So…in a sure sign of continuing mental and emotional regression, I decided the other night to accessorize a drunk by watching a little cable…only to foggily re-discover we haven’t had cable in years (my first clue? No suitcase-sized box on top of a TV not made to support an envelope). I had been reminiscing about how much I had enjoyed those early years of cable and the rise of specialty channels catering to narrowcasting desires, and I thought: “Why not watch a little Nick at Nite?”
Continue reading ‘The Patty Duke Show’ (Season 1): A light, perfectly pitched time capsule back to a sweeter timeTag Archives: comedy
‘Mister Ed’ (Season 5): The solid laughs continue – an impressive feat!
A solid season of laughs for this beloved sitcom’s penultimate season, with a handful of classic moments. A few years back, Shout! Factory released Mister Ed: The Complete Fifth Season, a four-disc, 26-episode collection that gathered together the CBS sitcom’s last full schedule of shows for the 1964-1965 season. Simply put: hefty laughs throughout most of the episodes here…and that’s saying something for a high-concept fantasy/sitcom that should have burnt out long, long before this point.
Continue reading ‘Mister Ed’ (Season 5): The solid laughs continue – an impressive feat!
‘NBC’s 60th Anniversary Celebration’: As the Peacock turns 100, here’s how it celebrated in 1986!
So apparently, not many of my 13 readers here at Drunk TV know that I have a separate blog—Mavis Movie Madness!…but mostly TV—most probably because absolutely no one reads it. Well, my intrepid editor thought it would be a good idea to cross-reference them, so here’s a piece I wrote about the NBC’s 60th Anniversary Celebration, that aired May 12th, 1986. Enjoy, you booze hounds!
Continue reading ‘NBC’s 60th Anniversary Celebration’: As the Peacock turns 100, here’s how it celebrated in 1986!
‘The Odd Couple’ (Season 3): Every episode is a treat in this exceptional season
Continuing my goal of tying up all the loose ends in my life by December 2025 (don’t particularly care about a will…but I am gonna fix that guy at the paramutial who keeps “accidentally” printing the wrong program number on my track tickets), let’s keep rolling on series reviews, including one of my top five favorite sitcoms, The Odd Couple, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Simply put: it’s bright, sophisticated, urbane TV farce, at its very best.
Continue reading ‘The Odd Couple’ (Season 3): Every episode is a treat in this exceptional season
‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’: A bright spot in Hanna-Barbera’s ’70s output
In case all 17 of my readers were wondering, I’ve been on medical leave here at the Drunk TV offices, and haven’t been posting much. Nothing serious, just life threatening. Fortunately, our fearless leader and editor, Jason (or as he gently chides, “That’s ‘Mr. Hink‘ to you, scumbag!”) has excellent health coverage here so everything’s fine. For him. He has the coverage. I have none.
Continue reading ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’: A bright spot in Hanna-Barbera’s ’70s output
‘The Odd Couple’ (Season 2): Sitcom undergoes drastic production changes. Do they work?
This time of year always brings (drunken) promises of tying up loose ends and making things “right” (how many times can a bookie break your arm? Apparently…lots), so when I sobered up after the holidays (and figured out how to type one-handed), I went back and looked at partially-reviewed titles here on Drunk TV that needed to be completed. And sure enough, one of my top 5 favorite sitcoms, The Odd Couple, had somehow been abandoned after a measly season one review.
Continue reading ‘The Odd Couple’ (Season 2): Sitcom undergoes drastic production changes. Do they work?
‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 4): Dennis is an older menace in boomer sitcom’s final season
Sooo looooooooooong, Dennis…and not a moment too soon.
Continue reading ‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 4): Dennis is an older menace in boomer sitcom’s final season
‘Christmas in the Rockies’ (2020): Romance, lumberjack games, & WWE chicks for the win
Flying hatchets. Running with chainsaws.
These people will do anything for $50,000. But in this economy, who can blame them?
Continue reading ‘Christmas in the Rockies’ (2020): Romance, lumberjack games, & WWE chicks for the win
‘The Oklahoma City Dolls’ (1981): Skip the Super Bowl. Watch THIS instead!
