Top Ten #367:

1) Chubby Checker: The rock legend declined to appear at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, preferring to do a gig. Hopefully he's doing an ongoing celebration of the 38th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Celebration.

2) National Black Cat Appreciation Day: My personal favorite is Felicia Hardy, but how about some love for Salem and--Wait, he was like reddish-brown in this series?

3) Suburban Beat: 40 years ago, NBC aired this unsold pilot about a group of moms who band together to solve the murder of a prostitute. The creators of Scarecrow and Mrs. King produced this one, which starred Shelley Fabares, Dee Wallace, and Patti Austin. BOTNS fave Joe Santos is in this somehow, too.

4) Back to school: All over the country, kids go back to school this week even though it's way too early.

5) WWE on ESPN: So-called "Premium Live Events" are coming to ESPN next year in a huge deal. Maybe they'll put them in that classic 4pm afterschool weekday time slot! Or if they really want to get fancy, they can bring back that Tuesday night AWA showcase:

6) Mark Malkoff: I'm very much looking forward to the podcaster's forthcoming Tonight Show book. 

7) MTV's The Cutting Edge: Now that MTV is almost dead as a "brand," it's especially fun to look back at when it aired stuff like this:

8) Quincy: The show left Get TV, and now it's being booted off FETV for The Jeffersons. Why am I including it here? Because it's finally time. Bring it to Peacock! 

9) National Sandwich Month:

10) R.I.P. Danielle Spencer, Tristan Rogers:

Inside the Guide: Next week, we go back 70 years! (August 20-26, 1955)

Next week, we'll start looking at a TV Guide from 70 years ago: The August 20-26 issue seen below:

One thing about going this far back in time is that every page of the listings is an adventure. It's so early that you see lots of obscure/forgotten/rare programs. We will get to those listings and try to line up more or less with what was on 70 years ago to the day, but there is a lot more in the issue, including the remarkable cover story. This cover hit newsstands mere weeks after The $64,000 Question debuted and became a sensation.

Stay tuned!

Top Ten #366: Special "Summer ain't over yet" edition!

1) Police Squad!: Saw The Naked Gun last week and loved it. It was everything I wanted it to be, and it made me want to dig out my DVD of the TV show. Hey, why isn't it on Paramount Plus, though?

2) Brian Robbins: The exec left Paramount but got an $18 million going-away gift. So there's little chance he'll be doing Cameos as Eric Mardian anytime soon. He would have received $20 million if he hadn't lost the Police Squad! tapes.

3) T.J. Hooker: Multiple outlets reported that a reboot movie is headed to Netflix after it "landed the project." There was a bidding war?

Maybe there was a TekBiddingWar!

4) The Addams Family: Speaking of old properties in new times, Wednesday's second season premiered on Netflix this week.

5) Manhattan Transfer: The vocal group's summer replacement variety series (filling in for Cher) aired 50 years ago tonight and welcomed Bob Marley and the Wailers, who made their American TV debut.

6) Victor Awards: 40 years ago this weekend, this ceremony recognizing excellence in amateur and professional sports aired in syndication. I wasn't able to confirm that Vic Tayback got an honorary award at the end of the ceremony.

7) The Pink Panther: A whole bunch of Pink Panther cartoons are on Tubi, including the Seventies version and even the 1984 Pink Panther and Sons!

8) Miami Vice: Kudos again to Secret Galaxy for its spotlight on the iconic Eighties cop show this week. If you want to hear what we think about the series, click here!

9) Gary Deeb: Somehow I missed that Deeb died back in June. The Chicago media critic was the highlight of our Donahue episode a few years ago.

10) R.I.P. Loni Anderson:

Entertainment Tonight: The Board Game

When we talked about Entertainment Tonight, I wasn't aware of this commercial for an apparent Trivial Pursuit ripoff based on the show:

Oh, I'd love to play this one today! Imagine sitting down with Tesh, Hart, Gibbons, Weller, Maltin, and, yes, HENDREN to play this while enjoying chips and margaritas.

Top Ten #365

1) Rodney Dangerfield's 9th Annual Young Comedians Special: This program aired on HBO 40 years ago tonight, spotlighting such upstarts as Sam Kinison, Bob Saget, and BOTNS superstar Yakov Smirnoff!

2) Dynasty: The iconic Eighties soap is now on free streamer Tubi, which seems wrong somehow.

3) Thundarr: The great Secret Galaxy YT channel took a look at the series and its context this past weel; for more on the show itself you can check out our episode right here.

4) Mrs. America 1985: 40 years ago this weekend, the annual event, taped earlier, was broadcast in syndication, won by Mrs. Mississippi Donna Russell and hosted by...Richard Dawson. Yeah, that checks!

5) Lalo Schifrin: The Forgotten TV podcast, which I really need to catch up on, posted a great episode on the career of the composer this week.

6) National Sports Card Convention: The event is taking place in Illinois this weekend, and while it says "sports," I bet there's someone else out there looking for a GEM MINT Roscoe P. Coltrane.

7) National Sisters Day: From all of us with sisters to all of those who have sisters, or to those who are sisters, or--Oh, I messed it up. Here's a clip of a show that has a lot of sisters in it.

8) This Is Spinal Tap: Laurie and I just rewatched the classic mockumentary, and, wow, is it loaded with TV stars even outside the main cast--Howard Hesseman, Fran Drescher, Dana Carvey, Ed Begley Jr., Billy Crystal...

9) Martin Sheen: Happy 85th birthday!

10) National Black Business Month: