Week of Dec. 25: 'Tis the Season

Again with some help from The Classic TV Database, here are a few favorite Christmas episodes:



-M*A*S*H, "Dear Dad": The first episode in which a character writes home - in this case it's Hawkeye (Alan Alda), who winds up dressed as Santa in a foxhole.


-The Brady Bunch, "The Voice of Christmas": Not one of my favorite series, but this episode where Cindy asked Santa to give mom Carol (Florence Henderson) her voice back after a bout with laryngitis captures the heart. Henderson, who has Broadway experience, sings beautifully.

Here are some other favorites:

-The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid": Guess who has to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Yep, our Mary. But the ending is a treat for her and us.

-M*A*S*H, "'Twas the Day After Christmas": The long-running series had a reputation for excellent Yuletide episodes. In this one, it's a race against the clock for B.J. (Mike Farrell), Hawkeye and Margaret (Loretta Swit) to make sure a soldier survives the holiday.

-M*A*S*H, "Dear Sis": This letter comes from Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) to his sister, who is a nun. Highlights include Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) receiving a treasured childhood gift.

-Magnum, P.I., "Operation: Silent Night": Can Magnum, Higgins, Rick and T.C. get off an island before the Navy blows it up?

-Home Improvement, "Bright Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Chaos": Nobody could decorate - or have accidents - like Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor (Tim Allen). Hilarious stuff.

-Frasier, "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz": Amy Brenneman, later on "Judging Amy," guest-stars in this episode where Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) pretends to be Jewish while Niles (David Hyde Pierce) is putting together a Christmas pageant.

-All in the Family, "Edith's Christmas Story": Edith (Jean Stapleton) tells Gloria (Sally Struthers) she has a lump in her breast.

-The West Wing, "In Excelsis Deo": Excellent episode that mixes the drama of Toby (Richard Schiff) trying to give a homeless Vietnam veteran who died a dignified funeral with the humor of President Bartlett (Martin Sheen) shopping for Christmas.

-Foyle's War, "Bleak Midwinter": The only hint that it's Christmas in this lovely show, set in Hastings, England during World War 2, is the raid on a restaurant by Foyle (Michael Kitchen), Milner (Anthony Howell) and company that produces a turkey as evidence that Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks) wouldn't mind having as holiday dinner. Meanwhile, is Milner guilty of murdering his wife?

Merry Christmas! And until next week, Happy Viewing!

Week of December 18: Best Holiday Specials

Remember when a holiday season of television viewing was made special by, well, holiday specials?

Rabbit Ears does, too. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it seemed like there was at least one special a year, with plenty of entertainment. Those with specials included:

*Bing Crosby: Probably the gold standard, given that he appeared with second wife Katherine and their children, Harry, Mary Frances and Nathaniel, not to mention plenty of guest stars. Crosby, who died in 1977, may have saved the best for his last special: A beautiful duet with David Bowie to "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace On Earth" that has become a classic.

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

*Bob Hope: His biggest tradition was entertaining troops around the world during Christmas time. His holiday special had various traditions, too, including the singing of "Silver Bells," the Oscar-winning song Hope first sang in the film "The Lemon Drop Kid." In this clip, he sings it with an up-and-comer named Marie Osmond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjikH93L_mo

Another Hope tradition was the introduction of the Associated Press All-American Football Team. Here's his introduction of the 1984 team, which included Doug Flutie (University of Miami fans, don't look.):

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

*Andy Williams: Another Yuletide tradition. And there are a few of Marie's brothers, along with Andy's brothers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d87Ty2CldWc

Happy Holidays to you! And until next week, Happy Viewing!

Week of December 11: The Best of NBC

There has been concern about the NBC network, given its last-place status and its purchase by Comcast. It's a good chance to look at the best television NBC has had through the years, divided by decade: (Note: News programs are not included in this list.)

1940s:

*Texaco Star Theater - Before there was almost anything else, there was Uncle Miltie. Milton Berle was television's first real star, and though his humor is regarded as corny today, he had huge ratings today's youngsters can't even dream about.


1950s:

*Bob Hope: His first television program came on Easter, 1950; by the time he was done in the mid-1990s, he'd opened and closed countless seasons for NBC television. As the late, great NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff said during the comedian's 85th birthday celebration in 1988: "We always had Hope."

*Dragnet: Set the standard for every cop show that has come since. Jack Webb created it, starred in it and gave us just the facts, Ma'am.

*Your Show of Shows: Sid Caesar begat every television spoof of popular culture with Imogene Coca and a stable of writers that included Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and Larry Gelbart.


1960s:

*Wonderful World of Disney: It started on ABC, but with Walt Disney hosting almost until his death in 1966, the anthology series had its biggest popularity here during the 1960s and 70s. This was where Disney introduced his plans for a theme park in Florida - Walt Disney World.

*Spy shows: After the popularity of James Bond films, NBC did the best job of any network of turning the spy show genre on its head. It brought together East and West with "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," made Bill Cosby a star with "I Spy" and spoofed the whole thing with the Mel Brooks-Buck Henry creation "Get Smart!"

*Police shows: NBC had two of the best with "Ironside," in which Raymond Burr played the title character, whose wheelchair didn't undermine his toughness, and "Adam 12," based on real cases solved by the Los Angeles Police Department.

*The Tonight Show: Steve Allen started the fun in 1954, but Jack Paar's erudite style made it must-see - and Johnny Carson immortalized himself and it.

*Laugh-In: The bridge between Sid Caesar, Saturday Night Live and Jon Stewart was this program? You bet your bippy.

*Julia: Of the three major networks at the time, NBC did the finest job of creating programs that celebrated diversity. This comedy, with Diahann Carroll playing a nurse, was a good example.

*Bonanza: It started in 1958 and ended in 1972. This western program was arguably the most popular television show of the 1960s and made Lorne Greene and Michael Landon stars.


1970s:

*NBC Mystery Movie: This rotating series introduced us to Columbo (Peter Falk), McCloud (Dennis Weaver) and McMillan & Wife (Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James). Great fun.

*Flip Wilson Show: NBC's on-air openness continued with this talented comedian and his many faces.

*Sanford and Son: A great Quincy Jones opening theme, Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson anchored this very funny show, Norman Lear's primary contribution to the network.

*Chico and the Man: Before his tragic death, Freddie Prinze broke down barriers for Hispanics with this comedy.

*The Rockford Files: James Garner, always at ease, was at his peak in this private eye show, which made America appreciate answering machines and Pontiac Trans-Ams.

*Police Story: The 1970s "true-life" program, which introduced Angie Dickinson's "Police Woman," among others.

*Little House on the Prairie: NBC's primary family show, based on the books by Laura Ingells Wilder, continued Michael Landon's hot streak and made young Melissa Gilbert into an icon.


1980s:

*Cheers: "Of course," as its first promotions said. After Sam & Diane, Sam & Rebecca, Coach, Woody, Norm, Cliff, Frasier and Lillith and 11 seasons, of course.

*Family Ties: Great spin on family comedies, with Michael J. Fox in the star-making role as the conservative son of two flower children parents.

*Hill Street Blues: "Let's be careful out there." Actually, they weren't - and the show went on to win a record number of Emmy Awards because of it.

*St. Elsewhere: This unusual hospital program also found success - and was the launching pad for Denzel Washington's success.

*The Cosby Show: Bar none, the most successful show of the decade - and the one that brought NBC and the situation comedy back to life.

*The Golden Girls: Proved that life begins at 60. Emmys for all four stars, and a lot of laughs.

*Miami Vice: Gave Miami - "Paradise Lost," according to Time, a second life. No earth tones. And neither Miami nor television ever looked the same.

1990s:

*Frasier: Probably the most successful spin-off ever - and even more humanity and humor than Cheers.

*Law & Order: Reworked both the cop show and the lawyer show. The 1990s, which featured Jerry Orbach as the inimitable Detective Lenny Briscoe, were the peak.

*The West Wing: The show began in 1999, with its first and probably best season. After a bunch of shows that showed politicians as oversexed buffoons, this Aaron Sorkin creation was a breath of fresh air.

(Incidentally, I did not watch Seinfeld, Friends or ER, which were also very successful during this decade.)

Will NBC ever have true "Must See TV" again? Let's hope so.

See you next week, with the best holiday specials. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of December 4: Those Great Holiday Ads

Hershey's Kisses continues to air its great holiday ad, featuring the product, as bells, playing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lxFDVvmUk

It's good to hark back (no pun intended) to other classic holiday season ads. Here's a link to one from Norelco, featuring Santa riding the electric razor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718DpmQrPbg

Coca-Cola created a classic during the 1970s with "I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCsFvVg0UY

The Florida supermarket Publix has great holiday ads, including this memorable one. Where did all that food go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urG0eWR9EMc

Campbell's Soup had this great ad for years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU1WAa5pDi0


And here's the choice here for the best: 1983's "Peter's Home" commercial from Folger's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4kNl7cQdcU


Enjoy the holiday season! And until next week, Happy Viewing!

Week of November 26: Thanksgiving Treats

Here's a terrific find: The Classic TV Database (http://classic-tv.com). A couple of their choices for top Thanksgiving episodes jibe with a couple of choices here. Theirs and ours include:

*WKRP In Cincinnati, "Turkeys Away": We talked about this one last week.

*The Bob Newhart Show, "Over the River and Through the Woods": When Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) is away, Bob, Jerry (Peter Bonerz), Carlin (Jack Riley) and Howard (Bill Daily) order some moo-moo-goo-goo - uh, moo goo gai pan.

*Mad About You, "Giblets For Murray": Just how many turkeys did Paul and Jamie (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt) have to buy? Have fun counting with this hilarious episode.

