Available through Warner Brothers’ Archive Collection (a real rarity, considering how few MTVs from this era have made it onto disc), ABC’s 1973 telemovie, Dying Room Only, directed by Philip Leacock, written by the master, Richard Matheson, and starring Cloris Leachman, Ned Beatty, Ross Martin, and Dabney Coleman, is a model of efficient, effective suspense.
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Killing the ladies of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’
You like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, right?
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‘The Secrets of Isis’: A Look back at Golden Age live-action on Saturday morning
Hey 70s Saturday morning TV fans—do you remember when the word “Isis” conjured up not some p.o.s. terrorist, but rather the knee-weakening presence of a gently-scolding Joanna Cameron, calmly gazing at you…right before you passed out in pre-teen ecstasy?
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Familiar faces, familiar melodrama on FOX’s ‘9-1-1’
Oh so many faces you’ve seen in oh so many movies and TV shows.
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‘It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!’ (2012): Modern holiday special is a hit!
Classic stop-motion Christmas fun, SpongeBob-style!
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‘Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever’ (2014): Crappy Lifetime movie still making the rounds
Hey, who doesn’t like their Lifetime Christmas cat movies with child rape jokes thrown in?!
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‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’ (2006): Nominee for worst-ever Christmas movie
During this Christmas season, if you want your child to believe that the world is coming to an end from greed and indifference, and for him or her (or god forbid “ze” or “hir”) to think that Santa is an aggressive, violent, psychotic rageaholic with possible suicidal tendencies…then by all means, give them the gift of love and put 2006’s made-for-cable movie The Year Without a Santa Claus under the tree: certainly in the running for the worst Christmas movie ever made.
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‘Peyton Place’ (Part 1): A look back at Shout!’s glorious DVD experiment
“Peyton Place is more complicated than you think.”
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‘Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.’ (Season 1): R.I.P. Jim Nabors
2017 continues to be a terrible year for vintage TV lovers: talented comedian and singer Jim Nabors died today at the age of 87. In honor of this iconic performer, we here at Drunk TV look back at the first season of his beloved 1960s sitcom, Gomer Pyle.
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‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ (1973): A fun warm-up to better Peanuts specials
In the Midwest, the chilly arrival of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas creates the perfect environment to draw the drapes and hunker down to watch some television.
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‘The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t’ (1972): The forgotten tradition of holiday specials
Since you’re not watching the NFL this Thanksgiving…how about some vintage Hanna-Barbera holiday fun?
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‘Magnum, P.I.’ (Season 5): Quintessential 80s detective show still delivers
Sad news: versatile character actor John Hillerman passed away the other day, so we thought we’d dig out a Magnum, P.I. season five review, featuring Hillerman in his most recognizable role as the indomitable Higgins.
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Kids take over the kitchen in ‘Stove Tots’
Cooking shows have been all the rage in the aughts.
‘Rolling Stone: Stories From the Edge’ looks inside the music mag
Have you ever read an issue of Rolling Stone magazine?
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‘The Legend of Lizzie Borden’ (1975): Brilliant made-for-TV splatter shocker
Haunting, dreamy, crazy nightmare thrills. There’s a reason I and several million other people my age and older remember so well The Legend of Lizzie Borden, the 1975 ABC made-for-TV splatter shocker: it’s flat-out brilliant.
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‘Benson’ (Season 1): Robert Guillaume steals the show
With the death of Robert Guillaume, we thought it would be a nice tribute to go back to the first season of Guillaume’s best-remembered role, Benson.
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‘The Possessed’ (1977): Pre-superstar Harrison Ford does TV horror
Not being able to decide whether or not I was going to catch the new Harrison Ford Blade Runner 2049 sci-fi opus this month (the original was such a revelatory experience for me when I saw it in a deserted theater back in ’82, I can’t help but feel I’m going to sully that memory in some weird way if I see this new one), I descended into my DVD dungeon and prowled through the catacombs for something equally Harrison Fordy, and re-discovered The Possessed.
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‘This Is Us’ (Season 1): Grab your tissues – the whole box
Flashbacks, flash forwards, alternate realities…no, this isn’t a review of Lost.
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‘Dynasty’ (Season 1): A soap in search of a villain
As we await the CW’s way more Hispanic, way more gay Dynasty reboot this October, why don’t we go back to the all-white, just a tad gay original ABC primetime soap opera that debuted in 1981.
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‘Petrocelli’ (Season 2): The final courtroom battle
A continuance has been granted, pursuant to improved ratings, for Petrocelli’s second season. Too bad about Starsky and Hutch, though….
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