Brandon's TV Blog

Remembering Whitney Houston

2012-02-12T10:56:00.004-05:00

Like many, my heart was broken when I heard the news that legendary singer and actress Whitney Houston passed away at the age of 48. Such a tragic loss. And way too young. I will always have memories of her music growing up. My personal favorite song of hers was always "It's Not Right But It's Okay." Movies she's worked on such as Cinderella and The Bodyguard have always held a place in my heart.

One other thing about this that I do want to say at the moment: I can't begin to say how disappointing the MTV tribute was late last night. I know we have channels like MTV Jams and VH-1 Soul, but how hard could it have been to air some more Whitney on the actual MTV feed? I think people could have lived without Teen Mom and Jersey Shore reruns for one night.

It was also disappointing that there wasn't a big selection of videos shown. I just don't understand this. What could have happened? Legal issues? The ones shown were nice but it feels like there could have been more done on their end. Especially after the Michael Jackson tribute. Not to mention how do you go from "The Greatest Love of All" to Jersey Shore just like that? And not even a tribute slide or anything after it was over? Really?

But then again this is the same channel that didn't even bother to do much of anything to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its own launch on on its own channel. So I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised.

Here she is performing on an August 1984 episode of As the World Turns:

Rest in peace, Whitney. I will always remember you for your talent.

Millionaire: Jeremy’s Big Win

2012-02-11T13:08:00.005-05:00

This past Wednesday’s episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was a pretty good example of a game show that’s still got it after all these years. Jeremy Blais from Matunuck, RI walked away from the show with one of the biggest amounts of money that could be won.

What really had me enjoying this ride was the raw, genuine emotion from everyone involved. From Jeremy himself, to his family, the rest of the audience, and of course Meredith helped out with her method of hosting. And Jeremy was a really knowledgeable, and in some cases, lucky, contestant.

As more and more of these new primetime high jackpot game shows evolve, I’ve grown more and more sick of the constant overdramatic atmospheres. The obnoxious contestants who are seemingly booked for the sake of being obnoxious, the gimmicks, the ridiculous commercial tosses, which are supposed to add to the suspense, but in actually just ruin any suspense that was there to begin with (I’m talking to you, Who’s Still Standing!). I could go on.

Well, considering this is Millionaire, there was none of that here. Even with my issues with the questions being shuffled, the series proves that it can still put on a high-stakes event properly. Millionaire was one of the first game shows to have the flashing lights, the heart pounding music and the dark studio, and for the most part, at least in this country, they’ve been one of the only ones to put out the proper amount of dark intensity and feeling and still have it pay off in the end.

This was also the perfect balance of levity within the drama. Take for example when Jeremy accidentally high-fived Meredith too hard, and Meredith had me on pins and needles as she did everyone else when Jeremy guessed “Pizza” as the answer to the $250,000 question.

Some people might be wondering, especially since it‘s been quite a while since we‘ve had a top prize winner here, “What’s the big deal? People get up to the second tier somewhat often.“ It’s true, that does happen. And, well, no, Jeremy might not have made it to the top. But $250,000 is a great accomplishment and it was a very entertaining half-hour.

Ringer: What Are You Doing Here, Ho-Bag?

2012-02-11T12:56:00.007-05:00

Yes, you read that correctly. That was indeed the episode title for this week's show. I actually found this to be a very enjoyable episode of the series.

There was the really perfect soapy interaction between Juliet’s mother and Andrew’s ex-wife Catherine, and Siobhan… (or shall we say in this case, Bridget?). Catherine’s certainly a hot mess, isn’t she? Bridget also seems to be improving since she’s stepped in Siobhan’s shoes. Even though Siobhan is always ahead of her, it should only be a matter of time before she figures out her twin sister is actually alive.

What really got to me this week was the whole issue of Juliet and her teacher, Mr. Carpenter. At first I was convinced she was completely full of it when she said her teacher forced himself on her because she already has a very long history of being mistrustful and acting out. Now here comes the surveillance video tape of her and the teacher, and he wanted none of her advances. It looked like she was caught in another lie, but then the other student Tessa shows up and drops the bomb that he did the same thing to her. I don’t know what to think now, but then again, that’s what’s supposed to happen. It's something story wise that I should be confused about. There's the possibility that they're both being honest; or Juliet could be lying, and the other kid could be telling the truth. You just can’t tell this soon and I‘m intrigued to find out what happens next. Plus one would only hope that Juliet wouldn’t actually be low enough to lie about something as horrible and awful as this.

Since it’s debuted, I’ve been hot and cold about how the show’s been progressing. As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar on a new series, it can be confusing and difficult to keep up with at times. But I guess it just goes to show that some shows need a few episodes in the beginning to even itself out and begin to get itself together. Ringer obviously is one of those shows. If it keeps up after this, I think it could be appointment television for a really good length of time.

Single Camera vs. Multi Camera: A Debate

2012-02-09T08:18:00.012-05:00

The current sitcom debate of multi-cam vs. single cam is an interesting one to me.

This is because you have people who nowadays avoid any sitcom, say, Monday nights on CBS, simply and solely because it has a laugh track/studio audience, and only stick to shows like Community, The Office, Modern Family, and shows like them.

I wonder if some people had similar kinds of viewing choices back in the day based on the way a show was recorded. Did some people do the same thing with color vs. black-and-white? Did people ignore the first two seasons of Bewitched because it wasn't in color yet at the time? Did people only watch the color years of The Andy Griffith Show?

Another example: sitcoms being shot on videotape became a common occurrence in the 1970's as opposed to film. So I've been thinking. Did some people in that decade just start avoiding shows like most of the ones done by MTM Enterprises simply because they were shot on film and not videotape like the Norman Lear shows were? Did they do the opposite? You do hear preferences and points being made about both styles, but in the fall of 1983 for example, did people just up and decide to stop watching Newhart in their second year when they decided to switch from brighter and clearer videotape to film? Do they do this today when they choose a classic to watch on television? Of course, it doesn't really help matters for lovers of some filmed shows since a few of them haven't been remastered or touched in any way since the shows were first recorded. But this type of disregard in general really isn't practiced at all. Well, at least I've never heard of it.

There are indeed issues with both single and multi-cam formats. Studio audiences can be obnoxious and every now and then single camera shots go for the "unsteady" and "shaky" angle. Even though it's intentional, that bothers me. But those things themselves involving either format doesn't make or break my desire to tune in and be interested in what's happening, and it doesn't determine whether or not I fall in love with a show. I also have a hard time imagining a significant number of people who watch only current single camera shows in prime time would also disregard classics like I Love Lucy, Cheers, The Cosby Show, The Golden Girls, or Seinfeld or find some way to give them points down because all of those shows had live audiences.

If someone thinks a show is terrible for what it puts out as far as writing and characters go, then that's one thing. For instance, if someone said they didn't care for Two and a Half Men because of how the characters were written, then I'd understand that logic. But some folks today tend to ignore a show based on whether or not there's laughter in the background.

Community is one of my favorite shows currently because I enjoy the characters and it makes me laugh. The same thing can be said for How I Met Your Mother, another favorite.

It just makes the TV geek in me wonder.

Remembering Don Cornelius

2012-02-06T20:19:00.003-05:00

I along with many fans was very saddened to hear of the loss of television pioneer Don Cornelius this past week. Of course he was best known as the creator and host of the long running syndicated hit series, Soul Train.

I didn’t have cable for most of my childhood years, so while networks like MTV were in their prime and some people relied more on sources like those, Soul Train was still a pretty good and official source for myself and my family growing up; finding out some of the latest music, fashion, and trends as they progressed in our society. Soul Train was not just a look into the cultural word for people of color like myself, but for everyone.

Also I must say, I’ve really been enjoying the classic episodes of the show as they’ve been rerun on stations like WGN a few years ago and Bounce TV today. Spike Lee’s description of the show as an “urban music time capsule” to me is spot on. Not only have I enjoyed seeing how various eras of fashion, music, and dance have been represented, but I’ve also discovered several favorite new (well, more like new-old) artists and songs that I probably never would have really thought of thanks to the exposure. Artists like Patti Austin, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr., Atlantic Starr, and Yarbrough & Peoples just to name a few. We also of course can’t forget the exposure given originally to then groundbreaking artists like The Jacksons, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder.

I have a lot of great hope that we can continue to remember his legacy for many years to come with the way networks like Centric and Bounce TV have been broadcasting his signature creation. No other music show can top the brilliance and uniqueness of this one.

Happy Birthday, Betty White!

2012-01-18T13:18:00.005-05:00

I really enjoyed Monday’s NBC special honoring one of the legendary golden girls. All of the classic clips (especially since I'm such a sucker for nostalgia), and all of those legends there in one room. Even a funny moment with the President! Carol Burnett has aged very well. I think my favorite part was the game show salute with Joel McHale, Carol Burnett, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper, and Vicki Lawrence. Just as a side note, I'm thinking Joel would make a hilarious game show host considering how deadpan he reacts to silly answers.

It’s impossible to pick only favorite role of hers for me. So much stuff of hers has been enjoyable. So much stuff from a legend in the female comedy world. From the fierce Sue Ann Nivens on Mary Tyler Moore, to the naïve Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls… in her arguably two most memorable televised roles, she’s managed to brilliantly portray two different and extraordinary characters. There’s also Mama’s Family, her many guest roles on other series, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and who can forget her current role on Hot in Cleveland. And let’s not forget all of her years on game shows, too. Easily one of the best players that ever walked a game show set. I'd say Pyramid and Password were the two shows I looked forward to the most in this particular genre. She could play a word game like no other.

As a person there are a number of things that make me respect her very much: her professionalism, her admiration for animals, her open-mindedness. Just an all-around wonderful human being.

I hope she has many more birthdays to come.

Ugh, ABC Daytime.

2012-01-16T10:49:00.004-05:00

As someone who wasn’t really a big watcher of most of the ABC soaps (but did tune in time to time to see them) I was still pretty disappointed and at times even outraged at the news following the months after hearing that both All My Children and One Life to Live were cancelled.

It’s for me mostly been outrageous because of the deception. I really did not like it when Les Moonves joked about As The World Turns’ cancellation the day the announcement was made, to an interview with Marie Masters’ son-in-law, no less. However, at least there was honesty in the decision to cancel it.

But this situation unfolded differently. We sat and watched as ABC daytime lied to their casts and crews; Susan Lucci was actually even on Wendy Williams as recently as a week before the official word came out saying the cancellation stories as far as she knew didn't come from ABC. Furthermore, have the All My Children people uproot and move cross-country from New York to Los Angeles in 2009 for nothing, and lie to your fans for over a year, calming their concerns about cancellation only to yank the rug out from under them like that. Several articles and stories came out denying the rumors (the most recent article came as late as March 22) which really swelled around the time World Turns ended. I've also never believed that that ABC would suddenly change their minds between March 22 and early last April to end Children and One Life. Particularly since they knew exactly what hosts and shows they were going to replace them with. Oh, and speaking of the replacements, The Chew and The Revolution? Really? Despite what ABC would like to say, these shows aren’t new to daytime at all and are found a dime a dozen elsewhere in the TV world, especially the former.

Then we saw the whole Prospect Park situation unfold. Fans were so happy when they thought their favorite shows were saved. You know, at this point, I don’t know if that company really wanted to put an honest attempt to save these shows or if this was just a ruse to keep fans quiet for a while because there was so much backlash behind the decision to kill these legendary shows.

I think it would have been sad to see a soap leave the air regardless. Even cancelling the shows themselves would have been one thing, but the lying and fake reassurance for as long as ABC did it is despicable.

Will Horton’s Journey: More Insight

2012-01-16T10:18:00.010-05:00

I’m going to get into regular postings with this show like I did with World Turns pretty soon, but I thought I’d take one more chance to expand a little more of what I'm enjoying with Will Horton’s storyline on Days of our Lives, especially with some of the latest twists the story has gone into.

For one thing, Will and Marlena’s relationship has really touched me. I love how the show has very clearly showed that Marlena’s going to be there for her grandson no matter what he’s going through. She’s always willing to sit and listen to his problems and concerns. I was moved to tears when he attempted to come out to her but chickened out in the end and sobbed in her arms on December 29th. Chandler has been brilliant at showing the emotional struggle it takes for one to come out. Just such a wonderfully written duo. I’m loving them as much as I loved Luke and Lucinda on As The World Turns (one of the things on that show they definitely got right). I find myself relating to this in a special way, too, because I hope when I come out to my own grandmother, she’ll be as accepting as Marlena Evans obviously will be.

I'm still pretty moved from last Thursday's episode with Will speaking with Sonny's father and his friend Mateo. You could tell how badly Will wishes he could have a close paternal type relationship like Sonny has. Because he knows he hasn't gotten any of that kind of stability with his own mother, Sami, and her Merry-Go-Round of relationships and marriages. Will thought this might happen with Rafe Hernandez, Sami's latest husband, but after witnessing her affair with EJ DiMera, he thinks any chances of normalcy in the way of a family have been wiped out.

Also, the scenes with Sonny's friend Mateo clearly makes him wonder if he's ever going to have a life where he's out, proud, and free like they are. Not to mention, Jai Rodriguez played really well off of Freddie and Chandler. As Sonny himself said, "He's just not there yet. He's just not there." Also, nice to have confirmation that Sonny indeed knows that Will's gay.

I must admit, I’m enjoying the EJ element in this storyline a lot more than I expected. Will’s attempt at blackmail to get money from EJ to leave Salem is a very accurate display of how desperate people get when they’re living in fear and denial. Some people will attempt anything, no matter how illogical it is, to avoid dealing with their problems head on. The point of EJ knowing Will shot him in the back in 2007 was a really excellent twist, especially since we never saw who actually pulled the trigger. It’s nice that they could add this element in the show with it making complete and total sense. Also it looks like Will doing EJ’s tasks could add a layer to him character wise. I also can’t forget that he has figured out Will’s other big secret.

Some people are wondering how EJ DiMera knows Will is gay already. Does he have expert gaydar or what? For one thing, it can be seen how EJ could interpret Will being reluctant about talking about his “feelings” in the gay way when he overheard one conversation with Will and Marlena. There’s also New Year’s Eve when he saw Will with Sonny and Tyler. What was going through EJ’s mind then? I won’t dismiss him on that. Because even when I take my slash fan hat off, Will has looked more relaxed, more open, and happier whenever he interacts with most other guys: Sonny, Chad, Sonny's friend Tyler, and for the most part, Mateo.

I’ve been enjoying this part of the story and am looking forward to the future. Because as a soap opera storyline goes, blackmail is one of the most classic elements you can have and it‘s being used very well here.

I'm Hooked... Again (And I'm Loving Every Second of It)

2012-01-12T09:52:00.008-05:00

So I don't know how many other people are watching the latest storyline with Will Horton on Days of our Lives. But I have been hooked for several months. I’ve had a lot of excitement for the way things have been going ever since I heard it was finally confirmed that Will Horton is indeed gay.

