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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!
WEEKEND TV
When I was a wee lad there were a few shows I remember coming on erratically on the weekends, I would always search the newspaper TV listings on the weekends to see if they would pop up. These were shows that had basically run their course in syndication and were now relegated to TV's remainder bin.
Highway Patrol, Whirlybirds, Ripcord, Robin Hood, and Sea Hunt come to mind as examples. Not that these shows were anything extra special, standard 1950's TV fare, but they were often the only thing on other than fishing shows and bowling.
In that spirit here's the Christmas episode of Highway Patrol starring Broderick Crawford. If you're wondering why Broderick Crawford was chosen to be a host for Saturday Night Live so early in the series' run it's because of the indelible mark he made on our generation because of endless reruns of Highway Patrol.
Now Sea Hunt, the third episode in the first season of the Lloyd Bridges classic.
Next up an episode of Ripcord starring Larry Pernell & Ken Curtis.
Finally, the theme song from Robin Hood as it was released as a single for kids.
Thursday, June 17, 2010 7:00am
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TELEVISION'S GREATEST YEAR?
A few weeks ago back a reporter contacted me for an article he was writing - since I haven't seen the article pop up anywhere, I'll assume it's a no-go and share with you what I wrote to him. The premise was - if 1939 is considered the greatest year in motion picture history, which year would be television's finest? Here's what I thought:
There is definitely a consensus on 1939 being the greatest year for motion pictures. The fact that it's entirely accidental and completely against all odds only reinforces the notion.
As for a greatest year in TV history, I'm not sure that's so easy to pin down. It would depend on when a person was born, I suspect, as people tend to define their favorite shows as the ones they enjoyed as children.
In terms of sheer quality the 1951-52 season might be my pick—I Love Lucy, Amos 'n' Andy, Red Skelton Show, The Jack Benny Program, Your Show of Shows and You Bet Your Life, would be hard to beat. Add to that the occasional flash of brilliance on Studio One, Kraft Television Theater and Philco Playhouse and you have a banner year. Here you had all of radio's brightest talents scrambling to make some sense out of a new medium and every one of those almost 60 year old shows hold up extremely well.
1965-66 would rank high on my list with Batman, Lost In Space, The Lucy Show, Get Smart, Man From UNCLE, Green Acres, Dick Van Dyke Sow, The Munsters, Hank, Hogan's Heroes, Gilligan's Island, F Troop, and at least another dozen other classics. These are shows that are (mostly) familiar and loved by the modern generation thanks to years of repeats on Nick at Nite and other cable networks. It was also the golden age of the variety show.
If I was one a desert island and could only receive TV shows from one particular year it would have to be 1972-73. I could live happily ever after watching Mary Tyler Moore, Sonny & Cher, M*A*S*H, Dean Martin, Bob Newhart, All In The Family, Laugh-In, Carol Burnett, Room 222, Sanford & Son, Maude, Odd Couple and a handful of others; they would keep me blissfully entertained as I bashed coconuts against the rocks.
Thursday, June 10, 2010 8:08am
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Leave It To Beaver: The Complete Series
Can a show be both charming and funny? Ordinarily I'd say no but here we have the exception to the rule.
Leave it to Beaver is one of those rare shows from the 1950s that still can get me laughing. It's a snapshot of an era that seems quaint compared to today, and many people might imagine it has an antiquaited feel - teens wearing coats and ties, everyone being so polite, neighborly neighbors - but Beaver, as opposed to almost all other 1950's sitcoms, is the cream that rises to the top. There wasn't a better written, directed and acted program from that era, the programs sizzle with a freshness that remains intact, especially with these digitally remastered prints. Black and white never looked so good, the screen glistens thanks to the impeccable production values this program enjoyed.
From the minds of Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher (Amos 'n' Andy, The Munsters), Leave it to Beaver remains relevant because the problems the Cleaver family faced are the same that your family faces today. The solutions may be different; let's face it, no matter how good a parent you are the Eddie Haskells have us all outnumbered now. But these simple storylines are sure to raise a smile of recognition.
Was life really like Leave it to Beaver in the late-1950s? I was too young to remember but some people want you to think so. It did represent an ideal as far as it went, which wasn't very far.
Besides great scripts, this superior cast is the best television had to offer. I normally don't like TV shows with kids, they're so phony most of the time. But not here. Jerry Mathers was such a natural and Tony Dow couldn't be more relatable.
The supporting cast can't be beat. Richard Deacon as Lumpy's father is flat-out hilarious, Beaver's classmates are easily recognizable from your own youth, and Ken Osmond as Eddie Haskell became a TV icon thanks to his devilish niavete. I just love watching Barbara Billingsley's reaction to Eddie which had become quite subtle by year 6. Priceless!
I was surprised to discover that the sixth season was the strongest, this series just kept getting better from year to year. From the jazzy re-imagining of the theme song to the Beaver's newly changed voice, season 6 explored the world of teenagers while the early years focused more on the elementary school experience. One wonders what would have happened if the cast had wanted to go another season and Wally entered college.
One of the reasons I liked year 6 best are the storylines - Wally learns to drive, Wally and Beaver graduate, Wally grows a mustache to impress a girl, Uncle Billy (Edgar Buchanan) watches the boys for a weekend, Beaver tries to get the paperboy fired so he can get the job, Wally dates a bad girl - these are all jumping off points for Connelly & Mosher's unique brand of Americana humor (they also created Mayberry RFD).
And Beaver was one of the few TV series that aired a final episode, a retrospective of past storylines is the last outing.
Every season has it's own bonus features; a couple of audio interviews with Ken Osmond & Frank Bank and Jerry Mathers and Frank Bank are repeated across the yearly collections. Unfortunately, I had some playability problems in the middle of season 6 disc 4 but that could be my players.
This package also contains extras not available when you buy the seasons separately (seasons 5 & 6 have not been released as of June, 2010). On the bonus disc there's a wonderful interview with the cast members from 2005 with Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers (Billingsley is now 95 years old and she looks great here.)
Seriously, this is one of the best retro interviews with a TV cast I've seen. Very revealing, heartwarming; it's nice to know that one of the shows that's come to represent the American ideal actually was populated by the types of folks we imagined. It's a must-see.
Another video retrospective with Ken Osmond and Frank Bank contains a tribute to Hugh Beaumont that actually brought a tear to my eye. I must be a real softie. Also included in the bonus disc is a reproduction of the Leave it to Beaver game board, I actually remember playing this game as a kid. Clever!
Leave it to Beaver The Complete Series is a joy to behold and surely something you'll treasure over the years. 37 discs with 234 episodes - that's a lot of TV watching and every show is a gem, each with its own sparkling personality.
Thursday, June 3, 2010 7:38am
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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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