Top Ten #389

1) Basketball: This week's encore presentation is a trip all the way back to our second episode, an examination of The White Shadow. It's not just about basketball; it's about...life. I wish this show had an official streaming outlet.

Somehow I think we may not be done with basketball this season.

2) Gimme a Break!: The 1980s sitcom, one of NBC's semi-bright spots of the early Eighties, is now on streaming, with most (maybe all?) episodes available on Roku Channel. Which theme song do you prefer? 

Hey, wait. Why must we pick one?

3) Here We Go Again: I watched the pilot of this 1973 sitcom this week, and I am sad to report it was a tough watch. Larry Hagman and Diane Baker are newlyweds who find themselves living near and interrupted by their exes, Nita Talbot and Dick Gautier. Perhaps the show found its footing after the debut, but, oof, it makes BOTNS favorite Talbot annoying--a character I dreaded seeing.

4) The Redd Foxx Show: The 1986 sitcom premiered 40 years ago tonight, and though it lasted a mere 13 episodes, it's now available on Plex. Teddy Wilson, who we love so much on That's My Mama, joins the cast of The Redd Foxx Show during its run.

By the way, Roku Channel has some episodes of Foxx's 1977 variety show of the same name. I'm not sure why it has the ones it does and not the others (some of which are on the Clown Jewels YouTube channel).

5) That's My Mama: Catchy Comedy runs a marathon of the series from 10:00 AM EST to 10:00 PM EST today. If you want to check out the episode we discussed earlier this season, "The Witness," tune in at 7:00 (or see it on Tubi like we did).

6) The Rockford Files: NBC ordered a pilot for a new version of the classic James Garner series, which we discuss here. You can hear our pals Steve, Dave, and Jon discuss this on their podcast this week.

7) Monte Carlo Circus Festival: Remember when the circus used to be a big part of broadcast television? Maybe it wasn't always there, but you would get a circus-themed show every now and then, you would get variety specials like this one, and for sure you would see ads touting an event coming to your area.

50 years ago tonight, a special on CBS featured Peter Graves and an assortment of acts from the festival in Monte Carlo.

8) National Granola Bar Day

9) Star Search: Netflix unveils a new version of the competition series on Tuesday. Does it have Ed McMahon? No. Make of that what you will.

10) Columbo: Last but not least this week, this comic by Joe Chouinard was the best thing I read all week. It's a crossover with Frasier!

Classic TV predictions for 2026

Here are some predictions I make regarding retro television in the year ahead. I have no insider information supporting any of these; they are guesses made for fun and should not be used as the basis for wagering!

*The long-ago-announced SCTV reunion special will not appear on Netflix. The show's 50th anniversary is this year, but I think we can give up on this one.

*Two other series celebrating that milestone anniversary will make their streaming returns/debuts this year. It's time for Quincy, M.E. to show up, and Alice is long overdue to come back after a brief stint on Prime Video years ago. I'll go with Peacock for Q and Plex for Alice Hiatt.

*Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises will return to streaming: Hulu gave up on classic TV. Disney gave up on Hulu. Somehow in recent years, we went from having the big MTM shows available to having just about none of them after The Bob Newhart Show left Prime Video at the end of the year,

I know it's fashionable to dismiss anything owned by Disney as lost forever, but there is so much iconic material here that I feel it's worth the company's time to make some kind of deal. Look for Tubi to make some kind of licensing deal to bring MTM shows, including Lou Grant and White Shadow, to its service with a rollout over the next year or so. And, heck, why not throw in non-MTM (but formerly Fox-owned) MASH, too?

*Three's Company will return in better form: The series is available on Peacock and Pluto but in severely edited form. For some reason, nearly intact versions showed up on Roku Channel a while back but quickly disappeared. Look for these to return somewhere in 2026. It would be too easy for them to just replace the Peacock edits, so I don't expect that to happen! Maybe the show will return to Roku.

*Search returns to streaming: After a run on the late and lamented Warner Archive Instant years ago, Search has been neglected. With Warner licensing deep cuts like The New Dick Van Dyke Show, I think we might see this cool genre show (and Season 1 favorite!) come to somewhere like Plex, and then appear on various other platforms for on-demand streaming.

