Week of Oct. 21: New DVDs and A Halloween Classic

A trio of hit shows are out on DVD this week.

The first is Season 1 of "The Donna Reed Show," the hit comedy that starred the actress who made a name for herself in movies including "It's a Wonderful Life," as well as a young Shelley Fabares, who later co-starred in "Coach" and "One Day At a Time," is related to Nanette Fabray (who was also on "One Day") and is married to "M*A*S*H" star Mike Farrell. During the series, Fabares made the hit parade with "Johnny Angel":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4832LQ0_T8g

Here's a link to a nice website about the show:

http://www.donnareedshow.com/intro.html


Also out this week are two series, in their entirety:

-"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman": The popular CBS hit, which ran from 1992 until it was prematurely yanked in 1998, starred British actress Jane Seymour as Dr. Michaela Quinn, a pioneer in medicine who left Boston for a life on the frontier. Joe Lando ("One Life To Live") co-starred as Sully, who eventually became her husband. Other stars included Barbara Babcock and Orson Bean, and guest stars included Johnny and June Carter Cash, John Schneider ("The Dukes of Hazzard"), Willie Nelson, Barbara Mandrell, Kenny Rogers and Mr. Rogers (Yes, Fred Rogers). This show also has an official website:

http://www.drquinnmd.com/

And Sanford and Son, the very funny NBC comedy that starred Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson. The show was part of the Norman Lear dynasty of the 1970s, based on a British program called "Steptoe & Son." The show had a great theme song, composed by the legendary Quincy Jones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WS_VH-Uk0U

***********************************************************************************

It's Halloween, and you know what that means:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecN9mLpM2mM

Happy Halloween - and Happy Viewing, until next week!

Week of Oct. 24: In An Election Mood

If you're in an election mood (and who isn't these days?), how about a look back at Schoolhouse Rock, ABC's way in which millions of kids learned civics (as well as grammar, science and other subjects) during the 1970s and 80s? An election edition is out on DVD.

On YouTube, take a look (and sing a long) to "I'm Just a Bill":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

Or "Three-Ring Government," which is a perfect description:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5I2KFENjS8

And my all-time favorite, "The Preamble," recommended for presidential and vice presidential candidates everywhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc

See you next week! Until then, Happy Viewing (and singing)! And don't forget to vote!

Week of Oct. 17: Remembering Eileen Herlie and a Partridge Family look

Eileen Herlie had a successful Broadway career. But she was best known for almost 30 years as boutique owner and everyone's confidant Myrtle Fargate on the soap opera "All My Children." Herlie died a few days ago.

Here's a link to a few scenes in a 1983 episode of "AMC." Herlie, as Myrtle, is in the scene with an unknown soap opera actress named Carol Burnett ;) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhdRcYYt3So&feature=related

That was when Burnett, a big fan of the show, played Verla Grubbs, Langley Wallingford's long-lost daughter. And remember when Palmer and Donna were married? (Yikes!)

************

Season 3 of "The Partridge Family" was released on DVD this week. Earlier episodes of the show can be found on Hulu.com.

The show, which starred Shirley Jones, David Cassidy and University of Miami graduate Dave Madden, was about a family that started singing together after Jones' character, Shirley Partridge, was widowed. The show was loosely based on the real-life singing family The Cowsills.

The show was engaging (I was never a fan of Danny Bonaduce, whom I've always found annoying.), but the best part was unquestionably the performance of a song in each episode. I have an album of some of the earliest songs. Here's a YouTube link to one of them, the hit "I Think I Love You":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJYSu2OVCGM&feature=related

Producer Wes Farrell put together some good songwriting talent (including Terry Cashman, who would later write and sing the popular "Willie, Mickey and the Duke") for the show. Jones and Cassidy did their own singing; studio musicians would fill in for the rest of the cast, which included Susan Dey.

Week of Oct. 10: Remembering Nightline, the Stock Market and the Muppets

The current economic troubles provide a chance to recall when television news decided (on purpose) not to take itself too seriously one night back in 1987. "ABC News Nightline" host Ted Koppel decided to have a program in which the Wall Street troubles of the day were explained in clear fashion - by the Muppets.

