It's About TV: The A-Team

Showing posts with label The A-Team. Show all posts

February 20, 2026

Around the dial

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

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!

February 13, 2026

Around the dial

We lead off this week's edition at The Twilight Zone Vortex, where Brian discusses an excellent episode from the show's final season, "Night Call," written by the great Richard Matheson, and starring Gladys Cooper in an outstanding performance.

The "Tony Wright Season" continues at Cult TV Blog, with John looking at one of my favorite British imports, The Saint, and not one, not two, but three episodes in which Tony Wright appears: "The Arrow of God," "The Crooked Ring," and "Where The Money Is." Great stuff!

I don't know about you, but I was a big fan of Roller Derby when it was on local TV in the 1960s and 1970s, and that's my excuse to link to Classic Film & TV Cafe, where Rick's talking about Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber. I think that's good enough, don't you?

Along those same general lines, at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddy reviews the 1956 movie Anastasia, which represented Ingrid Bergman's return to Hollywood (as well as an Academy Award), and look at that picture of her: there's a beauty there that is hard to top in today's movies.

Did you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday? We did not, for something like the twenty-fifth consecutive year, but Bob Sassone did, and he's got thoughts about some of the commercials, as well as some random observations that are, as always, well worth your time.

Terence has some fine content at A Shroud of Thoughts; not obituaries, but: a tribute to Leslie Nielsen on his 100th birthday; a look at Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz) on Sesame Street; Get Christie Love!, and happy 95th birthday to Mamie Van Doren!

At Television's New Frontier: The 1960s, we're at the 1962 episodes of the perennial favorite, Ozzie and Harriet, and while the show may be running on fumes at this point, it's interesting to look at some of the best episodes, such as how aging parents deal with adult children who have their own lives.

You may recall that last week at The View from the Junkyard, The A-Team was involved in drama involving firefighters. This week, in the episode "Timber," it's lumberjacks! With a little bit of Bigfoot thrown in, how can you possibly say no?

My latest appearance with Dan Schneider in our American television history series is a look at the decade of the 2000s, and while I don't find this a terribly compelling decade for TV, it does raise some interesting questions about trends, psychology, and all kinds of interesting things.

Finally, it's never too early to start looking forward to my upcoming novel, The Book of Revelations. Want to know more about it? You can check out the teaser page here. TV

February 6, 2026

Around the dial

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

January 30, 2026

Around the dial

We're off on another week's journey through the classic TV blogosphere (or at least the part of it to which I'm privvy) we'll start with David's journey through 1970s TV at Comfort TV. Today it's Tuesday, 1977, a truly blockbuster night, with ABC's powerhouse lineup of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company, the three highest-rated shows of the season. What's it up against? Check and find out.

At Cult TV Blog, John's appraisal of roles by character actor Tony Wright continues with a series I've actually seen (and enjoyed): Colonel March of Scotland Yard, starring Boris Karloff in the title role. Write appears in the episode "The Case of the Lively Ghost," and it's lively, indeed.

A two-part episode of The A-Team is the fodder for Roger's review at The View from the Junkyard. The episode in question is "The Bend in the River," and if you can make it through the slower first part, you're in for jungle fighting, outlaws, neo-Nazis, nuclear power plants, and more.

At the start, I mentioned Laverne & Shirley, and at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence celebrates the 50th anniversary of the program, one of the most successful-spin-offs in television history, as well as one of the most influential.

Cult TV Lounge looks at the inaugural season of a show I very much like, Peter Gunn. The sophisticated detective series stars Craig Stevens, Lola Albright, and Hershel Bernardi, and if you search through the blog, you'll find I've written about it a few times.

