My brother forwarded me a report (from a site I do not link to) that Richard Matheson has passed away.
I will try to do a fuller appreciation with links tomorrow.
Archive for the ‘TV’ Category
Obit watch: June 24, 2013.
Monday, June 24th, 2013Obit watch: June 20, 2013.
Thursday, June 20th, 2013James Gandolfini roundup: NYT. LAT. A/V Club.
This makes me kind of sad: one of Gandolfini’s pending projects was “Bone Wars” with Steve Carell, about the 19th Century paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The Cope/Marsh story is fascinating, and I would have enjoyed seeing what Gandolfini and Carell did with it.
Also among the dead: thriller writer Vince Flynn. I’ve never read any of his novels, but I was aware of them: the Mitch Rapp books are ubiquitous in my local grocery stores, right up there with James Patterson and Lee Child. (I don’t say that with any snark intended; when your books are in every grocery store, you’re pretty much doing okay for yourself.)
Thus concludes our broadcast day.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Lawrence sent me an email earlier today noting that I had a 1970s TV show theme going, and asking
Libertarian themes in television.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Sounds like the title of a Community episode, doesn’t it?
But I’ve been trying to think of television shows, especially 1970s television shows, that reflect libertarian themes, and I’m having a hard time coming up with many. For my purposes, I’m defining “libertarian themes” as: self-reliance/entrepreneurship, distrust of big government, and adherence to the non-agression principle.
I don’t remember how well Little House on the Prairie followed these ideas: the books certainly are libertarian (for obvious reasons) but I just don’t remember the TV show well enough to recall how that translated. (I think I avoided the TV show because I had a perception it was a chick thing. Though I do want to see the episode where Pa and Mr. Edwards do a remake of The Wages of Fear.)
Beyond that, pickings seem slim for the 1970s. I think Gunsmoke may have incorporated those themes, but I don’t remember the show well enough to be sure.
There is one show I can think of that, to me, is a nice example of libertarian thought:
Really, what could be more libertarian than a private space program? How about a private space program that intends to make a profit by selling off discarded government property? I seem to recall that there were frequent conflicts with one officious government p—k or another, always resolved in Andy Griffith’s favor – and without much force or violence.
Any other series I may be missing? Feel free to leave comments. They don’t even have to be series from the 1970s: I’ll take anything from the birth of television all the way up until now. It does seem to me, though, that libertarian thought became more and more mainstream and was better represented on television after the 1980s.
Also…
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013I’m going to wait to say anything about James Gandolfini; this is still breaking news, and by tomorrow the papers should have their obits and appreciations up.
I guess this kind of breaks the 1970s television theme, but, you know, you do what you gotta do.
Obit watch: June 19, 2013.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013The A/V club and other reliable sources are reporting the death of legendary musician Slim Whitman.
(Yes, this does count as 1970s television: quoth the A/V Club, “That changed in 1979, with a saturation TV ad campaign promoting a greatest-hits collection by an artist who, the commercials swore, had sold more records than Elvis and The Beatles. The commercial simultaneously revived the 55-year-old Whitman’s domestic career and turned him into a pop-culture punchline.”)
The things you find on YouTube.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Two clips. First, the opening from Movin’ On, the trucker series starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse, with Merle Haggard doing the theme music.
I have fond memories of this series, but the usual (“nostalgia is a moron”) caution applies. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to confirm or refute my thesis: you can watch all of the first season on Hulu for free. (It does not look like the pilot is included.)
Second, a series that I don’t have fond memories of, but which I recall my brother loving when he was a child. It isn’t on Hulu, but people have been uploading episodes to YouTube.
I know, I know: how can you go wrong with a man and a monkey? I guess there’s something about the plots that rubbed me the wrong way, as opposed to what I recall as the relative realism of Movin’ On. On the other hand, I do have to give the series credit: it did with one man (and a monkey) what it took The A-Team four men to do.
(My brother was also a big fan of The A-Team. I never got into it, but I do believe it was a better show than B.J. and the Bear.)
More trivia.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Jacques Cousteau. Islam. Oooooookay. Never heard that one, but whatever gets you through the night.
