Hey, bro—you tired of your girlfriend making you wear matching pink pussy hats, snuggling on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy while she whines that the President’s mean?
Continue reading ‘S.W.A.T.’ (Season 1): ’70s adult action still fun todayTag Archives: 1970s
‘Night Terror’ (1977): Valerie Harper shifts gears in tense suspenser
Next up on our hit list is Rhoda! Now, you can find Valerie Harper’s 1977 NBC made-for-TV movie, Night Terror, for sale on various public domain discs, but make sure you type in Night Drive, because somehow, somewhere, this spiffy, creepy little actioner was re-titled. Or, snag a copy of the 2021 Blu-ray release from Scorpion Releasing and Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
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‘Dying Room Only’ (1973): Cloris Leachman’s deadly vacation
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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‘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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‘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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‘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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‘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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‘Petrocelli’ (Season 1): From the big screen to weekly TV
Your Honor, now that the jury has seen the exhibits concerning Petrocelli’s inception—specifically the big-screen The Lawyer and the made-for-TV movie Night Games, let us proceed to Petrocelli’s first season.
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‘Night Games’ (1974): Petrocelli returns…on TV
In anticipation of reviewing the recent DVD release of the cult 70s TV courtroom mystery, Petrocelli, starring Vanishing Point’s Barry Newman, we thought we’d first look at the two movies that directly led to the creation of that fondly-remembered NBC series, this time with a look at the TV film, Night Games, from 1974.
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‘The Lawyer’ (1970): Petrocelli on the big screen
In anticipation of reviewing the recent DVD release of the cult 70s TV courtroom mystery, Petrocelli, starring Vanishing Point’s Barry Newman, we thought we’d first look at the two movies that directly led to the creation of that fondly-remembered NBC series, beginning with director Sidney J. Furie’s big-screen The Lawyer, from 1970.
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‘The Love Boat’ (Season 3): Everything that’s great & terrible about escapist TV
Anchors aweigh and get another bottle of bleach: they don’t call it “The Love Boat” for nothing!
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‘The Bionic Woman’ (Season 1): 70s hit still enjoyable today
Bionic babe captures reviewer’s heart…all over again.
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‘Two-Minute Warning’ (1976): Disaster film fumbles its way to TV
Strange, cold, perverse thriller from the golden age of disaster movies.
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‘The Love Boat’ (Season 2): Where A-to-Z listers flock to undock
Oh, it’s the same alright. Nothing’s changed on The Love Boat this sophomore season except the guest passenger list and the ever-morphing rationalizations for the rampant sexual harassment plaguing the Pacific Princess. And ain’t you glad they left it alone?
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‘Mannix’ (Season 3): A man’s (& woman’s) perfect fantasy
Only a little more than halfway over, 2017 has been a terrible year for vintage TV lovers, with stars Roger Moore, Mary Tyler Moore, Roger Smith, Adam West, Martin Landau, and Don Rickles passing away, as well as a particular boyhood favorite of mine, Mike “Touch” Connors.
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‘The Love Boat’ (Season 1): TV for the true TV lover
It’s Love, American Style on water! Or, Nine Years of Constant Nautical Fornicating and Not One Sexual Harassment Law Suit!
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‘Deadman’s Curve: The Story of Jan and Dean’ (1978): A true rock tragedy
When I heard recently that actor Richard Hatch had died of pancreatic cancer, my thoughts went immediately not to his time on Battlestar Galactica (arguably his main claim to fame for most casual audiences), but rather to his fine performance in EMI Entertainment’s Deadman’s Curve: The Story of Jan and Dean, a made-for-TV movie biopic of the influential “surf rock” duo that aired on February 3rd, 1978 to big, big ratings for the CBS television network (ask your grandparents what “CBS” and “television” are, kids).
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Drunk TV 