Top Ten #308: Special, man, it's hot out there edition!

1) The Fourth of July: Yes, we are celebrating early, but why not? If you want to get in the mood for Thursday's festivities in the USA and our upcoming 12th season of the podcast, we recommending revisiting last season's Star-Spangled Celebration episode.

2) Canada Day: While we're at it, Happy Canada Day tomorrow to all the great and talented people up North, and also the people who made The Trouble with Tracy.

3) MeTV Toons: The new OTA channel, judging by what I see, is a big hit and may also be driving a lot of subscribers to streamers Philo and Frndly. I haven't been able to see much of it yet, but I have a stack of Peter Potamus waiting for me, and some Eighties toons like Challenge of the Gobots and Police Academy are on here. I am most looking forward to revisiting this one:

4) March of Dimes telethon: 40 years ago tonight, the program featured hosts Hal Linden, Sarah Purcell, Gary Collins, and Mary Ann Mobley. Boy, Collins and Mobley sure did a lot of stuff together. What, were they married or something?

Oh, yeah, they were!

5) The Stanley Cup: I am not a hockey guy, but let me show respect to the just-concluded NHL finals. All I need is a Beachcombers reference to make this a hat trick of Canada pandering!

6) Nancy Dussault: The Too Close for Comfort and Night of 100 Stars performer has a birthday today!

7) David Garrison: Happy birthday as well to the underrated ace of Married with Children and the star of my beloved It's Your Move. Unfortunately, he was never in The Beachcombers.

8) All Together Now: This pilot with Barbara Barrie, Michael Goetz, Don Porter, and Joan Cusack aired 40 years ago tonight on NBC. Lee Goldberg in Unsold Pilots calls it "Still another flop pilot about a couple about to retire when their children come back to roost. The twist here is that Grandpa and their son's gay lover are moving in, too.

9) Martin Mull: I hate to "rank deaths," but this one merits its own item. Mull was known for many ventures, but I love his work on Fernwood 2 Night, a show that was ahead of and of its time in the best ways and sadly remains unavailable in home video or streaming. It's worth finding in unofficial forms. Episodes are on YouTube.

For some reason, his singing of the Domestic Life theme song is in my head. Well, not for some reason--it's because it's so danged catchy. The show didn't have much of a chance to grow, but it, too, is worth checking out. Here is a full episode:

10) R.I.P. Jamie Kellner, Spencer Milligan, Kevin Brophy, Bill Cobbs, Russell Morash: I missed Brophy's death until Sitcoms Online reported it this week. He starred in Lucan, which was on the late and lamented Warner Archive Instant. Morash created PBS staple This Old House. Milligan starred on Land of the Lost, and Cobbs was in...well, everything. Kellner helped unleash Fox Network.