We'll end on a video note, as our favorite YouTube channel, FredFlix, starts a new series this week: a look at the 1950 Fall lineup, complete with opening credits and bumpers for many of them. This was almost 80 years ago, and the fact that so many of them actually exist is pretty impressive stuff. TV

January 23, 2026

Around the dial

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

January 16, 2026

Around the dial

The picture above shows a woman celebrating Christmas in the Soviet Union, 1966. It almost looks as if it could be a decade earlier, doesn't it? I mention this because the lead story in tomorrow's TV Guide deals with American television behind the Iron Curtain, and while imported programming has become very popular in the Soviet bloc, Russia itself still refuses to show American programs. That will change, of course; Brezhnev himself was a big fan of The Rifleman, and became a great friend of lifelong conservative Chuck Connors. But that's another story, and in the meantime, we've got some stories of our own to look at.

We begin this week at RealWeegieMidget, where Gill reviews Alina Adams's book Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments. It's particularly interesting to read her reactions, given that Gill lives in Finland, and was familiar with but hadn't seen most of these shows,

I wish American television still offered regular dramatic anthology series, something that still survives on British TV, although at Cult TV Blog, John goes back to the 1960s and The Wednesday Play, in this case "The Last Train Through Harecastle Tunnel," and strange just begins to describe it.

The A-Team continues to satisfy at The View from the Junkyard, and this week Roger looks at the episode "Curtain Call," a clips show that finds Murdock fighting for his life, having taken a bullet intended for Hannibal, while the others reminisce about various past stories involving him.

And it's a triple feature of anniversaries at A Shroud of Thoughts, as Terence commemorates the 60th anniversary of Batman and Daktari (both premiered in January, 1966), and the 90th anniversary of the radio classic Gang Busters, which had a brief but successful run on TV as well. TV

January 9, 2026

Around the dial

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, it's a look at Volume 4, Number 2 of The Twilight Zone Magazine, with Gahan Wilson's review of John Carpenter's Christine, an interview with director John Sayles, dystopian movies of the 1970s and 1980s, and more!

A terrific story from David at Comfort TV on his visit to the Brady home, the home shown in The Brady Bunch that was renovated into a replica of what you saw on the series. What a fantastic experience; read about it for yourself.

At Cult TV Blog, John reviews "Killer with Two Faces," an episode of the 1973-76 British series Thriller (not to be confused with the American version hosted by Boris Karloff), and the insights gained from repeated viewings of the episode.

How on earth can you have a "non-violent" episode of The A-Team? Well, as Roger finds out at The View from the Junkyard, it can be done, as we see in the episode "Semi-Friendly Persuasion." Well, at least for a time, anyway.

Rounding out this short but sweet week is A Shroud of Thoughts, where Terence reflects on the legacy of Inner Sanctum Mysteries on the occasion of the radio show's 85th anniversary. The show made the transition to both the big screen and television, but it's the radio program that continues to be the most remembered. TV

January 2, 2026

Around the dial

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

December 5, 2025

Around the dial

We start this week at A Shroud of Thoughts, where Terence shares some thoughts on the recent addition of Everyone Loves Raymond to the MeTV schedule, and raises an interesting question on what the definition of "classic" TV actually is. Does it refer to the quality of the show, or when the show was made? I've struggled with this myself, which I tried to rectify with the subtitle of Darkness in Primetime, which refers to "Classic-Era" television. If I were to redefine this blog today, I'd probably use the term "vintage" television to underline the focus on the era; as for the definition of "classic," I'd say that in television terms, a show should be off the air for at least thirty years before it can be termed a "classic"; it has to demonstrate that it can withstand the test of time. Anything less than thirty years old can't make that claim. And MeTV should be for show that can't be seen elsewhere. Period.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Jordan reviews the dismal final-season episode "Black Leather Jackets," written by Earl Hamner Jr., which proves, among other things, that Hamner is best advised to stick to relationship stories and not try remakes of The Wild One.

Speaking of, Martin Grams is back with another book review, this time Submitted For Your Approval, a collection of short stories inspired by the original Twilight Zone and edited by Rod Serling's widow, Anne. It's billed as Volume 1, which suggests more to follow.

