The changing face (and pictures) of baseball

Didn't feel like doing much heavy lifting today; that'll come next week. In the meantime, one of the running themes we've seen here is that of how much things have changed over the years. (Another theme is how much things have stayed the same, but we'll reserve that for another day.)  

Sports is one of those things that falls into both categories; the basics are still there—two sides compete, one side wins, the other loses—but sometimes it seems as if that's about the only thing that's stayed the same. And not only have the games changes, so has the way in which they're shown on television. Today's example is this rare color excerpt from a 1965 game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs, telecast on WGN from Wrigley Field in Chicago. About an hour of this game still exists, including, fortunately, the finish, and it shouldn't take you too long to figure out the significance of the game. 

I'm not going to ruin the suspense for you, though, so as you watch the broadcast, notice how different things are: not only the uniforms and the style of play, but the number of cameras used and the angles, the graphics (or lack of same), and the style of announcing, courtesy of two of the best around, Cubs legend Jack Brickhouse (pictured above) and famed voice of the Chicago Black Hawks, Lloyd Pettit. Contrast it with what you're apt to see on a given broadcast today, and see what you think.

If you could combine elements of broadcasts from then and now, what would you choose? Other than success for your favorite teams, that is. TV  

Around the dial

Once again we begin the week with a shameless bit of self-promotion: my latest appearance on the Dan Schneider Video Interview. This week, Dan and I discuss television in the 1950s, in all its various ramifications. It's a far-ranging conversation that covers a lot of area, so take some time and give it a watch.

We're into August now, in case you hadn't noticed, which means that the Christmas in July festival at Christmas TV History has wrapped up for another year. This year's theme revolved around adaptations of A Christmas Carol, literal and figurative, and Joanna thoughtfully provides this recap where you can catch your favorites from last month.

At Cult TV Blog, John continues his look at The X-Files and its portrayal of the American Dream, this week concentrating on the episode "Fresh Bones," the military-industrial complex, immigration, slavery, and how they come together. Good stuff, as always.

David continues his odyssey through 1970s TV at Comfort TV, and his week he arrives at Thursday, 1972. That fall marked the beginning of my time in the World's Worst Town™ so I didn't see a lot of them, but it's an eventful year; while NBC still has a killer lineup, it's the year CBS introduces The Waltons.

Is The Avengers a better show with Mrs. Gale or Mrs. Peel? Interesting question; I'd guess that in the United States, where the Diana Rigg episodes were the first ones shown, the answer would be the latter, but at The View from the Junkyard, Roger uses that question as the jumping-off point for a look at the episode "What the Butler Saw." What do you think?

This week Butch Patrick turns 70. (In other news, I'm being reminded again that I'm old, and getting older.) We know him from The Munsters, of course, but there's more to his career than that, and we're reminded of that in this brief summary at Travalanche.

I'm not sure you could take a trip around the dial in the 1960s and 1970s without coming across Susan Oliver somewhere; she was always appearing as a guest star on the most popular programs of the day, and Those Were the Days takes a spin around her credits. 

One of the things you seldom see anymore is the appendage "The New" to a show's title. I suppose it's mostly because most shows aren't named after their stars anymore, but off the top of my head I can think of second shows by Bob Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Phil Silvers, and, as Television's New Frontier: the 1960s reminds us, Loretta Young. Read about her episodes from 1962.

Paul Reubens, aka Pee-Wee Herman, died this week of cancer, aged 70, and social media has been flooded with tributes from friends, colleagues, and fans alike. At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence takes a look back at the life and career of the beloved comedian.

When my fandom of classic Doctor Who began in the 1980s, I began frequenting sci-fi bookstores in earnest, and one of my most pleasing discoveries was a series of novels based on The Prisioner, a show I'd discovered a decade earlier. Martin Grams ran across them recently, and he writes about it here.

I remember The Man from Atlantis, Patrick Duffy's sci-fi series before he became a Ewing and became famous, because it was a forced watch on the one channel in the World's Worst Town™. However, Cult TV Lounge doesn't have that same baggage to deal with, so you can get a fair assessment of the TV-movie that started it all. TV  

Around the dial

This week begins with the return of Love That Bob to The Horn Section, and this time Bob's not the wolf preying on a lovely—he's actually trying to protect the lovely from another wolf: his friend Paul Fonda (Lyle Talbot). How does it work when the shoe's on the other foot, so to speak? Read what Hal has to say.