Sadly, I can't find a clip of the program online, but here's a link to a bit of a transcript:

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Nightline25/story?id=326163

Here's a link to more detail:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/ABC_News_Special:_Wall_Street_and_the_Economy

And the entire program is available on DVD for order:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-5969600-0037750?asin=B000IMVP18&afid=yahoosspplp_bmvd&lnm=B000IMVP18ABC_News_Nightline_Town_Meeting_on_Wall_Street_and_the_Financial_State_of_NY/Muppets_(2_DVD_set)_:_DVD&ref=tgt_adv_XSNG1060

David Letterman once said Koppel (who does a mean impression of Richard Nixon, BTW) is too funny to be a newsman. Maybe Koppel, who now works for Discovery, and the Muppets should get together for another program.

See you next week. Until then, Happy (if not profitable) Viewing!

Week of October 3: Don Fedderson's Shows and a Word About Split Seasons On DVD

This week, the first part of the first season of "My Three Sons" was released on DVD. I'll get to the issue of split seasons on DVD in a moment, but first, a look at the work of Don Fedderson, who created "My Three Sons," "Family Affair" and other programming.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications has a good synopsis about "My Three Sons":

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/mythreesons/mythreesons.htm

And here's the intro, from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-PbwJ0VXhs

It's been a long while since I was able to watch the show; syndicators haven't had it since at least the early 1980s, and I didn't have a cable connection to watch it on TV Land. I watched the color (CBS) episodes with William Demarest as Uncle Charlie, and some of the later seasons. I found the show entertaining. I think "Full House," which ABC produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a good modern-day comparison show to "My Three Sons."

Don Fedderson produced "Life With Elizabeth," which starred Betty White in one of her early roles, and was an executive producer of "Who Do You Trust?" a game show that brought together Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. He was a producer on "The Millionaire," a character study kind of program in which a millionaire would give money to people he had never met, and the show would follow what they did.

Probably the best and most beloved Fedderson series was "Family Affair," which ran on CBS from 1966-71. In the show, Brian Keith played Bill Davis, a bachelor engineer with "gentleman's gentleman" Mr. French (played so well by Sebastian Cabot). Their lives are turned upside down when Bill's brother and sister-in-law die in a plane crash, and he and French wind up having to raise the three children: Teenager Cissy (Kathy Garver) and young twins Jody (Johnnie Whitaker) and Buffy (Anissa Jones, whose performance as Buffy and tragic real life both broke hearts). One of the best things about "Family Affair" was its diversity - people of different cultures, backgrounds and financial conditions.

Here's a clip from an early episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3lPf11LvMo

All five seasons have been released on DVD, and a full-show box set is planned for release around Thanksgiving. Kathy Garver has hosted extras on all five seasons, and from the show's background to collectibles to the child star issue, she and the crew have done a good job, as has MPI Home Video with the release. Incidentally, Gregg Fedderson, who played Cissy's boyfriend on the show, is Don Fedderson's son, as is Michael Minor, who played Betty Jo's husband on "Petticoat Junction" (and was married for a time in real life to Linda Kaye Henning, who played Betty Jo), and was also on "All My Children" in the early 1980s.

************************

The release of only the first part of "My Three Sons" first season compels me to write about the most annoying trend in the release of classic television shows on DVD: Partial season releases.

Shows such as "Ironside" and "Perry Mason," which both starred Raymond Burr, have been subjected to this treatment. It is true that television shows often filmed at least 30 episodes a season during the 1950s and 60s (These days, networks are lucky to get 20 episodes a season from most scripted shows.). But especially in a bad economy, there's only so much money for people to spend, and they should be able to get a whole season at a time if they wish.

During the early days of DVD, some shows, such as "M*A*S*H" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" kept up what they'd done with VHS and released collector's sets. That's not a bad idea. Eventually, those shows released full seasons (MTM is still releasing seasons; "M*A*S*H" has released the entire series individually and on a very good box set.). But giving half a slice to someone who's paid for a whole slice is a bad idea. Studios and distributors need to get their seasons together for loyal viewers.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!