David's journey through 1970s television continues at Comfort TV, as we come to Sunday nights, 1977. Sunday is generally the night with the highest viewing numbers, and it certainly worked for CBS; see how many of their hits you recognize from this lineup.

Although the anthology format has disappeared from network television in the United States, it was still alive and well in Britain, and at Cult TV Blog, John discusses one of them: Play for Today, specifically the play "Hard Labour," written and directed by Mike Leigh.

At Inner Toob, it's a look at Miracle on 34th Street in popular culture, with allusions or references to it in shows running the gamut from Hart to Hart to Lou Grant. None of them can ever do just to the original, of course.

And now we return to the wonderful world of F Troop at The Horn Section, as Hal reviews "The Great Troop Robbery," in which our con man, Corporal Agarn, is himself the victim of a con, and Milton Berle makes a special guest appearance.

At Drunk TV, Paul is ostensibly reviewing the first season of The Patty Duke Show, but what I really enjoy is his slam on Nick at Nite, his quote from the Book of the Apocalypse, and his memories of the wonderful, early days of cable TV. And his review is pretty good, too!

Roger reviews the latest A-Team episode, "Chopping Spree," at The View from the Junkyard, and as was the case with last week's episode, it demonstrates a break in convention from the show's usual formula. Read on to see if it works.

Finally, at Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie looks at one of my favorite noirs, Murder, My Sweet, featuring the definitive private detective, Philip Marlowe, and the definitive Marlow, the great Dick Powell. I can't think of a better way to end the week. TV

November 28, 2025

Around the dial

Well, here we are on Black Friday, and hopefully, everyone had a thankful Thanksgiving and took at least a few minutes to reflect on the true meaning of the day. It really does represent a whole lot more than just the first cog in the Christmas machine, and we can probably come up with a great many reasons to be thankful, if we just shut out the noise and think about it for a bit. Having said all that, I'm now prepared to add some noise of my own to the general din of the day.

Mavis Movie Madness commemorates Thanksgiving with a look at A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, one of the lesser Peanuts efforts, as Paul correctly describes it. I know that people like to think of this as a classic, usually packaging it with The Great Pumpkin and A Charlie Brown Christmas, but while there are some good moments, it doesn't add up; never have you had a greater desire to shout, "Where are the adults?"

How many of you remember the sitcom Fay? It was a vehicle for Lee Grant, and ran for ten episodes in the 1975-76 season. At Television Obscurities, Robert shares the video of the fall preview of the series. Does it give us any clues as to the failure of Fay?

Was there ever an episode of The A-Team that didn't tick all the boxes on the show's signature formula? Well, at The View from the Junkyard Roger reviews "It's a Desert Out There," in which a couple of tweaks to the formula provide a surprising episode.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues his fascinating series on whether or not The Prisoner could refer to Soviet Russia, with the episodes "Checkmate" and "Hammer into Anvil," and while they may not fit John's thesis, they still make for a couple of fascinating episodes.

Now, as a kid I happen to remember the big screen version of The Flintsones, the spy spoof The Man Called Flintstone. Did we stand in line at the theater, waiting to get in along with a bunch of other kids? Perhaps. I hadn't thought about it for awhile until Captain Video came up with the comic book adaptation of the movie. Whaddya think? Does it still hold up after all these years?

At Eventually Supertrain, I'm back with Dan to talk about Garrison's Gorillas; there's also the continuing saga of Ghosted, and a mystery show! Like Dan, I'm not telling you about it: you'll have to check it out for yourself and see!

Finally, I'm back on Ed Robertson's great TV Confidential podcast to discuss Darkness in Primetime. (Part two is here). Hopefully, I live up to the high standards of Ed's other guests; that's part of what makes it a fascinating show.

Speaking of which: have you started your Christmas shopping yet? TV

November 21, 2025

Around the dial

Photo by Stockcake.com

We start this week at Comfort TV, where David takes a look at five classic shows overdue for a remake. Keeping in mind how often these remakes fail (and even the ones that didn't, should have), I wouldn't mind seeing new versions of Playhouse 90, Ellery Queen, Honey West, and more.

