B E S T / /O F
Sit back and enjoy tales of television long ago
and the latest, freshest entertainment news
-
this blog covers current and classic TV shows
and reviews of upcoming television programs
along with the latest TV on DVD releases
FUN STUFF!
From the press release: MemoryLane.com, the largest archive of nostalgic content, is offering exclusive clips of another American television icon, Johnny Carson! His 30-year run on late night television was chock full of entertaining and humorous skits and monologues. Today, fans can access historical videos spanning 20 years (1972-1992) and re-live the sensation that was The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
In addition, Memory Lane has added 1,001 classic television commercials from some of America’s best known brands featuring memorable characters like Alka-Seltzer's Speedy, the Jolly Green Giant, Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear and Barbie.
From the press release: It's coming soon! The Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is this September 22-24, 2011 at the Hunt Valley Marriott, Maryland
Three days of nostalgic fun! Over 180 vendor tables, celebrities signing autographs, movie room runs all 24 hours, panels and seminars, live old time radio recreations on stage, drive-in movie theater outside the hotel on Friday night and much more!
PATTY DUKE (The Patty Duke Show, Valley of the Dolls)
TONY DOW (Leave It To Beaver)
DAVY JONES (The Monkees)
BILLY GRAY (Day The Earth Stood Still, Father Knows Best)
LAUREN CHAPIN (Father Knows Best)
KAREN VALENTINE (Hollywood Squares, Room 222)
CHARLES HERBERT (The Fly, Invaders From Mars)
HIGHLIGHTS
The History of Buck Rogers Slide Show Presentation
Rare screening of The Great Charlie Chan documentary
The Complete Films of Gummo Marx
Charity Auction for St. Jude Children's Hospital
The Restoration of Classic Motion Pictures
RARE MOVIE SCREENINGS
Hollywood Museum (1965)
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (with Boris Karloff)
BEAUTY PARLOR (the "lost" 1932 movie)
Alfred Hitchcock's ELSTREE CALLING (a rarely seen Hitchcock film)
Olsen and Johnson on Television (1952)
World War II Cartoons
1954 Television Grudge Match
Queen Elizabeth (with the great Sarah Bernhart)
LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN (the 1936 "lost" Nero Wolfe movie)
Tuesday, May 28, 2011 - 7:32am
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QUICK HITS
Mitchell Hadley writes: Just read your piece on Sammy Davis Jr. - I agree completely! On the original show, I've got a small bit about it on the new blog - just put it up last week. Might be of interest.
The sad story behind The Doris Day Show.
This is a page of classic cigarette ads you may enjoy.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 - 10:16am
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OOOH! OOOH!
Watching Car 54, Where Are You? on DVD reminded me of how much I enjoyed the great Joe E. Ross. At least as a kid I liked him, one of those oddball performers that kept popping up here and there for no apparent reason. It certainly wasn't talent.
He started out life in show biz as a burlesque club comic, here's a cleaned up sample of his 1950's act as half of a duo with Dave Starr, crammed full of corny vaudeville routines but funny none the less.
He shot to stardom on Nat Hiken's Sgt. Bilko as the imbecilic mess sergeant, Rupert Ritzik. His trademark phrase "Oooh, Oooh" sprang from an inability to remember his lines, he was stalling until the words finally came.
But sudden fame was like lighting a match to his flame, soon the unlikely TV star was gaining a reputation in town as a hard partier who was undependable on the set. His vivacious appetite for hookers, cigarettes, fatty foods, and booze were fueled by Hollywood's open embrace for that sort of behavior. He returned to the nightclubs when Bilko was cancelled in 1959.
Still, his charm was irresistable to the home audience so Nat Hiken cast him as one of the leads in his new series, Car 54, where Joe E. Ross proved even more difficult to control.
Car 54 was dropped after two terms and a few years later Joe E. Ross landed the show I first saw him on, It's About Time, which I loved as a 9 year old. The kooky combo of Joe E. Ross and Imogene Coca was hard to resist. Again his co-workers complained about his loutish behavior and that one season wonder was the comedian's last primetime series.
In the 1970s he was relegated to doing cartoon voices for Hanna-Barbera where he once again resurrected his "Ooh, Oooh" catch phrase to delight a new generation. Even that career was short-lived. He died in 1982 entertaining in an apartment complex clubhouse in Van Nuys, CA. You can read Joe E. Ross' cautionary tale here.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - 7:56am
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AROUND THE TV DIAL
The Soupy Sales Show is airing on The Jewish Network. Who knew?
