Monday, July 6, 2020
Happy birthday, Grant Goodeve!
Best known as David Bradford on Eight Is Enough, he's a big favorite at BOTNS, so let's crack one open and celebrate!
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Top Ten #75
1) The Bicentennial Minute: One of the most outstanding things ever produced for television was this series of short segments aired on CBS in 1976. Here's the final spot that aired, one starring the big guy. Jerry Ford:
2) The Greatest American Hero: OK, maybe the show doesn't scream, "USA! USA! USA!" but it, uh, has "American" in the title. ALso, the FilmRise Classic TV channel (available on Roku and online) is running a marathon this weekend.
3) Murray Hamilton: So everyone is all fired up to watch Hamilton this weekend, right?
(If you were in our Facebook group, you would have seen that joke two days ago. Lucky you, right?)
4) Hugh Downs: R.I.P. to the former host of 20/20 and also star of shows as varied as Today, Concentration, Over Easy, The Tonight Show...and of course his ill-fated stab at "relevance" in 1995, the rap video showcase "Yo, I'm Downs with It!"
For years, Downs was considered the record holder for hours appearing on TV. Someday i hope to pursue the record for most hours watching TV.
5) Benson: Roku Channel just added the first 3 seasons of the series for streaming, and please, please don't call it "The Jerry Seinfeld Years."
6) Katherine Helmond: Happy birthday to the recently departed star of Soap, which we just so happen to have discussed in our latest season!
7) Hong Kong Phooey: Finished #2, right behind Jonny Quest, in this ScreenRant article ranking the most underrated Hanna Barbera characters.
OK, the article is a little suspect (Should the likes of Quest and Snagglepuss and--Huckleberry Hound, for Yogi's sake???--even be on an "underrated" list with Stanley Chan and Babu? I say no, but it is a fun read even if it might be considered 'clickbait" (totally unlike the scientific, well-thought-out top ten lists we run here from time to time).
8) Carl Reiner: R.I.P. to the comedy legend. Anyone remember Good Heavens?
9) Blazing Saddles the sitcom: Yes, the sitcom. Mike posted a link to this fascinating video in our facebook group this week:
10) Happy Days: Still the definitive account of how America became AMERICA? You guessed it, Season 8's American Musical:
2) The Greatest American Hero: OK, maybe the show doesn't scream, "USA! USA! USA!" but it, uh, has "American" in the title. ALso, the FilmRise Classic TV channel (available on Roku and online) is running a marathon this weekend.
3) Murray Hamilton: So everyone is all fired up to watch Hamilton this weekend, right?
(If you were in our Facebook group, you would have seen that joke two days ago. Lucky you, right?)
4) Hugh Downs: R.I.P. to the former host of 20/20 and also star of shows as varied as Today, Concentration, Over Easy, The Tonight Show...and of course his ill-fated stab at "relevance" in 1995, the rap video showcase "Yo, I'm Downs with It!"
For years, Downs was considered the record holder for hours appearing on TV. Someday i hope to pursue the record for most hours watching TV.
5) Benson: Roku Channel just added the first 3 seasons of the series for streaming, and please, please don't call it "The Jerry Seinfeld Years."
6) Katherine Helmond: Happy birthday to the recently departed star of Soap, which we just so happen to have discussed in our latest season!
7) Hong Kong Phooey: Finished #2, right behind Jonny Quest, in this ScreenRant article ranking the most underrated Hanna Barbera characters.
OK, the article is a little suspect (Should the likes of Quest and Snagglepuss and--Huckleberry Hound, for Yogi's sake???--even be on an "underrated" list with Stanley Chan and Babu? I say no, but it is a fun read even if it might be considered 'clickbait" (totally unlike the scientific, well-thought-out top ten lists we run here from time to time).
8) Carl Reiner: R.I.P. to the comedy legend. Anyone remember Good Heavens?
9) Blazing Saddles the sitcom: Yes, the sitcom. Mike posted a link to this fascinating video in our facebook group this week:
10) Happy Days: Still the definitive account of how America became AMERICA? You guessed it, Season 8's American Musical:
Saturday, July 4, 2020
Happy Independence Day!