John steps away from his Prisoner series at Cult TV Blog to review the 1988 miniseries Menace Unseen, a sinister little tale that takes from conspiracy theories, tech revolutions, some nice '80s vibes, and Ian Ogilvie to craft a compelling, if perhaps overly ambitious story.

At Television Obscurities, Robert shares an interesting compilation video of interviews taken with Ithaca College students regarding Rod Serling, who was a visiting professor at Ithaca for many years. Like Robert, I can't imagine what it would have been like to take a class from him.

Terence honors Rock Hudson at A Shroud of Thoughts on the occasion of the one-hundredth anniversary of Rock's birth. The man really had an impressive CV of movie and television work; whether or not you think he was a great actor, there's no question he was a star.

Care for some literature? Martin Grams has a look at Dick Tracy, Ace Detective, a full-length novel "written" and illustrated by Tracy creator Chester Gould. It's the first of two Tracy novels published by Whitman in the 1940s; I really should give him a second look.

At A View from the Junkyard, The A-Team comes to the assistance of a crime-fighting minister in "Pure-Dee Poison"; unfortunately, the episode has more than a few flaws, including what may perhaps be the dumbest group of bad guys forever, who make The Three Stooges look like geniuses.

I always enjoy giving a shout-out to blogs celebrating anniversaries, and it's the third anniversary of Classic Film and TV Corner: congratulations, Maddy!

Finally, my latest American TV History video with Dan Schneider is up; it's the 100th anniversary of the Golden Age of Radio, which seemed like a good reason to talk about radio series that made the transition to television. It's a fun topic, and there are bound to be a few of your favorite TV shows that you didn't know had their origins in the theater of the mind. Enjoy! TV

November 14, 2025

Around the dial

It's a short recap this week, but that doesn't mean it's without quality, as we find out from the very beginning, with John's continuing series at Cult TV Blog on The Prisoner and comparisons to Soviet Russia. This week, he's looking at "Many Happy Returns" and "Dance of the Dead." How does the allegory hold up? Read on and find out.

Martin Grams has more book reviews on hand, including Aubrey Malone's examination of The Misfits, Robert Stroim, biography of actress-singer Virginia O'Brien, Steven Vagg's biography of the great Aussie actor Rod Taylor, James Sheldon's story on his vast career as a radio and television director, and Scott Gallinghouse's biography of horror actor Rondo Hatton.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, at Mavis Movie Madness Paul looks back at a pair of episodes from The Waltons: "The Thanksgiving Story" (appropriate to the season!), and the episode for which it was something of a sequel, "The Love Story."

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence bids farewell to actress Sally Kirkland, who died earlier this week at age 84; she was a frequent guest star on television, had a recurring role in Days of Our Lives and The Agency, and, most notably, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for the movie Anna.

I mentioned last week that Ralph Senensky died on November 1 at the prodigious age of 102, and at Television Obscurities, Robert has a very appropriate appreciation of everything that Senensky accomplished in a glorious career, about which he wrote with great wit and verve.

At A View from the Junkyard, Roger continues his review of The A-Team with "Say it with Bullets" (always an effective way of communicating, it seems), and offers a sage piece of advice for us all: "the key to success and happiness in life might be knowing when to be silly and knowing when to get serious." TV

November 7, 2025

Around the dial

Photo by Stockcake.com

Let's start this week at Comfort TV, where David takes three classics and three wasted trips into Season 3 of The Twilight Zone. No arguments from me on either list, especially when it comes to Rod Serling's disastrous track record on comedies. But, then, we can't all be geniuses in multiple genres, can we?

