the planet looking for items of interest for my readers), you can enjoy this article on Mr. Ed, Alan Young, and some facts that you may or may not be aware of. 

Speaking of shows that didn't get enough attention, or facts you might not know about, at Comfort TV, David looks back at the very good 1973 series Tenafly, part of NBC's Wednesday Mystery Movie wheel series, starring James McEachin as one of the first black leads on a dramatic television series.

At Cult TV Blog, John resumes his series that focuses on the works of one actor, rather than the episodes of a series. In this case, the subject is Tony Wright, and the show in question is 1960's The House in Marsh Road. 

Frankly, any show that promises both bullets and bikinis in the same episode is probably already a step or two ahead of the rest. At The View from the Junkyard, Roger looks at the A-Team episode of the same name to see if it fulfills its promise.

Two testimonials from Terence at A Shroud of Thoughts, remembering T.K. Carter, a familiar figure on television from the 1980s on; and Roger Ewing, best known as Thad Greenwood on Gunsmoke, both of whom passed away earlier this month. TV

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It used to be that one of the one of the rituals of the new year was seeing how long it would take for you to correctly write the new year on a check—in other words, when you'd automatically write "26" instead of "25" when filling in the date. Now that we do most of our transactions electronically, I suppose that's another quaint custom gone by the wayside, but time marches on, as they say, 

We'll keep marching on here as well, to Cult TV Blog, where John returns to The Prisoner with a provocative proposition: suppose the order of episodes was reshuffled so that the final episode, "Fall Out," was not the final one? Think that's ridiculous? Read on, and think again.

David's journey through 1970s TV continues at Comfort TV, and we're now up to Monday nights, 1977, which includes a few series you might not recognize, including Young Dan'l Boone, Rafferty (starring the aforementioned Patrick McGoohan), The San Pedro Beach Bums, and more.

Oh dear! Hal is back with another Love That Bob review at The Horn Section, and this one sounds concerning: "Bob Falls in Love." Could we be losing our favorite playboy photographer? Is this the last show of the series? Can I stop this from sounding like the end of a Batman episode?

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill reviews Karen Romanko's book Historical Women on Television, a look at 120 real-life women, and how they were portrayed on television. What a fascinating concept! With Romanko's friendly writing style, it sounds like a great addition to your TV library.

The A-Team continues to shake up the formula at The View from the Junkyard, as Roger discovers in "Deadly Maneuvers," an episode that finds the team being kidnapped one by one, to be used as bait in a deadly plot designed to capture Hannibal.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence closes out the year with a tribute to Gil Gerard, who died last month at the age of 82. Although he didn't make it to the 25th century, his long and successful career, including Buck Rogers, stands as a tribute to, by all accounts, one of Hollywood's good guys.

We're still in the twelve days of Christmas, which means we're never too late to learn something at Mavis Movie Madness, where Paul looks back at seven animated Christmas classics, putting me in the mood to watch them all over again.

Finally, and in keeping with the season, my latest video podcast on television history with Dan Schneider centers on three "Carols for Christmas": Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, and Carroll O'Connor. Not a bad way to round out the year.

And with that, we're off and running on another year. How long can we keep it up? Keep tuning in and see! TV

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Around the dial

It's kind of sobering to sit here, with the anticipation for Christmas rising, and realize that a week from now, the big day will have come and gone (though the Christmas season will continue throughout the 12 days). Have no fear, though; there's still plenty to read about in the meantime. It's a light week, as weeks go (I can't understand why anyone would be busy with anything else. . .) but, as always, the quality is high.

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill commemorates the 100th anniversary of Richard Burton's birth by looking at three of his movies with wife Elizabeth Taylor, including the made-for-TV movies Divorce His/Divorce Hers. This was quite the coup for ABC's Movie of the Week when it was announced, to significant fanfare.

John's official Cult TV Blog Christmas post is here, as he focuses on the BBC children's anthology series Shadows, and the episode "The Waiting Room," which may be a ghost story, or it may be a time-slip story; either way, it's a perfect ghost story for Christmas.

At Mavis Movie Madness!, Paul continues the Christmas theme with a look at 1980's Yogi's First Christmas, which brings everyone's favorite bear together with many other Hanna-Barbera characters for a Yuletide story that's still plenty pleasing to watch.

Rick celebrates the end of the year with his annual review of his most-read posts of the year at Classic Film & TV Cafe. It's hard to limit them to ten, because Rick offers some of the most thoughtful and informative (not to mention fun) posts about classic movies and television.

I know that YouTube has something for everyone, but I'd never known there was a channel devoted to "Sandwiches of History." Well, I know now, thanks to Bob Sassone, who challenged the channel to try a sandwich made by one of our favorite TV dads, Ward Cleaver at Leave It to Beaver.

At Comfort TV, David honors the most recent losses in the world of classic TV in a year that's seen far too many of them. Fortunately, Terence balances this out at A Shroud of Thoughts with a tribute to Dick Van Dyke, who hit the century mark this week.

Finally, you've probably read about the Academy Awards moving to YouTube in 2029. There are a lot of jokes going around about this, so it's futile for me to even try and add to it, but it demonstrates in a pretty dramatic way how far out of the public consciousness the Oscars have fallen. Yes, I know streaming is the future, and the future is increasingly now, but still, considering the memorable moments the show has been responsible for in the past, it's kind of sad to see how unimportant it has become to television—or, for that matter, how unimportant movie theaters have become. But today's movies are, for the most part, so far out of mainstream interest that one can hardly be surprised. This isn't all bad news, however; perhaps now there can be an Oscarcast without Jimmy Kimmel as host. And that would be further proof, if we needed it, that God exists and wants us to be happy. TV

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