Okay, now look: if you’re stupid enough to actually watch the Super Bowl this year believing that the fix isn’t in, now that the globalist Uni-Party has paid the curiously asexual PSYOP/singer to “hook up” (rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiight) with the bone-headed “clot shot” shill, all in service of the eventual President Bumbles endorsement, well…I don’t know what I can tell you. You’re probably beyond reach.
Continue reading ‘The Oklahoma City Dolls’ (1981): Skip the Super Bowl. Watch THIS instead!
The Ernie Kovacs Collection: Highly-imitated, TV auteur’s classic moments still hilarious today
When the most talked-about, written-about TV programming these days is a probably-closeted entertainer (rather badly) enacting an utterly phony, NDA-mandated “relationship” with a sports figure so everyone can make more money from the rubes who buy this shit…it’s time to descend into the DVD vaults and pull out something that entertains. That actually matters.
Continue reading The Ernie Kovacs Collection: Highly-imitated, TV auteur’s classic moments still hilarious today
‘Mister Ed’ (Season 4): Despite cast changes, sitcom returns to form in funny season
“Bless you, buddy boy; that’s why I love you: you think like a dumb animal.”
Continue reading ‘Mister Ed’ (Season 4): Despite cast changes, sitcom returns to form in funny season
The Three Stooges Collection – Volume Four: 1943-1945 | Primal comedy transcends the ages
Brilliant, surreal physical comedy, where torture and pain are elevated to breathtaking grace.
Continue reading The Three Stooges Collection – Volume Four: 1943-1945 | Primal comedy transcends the ages
‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 3): With Mr. Wilson’s sudden exit, who will replace him?
“We sure are going to miss good ol’ Mr. Wilson.”
Continue reading ‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 3): With Mr. Wilson’s sudden exit, who will replace him?
‘Mister Ed’ (Season 3): Classic sitcom is still funny, but its rigid structure begins to show
Wilbur: “Read one of your comic books.”
Mr. Ed: “They depress me.”
‘The Steve Coogan Collection’: The best from comedian that brought us Alan Partridge!
Was this past Christmas season a bust for you? I suppose after the blizzard, if you had electricity you were way ahead of a lot of people, and being able to afford a can of knock-off Spam in today’s economy put you that much higher up (our Christmas feast consisted of a Quicken loan denial letter and some bouillon cubes). At least we could sit down for some serious holiday TV and movie viewing.
Continue reading ‘The Steve Coogan Collection’: The best from comedian that brought us Alan Partridge!
‘I Dream of Jeannie’ (Season 1): Classic sitcom will always please its Master – the audience
When are they coming for I Dream of Jeannie? I mean…the word “master” is thrown out at least ten times an episode by that scantily-clad genie slave Jeannie. Hasn’t this by now aroused the ire of some pajama-clad soy latte-drinking non-binary “pop culture author” who needs their “they/them” tantrum to be noticed today on Twitter? Isn’t a reckoning coming for this racist/sexist sitcom, and for all those who participated in it and who watch it today? Can’t someone please cancel 90-year-old Barbara Eden before it’s goddamn too late?
Continue reading ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ (Season 1): Classic sitcom will always please its Master – the audience
‘My Three Sons’ (Season 1): A remarkably complex, innovative American sitcom
Escape is the only option today, I fear (if you’re lucky enough to be able to escape, I should add). So if you’re going to retreat, you should go somewhere extraordinary.
Continue reading ‘My Three Sons’ (Season 1): A remarkably complex, innovative American sitcom
‘Mister Ed’ (Season 2): Popular sitcom moves from syndication to CBS
Horse talks. Makes smartass joke. Human master flustered. Viewer laughs. Repeat.
Continue reading ‘Mister Ed’ (Season 2): Popular sitcom moves from syndication to CBS
‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 2): ’60s sitcom’s highest rated season
More of the same this second time around…and that means more laughs from this witty, perfectly-crafted family sitcom.
Continue reading ‘Dennis the Menace’ (Season 2): ’60s sitcom’s highest rated season
‘Mister Ed’ (Season 1): Classic 60s sitcom still delivers the funny
“Why did you talk to me?” “The whole thing is fantastic! I just don’t understand it!”
“Don’t try…it’s bigger than both of us.”
Drunk TV 