B E S T / /O F
Sit back and enjoy tales of television long ago -
this blog covers current and classic TV shows
and reviews of upcoming television programs
along with the latest TV on DVD releases!
TWO TALLUS FOR YOU
Every once in a while I like to You Tube Tallulah Bankhead. I've written before about The Big Show, a star-studded radio extravaganza that gave TV a run for it's money for a brief time in 1950-51. Here the hostess and Groucho Marx trade scripted quips from February of 1951.
One of her last appearances on TV was as the villianous Black Widow on Batman in 1967, you can tell by this clip she wasn't in the best of health, hardly her finest hour. Her very last network appearance was on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967, she died just a few months later.
Thursday, May 27, 2010 8:08am
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TEEN IDOLS
Back in the early-1970s Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy, The Jackson 5 and Donny Osmond were America's top pop idols. There were also the second tier teen stars with bright eyes, girlish hair and white teeth frantically reaching out for approval from the covers of Tiger Beat and 16 magazines.
Jack Wild, Jan-Michael Vincent, Butch Patrick, Leif Garrett, Andy & David Williams, Rick Springfield, Brandon Cruz, Trent Lehman, Mike Lookinland - even Jonathan Frid (TV's Barnabas Collins) were offered up in innocently provocative full color pin-ups for teen girls to tear out and tape to their bedroom walls.
The Hudson Brothers were part of that wave of teenybopper dreamboats thanks to a summer variety series in 1974 followed by a Saturday morning show that fall and a minor hit single, 'So You Are A Star'. You can read all about The Hudson Brothers here and watch clips from their shows.
Riding the Tube I discovered an interview with one of the Brothers, Brett, talking about his moment in the sun. He has a refreshing take on fleeting fame and the Brothers' friendship with John Lennon.
In another portion of the interview Brett Hudson expresses his gratitude for having worked with so many nice people in the industry. In a time when bitterness and slagging off your past associations is epidemic it's encouraging to hear someone's positive take on show business.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 8:18am
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THE LATEST
Charlie Sheen will return to Two and a Half Men in the fall.
Vanessa Williams joins ABC's Desperate Housewives this fall.
Martin Scorsese is working with George Harrison's widow Olivia on a documentary about the late Beatle.
The top 30 rated TV shows last week in total viewers:
1: American Idol - Wednesday (Fox): 19.57 million, American Idol - Tuesday (Fox), Dancing With the Stars - Monday (ABC), NCIS (CBS): 17.23, NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), The Mentalist (CBS), Two and a Half Men (CBS), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS)
10: CSI (CBS), Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS, Thurs. 8 p.m.), Criminal Minds (CBS), The Good Wife (CBS), Desperate Housewives (ABC), Dancing With the Stars - Tuesday (ABC), Glee (Fox), CSI: NY (CBS), 60 Minutes (CBS), Grey's Anatomy (ABC),
20: CSI: Miami (CBS), Castle (ABC), Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Reunion (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Lost (ABC), Brothers & Sisters (ABC, season finale), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC, season finale), House (Fox), Private Practice (ABC, season finale), Bones (Fox), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - how the "N" word reentered our vocabulary thanks to television sitcoms of the 1970s.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 9:18am
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THE LATEST
Well, as predicted, the backlash is well underway. A new Facebook page: Get Betty White to Host an Alien Parasite!
Ronnie James Dio is dead.
Heroes has ben cancelled after four seasons and there may be a finale episode of Heroes and Law & Order.
There was some talk that Conan might tape his new TBS show in the same studio he shot The Tonight Show. Nope, he'll go to the Warner's TV lot: "I can't wait to interview the cast of 'Jersey Shore' on the same lot where they filmed 'Casablanca'."
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - Bette Midler does Sophie Tucker!
Monday, May 17, 2010 11:58am
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THE NEWS
Two voices I enjoy are being heard again: Carole King and James Taylor Live at the Troubadour debuted at #4 on Billboard’s Top 200 selling 77,664 units in the first week and hit #1 in Internet sales with 12,453 physical copies sold online.
A one-hour comedy is coming from TBS called Glory Daze, about college life in 1980's Wisconsin.
Law & Order and Heroes were both cancelled by NBC. The net will be airing a hammer and nail reality show with Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) that will spruce up aging schools.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) has been banned from United Airlines flights after a drunken incident. In 2009 he allegedly assaulted a French airport lounge employee and he was arrested in '08 in the Dublin airport for more drunken misbehavior. Dude, you just play a king on TV!
A woman has come forward with the accusation that Roman Polanski had sex with her in his Paris apartment when she was 16 in the 1980s - four years after the incident that forced him to flee the country.
Saturday, May 15, 2010 5:34am
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IN AND OUT
Chuck has been renewed.
Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) will star in ABC's Detroit 1-8-7 this fall, a light-hearted look at that city's homicide division. The network canned Scrubs (finally!), Better Off Ted, FlashForward and Romantically Challenged but has renewed V.
TNT picked up a drama starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved By The Bell).
Matthew Perry landed a new ABC comedy about a sports writer called Mr. Sunshine.
Friday, May 14, 2010 7:15am
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QUICK HITS
Disney World is going to build the first new hotel in seven years.
ABC has picked up the Michael Chiklis (The Shield) drama No Ordinary Family; he heads a family with superhero like abilities.
No word on whether NBC has picked up Heroes or not. I fell out during the third season.
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in Scientology? This article will shock you, as have all the stories I've heard over the years.
A new Power Rangers series is coming.
The producers of Entourage, one of my favorites, and HBO are developing a new series, this one is a 'female-centric comedy' set in LA.
100,000 copies of Saving Private Ryan Blu-rays were recalled - the audio was FUBAR.
Crime is down overall in the nation, that's been the trend since the 1990s; some say that's because of all those unwanted babies terminated when abortion became legal in 1973. But murder is on the upswing in 4 of the country's biggest cities (NYC, LA, Chicago & Philly) and where I live as well. At least it seems that way.
My prediction: Robin Hood - big bomb!
A woman claimed Sacha Baron Cohen and his crew assaulted her during the filming of Borat and caused her a "brain bleed." The case was thrown out after a video of the incident was entered into evidence showing that nothing of the sort happened. The litigant with the bogus case has to pay $17,000 for the defendant's legal fees. That's the way it should be for all frivolous lawsuits, the loser pays the other's legal fees.
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - Can gays play straight? And George Carlin!
Thursday, May 13, 2010 11:09am
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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Dark Shadows and Charlie's Angels star Kate Jackson claims she's in "financial ruin" because of her business manager, a guy she met through Farrah Fawcett.
“He lectures everybody he arrests. It reminds me a little of (the short-lived CBS series) ‘Armed and Famous,’ where people like Erik Estrada pretended to be a cop. He should stick with movies.”
- John Langley, creator of Cops on Steven Seagal Lawman.
The newest trend is naming your newborns after Twilight characters. "Isabella" is now the most popular name for girls, "Jacob" for boys. And "Cullen" is the fastest rising name - for girls or boys I have no clue. I heard the movie sucked so I have no idea who they are.
Burt Reynolds will guest star on Burn Notice as a burnt out CIA operative.
Comedy Central has cancelled The Sarah Silverman Show. Good riddance!
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - more TV blog stuff!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:43am
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TUESDAY FUNNIES
Golden age of television director Ken Whalen was the guest on a 1973 episode of To Tell The Truth leading to a reunion of cast members from The Garry Moore Show. On the panel you'll see Bill Cullen and Nipsey Russell, two underapreciated TV talents, IMHO. I thought Bill Cullen was one of the wittiest guys on daytime TV in the 1970s, it was largely because of his personality that the game shows he hosted were worth watching.
Here are some Bloopers from The Julie Andrews Hour and Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon doing a corporate spot where they really go off the rails.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 1:10pm
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FRIDAY NEWS
Happy Town on ABC is a big stiff. It will be gone soon. Meanwhile the CW will pick up CBS's Moonlight.
Comedy Central will be airing a scripted comedy called Big Lake in August from executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy.
Another unnecessary remake - Mission Impossible IV is coming starring you know who and directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles).
A prequel to Planet of the Apes is coming next June - hope it's better than the last! I guess as long as they have those expensive masks and costumes they may as well make another.
Elizabeth Perkins, the star of Weeds, is leaving the show.
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - The great Fred Allen and more!
Friday, May 7, 2010 11:00am
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QUICK HITS
The Pill is 50 years old.
New X-Men and Die Hard movies are in the works. Unbelievably there's a third Transformers movie coming as well.
A woman wants $5 million dollars for being humiliated in the Real World house. Oh please. She says she was plied with alcoholic beverages and made fun of when she refused to have get it on with one of the cast members. I suppose that all happened at gunpoint?!?
For the first time, theater owners are being routinely paid to play movie trailers and they're playing more of them as a result - on average five to seven previews per film as opposed to two to four before.
The May 23rd Lost series finale is expanding to 2 1/2 hours.
Today in the TVparty! TV Blog: - Moms Mabley and a preview of the new Betty White sitcom coming in June!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - 10:52am
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This Television Blog is hosted by Billy Ingram, one of the nation's top Pop Culture Gurus and expert on classic TV. Seen on VH1, These TV Blog entries are from the TVparty! website. (I'm not normally this smug - this photo was shot for a film where I played a villain.) |
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