Top Ten #281: Say bye-bye to 2023!

1) The Battys: What better way could there be to close out a year than with the Batty Awards! (That's a rhetorical question; please don't answer it.) As we close out 2023, we thank you again for your support and for helping make Season 11 the most interactive one yet. 

2) New Year's Eve: Dick Clark is long gone, but his Rockin' Eve continues. Who can forget the classic night 40 years ago when Clark welcomed Priscilla Barnes and Doug Barr as co-hosts?

3) Dallas and Night Court: The big winner with 5 Battys is Dallas, the site of the awards (though that is unrelated---we swear--), yet Night Court took the prestigious prize for best show.

4) The Rifleman: Congratulations to this year's "retro retro" series, which more than earned its spot on our schedule by winning Best Episode for "Ordeal!"

5) Jackee: The first-ever female Genius Award winner might actually be able to upstage some of the previous recipients if they starred together. Hey, we should look that up: Imagine Jackee and Ed Flanders sharing scenes together, for example.

6) Billy Crystal and Dionne Warwick: The new Kennedy Center honorees surely owe their tributes to their stints on Soap and Solid Gold, respectively.

7) Orange Bowl: 50 years ago tomorrow, Penn State capped off an undefeated season with a win in Miami over LSU. They were led in part by Heisman winner RB John Cappelletti. In a sign of how different things were, PSU finished 12-0 yet were fifth in the final AP rankings.

Uh, let's just not talk about how Penn State did in the Peach Bowl yesterday. 

8) Three's Company: A brand-new complete series set from VEI includes the same sourced materials as before plus The Ropers on Three's a Crowd. Oh, and it's DVD. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for these shows to get 4K restorations. It's a nice thing, though, for people who weren't able to get the old Anchor Bay DVD sets.

9) Weekend marathons: Besides the Twilight Zone (SyFy and Heroes & Icons), MeTV has a marathon of series finales today, and Catchy Comedy has a Fish marathon today after finishing up Bridget Loves Bernie. It's nice to see some short-lived programs getting some play on the channel.

10) R.I.P. Richard Franklin Bobby Rivers, Tommy Smothers:

Season 11 Battys: Complete List of Nominees and Winners

We hope you enjoyed the Season 11 Batty Awards! Thanks to all of you for listening and maybe even participating via the Listener Choice prizes! Thanks as well to the good folks at Southfork Ranch for hosting us! For reference, here is a list of all the categories and the winners in bold. SPOILERS if you haven't heard the podcast yet!

OUTSTANDING DUO (VOTED BY LISTENERS): Sonny and Cher (Sonny and Cher), John Tesh and Mary Hart (Entertainment Tonight), Jonathan and Jennifer Hart (Hart to Hart), Starsky and Hutch (Starsky and Hutch), Bobby and Pam Ewing (Dallas), Robert Urich and Oprah (Star-Spangled Celebration)

OUTSTANDING YOUTH:  The Mute (Littlest Hobo), The Mime (Littlest Hobo), Jay North (Dennis the Menace), Johnny Crawford (Rifleman), Regina King (227), Charlene Tilton (Dallas), P.B. (Dennis the Menace)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AS ONESELF: Leonard Maltin (ET), John Tesh (ET), Ron Hendren (ET), Sonny Bono (Sonny and Cher), Cher (Sonny and Cher), Burt Reynolds (ET), Suzanne Somers (Star-Spangled), Yakov Smirnoff (Star-Spangled)

OUTSTANDING HAIR: Ron Hendren (ET), Markie Post (Night Court), Stefanie Powers (H2H), Cher (Sonny and Cher), Paul Michael Glaser (S&H), Victoria Principal (Dallas), Jay North (DTM), Atlantic Starr (Star-Spangled)

OUTSTANDING FACIAL HAIR: Leonard Maltin (ET), Mike Farrell (MASH, Hal Williams (227), Franlin Cover (227), Mark Twain (DTM), Arcade owner (Hobo)

BIGGEST DOPE: Amnesiac Jonathan Hart (H2H), Susan Nimoy as Susan Kendall (H2H) (Note: We didn't mention the character name on the pod and do not mean to indicate the actress herself is a dope), Brian George as Jonathan Forsythe (227) (Note: Ditto), Thugs (Hobo)

OUTSTANDING HEEL:  Steve Kanaly (Dallas), Cranky arcade owner (Hobo), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Night Court), Charles Lane (DTM), Irene Tedrow (DTM)

