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.

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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.

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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!