If you followed me through all the As The World Turns ups and downs (mostly downs, well, creative downs) to the bitter end, you’re probably reading this and asking why. Why am I trying this again? Well, I can answer this. For one, I’ve had an off-and-on interest for this show for a long time. One of the first soaps I ever fell in love with, and it's pretty much the last hardcore favorite soap left thanks to the recent cancellations. So the investment's already there.

The show’s gone through a host of creative changes. The gay characters on World Turns got pretty dismal airtime in most cases throughout their course on screen, even with fan devotion and support of said characters; usually getting 10 minutes a week if we’re lucky. But the screen time issue with Will, although disappointing at first, made sense. Now that the story is in full swing for Will the airtime has actually been pretty impressing. Also if it’s partly because of rewrites, well then, it’s been worth it because especially since the writing change from Dena Higley to Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas, the writing for this storyline has improved. I’m side-eying a couple other things on the show, like Jack/Jennifer/Daniel, and Madison being appointed as CEO of Titan by Victor when he barely knows her, but the writing for Will and Sonny has been rather on point. They've done a good job at staying away from stereotypes.

I can’t begin to describe how brilliantly Chandler Massey has played this role, especially as of late. He’s done such a tremendous job of playing this role realistically. As someone who identifies as gay, I’ve been so moved at how he’s handled the denial aspect of this. I know what it’s like to be gay, and at one point be scared out of my mind and not be ready to discuss it with anyone. Will Horton is a prime example of someone going through something that I and many other people have been trying to show people for many years. Homosexuality is something that in many cases we ourselves have to embrace and accept first before we’re ready to tell this part of ourselves to other people. Even in this day and age for some people it’s longer of a road to go for self-acceptance. If you don’t believe me, look at all the reported suicides we’ve seen over the past two years and much further back than that.

Not only has Chandler been great but I’ve really enjoyed Freddie Smith’s portrayal as the out gay guy in Salem, Sonny Kiriakis, who was introduced back in July. The dialogue they have going with his character and the closeted Will has already proven to be a great dynamic, and I can only imagine how much potential could be met with Sonny helping Will go through this part of his life. I imagine him being a great friend to Will.

Some people are worried about things like affection being handled with both Will and Sonny’s characters, and any other gay characters on the show. That’s a legitimate concern, and with the way things are going now, I’m going to trust the show until they give me a reason not to. And well, if you’ve read this blog between 2007-2008, you know me. If I see a hint of censorship I will not hesitate to sound off about it. Not to mention this is honestly would be the last soap ever to try something like this. I know many consider Days to be a conservative soap, but really? I think those bridges were burned almost 16 years ago when Marlena Evans was possessed by Satan. Speaking of Marlena, she's been such a phenomenal source of guidance for Will during his journey.

So there you have it; reasons why I’m sticking with the storyline. I have been really pleased and I hope things continue to go well.

The ‘Best Drama’ is indeed Supernatural!

2012-01-12T09:14:00.005-05:00

Supernatural fans had plenty to be excited about with the People’s Choice Awards ceremony last night. They scored pretty big. Awards for Best Drama and Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series! That’s right, Supernatural won! Whoo-hoo!

But there’s only one problem… the cast wasn’t there to accept the awards in person and the acceptance speeches were done via videotape. The latest development after this aired was found out from Jensen and Jared’s bodyguard that they weren’t invited to the ceremony.

A large number of us fans are obviously upset and disappointed with this revelation, and for good reason. How awkward could it possibly be to have a series win two major awards and no one from the cast be there to accept either? Best Drama’s about as big as you can get. It’d be one thing if it was one actor and they couldn‘t make it. But if the cast is saying they got no invitation, then that’s pretty messed up considering the attention and fierce competition revolved around said awards, especially with twitter being one of the ways to vote and how popular competitor shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Fringe, True Blood and even The Vampire Diaries are. It's also worth noting that The Vampire Diaries cast was invited since they were also nominated.

Supernatural has been a show that often gets little mainstream press and attention. Even on its own network for a number of years the promotion has been rather minimal and half-hearted at best and has only recently started to pick up a little steam. This was really our “Emmy/Red Carpet” type moment where us fans could have had a really lovely way to earn some of that recognition and respect. And even a little better considering this was entirely a fan-driven award. Somebody from the show had to be free to accept these awards in person. It just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to not invite anyone at all from the cast. Who was responsible for making this decision and why on earth did they think it was a good one?

This fiasco aside, I am very happy for the show. When Supernatural is at its best (and it often is, even with some of the missteps in the sixth season), it has proven to be some of the most compelling television drama you could ever watch. I'm on the edge of my seat right now as Sam and Dean are going through the most intense season yet thanks to the Leviathans and them dealing with the losses of their loyal friends.

In the meantime, I’ll look at the bright side. The show won two significant awards. And well, Jensen and Jared weren’t there in person, but they did take their pants off for us. I mean, that accounts for something, right?

'Bob''s Coming to DVD!

2012-01-11T09:30:00.004-05:00

As reported on TV Shows on DVD yesterday.

Speaking as a fan of Bob Newhart, I obviously couldn’t have been more thrilled to read this. It’s actually funny because I was saying to myself just the other day that this was a pretty good show and that it’s too bad that we’ll probably never see it on DVD. Shows how much I know, right? Also, nice cover art.

This makes me wonder though. If CBS/Paramount Home Video is willing to release a short-lived show starring Bob, then what is Fox’s hold up with the final two seasons of The Bob Newhart Show and the rest of Newhart? Because I’m thinking with this release, and especially if Bob on DVD is a success in any shape or form, fans who pick this up will most likely want to see the remaining years of his other most famous and memorable characters, Dr. Robert Hartley and innkeeper Dick Loudon.

2011 Has Been a Great Year for Classic Television

2012-01-11T09:01:00.008-05:00

I posted this elsewhere before, but I think it's still very relevant now as we're in 2012:

Yeah, I said it. 2011 has turned out to be a great year for classic television.

Now that I've said that, if you're as big an oldies fan as I am, you're probably thinking "What?! But TV Land is terrible. Hallmark's constant schedule shuffling is annoying. GSN only airs the same 4 classics over and over and they don't even show the full runs of them! SOAPnet airs nothing older than 1990 on a regular basis anymore!" If you are thinking any of that, well, you're right.

I haven't had GSN for several months now, and while there are some steps in the right direction, like with Jeopardy! and $100,000 Pyramid being back, I still can't say that I miss having it. I don't expect it to be all oldies all the time, but with most of their library consisting of classics, one would think they'd see more variety with the airings. I tried to keep up with Empty Nest on Hallmark all while they aired the show, and trying to follow it on there drove me crazy with how much it was bounced around. Not only did that show itself move around a lot, but there was more than one occasion where it'd change so fast that the cable guide couldn't keep up. The entire line-up in general often goes through many frequent, and seemingly haphazard changes. And don't get me started on how they edit The Golden Girls. Makes me glad I have all the DVD's at this point. And anyone like me who's followed TV Land for a significant period of time knows that channel is a shell of its former self. SOAPnet is going away, and the 1970's Ryan's Hope reruns already left the airwaves before the channel has even disappeared yet. So, yes. All of that does suck.

But even with all those gripes, classic TV in general is doing fine though. Elsewhere. When I say this I'm referring to over-the-air digital subchannels like MeTV and Antenna TV. We've had MeTV in this area for several months now, and boy, let me tell you, this is a classic TV lover's paradise with many beloved series. Mary Tyler Moore, The Bob Newhart Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Laverne & Shirley, I Love Lucy, The Odd Couple, Taxi, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason... I could go on. This reminds me of what TV Land was like in its prime. When I didn't have cable and was pining for it. A little less than a month ago we got Antenna TV. I couldn't have been happier. Shows like Maude, Too Close for Comfort, Three's Company (and even the spinoffs The Ropers and Three's A Crowd), Soap, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents are now readily available.

Really, if you're interested in seeing some old favorites that you haven't watched in years or if you're new to some others, there's a good chance that you'll find something to enjoy on both of those channels. With the way many cable channels have evolved in the past decade, I never thought we'd have this many shows to choose from and enjoy on TV again. Oh, and did I mention the newest launched digital subchannel, Bounce TV, airs classic Soul Train on a regular basis?

So yes, 2011 has been a very good year in my eyes for vintage television. Most of it's just not on cable or satellite exclusive channels. If you don't have any of these channels, then I strongly suggest you contact your local stations and ask for them to be added.

Empty Nest Marathon This Saturday

2011-02-25T21:00:00.005-05:00

So, so excited! Found out earlier today that Hallmark Channel this Saturday (tomorrow) will be giving a big treat: 24 hours of Empty Nest! Yes, that would be the spin-off of The Golden Girls featuring Richard Mulligan as Dr. Harry Weston.

From the looks of the schedule, they'll be airing the first season in its entirety. Starts at 6 am. Ends at 6 am Sunday. It's really nice to see this show back in syndication. It hasn't been on television in a rather long time. 24 hour marathons can be a lot to handle, I'll admit, but this show for some reason is so rarely shown on television these days I think it'll certainly be worth it. The Golden Girls has since been on in reruns and has constantly gained new fans this way; also all of Golden Girls is out on DVD. It's nice to see the spin-off Empty Nest get some of this attention again. It'd also be nice if we could see some DVD releases from Buena Vista regarding this show, too.

There's something else I noticed: both The Golden Girls and Empty Nest are being featured on the same network again. I don't think that's happened in quite a while!

Online Pick of the Week (2/5): Family Ties Finale

2011-02-05T21:44:00.002-05:00

The pick this week is a really nice look at the last 3 minutes or so of the original airing of the final episode of Family Ties. We see a lot more here than we do with the syndicated version that's aired for many years. One being a nice curtain call for the cast and other videotaped goodbyes from the cast and crew during the real closing credits.

Family Ties was one of the shows that I thought ended on a high note. I say "high note," because sometimes shows run a bit too long and we end up saying "so and so should have ended one or two years ago." This wasn't the case.

Online Pick of the Week (1/29): All-Star Junior Pyramid

2011-01-29T22:28:00.003-05:00

Another classic Pyramid is this week's pick.

This comes from one of my favorite eras of the show, the 1970's, September 2, 1979 to be exact. A special all-celebrity version of the show, with a temporarily different name: The All-Star Junior Pyramid. Celebrities are from ABC prime time shows of the time; including Susan Richardson and Tony Danza, from Eight is Enough and Taxi respectively, and some more from what I'm assuming was a short-lived show at the time. One of them would include a 16-year-old Rob Lowe.

I don't get The CW... I really don't.

2011-01-28T07:33:00.007-05:00

Sooooo... fans were not happy one bit Thursday when they found out that new mid-season premiere Supernatural and Smallville episodes that were going to air tonight were going to be pushed back a week for reruns of The Vampire Diaries and Nikita. And then we found out their excuse:

"Contrary to rumors, it's not about preemptions. The CW hopes that re-airing the "The Vampire Diaries" in a timeslot that doesn't compete with ratings juggernaut "American Idol" will help to boost total viewership."

This reasoning makes no sense. Idol to me is no excuse. They should have known for months that it'd be competition; hell, Idol has existed for longer than the CW.

Not to mention Supernatural and Smallville have both been up against other popular shows on the other major networks for years (CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, The Office, Survivor, etc.) and they never got the kind of treatment The Vampire Diaries and Nikita are getting with Idol. Oh, and they'll just be in the SAME EXACT predicament next week, which makes this schedule exercise all the more pointless.

I think the worst thing about it is the little notice. If they made this decision a week or two ago, then I'm sure most people wouldn't have been so pissed. Or if they were, people would have been like "well, this sucks" and then moved on with their day instead of flooding the CW with tweets and phone calls. And people ARE pissed. Twitter exploded when this news came out. I don't venture into fandom often, but today it proves all the more that fandoms of any kind don't like to be toyed with.

I think most networks would not make schedule decisions like this at the last minute. You don't get all your fans' hopes and expectations up with two months' worth of hype and promotion (especially when said promotion is minuscule in comparison to a show like The Vampire Diaries) and randomly decide to make a change for a ridiculous reason like this with just barely over 24 hours' notice. It's certainly not the end of the world, but it IS a poor programming choice.

Smallville has served The WB/CW for 10 years and is in its final season, and Supernatural has been going for 5 years into 6; both have fans worldwide (and if you don't believe me, Google for pics of Supernatural fan conventions in Australia, the new animated series that's being made for Japan, and check out YouTube videos of promotional ads and so forth for the show in places like the UK, Canada, and Australia) and deserve better treatment than this.

But considering this is the same network that canceled Everwood, treated Reba like crap even though it was one of their most successful shows, and gave 7th Heaven an extra season it desperately didn't need after a much hyped original series finale, I'm not surprised.

Oh, and one final note: I would appreciate it in the future when publications report on Supernatural that they would be so kind as to mention that dudes like the show too. Thanks.

Online Pick of the Week (1/22): $25,000 Pyramid

2011-01-22T21:05:00.003-05:00

What's been found here in my honest opinion is a very good episode of the show. And even though more than 1,000 episodes were done, this can still be narrowed down as a favorite of mine. Markie Post and Richard Kline were terrific and sharp-witted players and proved for some fun and exciting times. Here is no exception.

There's also the fact that this is a studio master, so we see things like the slate and so forth. And well, if you're tired of GSN airing the same season of $25,000, then seeing an episode from this version's early years (original airdate: September 27, 1983) should be a real treat for you.

Online Pick of the Week (1/15): What's My Line?

2011-01-15T21:49:00.004-05:00

From October 1962, this week's online YouTube pick shows how live TV back then had its disadvantages. From an episode of the original What's My Line? mystery guest segment, a random man walks on stage and attempts to start some kind of random presentation of some sort.

What I love is even when John Daly makes it crystal clear that this is NOT the time to make such a thing, random dude here continues to try to present until he's removed from the stage. Makes me think that he had no business there period, let alone during the start of this particular segment. It also makes me think that the people in the control room back then wish they had a five second delay like today.

Lingo Returning

2011-01-15T17:59:00.002-05:00

Some interesting news from GSN regarding Lingo this week.

The good news is that the show is coming back; 40 episodes, starting this June. What some people, especially long time fans of the program, could see as bad news is that Chuck Woolery will not be rejoining the program. Instead we'll be seeing comedian and actor Bill Engvall as the new host for the show. It's also his first time hosting a game show. Shandi Finnessey won't be returning either; though personally the latter doesn't disappoint me too much. No offense to her, or Stacey Hayes, but I found that the show flowed just fine without the need for a sidekick. But there will be a new co-host for the new episodes.