Something unusual at Cult TV Blog; John looks at the never-aired pilot for Blackadder, Rowan Atkinson's wonderfully funny alt take on British history. The entire Blackadder series is one of my favorites, and its quite interesting to document the differences between the series as aired and this pilot; as John says, it's hard to disagree with the changes made between the pilot and the series.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the career of producer and director Bert I. Gordon, who died last week, aged 100. Dedicated MST3K fans will recognize many of his movies, which tormented and delighted the show's fans: King Dinosaur, Beginning of the End, The Amazing Colossal Man, War of the Colossal Beast, Earth vs. the Spider, Tormented, Village of the Giants. Colossal!

Here's something you're not going to see in any store anytime soon, unless it deals in antiques: a television tube tester, courtesy of the Broadcasting Archives. I'm grateful, of course, for the new technology in TV, but there was something warm about those old sets, especially in the store, that I still remember. Wouldn't the tech who operated the tube tester have had a great line for What's My Line?

Episode 144 of Eventually Supertrain is up, and while we haven't gotten to Supertrain yet, Dan does have discussions of Lucan, Gemini Man, and something new, so be sure and check it out when you've got some time.

At Travelanche, a subject that, as he says, is sure to divide his audience: Jerry Lewis on television. I've always enjoyed him as a performer and humanitarian (I'm agnostic on his personal life), but there's no questioning that the man made a major impact on television history.

And if all this talk about classic television has got you in the mood for watching some, a reminder that one of the best places on the whole internet for viewing is Uncle Earl's Classic Television. This is one of my go-to sites, especially for shows that lack a proper DVD release. If you want to see for yourself what I keep talking about, go over there and visit the library. TV  

Around the dial

At Cult TV Blog, John gets our week off to a start with the British dramatic anthology series Play for Today and the episode "The Hallelujah Handshake," a disturbing drama directed by Alan Clarke, one that shows us how very different things have become over the years.

Baseball has been a mainstay on television over the decades, and not just when the game is televised. At Comfort TV, David looks at the ten-best baseball-themed classic TV episodes. An well-thought-out list, including my favorite: Leo Durocher meets Mr. Ed.

Probably a little late to compete in the comments section, but it's always fun to test your wits with another edition of the "Movie Quote Game" at Classic Film & TV Café, featuring the movies of Bette Davis. who's responsible for more than a few memorable quotes over the years.

At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence pays tribute to the great Robert Morse, who died last week, aged 90. Morse was known for his work on the stage, particularly How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Tru, but in addition to movies he was a formidable figure on television, with guest appearances aplenty, and the series That's Life and Mad Men.

Finally, some classic TV channels that you definitely need to check out if you want to find yourself watching some fairly rare episodes: the YouTube channels burgersinspace (what a great name; I'd refuse to go into space if there weren't any) and Times Past Television, and the redoubtable Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel. I think it's fair to say the products of these sites (and others) will be showing up here over the next several months. TV  

Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, April 3, 1948

From the YouTube channel Free the Kinescopes, it's a televised performance by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, with the Robert Shaw Chorale, in a live broadcast from April 3, 1948. On the program: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. 

There are a number of things to note, besides the now-unthinkable idea that a television network would actually have its own symphony orchestra, led by one of the world's most famous conductors. For one, the broadcast comes from NBC's famed Studio 8-H in New York City (now home to Saturday Night Live), which makes for a very intimate setting, with the small audience right on top of the action. 

Given its beginnings as a radio orchestra (it was founded in 1937), it's no surprise that announcer Ben Grauer, although he appears on camera, functions essentially as he would if this were a radio broadcast, standing in front of a microphone and reading from his script. Not too fancy, perhaps, but certainly effective.

And note as well how Maestro Toscanini, though he was one of the most famous (and intimidating) conductors of his era, has to wait until Grauer has finished his introduction before launching into the downbeat. Even then, television called the shots.

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Cash talks trash

From December 19, 1973, Johnny Cash sings "Nasty Dan" to his new fan, Oscar the Grouch. An appropriate way to celebrate Sesame Street's 52nd birthday, don't you think?

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TV close-up: The Hollywood Palace, October 25, 1969

How about something from this week's listings? We don't get to do this all that often, and it's always kind of a kick to find a show in its entirety from that particular day. Of course, if you have a boxed set of a certain series, it's pretty easy to find out what aired on that day; it's much more challenging when it comes to a special, a movie, or a variety show.

Here's a reminder of when ABC thought they'd found the next Tom Jones in the person of Engelbert Humperdinck, who'd had a big hit with "Release Me," had his own show in 1969-70 and on this particular night hosted The Hollywood Palace with guests Sid Caesar, Maureen Arthur, Mickey Deems, Nancy Ames, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jack E. Leonard, and Lonnie Donegan, Worth a watch, don't you think?

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Pat Paulsen for President

Am I dating myself to say that I remember Pat Paulsen and his 1968 presidential campaign? Probably, but I hold out hope that most of my loyal readers know who I'm talking about. (If not, this is a good place to start.)

I was never really a fan of Paulsen's shtick, just as I was never a fan of the Smothers Brothers, on whose show Paulsen was a regular. Perhaps I was too young back then, perhaps not, but my feelings toward them haven't changed appreciably in the 50+ years since.

However, let it not be said that I refuse to give credit where credit is due. In retrospect, Paulsen's mock campaigns for the presidency, especially the original one in 1968 (second acts rarely live up to the first), has some great moments, chief among which is this very funny interview during CBS's coverage of the 1968 Republican National Convention. His straight man is CBS's very serious political correspondent Daniel Schorr. (I never knew Schorr had it in him, although he did once sing with Frank Zappa; the things you learn in this job.) 

Here's the interview, introduced by the deadpan Walter Cronkite, in all its glorious color; as Cronkite mentions several times during the course of the proceedings, it is the first time an American political convention has ever been telecast in color. I think that, regardless of which party you support, you'll all agree that even though the images today are in HD, the conventions have far less color. 


Stephen Colbert, eat your heart out. TV  

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been that kind of year, hasn't it? In our particular circle of Hell, we've been told that we can't get together with family and friends for Thanksgiving unless we all constitute part of a "household." It's not surprising that something like this would happen at Thanksgiving, and I'd expect the same thing to happen at Christmas and, if they can get away with it, at Easter. 

It's all part of celebrating a "Thanksgiving Like No Other," although, not having been around during the Thanksgivings of World War II, for example, I don't know how accurate that label is. After all, it's one thing to apart from your loved ones due to a quarantine, but it's something altogether different when that loved one is overseas fighting a war for your freedom, or sitting somewhere in a POW camp, or even dead. Perhaps all wartime Thanksgivings are ones like no other, which begs the question as to whether or not they might even be more common than not. Maybe there's no such thing as "normal"; maybe there never was.

There's nothing wrong with being outraged about injustice; in fact, we'd be a pretty sorry lot if we weren't. (Just how one defines injustice is, of course, another question.) But tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and while it's very easy to kvetch about things, as I've been doing in the past couple of paragraphs, there's still a great deal to be thankful for, if you're willing to be fair and reasonable about it. On the balance sheet of life, many of us still have more assets than debits. I prefer to look at 2021 as a year with an opportunity for improvement. True, there are many reasons to think that next year will be even worse (and I'm not just talking about the virus, either), but other than doing what little we can about our own lives and circumstance, what else can we do? What's the old saying: let God and let go? Well, that's about it.

I'm thankful, as always, for your patronage, your comments throughout the year, and your continued interest in classic television. I appreciate the TV Guides you've allowed me to borrow, and the friendship you've given me freely. I'm grateful for the mere fact that this platform allows me to write about something that interests me, and that it interests many of you as well. I'm always excited about things that bring back warm memories, such as these two pieces from TV Party!, the outlet that gave me my first opportunity to write about classic TV. If watching those shows doesn't make you feel better, at least for a little while, then you're a candidate for a Grinch story about Thanksgiving. 

