*Books we reference in this episode: Tinderbox by James Andrew Miller and It's Not TV by Felix Gillette and John Kobin.
*HBO went live in 1972 (November 8; New York Rangers vs. Vancouver Canucks, NHL game) and is still going...for now. Showtime launched July 1, 1976.
*The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazelton TV market, where HBO launched, was ranked as the 59th biggest in the most recent Nielsen list.
*Foreman-Frazier I is indeed the "Down goes Frazier!" fight. Howard Cosell made that call when George knocked out Joe in the second round.
*Here is the Mental Floss article on HBO. Item 10 mentions Ghostbusters.
*Not Necessarily the News aired 1982-1990, debuting as a special before becoming a regular series.
*Vintage HBO program guides are available on ebay, but they seem quite expensive--at least, the asking prices are high!
*"Heart Attack" by Olivia Newton-John peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
*Not Necessarily the News aired 1982-1990, debuting as a special before becoming a regular series.
*Vintage HBO program guides are available on ebay, but they seem quite expensive--at least, the asking prices are high!
*"Heart Attack" by Olivia Newton-John peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
*Rollover (1981) is an Alan Pakula thriller that opened at number one but was considered a commercial and critical flop.
*Four Friends (1981) is directed by Arthur Penn and earned good reviews but didn't do well at the box office.
*Some Call Them...Freaks (1981) is remembered by many who saw it, but there isn't a lot of information about it. It's director Greg Stanton's sole IMDB credit and writer Frederick Drimmer's sole IMDB credit.
*Some Call Them...Freaks (1981) is remembered by many who saw it, but there isn't a lot of information about it. It's director Greg Stanton's sole IMDB credit and writer Frederick Drimmer's sole IMDB credit.
I did find this listing on the great HBO database site: HBO ran a sequel in 1982, P.T. Barnum & His Human Oddities, narrated again by Richard Kiley. Did the same team produce it? I don't know. It doesn't appear on IMDB. Here is the description from the original HBO program guide:
Special. In this sequel to “Some Call Them Freaks,” Richard Kiley hosts an account of the career of showman PT Barnum—and the wide assortment of human oddities he collected. Meet Anna Swan, the 7’5½” tall woman; the minuscule: 25” Tom Thumb; Madame Clofullia, the bearded lady, and Albert Sprague, the thinnest man.
Special. In this sequel to “Some Call Them Freaks,” Richard Kiley hosts an account of the career of showman PT Barnum—and the wide assortment of human oddities he collected. Meet Anna Swan, the 7’5½” tall woman; the minuscule: 25” Tom Thumb; Madame Clofullia, the bearded lady, and Albert Sprague, the thinnest man.
*Click here for the 20th anniversary special that premiered on CBS.
*Please enjoy our video playlist for this episode with promos, clips, and I think just about everything we cover on the podcast! Click below to go right to it, or you can always visit our official YouTube page for all of our past episodes and similar lists for each one of them!