Lingo is GSN's longest-running and one of their most respected originals. It honestly may be much too early to hand a complete judgment on this decision as to whether or not it's a good decision to go on with a new host, but I will say this: they better hope they know what they're doing.

Online Pick of the Week (1/8): The $10,000 Pyramid

2011-01-08T23:41:00.003-05:00

Not to sound like a squealing fanb0i, but OH MY GOD. As a long-time Pyramid fan, I have awaited the possibility of finding a rare episode from the long lost original era of the series. This is what started it all. Before $100,000. Before $50,000. Before $25,000. Hell, before even $20,000; there was The $10,000 Pyramid.

Beforehand, not much was known to exist from the original version of the show, and there still isn't too much, which aired on CBS daytime from 1973, and then moved to ABC a year later. With the exception of about 13 episodes that were found several years ago from special Hollywood taped weeks (the show's original roots were in New York City) and a black-and-white copy of the third episode.

Now we can add another one to the "exists" pile. This episode, which is also a black-and-white copy, is the fifth episode of the premiere week. The guests were June Lockhart and Rob Reiner. The episode was uploaded by the daughter of one of the contestants. A rare find indeed, and a good treat for fans who want to see a show's humble beginnings. Even before the illegal cuckoo sound effect was used.

Online Pick of the Week (1/1): Password Plus

2011-01-01T21:21:00.008-05:00

The online pick this week is the first episode of one of my favorite shows.

It is January 8, 1979. The guests are Elizabeth Montgomery and Robert Foxworth. This was the start of a new era for the classic word game Password. New network (NBC; the previous networks being CBS and ABC), new set, and new music. And a new name for the show, obviously. Password Plus was a perfect example of taking the classic game element of Password and adding something new to it by putting the words into themed puzzles. Some words would make up the description for a person, place, TV show, movie, you name it. When a player reached $300, they won the game and played the bonus round, called Alphabetics.

Alphabetics is a really good example of a fast-paced bonus round. Some fans see what could be considered as a flaw with the illegal clue structure with $1,000 being deducted for each slip-up; though I guess if you were a contestant and got all but one I'm sure you'd be happier with $4,000 instead of $900, no matter how weird it's set up.

A lot of excitement on this episode. Allen was obviously really happy to have the show back on the air, Liz and Robert were good players, and the new puzzle element coupled with the Alphabetics bonus round where someone could win $5,000 added some really nice twists to the show. It's my pick this week.

Online Pick of the Week (12/24): Match Game ‘78

2010-12-24T20:56:00.001-05:00

Posting this now before I forget; one of my favorite televised holiday moments. This is from the Christmas episode of Match Game ‘78. Here, we can see Brett and Charles have fun and dress up in costume for the occasion. This isn’t the first time Charles dressed as Santa. He also did it in 1973 and 1977. Definitely one of the best moments of what’s known as the “post-Richard Dawson” era of the show.

Online Pick of the Week (10/18): Christmas Commercials

2010-12-18T21:54:00.004-05:00

Been scouring and searching YouTube today for some Christmas themed commercials now that I’m finally in the Christmas spirit. A lot of great ones are out there.

A number of them are the favorites that I grew up watching over the years. For instance, this one for Fruity Pebbles; very heartwarming. And this one from Stetson colognes. Also, who can forget this classic Folgers ad, which dates back to 1982 and has been repeated many times over the years since its original television debut? Another favorite: the Coca-Cola Panda ads.

There’s also a long forgotten one from 1991 for Target featuring the legendary Betty White. Cheesy, but fun. About one minute into this clip, the late Bea Arthur does a holiday commercial for a Canadian drug store chain, Shoppers; it is from 1987.

Grocery chain Publix always puts out really cute ads all-year round, and the Christmas season is certainly no exception. Take a look at this one from 1997.

Holiday commercials are my pick for this week. What are your favorites?

Online Pick of the Week: Bob Newhart Show Promos

2010-12-11T23:34:00.002-05:00

A short look but a good look at a couple of promos for The Bob Newhart Show, one featuring Mary Tyler Moore, whose show aired on the same night, which was on Saturday.

Judging from the promo graphics and Suzanne Pleshette’s hair, I’m pretty safe in assuming this is from 1972. As usual with a lot of classic TV, I see the shows themselves, but it’s a rare treat in itself to see how the shows were originally pitched to the viewing audience.

PROMO MARY BOB NEWHART CBS
Uploaded by wny. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

My online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (12/4): Beat the Clock

2010-12-04T19:06:00.005-05:00

A look at the rarely-aired color version of Beat the Clock with Jack Narz is my pick this week. The guest features the late Leslie Nielsen.

This version seems to get some flack from the game show community, but in spite of its cheapness compared to the earlier nighttime version with Bud Collyer, I actually find this era of the series pretty enjoyable. I guess there was really no way at all to match the budgets since one version aired on network prime time television weekly and the other was shot for daily first-run syndication.

I think the celebrities’ appearances are a big regard to this. There’s also been appearances by Bert Convy, Tom Kennedy, Ted Knight, Henry Morgan, William Shatner, Dick Clark, Gene Rayburn, Peggy Cass, and Louis Nye, to name several. It’s been so long since GSN’s aired it on a regular basis, it’d be nice to know who else appeared on it.

This episode was uploaded by a good pal of mine, GarryMooreFan. My pick!

Siskel and Ebert: What’s Wrong With Home Video?

2010-12-04T18:49:00.002-05:00

Granted, the show was obviously movie-oriented, but in seeing this particular episode of Siskel & Ebert, which was done back in 1988, it particularly got my attention enough to blog about it because the points brought up really do remind me an awful lot of the imperfections that have come from TV-on-DVD releases over the past several years. It’s really pretty parallel.

Movies presented in their original form are a big point of the episode. Reminds me of course of the syndication and musical cuts in some TV shows. This would include Rhoda, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, and A Different World, which saw the syndicated cuts of their first seasons on DVD; and shows like WKRP in Cincinnati which got both syndicated prints and heavy amounts of music removed from its first seasons set. Most TV fans of course prefer to see episodes in their original uncut form, especially on DVD; this was especially evident with Roseanne, Rhoda, and Cosby Show's releases. The fandom response was enough to garner the uncut masters for their remaining seasons.

Even as technology evolves, we’ve seen issues such as cropping still come up. For example; take How I Met Your Mother’s first season DVD set, which contains the episodes in full screen format instead of the original 16:9. About four episodes in the Golden Girls season 7 set are cropped to something that resembles a widescreen image even though they originally aired in full screen. It's also interesting that widescreen cropping was an issue then, but today we have instances where 4:3 images mess up and air wrong and we get them squashed on a 16:9 screen.

I loved Roger’s point about the issues of harder to find movies in stores, in his case he‘s referring to foreign movies; but it also reminds me so much of TV-on-DVD releases. These days, as I browse in stores, I find it harder and harder to find a really good selection of shows. Most stores just have recent hits and a few classics (if any). Walmart, well, at least the Walmart in my area, is the biggest example of this. Stores like Fry’s and Best Buy seem to do better jobs with selection. It gets frustrating when looking for a favorite show and honestly I just end up in many instances calling it a day just selecting and looking for certain shows online. It obviously had to be a good thing for fans of rarely sold movies of any kind in stores when the online shopping scene emerged; no more of being let down when perusing for a hard-to-find favorite.

Remembering Leslie Nielsen

2010-12-04T18:35:00.004-05:00

We lost another legendary actor earlier this week. Comedic actor Leslie Nielsen passed away Sunday of pneumonia at the age of 83.

In seeing tributes to him earlier in the week, I was surprised to see that he had done multiple serious roles. In fact, he had many roles of such a nature before the classic comedy Airplane! and the Naked Gun movies came along, which evolved from the short-lived Police Squad!. Roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bonanza, and Hawaii Five-O.

Leslie also appeared on many game shows over the years, including Match Game, Beat the Clock, Password All-Stars, and Celebrity Bowling. The final game show appearance was on the Game Show Marathon in 2006. I really enjoyed his playing of Press Your Luck on that.

My favorite television role of Leslie’s hands down has to be his role as Blanche’s uncle and soon to be Dorothy’s love interest Lucas Hollingsworth on the series finale of The Golden Girls. That was a really great casting choice; he and Bea Arthur really clicked in their scenes.

Surely he’ll rest in peace. Oh, sorry, I couldn’t call him Shirley. Rest in peace, Leslie.

Online Pick of the Week (11/27): Jeopardy's 4000th Show

2010-11-27T23:31:00.005-05:00

The pick this week is a great look back at one of my favorite game shows of all-time, Jeopardy!. It was nice to see the show get to the 6,000th episode mark this season, but I was disappointed not much was done for the milestone. But there's always this particular pick. This was back in 2002 and celebrated the show's 4,000th episode milestone. Not only was this a great look back at the series finest moments, but it also shows how well Jeopardy! has evolved overtime into a pop culture zeitgeist. You'll see this in the second part.

This retrospective also shows why I still show a great desire to follow the current era as well as the previous ones. The show evolves, like such as doubling the money values of the clues, adding the clue crew, getting an HD set, and going on the road, without alienating the main concept of the game.

Jeopardy!'s 4000th show celebration, my pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (11/20): Vintage Mishap

2010-11-20T22:29:00.004-05:00

I suspect some east coast people watching the mini-series Loose Change in 1978 on NBC were not pleased with what they saw here:

As an avid TV watcher... I've seen some weird errors in my time... wrong graphics on the screen, tapes obviously starting too early or too late, a slate accidentally airing, too many commercials, someone obviously accidentally hitting the rewind button by mistake, etc. But this? Takes the cake. How could this have been running for as long as 17 minutes without before realizing something went wrong? How?

Perfect case of vintage network fail if I ever saw this one. My online pick of the week!

GSN's 1 vs. 100: Debut

2010-11-16T10:49:00.004-05:00

When I first heard GSN was going to be the ones to revive 1 vs. 100, I was happy but also a bit curious and skeptical in how they'd actually do it. This is show that I always thought deserved better treatment from NBC. To me it always seemed that they cared more about Deal or No Deal.

I'm not that familiar with Carrie Ann Inaba. I do know she's a judge on Dancing with the Stars -- a show I've never seen a full episode of but actually considered watching at least some of this season for Margaret Cho until she was voted off -- so this is my first real time watching her in action. She does a pretty passable job here. She has a good rapport with the contestants and does a nice job at making the contestants feel at home. Not going to lie, but I do miss Bob Saget here. Though I am confident that Carrie will warm up to the show soon enough.

The questions are pretty good. They are written as well as they originally were. I liked that kind of wit that they carried. No problems there. The video mob wall looks decent; though the in-studio mob really helped add a better feel to the show.

One thing I don't really care for is the Ask the Mob lifeline being removed. You can still ask a mob member for their opinion on a particular question. Basically, a really good part of the show that I didn't see the point in removing.

As far as the prize budget goes, I'm really not disappointed about the money that's being played for. Yes, a million dollars was the highest point on NBC, but it has to be remembered that what we saw on there was a weekly nighttime show on a major network. This is a daily version, on GSN for crying out loud. $50,000 is fine. Even if it aired daily in first-run syndication I wouldn't expect the prize amount to be any higher than 6 figures.

New episodes air at 7:00 PM. Some disappointing elements (no "ask the mob" for instance), but in spite of that, I think this is worth watching as far as originals go. Far more exciting than much of the other batch of original shows that GSN have come and gone within the past year.

Online Pick of the Week (11/13): The $25,000 Pyramid

2010-11-13T22:21:00.004-05:00

Pyramid is my absolute favorite game show, partly because of how unexpected and intense it can be.

From my own personal collection, this $25,000 episode from 1982 is a perfect example. Florence Henderson is one of the celebrity guests on this episode, and while she's usually regarded as one of the show's better players, and she is, on this particular episode? Not so great. The first winners' circle round in particular. But later on in the show there's a pretty good change that has to be seen to be believed. It just goes to show that really anything can happen.

My online pick of the week!

GSN's Thanksgiving Week Marathons

2010-11-13T22:02:00.006-05:00

Marathons for this year:

Thursday, 11/25: Deal or No Deal (syndie 2008-2010, 9:00 AM-6:00 PM)
Friday, 11/26: Wheel of Fortune (episodes from seasons 23 and 24, 9:00 AM-3:00 PM)
Saturday, 11/27: Deal or No Deal (NBC 2005-2009, 9:00 AM-9:00 PM)

Well. Um.

Meh.

I can't say I'm overly thrilled about a Deal or No Deal marathon (oh, who the hell am I kidding? I'm not thrilled for that one bit). Or these particular episodes of Wheel of Fortune airing. But the really good thing that comes out of Friday is that, for once in quite a long while, something's being marathoned that hasn't been run to death yet. Even though it comes from an era of the show that is really not a particular favorite. I wish I could say the same thing about Deal or No Deal.

Online Pick of the Week (11/6): Charlie O'Donnell Tribute

2010-11-06T23:39:00.005-04:00

The clip this week is a nice tribute montage made in honor of television veteran announcer Charlie O'Donnell, who passed away early this week.

I think I'm just going to let this clip with Charlie's purely professional voice speak for itself:

Nice job by user Hondo20132. My online pick of the week.

GSN November Schedule Changes

2010-11-06T23:28:00.003-04:00

starting November 15th:

7:00 PM 1 vs. 100 (GSN's new version)
7:30 PM Deal or No Deal (2008-2010 syndie version)
8:00 PM Family Feud (O'Hurley)
8:30 PM Family Feud (Karn)
9:00 PM The Newlywed Game (GSN's version, w/Sherri Shepard)
9:30 PM Baggage
10:00 PM 1 vs 100 (GSN's new version)
10:30 PM Lingo
11:00 PM Deal or No Deal
12:00 AM Catch 21
12:30 AM Family Feud (O'Hurley)
1:00 AM Family Feud (Karn)
1:30 AM $25,000 Pyramid (CBS 1982-88)
2:00 AM Millionaire (Regis)
3:00 AM Card Sharks (NBC 1978)
3:30 AM Card Sharks (CBS 1986)

Lingo also replaces the Newlywed Game/Baggage hour at 12 noon.

Sorry to see $100,000 Pyramid leaving; especially after finding out that reruns of the show have done well for the network. It would have been really nice if GSN just leased a different season of the show. Or better yet, when a show reaches its 100-200 episode mark of said lease, why not just immediately renew, so we can see the entire run in one go? I have to say that also airing $100,000 Pyramid and $25,000 Pyramid back-to-back was one of the few good schedule ideas to come from GSN within the past year or so.