For you and your friends, family and loved ones, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, please accept my very best wishes for a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Unless you still think turkeys can fly, you're well ahead of the game. TV  

What we lose when television ignores the arts

Given the choice between a cartoon of cats watching television and a video of musicians playing music, I opted to go with the latter this week. (You can let me know whether or not I chose wisely.) This video ties in with last week's clip of Glenn Gould discussing Mozart, in that it's from a time when arts programming was more common on television, although it comes from a BBC broadcast in 1954, and the Beeb still devotes some time and effort to this kind of programming today.*

*It should be noted, however, that the BBC can afford such programming because 1) it's a state-financed television network, and 2) people pay an annual television fee that subsidizes the BBC family of networks. I'll also mention that BBC news coverage is considered to have a decided liberal bias, which in turn has provoked a move against the fee. I'll have more on this kind of thing Saturday.

Anyway, back to the video! The conductor is the immortal Leopold Stokowski, and the piece in question is "When I am laid in earth," popularly known as "Dido's Lament," from the 1688 opera Dido and Aeneas by the English composer Henry Purcell (being performed with an orchestral arrangement by Stokowski himself). In Stokowski's prefacing remarks, he mentions how known and loved this piece is; it's annually played as part of the Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in England, and since today is Remembrance/Veterans Day, it's an appropriate example for us to us. 

I don't know how familiar it is in this country other than for classical music aficionados; It's been used in movies and television shows over the years, including Band of Brothers. If it is true, as I believe it is, that music can soothe the savage breast, what better for our savage and discouraging age than something like this, which demonstrates the often-otherworldly quality that music possesses. This is the kind of thing that should be familiar to us, and of all the responsibilities that television has abrogated in the last few decades, that ability to provide this kind of programming is perhaps the most unfortunate.

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Around the dial

Now that's style!

We're a little thin on blog updates this week, so I thought we'd take a spin through some podcasts and YouTube videos and see what's up.

Over at TV Confidential, Ed Robinson has more than enough to keep you busy, including a pair of episodes on Groucho Marx, Joan Van Ark talking about her famous Val Ewing character, and a birthday nod to Howard Hesseman.

From last month, Closer Classic TV talks with MeTV's Neal Saban, who, as it says, takes us inside the world of classic TV.

The To Tell the Truth YouTube page has all you could ask for in the way of episodes, including this one with a woman who ran for president of the United States in 1964. Between LBJ and AuH2O, I'm afraid she didn't stand a chance.

One of the YouTube channels I've enjoyed has the charming name of Free the Kinescopes! I think you'll enjoy it as well, no matter what you choose to watch.

For sci-fi fans, here's the very first episode of the British cult hit Blake's 7, which was always a topic of conversation among the Whovians I hung around with back in the day.

Back at our more conventional fare, at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, Ivan returns to the world of Dark Shadows, with this look at the beginning of a 1967 story arc involving “a time-traveling excursion that finds series heroine Victoria Winters in the Collinsport of 1795 and interacting with ancestors of the family she knows from the present day.” I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure this is the only time that sentence has ever been typed in conjunction with a soap opera, at least of the retro era.

Cult TV Blog comes back with another British series with which I’m not familiar: Minder, a long-running comedy-drama about the London underworld. This week, John looks back at the 1978 episode “Gunfight at the OK Launderette,” and its roots in a real-life botched robbery in 1975.

It’s interview time at Classic Film & TV Café, and this week Rick interviews John Greco, author of the short story collection The Late Show, combining of classic cinema with mystery and murder (!) to create eight provocative stories. Sounds like a lot of fun, and of course that's what we're all about around here. TV  

Around the dial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wait a minute, where did TV Guide go?

As I mentioned yesterday, you'll have to wait until Monday for our latest installment of "This Week in TV Guide," but I think you'll find it worth the wait. In the meantime, you didn't think I'd leave you alone and lost, did you?

The video below comes from another great YouTube channel, that of RwDt09. (One of these days, I'm going to have to start putting these on the sidebar.) The title is pretty self-explanatory: "21 New Shows of Fall TV 1955." Watch, then we'll discuss.


