Top Ten #399

1) All in the Family and Married with Children: Both series landed on Prime Video this week--one of the funniest and most groundbreaking working-class sitcoms ever...and the Norman Lear show wasn't bad, either.

2) Major League Baseball: The national pastime is back, and while Netflix didn't get great reviews for its Opening Day coverage, I give an A+ to this 1980s hype video:

3) The Bob Newhart Show: Another addition to the Prime Video lineup is the opener of our current season, TBNS. I'd like to see The Mary Tyler Moore Show return, too, but I am happy this one returned. Moonlighting is also on Prime now, by the way.

4) David Garrison: I haven't listened to it yet, but the star of It's Your Move is on Ian Talks Comedy this week, and I am anxious to hear it. I also loved him on Married with Children.

5) Comic Relief: The HBO fundraiser debuted 40 years ago tonight.

6) Super Mario Brothers Super Show: MeTV Toons adds the 1989 series to its lineup today to celebrate the upcoming movie release and maybe, just maybe, to celebrate Lou Albano and Danny Wells!

7) Murder, She Wrote: A movie is really happening--coming December 2027--and Jamie Lee Curtis will be Jessica Fletcher. Not sure how I feel about this, but nothing can take away all 260-some episodes I watched, and --Oh, my goodness, I still can't believe I watched all 260-some episodes.

8) 1976 Oscars: 50 years ago on this date, the 48th annual Academy Awards ceremony aired on ABC, but also on that evening...

1976 NCAA Men's Hoops Final: Yes, they held the championship on the same night as the Oscars! Indiana beat Michigan by 18 to cap off an undefeated season.

9) 1976 John Denver and Friend: Gotta love the name of this other big special on ABC 50 years ago today, in which Friend was actually Frank Sinatra. Rocky Mountain Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

10) R.I.P. Valerie Perrine:

Brooks on Books: "Tinderbox" by James Andrew Miller

When we talked about HBO this season, I had read the section of Tinderbox covering up to about 1990 or so. James Andrew Miller's oral history is a really big book, though! I went back to it and read about The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, and Succession among other shows and events. I even finished the book!

Tinderbox is a juicy read loaded with info about most of the big HBO series, and I give it a strong recommendation. I have to tell you something, though: The real thrust of the text is the executive politics and boardroom intrigue at the company. There is ample stuff about the likes of James Gandolfini, but a whole lot of the history relates to the machinations of various network (and higher-up) people that the average TV viewer does not know at all. Even the stories of hits like Sex and the City and the creative decisions are focused on the executive level as opposed to the production level.

If you are into that sort of thing, you will love the book, but otherwise it might get a bit frustrating at times. Miller's style and format here are familiar to anyone who has read his awesome books about ESPN and Saturday Night Live. He lets the principals tell the story but uses some deft editing and frequent editorial interludes (presented in italics for distinction) to shape narratives. There are a lot of colorful voices in here, and it's fun reading their gossipy comments about colleagues.

I do wish there were more on the Seventies and Eighties as the vast majority is the more modern era of the network. I'd also like to see more about some of the programming other than the original series. We do get a taste of that as Miller highlights some concerts, events like Comic Relief, and some original movies, but I'd like to know more about the programming itself and those choices like why certain theatrical movies played ad nauseam. HBO Boxing gets a lot of space, but other sports like tennis not so much.

I don't want to talk too much about what the book is not because I like what it is. Dick Cavett is barely in it, though, and we noted how he was the de facto face of HBO for a while. Rich Little, someone I remembered as a big deal on the channel in the Eighties, is mentioned in passing. Really, programing in general is not an emphasis until the timeline reaches Larry Sanders.

So for a fan of the early days, it's a little disappointing, but viewers who love 21st-century HBO will be pleased. Eventually I plan to get more of the overall story by diving back into It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO, another one I started for the podcast and paused once I got out of the Eighties.

Top Ten #398

Folks, I had my dates mixed up last week and incorrectly reported on what had aired 40 and 50 years ago. I should have included Nell Carter and Robert F. Simon THIS week, not last, and I am sorry for the error!

1) Calendars: I really ought to learn how to read them!

So what DID air 50 and 40 years ago tonight? ABC had the conclusion of Rich Man, Poor Man in 1976; while CBS reran the pilot of Phyllis.

In 1986, CBS aired 1980's Any Which Way You Can.

2) William Shatner: The dude is out there accepting awards and whatnot, and he turns 95 today. 95!

3) Debbie Allen: The star of Fame received an honorary Oscar last Sunday. 

4) Robert Hays: Ian Talks Comedy welcomed the star of The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything, but he decided not to ruin the interview didn't have time to ask about that one.

5) Private Benjamin: Another program aired 40 years ago tonight was a re-air of the 1980 Goldie Hawn film, but more interesting to me is that the forthcoming Warner Archive Blu-Ray of the movie will have a couple episodes of the TV series as a bonus.