*Ellery Queen (1976) comes to Blu-Ray: With Universal willing to release older shows on BD and also to license them, I think this one might have a shot. It has not been on much in reruns nor on streaming lately, but the name has cachet with mystery fans, and it's a relatively brief run of episodes that makes it a manageable property for someone like Kino to put out on disc.

Encore: The White Shadow

In our second episode ever, we talked about CBS MTM high scool basketball drama The White Shadow, and we share it again for no particular reason. In "The Death of me Yet?" (Season 2, episode 22) the Carver High basketball team tries to win the city championships while grieving the loss of one of their own and worrying whether Coach Reeves will leave Carver for a job at a fancy college. Also, What We'd Like to See!

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Power Rankings: Characters who I want to see on "The Amazing Spider-Man" CBS series

Mike and I enjoy the short-lived CBS live-action Amazing Spider-Man series, and I think I can speak for him in confirming we both wish there were more episodes. The show is fun and does a good job of capturing some of the essence of the classic comic books--not all, but some.

For example. there are many interesting characters who liven up the source material but are missing from the series. Here is a list of 10 I would like to see in those CBS episodes. Keep in mind that this ranking is based on how these comic book characters would fare against each other on a neutral field in Rutland, Vermont.

1) The Incredible Hulk: This is the great crossover that never was in the BOTNS era: CBS stars Hulk and Spider-Man appearing together, preferably on a Friday night. If it's true the network feared becoming a "superhero channel," then this was never going to happen, but it's easy to imagine a reality in which they gave Spidey a legitimate second season and both heroes had successful series.

The real crossover I'd like to see might be Bill Bixby and Nicholas Hammond. I think Hammond's relatively subdued Peter Parker would make an interesting match for Bixby's David Banner.

2) Joe "Robbie" Robertson: Hilly Hicks plays the character in the pilot movie, but it's not enough. I can see why he's not there: The show compresses the entire Daily Bugle newspaper to 3 people, and one of them (Chip Fields as Rita) serves as the "voice of reason" as it is and the intermediary with J. Jonah Jameson. Of course there is also the fact that Jameson is not at all the hothead he is in the comics. Still, Robbie is a great character, and it feels like a missed opportunity to leave him out.

2) (tie) Ben Urich: Again, the Bugle of the show is run by 2 or 3 people at any given time, but I would love to see a hard-boiled newsman working with Peter on some of these cases. The public was still in the post-Watergate glow of celebrating investigative journalism, and Urich could provide some explorations of that territory. Unfortunately, the show often makes Parker photographer and reporter, which leaves less room for a Urich type.

4) Gwen Stacy: The series brings on Ellen Bry as friend/rival Julie in Season 2 and then seems unable to decide where it wants that to go. Then it ends the series by introducing an apparent different love interest played by Rosalaind Chao.

Hammond is not doing anything like the nebbishy Parker of the early comics, so why not give him a girlfriend or at least a potential one? Mary Jane would be welcome, too, but Gwen would provide more of a physical contrast to Julie while serving as more of a match for the show's energy.

5) Felicia Hardy: Black Cat's flirtations with Spider-Man always amused me, and she would inject a lot of life into the live-action TV Spider-verse. It would be relatively easy to bring the character to the screen: Find a hot actress, make a hot catsuit, have the character be a jewel thief who has chemistry with Spidey.

6) Chameleon: As great it would be to see someone like Green Goblin, I want to be realistic about the kind of villains the series can do on its budget. I never considered Chameleon an A-lister, but the disguise gimmick is a natural and was sort of touched on in a few episodes. They could recreate some of that "two Parkers" magic from the "Night of the Clones" episode!

7) Kingpin: Vincent Donofrio's performance as the character in the modern-era Marvel shows leaves an indelible impression, but I think this villain would work in 1978. All you really need is a charismatic big fella organizing some crimes. With the right casting, Kingpin could be a great asset to the CBS show.

