"Chico and the Man" welcomes two superstars

I was watching an episode of Chico and the Man when I was surprised by two very special guest stars we have discussed on the podcast. The episode, "Louie's CanCan," is near the end of the third season, and Freddie Prinze's absence is a bummer. However, anyone's spirits will be elevated when they see this guy:

Yes, it's George Gobel! The Batty-nominated guest star of Donny and Marie has several key scenes in the episode.

But wait, there's more!

Yes, it's Captain America himself (Click here for more), Reb Brown!

Apologies for the quality on these grabs; Tubi, like many other streamers, has made it more difficult to grab a nice, crisp screenshot. But when you have George Gobel and Reb Brown in the frame, the starpower shines through anyway!

Top Ten #347: Baseball is back, baby! Edition

1) Saturday Night Live: A momentous occasion happened 40 years ago this weekend, as original host Steve Landesberg (who did end up appearing on the episode) called out sick and was replaced by Mr. T and Hulk Hogan as they promoted the first Wresetlemania.

2) Barney Miller: Antenna TV celebrates 50 years of the show this weekend with a marathon.

3) Major League Baseball: The season began in full this week, and let's hope the only outbreak we hear about over the next few days is a wave of Baseball Fever.

4) Easter Sunday 1975: 50 years ago tonight, the networks gave the nation some themed entertainment for the holiday. CBS ran a two-hour Waltons Easter episode. ABC ran part 2 of The Ten Commandments. NBC began the evening at 6:30 with a screening of The Wizard of Oz...and ended it with a news special on the impact of inflation. Bummer!

5) Almost Easter Sunday 1985: 40 years ago tonight was a Saturday, actually, but ABC showed The Fourth Wise Man, a special from Paulist Productions with Martin Sheen; and CBS marked the holiday weekend with a reair of a Bugs Bunny special.

6) John Astin: Happy 95th birthday! We talked about John a bit when we covered McMillan and Wife.

7) Suzanne Somers: Just gonna leave this story here if you want to look at it.
https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/suzanne-somers-ai-replica-speaks-to-late-stars-husband-alan-hamel/

8) Paul Reiser: Happy birthday to the My Two Dads star.

9) National Take a Walk in the Park Day: Or maybe even a good jog! Or a softball game!

10) R.I.P. Bill Mercer:

Top Ten #346: March Madness edition!

1) The Battys: Things have been a tick slower around here because we're all recovering. As usual, the Batty Awards sent shockwaves through the industry. I heard that triple winner Mickey Rooney is even repeating that old story that he turned down the lead in Magnum P.I.

2) March Madness: When else but this special time of year can sports fans indulge in some legal gambling--Oh, wait. Pretty much all the time now.

3) Who Shot J.R.?: 45 years ago this weekend, the nation wondered whodunit after seeing perhaps the greatest cliffhanger in TV history. As far as TV cliffhangers go, that was something, but I'd like to see this one:

4) Ellery Queen: 50 years ago tonight, NBC aired the pilot for what would become the ongoing series starring Jim Hutton as the titular sleuth. Long before J.R. got shot, viewers were invited to match wits with Ellery and guess whodunit!

5) Space Mountain: Also 40 years ago tonight, The Wonderful World of Disney broadcast a tour of Walt Disney World to commemorate the opening of the legendary attraction. Ric Flair was not in attendance.

6) Teresa Ganzel: Happy birthday to the Eighties-ubiquitous performer!

7) Looney Tunes: Hey, Warners, if you guys don't want them, we'll take them!

8) Perry Mason: The first 5 seasons of the classic legal drama, a show we talk about here, are now on Tubi.

9) National Melba Day: OK, it's actually Melba TOAST Day. Still!

10) R.I.P. George Foreman and Wings Hauser: One of my all-time faves, Big George really had me on his side during his Nineties run. We just saw veteran actor Hauser in a Murder, She Wrote not too long ago (Granted, that isn't an exclusive club).

Season 12 Batty Awards: In Memoriam

As is our tradition, we present here the list of names of those we lost over the course of the most recent season of the podcast. 

 

Peter Marshall

Phil Donahue

James Darren

James Earl Jones

Ron Ely

Terri Garr

Alan Rachins

Quincy Jones

Earl Holliman

Chuck Woolery

Thom Christopher

The Amazing Kreskin

Michael Cole

Greg Gumbel

Linda Lavin

Wayne Osmond

David Duclon

David Lynch

Bob Uecker

Rudy Martzke

John Erwin

Dick Button

Bob Uecker

John Amos

Top Ten #345: Special post-Battys edition!

NOTE: This post contains spoilers for the Season 12 Battys released Thursday. It was a long episode, so I want to make sure everyone who wants to has a chance to hear it before knowing the results.

1) The Battys: The Season 12 version of the award ceremony delivered excitement, surprises, and random number generation. I'd call that a success!