Another comedy episode not listed at the database:

*Murphy Brown, "Mission Control": Murphy (Candice Bergen) and the gang serving Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter? Yikes! (I still remember Corky (Faith Ford) saying a turkey is a very stupid animal.)

And among episodes of dramas:

*The West Wing, "Sibboleth" and "The Indians in the Lobby": Think of Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Alison Janney) and her dilemma with two turkeys the next time you watch a president pardon a turkey in "Sibboleth." In "The Indians in the Lobby," C.J. also had the job of meeting with the title characters, who wanted to meet President Bartlett (Martin Sheen).

*The Waltons, "The Thanksgiving Story" and "Reunion": No series did holiday drama better than this one; in "The Thanksgiving Story," an accident threatens the sight of John-Boy (Richard Thomas). "Reunion" was a post-series movie that united the surviving members of the original cast in the Thanksgiving week that followed the horrible events of November 22, 1963.

All of these are available on DVD.

Happy Thanksgiving! And until next week, Happy Viewing!

Week of Nov. 20: Maybe Think of Me Once In a While

In one review for the new movie "Pirate Radio," the critic recalled the television series "WKRP In Cincinnati."

The underappreciated series ran on CBS from 1978-82. This look at a radio station was a star-maker for Loni Anderson, who played brainy and beautiful receptionist Jennifer Marlowe; Howard Hesseman, who played burned-out DJ Johnny Fever, and Tim Reid, who played fellow DJ Venus Flytrap. The show also starred Gary Sandy as program director Andy Travis, Gordon Jump as station manager Arthur Carlson, Frank Bonner as sales manager Herb Tarlek, Richard Sanders as newsman Les Nessman and Jan Smithers as employee of all trades Bailey Quarters.

The show was offbeat and featured such episodes as "Turkeys Away," with the famous Mr. Carlson quote, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

CBS had a habit of moving it around the schedule, which didn't help matters.

The DVD release has also been problematic. Only the first season has been released because of issues over music copyright. The first season, including "Turkeys Away," is also available on Hulu.com.

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

Farewell to Edward Woodward, who distinguished himself on American television in the 1980s CBS series "The Equalizer."

The series, which ran from 1985-89, was often criticized for its violence. But Woodward was well received - winning a Golden Globe in 1987.

So far, only Season 1 has been released on DVD.


Also gone is Paul Wendkos, best known for directing the "Gidget" movies, but also a director of many television episodes - including "Cocoon," the two-hour pilot of "Hawaii Five-O." Kam Fong, who played Detective Chin Ho Kelly on the series, gave Wendkos the credit for discovering him for the role of the family-man cop.

"Cocoon" is available, uncut, on Five-O's Season 1 DVD.

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

See you next week with a special Thanksgiving edition. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of November 13: The Full Measure of Bill Cosby

One of the most frustrating things about PBS' version of the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Award for Humor being given to Bill Cosby is that so much was edited out. So good in tributes for Bob Newhart, Billy Crystal and others, the 90-minute program didn't seem to be long enough for the full fabric of Cosby's career.

That illustrates just how much Cosby's done.

The PBS special did show Cosby's famous "Noah" routine, and standup was how he began his career. Of course, scenes from the classic "The Cosby Show" were also shown. Here's what PBS viewers didn't see, or see much of:

*For whatever reason, the special gave short shrift to "I Spy," the groundbreaking NBC series that teamed Cosby up with Robert Culp (Where was Culp, by the way?). Culp played Kelly Robinson and Cosby played Alexander Scott - two spies undercover as a tennis star (Culp) and his trainer (Cosby). It was the first successful series with an African-American as one of the leads. It was also the first series to go on location - a lot. It was not unusual to see Robinson and Scott in Hong Kong, or other exotic places.

Cosby won three Emmys for his role. Years later, he and Culp teamed up as the characters again for a television movie. And a 1987 episode of "The Cosby Show" in which Culp guest-starred featured his character playing Scott Kelly, a friend of Cosby's Cliff Huxtable who had just had open-heart surgery. Actress-dancer-choreographer Ann Reinking played Culp's wife in that episode.

The entire series is available on DVD, and the first season can be seen on Hulu.com.

*Cosby starred as phys-ed teacher Chet Kincaid in "The Bill Cosby Show," also for NBC, for two seasons from 1969-71. The show did not have a laugh track, unusual for comedies of that time. The first season is available on DVD.

*Cosby was featured in the original version of PBS' "The Electric Company," geared toward elementary school children and also featuring Rita Moreno (who would co-star later with Cosby in NBC's brief "The Cosby Mysteries") and Morgan Freeman. Cosby was also seen on "Sesame Street."

*HEY! HEY! HEY! Where were "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" in that PBS special? Fat Albert was a character in Cosby's standup routines, and the animated series, which ran on CBS from 1972-85 (and later on NBC during the run of "The Cosby Show"), was loosely based on Cosby's youth in Philadelphia; characters included Cosby as a teen and his brother, Russell. It mixed humor and education, and Cosby voiced many of the characters. Here's a link to the original open for the series:

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

*Cosby would have comedy success during the 1990s with CBS' "Cosby," loosely based on the British series "One Foot In the Grave." Cosby played Hilton Lucas, who had been laid off his job. The show, which ran from 1996-2000, once again teamed him with Phylicia Rashad, who had played Claire Huxtable, and also starred Madeline Kahn, who died of ovarian cancer several years into the show's run. "Cosby" guest-starred many people who had worked with Cosby before, including Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. The show has not been released on DVD.

*While "The Cosby Show" was mentioned on the PBS series, this look wouldn't be complete without it. One of the greatest sitcoms in television history, the show ran from 1984-92 on NBC. Here's the full "Regular People" scene from the pilot episode between Cliff and Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7avCwhKtE7g&feature=related

And of course, a link to la famille Huxtable lip-synching to Ray Charles:

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

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of November 6: Brought To You By the Letter S and the Number 40

Happy 40th Anniversary, Sesame Street!

For those of us who have grown up since the late 1960s, the landmark PBS children's program has always been part of our lives. Who hasn't grown up watching Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover (my favorite) and their human friends, Susan, Gordon, Bob, Luis and Maria? And all of the humans and Muppets who have moved to Sesame Street ever since?

Sesame Street was truly the first show to celebrate American diversity. Here's a link to a 1970s opening. (In fact, most of these links will be from the 1970s, when I grew up.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmcdBnj4ZOg

The program has featured many famous and soon-to-be-famous faces. One was actor Paul Benedict, who would later play the urbane Mr. Bentley on "The Jeffersons." On Sesame Street, Benedict was the Mad Painter, who used his painting to teach numbers. Remember this yummy look at the Number 6?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2dTJJ0PdTI


Throughout the 1970s and 80s, composer Joe Raposo would put his musical imprint on the show. Some of his songs became popular standards beyond Sesame Street. One was "Bein' Green," a celebration of one's identity, originally sung by Kermit the Frog in 1969:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIOiwg2iHio

Raposo succeeded with the serious and the silly.....You'll never look at a bird on an animal the same after this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbluA8ZWw80

Raposo died in 1989. Jim Henson, who created the Muppets and the Sesame Street characters, and voiced Kermit, Ernie and many others, died in 1990.

Another Sesame Street member who was mourned was Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper (or Mr. Looper, as Big Bird called him), the store owner. Both Lee and his character died in 1982. This moving scene is a tribute:

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


The objective of Sesame Street, of course, is education. One of the most memorable examples of this came with Herry Monster and John-John (who later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scu9zzC5U3g


Sesame Street's residents can also have fun spoofing various aspects of pop culture. During the heyday of PBS' "Masterpiece Theater," when Allistair Cooke was the host, Sesame Street came up with its own reference, poking fun both at Cooke and Alfred Hitchcock's classic film "The 39 Steps":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzjM67rS9ZM

That's why I love Grover.....He's a hard worker!


We'll wrap up with another Joe Raposo song, the best known of the series, later made into a hit by The Carpenters. Here, Bob (Bob McGrath), Susan (Loretta Long) and Luis (Emilio Delgado) sing a bilingual version with the kids of Sesame Street:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOFY52PAPoc


May Sesame Street have 40 more.....and beyond!

See you next week! Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Oct. 30: Spooky TV

Halloween is tomorrow - a perfect time to catch up on your viewing of classic television that celebrates and pokes fun at the spooky.....

*"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" - Created in 1966, this special has become a Halloween tradition. Linus believes in the Great Pumpkin....But if it existed, would poor Charlie Brown keep getting a rock?

*The Addams Family and The Munsters: Both shows took gothic monster families into the normal - well, relatively normal.

The Addams Family ran on ABC from 1964-66; best remembered is the theme song by the late Vic Mizzy.

The Munsters ran the same years, except on CBS, and featured the "stop-motion" technology that would later be used for shows such as "The Monkees." Many years later, The Munsters became a staple on Nick at Night and TV Land.

*Dark Shadows: Long before "Twilight," this daytime series was a staple of ABC's daytime lineup and included the ever-popular vampires. Featured actors and actresses included Conrad Bain (later of "Maude" and "Diff'rent Strokes"), Kate Jackson ("The Rookies," "Charlie's Angels" and "Scarecrow and Mrs. King"), John Karlen ("Cagney & Lacey"), David Selby ("Falcon Crest") and Marsha Mason and Donna McKechnie.

And yes, everything's on DVD.

Happy Halloween - and Happy Viewing! See you next week!

Week of Oct. 23: Farewell To Vic Mizzy and Soupy Sales

Vic Mizzy, who died earlier this week, had a prolific movie scoring career, but is best known for two classic television show themes: "Green Acres" and "The Addams Family."

Both shows are available on DVD.