6) Battle of the Network Stars: As listener Mario first tipped us off, the outstanding Game Show Vault YouTube channel uploaded the first episode of the original Battle of the Network Stars this week. Sadly, it has frequent audio dropouts due to the music, but it would be nice if GSV could upload the whole run in good quality.

7) Barry Morse: The TV Confidential podcast has been talking about the late actor in recent weeks. We discussed him earlier this season, of course, when we covered Zoo Gang.

8) 60 years ago tonight: How about we jump in with a quick look at a few of the programs that aired this night in 1966?

Dr. Strange star Jessica Walter appeared on The Fugitive on ABC.

On CBS' variety special Carol Plus 2, Carol Burnett welcomed guests Lucille Ball and Zero Mostel.

NBC had the conclusion of a two-part Dr. Kildare and the 1961 movie Ring of Fire, meaning David Janssen was competing against himself!

9) Shadoe Stevens: As I mentioned in our Facebook group last week, I saw a 1980s Hollywood Squares promo that touted appearances by "Crazyman Jm J Bullock" and "Heartthrob Shadoe Stevens."

Bullock getting an upgrade from the standard "Funnyman" is amusing enough, but heartthrob for Stevens? Really?

10) R.I.P. Matt Clark, Ed Bernard, Chuck Norris, Dennis Condrey:

Promo Theatre: Post-Trotter Meadowlark Lemon

Here's a promo for a network appearance of Meadowlark Lemon, then touring with one of his non-Globetrotter groups, the Bucketeers:

You can hear us talk about the Harlem Globetrotters, including Meadowlark, right here.

More Peanuts commercials!

Here's a recent upload of some Peanuts ads I had never seen! Go to the great BetaGems channel for more like this:

Brooks on Books: "The Partridge Family Album" by Joey Green

During our recent Partridge Family episode, I mentioned reading Joey Green's 1994 book "The Partridge Family Album." It's very much in the vein of Green's Hi, Bob! It's a sure winner for fans of the show or anyone learning more about it but maybe a bit padded with inessential info for the others.

Green's books don't quite have as much production detail as I might like; however, there is a lot of info in this one. There's a full episode guide with Green's subjective ratings of each installment, and there's even a guide to the band's music. Like the work about The Bob Newhart Show, this one has a sense of humor; there's a faux analysis of the albums that is amusing if a bit long. In a similar sense, much of the book consists of lists gleaned from tracking things throughout all 96 episodes. A list of Danny's get-rich schemes, say, might have been of more value in the pre-Internet era, but now it seems a bit like padding.

I feel a bit unfair complaining about a book offering too much information. It's just that I am more interested in the behind-the-scenes info than I am the trivia. It's not so much a narrative history of the series as it is a collection of sections, but if you read carefully you do get some great info. 

Green conducts his own interviews and draws on archival quotes to get thoughts of creator Bernard Slade, the cast (Susan Dey didn't participate), and others. They are often presented almost like an oral history without context, but here you get great tidbits about what the production thought of the acting ability of the youngest cast members (not much) and the musings of Dave Madden. The former Rueben Kincaid cracks me up with his matter-of-fact practical takes on what the show is about and its ambitions.

One of the best treats in the book is the reprinting of the original Mad parody of the series, "The Putrid Family." Arnie Kogen and Angelo Torres' 1972 piece is exactly what you think it will be. There's also lyrics, merchandising photos, and other ephemera. If you have any interest in the series and can find this used, as I did, it's a no-brainer to pick it up.

Top Ten #397

1) Anson Williams at Seaworld: Ian Talks Comedy discussed this syndicated 1977 special a while back, and then I had to go and see it for myself, and I don't think I have recovered. Lou Rawls singing "Pure Imagination" is top notch, though.

2) The Oscars: Will anyone on that stage tonight match Anson Williams's tribute to Al Jolson? Color me skeptical.

3) Gavin MacLeod: I read his book and wrote about it. His AUTOGRAPHED book. Yeah, baby!

4) Nell Carter...Never too Old to Dream: A review of this variety special aired 40 years ago tonight on NBC said that Carter was upstaged in her own special by Phylicia Rashad, and that amused me. Harry Anderson and Levi Stubbs also starred.

5) Black Gold Awards: The third annual airing of this award show took place 40 years ago tonight as well. I guess it's a good thing Phylicia Rashad wasn't there to upstage hosts Lou Rawls (Hey, there HE is again!) and Melba Moore.

6) Alfred Hitchcock: A MeTv story discussed the legendary director's TV work, which we discussed a few weeks ago. In a stunning twist, the end of the article was about The Twilight Zone.

7) Good Heavens: An episode of this Carl Reiner sitcom debuting 50 years ago tonight featured Robert F. Simon, one of the stars of our Spider-Man episode from this season.

8) Black Adder: Peacock added the classic Britcom last week.

9) Judd Hirsch: Happy birthday to the Taxi star, who turns 91 today!

10) R.I.P. Jennifer Runyon: