* Classic TV Blog *
Thursday,
October 5, 2006 - 7:33am : Billy Ingram
The latest episode of the pop culture podcast "Just My Show"
includes two interviews with classic TV stars - Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver
on "Leave it to Beaver") and Alan Young (Wilbur Post on "Mister
Ed"). Check it out at: justmyshow.com.
Wednesday,
October 4, 2006 - 12:43pm : Billy Ingram
About those
Movie of the Week telecasts being available on DVD, Bob Huggins tells
us:
In response to the inquiry from the reader about ABC Movies of the
Week (and "movies of the week" from the other networks), the
answer is two-fold:
Some of the higher profile "movies of the week" like "Brian's
Song," "Helter Skelter," "Trilogy of Terror,"
etc., etc. have received full-fledged studio DVD releases. But a number
of "run-of-the-mill" TV movies have, apparently, slipped into
public domain status and are available from companies releasing public
domain material. One such company is Mill Creek Entertainment, a company
that has offered box sets of 50 movies. Their collection titled "All
Stars Classics," while containing a few theatrical films, contains
mostly made-for-TV movies and, to my knowledge, is the largest single
collection of made- for-TV movies. Many of these same movies can also
be found on inexpensive dollar store DVDs . . . so don't expect any kind
of restoration work on these and, to say the least, visual quality is
all over the map. Here are the contents of the Mill Creek collection,
copied directly from their web site(http://www.millcreekent.com/):
1. All the Kind Strangers
2. Anatomy of an Illness
3. Ballad of Andy Crocker, The
4. Betrayal
5. Black Brigade
6. Born to be Sold
7. Borrowers, The
8. Brass Ring, The
9. Catholics
10. Children of the Night
11. Christmas Without Snow, A
12. Coach of the Year
13. Congratulations, It's A Boy!
14. Cry of the Innocent
15. Death of Richie, The
16. Disappearance of Flight 412, The
17. Divorce Hers
18. Divorce His
19. Evel Knievel
20. Firehouse
21. Get Christie Love!
22. Good Against Evil
23. Gun and the Pulpit, The
24. Hanged Man, The
25. How Awful About Alan
26. Hustling
27. Incident on a Dark Street
28. Intimate Agony
29. James Dean
30. Katherine
31. Last of the Belles, The
32. Love is Forever
33. Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring
34. Moon of the Wolf
35. Murder Once Removed
36. New Adventures of Heidi, The
37. Out
38. Panic in Echo Park
39. Pride of Jesse Hallum, The
40. Real American Hero, A
41. Rehearsal for Murder
42. Shell Game
43. Snowbeast
44. Strangers in 7A, The
45. Stunts
46. Tattered Web, A
47. They Call it Murder
48. To All My Friends on Shore
49. Voyage of the Yes, The
50. Wake Me When the War is Over
Mr. Huggins also points us to superseventies.com/made-for-tv_movies.html for a list of some of the better known TV movies available from Amazon. Thanks, Bob!
Monday,
October 2, 2006 - 1:23pm : Billy Ingram
In
addition to celebrating the great Daws Butler, I ran across this commercial
for Donald Duck Orange Juice starring the original voice
of Donald himself, Clarence "Ducky" Nash.
DD OJ was new to the market when this commercial aired, I'm guessing mid-seventies. I'm also guessing that this actually is Nash, I've never seen a photo of the guy - he passed away in 1985 and was the voice of Donald Duck to the end.
Monday,
October 2, 2006 - 11:35am : Billy Ingram
Duane D. Brodnick
asks the question I get most on TVparty - "I'd
like to know if there's any way I can find out whether those popular ABC
Movies of the Week will ever be released on DVDs? I was a fan
of them growing and there are a number of movies I'd like to add to my
collection."
Wish I had a good answer for him!
Monday,
October 2, 2006 - 11:31am : Billy Ingram
I get a lot
of mail and I'll be sharing. For instance, TNBeth47 writes: "I
grew up in the 50's in Audubon, right across the bridge from Philly. I
remember spreading this green oilcloth on the TV screen and a show would
come on, a cartoon, and we would have to draw a door to help them escape,
or a window. Everybody says I am nuts... got an ideas?"