2) The Mickster: Perhaps the biggest individual winner of the evening was the legendary Mickey Rooney, who took home 3 Battys, or almost as many awards as he had wives!

OK, that's a cheap shot. The Mickster would be angered by that, not without justification. But Kenny O'Malley would recognize the wives thing was a vulnerability.

3) Bert: Another multiple Batty recipient this week? Bert, who won Outstanding Non-Human against a slew of tough candidates and, maybe more impressive to me, edged Burt Reynolds and Burt Mustin for a listener's choice victory.

4) Sesame Street: We don't give out Battys based on current events--I mean, everything we talk about is at least several decades old--but it does feel good to recognize the series' legacy given its uncertain present status.

5) Blake's 7: If we gave a Batty for "Show Laurie and I fell in love with," it would have gone to this one, but even without such a category, the cult sci-fi show did pretty well.

6) Paul Darrow: Congratulations to the latest Robert Pine Genius recipient, the man who gave so many delicious moments as Kerr Avon on Blake's.

7) Ed Brown's Garage: It proved to be an excellent venue for this year's ceremony--spacious, good acoustics--but the occasional gas fumes were a bit distracting. This year proved the lack of "home field advantage" at the Battys; Chico and the Man didn't get any trophies.

8) Gilligan's Island: Our retro retro show garnered several awards and contended in most of the major categories.

9) The Bionic Woman: 50 years ago tonight, the character debuted on an episode of Holmes and Yoyo. No, wait, check that. It was The Six Million Dollar Man.

10) Designing Women: Antenna TV runs a marathon of the 1986-1993 sitcom today.

Season 12 Battys: Complete List of Nominees and Winners!

We hope you enjoy our Season 12 Battys, live from The Man's garage! If you haven't listened to the episode, posted yesterday, please do so before reading the following list of categories, nominees, and WINNERS! 

Winners are in BOLD below!

OUTSTANDING YOUTH: Gary Coleman, Kim Fields, Tammy Lauren (The Kid with the Broken Halo); Adam Rich (Dungeons and Dragons); Big Bird (Sesame Street)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AS ONESELF: Jim McKay, Peter Jennings, Carl Lewis (1984 Summer Olympics); Donny, Marie, George Gobel (Donny and Marie); Robin Leach, Charlene Tilton, Julio Iglesias (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous); Dick Clark, Ed McMahon, Joyce Brothers, Nancy McKeon, Philip McKeon (TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes)

BIGGEST EXASPERATION: Kenny O’Malley (Dan August); Archie Bunker (All in the Family); Paul Lynde (Donny and Marie); Philip McKeon, the news reporter who got the Golden Bloopers…award (TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes); Joe (Rhoda); The Man (Chico and the Man)

OUTSTANDING HAIR:  Chico (Chico and the Man); Michael Douglas, Michael Lerner (Streets of San Francisco); Sally Knevette, Jacqueline Pearce, Gareth Thomas (Blake’s 7); Marie Osmond (Donny and Marie); Luis (Sesame); Tina Louise (Gilligan's Island); Joan Collins (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous)

OUTSTANDING FACIAL HAIR: Freddie Prinze, Jack Albertson (Chico and the Man); Rob Reiner (All in the Family); Gordon (Sesame Street); Billy Dee Williams (Dan August); Harold Gould (Streets of San Francisco); Richard Masur (Rhoda)

BIGGEST DOPE: Eric (Dungeons and Dragons); Gilligan (Gilligan's Island); Meathead (All in the Family); all the dope fueling the rich and famous (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous); Konstantin Cherenenko (1984 Summer Olympics); Arthur Lavery (Streets of San Francisco); Julie McNulty (Kid with the Broken Halo)

OUTSTANDING HEEL:  Kenny O’Malley (Dan August); Paul Lynde (Donny and Marie); Mary Decker and Zola Budd (1984 Summer Olympics); Archie Bunker (All in the Family); Rex Riley (Streets of San Francisco); Ed and Dick (TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes); Dorothea Powell (Kid with the Broken Halo)

OUTSTANDING VILLAIN: Imposter Mr. Howell (Gilligan's Island); Venger (Dungeons and Dragons); Space Commander Travis, Servalan (Blake’s 7); The System (Chico and the Man, Kid with the Broken Halo); Fred Bowers (Dan August); Lynn Chase (Streets of San Francisco)

OUTSTANDING NON-HUMAN: Michael, Blake (Kid with the Broken Halo); Uni, Dungeon Master (Dungeons and Dragons); Zen (Blake’s 7), Kermit, Cookie, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Count (Sesame Street); Alien Visitor (1984 Summer Olympics); Bathtub (Chico and the Man)

OUTSTANDING DUO: Bert and Ernie (Sesame Street), Donny and Marie, Chico and the Man, Ed and Dick (TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes), Stone and Keller (Streets of San Francisco), Rhoda and Joe (Rhoda), the Howells (Gilligan's Island)