Here's a link to the obituary of Mizzy in the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-vic-mizzy20-2009oct20,0,1713293.story

Earlier today came word of the death of Soupy Sales, an almost constant television presence from the 1960s through the 1980s. He was best known for his children's variety show, but was also a staple on adult variety shows, game shows and more.

Rest in peace, gentlemen......

Week of October 16: Top Ten Spinoffs (and a few Honorable Mentions)

Last week, Television Without Pity came up with its Top 10 list of television spinoffs. The problem: Too many modern ones, and too many on cable, which, of course, Rabbit Ears doesn't usually embrace.



So here's Rabbit Ears' list of the Top 10 television spinoffs on over-the-air television:



10. "A Different World": This spin-off from "The Cosby Show" ran on NBC from 1987-93. Originally meant as a vehicle for Lisa Bonet, who played Denise Huxtable on both shows, it evolved after Bonet's adult starring role in the film "Angel Heart" took away from her All-American teen image, and she left the show after one season. Jasmine Guy's snobbish Whitley Gilbert and Kadeem Hardison's Dwayne Wayne took the spotlight. The show also proved a boost to the comic Sinbad. Look also in the first season for two-time Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei as one of Denise's roommates.



9. "Trapper John, M.D.": The only sequel to "M*A*S*H" that really counts (We'll ignore the terrible "AfterM*A*S*H."), this program, which ran on CBS from 1979-85, starred Pernell Roberts as a middle-aged and far more urbane Trapper John McIntyre than Wayne Rogers played on "M*A*S*H." And Gregory Harrison played younger, hunkier surgeon G. Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates. Look also for current Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell as a young resident.



8. "Rhoda": The first of three spinoffs from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," it featured Rhoda's (Valerie Harper's) memorable run through New York to get married to Joe Gerard (David Groh). On an "MTM" episode, Rhoda had an older sister; here, she got a younger one, Brenda (Julie Kavner). Nancy Walker and Harold Gould were back, in great form, as Rhoda's parents. And, of course, there was the unseen Carlton Your Doorman (Lorenzo Music). Ran on CBS from 1975-78.

7. "Mork & Mindy": A star was born when Robin Williams first played the bizarre alien from planet Ork on an episode of ABC's "Happy Days." This 1978-82 comedy sweetened the lead character (He had a mean streak in that "Happy Days" episode.) and gave him a grounded human friend in Pam Dawber's Mindy. The show was funny until the lead characters were married; even Jonathan Winters as their son (!) couldn't help after that.

6. "NCIS": Begun as part of an episode of "JAG" in 2003, this one has become the top-rated series in its seventh season. Mark Harmon (who, incidentally, is married to Pam Dawber) stars as Navy Criminal Investigative Service team leader Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The cast includes David McCallum ("The Man From U.N.C.L.E.") and what makes the quality is the humor mixed with drama. Right now, this show is Must-See TV.

5. "Good Times": Especially good during the first two-and-a-half seasons, with John Amos and Esther Rolle heading this spinoff from "Maude" (CBS, 1973-79) that also made Jimmy Walker a star. Ignore what came after Amos left in 1976.

4. "The Jeffersons": "We're movin' on up." Did they ever, with Sherman Hemsley as the insufferable, bigoted George Jefferson and Isabel Sanford as his noble wife, Louise ("Wee-zee," as George called her). The cast of the show, another "All In the Family" spinoff that ran on CBS from 1975-85, also included Roxie Roker and Franklin Cover as Helen and Tom Willis, the Jefferson's neighbors and in-laws, Paul Benedict ("Sesame Street") as the elegant Mr. Bentley and Marla Gibbs as the Jefferson's maid, Florence.

3. "Lou Grant": The best of the three MTM spinoffs took Mary's boss, Lou Grant (Edward Asner) from the funny WJM newsroom to the very serious Los Angeles Chronicle. The stellar cast included Nancy Marchand, Mason Adams, Jack Bannon, Robert Walden and Linda Kelsey. A great look at journalism with a capital J. Ran from 1977-81 on CBS.

2. "Frasier": For once, agreement with Television Without Pity. This NBC comedy (1993-2004) was better and had more heart than "Cheers," with winning performances from Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce and John Mohoney in particular as the Crane family. Took more from British comedies than American, as Grammer said when the show gracefully retired in 2004.


1. "Maude": We've talked about this program before; just a terrific spin-off (One of a couple of genuine successes) from "All In the Family." Bea Arthur, Bill Macy, Rue McClanahan, Conrad Bain and Adrienne Barbeau. Enough said. (Actually, just with Bea Arthur, enough said.)





Honorable mentions include:


*"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Law & Order)

*Benson (Soap)

*Gomer Pyle (Andy Griffith Show)

*Green Acres (Petticoat Junction)

*Boston Legal (The Practice)

*Knots Landing (Dallas)

*The Facts of Life (Diff'rent Strokes)

*Empty Nest (The Golden Girls)

*Laverne and Shirley (Happy Days)

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Oct. 9: Ken Burns: America's Best Documentary Filmmaker

Only last week, Ken Burns' "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" was broadcast on PBS, and it is now out on DVD.

Burns' relationship with PBS goes back almost 30 years; it started in 1981 with "Brooklyn Bridge," a documentary about the fabled bridge that PBS still shows sometimes.

The relationship reached full flower in 1990 with "The Civil War," the most-watched documentary in the history of public television. Burns' style seems very basic - interviews of current historians and other figures, with old pictures (and, where warranted, film) of historical figures, complete with actors and actresses reading quotes, excerpts from letters, etc. of those historical figures. It's a format now standard for historical documentaries, and Burns perfected it on "The Civil War."

His next major work was "Baseball," which debuted in 1994 while Major League Baseball players were on strike. Some factual errors were rightly criticized, but the documentary proved a salve to baseball fans angry at both players and owners and introduced many baseball fans to Buck O'Neill, a star of the Negro Leagues who charmed the country as an interview subject.

Other works have included "The West," "Lewis and Clark" and "Thomas Jefferson." In 2001, "Jazz" made its debut.

His most recent documentary before "America's National Parks" was "The War," about World War II. That one did take some justifiable criticism for its lack of diversity in some circles. However, World War II may be the most chronicled-by-documentary story of the most recent millenium; it would have been difficult for Burns to have the definitive documentary.

For more information, visit http://www.pbs.org/kenburns. All of his documentaries are available on DVD.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of October 2: Good TV Reading

McFarland Publishing is a company that publishes reference books on a variety of subjects, including classic television. Books are available to the general public.

I found out about them when I purchased "Booking Hawaii Five-O," Karen Rhodes' excellent reference book about the history of the CBS series. That book includes a critique of each of the 278 episodes, as well as a full list of cast and crew.

Want details of just about every television show ever? There's Vincent Terrace's "Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925-2007," which includes more than 9,350 shows. (That's some watching!) Terrace has written another book about almost 3,200 television specials, called simply "Television Specials."

Numerous television series also get the book treatment. Besides "Hawaii Five-O," there are books about "I Spy," "Star Trek," "The West Wing" and so on (and on).

Television stars with books about them include James Arness of "Gunsmoke," (His is an autobiography.) Raymond Burr of "Perry Mason" and "Ironside," NBC News anchor Chet Huntley, Anna Lee of "General Hospital" (also an autobiography), singer Perry Como and more.

For more information, visit http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/index.html.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Reading....and Viewing!

Week of September 25: Somewhere In 1940s Time

Interested in a recent series that harks back to television's glory years? A terrific one from Great Britain comes out on DVD next Tuesday: "Foyle's War." The program, which also runs as part of PBS' "Mystery" series, is about Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a supervising detective in the town of Hastings on England's southern coast during World War II. The cast is fantastic, as are the storylines and the period detail. These episodes were created between 2002 and last year, and run from just after Britain's declaration of war against Germany through V-E Day in 1945. More good news: After a "suit" (Britain has them, too) pulled the plug prematurely on this popular series to cut the budget, he was fired; his replacement has announced more episodes.

Anyway, it's a good way to look back at some American series that reference the 1940s, including:

*Hogan's Heroes: A CBS comedy, made during the 1960s and inspired, believe it or not, by the film "Stalag 17." Bob Crane starred in this show about the antics of the prisoners in a German camp, who often seemed to have the upper hand on their captors. Interesting tidbits: Holocaust survivor Robert Clary starred as one of the prisoners (In a discussion in South Florida years ago, he said he took the role to eat, basically.). Werner Klemperer, who played Klink, was Jewish; his family escaped from pre-wartime Germany and his father was the famed conductor Otto Klemperer. Ivan Dixon went on to be a prolific television director and Richard Dawson later hosted "Family Feud." The series is available on DVD.

*Homefront: ABC ran this series from 1991-93; it chronicled the post-World War II experiences of various families in the fictional town of River Run, Ohio. Its most famous alumnus is Kyle Chandler, who would go on to success in CBS' "Early Edition," and now in NBC's "Friday Night Lights." No DVD announcements for "Homefront" yet.
"Homefront" producers Bernard Lechowick, David Jacobs and Lynn Marie Latham were the team behind CBS' "Knots Landing." (And Lechowick also had the distinction of working on the Miami-created PBS series "Que Pasa, USA?")

*The Waltons: Yes, it started in 1933 and its peak years chronicled the Great Depression. But "The Waltons," the classic CBS series, ran long enough to take the family into World War II, with Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) losing her first husband, Curtis, and several of the Walton sons serving in the military. The entire series is available in individual seasons on DVD.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of September 18: The Good, The Sad and the Emmys

Real life intruded on my ability to update the blog last week, so here's two weeks in one:

*Did anyone happen to catch the vintage episodes of "Jeopardy" and the vintage clips of "Wheel of Fortune" last week? Here's a happy silver anniversary to both shows, still going strong.

