Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Great Moments in 70s and 80s TV History: Dick Van Dyke owns a carnival?
He sure does! According to The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the legendary TV performer has a sideline as a carnival operator. Velma spotted him, and then Dick himself confirmed it. In fact, the guy does everything at the Barrel of Fun, including serving as ticket taker and barker:
Monday, June 10, 2019
Happy birthday, Rich Hall!
They ought to have a word for when you celebrate the date you came into the world...
Sunday, June 9, 2019
BOTNS Top 10 #19
1) Cheers: Yes, one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, a beloved TV classic, and most importantly, subject of the season 6 opener of Battle of the Network Shows, is number one this week! Listen to a cold one, down our podcast, and have a few episodes. Or something like that.
2) Cliff Clavin: I mean, after all, Mike did say that Cliffie may be one of the greatest television characters of all time!
3) Donald Duck: Mr. Duck turns 85 today. Pretend I said that in a totally stellar Donald Duck voice and not that I tried but wound up slobbering all over myself and making the neighbor's dog howl.
Oh, and by the way, what the quack is THIS?
4) Michael J. Fox: And Mr. Fox turns 58. Man, it doesn't seem so long ago he was touting the choice of a new generation:
5) The Brady Bunch: A giant new DVD box set released this week offers the complete series, the cartoon spinoff, The Brady Brides, The Bradys, but sadly, not the variety show. And many fans are disappointed it's not a Blu-Ray collection, but I don't know. It kind of feels weird to have this show on anything more advanced than Betamax.
(I would totally buy a standalone Brady Brides, incidentally.)
6) Dr. Teeth: Famed musician Dr. John died this week, which makes me think of the musician he inspired:
7) Jeopardy! This show has never been hotter than it was in the last few months, though I still fondly remember the incredible run of Chuck Forrest:
8) Punky Brewster: Word has it that the show will return next year.
Every time I turn around
Another reboot's getting off the ground
What's gonna be?
Guess we'll just wait...and see
9) John Barbour: The former Real People personality (and co-creator) had a spectacularly all-over-the-place appearance on the Talk is Jericho podcast, linking about 10,000 JFK conspiracy theories, implicating almost everyone except Skip Stephenson in the process.
10) Paul Darrow: R.I.P. Darrow, who starred in British cult hit Blake's 7, a show I never saw but probably read about in Starlog:
2) Cliff Clavin: I mean, after all, Mike did say that Cliffie may be one of the greatest television characters of all time!
3) Donald Duck: Mr. Duck turns 85 today. Pretend I said that in a totally stellar Donald Duck voice and not that I tried but wound up slobbering all over myself and making the neighbor's dog howl.
Oh, and by the way, what the quack is THIS?
4) Michael J. Fox: And Mr. Fox turns 58. Man, it doesn't seem so long ago he was touting the choice of a new generation:
5) The Brady Bunch: A giant new DVD box set released this week offers the complete series, the cartoon spinoff, The Brady Brides, The Bradys, but sadly, not the variety show. And many fans are disappointed it's not a Blu-Ray collection, but I don't know. It kind of feels weird to have this show on anything more advanced than Betamax.
(I would totally buy a standalone Brady Brides, incidentally.)
6) Dr. Teeth: Famed musician Dr. John died this week, which makes me think of the musician he inspired:
7) Jeopardy! This show has never been hotter than it was in the last few months, though I still fondly remember the incredible run of Chuck Forrest:
8) Punky Brewster: Word has it that the show will return next year.
Every time I turn around
Another reboot's getting off the ground
What's gonna be?
Guess we'll just wait...and see
9) John Barbour: The former Real People personality (and co-creator) had a spectacularly all-over-the-place appearance on the Talk is Jericho podcast, linking about 10,000 JFK conspiracy theories, implicating almost everyone except Skip Stephenson in the process.
10) Paul Darrow: R.I.P. Darrow, who starred in British cult hit Blake's 7, a show I never saw but probably read about in Starlog:
Saturday, June 8, 2019
YouTube Spotlight: from the "Cheers" playlist, "It's Not Easy"
Welcome to the beginning of our sixth season of Battle of the Network Shows! Each Saturday this season, we are going to pull one video from our YouTube playlist for that week's episode and spotlight it here in case you don't have time to check out the whole list.
This week's list for Cheers is here, and we do recommend you open it and look at all the cool stuff in there, but today let's zero in on this:
As uploader Gilmore Box notes in his comments, this ABC sitcom didn't last long--only 7 episodes, in fact--but it stars Ken Howard AND Bert Convy! Plus Carlene Watkins from BOTNS fave Best of the West, Jayne Meadows, Billy Jacoby (who played a wise-ass in tons of shows of the era), and if that ain't enough, Evan Cohen, the boy next door on The Ropers!
The premise is a little convoluted, to be sure, but did it deserve to crash like it did? There is an episode online if you want to judge for yourself. I'm a known sucker for Bert Convy, Actor, but I find this one kind of funny.
This week's list for Cheers is here, and we do recommend you open it and look at all the cool stuff in there, but today let's zero in on this:
As uploader Gilmore Box notes in his comments, this ABC sitcom didn't last long--only 7 episodes, in fact--but it stars Ken Howard AND Bert Convy! Plus Carlene Watkins from BOTNS fave Best of the West, Jayne Meadows, Billy Jacoby (who played a wise-ass in tons of shows of the era), and if that ain't enough, Evan Cohen, the boy next door on The Ropers!