OUTSTANDING VILLAIN: Jose Ferrer (Exo-Man), John McLiam as the murderous professor (NOTE: His name is Jennings; Bellamy was another guy in the episode) (S&H), Nature (The Rifleman), Jack Ging (H2H), Larry Hagman (Dallas)

OUTSTANDING NON-HUMAN: The Littlest Hobo (Hobo), Robot (DTM), Gateway Arch (Star-Spangled), Gran Torino (S&H) Buzzards (Rifelman), Freeway (H2H)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORT STAFF: Antonio Fargas (S&H), Lionel Stander (H2H), Jamie Farr (MASH), A. Martinez (Exo-Man), Jack Colvin (Exo-Man)
NOTE: Radar was not in the episode!

MOST RIDICULOUS PREMISE OF THE 1983 NBC FALL SCHEDULE (VOTED BY LISTENERS): Man turns himself into various animals (Manimal), 60 Minutes is vulnerable enough that we can program another newsmagazine against it (First Camera), a superintelligent oragnutan becomes a government operative (Mr. Smith), two single guys hire a goregeous live-in maid for their apartment (We Got It Made), a glamorous deceased movie star comes back as a ghost to mentor a teenage boy (Jennifer Slept Here), Wyatt Earp's descendants work as carnival rousters and bounty hunters (The Rousters).

NOTE: 3-way tie between Mr. Smith, First Camera, and We Got It Made in the listener vote led to determination by random number generator.

OUTSTANDING THEME SONG (LYRICS): The Littlest Hobo, Dennis the Menace (animated), Sonny and Cher, 227

OUTSTANDING THEME SONG (INSTRUMENTAL): Night Court, Entertainment Tonight, Hart to Hart, Dallas, Dennis the Menace (live action), MASH, The Rifleman, Starsky and Hutch

NOTE: Winner determined by random number generator, with Dallas beating Night Court

OUTSTANDING SONG: 
From Sonny and Cher: I Got the Music in Me/Making Music Is My Business (Tina Turner and Cher)
From Star-Spangled Celebration: Roots of Rock and Roll medley (Chubby Checker), America the Beautiful (Phil Driscoll), Little Sister (Dwight Yoakam), Meet Me in St. Louis (Suzanne Somers) , St. Louis Blues (Jennifer Holliday)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING FEMALE: Jackee (227), Marsha Warfield (Night Court), Gloria Henry (DTM), Jenny Sullivan (S&H), Barbara Bel Geddes (Dallas)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING MALE: John Laroquette (Night Court), Richard Moll (Night Court), Charlie Robinson (Night Court), Bernie Hamilton (S&H), Harry Morgan (Exo-Man), Alan Arbus (MASH), Harry Morgan, (MASH), Joseph Kearns (DTM), Jim Davis (Dallas)

OUSTANDING GUEST PERFORMER: Franklin Cover (227), Pat Corley (Night Court), Marcia Wallace (Night Court), Tina Turner (Sonny and Cher), David Steinberg (Sonny and Cher)

OUTSTANDING FEMALE:  Markie Post (Night Court), Marla Gibbs (227), Stefanie Powers (H2H), Victoria Principal (Dallas), Anne Scheeden (Exo-Man), Loretta Swit (MASH)

OUTSTANDING MALE:  Harry Anderson (Night Court), Robert Wagner (H2H), Chuck Connors (Rifleman), Alan Alda (MASH), Hal Williams (227), David Soul (S&H), Paul Michael Glaser (S&H), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Patrick Duffy (Dallas)

BEST EPISODE: "Another Day in the Life," Night Court; Series Premiere and 1986 episode, Entertainment Tonight; "Small Change," Littlest Hobo; "What Murder?" Hart to Hart; "ABC Star-Spangled Celebration;" "The 50,000th Customer," Dennis the Menace (live action); "The Boss Gets Scalped/Mr. Dennistein/The Lean Green Jumping Machine," Dennis the Menace (animated); "Exo-Man;" "Bless You Hawkeye," MASH; "Tina Turner and David Steinberg," Sonny and Cher, "Ordeal," The Rifleman; "The Butler Did It," 227; "A Coffin for Starsky," Starsky and Hutch; "Pilot," Dallas

BEST SHOW: Night Court, Entertainment Tonight, The Littlest Hobo, Hart to Hart, MASH, Sonny and Cher, Dennis the Menace (animated), Dennis the Menace (live action), The Rifleman, 227, Starsky and Hutch, Dallas

ROBERT PINE GENIUS AWARD: Jackee (227)

Season 11 BATTY Awards

Live whenever you’re hearing it from Southfork Ranch, it’s the season 11 BATTY Awards! Join the stars, the youths, the non-humans, and the dopes for the biggest night in retro TV podcasting! We might not have a choir of 500 people or Oprah on a rooftop, but we do have a random number generator and two Dennises the Menace! 