8) Morbius: OK, a living vampire character would take a little more money and effort, but the supernatural was big in the decade, and I can see (or not see) the show using a lot of darkness and camera angles to make a moody, economical presentation of this character. The "haunted house" episode the show has steps into this territory, but it should have kicked it up a notch and gone vampire.

9) Madame Web: Let's just say that the recent screen portrayal of this character does not leave an indelible impression. A "seasoned" character actress being weird and making dramatic proclamations about the future could make for an entertaining episode. The series barely uses Aunt May, so how about a nod to the Gray Panther crowd?

10) Hypno-Hustler: No commentary needed. Just look at him and tell me you wouldn't want to see an attempt to do this on 1978 broadcast television:

YouTube Spotlight: Spider-Man for Sanger-Harris

I love this video from our Spidey playlist that accompanies this week's podcast:

Sanger-Harris was a Texas-based department store chain that was eventually absorbed by Macy's. This ad looks like it could be unauthorized. There is no trademark notice, the name "Spider-Man" is not vocalized, and, well, if it were official, wouldn't you make a bigger deal of it?

Maybe not! There was apparently a Spidey/Hulk promotional comic book distributed in Dallas newspapers to promote Sanger-Harris, so there was some kind of official relationship there. I never saw this ad before we did this podcast episode, and I'd love to know more about it.

Top Ten #388: Special "Well, it's still 2026!" Edition!

1): Spider-Man: One of our favorite fictional characters gets his spotlight on the podcast this week as we examine the 1970s CBS live-action series that, for whatever reason, has remained on the virtual sidelines even as the character has had spectacular success in the movies.

2) Clones: The series was way ahead of its time with its depiction of the ethical dilemmas of cloning, not to mention practical realities like the possibility that the process is bound to create an "evil" version of the person. Wait, no, that probably happened in many other shows. Well, anyway, we got to see a frog cloned!

3) Michael Pataki: I want to give a shout-out to the former Captain Barbara on The Amazing Spider-Man. He may have been an inessential character--the producers certainly showed they thought so by jettisoning him before the second season--but I enjoy Pataki's performance and the dynamic he shares with Nicholas Hammond's Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

4) Spider-sense: The series is inconsistent with how it handles this power, and I feel that while it's cool that it does attempt it, it's a missed opportunity to create a distinctive presentation for a super power that you can depict on screen without blowing the budget.

5) Grant Tinker: The former producer and head honcho of NBC would have turned 100 today, and if he were, I'd ask him if he gave up too soon on Jennifer Slept Here.

6) American Guild of Variety Artists Entertainer of the Year Awards: 50 years ago, The Great One hosted this special on CBS, and it sounds amazing. In addition to Gleason hosting, Edye Gorme was honored as Singer of the Year. John Denver, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Liberace, and Tony the Wonder Horse also made appearances!

According to Cathy Rudolph's biography of Paul Lynde, as cited on Wikipedia, he was honored as the funniest man of the year and then gave his award to Gleason, calling him the funniest man ever!

7) National Milk Day: It does a body good, or so we were told.

8) The Protectors: Roku Channel just added the 1972 ITC British series with Robert Vaughn to its lineup.

9) The Love Boat: John Siuntres of Word Balloon just launched a Love Boat rewatch podcast, E-Motion Sickness, which makes it at least 3 regular pods devoted to the series now, two launching in recent months. This comes after we reran our own Love Boat episode this season. Coincidence?

Yeah, probably, but I am kind of amazed that there are now two episode-by-episode Love Boat podcasts! Well, what did we expect, an Omnibus rewatch?

10) R.I.P. T.K. Carter: There is a lot of interesting material about the 1984 sitcom Just Our Luck in The Sweeps: A Year in the Life of a Television Network by Cameron Stauth and Mark Christensen.

Spidey is in BOTNS Headquarters!

On this week's pod, we mention the recent Marvel Legends action figure based on the CBS Spider-Man TV show. It was hard to find, but Laurie found it while we were shopping, and of course I had to snag it. Welcome to the collection! There is Nicholas Hammond head, but this is pretty cool, and I like the backdrop and packaging.