Anyone remember the Major Indoor Soccer League on USA Network?
Actually, I don't. I remember college basketball, boxing, pro basketball, college football, even hockey (it goes without saying that we all remember professional wrestling on USA), but not the MISL. But here it is!
I like how it won't be seen in the Wichita and STL areas. Why? Was the MISL that concerned about protecting its attendance? Was there LOCAL coverage of the MISL?
Notice the solemn way Al Trautwig (I assume) says it: "Our coverage will not be seen..." Hey, cheer up, Al. That leaves about 245 other major markets that can hear you call the game
Have you ever wondered what happens at a BATTY Awards After Party? Wonder no more. Here, we present the evidence as illustrated by Art Hondros.
I've had an idea like this in mind probably since we started the podcast, thinking of those great Jack Davis TV Guide covers, MAD magazine, movie posters, and album covers. Nine seasons in, we've gathered quite a cast of characters to fill it, and if you're a regular listener, you know this event only scratches the surface.
I've known Art Hondros for years now through the local comics scene, and we collaborated on a comic in the past. He brought everything I expected of course: talent, attention to detail, enthusiasm, cooperation, humor, and--this might sound funny as an expectation--exceeding expectations. He also brought a few of his own ideas. In fact, he finished this in March, but we held it back because he had suggested adding Rockford and Tattoo, and we didn't want to spoil their then upcoming appearances.
As far as process goes, I gave wrote a script of sorts, breaking down the scene into different groupings. Rick added a few suggestions, and I sent that to Art along with reference images. He sent me some preliminary work, we offered a few tweaks, and the back and forth a continued a couple more times. One gag didn't come to me until I saw the near-final version, and Art added that (a small but significant item).
"Pro tip" from me: you can't beat accidentally choosing the right person for the job, too. Art said this in one of our early e-mail exchanges about the project: "For someone who strives for the standard of MAD Magazine artists’ panoramas, it’s a dream come true."
Now have you ever wondered where you can get your hands on this stunning piece? Well, wonder no more! You can find it on everything from shirts to pillows to wall art right here at our TeePublic store. I plan to go for the wall art myself.
40 years ago tonight, NBC started its broadcast evening with an unsold pilot, The Hoyt Axton Show, starring...Mac Davis. No, it was Hoyt Axton, who should have been the hottest thing on TV already just from singing the theme song to Flo.
Unfortunately, I can't find any Hoyt Axton Show footage on YouTube, so we will have to make do with that crackling tune. There is also this awesome clip of Ringo Starr and a cast of many on a 1975 variety special:
Back to the 1981 pilot: Directed by Richard Crenna, this one features Axton as "a country singer who, after his wife dies, returns from life on the road to raise his 3 kids." Lee Goldberg's indispensable Unsold TV Pilots adds that the character's teenage daughter is dating a divorcee and his son is heading out on the road with a rock band. Yikes!
One of my recent discoveries is small-scale toy cars based on (or associated with in cool-looking packaging) TV shows of the BOTNS era. The Greenlight Hollywood line has my eye right now. There are several good things about these: They look good in the packaging (in fact, I think it's better to leave these in the packaging given their size), they are often overlooked in the oft-barren toy shelves of today's big box retailers, and they are affordable collectibles to toss into the cart along with essentials like Urkel-O's and Swanson's Hungry Man dinners.
Some of these are a little sketchy, but one of my favorites is this beauty. I mean, a show called Taxi is a natural for this series:
We may not have Alex and Louie Funkos yet (Actually, Reverend Jim and Latka would be cool, too, but I'd get any of them), but we have this, and we can use our imagination. If only Corgi would have made Taxi vehicles back in the day to go along with my Supermobile and Spider-Copter!
1) Alice: One of the only shows substantial enough to warrant its own exclusive power rankings got our treatment this week. Who's #1? Hint: It's not Martha Raye, but said number one has a connection with Raye's character!
2) Jean Smart: I can't resist saying it: Jean Smart is having a moment. In seriousness, I don't mean to denigrate her or her work, and her Emmy win last Sunday seems to have pleased everyone. I am a little surprised, though, that somehow she went from veteran actress to national treasure at some point in the last decade.
3) The Brady Bunch: The iconic sitcom premiered this day in 1969 and has haunted our national consciousness ever since. We yakked about it last season. I don't know about Mike, but it's still in MY consciousness!
4) The Tony Awards: Tonight's the night! I want to see a competition between Tony Danza, Tony Franciosa, and Tony the Tiger. Until then, how about this 1981 clip of Nell Carter?
5) Bobby returns to Dallas: On this night in 1986, Patrick Duffy returned to the series in a somewhat divisive manner. I won't give it away, but we can discuss it someday when we get to Dallas on the pod. I still think a lot of industry types saw that and thought, "Hey, wait! We can DO that? Cool!"
6) Roald Dahl: Netflix bought the rights to the author's entire catalog. You know what that means? Surely this is coming alongside Seinfeld on October 1:
7) Kent McCord: Happy birthday, Mr. McCord, even though watching Battlestar Galactica 1980 is making me question my existence.
8) Fall began this week: We know from watching Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in Julythat Winter has cool villains like Winterbolt, but what about Fall? Autumn is someone in your kid's preschool class. Winter is a THREAT. We need more cool Fall villains (Halloween is its own case and doesn't count).
9) Melissa Sue Anderson: Happy birthday to the actress who played, Mary, the Ingalls daughter who had scarlet fever, went blind, and lost a couple of children. On Little House on the Prairie, that's known as "getting off easy."
10) R.I.P. Jay Sandrich: The longtime director oversaw most episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap, and The Cosby Show.
Sanders is fine for this. He's just about perfect, really. Yet it's part of that awkward phenomenon of performers who are very well known for a particular role yet not well enough known as themselves to be themselves in an advertisement. There's some wiggle room because they don't say he's not Richard Sanders, but they don't say he is.
I guess it's not awkward for him; he gets the gig and the money, after all. I still can't help but feel for him, though. Maybe it's just on me.