As far as the rest of the schedule goes... most of it is just meh to me these days. I can't get excited about too much programming wise on GSN these days, sad to say. The only show I'm really excited about and actually try to watch daily at this point in time is Match Game '75. And Millionaire at 2 am? I'm sorry, but that's just sad. Pyramid and Card Sharks are die-hard favorites of mine, and I'm glad to see both shows retain spots on the schedule, they're good shows and they deserve it, but I'm thinking it'd be really nice if they'd get different episodes of both series. Both shows do well so it's not like it'd be a bad investment to lease more shows. Basically at this point, if you don't like seeing the same few shows repeated over and over again for most of the day, then you're pretty much screwed.

Remembering Charlie O'Donnell

2010-11-03T19:17:00.007-04:00

My game show fan heart was truly broken this Monday when I found out about the passing of veteran television announcer Charlie O'Donnell.

Charlie is perhaps best known for his long running announcing role on Wheel of Fortune, a role that he started before Pat and Vanna were even on the series. He was there from its 1974 pilot with Edd "Kooky" Byrnes through the first 5 years of the show's run on NBC daytime, with original hosts Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. He left in 1980 and came back to the show in 1989 and had stayed ever since.

Though his announcing career actually began in 1958, with the series American Bandstand, and Dick Clark's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. Game show viewers have heard him most, not only for his work on Wheel, but on the following series through the past few decades: All-Star Secrets, Card Sharks, Bullseye, Hot Potato, Monopoly, Trivia Trap, Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, The $25,000/$100,000 Pyramid, Let's Go Back, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, To Tell The Truth, The Wizard of Odds, and Wordplay. He was also a news anchor for KCOP-TV.

Charlie always had a voice of gold -- one of the most exciting things about the Wheel of Fortune bonus rounds over the years was his dulcet tone telling us in grand enthusiasm how much the winning contestants had earned that particular day.

Rest in peace to one of my all-time favorite announcers in the television industry.

Online Pick of the Week (10/30): Cheers

2010-10-30T23:07:00.005-04:00

Time for another pick of the week, this time, Halloween related and a classic, and that classic would be a season 5 episode of the beloved sitcom Cheers.

I actually saw this on television yesterday morning and thought it'd be a good enough idea for this if I could find it online. Here we find Carla having trouble finding a new house. Cliff saves the day by informing her that he found a decently priced old house. The only catch is that it was built on top of a 17th century prison graveyard and appears to be haunted.

This episode is called "House of Horrors with Formal Dining and Used Brick" and was written by the late David Angell and directed by the legendary James Burrows. This also has the distinct notoriety of being the series' 100th episode.

It's my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (10/22): Blankety Blanks (Australia)

2010-10-23T22:59:00.006-04:00

The year is 1977. Like the UK version, there's no Gene Rayburn obviously, but it's still a pretty funny show. Hosted by personality Graham Kennedy, the format here on Blankety Blanks is pretty much the same here, except for the cash amounts in the SuperMatch rounds. Unlike the UK counterpart, this one does offer cash in that round. The show was produced by Reg Grundy, best known here in America for the shows $ale of the Century and Scrabble.

It's absolutely crazy how close this version of the show resembles the American version in the looks department. The set colors are exactly the same as ours was back then. Same style opening with the turning wheel, Graham Kennedy's hair looks like Gene Rayburn's did in 1977. Even one of the celebrities laughs like Brett. It's insane. From a physical point of view, it's only a music change, lighted sign and an EMC-51 microphone away from being our Match Game '77.

The episode chosen is the debut of the series. Worth a look to see how another country took Match Game and made it their own.

Remembering Tom Bosley

2010-10-23T22:47:00.004-04:00

Another loss in the television industry; this week, we lost one of the most beloved actors in show business, Tom Bosley, who died Tuesday at age 83 of lung cancer.

My love for the later years of Happy Days has pretty much dwindled because I didn't really care for how silly it got towards the end. This being said though, Howard Cunningham was definitely one of my favorite television fathers. Fair and loving.

It's been really nice seeing the interview clips of the cast mentioning what a nice man Tom was. A real gentleman. It was actually what I expected to hear. I also didn't realize what a broad history Tom had in Broadway. I also read that Tom initially turned down the role for Happy Days, until he read a scene involving Richie and Howard. I was glad to see that he changed his mind; I can't imagine anyone else playing that role so perfectly.

After Happy Days ended, Tom also had roles on Murder She Wrote and The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Online Pick of the Week (10/16): Blankety Blank

2010-10-16T22:40:00.010-04:00

Another fun British game show to enjoy. This time it's Blankety Blank, their take on the classic US game Match Game, which has, for all of its incarnations on the BBC, have been based on the 1973-82 version of the series. The show has had its fair share of hosts: Terry Wogan (1979-83), Les Dawson (1984-90), and Lily Savage (1997-2002).

As seen by the caps here, they've gone throug h a different share of sets, but the game remained the same. There are 2 contestants and 6 celebrities, just like our version. Two rounds with "A" and "B" questions. Questions have blanks to them, naturally, just like our versions did.

The prizes don't quite match up with our version though. They play the SuperMatch round for prizes, and the losing contestants get that old Blankety Blank chequebook and pen. What I like about this version is that while it doesn't have the budget that the US versions had, it's still worth a good laugh. Also, the lack of a big budget really comes in handy for Les Dawson, who is featured as host on this particular episode; who as seen on other clips throughout YouTube, had no problem cracking some great jokes at its expense. And well, who are we kidding anyway? While Match Game, and especially Match Game PM had a perk of offering large sums of money in the SuperMatch rounds, the bigger reason most watch the show is for the comedy, and there's a really good supply of that here.

The episode is from 1988, and as mentioned features the second host, Les Dawson at the helm. Les had a dry, sarcastic wit with his version of the run. It's like he realized the show was comedic and not to be taken too seriously, and with that notion, he ran with it.

Blankety Blank, my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (10/9): Charmed

2010-10-09T22:53:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've caught some Charmed reruns on TNT, but I fell in love with the show about 2-3 years back. Out of all the sisters on the show, Piper is my favorite out of the Charmed ones. Fierce, and doesn't take crap from anyone. She also had one of my favorite magical powers on the show -- the ability to freeze time.

This is one of my favorite scenes of hers on the show. As much as I hated Prue's death, it really did bring out the best in the actresses on the series, especially Holly Marie Combs. Here, we find Piper naturally having a hard time dealing with the death of her sister. And here, while grieving, we find out who exactly Piper is upset with.

This clip from Charmed is my online pick of the week.

Online Pick of the Week (10/2): Vintage Promos

2010-10-02T23:43:00.004-04:00

Been scouring YouTube and been gawking at many of the older ways networks and local stations tried to grasp our attention with the shows they had to offer. I like how promos back then seemed to be more catchy and memorable. This is kind of a missing element from today's shows. I know networks still do a fall preview show, but it seemed to be a much more glamorous event back in the day.

From a local standpoint, WXIN in Indianapolis had a great campaign from circa 1989: "Indiana's Best." Some have their cheesy elements, like WAGA Atlanta's "Good News Atlanta" 1986 ad here with the balloons and such, but it's still very fun and heartfelt. Some of my favorites also include the old ads of WUSA in Washington, D.C. (back then known as WDVM, and before that WTOP).

And I can't make an entry like this without mentioning a few of the network promos that have graced our screens over the past several decades. Including ABC's "Still the One" in 1977, the successful campaign of CBS's in the mid 1980's (1983-86), "We've Got The Touch". About a year later in 1984, NBC had come up with "Let's All Be There," and used it for two years, this was when the network really started to bounce back with success with hits like The Cosby Show.

A good look at nostaglia here with some of these. Vintage station promos, my online picks of the week!

Remembering Stephen J. Cannell

2010-10-02T23:27:00.005-04:00

Another big loss in the world of entertainment, television writer Stephen J. Cannell passed away on September 30 of cancer, at the age of 69.

Cannell had an amazing success as a television writer and was involved in the creations of many different crime drama series, including 21 Jump Street, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Wiseguy, and Hunter. Steven also did some acting roles as well, including guest shots on Silk Stalkings (which he also acted in), Magnum P.I., and most recently Castle, in which he played himself.

I personally loved his idea on how to create a hit show. Basically that if you know whatever you're working on is good if it's something you yourself would want to watch. And also, an amazing clip was just posted by the Archive of American Television/EMMYTVLEGENDS folks over at YouTube, which has Stephen giving advice to all of the aspiring writers out there, especially the ones who are going through a bit of a rough period. It's something I'm really going to take to heart:

And of course, we can't close this entry without this iconic television ending:

More September Classic TV DVD News

2010-09-30T21:19:00.003-04:00

2010 is continuing to turn out pretty well for news in regards to classic TV on DVD.

Night Court season 4 is now available at the WB shop. Artwork looks nice and blends in well with previous seasons. It's also worth noting that this is the first season with Marsha Warfield playing baliff Roz, coming after the passing of Florence Halop. It's nice that Warner decided to find a way to keep getting this show out to its fans. Hopefully something can happen with other abandoned Warner shows.

According to TVshowsonDVD.com; the final season of Dallas will be released January 2011. Also Shout! has also just announced that they've just acquired the rights to the '80's hit Webster. It'll be interesting seeing Webster again, it's been so many years since I personally have seen it. It's on that unwritten list of many shows that I thought would have easily been released and completed on DVD by now.

Online Pick of the Week (9/25): Wheel of Fortune

2010-09-25T23:50:00.003-04:00

While I've shown my disdain with some of the theme weeks used on Wheel of Fortune in the last several years, pretty much because the concept is well overused, this one in particular I found to be pretty entertaining. Retro Week, from 2001. Here we find the show looking back at some of its roots. Including prizes on turntables, a "shopping" wedge, though not the actual thing, it is a nod back to the shopping days of the show where a contestant chooses a prize, and even the old "look at this studio" and "waiting to be won" phrases used in the opening.

I'm rather mixed on the whole shopping business. I like the idea of it, however, some of the prizes were a little... shall we say, interesting. I think I'd rather play for the cash instead.

The clips shown are also a nice treat. As well as trying to re-create the old atmosphere with the turntables and the older backdrops on the video wall. I have my likes and dislikes with the video backdrop wall on the show. I love it during times like Christmas with the fireplace and snow falling in the background. Some other times, not so much.

An episode of Wheel of Fortune's Retro Week, my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (9/18): Celebrity Jeopardy!

2010-09-18T23:57:00.005-04:00

This pick is pretty much from a diehard fanatic's point of view. I love Celebrity Jeopardy!, as I've mentioned in the past. But here features one of my all-time favorite famous people, Melissa Joan Hart; who of course is best for her role as Sabrina Spellman on Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

I'm also enjoying Fred Savage on this. The Wonder Years was great, I also loved Working, haven't seen it in a long time, and I wish it'd be back in reruns again. The other celebrity featured is Alicia Witt, who played the daughter on the sitcom Cybill!

Celebrity Jeopardy!, my online pick of the week!

A Little GSN Schedule Rant

2010-09-18T13:13:00.006-04:00

So I see GSN has decided to slip on more Family Feud with Richard Karn. Taking over the Dawson Monday and Friday daytime slots, at 9:30 am and 12:30 pm eastern. Combine that with the other airings, and basically the show will continue to be run into the ground.

In all honesty, I've really grown tired of all of this constant repetition. And I'm referring to all types of shows when I'm talking about this. Especially in the case of a show like Karn Feud. I don't have any actual hate for his version of the series. Or Richard Karn. That being said, no version of any show needs to air 5 times a day. Period. I don't care what year it's from. I don't care who the host is. I don't care how popular the run is (or seems to be). Especially if it's the same version of a series that has upwards of at least 4 different eras. As much as I was happy to see it return to the schedule, there's no need to air Card Sharks 4 times a day, especially if they only leased a limited portion of both shows. No need to air Deal or No Deal as much as they do. It's a hot property now, but it's going to get stale eventually, and drop off. Just like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. And it'll probably happen sooner if they continue to air it as frequently as they do.

I'm tired of cable networks airing the same limited numbers of shows multiple times a day. I love a lot of shows, but some of them on other channels I barely watch in reruns and just decide to watch DVD's or old tapes instead at my convenience because I don't want to get sick of them because they air so much. It's lazy programming. Especially for a network like GSN, which has many shows from multiple eras at its hands. Hundreds of thousands of episodes at their disposal. It doesn't have to be all classic either. I miss the variety.

ATWT: Reflections, Part IV

2010-09-16T21:18:00.004-04:00

With it being a combination of things, that these are Procter & Gamble/Telenext's final shows, and because we've lost both shows in two years, and considering these were two of my favorite soaps, I also just can't help but compare how this show's final months to Guiding Light's. The last several months of that show were so hard to watch, but that was because the concluding storylines were actually pretty good. And as the weeks went onward, it became harder and harder to say goodbye to the characters that I once fell in love with. I was in tears after Josh and Reva drove away in the final scene. It's also worth pointing out that Guiding Light had far less time to wrap up their stories. As The World Turns was a different story, for the most part, things drove me away from watching.

I'll be more than happy to follow the actors from this show on future projects, because many of them are very talented and what kept people like myself from leaving the show sooner than I actually did. However, if I see a future show with Jean Passanante and Christopher Goutman's names in the credits, I will avoid it at all costs. As far as I'm concerned, those two have no business in the television industry after they've helped murder two lengendary soaps (I'm sure some Another World fans are still a bit miffed at them, too).

Because at the end of the day, the fans will know what's causing the growing decline of daytime soaps, and for the fans of As The World Turns and Guiding Light, they'll always know why those shows were canceled. Higher ups can blame it on "people not being home during the day" or "not having enough time to invest in a daily serial" all they want. Fans will know the truth. That these shows were put in the wrong creative hands for far too long.

ATWT: Reflections, Part III

2010-09-16T21:15:00.007-04:00

But what has to be the most disturbing part out of all of this is that these two in charge actually think they did a good job telling this story. I mean, really. I know that when a character has two love interests, the ending won't please everyone. But still, the ending they came up with is inexcusable. In one of the most simple and classic soap opera storyline plots, the triangle, they managed to piss off virtually every fan involved, in some way, from start to finish! Yeah, real good job, guys. Not.

So much potential for this legendary and meaningful storyline to go out with a bang, and instead it went out with a whimper, all because simple potential was not met and details were not paid attention to; especially with a show in the soap opera genre, because things like key points in the storyline like the end of Nuke's relationship, and well, the relationship period, which was spat on by the writers and they progressed towards the end, Luke's being with Reid, and Luke's character in general were too compromised and manipulated for the sake of mere plot. I can't help but roll my eyes every time when reading about and watching these farewell tributes with the two of them mentioning the history and the legacy of the show. Like they actually cared. Please. They cared when they turned Adam into a psycho who attempted to rape his sister-in-law twice? They cared when they made Carly do disgusting things like fake her impending death in order to get Jack to marry her? They cared when they turned Paul into a complete cartoon? They cared when they made Vienna a complete skank? They cared whenever they decided to drop a character's IQ in order to make an insane plot work? They cared whenever they contradicted story dialogue within even mere WEEKS of each other?