Aside from the sheer pleasure of watching, let's think about the shows that were new in 1955: Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The Honeymooners. Gunsmoke. Cheyenne. Wyatt Earp. Phil Silvers. Perry Como. (Not to mention The Big Surprise, a game show hosted by Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace!) Now, you know me well enough by now that I'm not given to grand pronouncements, so I'm not going to say that this must have been the greatest freshman class of television shows in history. Rather, I'll challenge you: name the season that was better. Your turn. TV  

The "It's About TV" Interview: Fred Smith, the man behind YouTube's "FredFlix"

If you've spent any time at all watching classic television videos on YouTube, you've probably seen the work of Fred Smith, aka FredFlix. His videos, which run the gamut from television to movies to celebrities to commercials (and celebrity commercials) and are, by turns, funny, nostalgic, and even poignant, are guaranteed to result in at least one "I remember that!" comment per minute.

I've been a fan of FredFlix for a long time, and recently I had the chance to get to know Fred better. and to find out more about the programming genius behind the greatest television network around, WFLS. I'm confident you'll enjoy this look as well!

📺  📺  📺
It's About TV: At the end of each video, you announce that you're not a network, just a guy. I'd say you're selling yourself short there, but tell us a little about this guy.

Fred Smith: I'm a 64-year-old single father who's retired from the newspaper business. I wrote a daily TV column for The Post in Courier (the oldest daily newspaper in the South) in Charleston, SC, from 1978 to 1984. I was then the paper's chief film critic from 1984 to 1991. I also was a copy editor and award-winning page designer. I'm the author of The Occidental Husband, a comical memoir about my marriage to a Chinese woman. It's available at EveningPost Books (cheap plug for a cheap book).

I've always enjoyed making videos as a hobby. I started even before video, making Super 8 home movies with plots and special effects. (For one movie we filmed the end first and everything backwards; then showed it backwards so it would appear forward.)

When I bought my first Betamax in 1977 (for the still-outrageous price of $1,300) I started recording TV and stringing clips together. I tortured my friends for years by making them watch my "productions."

As the computer age evolved I somehow got tech savvy enough to use computer software to edit my videos. Then one day in 2014 I noticed the "upload" button on YouTube. The rest is history.

The obvious question, at least to me - where on earth did you get such a huge collection of video odds and ends, much of which (network promos, for example) probably hasn't been seen since it first aired?

I have a collection of close to 7,000 TV episodes from the '50s and '60s alone. I have about 2,000 movies from all eras. I have complete collections of Popeye, Looney Tunes, Three Stooges and all manner of cult fare. I have probably 2,000 vintage commercials. The various odds and ends, as you call them, come from my collecting interesting video tidbits for over 40 years. I have over 1,200 music clips from the '50s to the '80s that I can't run on YT (in full) due to copyright restrictions.
However, when making a video, if I don't have a clip I need, I don't mind downloading it from YouTube. YT clips make up about 25 percent of FredFlix videos.

Have you always been a fan of "classic" television and movies, or have you simply kept a soft spot in your heart for the things you grew up with?

I do have a soft spot for the things I grew up with, as most of us do. But movies, TV, comics and music WERE better back then.That's not just my opinion. Historians will tell you that the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s was a special time for American pop culture. It was also a time when, for the most part, the father made enough money without the mother having to work. Kids were not stuck in daycare after school. They played outside (with real games, not virtual ones) without supervision and when they came home they had a home-cooked meal instead of fast food. The family ate at the table without devices and actually talked. And when you went to school the next day, everyone was talking about the same show because there were only three channels. It was a great time to be a kid.

Your series of "Day in the Life" videos goes back in time to show how you spent a particular day growing up—TV shows, stories, movies, all kinds of wonderful things that bring back memories for anyone who was around during that era. How did you get the idea to do that, and what was it like putting these memories together?

I got the idea because I probably think about my childhood too much, particularly the culture. So I made a four-part series covering the four seasons through different years. I didn't think anyone would care but those videos touched a nerve and became my most popular videos. So, I stared making more. I don't mind admitting they are all random memories. I put them together into one day to create a coherent story. As far as what it's like putting the videos together, it's a lot of fun and I get transported back just like the viewer.