*Sorry to report a trio of deaths:

-Singer Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary; the group, of course, appeared on countless television variety shows throughout the 1960s. Go to YouTube for a great video of the trio singing "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" with Andy Williams on his show.

-Henry Gibson, who made his mark during the 1960s and early 70s on "Laugh-In."

-And Larry Gelbart, whose television writing career began with Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" in the early 1950s and reached its apex with the first four seasons of "M*A*S*H," a show for which he also directed.
On the latter, Gelbart saved his best writing for last: "The Interview," a black-and-white representation of a journalist's newsreel interview of the crew of the 4077th. It closed the fourth season. Shockingly, it wasn't nominated for any Emmys, though Gelbart was nominated for a writing Emmy that year for two other episodes, "The More I See You" and "Hawkeye."

*Incidentally, the Emmys.com website does have a list of all past winners and nominees. Annoyingly, though, individual episodes aren't listed for writing and other awards. That's something to correct, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Enjoy the Emmy Awards this Sunday. See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 28: Television and the Kennedys

The rise of the Kennedys as America's foremost political family coincided with the rise of television as an important tool in elections. While Harry Truman was the first president to appear on television nationwide and Dwight Eisenhower was the first to have televised press conferences, John F. Kennedy was the first president to use television effectively, starting with his debates with Vice President Richard Nixon during the 1960 election.

Senator Edward Kennedy, who died this week at age 77, also used television effectively, making countless appearances on news programs during his political career. His most effective moments were memorable speeches, including his eulogy to slain brother Robert Kennedy in 1968, his 1980 speech at the Democratic National Convention and his dramatic speech for Barack Obama at last summer's Democratic National Convention.

No political figures, including Abraham Lincoln, whose bicentennial is being celebrated this year, have gotten more television time than the Kennedys. Programs have ranged from the highest quality to tabloid trash. This blog will pay attention to high-quality network broadcasts through the years. Here are a few that are available on DVD or other media:

*Thank You Mr. President: Produced in 1992 and shown through the years on PBS stations, this documentary, hosted by E.G. Marshall, featured highlights from many of President John F. Kennedy's press conferences during his presidential years. Look out for Sarah McClendon, who queried many presidents through Bill Clinton. Amazon.com has the documentary on VHS; it has not yet been released on DVD. Not to be confused with a recent documentary of the same name about reporter Helen Thomas.

*JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy speeches: Check Amazon.com for assorted DVDs featuring some of the speeches. Sadly, full telecasts of President Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural speech, Robert Kennedy's speech during the 1964 Democratic National Convention and Ted Kennedy's convention speeches are difficult to find.
The Web site American Rhetoric (www.americanrhetoric.com) does have full text, audio and sometimes video of those and other Kennedy speeches.

*Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Tour - Hulu.com has the full broadcast of this 1962 tour of the White House, which the First Lady conducted with Charles Collingwood of CBS (a tour famously lampooned in the comedy album "The First Family," released the same year).

*The American Experience: The Kennedys - This multi-part documentary, part of PBS' "The American Experience" series, is the gold standard when it comes to chronicling the Kennedys. Produced in 1992, it takes a close look at the family, from patriarch Joseph Kennedy to the fates of his four sons. Here's hoping that PBS will update the documentary's look at The Last Brother - Ted Kennedy; the story ends with his 1980 convention speech. The series is available on DVD.

*The Missiles of October - By far the best dramatization of anything concerning the Kennedys for television. This 1974 ABC film about the Cuban Missile Crisis starred William Devane as President Kennedy and Martin Sheen as Attorney General Robert Kennedy. While somewhat overdramatic and not as good as the theatrical film "Thirteen Days," it does cover both U.S. and Soviet circles during the crisis.

Sheen, incidentally, would play JFK in an NBC miniseries, "Kennedy," in 1983 - a warmup for his successful turn as fictional President Jed Bartlett in that network's "The West Wing."

Both "The Missiles of October" and "Kennedy" are available on DVD.

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Rabbit Ears will return after Labor Day.

Week of August 21: More Than "60 Minutes"

Another broadcast giant - Don Hewitt - died this week. While he was best known as the founding, long-time executive producer of CBS' "60 Minutes," he was about much more than that program.

Television news and Hewitt basically began together; he came to CBS in 1948 and either came up with or worked pioneering ideas, including the "supers" that identified people onscreen (Although, ironically enough, "60 Minutes" has never used them.). Whether it was political conventions, nightly newscasts or presidential debates, Hewitt was there at the beginning.

"60 Minutes" was also a beginning, for the newsmagazine program. Dismissed as flashy at the beginning, it has turned into the gold standard for television journalism. And if Hewitt was good, the long list of long-time correspondents for the program - Mike Wallace, Harry Reasoner, Morley Safer, Dan Rather, Ed Bradley, Diane Sawyer, Steve Kroft, Lesley Stahl - made him look even better with their reporting skills, as did the even longer list of producers working with the correspondents.

USA Today has a timeline of Hewitt's career:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-08-19-hewitt-highlights_N.htm

His legacy remains in the little details on newscasts - and every Sunday night at 7 on CBS.

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Rabbit Ears will take a week off. See you the week of September 4. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 14: The Answer Is: Quiz Shows

The return of the prime-time "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" for a few days brings to mind some of the finest quiz shows - or at least some of the most entertaining:

*Tic Tac Dough: The 1980s version of this show, in which contestants answered questions and put tic-tac-toe symbols on the board if they were right, was successful in several syndication, with Wink Martindale as host. United States Navy Officer Thom McKee set records for winnings during the show.

*Hollywood Squares: Another version of Tic-Tac-Toe. Not strictly a quiz show, although host Peter Marshall asked questions of celebrity panelists, and contestants were asked to agree or disagree with the panelists' statements. That could prove tricky with contestants like Paul Lynde (who became a legend in the center square), George Gobel, Phyllis Diller and others. A more recent version featured Whoopi Goldberg as the center square, but it's the 1960s-80s version with Marshall, Lynde and others that's fondly remembered.

*Jeopardy: The Answer Is: The best of them all. The original version was hosted by Art Fleming. This year, Alex Trebek celebrates his silver anniversary as host of the program started by Merv Griffin.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of August 7: TV and Julia

The release of the new movie "Julie & Julia" has drawn new attention to Julia Child and her legacy. Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" made her famous. Television made her a star.

PBS wasn't even called PBS yet when Child made her debut on "The French Chef" in 1963. She spent almost 40 years in a variety of cooking shows for public television - starting after she cooked one of the book's recipes on a book show on WGBH in Boston. In 1966, she won PBS' first Emmy Award for "The French Chef."

Child died in 2004, but PBS (and its new digital channel, Create) still show Child at work - and play - in the kitchen:

http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/

Look for "Julia Child Memories: Bon Apetit" on PBS this month.

And Bon Apetit!

Oh......and see you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of July 31: We Have Reached a Verdict.....

The American Bar Association has published its list of the 25 greatest legal television shows. "L.A. Law," which ran on NBC from 1986-94, is ranked #1 on the list. The show starred Susan Dey, Harry Hamlin, Jimmy Smits, Corbin Bernsen and real-life husband and wife Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry. It won the Emmy for Best Drama Series four times.

Number 2 on the ABA's list is Number 1 on mine: Perry Mason, which starred Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman and Ray Collins, and ran on CBS from 1957-66. The show has been mentioned at length on this blog.

The ABA's list has some interesting selections, including "Night Court" as #10. That show, also on NBC, debuted as a mid-season replacement in 1984 and lasted until 1992. Comedian Harry Anderson played Judge Harry T. Stone, an offbeat leader of the court. He, Richard Moll, who played the large bailiff Bull Shannon, and John Larroquette, who played the skirt-chasing assistant prosecutor Dan Fielding, stayed throughout the run of the show. Selma Diamond was the much-loved bailiff Selma, always with a cigarette in her mouth, a habit that killed both actress and character during Season 2. Charles Robinson, Marsha Warfield and Markie Post joined what would become the cast that would carry the show through most of its run.

Ranked lower were "Judging Amy," a successful show, and "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill," a not-so-successful show, both for CBS. "Judging Amy," starring Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly, ran from 1999-2005, and focused more on the personal lives of the characters than their professional lives. However, the show won a lot of fans for the work of the two leads, as Judge Amy Gray and her mother, social worker Maxine Gray; Daly continued the Emmy success streak she'd started on "Cagney and Lacey" with one for Best Supporting Actress for this show.

Alas, the story was not so happy for Daly's "Cagney and Lacey" co-star, Sharon Gless with "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill." Gless played the title character, a public defender. There were curious sidelights - Rosie being seen talking to her therapist (played by Gless' real-life husband and show creator Barney Rosenzweig), and another character who was an Orthodox Jew. Though the show had a strong supporting cast that included Ron Rifkin and Robert Wagner (and one guest-star appearance by Daly) , it limped through two seasons.

Here's a link to the whole list:

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/the_25_greatest_legal_tv_shows

The ABA doesn't mention, but I will, two other series. One, "Sweet Justice," starred Melissa Gilbert and the great Cicely Tyson as small-town lawyers and ran on NBC for one season. The show never really found its footing or an audience.

The other, which kind of leaves the network-television barrier for this blog, is Lifetime's "Any Day Now," which starred Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussant; Toussant's character was an attorney. The show ran four seasons. That and the yesterday-and-today storylines that included the civil rights movement make the show worth a mention.

With that, court is adjourned.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of July 24: Cronkite's Adventures

In paying tribute to Walter Cronkite, who died last Friday, most news accounts mentioned the CBS anchor's top news stories, including his coverage of the early years of the space program.