And especially with this storyline in particular, when I think of all the good that came out of this storyline over the past 4 years... people feeling better about themselves when it comes to their sexuality, people who were inspired to come out because of it, people who were homophobic before watching it and had their views on gays changed for the better because of it, the effort spent to fight unfair kissing and on-screen sex bans just because the characters in questioned happened to be gay men, all the money raised for charity, friendships that were made, etc. This story over its entire course had a serious and major impact on people. It's honestly rather jarring watching the infancy of Luke's coming out storyline now, knowing all the character wanted was love and happiness, and knowing the story ends with him grieving like this. Knowing what a horrible way it ended just makes me all the more disappointed.

ATWT: Reflections, Part II

2010-09-16T21:11:00.007-04:00

I also couldn't stand how towards the end this simply started to become a Reid redemption story. When Luke was with Noah, he was usually doing something, something. Writing, getting involved in an election, being involved in a "murder" investigation as half-assed as that story was; doing something other than just being in a relationship with someone. Luke was doing things for the hospital in the beginning of this, but that went away eventually. When Luke was finally with Reid, as in a relationship with him, it was all about Reid. We saw Luke actually giving Reid lessons on how to behave like a grown-up. Also what truly bugged me about the "redemption" element is that the writers never elaborated on why Reid was so nasty in the first place. I mean, yes, Luke blackmailed him into coming to Oakdale, but there had to be more to it than that. Why was he nasty to Bob and Kim all that time in the start? The random patient back on February 25th? The nurse on July 26th? MONTHS after Reid realized he wanted to be with Luke in spite of the blackmail business? Because I'm assuming if you're willing to have several make-out sessions with the guy who blackmailed you, the blackmail thing? Eh, might not be that much of a big deal anymore. But maybe that's just me. Though, anyway, it was simply all a mystery, and instead of finding it intriguing, like I'd guess the show seemed to intend it to be, I found it excruciatingly annoying; because it's extremely, extremely difficult for me to root for someone to get through whatever issues in the end they may have when I don't know what caused said issues to occur in the first place. He wasn't a monster, but his behavior was never explained. And when they tried to, it would be just like what occurred on May 28th. As soon as conversation between Luke and Reid during chess got really deep, and we were about to find out more about him, it was over. Just too much detail about this character was left up for interpretation. To sum it up? Basically, I didn't know why I should care.

Though I must say, as much as I have not liked Reid for about 97% of this storyline, even I find the ending for him to be disgusting and in poor taste. Seriously, THE most rectum-derived insanity I have EVER seen. He really couldn't get out of that car? Um, plot twist fail, show. Heaven knows I didn't want him to end up walking off screen hand in hand with Luke, but there was no reason whatsoever to kill the character. For one thing, it makes absolutely zero sense to spend all this time "humanizing" a character and giving Luke a second love interest only to waste him in the end. Secondly, there's the old standard, negatively stereotyped cliché out there of endings for gay stories in which characters end up either dead or alone and miserable. And with this show, executive producer Chris Goutman and head writer Jean Passanante decided to go for the gusto and include both elements. Also, don't get me started on how pretty much all of the straight couples walk off into the sunset happy while Noah and Luke end up apart and Reid ends up dead. Cliché much?! Just shameful.

ATWT: Reflections, Part I

2010-09-16T21:05:00.003-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've made an As The World Turns-related entry. But I've just been so upset for the final weeks of this show that I seriously needed to take a breather for a while from watching it, for the sake of my sanity.

Especially as a Nuke fan, if someone asked me which part of this story did I enjoy the least, I'd say it was this part. Yes, it's definitely this one, because as much as overtime I grew on the idea of having some kind of triangle, this one was told so badly and so infuriatingly that I ended up taking some time off from watching the show. And as furious as I got during periods of the kissing ban, and things like the Ameera era, I never stopped watching the storyline for an extended period of time. I never dreaded seeing Luke on my screen. Never. My emotion for the characters of the show never went away. Ever. And for the better part of about 4 years, I always looked forward to the fierceness, the boldness, and well, the, hell, adorableness that was Luke Snyder. Always. Up until this mess.

Because they just didn't break up the Luke and Noah relationship and spice things up in a typically soapy manner. They took the Nuke relationship, balled it up, and threw it in the garbage. I will never understand why anyone running this show could have called this storyline a triangle. Because, it was not. Not a triangle. Not. A triangle involves three characters getting all three points of view equally and firmly established. One member of said triangle does not disappear from the screen for about 2 months. And the worst in that has to be this show lying about why Noah wasn't on so much in this story.

So much of it made no sense. Why did they keep going back and forth on who broke up with whom? Luke broke up with Noah. Period. On March 16th. And also, why did Reid seem to be on Noah's side during the breakup on March 17th, but then did a complete 180 with no explanation in a manner of weeks with him being completely on Luke's side? Oh, and speaking of taking Luke's side, where in the world did Reid have any right telling off anyone on how badly he treated Luke in the beginning? Where? For months he treated Luke himself like complete dirt, even after Reid realized he wanted him. Why couldn't they decide on when Luke and Reid's relationship actually began? I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash watching this.

Millionaire: Season Premiere

2010-09-14T02:23:00.002-04:00

The biggest thing I noticed is that, well, as far as I'm concerned, the show pretty much resembles the copycats that came out after Millionaire instead of Millionaire now. I'm not a fan of the questions being randomized. I think that bothers me more than any of the cosmetic changes would have.

The music I don't have too much a problem with after listening to it in action, both on the show and on the show's website when playing the online game. It's got a dramatic element; my TV speakers thumped like crazy to the sound of the question cues, particularly when the "heartbeat" part of the cues played.

I have my issues with the format changes, but Meredith is still at her best as a host. Over the years I've looked forward to seeing her emcee Millionaire, and from this aspect of it all, that hasn't changed one bit. She is still bringing her "A" game as far as I'm concerned.

Family Feud: Steve Harvey's Debut

2010-09-14T02:19:00.002-04:00

Well, it's finally a new day for Feud. Steve Harvey's first shows aired.

Just as I figured I would be after seeing the preview clips on YouTube, I really am impressed with Steve Harvey. I love Steve's interaction with the contestants. His reactions to the answers that are given are priceless. Especially when they give less-than-stellar answers. I have to repeat myself here: I am so happy to see that the bad answers are teased with. It was too annoying seeing the rotten responses getting applauded anyway like they were good. Also obviously being a comedian, he's great at telling a good joke; and in the case of this type of show, that's pretty much needed to help keep the fun aspect of the show alive.

I'm glad the Bullseye round is gone. For many years, I was very curious about how the round worked and wanted to see some episodes featuring it. Because within the game show fandom, they were often talked about. And when GSN started airing the ones from the Ray Combs syndicated era, I was pretty unimpressed with it. I didn't like how that round slowed the game down. It's nice that the current version of the show wants to have a nod or two for its classic roots, but there are better ways to honor them.

As for minor notes, I'm also glad the outdoor family introductions are gone. The new set looks nice. I still am not a fan of the classic theme being used on the newer version of the show. I know, I know, that sentence sort of contradicts what I just wrote in the paragraph above. But I do have my problems with this, as I've said before. Too much of the same parts of the song repeated over and over. I'd love it if they could get some different face off cues or something. "The Feud" is a truly one of a kind and memorable game show theme, but I wish the music people of the current version would take note, because there's more to the song than just the main part of it.

Online Pick of the Week (9/11): UK Blockbusters

2010-09-11T00:16:00.006-04:00

The pick this week goes to a foreign version of a favorite game show of mine, the UK version of Blockbusters. The classic game that tried to answer the age-old question, are two heads better than one?

Blockbusters didn't fare as well here in America unfortunately. Bill Cullen's version ran for two years on NBC (1980-82), and 5 years later the show returned on the same network, albeit with a different format of one vs. one in 1987 with Bill Rafferty hosting. The show however lasted for a long time in the United Kingdom, from 1983-1993.

The primary object of the game stayed the same. The solo player played and connected a (white) vertical line of hexagons, while the pair connected a horizontal (blue) line. Also just like in America, the answers would begin with the letters on the game board. What really stands out for me with this version is how they managed to keep the two vs. one format and use it in their favor. No family pairs here, but sixth form students (equivalent to high school seniors in the US) made up the contestant pool. I wish the 1987 version had continued with the two vs. one format. Taking that away and making it two solo players only really took the original purpose away from the game. There were some differences in the prizes department also compared to the US versions; cash was the primary prize in the here, in the UK, money wasn't the sole thing to be won, although £5 (later £10) per question for instance were awarded, completing the Gold Run would win the players a trip. Bob Holness did a really nice job hosting the show. He almost reminds me of a British Allen Ludden, especially with the hand gesture.

Also a couple minor observations; what a lovely opening credit sequence, and who can't love the extra cheesy yet delightful Blockbusters hand jive? Those really help add to the charm of the show.

The UK Blockbusters, my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (9/4): Mary Tyler Moore

2010-09-04T20:21:00.002-04:00

Been having a hard time this Labor Day weekend trying to find something for this week's choice, so I went onto Hulu, and after several hours of watching Mary Tyler Moore episodes, I finally decided on this.

Here we find a season 2 ditty, "Thoroughly Unmilitant Mary." Easily one of Edward Asner's best episodes. A news writers' strike leaves it all up to Mary and Lou to prepare their station's newscasts, and a clammy and nervous Lou Grant to do the night's newscasts. As we can see here, it ends up in a complete disaster.

This episode was written by Martin Cohan, future co-creator of Who's The Boss?.

Mary Tyler Moore, my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (8/27): Just Men!

2010-08-27T23:36:00.003-04:00

The online pick this week belongs to a classic but short-lived daytime game show. The name of it was Just Men!, which aired from January-April 1983 on NBC, and it was hosted by the legendary Betty White. The show had two female contestants asking questions two seven different male celebrities to see if they answered YES or NO to a particular subject in order to win a car.

Unfortunately the show was plagued by airing at the noon time slot, a slot in which many stations chose to preempt for local news. Scheduling of this caliber marked an easy death for a number of shows (see Go!, Hot Potato, Match Game 1990). Sadly, this show was no exception.

Betty is really great as a host. I love her interactions with the contestants and the celebrities. She did a very good job of helping the contestants feel at home, and just like whenever she appears on anything, here she shows just as much that she can crack a pretty good joke.

I'd say that if you enjoy her as a celebrity guest on game shows, or if you're just a fan of Betty White in general, it's definitely worth checking out. Oh, and one more thing: even though the show lasted for only 13 weeks, Betty would win an Emmy for her hosting of this program, and she was the first woman to win an award for best game show host.

Just Men!... my online pick of the week!

September Classic TV DVD News

2010-08-27T23:28:00.002-04:00

September is going to mark more DVD releases for classic TV fans, as tvshowsondvd.com reports. Regarding the fourth seasons each of Night Court, Designing Women, and Rhoda. Night Court won't be released in stores though... but the good thing is that the show is still going to be released in some form and it's not going to be abandoned like other shows, and well, like this one between the releases of seasons one and two.

Rhoda will also be sold exclusively through Shout! Factory's website.

Shout's always been pretty dependable when it comes to releasing classic shows on DVD, so it's not surprising on their front, but it is (pleasantly) surprising to hear such news from Warner. They are often criticized for their treatment, or lack thereof, of classics, and in most cases, it's well-deserved criticism. It's nice to see that they're finally starting to realize that there are fans of these shows who want them on DVD, and they're trying to find some way to listen to these fans. It's a shame that the classics don't seem to be available in stores much anymore. Especially in a case with a show like Night Court, which ran for nine seasons and has a loyal fanbase who's waited patiently for more sets of the show to come out.

Online Pick of the Week (8/20): Win, Lose or Draw

2010-08-20T23:54:00.001-04:00

For classic game show fans, this is a pretty fun pick if I do say so myself. It’s a daytime episode of the series Win, Lose, or Draw. The game based on Pictionary, and pitted the men against the women for a good old fashioned half hour of drawing and guessing words, phrases, and famous names.

What makes this version stand out from the nighttime version that aired in first-run syndication with Bert Convy, was the show’s host Vicki Lawrence. This was her first time hosting a game show of her own, and I must say, she did a really great job here. If you’ve loved her other game show appearances, such as on Password Plus, Super Password, and Pyramid, with her surefire wit and energy, then you will certainly love seeing this.

Guests are Betty White, Leann Hunley, Charles Durning, and Charles Nelson Reilly.
Win, Lose, or Draw… my online pick of the week!

Online Pick of the Week (8/14): Maury's Match Game Moments

2010-08-14T01:47:00.003-04:00

Not only do I appreciate this pick of the week because one of my favorite shows, Match Game, is highlighted, but also because it comes from an era of The Maury Povich Show that is for me seldom missed now. This came from a time when the show had more than the same 5 or 6 subjects around to discuss and 90% of the shows altogether became about paternity and lie detector tests.

What I really love is that Gene was still his funny and high spirited self, years after Match Game ended. It's also nice seeing the late Brett Somers and Peter Tomarken too.

Maury's Match Game highlights, my online pick of the week!

Can't wait for Feud this fall

2010-08-14T01:30:00.004-04:00

When I first heard Steve Harvey was going to host Family Feud this fall, I was surprised. But the more I thought about it, I realized, he could be a really great host. Because he's got experience of working with people as a television host (e.g. Showtime at the Apollo, Steve Harvey's Big Time), so there's that. And he's also quick witted and can surely tell a good joke.

And if that isn't enough convincing, seeing this clip of the show pretty much reinforced that view point: The Feud is going to be in very good hands:

I mean, I just love that for once if someone has a stupid answer to give, it's going to be called out on. And the contestants judging from this clip realize that it's all in good fun and no harm is intended. As much as I really enjoyed some of Richard Karn's and John O'Hurley's eras of the show, I couldn't stand it to see all these really dumb and ridiculous answers constantly applauded over and over. I like that the families are supposed to encourage each other, but that was a bit much.

Golden Girls Complete Series Set Coming

2010-08-11T19:43:00.003-04:00

Coming November 9th.

As happy as I am to see the show be acknowledged for the debut of its 25th anniversary, and complete sets are great for people who haven’t yet bought a certain show on DVD yet, I know I’m not the only one who can’t stand the idea of these weird style DVD storage cases that these companies put out for complete series sets. I mean, couldn’t they come up with something that will fit nicely on the shelf and not be flimsy, like say, the Friends complete set? The “handle” of that “purse” looks like it’d snap off at some point.

I guess it could be worse. It could be like the What’s Happening!! complete set, which is set on a spindle. In which all the discs would be touching each other.

Though personally, I’m still hoping for The Golden Palace or Empty Nest to come out on DVD myself.