Let's now keep that TZ vibe going, as Jordan at The Twilight Zone Vortex asks what kind of stories would have made great episodes for an imagined sixth season of the series. This really is a great question, given the disappointment many fans have with the final season. Some of these suggestions are quite intriguing, and all of them would make great episodes of a future anthology series, if anyone out there is reading this.

Looking at the latest entry at Cult TV Blog gives me a chance to once again thank John for his terrific piece that ran on Wednesday (read it here if you haven't already), and his series on similarities between The Prisoner and Soviet Russia continues this week with "The Schizoid Man" and "The General," and you should check it out.

Staying across the pond, at Classic Film & TV Cafe Rick gives us seven things to know about The Avengers, another of my favorite imports. If you consider yourself a fan of the series, here's your chance to prove it: how many of these seven things did you know?

More from British TV: Prunella Scales, one of the stars of the all-time classic comedy Fawlty Towers, tied last week, age 93. Her career covers far more than that one program, of course, and Terence has the highlights in this tribute at A Shroud of Thoughts.

This must be my lucky week: Cult TV Lounge focuses on yet another favorite of mine, Naked City, which makes the list not only as one of the best police dramas on televisison, but one of the best drama series, period. What sets it apart? This look at season two (the first in its hour-long format) gives you a good idea.

Martin Grams gives us another book review of a classic radio moment: John Gosling's Waging the War of the Worlds: A History of the 1938 Radio Broadcast and Resulting Panic. Orson Welles' immortal, much-misunderstood, always fascinating broadcast. No matter what you know about this, it isn't enough.

Remember Mike the skunk? He's the newest member of the A-Team, and at The View from the Junkyard, Roger looks at his debut in the episode "The Battle of Bel Air." Actually, that's not quite right: this episode also introduces Tawnia, the replacemenbt for Amy.

Finally, the classic TV director Ralph Senensky died this week, age 102. His credits are too numerous to mention, and one of the few things that can compare to his resume is his ability to write about his experiences, which you can read about at his webite. TV

October 24, 2025

Around the dial

Are you ready for more Space: 1999? You'd better be, because that's where we begin this week, as the 50th anniversary celebration continues at Captain Video. Instead of graphic adaptations, though, this time, it's a short story version of the pilot episode.

Back in the days when Hallmark made more than Christmasy romcom telemovies, Teri Garr appeared in the 1987 Hall of Fame adaptation of Pack of Lies, a British Cold War drama that makes for compelling viewing, according to Gill at RealWeegieMidget. Those were the days.

There's not much to add to this 1960 ad for RCA televisions at the Broadcast Archives, except this: I wish I looked this good while I was watching TV.

Hard for me to believe that Halloween is just a week away, but for those of you celebrating, at Classic Film & TV Cafe, Rick has an excellent list of the 25 greatest classic horror films. But why wait; if you feel like it, watch one of them tonight!

More spooky favorites? Let's go over to Mavis Movie Madness, where Paul looks at the 1973 ABC Movie of the Week Dying Room Only, written by Richard Matheson, and starring Cloris Leachman, Ned B eatty, Ross Martin, and Dabney Coleman. Fine story, terrific cast.

John continues with his series on The Prisoner and Soviet-era Russia at Cult TV Blog. This week, it's "The Chimes of Big Ben," and how the episode suggests such Soviet concepts as social parsitism, the refusal to work, and how Number 2 mirrors Joseph Stalin. Fascinating stuff.

Completing our terrifying trio is Martin Grams's review of The Creeping Unknown, the 1956 movie better known, perhaps, as The Quatermass Experiment, based on the much-loved BBC TV series of the early 1950s (and its sequels), and written by the great Nigel Kneale.

Eventually, Roger will come to the end of A-Team episodes, and then we'll be searching for something else to link to; in the meantime, the show continues, and now we're up to the episode "In Plane Sight," a nice turn of phrase for a story of a pilot falsely accused of drug smuggling.

I'll admit I didn't remember the 1973 sitcom Thicker Than Water, starring Julie Harris and Richard Long; the last show I recalled Long from was Nanny and the Professor, and quite frankly, my attention back then was directed elsewhere. Remember it now with this commercial, at Television Obscurities.

