Top Ten #392: Special "Pizza or wings? The answer is yes" Edition!

1) The Muppet Show: A huge event in the Muppet world took place this week: We reran our first-season podcast episode on the show! 

Oh, and also, a new special/pilot premiered! I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it's good.

2) The Big Game: Hey, who's ready for football today! You know, it's hard to have a Super Bowl sneak up on you, but I haven't really been thinking about this year's game very much this week. It's never a bad time to revisit the Steel Curtain, though:

4) Up with People: I was able to psych myself up for the football by watching this recent upload of the 1982 Super Bowl halftime show, one that featured the one act everyone could get behind and support: 

5) Winter Olympics: Another big sporting event is underway in Italy, but 50 years ago, Innsbruck, Austria; hosted the Games after Denver, Colorado; pulled out of contention.

6) Mallory Circumstantial Evidence: 50 years ago tonight, NBC ran this pilot movie starring Raymond Burr as...an attorney. What a stretch! Also starring: Robert Loggia, Peter Mark Richman, William Lucking, A Martinez, and Mark Hamill!

7) Steven Spielberg: His Grammy win last weekend for producing Music by John Williams puts him just one step away from BEGOT status. If only we had an Outstanding Director category...

8) Blade Runner: The Ridley Scott movie aired on CBS on this night in 1986--another sign that CBS wasn't always the staid, most uptight of the 3 broadcast networks. I mean, don't get me wrong, though; CBS still edited out about half the movie. The version also added this intro:

9) NBC Special Treat:  I think this anthology series which ran in the sweet spot of the BOTNS era is forgotten compared to ABC's Afterschool Special and even CBS' Schoolbreak Special.

50 years ago today, NBC showed "Papa and Me," the story of a grandfather and grandson. I can't find any trace of it now, but it seems to be beloved by those who remember it.

10) R.I.P. Sonny Jurgensen: The Hall of Fame quarterback had a long media career, including as a color commentator on CBs' NFL coverage. It's a tough week for Washington-area sports with this loss and the Post killing off its sports section, 

RetroFan #42

It's been a while since I wrote about my favorite magazine, but fortunately, TwoMorrows' great bimonthly is still around, and the latest (Well, until the new issue hits my mailbox next week, I think) is another fine issue. Cover star Adam West gets a nice feature, though I must say there is little mention of his Seventies work like the live-action NBC specials.

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters is the subject of another feature. It's not one of my favorite shows, but I do enjoy the piece. Andy Mangels always delivers.

Rick Goldschmidt's annual Rankin-Bass pieces are a holiday staple of the mag, and this time he talks about The Year Without a Santa Claus. I believe this is one of his better RetroFan articles.

Will Murray contributes two stories, one on The Executioner novels and another on the long history of The Phantom and creator Lee Falk. Both are quality articles on subjects I hadn't read about in depth before.

Now let me talk about what should have been my favorite story in issue 42: "Fantastic Fall Previews," a look at TV Guide Fall preview issues of the late Seventies and Early Eighties. I love the idea, and there are some interesting illustrations. Of course I always enjoy reading about network TV of the era.

However, it seems like a missed opportunity. Robert Jeschonek goes through the issues and summarizes the new shows for a run of seasons. It's a nice story, but most of the illustrations are publicity photos and the like. There should be more scans from the magazines themselves. The story touches on but doesn't go in depth on how the Guide predicted the fates of the shows. 

I want to see more reviews, more of the actual Guide comments, more of the ads the networks used to promote those shows. I mean, I have all the issues, so I can look at the originals, but the article is more a summary of the new shows each TV season than a look at how TV Guide covered them, which to me would be more unique and valuable.

Scott Saavedra offers a look at old TV commercials with "before they were stars" appearances. It's mostly screencaps and brief commentary, but it's a fun topic and a nice change of pace.

It's not TV related, but Scott Shaw!'s profile of Roy Chapman Andrews is a highlight. The author/adventurer/museum director is thought to be an inspiration for Indiana Jones, and he certainly lived an interesting life--maybe not Indy-level interesting, but it's a good feature on someone whose fame has evaporated over the years.

Encore: The Muppet Show with Steve Martin

Far be it from us to hop on a hype train, but with a new Muppet Show special arriving soon, we figured it might be a good time to revisit our season one episode about the TV classic. Featuring guest and human Muppet Steve Martin (at the height of Steve Martin mania), the episode breaks the Muppet Show's usual format but still provides plenty of variety-style comedy and music and Muppet-style absurdity.

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Power Rankings: Comic strip characters on "Too Close for Comfort"

I watched the episode Mike mentioned in which Garfield creator Jim Davis guests. Henry goes to a convention and is excited to sign up the strip for the Marin Bugler. He brings back some promotional materials and plans a huge publicity campaign, with one of his key strategies putting Monroe into a Garfield suit. Sounds great, until his partner/boss tells him she hates comic strips and doesn't want any of them in the Bugler. Uh-oh!

I was amused by the idea that one comic strip, no matter how popular, could make a difference in the fortunes of an independent newspaper. I mean, Henry touts the fact that it's in umpteeen newspapers, which is proof of its popularity, but doesn't that mean it's easily found elsewhere?

Here is my ranking of comic strip characters I would like to have seen interact with Henry on Too Close. Remember, this list is based on how these characters would fare against each other on a neutral field in Dogpatch, Kentucky.

1) Fred Bassett: As funny as the idea of Monroe in a giant Marmaduke costume sounds, I'd rather see the unassuming Fred show up in some capacity.

2) Mark Slackmeyer: It wouldn't be funny now, but in the mid 1980s, Doonesbury's firebrand would make a compelling clash of personalities and ideologies with Henry.

3) Mary Worth: She could clean up the Henry/Monroe relationship in no time. Of course, it would be about 3 months due to comic strip time.

4) The Lockhorns: I envision a wacky dinner in which Henry and Muriel wind up at the Lockhorns' house thinking they are wealthy potential advertisers who are thinking of buying space in the paper. Kicker is, they aren't!

5) Dick Tracy: Henry could be overly eager to help the famous police detective on a case. Can't be the Warren Beatty Dick Tracy, though...unless it's the 2023 Dick Tracy who showed up on TCM.

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Hi Flagston, Broom Hilda, Bill the Cat, Brenda Starr

R.I.P. Uncle Floyd

I should have included Floyd Vivino, AKA Uncle Floyd, in yesterday's top ten to commemorate his passing on January 22. No slight was intended, though I don't have much experience with the performer and his work.

While not a New Yorker, I did grow up on New York to an extent, but The Uncle Floyd Show was not on the channels I received. I believe it was mostly on UHF stations in New Jersey, and my NJ station was WOR (out of Secacucus). I do remember vacationing in New Jersey in the Eighties and tuning into a station and seeing Uncle Floyd.

"What the heck is this?" I wondered. It was cool that even then there were still quirky local entertainment programs. That's one of the things broadcast TV lacks today. R.I.P.! The official YouTube channel has posted material from the program and maintained its legacy.

Top Ten #391: Special "sick of the cold" edition!

1) Too Close for Comfort: This week's podcast looks at the 6-season Ted Knight sitcom. It's not talked about that much but is now easily found. It ran 3 seasons on network TV, then 3 in first-run syndication. Its final season was renamed The Ted Knight Show. To me, that's an interesting production history.

Plus Henry yells at Monroe a lot.

2) Ted Knight: Even when an episode isn't particularly inspired, I find there's almost always some bit of amusing business from its star, be it a sputter or a grimace or whatever.

3) Nancy Dussault: She doesn't always get a lot to do on the show, but I think she does what she is there for and does it very well. She could be used better on the program.

4) Rich Man, Poor Man: The blockbuster miniseries premiered 50 years ago tonight on ABC. Nick Nolte and Peter Strauss star along with the likes of Ed Asner and Robert Reed (Did those two star in every ABC miniseries of the era?).

5) Sonny and Cher: Also 50 years ago tonight, this popular duo reunited after their divorce and started a new variety show together. Among the guests: Carol Burnett, Raymond Burr, Tony Orlando, and Don Meredith.

6) S.W.A.T.: FETV adds this Seventies action show to its weekend lineup today. I love that the passage of time automatically makes shows blander. I don't think S.W.A.T. was considered "Family Entertainment" when it aired on ABC in 1975. It was considered violent television!

7) Grammy Awards: Tonight is the annual ceremony honoring the best in music...except for TV theme songs! Why is there not a category for those? Because they aren't released as records? Well, why aren't they released as records?

8) Bart Braverman: Happy 80th to the former star of Vega$!

9) Life's Most Embarrassing Moments: The second-to-last in the series of occasional blooper-centric specials ABC ran from 1983-1986, this installment ran 40 years ago tonight. Wikipedia notes it was dead last in the ratings that week. Hey, this was 1986. America wasn't in the mood to be embarrassed anymore!

10) R.I.P. Catherine O'Hara, Demond Wilson:

YouTube Spotlight: Ted Knight for Southgate Mall

Ted Knight appeared in multiple commercials for Southgate USA, a shopping center in Maple Heights, Ohio. We feature this one in our video playlist this week:

There are more, though! Ted must have really enjoyed shopping there when he went through Ohio. These ads showed up well into the mid Eighties on TV stations in the Cleveland area.