Top Ten #318: Special "Here we go" Edition!

1) Donny and Marie: This week's all-new, all-fun episode of the podcast features the wholesome brother/sister duo's 1970s variety program.

2) Paul Lynde: What more can you say about Paul Lynde that Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre didn't already say better? I'm still not really sure what he was doing as a regular on the Osmonds' weekly show, but some mysteries may be better left unsolved.

By the way, thanks (I think?) to our pal in our Facebook group, Charlie, for putting this in my head:

3) George Gobel: We are still waiting to hear from all the Double G superfans out there after his appearance on Donny and Marie, but in the meantime, here is an extended glimpse of the comedian.

4) Desi Arnaz: Milton Berle became a member of the 3-Timers' Club with his appearance on the pod this week, but i want to celebrate Desi, whose appearance on this episode of Donny and Marie followed his release of the awesomely titled autobiography A Book. Let's visit with Johnny again:

5) Laugh Busters: 40 years ago tonight, NBC previewed its new Saturday morning lineup with this special. Get the scoop on Kidd Video!

6) The NFL: Pro football is back! This year, the NFL continues its takeover of every day of the week and every special occasion with high-profile games on Christmas Day on Netflix. BOTNS does not fear the league, though, and will continue releasing episodes on Thursdays despite the presence of Thursday Night Football.

7) Star Trek Day: This holiday celebrates the anniversary of the premiere of the original series on NBC. To all who celebrate, may the force be with you!

8) Heather Thomas: Happy birthday to the Fall Guy star!

9) World Ampersand Day: Let's take a moment to celebrate great duos like Siskel & Ebert, Laverne & Shirley, and Steak & Lowenbrau.

It's been too long since we posted that!

10) R.I.P. James Darren and Jim Riswold: The latter, who died in August, but posthumously announced his death last week, is credited with creating Nike's legendary Air Jordan and Bo Knows commercials.

Show Notes and Episode Playlist: Episode 12-5: Donny and Marie

*Apologies for the lateness of this post this week!

*I was unable to find the exact study, but I believe research in the 1960s revealed that being rock and roll or country is not a strict all-or-nothing proposition, but that it is more of a fluid scale on which people have different degrees of rock-and-rollness and/or countryness.

*Thanks again to everyone who voted in last year's variety shows poll. If you want to listen to or revist last season's Sonny and Cher episode, click here.

*Frampton Comes Alive by Peter Frampton is a double album from 1976 that was the biggest LP of the year and remains one of the biggest-selling live albums ever. Aja, released Fall 1977, is Steely Dan's biggest album.

*Goin' Coconuts (1978), the attempt to bring the Donny and Marie magic to the big screen, was a huge flop.

*Mike writes about Jimmy Osmond's Saturday morning preview special here.

*Here is my own take on an Osmonds Christmas special.

*One show we do not mention on the podcast is the Rankin Bass Saturday morning cartoon The Osmonds. it ran for 17 episodes in Fall 1972. The series featured the voices of the actual Osmonds...and of course Paul Frees!

*This episode premiered Friday, September 24, 1976, on ABC. It ran 4 seasons, January 1976 to May 1979, with 78 episodes.

*Serpico lasted a half-season on NBC.Co-starring with David Birney was Tom Atkins of The Rockford Files.

*"I Just Want to Celebrate" was a #7 hit for Rare Earth 5 years earlier, but its cover of The Temptations' "Get Ready" was its biggest hit at #4.

*Peggy Fleming was a gold medalist in figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

*Art Linkletter hosted House Party and People Are Funny on TV and radio.

*The New Howdy Doody Show premiered August 1976 in daily first-run syndication but only lasted until January.

*Finally, check out this week's video playlist, with commercials, promos, theme songs, and somehow, Rip Torn!

*And remember, you can always check out our official YouTube page for all of our past podcasts and episode-specific playlists for each one!

