Not pulling any punches, 1975’s Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown successfully translates cartoonist Charles M. Schulz‘ conflicted feelings about love and romance within the standard Peanuts TV special framework. It took guts to put something out there that might make little kids sad—as well as giving the adults watching pause for thought. Continue reading ‘Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown’ (1975): Emotional & engaging, one of the best Peanuts specials
Spinning the dial the other day (which is a neat trick with a remote…), I noticed not for the first time that the daily soap opera pickins is mighty slim, shall we say: just four left on the Not So Big Anymore Three (five if you count reruns of the sublime The Doctors on Retro TV, which I never miss). Why, back in my day…(cue nursie: Gramps is at it again). Anyway, if you grew up when your Grammy’s “stories” were still the queens of daytime, you may have heard of—or been lucky enough to catch it yourself—TV’s strangest daily serial: ABC’s supernatural gothic horror romance, Dark Shadows. Continue reading ‘Dark Shadows’ (The Beginning, Vol. 1): What was it like before vampires & werewolves?
Dreamy Dr. Joe Gannon can crack my chest open anytime. In fact, he already did…when he first flashed those cold, cold baby blues at me…. Continue reading ‘Medical Center’ (Season 1): Sexy, dreamy Chad Everett solves your medical & romantic issues
Sad news for the new year: Daryl Dragon, the keyboards half of the smash pop recording duo, Captain & Tennille, passed away January 2nd. Let’s look back at one of the group’s popular ABC TV specials: Captain & Tennille in New Orleans, which originally aired April 3rd, 1978. Continue reading ‘Captain & Tennille in New Orleans’ (1978): Skip the comedy, get to the music!
Seriously, guys: put that damn dog down! Continue reading ‘Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story!’ (1978): Yo humans, let Benji be Benji!
Do the things they call “TV series” today have Christmas episodes? I wouldn’t know, because you couldn’t pay me to watch new television. The last time I tried, it was some CBS Medical Center Meets Doogie Howser, M.D. mash-up, featuring an autistic savant hero who head-ciphers in Hemo the Magnificent graphics (I went straight for the gin bottle…). Why play Russian roulette with your limited holiday time? You know what’s easier when you need your Christmas TV fix? Get a disc of pre-selected old-timey television favorites, like Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics From TV’s Golden Age, from Shout! Factory. Continue reading ‘Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics From TV’s Golden Age’: Shout!’s yuletide DVD collection
Hey, Santa’s little helpers! Did you wake up this morning and discover your favorite Christmastime toon has been taken off the airwaves because 4 Twitter snowflakes found it “problematic?” No problemo—the “Season’s Bleatings” goon squads haven’t erased every offending DVD out there (yet), so let our cheery, slightly inebriated Drunk TV staff recommend some fun Christmas cartoon DVDs you can still order online. Hurry, though—your betters are watching you! Continue reading ‘A Flintstone Christmas’ (1977) & ‘A Flintstone Family Christmas’ (1993): One gift, one lump of coal