(It looks like there’s a lot of Jacques Cousteau
(This was prompted by two things. The second one was a conversation with my brother about the Coney Island Applebee’s incident, during which he revealed that his oldest boy is a big fan of Tanked. Now, I admit I didn’t have good taste in television as a child (neither did my brother, but we’ll get to that later), but we’ve gone from Jacques Cousteau exploring the ocean to people building elaborate fish tanks. It makes me kind of sad.)
I’ll just leave this here for Lawrence.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013As I am going out for a bit to run some errands.
Yes, not just fan fiction, but fan fiction that’s a cross-over between two of my favorite shows of the 1970s.
No, I haven’t read it. Do I look stupid?
Wait. You weren’t supposed to answer that last question.
Speaking of Rockford…
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013…does anybody remember that The Rockford Files had a spin-off? You might could even make an argument that it had two spin-offs, though I don’t think I could defend that.
I believe Lawrence remembers Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, as he seems to cringe every time it comes up in conversation. Not that it comes up that often in conversation, as there were only five actual episodes (not counting the pilot) and two crossovers on The Rockford Files.
I actually have fond memories of the show, but those memories are colored by nostalgia: I haven’t seen an episode since they originally aired, and, as we all know, nostalgia is a moron. Here’s an opening and closing from one of the episodes (I believe this is “Escape From Caine Abel”).
Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Especially with the promos for Columbo and Quincy at the end. Man, that was a golden age.
And in case you were wondering “whatever happened to Dennis Dugan”, the answer is: he’s tight with Adam Sandler.
And, what the heck. I couldn’t find a stand-alone clip of “Captain Freedom”, but here’s something I did find.
(I suppose technically “Hill Street Blues” was a 1980s show, not 1970s. But it has a very late 70s feel to it.)
(Oh, and the non-Rockford non spin-off I was referring to? You could argue that Magnum, P.I. traces lineage to Tom Selleck’s appearances as “Lance White” on the show. Not that I would argue that, but it is a defensible position.)
Challenge. Accepted.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013I never did like The Dukes of Hazzard.
However, the Wikipedia page on the General Lee is interesting.
Even if it doesn’t go into specifics about what kind of gas mileage a 1968 or 1969 Dodge Charger gets. (I have seen estimates elsewhere on the Internet ranging from 9 MPG to 11-13 MPG, so perhaps that tweet isn’t too far off. But those estimates and Wikipedia are distinguished by a notable lack of sources.)
Trivia.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013I don't know how I know The General Lee got 11 miles per gallon, but I do.
— Modeled Behavior (@ModeledBehavior) June 19, 2013
What I find even more interesting is that something called a “professional drifter” exists.
At the tone, leave your name and message.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013I found this at the grocery store yesterday, and it amused me even more than the NCIS car. Plus, you know, it is an actual Hot Wheels car, not some cheap knockoff.
I think this is going to wind up in my collection for now, as my brother’s youngest boy is just a little young to appreciate The Rockford Files. However, I am looking for a Hot Wheels Porsche 911, so the three of us can sit at the kitchen table with it and a copy of the June issue of Road and Track and have an intellectual discussion of why the handling on the early 911s was so vicious.
Random notes: May 24, 2013.
Friday, May 24th, 2013Obit watch: Steve Forrest. NYT. A/V Club.
Forrest knocked around movies and TV for a long time, but he is perhaps most famous for this:
I am not ashamed to admit: I loved that show when I was a kid. And I still think it has one of the greatest themes ever, right up there with the original Hawaii 5-0 and Mission: Impossible.
NYPD blues, part 1:
Part 2:
That part seems easy to me. In the wrongful convictions I’ve read about, a recurring theme involves the wrongfully convicted being offered a chance at parole, and being turned down or refusing because they are expected to admit their crime and show remorse. If you didn’t do the crime in the first place, but you’re offered a shot at getting out of prison, do you maintain your innocence even if it costs you that chance? Or do you tell the parole board what they want to hear?
SDC updates.
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013New posts over at the SDC site: a review of Pinthouse Pizza (updates to come) and a post about America’s favorite British chef and the latest episode of his TV show. (Can you say, “batshit crazy”, boys and girls?)
On a semi-unrelated note, I have an App.net account now. I will try to start sending out notifications of new and updated posts here and on the SDC site.