Lawrence sent me an email earlier today noting that I had a 1970s TV show theme going, and asking
Archive for June, 2013
Thus concludes our broadcast day.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013Libertarian 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.
Another Ranger.
Wednesday, June 19th, 2013
Oakwood Cemetery, Austin, Texas.
Information about George Wesley Haley is hard to find online. If I dig up anything else, I’ll do an updated post.
Edited to add: here’s a second photo that I think I like just a bit better. Both of these were taken with the Nikon and 18-55 lens, but the second one used aperture priority instead of the auto setting.
More photography, and errata.
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
I like Ron Franscell’s book The Crime Buff’s Guide to Outlaw Texas
Michener’s grave is actually in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery at 30.3325,-97.753167, at least according to the tag on this photo and Find A Grave.
Consumer note. (#2 in a series)
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013The Apple Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader does not work with the iPhone.
Even if the clerk at the Apple Store tells you it works great with the iPhone, and you can use it to pull photos off an SD Card and onto your iPhone for further manipulation and uploading, it still doesn’t work. Plugging it in gives you a “This accessory is not supported by iPhone.” message.
I point this out here because it seems to be a common question without an answer on the Apple forums.
Much to their credit, the Apple Store gave me a full refund (no restocking fee) on the device, even though I was outside of the return period by one day. (I bought it a little over two weeks ago, but had not taken it out of the package until yesterday because I hadn’t shot any photos until Sunday.)
Random notes: June 18, 2013.
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013I was all set to snark on this NYT headline:
For Its Latest Beer, a Craft Brewer Chooses an Unlikely Pairing: Archaeology
After all, craft brewers going back and doing beer anthropology isn’t exactly a new thing.
However, the paper of record gets a pass from me, because the brewer in question is Great Lakes Brewing Company, a personal favorite of mine.
Sam Kellner believed his son had been sexually abused by a Hasidic cantor. Mr. Kellner lobbied the Brooklyn DA to prosecute the cantor. As a result, he was shunned by his synagogue and other members of the Hasidic community.
The conviction of Mr. Lebovits was reversed:
On the other hand:
The NYT spin on this is that Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn DA, gets a lot of political support from the Hasidic community, and is therefore very deferential to their wishes. But if he is so deferential, why did his office bring the case in the first place? It seems like he could easily have ducked the prosecution by claiming the evidence was insufficient or some other issue. The NYT‘s timeline is a little fuzzy, but I’m picking up at least an implication that Hynes’s office had the tape in their possession at the time of the Lebovits trial.
(Also, if you go back to the NYT article on the reversal of the Lebovits conviction, the extortion plot is mentioned in passing by Dershowitz. But the actual reason given by the appeals court for overturning the conviction is not the alleged extortion plot, but a failure by the prosecution to turn over evidence to the defense in a timely fashion.)