Samantha Eggar was one of those actresses I would describe as "handsome," a type of beauty that is in no way denigrated by the masculine suggestion. She was very lovely, if you prefer. She died last week, aged 86, and Terence has a tribute to her career at A Shroud of Thoughts.

What's this? No Hadley self-promotion this week? Sorry, but you knew it had to be coming: my latest appearance with Dan Schneider is another two-fer, regarding two of the most prominent religious figures in television history, Billy Graham and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. God Bless! TV

October 17, 2025

Around the dial

Ary as I might to avoid it, I can't keep from promoting my latest podcast apperances. We'll lead off with Tumbleweeds and Cowboys, where I join Hunter to discuss three episodes of The Twilight Zone that take place in the Old West. This is a terrific podcast, by the way; I can warmly recommend you make it a part of your classic television podcast listening. After that, it's the latest episode of Eventually Supertrain, as Dan and I discuss Garrison's Gorillas; you'll also want to catch segments on Ghosted and one of Dan's all-time favorites, Bronk. (Just kidding, there!) And now, a return to our regular programming.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues his in-depth look at "Arrival," the first episode of The Prisoner, and whether or not the series serves as an allegory for Soviet Russia. I really enjoy this kind of speculative analysis, epecially when dealing with a series as deep and complex as this one.

Speaking of continuations, at Captain Video we're on to the third version of the Space: 1999 pilot, "Moonless Night," as seen in the comics. It's all a part of the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the series.

A quick but classic entry at the Broadcast Archives, with an ad for Ernie Kovacs's morning drive-time radio program on WABC, done even as Kovacs also was doing a mid-morning show on NBC-TV. Monday through Friday for both of these; mayhem in the a.m. indeed!

'Tis the season for a classic Halloween TV movie, don't you think? David has the answer at Comfort TV, with the 1978 telemovie Are You in the House Alone?, an excellent demonstration of how television didn't need blood and gore to portray horror.

Did we know that the guys on the A-Team were venture capitalists? Well, why the heck not? Over at The View from the Junkyard, Roger's latest on The A-Team takes us to the episode "The Maltese Cow" because, again, why not?

One of the shows on my "want" list is the 1962 drama The Gallant Men, and at Television's New Frontier: The 1960s, it's a look at episodes from the one and only season of the World War II drama. A big thanks for the shout-out to my interview with Brandon Hollinsworth from a few years back!

This has nothing to do with television other than the connection that we've probably all seen The Moody Blues on the tube, but at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the great John Lodge, who died late last week. I was fortunate enough to see the Moodys live twice; they were always one of my favorite groups, and I wouldn't pass up the chance to make mention of him here. TV

October 10, 2025

Around the dial

It's been awhile, but at Cult TV Blog, John returns to the world of The Prisoner with his continuing series in which he looks at various interpretations of the series. This week, it's a very interesting look at The Prisoner as an allegory of the Soviet Union.

Captain Video continues his own series, in which we look at various comic adaptations of the pilot for Space: 1999. Compare and contrast with last week's edition, which did a much more complete job with the same episode.

Speaking of comic book adaptations, at bare•bones e-zine, Jack and Peter continue their survey of DC's 1960s Batman comics. You can certainly see the resemblance between the TV series and the comics from the late 60s, and don't worry: Batgirl is there too!

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to Dame Patricia Routledge, who died last week at 96; best-known for the British classic Keeping Up Appearances, she had a long and varied career in both television and movies, including To Sir, With Love and If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium.

At Classic Film & TV Corner, Maddie revisits one of Kurosawa's great films, Stray Dogs, starring the incomparable Toshiro Minfue and Takashi Shimura; I mention this as a happy reminder of when we subscribed to the Criterion Channel, and got to discover the gems in Japanese noir.