#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #battyawards #awardsshow

 

Check out this episode!

For Your Batty Consideration: Dallas (Season 11, Episode 14)

Note that we announced during out 13th episode of the season, the look at the disastrous 1983 NBC fall schedule, that those shows would not be eligible for Battys! So we go forward to our season finale, in which we talked about a series beginner--the pilot of Dallas. Not only was the series suggested by you, but you also voted on which episode we discussed!

What an episode it was, too, and we remarked how well everything worked. We talked about Who Shot J.R., but we focused on the classic megahit's origins.

Our podcast episode

Show notes and YT playlist

Anonymous Batty insider says: "Let's talk one last time about episode selection because Vicki Principal may have won the jackpot when the listeners selected the pilot, which is all about Pam. There are so many possible candidates here that you have to think the series could do well on Batty night. Can't help but wonder how some of those 1983 NBC shows might have done, but maybe someday we will find out."

Merry Christmas from BOTNS!

We have reached another holiday season, and we thank our listeners for helping make our EPIC Season 11 so much fun! The Battys are coming soon, and 2024 will see the return of the podcast, but today here are some links to our past Christmas episodes!

We just reran our first holiday special episode: A doubleheader combining The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold with A Family Circus Christmas! Stick around for a bonus at the end!

We have plenty more episodes looking at Christmas-themed animation. For example, this is the 50th anniversary of Tommy Smothers in The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas.

You can listen to us discussing the Hanna Barbera characters in Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper! Anyone else remember The Little Rascals Christmas Special?

And don't forget Season 9's Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July!

So we say again, from all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and of course Happy EVEN, even!

Top Ten #280: Special Yuletide joy edition

1) Christmas: It's almost here! Let's enjoy the season and enjoy the greatest of all holiday specials once more: The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold!

No, I mean the other greatest of all holiday specials:

2) The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold: Of course, we presented an encore presentation of one of our holiday-themed episodes this week, and I had the joy of sharing the original special with Laurie the other day. It was followed by the confusion of wondering what we just saw.

3) A Family Circus Christmas: This 1979 special is the other spotlighted program on the podcast flashback this week. I STILL hide the nice drinkware when Sarah Vaughn hits that high note in "The Dreamer."

4) The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Batty Season, that is. We hope you have been following our posts here lately and picking your favorites in anticipation. Who do you like for best series? How about theme song? And who will be this season's Robert Pine Genius Award recipient?

5) Susan Lucci: Happy birthday!

6) Daytime Emmys: Lucci was among those honored (Lifetime Achievement Award) at this year's ceremony, which also celebrated Entertainment Tonight and General Hospital. Sesame Street was among the winners at the Children's and Family Emmys.

7) The FBI: Quinn Martin's long-running show is now available on demand on Tubi.

8) Hart to Hart: I have been chuckling about this Christmas episode the last few days. Jonathan Hart's unique brand of benign smugness is a winner each time, even in (especially in?) the holiday season.

9) The New Adventures of Batman: McFarlane Toys announced a new line of action figures based on the Filmation 1977 cartoon, and I think they look pretty good. It irritates me, though, that a toy line is coming out and the series is no longer on streaming. Tubi had it for a brief period, but I don't think Max has ever carried it. Maybe now it will come back to help sell the toys?

10) R.I.P. Jack Axelrod and Herman Rush: Victor Jerome on General Hospital and the former president of Columbia Pictures Television, respectively.

3) 

For Your Batty Consideration: Starsky and Hutch (Season 11, Episode 12)

Yet another listener-inspired selection, Starsky and Hutch gave us a lot to talk about, from violence on TV to buddy shows to the parodies and self-parody of the series. "A Coffin for Starsky" is a fine example of the series clicking. Too bad this is another example of a series that is pulled from streaming during our podcast season! 

Our podcast episode

Show notes and YT playlist

Anonymous Batty insider says: "A lot of people have underestimated this series over the years and lost a lot of money doing so. I'd say the fact that it was pulled from Prime Video would hurt the Batty chances if I didn't know that Rick bought the DVDs afterwards. Hey, that in itself might indicate something, huh?"