Check out this beer commercial, and tell me if there isn't something familiar about this guy's persona:
Player
Monday, December 4, 2023
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Top Ten #277: Special Post-Thanksgiving/Pre-Christmas Edition!
Monday, November 27, 2023
Two Eighties icons score with great guest shots: 227 and The Fall Guy
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Top Ten #276: Special Post-Thanksgiving edition!
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Top Ten #275: It's a holiday week!
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Top Ten #274: Happy Veterans Day Weekend!
Friday, November 10, 2023
Battys Season 14 Listener Choice Awards are here! Vote now!
OUTSTANDING DUO (Note: Rick and Mike are NOT eligible for this award):
MOST RIDICULOUS PREMISE OF NBC'S 1983 FALL SCHEDULE:
A super-intelligent orangutan becomes a government operative (Mr. Smith)
A glamorous deceased movie star comes back as a ghost to mentor a teenage boy (Jennifer Slept Here)
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
My Halloween watching 2023 Part 2
Monday, November 6, 2023
My Halloween watching 2023: Part 1
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Top Ten #273: Special "What time is it again?" Edition
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Bonus Hour tomorrow: A BOTNS "challenge!"
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Happy Halloween from Battle of the Network Shows!
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Top Ten #272: Special "I don't want to dress up, but I want some Reese's pumpkins" Edition!
Monday, October 23, 2023
The Strange Case of Columbo on Blu-Ray
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Top Ten #271: Special "Hey, a lot of books in this one" Edition
1) Viva Valdez: I had a great time seeing the pilot of this 1976 ABC series on Sony's Classic TV Rewind YouTube channel. Join us in our Facebook group to discuss it!
2) Kojak: Get TV celebrates the series' 50th anniversary this week by showcasing the highest-rated episodes according to IMDB. I hope it doesn't always run annoying banner ads on the top of the screen.
3) Jeff Goldblum: Happy Birthday to Season 10 Batty winner Jeff Goldblum! He had a big night last October, winning for Outstanding Performance as Oneself and also watching his meat locker win for Outstanding Non-Human!
4) Herbie Pilato: The prolific author just released a book about Sean Connery from BearManor Media, and while Connery didn't appear in a Norman Lear sitcom in the late Eighties (Oh, if he would have!), we include it here because of the blurbs! The book features praise from Michael Learned (Sadly, at this point it's easy to assume it's not Michael Lerner) and Genius Award winner John Schuck!
5) Opryland USA: This TV special aired in 1973. Wow! She was on network TV that early? What, did she give away little toy Ford Pintos to all the audience members?
Oh, wait, OPRYland. Sorry. I guess this had something to do with country music.
6) Joan Collins: Her new book, Behind the Shoulder Pads, comes out this week. I hope she finally covers her guest appearance on Future Cop. It feels like the book should be printed on cashmere.
7) Ed Begley Jr.: The other glamour icon of the Eighties released his new book, To the Temple of Tranquiliity...and Step on It! also came out this month. It feels like the book should be released on biodegradable, edible paper--Hey, you know, maybe it is. I should check that.
8) Showtime Sports: After over 30 years, Paramount is closing the division, which focused on boxing. Where do people even see boxing anymore? I miss the old days when it was also super expensive to watch the big fights...but not as super expensive because you could see the replays on HBO and Showtime.
9) Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery: This TV movie debuted 40 years ago tonight on CBS and starred the legendary Helen Hayes, the great Barnard Hughes, and the demographically beneficial Jameson Parker! Please tell me the movie ends with Billy Ocean singing an early version of "Caribbean Queen."
10) R.I.P. Suzanne Somers and Lara Parker:
Sunday, October 15, 2023
Top Ten #270
Monday, October 9, 2023
Great Moments in 70s and 80s TV History: Jessica Fletcher has eyes for...Dick Butkus?
Sunday, October 8, 2023
Top Ten #269: Special "Call the day whatever you want tomorrow; I still gotta work" edtiion!
Saturday, October 7, 2023
YouTube Spotlight: J.R. on "Eyewitness News?"
I love it when the real world and the TV world intersect in the form of "in-character" appearances by fictional people--especially on the local news!