The apogee, to use a space term, of that coverage, of course, came on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11's lunar module, Eagle, landed on the moon. At one point, an emotional Cronkite said to astronaut Wally Schirra, who was covering the landing with him, "Say something, Wally. I'm speechless." Cronkite semi-lamented, in later years, that he wasn't more eloquent at that moment, but no regrets were needed. It was an honest moment in a career full of them.

After Cronkite stepped down from the CBS Evening News anchor chair in 1981, he did anything but retire. Cronkite immediately began hosting a science program, called "Universe," for the network. It lasted a couple of years.

Lasting a lot longer were two significant hosting duties - until 2005 at the Kennedy Center Honors, which have aired on CBS since their beginning in 1978, and on PBS' annual New Year's celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic, which Cronkite hosted until last year. Here's a link to a video in which Cronkite has some after-dinner entertainment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhKXpe4w8GY

This Sunday, the Discovery Channel will rebroadcast "Cronkite Remembers," an eight-part series that originally aired when Cronkite released his autobiography, "A Reporter's Life." It covers Cronkite's journalism career.

But his career was about much more. Thank you, Walter.

See you next week.

Week of July 17: "The Big Valley" Goes Big-Time

Interesting news this week of efforts to turn "The Big Valley," the hit Western drama that ran on ABC during the late 1960s, into a feature film.


The program starred Barbara Stanwyck, no stranger to the silver screen, as Victoria Barkley, the head of a California ranching family. Playing her children and stepson were Richard Long (later to star on "Nanny and the Professor"), Peter Breck and two newcomers: Lee Majors and Linda Evans. Majors, of course, later starred in "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Fall Guy," while Evans became a major star on "Dynasty." Incidentally, all of those series were ABC series.

Besides the cast, another star of the show was George Duning's wonderful theme, inspired, no doubt, by Western films such as "The Magnificent Seven."

The first two seasons are available on DVD; Season 1 can be seen on Hulu.com.

What will a movie do with the Barkleys? It will be interesting to find out.

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Fun footnote to the United States Senate confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor to head for the Supreme Court; Sotomayor, a big fan of the series "Perry Mason," mentioned one episode that inspired her, which prompted comedian-turned-Senator (Isn't that redundant?) Al Franken of Minnesota to mention the one episode in which Mason lost a case. Neither he nor Sotomayor knew the title, but it was later identified as "The Case of the Deadly Verdict."

That episode is available on the special DVD released two years ago by CBS on the 50th anniversary of the series.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of July 10: I Know That Voice

Casey Kasem has stepped aside from his hosting duties for "America's Top 40," the weekly music hits countdown he has done on radio since 1970.

Known best for his voice, Kasem has built a prolific announcing career on television, as well as radio. For a while during the 1980s, he hosted "America's Top 10," a television accompaniment to "America's Top 40."

Kasem has also had many appearances on scripted television shows; he can currently be seen as on DVD in "Mother's Deadly Helper," a sixth-season episode of "Hawaii Five-O." Other credits have included "Fantasy Island," "Charlie's Angels," "Ironside" and more.

Of course, his most famous role has been as Shaggy, one of the four crime-fighting friends of Scooby Doo, the crime-fighting dog.....The original "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" series is available on DVD. Enjoy it with your favorite Scooby Snack!

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of July 4: Malden Tribute, Charles Kuralt and Tom Sawyer

It is sad to hear of another death in the entertainment world this week, of Karl Malden.

Malden, an Oscar-winning actor, became familiar to television viewers through "The Streets of San Francisco" and the American Express commercials he did (famously - and funnily - lampooned by Johnny Carson). But he would show up from time to time in character roles much later. Here's a link to one of his best, from The West Wing episode "Take This Sabbath Day" (named two weeks ago by Rabbit Ears as one of the 10 Best Television Episodes):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6wOOJy0hk

Here's a tip of the fedora to one of the greats.

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For July 4, what's more American than the great CBS newsman Charles Kuralt (who died July 4, 1997) and Mark Twain's most famous story?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7EircVhudo

Enjoy the Fourth, and until next week, Happy Viewing!

Week of June 25: Remembering a Trio of Stars

This country and the world first got to know Michael Jackson on the radio and on television, as part of the Jackson 5. They made their TV debut, as so many performers did, on CBS' "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Just how popular were they? ABC put a Saturday morning cartoon on the air for them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbC8Jx2WLpk


Farrah Fawcett (Then Farrah Fawcett-Majors) had made commercials and had appeared in numerous television shows when Aaron Spelling tapped her for "Charlie's Angels." Here's the introduction to the pilot episode:

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


Finally, Ed McMahon, whose job was to make the leader - whether Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show," Jerry Lewis on the Labor Day telethon or any of the current notables who came from "Star Search" - look good. He looked pretty good himself. YouTube has a treat: An eight-part interview with McMahon for the Archive of American Television. It is television history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkdbCDB1KRk

Now, they all belong to the ages.

See you next week.

Week of June 19: Rabbit Ears' Top 10 Episodes

Rabbit Ears Top 10 Television Episodes of All Time

Last week, this site mentioned TV Guide’s selection of its Top 100 television episodes of all time. That triggered this list, which is in chronological order.

1. I Love Lucy, “Lucy Goes To the Hospital”: Any number of episodes of the greatest series of all time could qualify. But this one goes because the mayhem is so natural – Ricky, Fred and Ethel waiting on eggshells for Lucy to have the baby. The rehearsal. Then, the hilarious chaos when the real thing doesn’t go as planned. Ricky’s Babalu mask. Finally, the news from the taken-aback nurse: “Mr. Ricardo, they’re bringing your….little boy to the window.” Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley were at the top of their game. Number 1 in every way.

2. Bewitched, “The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara”: At its heart, this ABC comedy was about fighting prejudice through its funny look at witch Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) and her marriage to mortal Darrin (Dick York in this episode). This episode tackles ageism through the attempts of Samantha’s mother, Endora (Agnes Moorehead), and company to put Aunt Clara out to pasture because her witchcraft is getting rusty. Samantha tries to help her favorite aunt. Who doesn’t cheer when Aunt Clara – played with charm by Marion Lorne – helps herself when she sees Darrin walk in the door?

3. Hawaii Five-O, “Once Upon a Time”: At its best, the CBS police series that ran 12 years took a personal look at its detectives. Few episodes got more personal than this two-parter, in which Five-O head Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) fought a medical faith-healer/quack (Joanne Linville) who bled his sister (Nancy Malone) financially and emotionally to treat her leukemia-stricken child. Series creator Leonard Freeman, who was battling heart disease, had some strong messages about medical care in the United States – delivered in an emotional scene with McGarrett and Five-O second-in-command Danny Williams (James MacArthur) near the end of Part 1. Five-O’s chief would never seem quite so vulnerable again.

4. Maude, “Maude’s Dilemma”: The two-parter in which Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) decides to have an abortion came just 10 episodes into the long-running series. It looks like a stage play, with stellar performances and no coyness from any of the cast members.

5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Chuckles Bites the Dust”: The only episode on which TV Guide and Rabbit Ears agree. Comedy gets a twist during the funeral scene, in which Mary Richards' laugh rivals Garbo in Ninotchka.

6. M*A*S*H, “Life Time”: Choosing an episode from this series is like choosing among many diamonds. But this one – the doctors and staff of the 4077 have 20 minutes to conduct an arterial transplant to save a leg – truly shows the genius in script, cast and direction. Everyone gets to shine. Showing the clock in the corner of the screen adds to the drama.

7. Quincy, M.E., “Scream To the Skies”: This series, the first to focus on a medical examiner (played by Jack Klugman) as a primary character, doesn’t get a lot of attention, though it was a popular, long-running series for NBC. But this episode is a great example of the ultimate in advocacy. A plane crash near Santa Barbara not only tells Quincy how the passengers died, but also the flaws in airplane safety procedures – flaws that have yet to be corrected almost 30 years later. It’s impossible to keep your eyes off the scene in which he prompts a Congressional committee to put on the life vests within a fixed time. Most can’t do so.

8. The Cosby Show, “A Shirt Story”: “No 13-year-old boy should be wearing a $75 shirt unless he’s on stage, singing with his five brothers,” said Dr. Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby). This episode pokes fun at teenagers’ obsession with high fashion through Denise Huxtable’s (Lisa Bonet) attempts to make brother Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner) the shirt of his dreams. His reaction when his dream shirt turns into a nightmare is hilarious.

9. Designing Women, “The Rowdy Girls”: From a very funny series with often-serious overtones, “Guiding Light’s” Kim Zimmer guests stars as a friend of Charlene (Jean Smart), whom Charlene is trying to persuade to leave an abusive husband. The subplot – the girls playing the Supremes, with the always non-PC Suzanne (Delta Burke) in blackface – touches the funnybone. The mix works well, with an ending guaranteed to leave viewers cheering.

10. The West Wing, “Take this Sabbath Day”: If an entire season could be put into this list, Season 1 of this series would qualify; all the episodes were excellent. In this one, President Jed Bartlett (Martin Sheen) has to decide whether to allow a federal prisoner to be executed. Counseling him, besides his staff, is a priest played by Karl Malden.

Eight of the episodes are available on DVD; the "Quincy" and "Designing Women" episodes are not - those seasons have yet to be released.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of June 12: The Last Conversion

This from the Christian Science Monitor:



Eight million owners of television sets want to know if their sets are obsolete. Many more millions of potential owners, facing a new 10 percent federal tax starting Nov. 1, want to know if they should buy now.


That isn't a recent article about analog vs. digital television sets. That sentence was from a 1950 article, when the talk was about television going from black-and-white to color.

On this day when analog television says goodbye, it's good to think back to a time when another television conversion was taking place. It actually took about 15 years from the time that article was published for a complete conversion on the three American television networks.

NBC was actually the first to start broadcasting in color, with specials during the 1950s. Dancer Fred Astaire filmed a couple of specials for the network in color. Of course, the famous NBC Peacock came about to show viewers that "The following program is brought to you in living color." (Comedian Bob Hope, who spent more than half a century with the network, later joked that "the peacock was hatched from an egg I laid.")

CBS would go to a full-color schedule in the fall of 1966. As an experiment, during the 1965-66 season, the network had all of its programs air an episode in color, including the long-running "Perry Mason." The show that starred Raymond Burr as the celebrated lawyer was actually cancelled after that season, but the episode, an Oliver Twist-takeoff called "The Tale of the Twice Told Twist," is available on the special DVD that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the series. (Check local stores or online.)

ABC would also go full-color during the mid-1960s. Well, almost. As late as the early 1970s, newscasts on the then-third-place network were still in black-and-white.

Here's a link to an interesting page with information and videos on the black-and-white to color transition:

http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/colorTVlogos.html

Hope your digital transition is going smoothly!

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TV Guide has come out with its list of the 100 greatest television episodes, guaranteed to generate more than 100 arguments (including a few from this corner). So tune in next week for Rabbit Ears' Top 10 Television Episodes of all time.

Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of June 5: Land of the Lost, the series

The productions of Sid and Marty Kroft are remembered as tools of the 1970s and Saturday mornings. One of them, "Land of the Lost," has been made into a feature film with Will Ferrell.

The television series ran from 1974-77 on NBC. It was about a family, a park ranger and his two children, who were caught up in an earthquake and wound up in a land with dinosaurs. The cast never really became famous (The most famous person was Bill Laimbeer, the basketball player.). And a look at the introduction shows how far television hadn't yet come with special effects.

But the show became a cult classic, and has been released on DVD. The movie will be in theaters this week.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of May 29: "I Bid You a Very Heartfelt Good Night"

Jay Leno's imminent departure from NBC's "The Tonight Show" to a five-night-a-week slot at 10 p.m. recalls another "Tonight Show" departure, 17 years ago last Friday: Johnny Carson's.

There was a big and justifiable buildup: Carson had reigned as the king of late-night television for 30 years. With his guests (including a poetry-reading Jimmy Stewart, the potato-chip lady, the accordion lady and many more), his skits (Aunt Blabby, Floyd R. Turbo, parodies of newsmakers including Walter Cronkite and Presidents Carter and Reagan), his experiences with animals and his monologues, he set the standard.

His emotional last two shows - May 21 and 22, 1992 - set ratings records, as well as standards. The May 21 show featured Bette Midler and Robin Williams. The May 22 show featured Carson in an unconventional pose - sitting on a stool - through the monologue and the end, when he told the audience, "I bid you a very heartfelt good night."

Carson had hoped to come back to entertain in a different manner. He was seen sporadically - a 1993 Bob Hope birthday special on NBC; as one of the Kennedy Center honorees, also in 1993, and on a couple of editions of CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" - before his death in 2005.

There is an official site for Carson/Tonight Show clips, DVDs and a good guide to who was on and what they talked about. Heeeeere's Johnny:

http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/home.jsp

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of May 22: Being Upfront About Upfronts

This week, the television networks had the upfronts - the unveiling of their fall schedule. Critics and viewers have looked over the schedules and decided what new shows might get a look-see next fall.

Here are some blasts from the past:

Dick Kleiner, 1963:
"The Fugitive is another different idea. David Janssen stars as a fugitive from justice - innocent, of course - and for 13 weeks, Barry Morse will try to capture him while he in turn tries to capture the genuinely guilty parties."

"The Fugitive" went way past 13 weeks - more like four seasons, with the last episode one of the highest rated programs in television history. It also spawned a hit movie starring Harrison Ford.

Dick Kleiner, same column:
"A spinoff from The Beverly Hillbillies called Petticoat Junction. Yuch."

Viewers didn't complain. Petticoat Junction was a hit for CBS through the end of the 1960s.

Ronald Boyd, St. Petersburg Times, 1981 (article about Fred Silverman):
"Then there's Hill Street Blues. Silverman's pet, it has the potential of making TV history."

It certainly did, with standards for television excellence and honors. It eventually became one of the keys to NBC's 1980s turnaround. Silverman got back on top, too, producing series like "Matlock."


Steve Sonsky, Miami Herald, 1989:

"ABC would seem to have the most to offer next fall; one other new show may be worth mentioning: If it opts for true feelings over saccharine melodrama, the new Sunday 7 p.m. entry, Life Goes On, starring Patti LuPone in the story of a working- class family of five inspired by the indomitability of their Down's syndrome middle child, could be a ground-breaker."

The show ran until 1993, and Chris Burke became an inspiration to those with Down's syndrome and their families. Burke would later have a recurring role on CBS' "Touched By An Angel."


Sonsky, 1984

"For better or worse, Miami is either going to influence, or be a footnote to, a little piece of television history. For better or worse, there has never been a show on television quite like Miami Vice. It is a show that is certain to be talked about. It is a show that contains flashes of brilliance with its cinematic and scoring innovation, but that, at times, can be disturbing in its brutality in the name of realism."

Miami Vice would run on NBC until 1989; the show that Brandon Tartikoff conceived of with the expression "MTV Cops" would also contribute to NBC's rebirth - as well as Miami's.

Janis Froelich, St. Petersburg Times, 1988:

ABC's Roseanne will be a hit, scheduled Tuesdays from 8:30 to 9 p.m. I didn't like it very much, but I can spot mass appeal when I see it.

I didn't like it very much, either, but many viewers did; it ran until 1997.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Upfront Viewing!

Week of May 15: Cliffhangers - Tune In Next Season.....

The Web site Mr. Pop History says that the first television cliffhanger came in a 1951 episode of "Superman," but the first one that's remembered came at the end of the 1977-78 season of the ABC series "Soap." Seems logical. "Soap" was a spoof of soap operas.

But the cliffhanger was rare through television's first 30 years or so. Formula dramas like "Perry Mason" and "Hawaii Five-O" never had them. Neither did comedies.

Of course, the first cliffhanger just about everyone remembers came in 1980, when J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) was shot on the season finale of "Dallas." It took five months and an actors' strike until viewers worldwide found out the shooter was his sister-in-law, Kristen (Mary Crosby).

Since then, many dramas and comedies have had cliffhangers. It's become a cottage industry to predict what's going to happen in the cliffhanger....Never mind what will happen next season! (Well, at least until after the cliffhanger.)

Some of the best cliffhangers.....

*Season 1, "The West Wing," "What Kind of Day Has It Been": An assassination attempt on President Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as he came out of a town-hall meeting. "Who's been hit?" was the operative question. Answer: Bartlet (not seriously, but the coverup of his multiple sclerosis started in earnest) and Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), who was seriously injured. The shooting was done by a white supremacist going after the president's aide, Charlie (Dule Hill), who was dating Bartlet's daughter, Zoe (Elisabeth Moss).

*"Friends," "The One With Ross' Wedding": While I confess I never watched this show, it takes some imagination to have Ross (David Schwimmer) say Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston's) name while he's marrying someone else.

*Season 7, "Frasier," "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue, Part 2": Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Daphne (Jane Leeves) do a "Graduate" and run away together after confessing their true feelings to each other.

*Anything produced by the Bellisarios: "Magnum, P.I.," "JAG" and now "NCIS" get kudos for cliffhangers that drive you crazy, but make you watch.
Best of the bunch: The end of Seasons 7 and 8 for "Magnum."
Season 7's "Limbo," saw Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) get shot. He recovered, but only after angry fans feared the series might end with him killed off.
The series finale, Season 8's "Resolutions," ended with one never resolved (by design): Did Rick Wright (Larry Manetti) say "I Do" to Cleo?

*"Las Vegas" also gets kudos for most of its cliffhangers. But NBC gets a "Boo" for cancelling the show with some storylines unresolved (not by design).

See you next week. Until then, Happy Cliffhanger Viewing!

Week of May 8: Notes on the Original Final Frontier and Dom DeLuise

Once upon a time, there was a television series that struggled to run three years. It had a diverse cast and unusual plots, but it couldn't seem to find an audience. Then, it was cancelled.

That was only the beginning.

Somehow, this show had run long enough to be able to be sold in syndication. And that is where the Starship Enterprise really took off.

It's been 43 years since the original "Star Trek" went on the air. And with the release of the latest movie today, focus is back on that original series.

When Gene Roddenberry was casting the series, one story goes, the original choice for Captain Pike, the character played by film actor Jeffrey Hunter in the pilot, was....Jack Lord. Lord wanted the same 30 percent deal on the show he would later get on "Hawaii Five-O." Fortunately for both shows, Roddenberry turned him down. It's hard to picture the private Lord at a Trekkie convention. And "Book 'em, Spock" just wouldn't have sounded the same. ;)

Hunter was uncomfortable in the role of Pike; along came William Shatner to play the iconic Capt. James T. Kirk.

Another story goes that Martin Landau was the original choice for Spock, but turned it down. Leonard Nimoy created another icon. Ironically, Nimoy would replace Landau on the CBS series "Mission: Impossible" several years later.

The appeal for fans rests in the diversity of the cast (including James Doohan as Scottie, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, George Takei as Sulu and Walter Koenig as Chekov, not to mention DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy), and in the imaginative flights of fancy taken with the scripts.

The favorite in this corner? "The Trouble With Tribbles," especially since it was immortalized on an episode of the game show "Jeopardy." There was a "Star Trek" category, and by the time host Alex Trebek was done asking the questions, those furry little creatures were all over the set.

The entire series is available on DVD and online. Fan sites, memorabilia and just about everything else under the stars abound. "Star Trek" will live long and prosper well into....the 23rd Century. At least.

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Sad news this week with the death of Dom DeLuise. During the 1960s and 70s, when variety shows still abounded, DeLuise was almost a constant presence on television screens. Here's a link to a clip from "The Muppet Show":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88JqfsvDNmA

DeLuise was an appealing presence, even managing to liven up a 1980s commercial for a plastic wrap. Who can forget the ending, when he's preparing a platter and says, "Aw gee, I hope it's enough" - and it looks like enough for an army.

As it turns out, it wasn't enough for us. We'll miss you, Mr. DeLuise. Arrivederci.

Week of May 1: And Then There Was Bea

And then there will always be Maude. And Dorothy.

Beatrice Arthur, who died last week, put her eternal stamp on two television shows: "Maude" and "The Golden Girls."

Arthur was known primarily as a theater actress when Norman Lear tapped her to play Maude Finley, the outspoken, liberal cousin of Edith Bunker, in one episode of "All In the Family." When Maude went head-to-head with Archie Bunker, played so well by Carroll O'Connor, a new legend - not to mention a television show - was created. As Donny Hathaway sang in that wonderful theme song, she was "anything but compromising - Right On, Maude!"

"Maude" ran on CBS from 1972-77. The cast included Bill Macy, Conrad Bain (later on "Diff'rent Strokes"), Adrienne Barbeau, Esther Rolle (later on "Good Times") and Rue McClanahan (also later on "The Golden Girls"). Much has been made this week of "Maude's Dilemma," just the ninth and 10th episodes of the first season, in which Maude decided to have an abortion.

The episode, done months before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal nationwide, was gutsy then; it would take far more courage to do such a program today, when no one wants to offend advertisers, networks or viewers unless it's with sexual content or profanity. Issues made "Maude" the success it was; there is no way network or even cable television would make such a show today.

Later, Arthur and McClanahan joined Betty White and Estelle Getty in NBC's "The Golden Girls," which ran from 1985-92. Arthur played Dorothy Zbornak, daughter of Getty's character Sophia Petrillo. McClanahan was originally cast to play naive Rose Nylund, while White was to be the man-chasing Blanche Devereax, similar to previous roles they'd played. Before taping began, the roles were reversed; White played Rose, McClanahan played Blanche.

All four women and the show won Emmys, and no wonder: The show was part of then-NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff's willingness to show some guts of his own in an increasingly youth-oriented medium. McClanahan, then in her 50s, was the baby of the bunch. While not as issue-oriented as "Maude," "The Golden Girls" could tackle some hot topics.

In 1992, Arthur decided she had had enough. Her character was married to Blanche's uncle Lucas Hollingsworth, played by Leslie Nielsen, and "The Golden Girls" ended. Unfortunately, NBC made the worst decision since CBS had tried "After M*A*S*H" and put Getty, White and McClanahan into a spinoff, "The Golden Palace," which didn't last long.

All seven seasons of "The Golden Girls" are available on DVD, and the series is currently shown on the Lifetime cable network. The first season of "Maude," which includes the two-parter "Maude's Dilemma," is also available on DVD, and perhaps interest following Arthur's death might trigger releases of other seasons.

Here's to you, Bea Arthur. Thanks to television, long may you live.

Week of April 24: Guiding Light and a look at Eight Is Enough

Here's hoping that some way can be found to save "Guiding Light," the longest-running soap opera. Since it started on radio in 1937 and has continued on television, the Internet should be the next logical spot for it.

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The death of Thomas Braden, distinguished columnist and political commentator, puts renewed focus on his best-known book: "Eight Is Enough," on which the long-running television series was based.

The series, which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1982 and starred Dick Van Patten, has not yet been released on DVD.

The lead character was named Thomas Bradford, and he was a columnist in Sacramento. The names of the children (David, Mary, Joannie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy and Nicholas) stayed the same from the book.

In real life, Braden's wife, Joan, actually died just a few years ago. During the series, Diana Hyland was hired to play Joan Bradford, but died of cancer not long after the show began. Betty Buckley, who has since made it big on Broadway, was hired to play Tom Bradford's second wife, Abby.

Here's a link to the original opening theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOtgG-VpXfo

And here's hoping the series gets released on DVD soon.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of March 23-30: A Woman Called Golda

A genuine treat was released on DVD last week: "A Woman Called Golda."

The two-part miniseries about the life of Israel's first female prime minister was originally broadcast by Operation Prime Time in 1981. It starred Ingrid Bergman, in her last role, as Golda Meir. It also featured Australian actress Judy Davis as the young Golda; Leonard Nimoy as Morris Meyerson, Golda's husband; Ned Beatty as a U.S. senator dealing with Meir as prime minister; Anne Jackson as Lou Kaddar, Golda's assistant; Franklin Cover ("The Jeffersons") as U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Robert Loggia as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Jackson, as Kaddar, narrates the story, which begins with Golda's visit to her old grammar school in Milwaukee. (The real visit took place in 1969; for the miniseries, it was pushed to 1977 to tie in to Sadat's visit to Israel.) The story makes for mesmerizing viewing. Both the miniseries and Bergman won Emmies. Bergman's Emmy was awarded after her death; her oldest daughter, New York television reporter Pia Lindstrom, accepted on her behalf.

There had been a long wait for DVD release; previously, the miniseries was available on a very expensive two-part videocassette collection. Kudos to CBS/Paramount for finally releasing it. (I suspect they might have anticipated a real-life tie-in if Tzipi Livni had become Israel's second female prime minister; that is on hold for the time being.)

Incidentally, at the time of the original miniseries, there was a companion book by Michael Avallone, who often wrote book tie-ins to popular television shows in the 1960s and 1970s. That is available at Amazon.com.

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I will be away from this blog for most of April. Happy Holidays to all, and Happy Viewing!

Week of March 20: Tributes To Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson

Sad - and shocking - news this week with the deaths of Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson.

Lots of obituary headline writers sold Silver short by describing him only as a "West Wing" actor. True, he appeared as political operative Bruno Gianelli on a handful of episodes of that excellent series, but his television appearances actually go back to the mid-1970s, starting with such shows as "Rhoda," "McMillan & Wife" and "The Rockford Files." Of course, all of those series are available on DVD.

Like Silver, Richardson was versatile, moving from theater to film to television. One very early TV appearance of hers that's available on DVD is from the second season (or series, as they're known in Britain) of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," starring Jeremy Brett as the sleuth. In the episode "The Copper Beeches," made in 1985, Richardson played a young governess who asked Holmes to help her solve the mystery behind the actions of her new employer. PBS also runs the series.

A more recent appearance that's also on DVD came as crusader Ruth Gruber in the 2001 CBS miniseries "Haven," which also starred Hal Holbrook, Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau. The series itself was not up to the standard of previous miniseries about the Holocaust, but Richardson and the rest of the cast were excellent, and the program was given the Humanitas Prize.

Both Silver and Richardson elevated the performing arts.

Remembering Family Ties

Season 5 of the NBC sitcom "Family Ties" was released on DVD this week, and it's a good opportunity to remember this charming series.

"Family Ties" was one of the catalysts for NBC's comeback during the 1980s, making its debut in 1982. The best known cast member at the beginning was television veteran Meredith Baxter-Birney, who had previously starred on "Bridget Loves Bernie" and "Family." She played matriarch Elyse Keaton, while Michael Gross played her husband, Steven. They were former flower children.

Michael J. Fox, a young actor from Canada, rocketed to stardom playing their oldest child, Alex, the conservative Reagan Republican to their still-liberal leanings. Justine Bateman, older sister of Jason, played shopaholic daughter Mallory. Tina Yothers played Jennifer. A fourth child, Andrew, was born in 1985.

Guest stars on the show included future Oscar winners Geena Davis (as an inept housekeeper) and Tom Hanks (as Elyse's alcoholic brother), as well as future "Friend" Courtney Cox (as Alex's second long-term girlfriend). Fox met his real-life wife, Tracy Pollan, when Pollan played Alex's girlfriend on the show. The show dealt with controversial issues, including drinking, Alzheimer's Disease, drug use, death and more.

CBS.com has much of the first four seasons at its site (The show was produced by Paramount, which is now part of CBS/Viacom.). The Season 5 DVD features "A My Name Is Alex," one of the most talked-about episodes, in which Alex evaluates his life after a friend's death.

The one goof during the run of the series was probably taking young Andrew Keaton and aging him from a baby to a preschooler in one season, one of the most annoying television habits. The show retired gracefully in 1989, with Alex graduating from college and getting a $75,000 job. Those were the days.....

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of March 6: New York, 1973 - Done Better

This week, ABC announced the cancellation of "Life On Mars," a police show whose yellowish tint and fake sideburns were supposed to take the characters and viewers back to New York in 1973.
There was a show actually made in New York in 1973 (by CBS) that did it much better, which viewers can catch on DVD or online: Kojak.

A television movie, "The Marcus Nelson Murders," launched the saga of New York Police Lieutenant Theo Kojak, played by Telly Savalas. Most of the cast that would join him for the series, including Kevin Dobson as Detective Bobby Crocker, were not in the movie.