It’s the first time you really interject yourself into your videos, and as it goes on, you interject some very personal recollections as well—your father’s suicide, an eating disorder. What made you decide to get that personal and was it a difficult decision to make?

It was a little it difficult but I didn't want all of the day in the Life series to be sweetness and light. That's not how life is. Actually, I've only touched on some of the tragedies and failures in my life. But that's as far as I'm going to go. Some things are better left unsaid. The last one about my eating disorder was made several months before I posted it. I didn't know how people would react to it. But the comments have been overwhelmingly positive. And my goal, as always, has been to make them not so much about my life, but what life was like back then; the products we used, the shows we watched, the music we listened to the things we did.

Do you have a favorite video, one that you’ve done that you sit back afterward and think that this really said what you wanted to say, or one that you just really get a kick out of watching, that brings back a lot of good memories?

I do watch my own videos, because I only make videos that interest me. My favorites are anything with good music. I can watch those over and over. But I have trouble keeping them on YouTube because of copyright restrictions. There is a 50-year span from the mid-1930s to the mid-1980s during which popular music was brilliant and will never be topped. I'm including everything from movie theme to hard rock.

One of your most recent videos takes a look at classic movie and television networks that have, for lack of a better word on my part, betrayed their original mission—networks like American Movie Classics and TV Land. That really presses my buttons, because I see these networks as starting out with something really different, and now they’ve all pretty much blended together. I mean, how many different stations have to carry In the Heat of the Night? And do you really need to see five or six episodes of NCIS back-to-back-to-back?

I don't blame the networks because their Baby Boomer audience is dying out and Generation X or whatever is taking over. I get it. Showing stuff from the '80s and '90s is nostalgia fare for the younger generation. They're fine with it because they grew up with it. I didn't.

What gets me is that you take some of these shows, they’re shown twice a day, back-to-back, five days a week. At that rate, a series that produced 100 episodes, the benchmark for going into syndication, you go through the entire run of the series in about ten weeks, which means, if you choose, you can watch every episode five times a year. Is that really what people want, or is this just lazy programming?

Well, I think the people running the networks are scared and they've run out of ideas. There are so many channels and options, the audience is fragmented and leaving cable altogether so they just really don't know what to do. And yes there is some lazy programming. But if you only need a million or so watchers, you can be lazy. In my day a million viewers wouldn't cut it. Not even 10 million.

You mention that these changes don’t necessarily make the networks better or worse, just different from what they were. But there must be one of those changes that really burned you up!

AMC going to commercials bothered me the most and commercials in general are a horror show in themselves. Especially on the channels that cater to the senior set: They're all for Viagra and catheters and "Phil Swift here for crazy glue." it's very annoying and we probably now get only 20 minutes of show and 10 minutes of commercials. There oughtta be a law. And there probably is. What I do now is I deliberately go on my computer or take a shower (often at the same time...ha ha) and then I come back to the show and use my DVR to go back to the beginning. Then I skip past the commercials. It's the only way I can stand to watch.

You use the lyric “The World We Knew” a lot—do you feel as if this a world that no longer exists? And do you think movies and TV shows are getting better, as some people think, or has the quality fallen off from the world we knew?

The world I cover on FredFlix no longer exists. In some ways that's bad and some ways it's good. Movies have gotten worse by a lot. Where are the fresh ideas? it's all milking something that's already been done. But if you pick your TV carefully, there's a lot of great stuff out there. But none of it is as special as the TV shows of the '50s, '60s and '70s were to my generation. First of all, with only three networks, you had to be good to get on. Then there was the sense of community. Everyone watched the same thing. Lastly, shows came and were gone. No home recording. You didn't decide what to watch when. THEY decided.

Is there anything you’d still really like to see, a kind of Holy Grail video that you might have heard about but has eluded you so far?

Little by little, all the old shows, commercials, movies, music, etc. I remembered so fondly have found there way into my grubby little hands. Some clips and themes I waited 30 or 40 years for. There is one commercial about a "summer cold" by Contac featuring a balloon type monster in a field...that has eluded me. "A summer cold is a different animal, an ugly animal, it hits you in the stomach when you've got lots to do" went the lyrics. I can't find it.