The View from the Junkyard takes on politics in The A-Team episode "The White Ballot," and as Roger points out, the episode gives us some insight into political corruption; I particularly like the idea of returning to the days of tar and feathers, myself.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew has some thoughts on recent interviews with Rob Reiner, as it relates to early television. In particular, he talked about how his family bought their first set so they could see father Carl on Saturday night's Your Show of Shows. What a radical change TV was.

Finally at Television Obscurities, Robert has a brief clip from CBS from an undetermined date, at a time when they were promoting themselves as "America’s No. 1 Network for 17 Years In A Row." I wonder where today's top shows, whatever they are, would fit in those rankings; probably right at the top. TV

October 3, 2025

Around the dial

I'm dating myself again, I know, but I can remember when Space: 1999 was supposed to be the next big thing, the first "adult" science-fiction series since Star Trek. It didn't quite turn out that way, but Captain Video dives into the comic collection to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the series. Fifty years; wow.

At RealWeegieMidget, Gill combines movies and television in one neat package with a look at the 1980 telemovie The Scarlett O'Hara War, the story of David O. Selznick's search for the actress to play the aforementioned leading lady (as well as other backstage tales) in his upcoming epic, Gone with the Wind.

And now, a trio of posts that have a tangential tie-in to my new book, Darkness in Primetime. First, at Comfort TV, David makes a gracious note of the book in his essay on "When is Classic TV important?" What makes one program more important than another? We all have our answers, but this is a good place to begin the discussion.

At The Twilight Zone Vortex, Brian takes a look at the memorable fifth-season TZ episode "Number 12 Looks Just Like You," a frightening story of enforced conformity and loss of individuality; this episode is covered in Chapter 5 of Darkness in Primetime.

At Cult TV Blog, John reviews the mid-1970s series Survivors, a post-apocalyptic drama that explores the aftermath of a deadly global pandemic. John first viewed this series in 2020, in the midst of COVID Theater, which coincidentally was a major factor driving the genesis of Darkness in Primetime. There: self-promotion done.

We're not finished with British TV, though; at Silver Scenes, the Metzinger Sisters tease us with a preview of How, a children's series that ran for 17 seasons between 1966 and 1981. They'll have more on this in the coming weeks, but for now take a look at this clip and see what you think.

One more from across the pond? Why not! At Classic Film and TV Corner, Maddie looks at five British period dramas from the 1970s that more people should watch. Perhaps you've heard of them, perhaps not, but they're all dramas worth checking out.;

At A View from the Junkyard, Roger returns to The A-Team and the episode "Steel," a straightforward and uncompromising look at organized crime in the United States. It's no documentary, but neither does it seek to romanticize the mob, as so many shows continue to do. Let's just say that our fearless heroes aren't going to back down in the face of a formidable foe.

We were touching on trios earlier on, and here's a trio of posts from Television Obscurities: one on the 70th anniversary of The Honeymooners as a stand-alone series; a second on other series, well-known and otherwise, commemorating anniversaries this month; and a third, an audio clip from the opening of CBS's 1969 presentation of Mark Twain Tonight!, sponsored by Xerox, and starring Hal Holbrook.

Terence also has a piece on The Honeymooners over at A Shroud of Thoughts, as well as recognition of yet another series celebrating a 70th anniversary, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. What a great time for television, as we saw in my TV Guide review last Saturday.

And let's keep going with that TV Guide theme, as Martin Grams has more TV Guide trivia from 1959, including pitches for upcoming series (imagine Beetle Bailey starring Mort Sahl!), and a proposal for a big-screen version of Peter Lawford's The Thin Man, which itself was based on a big-screen version of Dashiell Hammett's famous novel.

Finally, if you're fortunate to have multiple sub-channels where you live, Remind Magazine tells you that you might be in luck, as Weigel Broadcasting (MeTV, etc.) has a new classic channel: WEST, featuring all Westerns, all day, every day. You can do worse; much worse. TV