Happy holiday, everyone! On this July 4, let's think about the great TV of the 1970s and 1980s that brought us together...and the bad TV that also brought us together for different reasons!
Friday, July 3, 2020
Captain America (1990) DVD is going OOP
Shout! Factory! gave us a decent DVD of the two CBS Captain America TV movies, and it is still available (and it is CHEAP), but the company's website lists the 1990 theatrical movie "Collector's Edition" as "Going out of print in 2020--Save while supplies last!"
Better act quick to get in on these massive savings--you can save a whopping ONE DOLLAR and get it for 13.98 instead of 14.98 right now. I might get 4 or 5 at that kind of discount!
Is it going OOP because someone else has licensed it for a new special edition or blu-ray? I don't know, but who is with me in saying we could use a Captain America/Captain America II Blu-Ray with extras? Original promos...making of documentary...Reb Brown and Connie Sellecca commentaries! Someone make it happen!
Better act quick to get in on these massive savings--you can save a whopping ONE DOLLAR and get it for 13.98 instead of 14.98 right now. I might get 4 or 5 at that kind of discount!
Is it going OOP because someone else has licensed it for a new special edition or blu-ray? I don't know, but who is with me in saying we could use a Captain America/Captain America II Blu-Ray with extras? Original promos...making of documentary...Reb Brown and Connie Sellecca commentaries! Someone make it happen!
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Inside the Guide #3: 6/27/75 Part 2--TV after dark! (June 22-28, 1975)
Way after dark, that is! After our look last week at the TV of June 27, 1975, it's time to go beyond prime time, and let me tell you, this is where things really get interesting. In prime time, summer was getting in gear with a lineup filled with reruns. After prime time, we get plenty of reruns--but cool ones! And movies! And--well, let's just get to it.
Source for this piece is an contemporaneous New Hampshire edition of TV Guide. This edition includes some big BAH-ston channels as well as the local Granite State fare. It sure looks to me like the viewers in the region had some quality channels. Ah, the days before infomercials! Even though programming essentially ceases at about 4:00 A.M. (If a station broadcasts but TV Guide doesn't list it, does it really broadcast?), the late/overnight schedule here is packed with great stuff.
It's great to see a Greatest Sports Legends here, and this tribute to the Big O sounds like a good one. I said on our GSL episode that I always thought of it as a weekend afternoon kind of program, but here it is at 10:30 on a Friday night.
Channel 56 has a lot of good stuff, and here we see a Perry Mason, a Best of Groucho (AKA You Bet Your Life), and a Mitchum flick to end the workweek.
Check out the battle at 11:30, where NBC of course has Carson, then still 90 minutes and with a new episode. CBS runs The Last Rebel, which may be the best Joe Namath/Jack Elam Western ever made. ABC has Wide World of Mystery. It's a far cry from the "Late Night Wars" of the modern era, with every network offering a talk/comedy show or two.
Channel 27, a Manchester independent, follows GSL and local news with a Bowery Boys movie! That's it as far as TV Guide is concerned, but 27 did run Jack Benny earlier (and also something called Elder American at 8:00).
Let's skip ahead for a moment to 1:00, when NBC follows The Tonight Show with The Midnight Special. Who says NBC wasn't hip? Keep in mind this is several months before the premiere of Saturday Night! Can't go wrong with the Temps (the rest of the lineup, I admit, doesn't seem as groovy), but what is up with "a 'Rock Rap' segment with Carol Wayne?"
Don't worry, folks, it's a music news segment, not the late Wayne doing a pre-Fred Durst medley.
I think my new favorite channel is retroactively channel 38 WSBK Boston), now sadly a MyTV affiliate but a great indie station back in the day. According to this issue, Laugh Classics is a nightly program. Earlier episodes this week spotlighted Leon Errol and Edgar Kennedy, who shows up again in tonight's pair of comedy shorts.
Channel 5 looks decent, too, with Mission Impossible and an Ealing classic with Alec Guiness. These rebels are running MI before Wide World of Mystery for some reason!
