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!
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
When As the World Turns ends on CBS in September it will be replaced by a clone of The View. Remember Dick Clark's attempt with an all male cast? That didn't last long. CBS's new talker will star Sharon Osbourne, Sara Gilbert (Roseanne), Leah Remini (The King of Queens), Holly Robinson Peete (Celebrity Apprentice), Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Julie Chen (The Early Show).
This lady claims she saves a few bucks by bargaining her cable and cell phone bills down.
Leo DiCaprio bailed and won't work with Mel Gibson on the avowed racist's next movie after all. Time to dust off that Lethal Weapon 5 script, Mel. Co-starring your new, white partner played by Billy Baldwin.
Friday, July 30, 2010 - 11:12am
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ED ASNER
Our good friend Jim Longworth, who's written some of the best books about television you'll ever read, has a series of interviews with actor Ed Asner of Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant fame. Not to mention Up and a million other TV shows and movies.
Jim is about as knowledgeable as anyone on the history of TV and never pulls punches in his interviews, so don't miss this. You can find more at: jimlongworth.net, including segments from his interviews with TV Dads at the Museum of Television in LA and talks with Angela Landsbury, Cloris Leachman, Richard Petty, CCH Pounder, Red Skelton, and more. Jim is also a columnist for one of the finest alt-papers in the nation, Yes Weekly.
Here's part one of Jim Longworth's Ed Asner interview where he talks about unsuccessfully auditioning for Mary's show and transitioning to the drama Lou Grant:
Tuesday,
July 27, 2010 - 6:16am
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STOP
CABLE TV!
My love of television was no doubt fueled by growing up in one of the
first communities in the USA to have cable TV. Although Cable originated
in the late-1950s, the Triad area of North Carolina was chosen for expansion
in the late-1960s. The concept was a no-brainer for a city like New
York of San Diego but would people in the fly over states actually pay
for something they were essentially getting for free? It was thought
at one time that only folks who got snowy reception would want Cable.
An aggressive campaign against cable TV was waged 40 years ago by local TV broadcasters and movie theater owners who felt threatened by the idea of multiple channels and clear reception. There was even an ad that ran with the previews before the movies that warned of the slippery slope that would come with the dreaded wire.
Oh, you don't believe me do you? Here it is:
Friday,
July 16, 2010 - 7:50am
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SUPER
CIRCUS
Kevin
Butler remembers a Saturday morning classic - Super Circus.
Originally, the concept was created for radio as a kids game show set against the backdrop of a traveling circus. Claude Kirchner (who at that time was serving as the announcer of a women's panel discussion program on the ABC TV network called Ladies Be Seated) was hired to MC the program and Mary Hartline (who had just finished appearing on a teen radio music program Teen Town) was hired as the program's pretty young assistant.
The series was going to be sponsored by Super Bubble Gum but the sponsor went out of business and the radio series was dropped. To salvage the format the producer Ed Skotch revamped the show as a kid's circus TV series. Taking on former stage and radio character actor Clifford Sobrier as the lead clown "Cliffy," veteran circus buffoon Nick Francis as "Nicky" The sad faced tramp clown and Bardy Patton as a role model for the kids as "Scampy The Boy Clown" while retaining the services of Ms. Hartline as the show's bandleader and sex symbol. Claude Kirchner remained as the ringmaster/announcer.
Super
Circus the TV series debuted on ABC on Sunday evening January 16,
1949. The show featured performances by visiting circus acts, well known
performers, games played by kids in the studio audience for prizes, and
comedy skits performed by the program's resident clowns. There was also
music performed by Ms. Hartline and the band.
Super Circus became a hit with the family and was broadcast from a small studio that was very small (although it looked big on camera) on WBKB channel 7 In Chicago. Bardy Patton outgrew the role of "Scampy" and was replaced in the part by Sandy Dobritch.
The series remained a hit until a week before Christmas, 1955 when the heads of ABC TV and the producers decided to replace the Chicago cast and move the program to WABC TV 7 in NYC. The series was broadcast beginning Sunday December 25, 1955 from the WABC studios with comic character actor, singer and musician Jerry Colonna serving as the new ringmaster, Will B. Able and Jerry Koslowski as the resident clowns, and Ms. Sandy Wirth as the new Queen of the Super Circus Band.
The NYC edition of the series was not as successful as the original format and went off the air in June, 1956. Ms. Hartline went on to hosted her own kid's shows in Chicago Princess Mary's Castle with magician Don Alan and The Mary Hartline Show.
Nicky Francis moved to Florida in 1960 to host his last kid's TV show, The Nicky The Clown Show, prior to that he briefly starred in the Chicago version of Time For Fun in the early 1950's. Claude Kirchner also moved to NYC where he began a long stint hosting numerous cartoon shows and The Bozo Show / Circus Circus Circus for WOR TV 9 in NYC and he briefly starred in NBC's Marx Magic Midway Saturday mornings during the late 1950's and into the 1960's.
Friday,
July 9, 2010 - 12:33pm
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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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The Goldbergs on DVD / Star Trek Bloopers
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/ The Great Timmie Rogers/ Twin Cities Local TV Book
/ William Shatner Sings on Daytime TV in the 1970s /
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Actors in North Carolina
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