The premise is a little convoluted, to be sure, but did it deserve to crash like it did? There is an episode online if you want to judge for yourself. I'm a known sucker for Bert Convy, Actor, but I find this one kind of funny.
Friday, June 7, 2019
The Cheers playlist is now live!
The YouTube playlist for our season 6 opener devoted to Cheers is now live! Click below to see the cold opens of the two episodes we discuss, Ted Danson talking with Johnny Carson, Shelley Long singing on the Emmys, and many more moments in and out of character from the cast! Plus We've Got It Made, The Tortellis, and Dr. Ruth teaming with George Wendt!
And remember, you can always check out our official YouTube channel for each episode-specific playlist plus our archive of past episodes!
And remember, you can always check out our official YouTube channel for each episode-specific playlist plus our archive of past episodes!
Show Notes: Episode 6-1: Cheers
*As you can tell from listening to the podcast, selecting episodes to talk about was particularly difficult this time out. The ones we went with are:
Season 2, episode 1, Power Play, which premiered Thursday, September 29, 1983, at 9:00 P.M.; and season 3, episode 14, The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter, which premiered Thursday, January 10, 1985, at 9:00.
*As we mention, this episode focuses on The Diane Chambers era (seasons 1-5), and somewhere down the road, we will look at the Rebecca Howe years (seasons 6-11). overall Cheers ran 11 seasons and 275 episodes.
*The series' low initial ratings in its first season are legendary. It finished 74th in 1982-1983, then climbed significantly the next two years (starting its climb even before The Cosby Show, apparently fueled by critical acclaim and viewers finding it in reruns) and was a reliable top 10 performer the rest of its run.
*Cheers earned 28 Emmys and 117 nominations; perhaps most impressive is its streak of being nominated for Outstanding Comedy for all 11 of its seasons (with 4 wins). Among the cast, the big winner was Rhea Perlman, who won Outstanding Supporting Actress (Comedy) 4 times.
*Gary Portnoy performs theme song Where Everybody Knows Your Name, which he co-wrote with Judy Hart Angelo.
*We Got It Made ran one season on NBC and one later season in first-run syndication. It starred Tom Villard and Matt McCoy (and for a while, Stepfanie Kramer of Hunter) but was built around Teri Copley.
*It's Not Easy only lasted 4 episodes on CBS!
*On the Sunny Side of the Street was written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh, and you can see it sung in the cold open of The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter in this week's YT playlist.
*According to Wikipedia, the snipe hunt tradition dates back to the 1840s. I bet Abe Lincoln was involved in one somehow.
*Iconic TV director James Burrowes is still active at 78 and still highly sought after to direct multicamera sitcom pilots. He directed about 240 Cheers episodes, then all of Will & Grace. In recent years, he had stints on Man with a Plan and Superior Donuts.
*For further reading, we recommend this excellent oral history from GQ. Also, go digging in Ken Levine's outstanding blog; he has scores of great posts about the show.
*As always, check out our official YouTube page for a playlist specific to this episode as well as past installments of our podcast!
Season 2, episode 1, Power Play, which premiered Thursday, September 29, 1983, at 9:00 P.M.; and season 3, episode 14, The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter, which premiered Thursday, January 10, 1985, at 9:00.
*As we mention, this episode focuses on The Diane Chambers era (seasons 1-5), and somewhere down the road, we will look at the Rebecca Howe years (seasons 6-11). overall Cheers ran 11 seasons and 275 episodes.
*The series' low initial ratings in its first season are legendary. It finished 74th in 1982-1983, then climbed significantly the next two years (starting its climb even before The Cosby Show, apparently fueled by critical acclaim and viewers finding it in reruns) and was a reliable top 10 performer the rest of its run.
*Cheers earned 28 Emmys and 117 nominations; perhaps most impressive is its streak of being nominated for Outstanding Comedy for all 11 of its seasons (with 4 wins). Among the cast, the big winner was Rhea Perlman, who won Outstanding Supporting Actress (Comedy) 4 times.
*Gary Portnoy performs theme song Where Everybody Knows Your Name, which he co-wrote with Judy Hart Angelo.
*We Got It Made ran one season on NBC and one later season in first-run syndication. It starred Tom Villard and Matt McCoy (and for a while, Stepfanie Kramer of Hunter) but was built around Teri Copley.
*It's Not Easy only lasted 4 episodes on CBS!
*On the Sunny Side of the Street was written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh, and you can see it sung in the cold open of The Heart Is a Lonely Snipe Hunter in this week's YT playlist.
*According to Wikipedia, the snipe hunt tradition dates back to the 1840s. I bet Abe Lincoln was involved in one somehow.
*Iconic TV director James Burrowes is still active at 78 and still highly sought after to direct multicamera sitcom pilots. He directed about 240 Cheers episodes, then all of Will & Grace. In recent years, he had stints on Man with a Plan and Superior Donuts.
*For further reading, we recommend this excellent oral history from GQ. Also, go digging in Ken Levine's outstanding blog; he has scores of great posts about the show.
*As always, check out our official YouTube page for a playlist specific to this episode as well as past installments of our podcast!
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