Looking to watch classic TV shows on your Sprint HTC Evo G4 - here's the info you'll need to find hundreds of shows, entire runs of series like Batman, Lost In Space, Star Trek, Perry Mason and dozens more.
Katie Couric is leaving CBS News, if anyone cares, and Meredith Viera may be leaving Today.
The complete first season of Car 54 Where Are You? is out on DVD.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - 9:25am
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CLASSIC TV BLOGGING
(On
seeing a former lover for the first time in years) "I thought I told
you to wait in the car!”
- Tallulah Bankhead
Be
sure and check out L. Wayne Hicks' interview with Sherwood Schwartz, it's packed with fascinating
stories about TV's golden age and the creation of Gilligan's Island,
The Brady Bunch, It's About Time, Red Skelton Show and more. There
are lots of stories here I haven't heard before. And what does the legendary
writer/producer think of the current cop of sitcoms? You'll love it!
Check out the Cleveland Classic Media Blog, it covers various subjects from Vintage Cleveland/Northeast Ohio Radio and TV from the 1940's onward using TV Guide ads, photos and many times, vintage TV schedules.
Does anyone have episodes of The Virginia Graham Show? I've never come across a single one. And why isn't The Ghost & Mrs. Muir on DVD yet?
Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 8:05am
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RANDOM STUFF
Here's a neato short called Horse I appeared in recently, the director Seth Hall wants to make it into a feature and this is sort of a sample. I appear at the end as the frenzied announcer. It was fun because I got to improv.
10 Television Shows That Should Be Remade.
Here's a groovy commercial for doctor recommended cigarettes.
This is a very funny clip from New York's version of Romper Room hosted by Miss Mary Ann. The Romper Room teacher gets way flustered when one of the kiddies starts talking about his firearm.
Thursday, March 3, 2011 - 9:05am
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HAPPENINGS
Kevin Butler writes: Actress/singer and dancer Betty Garrett who played Mrs. Irene Lorenzo on "All In The Family" and Edna Babbish the landlady who would later become Laverne DeFazio's (Penny Marshall's) stepmother on "Laverne & Shirley" has died from an Aortic Aneurysm at The Ronald Reagan Medical Center in California, she was 91 years old. Read more about Betty Garrett's life here in the Classic TV site TVparty!
If sales through this site are any indication, WPIX's local kid show The
Magic Garden on DVD is a hot seller. Not surprising, kids who grew up
with this show loved it and want to either relive the experience or share
it with their kids. Will other stations take a look at what pitiful remnants
they have left from their kiddie programs and start thinking in terms
of a DVD release? People are always asking about purchasing copies of local TV shows but they are very very rare as video tape was so expensive back then so it goit reused over and over. Many of the shows were live and never committed to tape except for an emergency episode or a week's worth.
Here's something I liked a lot on DVD -The
Color Honeymooners: Collection 1 - classic Honeymooners routines
stretched to an hour with added musical numbers. I loved it, how can you
go wrong with Art Carney and Jackie Gleason in their classic roles? Collections
2 & 3 are better than 1 which mostly concerns a trip to Europe that
gets pretty outlandish and boring at times.
Saturday, February 19, 2011 - 11:09am
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COMING THIS SUMMER
Two Jack Kirby creations are coming to the big screen, they both look fantastic in the previews but after the last couple of Marvel pictures I'm not so sure. Here's the long trailer for Thor, opening in May, adhering pretty closely to the original concept it appears.
Talk about staying true to the source material - Captain America The First Avenger, opening in July, is even set in World War II. Those of us familiar with the story know how it ends, icily. Note how Cap looks an awful lot like the Joe Simon / Jack Kirby creation from the 1940s.
The new Captain America The First Avenger TV spot:
Monday, February 7, 2011 - 5:23am
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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:
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 / Star Trek Bloopers / Melvin Monster Comics / The Great Timmie Rogers/ Twin Cities Local TV Book / William Shatner Sings on Daytime TV in the 1970s / Kids Are People Too / World's Finest Comics /
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Actors in North Carolina / TV on DVD Reviews
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Thanksgiving TV Shows / Thanksgiving Day Parade TV History / Thanksgiving TV Cartoon Specials of the 1970s /WPIX Thanksgiving Day TV Specials / Christmas Specials
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