In this clip posted by the anchor himself, Jon Crane, J.R. Ewing makes an appearance of sorts to help promote the newscast on KIEM, a Northern California station then affiliated with CBS. This may look kind of goofy--and by goofy I mean awesome--but what small-market station is gonna turn down a chance to get on the Dallas train in that era?
I would love to see the segment end with, "And now, here's Cliff Barnes with the weather!"
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Show Notes and Video Playlist: Episode 11-14: Dallas!
Episode 11-14: Dallas
In our Season 11 finale, all roads lead to Dallas and Southfork Ranch! That's right. We finally tackle the grandpappy of the nighttime soaps, and we go all the way back to the very first episode. This one has everything you'd expect: oil, scheming, bakstabbing, family feuds, and cowboy hats! It also have a few things you might not expect like grounded sincerity. Join us for all the fun and a few Larry Hagman chuckles.
#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #dallas #soaps #larryhagman #patrickduffy #victoriaprincipal #oil #jrewing
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Monday, October 2, 2023
YouTube Spotlight: Simon McCorkindale Speaks
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Top Ten #268: Special 'Sorry this is up so late" Edition!
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Show Notes and Video Playlist: 1983 NBC Fall Season!
@officialgenocuddy on Instagram and his Western Wednesdays at Cinema Crazed.
*We Got It Made *
*Mr. Smith *.5
*Jennifer Slept Here *
*Manimal *
*For Love and Honor **
*The Yellow Rose **.5
Episode 11-13: NBC's Disastrous 1983
For the 1983-1984 TV season, NBC asked audiences to "Be there!" Audiences had somewhere else to be, and by the end of the season, the network had canceled all nine new shows it had introduced in the fall. What could lead to such a catastrophe? Why wouldn't people want to watch shows about talking orangutans, manimals, ghosts, and more? This week, we dig into this season and talk about some of these failed shows to see if we can find some answers. Be there!
#podcast #tv #retrotv #1983 #eighties #NBC #Manimal #mrsmith #jenniferslepthere #disaster
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Starsky and Hutch and 227 in "TV Guide" Fall previews
Monday, September 25, 2023
The dream is over: Hulu dumping Fox library titles
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Top Ten #267
"And, also each hour, the American Broadcasting Company has clever animations combining music and lessons in multiplication and grammar. These crumbs of quality are tasty but, given the whole menu, hardly sufficient."
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Joe Posnanski on BOTNS All-Star Chet Lemon
Top Ten #266 REDUX?
NOTE: This list did publish last Sunday, but I entered the incorrect publishing date, so many may have missed it in the feed. We will have a new list tomorrow as usual. Thank you!
1) Starsky and Hutch: We talk about the show on this week's podcast, and we like it! Let's hear it for good, old-fashioned TV violence!
2) Captain Dobey: Due to the nature of the episode we discussed, we didn't talk as much about Dobey as I might have liked, AND I AM GETTING SICK AND TIRED OF IT!
3) The Love Boat 1983 ABC Fall Preview: 40 years ago tonight, the network promoted its new season with the cast of the Boat in character, and all I can say is, why, oh, why is the whole special not on YouTube?
4) Miss America 1984: The annual pageant was held 40 years ago tonight, and Vanessa Williams was named Miss America 1984. She went on to have a long and happy reign, and she--Oops.
6) Monday Night Football: 50 years ago tonight, the program's third season kicked off with a Jets/Packers match-up, but there was considerably less drama than there was last Monday!
7) The Fugitive: Another TV milestone happened 60 years ago tonight. Yes, just a little outside our timeframe, but I want to mark the anniversary of the premiere of one of the finest dramas ever.
8) National Hispanic Heritage Month: It's kind of cool that it's not a calendar month but goes from mid September through mid October. Hey, I just got an email from Tubi saying it was celebrating the event with...No, not Chico and the Man. Chasing Papi. Oh, well.
9) 60 Minutes: The show begins its 56th season (!) tonight. 56! Wow! At this rate, they might catch The Simpsons someday.
10) John Ritter: The star would have been 75 years old today. It's amazing that he died 20 years ago.