Episode 12-5: Donny and Marie

Last season, Sonny and Cher narrowly beat out Donny and Marie in a listener poll, but we promised to cover Donny and Marie this season, and here we are! In our cutest episode to date, the brother-sister duo celebrates the history of TV with regular Paul Lynde and the likes of Milton Berle, Art Linkletter, and the one and only George Gobel! This one has everything you'd expect from a seventies variety show: celebrities, singing, dancing, "comedy"...and ice skating.

#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #varietyshow #donnyandmarie #osmonds

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Check out this episode!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...

 

YouTube Spotlight: Norman Fell

 One of my favorite clips from this week's YouTube playlist is this Norman Fell commercial.

On one hand, we all love the image of Fell as Stanley Roper grinning at the camera. Let's try, difficult as it is, to remove that picture from our mind. If you take out the mugging Stanley from Fell's repertoire (not that I want to), is there any better combination of pitchman and product than he and Pepto?

New to streaming for September

Here are some interesting new adds from the various streamers for us to enjoy on this Labor Day holiday (here in the States).

Roku Channel added Voyagers! and In the Heat of the Night. I think I missed that Police Story was on here, too. I tell you something: Roku Channel does a great job of burying material that interests me.

The channel also has some of the old MGM shows that make the rounds: Sea Hunt, Flipper, Bat Masterson, The Outer Limits. You know what I would like to see? Highway Patrol. That one has been on a lot of different TV channels in recent years but has never made it to streaming.

Warner Brothers Discovery continues its strategy of loading up MAX with the "Discovery" portion of its catalogue while dumping the "Warner Brothers" on the free streamers. Plex is the big recipient lately.

It now has the two original V miniseries as well as Max Headroom (1987), which I believe are streaming debuts. It also acquired Perfect Strangers, which has been MIA after a stint on Hulu. Soap fans should be happy, as Falcon Crest returns to streaming and, in an even bigger deal, Knots Landing debuts on streaming here on Plex.

It's great news for fans who get to watch the stuff for free, but I continue to be amused that WBD takes content away from MAX like Looney Tunes and Super Friends and doesn't bother with so much of its TV library, instead stuffing its offerings with stuff from TLC and HGTV. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to see more of the old shows on services we pay for?

Top Ten #317: Special "National Square Dance Month" Edition!

1) Dan August: Mike and I have a great time discussing this 1970 series on BOTNS this week. It's not the best cop show of its era, but it has its virtues, and I wish it had more than one season.

2) Quinn Martin: It was great to get QM on the podcast. I sometimes wish I were IN a Quinn Martin Production. The production values and guest stars would be better, at least.

3) Norman Fell: I see Burt Reynolds insisting his co-star get the slot above him on the Top Ten list, then "dropping by to support him" and smirking for the remaining 10 minutes of his segment. All in good fun, of course.

4) Burt Reynolds: See? Here he is already!

5) Harrison Ford: It was just so cool seeing him show up on Dan August for the pod this week. Has anyone ever asked him about this appearance? I bet he'd play it all cool, like he barely remembered playing an ultimately insignificant drifter for a few scenes on a single-season show that has largely been forgotten nearly 55 years after it aired...but we know better!

6) Gary Coleman: The late star is the subject of a new documentary that Peacock just premiered, and honestly, it looks really, really sad. I might have to revisit some of those TV movies after watching this.

7) Hardcastle and McCormick: RIDE! The boys are back, and this time they are streaming on Roku Channel. Your move, Netflix.

8) The Fall Guy: With the 2024 movie hitting Peacock, isn't it about time the series made it to streaming again? Hulu had the first two seasons a couple years ago. This feels like a Tubi show, if Disney will let it go.

9)  The Odd Couple: There's a marathon of the show this weekend, but don't ASSUME you have the channel (Catchy Comedy) because, as Felix tells us, when you assume...

10) R.I.P. Sid Eudy: The man who ruled the world!