Online Pick of the Week (8/6): Donny’s Pyramid Game

2010-08-06T23:36:00.003-04:00

The online pick of the week is a British version of an American classic. In 2007, Pyramid, or what it’s better known as in the UK-- The Pyramid Game, came to be for a few months on the network Challenge, their equivalent of GSN. This was a pretty good adaptation of the show. And what really helps it are the simple things that helped older versions too; in the main round the categories were played 7 phrases in 30 seconds. The names of the categories were simple too and to the point. The judging was a bit off but not too overtly anal retentive like it was 8 years ago. I'll never forget how our judges wouldn't take "bike" for "bicycle," but they did take "picketing" for "picket." Oh, and not taking "disco music" or "disco songs." Ugh. Why, judges, why?

Yeah, I’ll take this any day over what we got in 2002. If you’re going to have futuristic Pyramid, this is the way to go.

Donny is a good host here. I never had any real problems with him on our version, with the exception of the “oh, oh, oh!” in the winner’s circle rounds.

Donny's Pyramid Game, my online pick of the week!

Upcoming GSN Schedule Changes... and a Gripe

2010-08-06T17:43:00.002-04:00

GSN will be modifying their schedule in the afternoons, starting August 16th.

Here are the changes:

4:00 PM Family Feud (Richard Karn, SYN 2002-06)
4:30 PM Deal or No Deal
5:30 PM Catch 21 (new episodes)

While it’s no big loss to trim a version of Karn Feud as it airs a lot anyway, to me it would make more sense to just move Deal to 4 PM and just have Karn Feud and Catch 21 in the 5 PM hour. The 4:30 Deal slot just looks awkward. Oh well, I guess it could be a lot worse. At least it’s not like the early days on NBC when Deal would end literally at 9:02. Such a pain for people that wanted to change the channel at 9:00 and watch something else by that point.

Not really a schedule change, but in looking at the specifics for the other shows, I see that it’s also a pretty big disappointment that we’ll be seeing both versions of Card Sharks rewind back to episode one. If they only leased about 200 episodes per run, then it really made no sense to air the show four times a day. I expected cycle backs from Sony shows, like Pyramid, but when even the Goodson shows do this then it just goes to show how sad things have gotten. If they have to only do 200 shows for each show at a time, why not just lease 200, air those, then when that’s done, lease the next 200 and show these, and continue on down the line?

ATWT: Another Doomed Wedding

2010-08-06T17:40:00.003-04:00

Monday, August 2nd:

This episode alone just goes to show the annoyances that can really made a potentially decent show suffer. First of all, again, lack of Noah is driving me insane. Especially when we go back to the fact that the Snyders have made an extra special effort in order to have Noah as a part of the family. Hell, they just did this two months ago! It made no sense not to have him on. Not just that, but there could have been some great awkward scenes between Noah, Luke, and Reid to spice things up. It could also help make this storyline an actual TRIANGLE, which this mess is not.

And the logistics are a joke, as usual. Craig somehow conveniently makes it back to the US from France by the show’s end but Holden and Lily do not? Um, no. I really do not understand the writing process with this show.

Tuesday, August 3rd:

Okay, this is one rare instance where I actually see Reid’s side on something. No matter how I feel about the guy generally and even though this is not coming from a Luke/Reid fan I can't say I'd blame him for at least wanting to take it to the next level. Basically I put myself in Reid’s shoes and said to myself: “If I were in a relationship with Luke, would I want to take it to a physical level?” The answer to this question is a resounding and overwhelming “yes.” So, no, I can't blame Reid for simply putting the message out there. I would do the same and I would be hoping too.

But this week shows one of the problems I have with Reid’s character and why I can‘t like him as much as I possibly could. It’s nice that Reid respects Luke’s views on sex in a relationship, and stuff like the scenes with Molly weren’t bad either. But the problem is that if they’re trying to loosen this guy up and tone him down, it’s done inconsistently. It almost reminds me of Dallas. Reid began to tone himself down then too, but the progress was thrown out for the plot. Or they have him act a complete fool and within the last 5 minutes have him hold a baby or fix a teddy bear, like it’s supposed to erase all the nastiness that occurred. It’s why Reid’s rant to Noah about treating Luke like garbage smacked of blatant hypocrisy. It also renders scenes like Luke teaching Reid manners useless because with what happened on the 2nd and 3rd alone we’ve seen that Reid can be nice or at least tolerable with other people without being coached by anyone.

This is one of many examples of lazy writing to me and it really does characters on the show a disservice and proves why in soap storytelling, character driven material owns really hard over plot driven material.

Online Pick of the Week (7/30): Match Game Ticket Plugs

2010-07-31T15:05:00.004-04:00

The pick for the end of this week belongs to the good old classic Match Game. Any new fan to the show wouldn't know now because they don't air on GSN, but during the show originally ticket plugs for people wanting to be in the show's audience would air. This clip provides a really good combination of them. The first few are rather standard. The crazy ones didn't come into the picture until 1979. They are pretty darn funny. Even if some of them really are kind of disturbing. At any rate, it's always nice to find rare things, especially if they involve legendary announcers, like the late, great Johnny Olson.

Match Game ticket plugs, my online pick of the week.

ATWT: Where the Hell is Noah Mayer? Version 3.0

2010-07-27T01:48:00.003-04:00

Give me a break, writers. You've got to be kidding me. This is sad. It's nothing other but utterly sad to see someone in their early 20's teaching someone who's 30+ years old simple common courtesy and manners.

Oh, and what makes it all the more frustrating, which I've stated many times before: why does Reid act like this in the first place? Honestly, why should I be rooting for this man? Why should I feel sorry for him? What makes Reid tick is something that should have been tapped on a long time ago. Also if in the end it turns out he's being written as an ass just for the sake of being one, well, then that's just going to be utterly disappointing, and yet another opportunity for this to be a decent story completely and totally wasted. It also shows again how little this show cared about character development. If I'm supposed to be supporting this guy by this point, then the writers have done a major disservice, because I'm not.

Such a shame. Because as usual, the actors are fine. It's the dialogue that drives me batty.

Online Pick of the Week (7/23): Nurses

2010-07-24T04:27:00.004-04:00

A while back I had mentioned there was a special night which aired on a Saturday back in 1991 on NBC. Three of the flagship shows The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Nurses, all shows created by Susan Harris (also best known for creating Soap and its spin-off Benson) had a similar plot theme. All shows were set in Miami and this particular week dealt with each show going through a hurricane.

This show in particular happens to be Nurses, which aired after Golden Girls and Empty Nest. These shows featured crossovers from each other’s shows. Here we see Betty White from Golden Girls, as of course, none other than Rose Nylund. Park Overall appears as her character Laverne Todd, from Empty Nest.

A very good episode overall. The characters are used to their potential very well. I can tell from the theme song that this episode is from the first season.

Nurses, “Begone with The Wind”, my online pick of the week!

Carnie Wilson leaving Newlywed Game

2010-07-23T21:02:00.004-04:00

GSN has renewed The Newlywed Game for a fourth season, however, Carnie Wilson will not be continuing with the series. I’m not the hugest fan of this version of the show; though I do like Carnie personally and I do wish her the best in future endeavors.

All I can really say else to this is that they better find someone good for this hosting job. With this current version being the sole exception, the other versions of The Newlywed Game without Bob Eubanks have failed -- see Paul Rodriguez (1988) and Gary Kroeger (1996). Not to mention this is also one of GSN’s few original hits these days; the other being Baggage. Finding just the right emcee could very well be a critical decision in the show’s survival for the next season.

CBS' replacement for ATWT

2010-07-23T20:56:00.002-04:00

CBS has announced that a new daily talk show, Project Mom, will replace As The World Turns this fall. The show will be hosted by Sara Gilbert, Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne and Leah Remini.

Truth be told the more I think about it I think Pyramid is best off as a 30 minute $100,000 version in syndication, maybe with new bonus round amounts for regular play sufficing.

I was never that excited about any new show in this slot, and Les Moonves‘ douchiness in the CNBC interview the day As The World Turns was canceled pretty much drained my interest in anything new coming in. But the biggest issue I have with this new talk show is that we already have The View at 11 am, I'll watch that on ABC; I don't need to see another version hours later. And I love how from the press releases that it doesn’t hesitate to sound like such a blatant rip off of The View -- even down to having 5 female hosts. As much as I loved Sara Gilbert on Roseanne and Holly Robinson-Peete on Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, I can’t say I’m excited about this.

Online Pick of the Week (7/16): Mary Tyler Moore

2010-07-16T23:29:00.004-04:00

Another episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the pick for this week. This episode comes from the fifth season. In response to WJM newscasts becoming “static,” Lou decides to add a female perspective to the show. Lou has in mind a woman that is exactly like Mary, so much like her that Mary decides to audition for the job herself.

Look for Rosalind Cash in one of her earlier acting roles on this episode, as she plays one of the people auditioning, Enid Berringer. Also a rarity happens on this episode, Ted actually takes a good jab at Murray!

The Mary Tyler Moore episode "A Girl Like Mary," my online pick of the week!

TPIR: Rich Fields Out

2010-07-16T22:57:00.004-04:00

It’s been announced earlier today that Rich Fields will be replaced with a new announcer this upcoming season. On-air auditions similar to what happened after Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy passed away will take place this fall.

I’d say that while I wasn’t a huge fan of Rich’s actual announcing, I did enjoy his chemistry with Drew Carey very much. I found it much more enjoyable than his interactions with Bob. With Bob Barker, it seemed way too much like Rich was looking up to this superior being, but when he was with Drew it was like two pals; the host and his sidekick having a good time. The odd thing about it is that I found that his voice during the early part of his tenure was better. It’s almost like listening to two different people when hearing him announce anything when comparing, say 2005 to today.

All I can say now is that I hope they find someone good to take over. No Daniel Rosen’s, please.

ATWT: More of the L-Shaped Triangle

2010-07-16T22:50:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, July 14th:

As much as I'm not a fan of Reid, I was glad to see Bob stand up for him. No one should ever be discriminated against because of their sexuality. But the problem with this latest story development though is that it really seemed out of the blue that Mona was suddenly homophobic. Just three weeks before, the objections had nothing to do with that. Bob himself emphasized that the first day this issue of Luke and Reid being in a relationship came to blows. Now suddenly the woman that wants to buy the hospital is a homophobe? More disjointed writing.

Reid wasn't bothering me as much as he usually does this time around, but the lack of Noah in this storyline is really annoying. This storyline is supposed to be a triangle, but it’s coming off very L-shaped. Such a shame. My opinions on the writing aside, I'd say the potential is there with three talented actors. Van is as great as usual; same as Jake (when he's actually on), and I'm actually warming up to Eric rather nicely. It's the writing and story direction that makes me want to throw something at the television set at the end of an episode. And it is this way with the rest of the show too. I remember Guiding Light actually increasing somewhat in quality post-cancellation notice; with this show, it's the opposite.

Online Pick of the Week (7/9): Nick at Nite Promos

2010-07-10T17:20:00.004-04:00

I've been going around YouTube and I've found a number of old promos for Nick@Nite. And I see that not only was the programming better back then but even the promos were more imaginative and unique. Reminds me how much fun the network used to be.

I guess what really annoys me these days is that I actually like a show like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which is one show that's seen a lot of exposure over the past couple years, a lot. I just don't think it belongs on Nick@Nite. Same especially goes for The George Lopez Show. It's like Nick@Nite evolved over time periods with their history of the network. Showing series from the 1950's and 60's, then 70's, and the '80's started, but they seemed to skip over a lot of the 1980's and a number of the 1990's series and just decided to focus on some of the same few shows. Also back then marathons were seen but other shows did get the proper amount of airtime they deserved.

Popular shows deserve airplay but they also shouldn't air everywhere on multiple networks like Fresh Prince does, and there are also plenty of other shows that did reasonably successfully and don't get much airplay anymore that should be on television too.

Nick@Nite, one of the many networks that quality wise for me has gone down ever since Viacom took over. But the good news for classic lovers is that we have DVD releases. In the meantime, it's nice to enjoy a few older promos, like this one:

Here's another batch for Mary Tyler Moore lovers. Bob Newhart fans will like this one.

Old Nick@Nite promos, my online pick of the week!

DVD News: Mary Tyler Moore season 7 is coming!

2010-07-09T02:04:00.005-04:00

From TVshowsonDVD: the seventh and final season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show will be released this October 5th! Being that this is my number one favorite show of all time I could not have been more happy to read this news.

What always stands out to me is that this is one of those series that was good in really all of its years on the air. There are a number of enjoyable episodes from the final season. Can’t wait to see them all in their glorious re-mastered form! Episodes such as “Mary’s Insomnia”, “Lou Dates Mary”, “Mary Midwife”, “Sue Ann’s Sister,” and of course, one can’t forget “The Last Show!”

Also finding out that the original final curtain call credit roll from the last episode will be included? The same credit call that has only aired once on television since March 19, 1977 that fans like myself have been hoping would see the light of day again on DVD if the show ever got this far in releases? Icing on the cake.

In other MTM-related news, season 4 of the spinoff Rhoda, will be released by Shout!, however, it will be a Shout! Select program, meaning that the set will sell exclusively on their website. Good thing this classic is in the hands of Shout!. It’ll get completed no matter what. Another reason why I favor them so much over many of the other DVD companies. Sure they’ve messed up a few times (unfortunately including season 1 of this particular show), but I love their commitment to finishing a show they start. There's no waiting for years like with other shows.

Ending this post with the Mary finale closing credits is only the best way to go:

Online Pick of the Week (7/2): Taxi

2010-07-03T10:29:00.003-04:00

Another classic this week chosen for the online pick, this time it's an episode from from the critically acclaimed and in this day unfortunately under aired Taxi, which ran from 1978-82.

Here, in season 4's "Jim The Psychic", the character Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) has psychic dreams that often come true. This time one of them involves Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) meeting a certain fate. My favorite part is towards the end. Danny DeVito does an excellent job when his character Louie De Palma starts panicking when the elements of said dream start coming true in droves, and it's a hilarious watch.

Taxi, my online pick of the week!

ATWT: These Writers Baffle Me

2010-07-03T09:49:00.005-04:00

Wednesday, June 30th:

Good gravy, Marie!

The writing on this show is like a damn yo-yo which makes enjoyment of this storyline for me extremely difficult. For a little while the writers kept alternating on who broke up with whom, when it was LUKE who broke up with NOAH on March 16th. And now, for the past 2 weeks they've been writing it as if Luke and Reid were already in a relationship... this episode, it's an entirely different story. Now we have Luke saying "I was about to start a relationship" with Reid in his scenes with Bob and Mona. Which is it show? You can't tell it both ways. And there's also the show minimizing Noah's appearances in this storyline. This is supposed to be a TRIANGLE, but most of the time we only get two points of view and it's driving me bananas. If anything, it's more L shaped, with the third line joining in on occasion.