I
can't imagine what she's talking about. An interactive cartoon from the
1950s? No wonder her friends think she's nuts. It's a bit far-fetched.
Except it's real - Winky-Dink and You. Read
about it and watch it here. The series was seen, not just
in Philly, but all over the USA.
Monday,
October 2, 2006 - 11:25am : Billy Ingram
If you're
interested, you can catch me on BRAVO this evening between 4:30 - 6:30pm
EST on 100 Funniest Movies. People seemed to like the
show, you might as well. What else would you be doing, it's not like you
have to work or anything, right?
Monday,
October 2, 2006 - 11:15am : Billy Ingram
Marc Connery tells us more about the Carol Channing / Pearl Bailey
clip below: "Type this into your Netflix search and you will find
the TV program where they sing together - Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey
On Broadway."
I did, both Blockbuster and Netflix has it and you can buy it here!
Speaking of Broadway legends, here's a rare clip with the immortal Ethel Merman belting her lungs out for Texaco. She's really pushing the whole 'trust your car to the man who wears the star' point - but I somehow doubt Ms. Merman was much of a driver. Living in New York as she did, I'll bet bet she traveled by limo most of the time.
Television
wasn't particularly kind to Ms. Merman - heck, the movies weren't much
better - she was just too big for the small screen, I suspect. Is that
why they kept obscuring her face with bright lights in this commercial?
She deserved more than the odd guest appearance and commercials like this.
Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 8:45am
: Billy Ingram
If you're an early riser, as I am, I'll be interviewed on WFDU Sunday
morning at 8:00am. That's in 89.1 in Alpine, NJ but you can listen online
at: wfdu.fm. Host James Rana and I will
be talking aout the classic Halloween TV specials. Don't miss it!
Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 5:55am : Billy Ingram
Netflix vs Blockbuster.com
For a couple of years now, I've subscribed to both Blockbuster's DVD home
delivery service and Netflix, both with the 3 at-a-time (unlimited) plans,
both charging $17.99 a month.
Which is better? I seem to get more films in the mail from Netflix; they have a delivery center in my city whereas Blockbuster goes to a center 150 miles away. Netflix has a larger catalog of TV shows & movies and better availability as well - popular current releases & cult faves that may have a long wait on Blockbuster come up more readily available on Netflix, at least along my preferences.
However, Blockbuster gets the edge by allowing you to bring in your Blockbuster.com DVDs and exchange them for in-store movies. In this way, I got 6 movies over one weekend with 3 more waiting in my mailbox on Friday (that meant I got 9 rentals that week). Couple that with the 2 free in-store coupons you get every month and it's a deal tough to beat. I see now Blockbuster is advertising 4 free in-store rentals a month but I still only get 2.
I've
never much cared for Blockbuster Video stores tho - they're otherwise
too expensive at $4.00 a rental. I have access to an independent store
with lower prices and a much better selection. I'm more inclined to support
the new guy, Netflix - but the most rentals I get with my plan is around
24 a month vs a total of 38 possible rentals for the same period from
Blockbuster.
Better selection and availab
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Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 3:55pm : Billy Ingram
Here's a wonderful few minutes with
two television masters - Merv Griffin and George Burns. Burns
loved to sing old songs from his vaudeville years, tunes that had long
fallen out of favor with the public. He even released an album of these
obscure ditties in the mid-seventies but it didn't exactly inspire a rush
on the record stores.
This clip reminds is a reminder of just how great television could be in the daytime during the 1970s; shows like Merv, Dinah and The Mike Douglas Show offered the opportunity to watch legendary performers in a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. This clip in particular is a glimpse into what it must have been like when George Burns rehearsed.
Merv has released a Best-of DVD set and I wish there were twenty more - we're still waiting for a box set of the Mike Douglas shows. Unlike many daytime productions from 30 years ago, these programs still exist so it's something to look forward to one day.
Thursday,
September 14, 2006 - 8:32am : Billy Ingram
Here's some
rare video clip for you - the theme from The
Saturday Superstar Movie, an ABC animated movie-of-the-week
that ran from 1972-74, obviously, on Saturday mornings.
Here are the bumpers
that played between commercials.
"Neatness
Doesn't Count"
TV
on DVD
Holiday
Specials on DVD
TV
Commercials on DVD
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