Out of everything, do you have a favorite show, a favorite singer, movie, actor, actress?

Sure. Favorite old show was The Outer Limits. Newer show; Seinfeld. Recent show: Breaking Bad. Other shows: Rifleman, Star Trek, Adventures of Superman...so many. Untouchables. Monday Night Football. SNL. Movies: Mad Mad World, Clockwork Orange, A Hard Day's Night, Black Lagoon, Enter the Dragon, Sweet Smell of Success, among many others. Singer: Sinatra. Band: Beatles. Comic book artist: Jack Kirby (I have another channel on YT devoted solely to him called Kirby Continuum). Actors: Bogart, Jack Nicholson, Vincent Price, Robert Culp, Nick Nolte, McQueen, many more. As for actresses, I have to admit it's mostly about their looks.

Finally, what’s in store for WFLS in the future? Something spectacular that we can look forward to?

I've got 60 videos waiting in line. The ideas come faster than I can make them. I don't know where the ideas come from. I'll be driving and like, I'll think, Hmmm... Tall Tales of the 1960s. I made that yesterday. I like to make the comedy ones even though they don't get a lot of views. I really enjoy mashing up trailers such as Creature From the Blue Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Ant Man. But few people watch those. They want serious tributes to their past icons. Anyway, I've got a special month coming with "The 31 Days of FredFlix" for March 2019. A new video every day that month.

Fred, you’ve given us hours of viewing pleasure over the years, as well as bringing back happy memories of our own, and I’m sure I speak for everyone out there that subscribes to your YouTube channel when I thank you for allowing us to relive those times of our lives.

Well, Mitchell, I never imagined I'd get to 50,000 subscribers. FredFlix has taken on a life of it's own. It's sort of a big responsibility now. People want good videos and I don't want to disappoint them. So I'm working harder than ever but it's a challenge I like and it's been very rewarding. I always read the comments. I try to answer everyone who has a question or just says "Thank you." I appreciate it.

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Thanks again, Fred; what a pleasure talking with you. What an interesting man, don't you think? Nostalgic, but a dry-eyed realist at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this interview, and learning more about what goes into putting everything together. I hope you enjoyed it as well, and if you're not already subscribing to FredFlix—well, what are you waiting for? TV  

Video trailer for "The Electronic Mirror"

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Minnesota we're still in the throes of winter, with another five inches of snow today and lows in the single digits. On a night like this, I can't think of anything better than to sit next to a roaring fireplace with a good book. Unfortunately, I don't have the fireplace, but I do have the book for you: The Electronic Mirror. 

Here's a brand-new trailer for The Electronic Mirror, in case you need help making up your mind:


My thanks as always to the fabulous Carol M Ford Productions for the production and narration of the trailer for The Electronic Mirror. Even if you've already got the book (and if you haven't, why not?) be sure to give it a look. Don't worry about Around the Dial; we'll be back next Friday with even more from the classic TV blogosphere. TV  

TV Guide: America's Time Capsule

A number of you have been asking if it would be possible for me to post the presentation I gave at the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention last September, "TV Guide: America's Time Capsule." Thanks to my great and good friend Carol Ford, the audio of my talk has now been synched with the PowerPoint slides to replicate last year's spellbinding experience. It's the next best thing to having been there yourself! From the program description:

Throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, there was no better barometer as to the cultural climate in America than the pages of TV Guide. During those days, the little, odd-shaped magazine was arguably the most influential publication in television, and those who think of it merely as something that told us what was on TV, something that could be read and then thrown away as soon as the week was finished, risk overlooking a treasure trove of information, a time capsule that helps us understand who we were then, who we are now, and how we got that way. 

While I'm at it, this is a good time to remind you that if you like this presentation and appreciate the material I bring you each week on It's About TV!, you can find more of it in my book, The Electronic Mirror: What Classic TV Tells Us About Who We Were and Who We Are (and Everything In-Between!) available at Amazon.com, BN.com, and other online dealers. It was one of the hits of the convention, and it's sure to find a place in your classic TV book collection! TV