It's a shame, because we've got very talented actors here. And the potential for a good story is there. But the writing is a disappointment.

ATWT: Worst Tribute Ever

2010-06-28T01:09:00.002-04:00

For a show ending after 54 years, there sure wasn't much to go out on during tonight's Daytime Emmy telecast. As The World Turns has been on nearly five and a half decades, and all it gets is 45 seconds? You have got to be kidding me. The show's slumped quality wise over the past 3 years, but this is still a legendary show that's leaving the airwaves this fall. Many memorable moments took place with multi-generational characters like the Hughes and Snyders, and a number of actors got their careers started with working on this show. This was not the way to pay homage to a show with such a rich history.

I think the worst part of it all though is that there was no mention of Helen Wagner's passing. Not one. There were a couple highlights for me, seeing '80's Holden and Lily (for two seconds) and Luke and Noah's first kiss, but still, this was the sorriest tribute I have ever watched in my life. And I thought Guiding Light's tribute was bad, but at least that lasted at least one full minute. It was as if this was slapped together at the last second so they could rush on with the rest of the show. Way to fail, CBS.

Online Pick of the Week (6/25): Ellen (the sitcom)

2010-06-25T23:24:00.003-04:00

With Pride Month soon coming to a close, I thought it’d be a good time to pick something that flows within that theme.

The date was April 30, 1997. The show was Ellen (that’s Ellen, the ‘90’s sitcom) and the groundbreaking two-parter in which both the character Ellen Morgan, as well as the comedienne herself, came out to her viewing audience. The character struggles with the notion of doing so, but in the process it winds up being one of the funniest coming out moments ever on television.

A number of great guest stars appeared on this episode. They would include Laura Dern who played Ellen‘s love interest, Billy Bob Thornton who appears in her dream, Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, and Oprah Winfrey, who played her therapist. Not only was this two-parter well done, but the next several episodes that followed were done so as well. Some of which included “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah,” which dealt with Ellen coming out to her parents. “Moving On” focused on issues with her friend Paige’s handling of Ellen’s revelation as well as her boss, Ed.

There were problems like threats from advertisers and sadly some viewer backlash, and Laura Dern said that she couldn’t find work for a year after doing the episode. But in spite of that, the episode was the highest rated of the series and was a huge success. It has been noted that many people have watched the show and were inspired to come out to their own families afterwards. It’s interesting to see how things have evolved. The episodes and all the ones preceding it aired on ABC with lame parental warnings at the beginning of every episode. However 10 years later, the show was in reruns full-swing on Oxygen and it was rated TV-G.

The Ellen season 4 two-parter, “The Puppy Episode”, my online pick of the week!

More Greatness from Shout!

2010-06-25T23:20:00.004-04:00

Bunker fans rejoice! Shout! Factory has done it again! 2010 continues to prove to be a great year for TV shows on DVD as it looks as though we’ll finally see the groundbreaking 1970's series All in the Family moving forward towards on DVD after all after three long years!

TVShowsonDVD.com reports that October 5th will be the date for release. I don’t know about anyone else, but this gives me good thoughts about not only the continuations of All in the Family, but possibly The Jeffersons and Maude too. Oh, and let’s not forget Archie Bunker’s Place as well. It could happen.

It's sad that Sony couldn't finish an iconic show like this. So glad for a company like Shout! Factory.

ATWT: More Luke/Reid Pimping… Sigh.

2010-06-25T23:12:00.004-04:00

Tuesday, June 22nd:

Today was interesting. Before it was Noah's turn to be pissed off with Reid during an important meeting with the Invicta woman. This time it's Luke's. Reid's hypocrisy shows again. He had no problem parading himself as the greatest brain surgeon ever when he came to Oakdale, but when someone else does it, he shows disdain. Oh my, Reid Oliver.

It was nice seeing Luke and Noah bond over history. The teasing over the Z-twins stuff was cute. Though the only bad part about it is that the writers didn't get it right! Do they not remember their own storylines? Luke didn't see Noah kiss Zac. Noah told him and Luke dismissed it as if it was nothing.

Wednesday, June 23rd:

I was so glad to see Noah stand up for himself. And it pained me to see Noah do what he did for Luke and Reid (and it also annoyed the living daylights out of me because now even NOAH of all people is pimping Luke/Reid!), but in the end, it just goes to show how selfless he is. Selfish brat, my ass.

Today pointed out again why I have such a problem with the Reid character. Such little balance in the way the man is written. They write him as nasty or as ridiculous as can be and then they try to erase it all by having him hug a pillow or work on a teddy bear? Sorry, show, not buying it. More needs to come out of Reid before I can ever truly like him.

Also, again, if Reid's going to get butt hurt every time Luke and Noah simply talk to each other, then it just goes to show that things aren't going to end well between them. He knows Luke still has an emotional attraction to Noah. I can't say I'd be that sad if he ends up heartbroken by the end of this. He knows what the stakes are.

Online Pick of the Week (6/18): Perry Mason

2010-06-18T23:59:00.001-04:00

This pick is a good one for fans of the late actor, singer, and game show host Bert Convy, who’s perhaps best known for his hosting jobs on Tattletales, Super Password, and Win Lose or Draw. But before hosting shows (and also during that time), he did a number of acting roles. Mainly guest stints on series such as Bewitched and Mary Tyler Moore.

If you're a fan of his game show work but haven’t seen him on other shows and have always wanted to see him act, this is a pretty good treat. It is one of his earliest acting roles; as Mr. Harry Thompson on a 1960 episode of the CBS series Perry Mason, which starred the late Raymond Burr. Here, Bert’s character is defended by Perry when he is accused of murder. It’s interesting seeing Bert play a dramatic role, a far different contrast from his other main work.

Bert Convy on Perry Mason… my online pick of the week!

ATWT: What Relationship?

2010-06-17T20:07:00.004-04:00

Thursday, June 17th:

World Turns, writers, I have a question. In what time have Luke and Reid actually been in a relationship? Because while Luke and Reid have kissed three times, played a game of chess and rode a mechanical bull, nowhere in absolutely any of that have they in any form established some sort of relationship. This is one of many examples as to why it is not okay to overpower the direction of a storyline with plot points instead of character motivation.

It also shows one other thing that bugs the living daylights out of me when it comes to this story, and I know it’s a re-elaboration, but I have to put it out there again. From the story’s standpoint, we know that Reid is emotionally distant. But the big problem is that we don’t know why. There’s no establishment of Reid having, say, a rough childhood, a past good relationship gone sour, or any sort of severe past traumatizing event which would poison the way someone handles a relationship and make them be more reluctant to open up and start anew with someone else. It has been put out there that Noah had an emotionless childhood with a horrible father, so even if I don’t like the way Noah handles himself in a relationship, the show gives at least a reason for the behavior. On the other hand, each time Reid is jerky to Luke, it makes him come across as just that… a jerk. And unsympathetic to a number of people. If they expect me to like the guy, then they really need to delve into the inside of Reid, give him some layers, and elaborate more on the guy’s past or something, because they’ve pretty much written him as 90% ass and 10% emotion. And unless this changes for the better, I’m not going to be feeling too bad for Reid when he lashes out and clams up.

I love you, Luke Snyder, but I’m not a fan of the clinginess and the neediness. At this point it makes no sense whatsoever to expect Reid to “fight” for a non-existant "relationship" in which he’s known the other guy for a mere few months, and in much of that time, they didn't even like each other. Example #1375 why plot should NOT control a soap storyline.

On one last note, Noah is MIA again, thrown under the bus for the new character to be pimped. Boo. Hiss.

TPIR: Rat Race

2010-06-17T20:02:00.003-04:00

I think this is a pretty good game. The set up is really nice. The race track looks slick and flashy
enough but not too flashy. I've disliked the way some recent color sets with some games have looked, like Clock Game during the last years of the Barker-era set, because the neon colors really didn't flow. But looks wise, everything fits here.

As for the most important part, the game itself, the competition element with the rats reminds me just a tad bit of Hurdles; which I loved while seeing it played during classic reruns. It’s a shame that one didn’t work properly enough. The good thing though is that with the way this game is built, we shouldn’t have this kind of problem. Definitely one of the better newer pricing games.

Online Pick of the Week (6/11): Liar’s Club

2010-06-12T14:56:00.002-04:00

I had heard that the newest GSN original Late Night Liars seemed to be based on an older show, called Liar’s Club, which ran during the following years: 1969, 1976-79, and 1988-89, so I thought I’d scour YouTube and check some clips out.

It’s a pretty unique series. It takes rather odd looking objects, and the strange stories of it from four celebrity panelists. The four players have to determine and bet on which star is correct.

In watching rounds of this show, it really proves why I’d rather see human panelists on a show like Late Night Liars because the humor from it all is going to come more naturally with a game show that way than relying on pre-written jokes.

Liar’s Club… my online pick of the week!

Late Night Liars: Debut

2010-06-12T02:08:00.004-04:00

GSN debuted a new game show this week, which features the panel show format of yesterday and Jim Henson’s Muppets (no Kermit or Miss Piggy to be had here, though).

The object of the game is relatively simple… find out which Muppet is lying. The scoring system for this show is odd, and it's pretty much just based on humor (i.e. 513 being the sidekick weasel's new social security number). But in spite of that randomness, I do like the game. It comes across as fun to play along with and the bonus game is clever to me and very fast-paced.

I wasn't blown away by Larry Miller's hosting but I do think that he has the potential to improve overtime.

Overall I'd rather see a panel game with human panelists but this is a pretty decent show. I wouldn't put it under the rank of OMGMUSTWATCHNOW but at the same time, it's such a serious step up from trainwrecks like Unstapled and Hidden Agenda it's not even funny. I would totally recommend this for at least a random watch.

New episodes air Thursdays at 11:00 pm eastern but they're rerunning the hell out of it on weekends already so if you really wanted to sample the show you couldn't possibly miss it if you tried.

ATWT: As The Hypocrisy Burns

2010-06-10T23:09:00.010-04:00

Wednesday, June 9th:

Or as I also like to refer to this episode… “Noah Said Knock You Out… The Redux.”

Because a still screen grab just does not do it justice.

I’m sorry, but Reid coming off as Luke’s biggest defender is laughable. This self-righteous speech to Noah is coming from the same person who has treated Luke like garbage most of the time over the past 5 months. Hell, just last week, Reid’s final scene of the day with him featured him insulting Luke. And the spoiled comment is REALLY a joke considering I have not heard one thank you towards Luke for helping him out with the malpractice business.

This guy has been a grade A dick to anyone he feels like it whenever he wants (to Luke, Noah, Bob, Kim, Carly, Lily, Chris, Casey, Ali) so for him to call anyone rude, spoiled, or any such names is off the charts hypocritical. It’s like if Nicole Richie belittled someone else for being too skinny.

Reid had this punch coming for a long time and I sure as hell enjoyed it. No, Dr. Reid “I-Don’t-Get-Involved-In-My-Patient’s-Personal-Lives” Oliver, you can’t be a jackass every time things don’t go your way and expect people to just let it go. And your presumptuous attitude at that meeting and with Bob was not one bit flattering.

Luke… I love you, but you’re getting on my nerves lately. You can’t just string both guys along! I’d assume if this show were produced by an outlet like Falcon Studios, both would not be a problem, but considering it’s produced by the people that bring us Tide and Pringles, this isn’t going to be the case. It’s also pretty frigging hilarious that Luke can be jealous of Maddie (and we’re talking during post-out Noah days, folks), Mason, and Richard but when Noah is upset with this whole Reid situation it’s supposed to be brushed over and gotten over with. It’s as if Reid and Luke can do no wrong and it’s ridiculous. All three characters are flawed.

Also, for God’s sake, the writers on this show flip flop this break-up business more than pancakes at the IHOP! It’s gotten far past ridiculous. LUKE broke up with NOAH. On March 16, 2010. PERIOD. I’m tired of it changing every other episode. Do the writers not watch their own show? I’ll gladly point them to the YouTube video posted on multiple accounts so they can see what they themselves actually wrote.

Online Pick of the Week (6/4): The Golden Girls

2010-06-04T20:53:00.003-04:00

There are so many memorable Blanche-centered episodes of The Golden Girls. “Adult Education,” “End of the Curse,” “Scared Straight” … I can go on and on. But one that stands out for me the most is this episode from the final season, “Room 7.”

In it, Sophia sees her late husband Sal in heaven in an out of life experience while choking on a piece of candy. Also Blanche is devastated that her grandmother’s plantation in Atlanta is being torn down. She and the girls go with her to Atlanta to visit it. But when they arrive, she chains herself to the radiator.

This episode is really one of the most heartfelt and touching ones out of the whole series. I love how Blanche has such a soft spot for her hometown, and her family, and especially here, her grandmother. It's very hard for her to let go.

The Golden Girls; season 7, episode 11: "Room 7." My online pick of the week!

Remembering Rue McClanahan

2010-06-04T20:47:00.001-04:00

I was so incredibly heartbroken when I found out yesterday that the legendary actress Rue McClanahan had passed away due to a massive stroke. She was 76.

Of course, Rue was best known for her role as Southern and man crazy Blanche Hollingsworth Deveraux on the long running NBC hit The Golden Girls. One of my favorite things about The Golden Girls was that it showed very well that just because you reach a certain age that it does not mean you can still live a very full and engaging life. Blanche’s character was one of the biggest examples of this in my opinion.

Rue was also talented in all of her other acting jobs as well. I’ve recently gotten into Maude after sampling episodes on YouTube and getting the first season on DVD, and she did so well as Vivian, who was Maude’s absentminded but lovable neighbor and friend. Mama’s Family had another good role for her during the NBC years of the series, as Aunt Fran.

Can’t believe that we only have one surviving Golden Girl. It just hurts my heart.

ATWT: Awkward Dinner Party

2010-06-04T20:44:00.007-04:00

Thursday, June 3rd:

I loved how Noah pointed out how grateful and appreciative he is for everything Luke's family has done for him. I really wish we could have more Noah and Lily scenes. I don't know about anyone else but I'm still waiting for a heartfelt apology from Reid to Luke for all the Richie Rich and rich family insults. Because unless that happens, I'm going to see Reid as nothing but a hypocrite for constantly bashing the idea of Luke having convenient access to money only for him to quickly change his tune when he needs said advantage to work in his favor. That could be one thing to get me to like him at least a little.

And Reid was really pissing me off with his attitude. It’s not like Luke and Noah were upstairs doing anything other than having a conversation. What Reid doesn’t get is that ending a long-term relationship is very hurtful for Luke. The attitude also makes me wonder what could happen down the line if a relationship between Luke and Reid were to end. Knowing Reid, it’d probably be just as bitter or even moreso than what we saw today. I was so happy to see Luke throw McBitchy out. I really wonder what Luke sees in him.

