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Better Late Than Never: The Defenders on DVD
In the four years of this blog’s existence I’ve written only about TV shows that have been a valued part of my life for decades. Until now. I had certainly heard of The Defenders (1961-1965), starring...
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Looking Back vs. Looking Forward
Every so often I like to take a step back from blogs about specific shows or actors, and look at the bigger classic TV picture. Lately I’ve been thinking about people who prefer watching older shows to...
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Why We Still Remember Comfort TV Commercials
“We make your daughters dance…wake you to the sun…”“From the freezer to the oven to the table…”“Here’s to good friends, tonight is kind of special…”If you’re old enough to remember the shows discussed...
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Top TV Moments: Laurette Spang
My “TV Moments” blogs usually feature performers with careers that span three or four decades. Not so with Laurette Spang, who was strictly a ‘70s girl. She debuted in a 1972 episode of The Bold Ones:...
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The Duke and The Clampetts: Politically Incorrect Moments in Classic TV History
“The Indians are Coming”The Beverly HillbilliesIn the course of researching a magazine article I am writing on John Wayne, I was reminded of a 1967 episode of The Beverly Hillbilliesin which Mr. Wayne...
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'O' for Overlooked - Harry O
Charlie’s Angels was pitched to ABC as “Harry’s Angels.” The network requested a name change to avoid confusion with another ABC series, Harry O. Forty years later everyone still knows Charlie’s...
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Foreign Relations in 1950s Television
During this contentious election year there is much being said about how people who are different are getting along. The short answer, it appears, is not that well. This isn’t the forum to talk about...
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Halloween on the Ponderosa: Twilight Town
Note: This post was part of the Terror TV Blogathon hosted by the Classic TV Blog Association. You can click here to read the other fabulous entries."Among all of the movie and TV genres, the two most...
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Top TV Moments: Gordon Jump
November is the ideal time to celebrate the career of Gordon Jump. And if you don’t know why, you may have landed on the wrong blog by mistake. Before anyone knew him he spent more than a decade...
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The View-Master: Classic TV One Frame at a Time
Here’s something I’ll bet you didn’t know – View-Master is still in business. Today’s version is touted as a virtual reality device, for which you’ll have to download and launch an app, scan a QR code,...
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The Ten Funniest Situation Comedy Episodes By Decade: the 1950s
This may seem like a silly question but that’s never stopped me before: does a situation comedy have to be funny to be successful? For me, the answer is no. There are many shows from the classic TV era...
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The Ten Funniest Situation Comedy Episodes By Decade: The 1960s
The 1960s was the last decade in which situation comedies favored idealized versions of American life. There would be send-ups of current events, from the British invasion to the spy craze, but the...
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The Ten Funniest Situation Comedy Episodes By Decade: the 1970s
The 1970s are still my favorite Comfort TV comfort zone, not because the shows were inherently better but because they were the ones that I watched through my formative years. It was an era that...
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The Ten Funniest Situation Comedy Episodes By Decade: the 1980s
Whenever I do these decade-by-decade surveys (essential shows, best theme songs, etc.) I always stop at the 1980s, as that is when the Comfort TV era ends. The ascension of cable and VCRs changed both...
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Top TV Moments: Bernard Fox
The 2016 passing of Bernard Fox was not among the year’s high-profile casualties, but for classic TV fans it was another reminder of an era in television that will one day exist only in memory. Most of...
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From Black and White to Color: Which Shows Changed Most?
Much has been written here and elsewhere about the cultural transformation of television in the 1960s. One change that receives less attention is the transition during the decade from broadcasting in...
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Mary
In television there is only one Mary, like there will always be only one Lucy. And when these icons leave us, our sadness is lightened somewhat by the remarkable legacies they leave behind. With Mary...
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Remembering when Nick at Nite Was Still TV Done Right
My affection for television from the Comfort TV era dates back to my earliest childhood memories. But that interest did not fully evolve into a passion until Nick at Nite. Not the current version, of...
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Top TV Moments: Veronica Cartwright
I’d like to open this piece with respect and admiration for both of the Cartwright sisters, two child stars that survived that gauntlet with a successful and graceful transition into adulthood,...
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The Avengers and Cultural Preservation
May this fair dear land we love so wellIn dignity and freedom dwellThough worlds may change and go awry While there is still one voice to cry There'll always be an EnglandThat’s what I see when I watch...
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