A true television “event,” back when a show could catch fire with the huge, largely unified network TV audience and actually depress attendance at restaurants and movie theaters on broadcast nights (while stressing city sewer systems during commercial breaks), Rich Man, Poor Man, starring Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, Susan Blakely, and a host of familiar TV and movie star names, broke Nielsen records for the newly-minted “miniseries” genre.
Continue reading ‘Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II’ (1976): Rushed sequel series still entertainsTag Archives: drama
‘Someone I Touched’ (1975): What’s going on down there? TV movie answers
…a.k.a.: First, You Drip.
Continue reading ‘Someone I Touched’ (1975): What’s going on down there? TV movie answers
‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ (1976): Racy event television from a lost era
Well…now that the seven angels have blasted their horns, rumbling them into a wild, dark winter, inventing entirely new, terrible beasts while we line up with our seven bowls to meekly beseech, “Please, sir, I’d like some more,” (Lionel Bart’s smash West End musical Oliver!, with book by John the Elder and Heinrich Heine), there doesn’t seem to be much more to do while we await our re-education camp assignments than to watch some vintage television, right?
Continue reading ‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ (1976): Racy event television from a lost era
‘Highway to Heaven’ (Season 1): A powerful, spiritual drama for the 80s
“Who’s your boss?”
“God.”
‘Falcon Crest’ (Season 2): Melodrama & glamour ramp up in 2nd season
“Falcon Crest is a cancer; it contaminates everybody it touches! Get away, if you can!”
Continue reading ‘Falcon Crest’ (Season 2): Melodrama & glamour ramp up in 2nd season
‘Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure’ (1979): Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Mayflower’s landing
Attention! Attention fellow American lockdown inmates!
Continue reading ‘Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure’ (1979): Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Mayflower’s landing
‘The Boy in the Plastic Bubble’ (1976): Impossibly hopeful teen romance scores big
Uh…they couldn’t just adopt?
Continue reading ‘The Boy in the Plastic Bubble’ (1976): Impossibly hopeful teen romance scores big
‘Hey Dude’ (Season 1): Pleasant nostalgia from Nickelodeon’s transition period
Nice memories of a fun tween show that would never get on Nickelodeon’s schedule today.
Continue reading ‘Hey Dude’ (Season 1): Pleasant nostalgia from Nickelodeon’s transition period
‘Shogun’ (1980): NBC’s blockbuster miniseries premiered 40 years ago
Now, what’s a Drunk TV virtual Fall TV season..without some special event television (“We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming tonight because of the f*cking actor’s strike to bring you an NBC Movie Event!”)?
Continue reading ‘Shogun’ (1980): NBC’s blockbuster miniseries premiered 40 years ago
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Season 1): Laughably straight-faced ’80s fantasy
Did you know there used to be a cult following for this show? Yes, seriously. That surely can’t be the case now, can it?
Continue reading ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Season 1): Laughably straight-faced ’80s fantasy
‘Christy’: Fan base for 90s period drama remains strong today
I was aware of Christy when it originally aired on CBS back in 1994, but I never tuned in.
Continue reading ‘Christy’: Fan base for 90s period drama remains strong today
‘Knots Landing’ (Season 2): Long-running series premiered 40 years ago
Do you remember on Dallas when J.R. would sneer about “losers” whose yearly salary wasn’t enough to buy one of his trademark Stetsons? Continue reading ‘Knots Landing’ (Season 2): Long-running series premiered 40 years ago
‘Seasons of the Heart’ (1994): Good performances lift film about awful people
Sometimes you just need some soap-opera suds to kick off the holidays. Continue reading ‘Seasons of the Heart’ (1994): Good performances lift film about awful people
‘Sudden Fury: A Family Torn Apart’ (1993): Solid performances in true crime dramatization
Mill Creek Entertainment has released a DVD and digital download combo pack of Sudden Fury: A Family Torn Apart, Continue reading ‘Sudden Fury: A Family Torn Apart’ (1993): Solid performances in true crime dramatization
‘Dallas’ (Season 2): A cheatin’, double-crossin’, backstabbin’ legacy begins
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
‘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
‘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! Continue reading ‘The Waltons’: Iconic show’s 1973 Thanksgiving story revisits old romance
‘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! Continue reading ‘The Love Boat’ (Season 4): The ABC juggernaut’s highest-rated season
‘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
