Around the dial

Where should we start today? How about at Drunk TV, where Paul takes a look at the first season of the syndicated series Ripcord, of which I have fond memories from back in the day. I don't remember the stories so much, but the idea of guys jumping out of planes with parachutes was tremendously appealing. Remember the toy plastic skydivers they used to make with the flimsy parachutes attached to them? They never worked for me, either.

And then there's the sitcom Julia, which I remember but seldom ever watched. There's no question that it was a significant program in the television history of the 1960s, although, as Terence points out at A Shroud of Thoughts, it would be seen as fairly innocuous today. Still, it was, appropriately enough, a groundbreaking series.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shares a heartfelt tribute to his father, who died on New Year's Day at the age of 100. For anyone who's read Andrew's book on his mother, the elegance of his writing will come as no surprise.

In that nostalgic mood? Over at The Hits Just Keep on Comin', JB looks back to February 15, 2003—what was in the news back then, and how it all looks in retrospect today. As with Andrew, there is a strong sense of remembering the warm embrace of the past, and I don't think it's coincidental. Aren't we all feeling a little bit—or maybe a bit more than a little—that way right now? Yup, back to the grind.

Once upon a time, and maybe once again in the near future, it was a big deal when a television show went to the Soviet Union. At Comfort TV, David recalls the Head of the Class episode "Mission to Moscow," which was just such an event when it aired in 1988.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues to look at orphaned episodes with 1964's comedy The Diary of a Nobody, a quasi-silent program (with only narration), directed by none other than Ken Russell. I always enjoy these links. 

It's time again for Love That Bob!, and at The Horn Section, Hal reviews the 1957 episode "Chuck at College," wherein we see Chuck (Dwayne Hickman) heading off to school, where he's expected to live up to (or is it down to?) the reputation of his famous Uncle Bob (Bob Cummings).

And finally, I'm back on Eventually Supertrain this week, where Dan and I have another pleasant chat on Search. And look at that who's on the cover of the TV Guide that Dan shares—why, it's none other than our intrepid heroes from World Sercurities! TV  

Around the dial

We begin once again this week with the Hitchcock Project at bare•bones e-zine, where Jack's focus is on the fourth-season episode "A Personal Matter," Joel Murcott's sixth script for Hitchcock, and an example of how the changes a short story goes through in making the leap to television aren't always for the best. One of many reasons I like Jack's writeups; the transition from page to screen is always fascinating to read about.

Perhaps John has changed the name of Cult TV Blog to That TV Blog Where the Bloke Who Never Wears a Shirt Rambles on About Whatever Takes His Fancy, but we're still on the trail of the white Jaguar, and this week we're at "The Queen's Ransom" from The Saint—the first time, if you can believe it, that he's written about the series.

At Classic Film & TV Café, Rick writes about the five best versions of Agatha Christie's classic whodunnit Ten Little Indians, or And Then There Were None, depending on which version you see. It's a cracking story no matter what it's called, and one of them is a made-for-TV version, so it's OK to talk about it here.

There were three shows I remember watching on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid, and all three of them captured my adventurous imagination: Sea Hunt, Whirlybirds, and the topic of this week's Television's New Frontier: the 1960s: Ripcord. Parachutes are pretty exciting when you're a kid; they had space capsules and other fun things dangling from the cords. Find out what the show was like in 1962, and whether or not it was as exciting as you remember it.

Last week, I mentioned the passing of JoAnna Cameron, and it doesn't surprise me a bit to find out that Terence has a nice retrospective on her at A Shroud of Thoughts. She may have been television's first superhero, but there was more to her career than just that.

Want to help finance the construction of a statue of Rod Serling? Check out the Kickstarter campaign that Paul writes about at Shadow & Substance. I have to admit—I would have thought that his hometown of Binghamton, NY might already have one, but there's no time like the present. TV