Two final notes: Shout-out to the ABC News on channel 44 for airing with captions. We here at BOTNS are strong advocates of closed captioning! It's too bad that this captioned showing is the auxiliary one on a PBS station instead of the "main" one earlier in the evening1
Finally, the Crack Research Team at BOTNS assures me that the doctor in residence on House Call is not that Jay Mohr. I don't think I'd feel comfortable getting stroke advice from the other one.
Source for this piece is an contemporaneous New Hampshire edition of TV Guide. This edition includes some big BAH-ston channels as well as the local Granite State fare. It sure looks to me like the viewers in the region had some quality channels. Ah, the days before infomercials! Even though programming essentially ceases at about 4:00 A.M. (If a station broadcasts but TV Guide doesn't list it, does it really broadcast?), the late/overnight schedule here is packed with great stuff.
It's great to see a Greatest Sports Legends here, and this tribute to the Big O sounds like a good one. I said on our GSL episode that I always thought of it as a weekend afternoon kind of program, but here it is at 10:30 on a Friday night.
Channel 56 has a lot of good stuff, and here we see a Perry Mason, a Best of Groucho (AKA You Bet Your Life), and a Mitchum flick to end the workweek.
Check out the battle at 11:30, where NBC of course has Carson, then still 90 minutes and with a new episode. CBS runs The Last Rebel, which may be the best Joe Namath/Jack Elam Western ever made. ABC has Wide World of Mystery. It's a far cry from the "Late Night Wars" of the modern era, with every network offering a talk/comedy show or two.
Channel 27, a Manchester independent, follows GSL and local news with a Bowery Boys movie! That's it as far as TV Guide is concerned, but 27 did run Jack Benny earlier (and also something called Elder American at 8:00).
Let's skip ahead for a moment to 1:00, when NBC follows The Tonight Show with The Midnight Special. Who says NBC wasn't hip? Keep in mind this is several months before the premiere of Saturday Night! Can't go wrong with the Temps (the rest of the lineup, I admit, doesn't seem as groovy), but what is up with "a 'Rock Rap' segment with Carol Wayne?"
Don't worry, folks, it's a music news segment, not the late Wayne doing a pre-Fred Durst medley.
I think my new favorite channel is retroactively channel 38 WSBK Boston), now sadly a MyTV affiliate but a great indie station back in the day. According to this issue, Laugh Classics is a nightly program. Earlier episodes this week spotlighted Leon Errol and Edgar Kennedy, who shows up again in tonight's pair of comedy shorts.
Channel 5 looks decent, too, with Mission Impossible and an Ealing classic with Alec Guiness. These rebels are running MI before Wide World of Mystery for some reason!
Two final notes: Shout-out to the ABC News on channel 44 for airing with captions. We here at BOTNS are strong advocates of closed captioning! It's too bad that this captioned showing is the auxiliary one on a PBS station instead of the "main" one earlier in the evening1
Finally, the Crack Research Team at BOTNS assures me that the doctor in residence on House Call is not that Jay Mohr. I don't think I'd feel comfortable getting stroke advice from the other one.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Canada Day, everyone, with a special shout-out to our listeners in, from, and in the general vicinity of our Northern neighbor.
The only purely Canadian series we have covered on the podcast is Beachcombers, but we plan to change that in the future. We have talked about series with Michael J. Fox, Alan Thicke, Dan Aykroyd, and of course we kicked off our explorations of TV movies with Bill Shatner in Pray for the Wildcats.
What other Canadian series should we talk about on the podcast?
The only purely Canadian series we have covered on the podcast is Beachcombers, but we plan to change that in the future. We have talked about series with Michael J. Fox, Alan Thicke, Dan Aykroyd, and of course we kicked off our explorations of TV movies with Bill Shatner in Pray for the Wildcats.
What other Canadian series should we talk about on the podcast?
Happy National Postal Workers Day!
It's a, eh, well-known fact that, eh, today is National Postal Workers Day. So, er, tip your cap to your favorite beloved civil service warrior saving your bacon on the frontlines.
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