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!
RANDOM NOTES
Why oh why did I watch all three seasons of Nanny 911, loving every minute? What's wrong with me?!?!?
The future is here for performers: Louis CK's direct-to-the-net concert has raked in $200,000 in 4 days.
Dick Van Dyke will present the AFI's life achievement award to Mary Tyler Moore on Jan. 29.
Just read a great biography, The Perfect Fool; The Life and Career of Ed Wynn.
Warner Home Video will release Logan’s Run: The Complete Series on April 10, 2012. The 3-disc collector’s set includes all fourteen original episodes. That expensive 1974 sci-fi flop was based on the original novel and popular film. The movie itself was no great shakes but the series descended into a pointless mess, from the producer who a few years later brought us Dallas. Television had no clue how to do science fiction in the 1970s, the thinking was that viewers didn't like sci-fi so make it seem as normal and modern day as possible so the shows usually came off like a bad soap opera.
CBS has aquired the syndication rights to Hot in Cleveland. Let's see, Viacom owns CBS and TV Land... the negotiations must have been brutal! By the way, Betty White scored a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role on Hot in Cleveland. I've been kinda cool to the show this season but this episode, which you can watch free at TVland.com, where the ladies go on a gay cruise with guest stars Laura San Giacomo and Sandra Bernhard was very funny.
Friday, December 16, 2011 - 5:49am
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ROY ORBISON CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
Now that we're into the 12 days of Christmas it's time for some more Holiday spirit. There were few better Christmas TV variety shows than the ones starring Johnny Cash. Is there a nicer version of 'Pretty Paper' than this one by Roy Orbison from Johnny's 1970 Christmas show? (Yeah, there is -- an earlier live version by Roy Orbison.) This isn't on DVD, only Johnny's 1978 & 1979 Christmas specials.
Thursday, December 15, 2011 - 7:09am
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SENTIMENTAL CHRISTMAS JOINT
In the intro to the Happy Days clip presented early I referenced The Andy Griffith Show Christmas storyline from the series' first season in 1960. In a variation on Dickens, a common theme with Christmas episodes, the Mayberry gang teach an old Scrooge the true meaning of the Holiday.
His turnaround comes about after the geezer eavedrops on the celebration
going on at the courthouse, that's where Andy Griffith
and Elinore Donahue sing a lovely, acoustic guitar version of "Away
in a Manger," sure to put you in a reflective mood.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - 11:56am
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TV NEWS
George Clooney and Smokehouse Pictures are producing a film about The Smother Brothers' firing by CBS in 1969. It's an adaptation of David Bianculli’s book, Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Ed Asner is turning up more and more he's been upgraded to series regular on Hawaii Five-0 and will reunite with former co-stars Betty White and Mary Tyler Moore on Hot in Cleveland. The storyline will run next summer when TV Land will roll out some new episodes. Stunt casting is actually routine on this show, it's one of the perks of watching. Jane Leeves got together with Frasier co-star John Mahoney, Valerie Bertinelli reunited with her One Day at a Time co-star Bonnie Franklin and Wendie Malick does the same with Just Shoot Me! co-star Laura San Giacomo in the December 14 episode.
AFI has released a list of its top TV series of 2011 and they are: Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Homeland, Justified, Louie, Modern Family, and Parks and Recreation.
THE US Dollar coin is going the way of the Do Do Bird.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - 7:00am
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CHEERS!
Here's another Holiday themed sitcom, the Hazel Christmas episode from 1965 - compare and contrast.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - 11:00am
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ANOTHER 1970'S CHRISTMAS SHOW
The New Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode from 1972 was another of those 'can't get home' storylines that are so popular in Holiday episodes, this time with Dick stuck in jail for the big day.
Monday, December 12, 2011 - 8:25am
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GREAT CONVERSATION ABOUT SHOW BUSINESS IN THE 1970s
The Alberici Sisters, also known as The Rat Pack Golddiggers, had a rousing conversation with Ed Robertson of TV Confidential the other week, here's the audio for you to enjoy.
The interview starts with a portion of the sisters singing in concert and they get a chance to tell some of the amazing stories from the book Beyond Our Wildest Dreams. Stories about the last glory days of Las Vegas and working with show business legends like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Louis Prima to name a few. Ed is a fantastic interviewer and extremely knowledgeable, it's rare to have a show where show business folks get to talk at length.
Monday, December 12, 2011 - 8:08am
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ONE OF THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS TV MOMENTS OF THE 1970s
Happy Days can be a double blast from the past, it's a 1970's sitcom that takes the viewer back to the 1950s. Fifties' nostalgia was rampant in the seventies for some reason, backlash against the sixties I guess.
'Guess Who's Coming To Christmas,' Happy Days' first Holiday outing, was about people helping people, a common theme that ran through Christmas themed episodes of sitcoms back in the day. In this December 1974 storyline Fonzie misses his bus home and will have to spend Christmas alone. This is an early episode before brother Chuck disappeared and Fonzie developed his softer side. And that's two Christmas episodes Ron Howard had a part in making me cry dammit (The Andy Griffith Show being the other). This isn't just heart-warming it's heart-breaking.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 - 9:33am
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READ PAST TELEVISION BLOG ENTRIES
TELEVISION BLOG
:The Best of TV Blog:
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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.) |
More Television Blog Highlights: Sunday Saturday Morning Cartoons / Rat Pack Golddiggers / Joe E. Ross (Ooh Ooh!) / Sanford & Son meets Two and a Half Men / Ed Asner Interview / Super Circus / Celebrity Fast Food Joints / Eydie Gorme / Carol Burnett Show / Knight Rider Car / 1969 Fall Previews / Groucho! / Crazy Bloopers / Patty Duke Show / 1957 TV set restoration / The Goldbergs on DVD / Wonderama / O. J. Simpson Ads / 1977 TV Shows / Andy Griffith / Three Stooges / Selling Smokes on TV / Eve Arden Book / Classic TV Christmas Sitcom
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PAST TV BLOG POSTINGS:
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