OUTSTANDING BURT/BERT (Listener Award #1): Burt Reynolds (Dan August), Burt Mustin (Rhoda), Bert (Sesame Street)

(Voting ended in tie, winner determined by random number generator)

OUTSTANDING THEME SONG (LYRICS): All in the Family, Donny and Marie ("May Tomorrow Be a Perfect Day"), Chico and the Man, Gilligan’s Island, Sesame Street

OUTSTANDING THEME SONG (INSTRUMENTAL):  All in the Family (end theme), 1984 Olympics, Dan August, Lifestyles ("Come with Me Now" by Bill Conti), Rhoda, Dungeons and Dragons, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Blake’s 7, Streets of San Francisco

OUTSTANDING SONG: “All Night Long” (1984 Summer Olympics); “I Just Want to Celebrate” (Donny and Marie); John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt," "What’s the Name of That Song?, “I’m Going Somewhere,” “Sing” Sesame Street

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING FEMALE: Julie Kavner, Nancy Walker (Rhoda);  Ena Hartmann (Dan August); Maria (Sesame Street); Jan Chappell (Blake's 7); Sally Struthers (All in the Family)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING MALE: Robert Guillaume, Mason Adams, Georg Stanford Brown (Kid with the Broken Halo); Rob Reiner (All in the Family); Norman Fell (Dan August); Harold Gould, Richard Masur (Rhoda); Scatman Carothers (Chico and the Man); Jim Backus, Russell Johnson (Gilligan’s Island); David Jackson (Blake’s 7); Bob, Gordon, David (Sesame Street)

OUSTANDING GUEST PERFORMER: Mickey Rooney, David Soul, Billy Dee Williams, Harrison Ford (Dan August); Burt Mustin (Rhoda); Milton Berle (Donny and Marie); Penny Marshall, Ralph Manza (Chico and the Man); Harold Gould, Michael Lerner, Barbara Baxley (Streets of San Francisco)

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER NAME (Listener Award #2): Rudy Desautel (Kid with the Broken Halo), Dan August (Dan August), Nick Lobo (Rhoda), Roj Blake (Blake’s 7), Count von Count (Sesame Street)

(Voting ended in tie, winner determined by random number generator)

OUTSTANDING SEPTET: The 7 of Blake’s 7, the castaways of Gilligan’s Island, the kids from Dungeons and Dragons

OUTSTANDING FEMALE:  Sally Knevette, Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7), Tina Louise, Dawn Wells, Natalie Schaefer (Gilligan's Island); Valerie Harper (Rhoda); Jean Stapelton (All in the Family)

OUTSTANDING MALE:  Gary Coleman (Kid with the Broken Halo); Carrol O’Connor (All in the Family); David Groh (Rhoda); Freddie Prinze, Jack Albertson (Chico and the Man); Bob Denver, Alan Hale (Gilligan's Island); Burt (Dan August); Mike and Karl (Streets of San Francisco), Gareth Thomas (Blake's 7); Luis (Sesame Street)

BEST EPISODE: All in the Family, “Archie and the Bowling Team,”; 1984 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremonies; The Kid with the Broken Halo; Dan August, “The Manufactured Man;”  Donny and Marie, “September 24, 1976, TV Hall of Fame;” Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, “Charlene Tilton/Julio Iglesias;” Rhoda, “The Honeymoon;” ; Dungeons and Dragons, “In Search of the Dungeon Master;” Chico and the Man; Chico and the Van; TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, “Philip McKeon/Joyce Brothers;” Gilligan’s Island, “Will the Real Mr. Howell Please Stand Up?;” Blake’s 7, "Pressure Point;" Streets of San Francisco, “The Takers;” Sesame Street, ‘Sing-along in Ernie and Bert’s Bathroom.”

BEST SHOW: All in the Family, Dan August, Donny and Marie, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Rhoda, Dungeons and Dragons, Chico and the Man, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Gilligan’s Island, Blake’s 7, Streets of San Francisco, Sesame Street

ROBERT PINE GENIUS AWARD: Paul Darrow (Blake's 7)

Season 12 BATTY Awards

Get ready for the biggest night in retro TV podcasting, the Season 12 BATTY Awards! Actors clash with actors, duos duel with duos, mustaches face off with eyebrows all for the chance to win a coveted BATTY Award! We have some all-time classic shows like All in the Family and Sesame Street up against each other. We also have Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous and TV's Blooper's and Practical Jokes. Will the Quinn Martin shows cancel each other out? Will Donny and Marie cancel each other out? Will someone finally become a BEGOT, and who will win the Robert Pine Genius Award? Tune in, download, and find out!

#podcast #tv #retrotv #seventies #eighties #battyawards #awardshows

 

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