Available on DVD, that movie cannot as yet be seen on Hulu.com, but the first season, from "Siege of Terror" forward, as well as Seasons 2 and 3 are available there. You can feel the dirt of the New York streets of the early 1970s as you watch those episodes. They are as gritty as the best the original "Law & Order" has to offer:

http://www.hulu.com/kojak

Eventually, the show would get somewhat campy, with the lollipop (taken when both Savalas and his alter ego quit smoking) and with Kojak's catchphrase "Who Loves Ya, Baby?" But it's high quality, nonetheless.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of 2/27: Collectibles And Happy 50th To Barbie

Worried about the economy and those shrinking 401Ks? If you're a fan of classic television, you might want to try a new investment: Collectibles.



If you still have those Donnie and Marie dolls, that Partridge Family album, that Brady Bunch lunchbox - keep them! Then head to local collectibles shows or online to places like eBay and find out what they're worth.



Sometimes it will be things you picked up in the stores. Sometimes, people who were on the sets of series or who go now to the shows or online can find genuine set pieces.



Sometimes they can find much more, as happened two years ago, when much of the estate of the late Hawaii Five-O star Jack Lord went up for auction on eBay. The goods included personal mementos as well as scripts and other items from the show.

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Speaking of collectibles, Happy 50th Birthday to Barbie! The doll has been in tons of commercials, of course. Here's a classic from 1973:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z--ntETyNYo&feature=related

See you next week! Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Feb. 20: It's a Wonderful Night For Oscar

The Academy Awards are this Sunday. Actor Hugh Jackman will host; predictions for the result of that are up in the air.

The Oscars seem to do best when a comedian with mass appeal to a wide range of audiences is the host. Three have excelled above the rest.

The first was Bob Hope, who hosted a record-setting 18 Academy Awards nights. Hope was effortless whether complaining about his lack of an Oscar, or working with stars who were presenters. And they were real stars:

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

The next great Oscar host was Johnny Carson, who used titles of nominated movies to joke about his marriages and divorces, and seemed equally comfortable joking with Miss Piggy:

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

And a little bonus: On the "Tonight Show," Carson would later spoof the Oscars with the infamous "Sniveling Weasel Awards":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKazBdsd_0


The third wonderful host has been Billy Crystal, especially with the show openings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyX5yyPe5M


See you next week. Until then, Happy Oscar Viewing!

Week of Feb. 13: So Long To Two Mr. Buchanans

Fans of the soap opera "One Life To Live" are mourning the deaths of two actors who were linchpins of the program: Clint Ritchie, who played Clint Buchanan, and Philip Carey, who played Asa Buchanan, father to Clint and Bo (still played by Robert S. Woods).

Ritchie played the character of Clint for more than 20 years. Another actor now plays the role, but Ritchie had marvelous chemistry with Erika Slezak, who has played Viki Lord since 1971. He also worked in a number of television shows and movies.

Carey chewed the scenery as the Buchanan family patriarch, and was a lot of fun to watch. He also had a long television career as a character actor, including a lot of Western programs.

If Clint's ideal match was Viki, Asa's was Renee. Here are links to YouTube pieces featuring both couples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGWCYFHqMh4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5r4BSZa_k8

Here's to the two Mr. Buchanans. See you next week.

Week of Feb. 6: Night Court Back In Session

Good news! Season 2 of the wonderful NBC comedy "Night Court" has finally been released on DVD. There were plenty of cast changes still going on, with Ellen Foley as the defense attorney and Charlie Robinson coming on board as court clerk Mac, a role he would play for the rest of the series. Sadly, this season would be the last for the very funny Selma Diamond, who died in 1985.

Here's a clip from Season 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA5MawmX-8E


See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of 1/30: Enough Of the Volumes

One of my pet peeves for DVDs of classic television: Volumes. It's a code word for "incomplete season."

It's happened again this week, with the release of part of Season 2 of "The Love Boat." Other popular series, including "Perry Mason" and "Ironside," have been released in this haphazard (and, given the economy, increasingly expensive) manner. (Note: Full seasons of "Ironside" are also available.)

"The Love Boat," which was produced by Paramount, is currently overseen by Paramount's parent company, CBS/Viacom, even though it was an ABC show. Perry Mason is distributed by CBS/Paramount, and the only explanation for the split I can see is that the series was made at a time when television shows could conceivably produce 30-35 episodes a season. It's still poor form when CBS/Paramount has done a great job releasing "Hawaii Five-O," "Mannix," "JAG" and "Mission Impossible," among others.

Go to Amazon.com and check on the distribution studio. Those are the people to complain to.

See you next week. Until then, Happy - and full-season - viewing!

Week Of Jan. 23: If You're Feeling Presidential.....

Still feeling the glow of Barack Obama's swearing-in? Here are a few suggestions for classic programs from network television about both real and fictional presidents:

*Backstairs at the White House--Available on DVD, this four-part miniseries, originally shown on NBC in 1979, featured a cast of numerous well-known television names in this story of the staff that served Presidents William Howard Taft through Dwight Eisenhower and their families. It was based on the memoirs of one of those staffers, Lillian Rogers Parks.

*Eleanor and Franklin AND Eleanor and Franklin, The White House Years--Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann would play the Roosevelts in both of these productions, done for ABC during the mid-1970s. The first one won 11 Emmys, the second one seven. They are available on DVD.

*Eleanor, First Lady of the World--Even though this was done for CBS, this film starring Jean Stapleton (All In the Family) is an excellent sequel, as it covers Eleanor Roosevelt's work at the United Nations after her husband's death. Sorry to say, this has not yet been released on DVD. How about it, CBS?

*George Washington AND George Washington: The Forging Of a Nation--These CBS miniseries, which made me fall in love with Barry Bostwick when they aired in 1984 and 1986, haven't been released on DVD, either (MGM/Sony may have distribution rights.). Bostwick played Washington from almost-youth to the first president of the United States, with Patty Duke playing Martha Washington.

*The West Wing--It's never a bad time for this classy drama, which aired on NBC from 1999-2006 and starred Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet. All seven seasons are available on DVD, both individually and as a box set.
Here's a look at the series' final scene, from the episode of the same name - Tomorrow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh3CT6JWPik

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of Jan. 16: Goodbye To Four

It's been a tough week and a half for lovers of classic television. Four men who played important roles in their respective series have died.

*Last week, we heard about the death of Harry Endo, who played the lab genius Che Fong on "Hawaii Five-O." Contrary to what was reported by the Associated Press, Endo did not originate the role, though the character was a part of the show from almost the very beginning. In fact, Endo, who was a bank executive in real life, would also play one on the Season 2 episode, "Which Way Did They Go?" The very next episode, "Blind Tiger," was the first time he played Che Fong, and he would continue to do so in more than 140 episodes, through the Season 10 episode "Up the Rebels."
Through Season 5, the show (except for the suppressed Season 2 episode "Bored, She Hung Herself) is available on DVD. CBS.com has assorted episodes from Seasons 1 and 2; Endo can be seen on the Season 2 episode "Nightmare Road."


*Patrick McGoohan had a most unusual career, featured in "Secret Agent" and "The Prisoner," two shows not seen much in syndication (although the "Secret Agent" song "Secret Agent Man" became a big hit) and working in a number of character roles. Both shows are available on DVD. Here's the introduction to "The Prisoner":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14eUKogPF7s


*Ricardo Montalban.....There is no question about his television success, as the star of ABC's "Fantasy Island" (Episodes are available at Hulu.com and early seasons are on DVD.) and a number of guest starring roles, including as Kahn on "Star Trek." He was also successful as a pitchman for Chrysler during the 1970s; the world will always think of him and "soft Corinthian leather" in the same vein:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIL3fbGbU2o

Some obituaries mentioned what Montalban did to raise the profile of Hispanic actors and actresses. There was little mention, however, of Montalban the humanitarian, the man who worked until recently to raise money for many charities, including the fight against cancer.


*Don Galloway will forever be known as the handsome Sgt. Ed Brown on "Ironside." The first two seasons are available both on DVD and Hulu.com.
This is from a newspaper in his home state of Kentucky, showing there was more to him than a famous face:

http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2009/01/12/local_news/553galloway.txt

Thank heavens for video, DVD, Webcasting and any future technologies that preserve their performances for us all.

See you next week.

Week of Jan. 9: The Real Frost-Nixon and Ode To "Mannix"

I recently saw the movie "Frost/Nixon," with Frank Langella as former President Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as interviewer David Frost. Good moviemaking about the 1977 interviews, but here's some real-life detail.

-David Frost had a talk show in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was hardly a lightweight at interviewing political leaders; he interviewed them on his show - including Richard Nixon during his 1968 presidential campaign.

By the way, here's the real-life context of the line from Nixon - "When the president does it, it's not illegal" that got so much attention during the interview. It's not the way it was portrayed in the movie:

http://www.landmarkcases.org/nixon/nixonview.html

Since the 1977 Nixon interview, Frost has established himself as a stellar interviewer of newsmakers, including two excellent series for PBS of interviewing presidential candidates. He has interviewed every president since Nixon; presumably Barack Obama is also on his list.

Currently, Frost works for Al Jazeera English. He has interviewed almost everybody who is anybody as a newsmaker in the world.

Here's a recent turn of the tables, with Frost being interviewed by Barbara Walters and company on the ABC program "The View":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsczE48JKoQ

Here's more of the real-life Frost-Nixon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f80oje3kRM&feature=related


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Joe Mannix is one of the eternally cool television characters, and CBS has just released Season 2 of "Mannix," starring Mike Connors, on DVD. It's the season that really puts the show into its known format, since it's the first that features Gail Fisher as Mannix's secretary, Peggy, who would win an Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama. The show ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS.

Connors was born Krekor Ohanian, and celebrated his Armenian heritage on the show as well.

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

http://www.jmannix.net/

And, of course, there's Lalo Schifrin's stellar theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHwv91NiiCs


That's all for now. Until next week, Happy Viewing!