It’s been over forty years since CBS’ Dallas, in its sophomore 1978-79 season, moved to Friday nights and started its run as the highest-rated TV series of the first half of the 1980s.
Continue reading ‘Dallas’ (Season 2): A cheatin’, double-crossin’, backstabbin’ legacy begins
‘Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown’ (1975): Emotional & engaging, one of the best Peanuts specials
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.
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‘Dark Shadows’ (The Beginning, Vol. 1): What was it like before vampires & werewolves?
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?
‘Medical Center’ (Season 1): Sexy, dreamy Chad Everett solves your medical & romantic issues
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
‘Captain & Tennille in New Orleans’ (1978): Skip the comedy, get to the music!
When Daryl Dragon, the keyboards half of the smash pop recording duo, Captain & Tennille, passed away on January 2, 2019, we decided to take a 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!
‘Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story!’ (1978): Yo humans, let Benji be Benji!
Seriously, guys: put that damn dog down!
Continue reading ‘Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story!’ (1978): Yo humans, let Benji be Benji!
‘Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics From TV’s Golden Age’: A yuletide DVD collection
Do the things they call “TV series” today have Christmas episodes?
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‘A Flintstone Christmas’ (1977) & ‘A Flintstone Family Christmas’ (1993): One gift, one lump of coal
‘The Waltons’: Iconic show’s 1973 Thanksgiving story revisits old romance
It’s Thanksgiving on Walton’s Mountain, so pass the turkey gizzards and hold off on the back-sass, mister!
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‘The World of Strawberry Shortcake’ (1980) & ‘Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City’ (1981): Charming, unpretentious
‘Happy Endings’ (Season 1): Spunky rom-com finds cult audience in crowded field
Fans of forgotten single-camera 2010s sitcoms can rejoice – you finally got your happy ending!
Continue reading ‘Happy Endings’ (Season 1): Spunky rom-com finds cult audience in crowded field
‘Death of the Territories’ (2018): How expansion & betrayal changed pro wrestling forever
As a WWF-obsessed kid in the 1980s, I was the target audience during pro wrestling’s peak period. But what I didn’t know then was this national explosion of popularity was killing off the last vestiges of rasslin’ as it existed for decades before, and fans of so-called “real” wrestling were mourning its loss.
Continue reading ‘Death of the Territories’ (2018): How expansion & betrayal changed pro wrestling forever
‘Hammer House of Horror’: Early 80s UK anthology sports tight scripts, nimble direction
The Complete Hammer House of Horror is perfect Halloween viewing for anyone interested in 80s UK horror and the Hammer Films studio: the scripts are tight, the direction nimble, and the performances spot-on…with plenty of gore and slight nudity to keep you tuned in.
Continue reading ‘Hammer House of Horror’: Early 80s UK anthology sports tight scripts, nimble direction
‘The Love Boat’ (Season 4): The ABC juggernaut’s highest-rated season
Welcome to the fourth DVD voyage of The Love Boat’s Pacific Princess, where the hook-ups are plentiful and the penicillin shots are always free!
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‘The Eyes of Charles Sand’ (1972): Fun viewing for dark October nights
Flashy but familiar, bait-and-switch ABC Movie of the Week entry.
Continue reading ‘The Eyes of Charles Sand’ (1972): Fun viewing for dark October nights
‘Harry O’ (Season 1): World weary 70s detective is classically quirky…at first
They couldn’t just leave it alone.
Continue reading ‘Harry O’ (Season 1): World weary 70s detective is classically quirky…at first
‘Charlie’s Angels’ (Season 1): 70s original is better than you remember
Can I eat crow? Yes. I can. Can I admit being wrong? Absolutely. And I was wrong–desperately wrong, Mr. Spelling.
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‘Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much’ (2017): How one man ‘cheated’ The Price is Right
2017’s Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much is a documentary about a hero of sorts,
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‘I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later’ (1985): Eden & Co. try to rekindle magic in mid-80s reboot attempt
Sad news: funny actor Bill Daily passed away this week. Pulling the rare trick of appearing in two iconic TV comedies—I Dream of Jeannie and The Bob Newhart Show—Daily was one of those actors lovers of vintage television took to their hearts like a cherished friend. He’ll be missed. So…in that spirit, let’s look at one of his lamer outings: I Dream of Jeannie…Fifteen Years Later.
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‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ (Season 1): Welcome to the 90s, high school
The golden age of Aaron Spelling TV. Wait…no! Every era was a golden age for Aaron Spelling TV, and if you were a teenager in the 1990s, you remember this “golden age” best!
Continue reading ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ (Season 1): Welcome to the 90s, high school
Drunk TV 