ATWT: A Kiss is SO NOT Just a Kiss

2010-06-04T20:41:00.003-04:00

Friday, May 28th:

I’m a little bothered with Reid being so cool with Noah while knowing the fact that he’s insisting he keeps Luke’s attraction to him a secret and making woobie eyes at him.

I also want to bop Noah for his resistance. Of course Luke would want you to call him, Noah! The only reason why he’s not calling Luke at this point is because he feels defeated. What I couldn’t help but notice is that if Noah had actually called Luke like he wanted to then Reid wouldn’t have even been in the picture later. I’m sorry, but REBOUND.

Monday, May 31st:

Luke couldn't B.S. his way out of a paper bag. I don't blame Noah for being upset with him. They are broken up, and each of them have the right to be with someone else. But Luke and Noah regardless of where they are romantically are supposed to be friends. And a good friend would not string Noah along like Luke has done all the while he's had feelings for Reid. Noah's shown many signs that he wants to get back together, and has asked a number of times if there's more between him and Reid. Luke said no in each instance. And that was wrong.

I'll gladly admit that I have my problems with Reid, but I don't blame him for throwing Luke out at the end of today's show. Luke's every move with Reid is based on what Noah does or does not do. It's hilarious. Noah's "date" with Richard? Luke's in a huff and is off to Texas with him. Luke goes over to confront Reid about the potential problems with Noah's surgery? They kiss. Noah doesn't call Luke when he leaves the hospital? Reid comes over and they kiss again.
Noah tells Luke it's over at Yo's? BAM! Luke goes to see Reid!

Luke and Reid have feelings for one another, but their entire relationship is tainted because of Luke's feelings and love for Noah. Luke is still in love with Noah and is far from over him.

Online Pick of the Week (5/28): The Mary Tyler Moore Show

2010-05-29T20:16:00.004-04:00

The pick this week belongs to one of my favorite episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It is “The Snow Must Go On”, which is from the first season.

In it, a barreling blizzard during election night helps put things on the map as a nervous Mary Richards must produce her very first news program. I like this episode because we get to see Mary really stand on her own two feet. It’s hard at first, but it becomes very easy for her to take authority when the time calls for it.

This episode was written by co-creator David Davis, and the late Lorenzo Music, who is perhaps best known for his role as the voice of Garfield; and Carlton the Doorman on the Mary Tyler Moore spin-off, Rhoda.

Mary Tyler Moore... my online pick of the week!

Remembering Gary Coleman

2010-05-29T20:11:00.002-04:00

I’m not quite a child of the ‘80’s as one would usually be, seeing as I wasn’t raised during much of the decade and never watched the show originally, but as being a classic TV buff and as someone who enjoyed Diff’rent Strokes reruns as an older kid, I am in mourning of the loss of the series’ star, Gary Coleman. He passed away Friday at the age of 42.

As much as I do prefer the spinoff The Facts of Life over Diff’rent Strokes these days, Gary’s role in the show was one of the bigger things that really lead to helping me enjoy the show and the era of the show that I ultimately do like the best today. Which was seasons 3-6.

I also enjoyed some of his other guest appearances as well, including shows such as The Simpsons and The Parkers.

I do realize that considering the problems he had in association with his most famous work, including with his parents and typecasting, I know he would rather be remembered for something else. And Gary unfortunately had a drama filled life after Strokes ended and it’s heartbreaking to see it end in such a manner. But in reality I think it’s best to remember him as the member of the show that lead him to stardom, because he did bring a significant number of fun onto our television screens and has entertained multiple generations of people. And that in itself is a pretty big accomplishment.

Remembering Art Linkletter

2010-05-29T20:05:00.004-04:00

We lost a pretty big television legend this week. This would be Art Linkletter, who was best known for his shows Art Linkletter's House Party (which included the incredibly popular segment Kids Say The Darndest Things) and People are Funny which aired on NBC. He was 97.

Art also appeared on shows such as What’s My Line? and I’ve Got A Secret.

The “Kids Say The Darndest Things” portion of House Party is arguably the thing he’s best remembered for. This spawned the idea of a separate show in its own right in the late 1990's, which was hosted by Bill Cosby, which often featured flashback segments with Art. In this, school children ages 5-10 years old were interviewed for their thoughts on basic questions, such as “do you know what a politician is?” The responses could be very classic though no matter how simple the questions were.

Here's an example, and a real nice look back at his impact:

Facts of Life: Season 5 DVD News

2010-05-29T18:49:00.005-04:00

According to this TVShowsonDVD article, Facts of Life fans will have much to be happy about as the fifth season of the show will be released before the end of the year, just months after season four’s release. And personally it really makes me happy because my personal favorite seasons are 5-8. I can't wait to revisit the Edna's Edibles era.

This is very nice. At this point, knowing Shout! Factory, the show will actually be completed on DVD in our lifetimes. I am so glad Sony leased the rights of the show to a company that will release it in a timely manner. Hopefully the same will happen with other classics.

Online Pick of the Week (5/21): Empty Nest

2010-05-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

I mentioned a while back that in 1991 on NBC during their Saturday Night line-up, that there was a special themed “Hurricane Night” as it were. As all three Susan Harris shows airing at the time, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Nurses, each set in Miami, dealt with the same storm. I’m sure if you’re a Golden Girls fan, you’ve seen “The Monkey Show.” Here is Empty Nest’s take on the night. Basically it’s found out pretty earnestly that now is not the best time for the Weston clan try to sell their house.

Fun episode. I can’t see a network line-up taking advantage of using the same story device this way in television today. Unless someone like Seth MacFarlane did something with the 3 of his shows.

Empty Nest, my online pick of the week!

ATWT: Confused?

2010-05-21T21:39:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, May 19th:

Wow, Luke is really bad at B.S.'ing his way out of anything. It's plain as the look on his cute face that something more is going on with him and Reid than he's letting on. Noah wasn't born yesterday.

I'm really tired of McDouchey's attitude. To put things in a nutshell, Reid, Luke and Noah have been honest with each other long before this accident. And again, there's no reason why Reid is so assy. At this point he just continues to come off as bitter and butthurt. The more hissy fits and bitter barrages he throws the less and less I enjoy the idea of a Luke/Reid coupling... and I was never too on board with that to begin with. If only he'd handle himself with some common courtesy as well as getting straight to the point.

Loving the Noah and Alison interaction. This should have been happening from the very beginning of this break-up.

Thursday, May 20th:

What in the world is up with Reid? First he gets all angrypants when he sees Luke and Noah together. Then he tells Noah to fight for Luke; and then later after that when Luke says he doesn’t understand Noah and Reid knows the whole honest to God truth about it all, he doesn‘t say a dang thing to prove the contrary. Um, what? And I love Luke to bits but Noah is NOT confused at this point. At ALL! YOU ARE. Basically right now the only one who is spilling his guts 100% about this whole hot mess is Noah. And I’m still sick of Reid’s attitude. The world does not revolve around him and he can’t just be pissy with everyone when things don’t go his way. If Reid wants any kind of significant relationship with Luke, then he had better start respecting Luke’s family members, especially his mother.

Noah is breaking my heart into about sixty-‘leven kajillion pieces. He knows he’s screwed up with handling things and he wants to make it right. I wish he wouldn’t clam up and surrender so quickly. And points for the show for finally divulging more of Noah’s point of view. It’s been badly needed.

Online Pick of the Week (5/14): Card Sharks

2010-05-15T13:14:00.004-04:00

Often times in game shows there are rules that aren’t often liked by many of the fans or the contestants on the show. Match Game for a while had a rule in 1975 where you couldn’t pick the same celebrity over and over for the SuperMatch round. Password Plus in 1981 changed the main game from a $300 maximum to a $500 one, and while there was more money involved, it made for an intensely dragging game. Scrabble had a rule for a few months earlier in the run where you had to spell the words correctly before scoring.

Card Sharks had one of these unfavorable rules as well. For the first two years of the original Perry run, in the money cards, if you played the round and got duplicate cards, it’d count against you. For instance, if you were dealt an ace and bet lower on the next card, seeing as on the show the ace is the highest card possible, and you turned up another ace; you’d lose however much you just bet. This changed late in 1980, when double cards would be considered “pushes” and didn’t count for or against you and carried onto the next card. I will admit originally that the initial rule did add to the suspense a bit. Norma Brown could have easily busted instead of going all the way for $28,800. But the change instilled a much fairer round of play for the contestants. This push rule would also be carried onto the two later versions with Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty.

Doubles were bad enough for the first two years, but imagine if you managed to find ALL FOUR 3’s at once? Talk about your bad luck.

Card Sharks, my online pick of the week!

ATWT: Rise and Shine

2010-05-15T12:09:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, May 12th:

For starters, Reid snapping at Luke to get him to wake up? So freaking inappropriate! But that’s also Reid. Sigh.

Finally! So glad Noah woke up. Such a lack of Noah in this storyline almost made me think we couldn’t even see Noah waking up on-screen.

Today pretty much explains why I’m much more willing to be patient with Noah no matter how crazy he may drive me. I’ll appreciate anyone who’s at least willing to apologize for the rough time they put their loved one through. This is why Reid’s annoyed me. All the Richie Rich insults and so forth; he was totally willing to ask for help. But no apology. No admitting he was wrong. No nothing. All it did is make him look like a hypocrite.

Lily knew right from the bat that Luke has feelings for Reid. I am amazed, because as of lately when Lily’s been involved in a story, her brain doesn’t seem to function all that well.

Thursday, May 13th:

Reid is just like Stewie Griffin's description of Gary Busey: frequently aggressive in situations that don't call for it. This guy drove me absolutely batty today! As much as Noah's pushing of Luke away annoyed me, the guy was raised in an environment in which it was deemed not okay to show emotion or ask for any kind of help. Which is why I've been more willing to be patient with him. Reid on the other hand, we know absolutely nothing as to what makes him so assy and standoffish; and he's been like this since before kissing Luke the first time, and even before boarding a plane to Oakdale. Which is why I have been unable to form any kind of sympathy for the guy; the show hasn’t given me any kind of reason to. And even if Luke does feel guilty about kissing Reid, it’s been established before any kissing took place that he’s still got a large emotional attachment to Noah. His break-up with him was far from a clean break. I just wonder what would happen if Luke and Reid did have a long term thing. Because if past story has told us anything, it’s that with Luke Snyder, patience is a virtue. And if he’s going to get all butthurt at this point, and not just butthurt over Luke being with Noah, but even with Casey and Alison, a real relationship when it’s actually started is easily going to be one extra incredibly bumpy rollercoaster ride. Not involved in his patients personal lives, indeed!

As painful a conversation as it was on the roof, it needed to be said. I love Noah to bits but it'd be unrealistic at this point to expect things to be the exact same between he and Luke. Especially if Noah told Luke to move on with his life. Basically if you tell your ex-partner to move on with their life, the chances are high it’s going to happen. And you can’t be surprised if changes have occurred.

Online Pick of the Week (5/7): The Mary Tyler Moore Show

2010-05-08T03:07:00.003-04:00

Naturally enough I thought this online pick of the week, in honor of this week’s Saturday Night Live, should involve none other than Betty White. Also, again this is going to be a thought on a specific episode of something rather than the show as a whole itself.

Betty’s done many roles in her long career of entertainment; but there are two characters that stand out the most with fans: Sue Ann Nivens and Rose Nylund. Two funny, intriguing, and very different characters. And what’s interesting in seeing these episodes now is knowing what happened years later when The Golden Girls started. Initially the idea was to have Betty play Blanche and Rue play Rose. Both actors definitely could have definitely done it well. But it was absolutely perfect the way it was.

Here she is, Betty White, in one of the best and most known roles of her acting career, her debut as Sue Ann Nivens. The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 4 episode called "The Lars Affair," my online pick of the week!

ATWT: Hot Mess

2010-05-07T10:11:00.005-04:00

Thursday, May 6th:

Sorry, Reid, looks like you won't be getting in Luke's pants tonight. Or as Alex Trebek would say: "ooh... sorry."

Though seriously, I’m pretty much reiterating what I said yesterday. It’s obvious what an emotional attraction Luke still has to Noah; and if later down the line Reid gets involved with Luke knowing this from the get-go, and it doesn’t end happily for him, I’m not going to feel all that bad for him. He knows what the stakes are. I'm glad that Luke stopped things though. It would have been so out of character for him to screw Reid at this point. Talk about bad timing.

I’ve questioned Luke and Reid’s chemistry in some instances. Sometimes it’s off… sometimes it’s on. Today it was definitely on. The first kiss itself did nothing for me. But I still do not see this “epic romance” that other folks are seeing. Not one bit. More like epic rebound. Epic vulnerability. Epic horniness. There are feelings, but there are definitely more lust than anything. When Luke and Noah kiss for me there’s much more emotion and love in it. Today it was pretty much just two attractive men making out (no matter how I feel about Reid at the moment Eric Sheffer Stevens is pretty good looking) and nothing but that. Luke is distraught, exhausted, conflicted, and horny all at the same time; literally a hot mess.

I will give Reid some credit today for backing off at the end and letting Luke be with Noah. I was expecting a jerky response and am glad to see that didn't happen.

A Betty White Weekend

2010-05-06T10:47:00.004-04:00

What a great weekend showcase for Betty White! Not only will fans of the legendary actress see her host Saturday Night Live for the first time ever, but there will be at least two marathons honoring her.

I was waiting to post this until we knew for sure what exact episodes would be, but since that’s apparently not happening, I am still excited to see that GSN will be having a Match Game marathon featuring Betty. The episodes are from 1974-77. Judging from the promo that's been airing, it looks to be her best episodes from the prime years of the series. From 9 am - 4 pm.

WEtv is also having a marathon of their own Saturday evening, with The Golden Girls from 6 pm - 1 am. The episodes themselves are naturally mostly Rose Nylund-centric:

6:00 pm: “Rose The Prude”
6:30 pm: “In a Bed of Rose’s"
7:00 pm: “Isn’t it Romantic?”
7:30 pm: “Love, Rose”
8:00 pm: “Letter to Gorbachev”
8:30 pm: “Rose’s Big Adventure”
9:00 pm: “Yokel Hero”
9:30 pm: “Rose Fights Back”
10:00 pm: “Dancing in the Dark”
10:30 pm: “Once, In St. Olaf”
11:00 pm: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun… Before they Die”
11:30 pm: “The Bloom is Off the Rose”
12:00 am: “Ro$e Love$ Mile$”
12:30 am: “Rose: Portrait of a Woman”

I say “mostly” because with the episode “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…”, Sophia seems to have the biggest focus of the episode, but Rose is still involved with Miles a good deal and it’s still a goodie. I’m a little surprised they’d air episodes the same time as SNL, but it still looks to be a lot of fun to have stuff like this to look forward to as a countdown to the big night.