* Classic TV Blog *
Your host: Billy Ingram

MERRY CHRISTMAS
This is the opening to one of the hippest Christmas specials of the late-1950s - an episode of the Frank Sinatra Show with guest Bing Crosby. This show was so popular there was even a soundtrack album available.

Saturday, December 22, 2007 - 12:09pm
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BUSTED BOOTLEGGERS
For the last 3 years or so, there was a Canadian that has been trying to get me to link to their DVD sales site. They're offering complete DVD series for shows both available on DVD currently and shows never released like the 1966 Batman series and the original Bionic Woman. They are all bootlegs, shows taped off of broadcast TV and burnt to DVD. Now this news from the Ottawa Citizen:
The RCMP arrested eight people suspected of selling counterfeit DVDs of popular television series and pretending to sell them as the genuine item. All eight were arrested Tuesday night while about 50 RCMP officers carried out two search warrants in Montreal. The suspects were released on a promise to appear in court at a later date if they receive a summons. The RCMP seized 200 DVD burners as well as copies of television show like the Six Million Dollar Man and Who's The Boss?

Cpl. Luc Bessette said the network was capable of copying 14,000 DVDs a day. During a period of four days, in which investigators intercepted packages sent out by the network by mail, more than 5,000 DVDs were seized. The network advertised on what appeared to be legitimate websites and sold the DVDs at prices similar to legitimate copies. Those arrested will probably face charges of fraud and violating the federal Copyright Act. The investigation began in February after Americans who purchased DVDs from the network started complaining about their poor quality.

I'm not sure if these are the same guys that have been bugging me but there was no way I was going to help them sell tainted goods and I'm glad they got busted. The problem is, they are operating under a bunch of different names and internet domains and appear to still be in business. They have top placement on the search engines thanks to naive sites that are linking to them. I'll bet they made a ton of money.

UPDATE: I got an email from the guys I was talking about once again asking if I would link to their site. The beat goes on.

Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 9:22am
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I'M BACK!
Sorry about the light blogging, but the holidays are knocking me for a loop!

VCI has some exciting shows coming soon to DVD: Honey West, Burke's Law, Zane Grey Theater, and the Harlan Ellison created sci-fi series The Starlost. They're also releasing these great serials: Brenda Starr, Reporter (15 chapters), Junior G-men of the Air (12 chapters), Dick Tracy Returns (15 chapters), Dick Tracy’s G-men (15 chapters) and Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (15 chapters). No dates are available but personally, I'd like to own all of those.

Diane Werts, TV critic for Newsday, has what looks like a wonderful book out that I'm anxious to read - it's all about Christmas and television. Here's a review posted that I shamelessly lifted from Amazon by Lee Goldberg, a TV historian and writer producer (Diagnosis Murder, JAG): "Christmas on Television is the ultimate stocking-stuffer for anyone who loves television. Just about every TV series has celebrated the holidays in its own special way, giving us some of the most memorable, touching, and truly surreal moments in television history. In this book Diane Werts covers holiday celebrations from almost every show, from the obscure (Something So Right and Martial Law) to the cultish (The Man from UNCLE and Xena Warrior Princess), and from classics (I Love Lucy and Twilight Zone) to recent popular hits (The West Wing and Everybody Love Raymond). Her thorough, engaging, and surprisingly touching examination of yuletide television makes for fascinating reading that reveals the surprisingly deep and emotional connection that exists between viewers and the television characters they invite into their homes--especially during the holidays."

Lee Goldberg wrote several books on TV, including one of my favorites, Unsold TV Pilots.

CBS veteran Bob Schieffer will be calling it quits soon. From TV Guide:
“I've always left that as something of a question mark,” Schieffer says. “I'm going to stay for sure through the inauguration. Quite frankly, I don't know what I'm going to do after that. I'll have some sort of relationship with CBS. But I think Inauguration Day is probably going to be my last in the role I have now.”

Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 6:52am
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ON TV
A while back I commented that I thought it was strange Bravo wasn't running either The Christmas Special Christmas Special or the 4 episode series Great Things About the Holidays. I thought both productions were really fine and not just because I was an on-air contributor. Turns out Bravo will be running the last episode of Great Things - but it may not be easy to catch as both airings are in the middle of the night on the east coast.

(Actually I do know why they don't run the Great Things About the Holidays series, there were some references to the year it was created, 2005).

Anyway, look for (or Tivo) GREAT THINGS ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS on Bravo - Friday, December 21st at 3:00am EST / 12:00 PST and Christmas Eve at 2:30 am EST / 11:30 PST.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 - 12:17pm
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MORE CHRISTMAS YOUTUBING
Bill Melendez, the animator behind A Charlie Brown Christmas, is seen talking about his career.

Is there a more perfect or lovely voice at Christmastime than the late Karen Carpenter? Here she sings 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' from a TV special - apparently someone's done some video editing on it. Why the Carpenters' Christmas specials aren't on DVD is a mystery to me because they're loads of fun and filled with holiday cheer.

Andy Williams' guest on his 1962 Christmas show was the legendary Bette Davis who, at the time, was trying to morph into a musical comedy star. She delivers one of the most embarrassing musical numbers ever when she croaked, 'Just Turn me Loose on Broadway.'

Sunday, December 16, 2007 - 6:00am
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CHRISTMAS PAST & PRESENT
A holiday routine from the Abbott & Costello Colgate Comedy Hour Christmas Special from the early-1950s.

A clip from the lost 1956 episode of I Love Lucy, the Christmas episode
that was TV's first flashback / clip show. This episode wasn't included in the syndication package we all grew up with and went unseen until it was restored and aired on CBS back in 1989.

Remember You Can't Do That on Television? Here's a bit from the 1984 Christmas episode.

Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 8:16am
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THIS 'N' THAT
Did you know A Charlie Brown Christmas is out of print on DVD? There is no current release, you can only get it through third party sellers on Amazon. Weird, huh?

A TV program from 1964 was the third most popular show on network television last week - Rudolph!

I just saw something amazing - Charmin is running a tribute commercial to Dick Wilson who played Mr. Whipple for a few decades. Classy!

Shout! Factory announced the opening of an Ebay auction of an autographed My So-Called Life 6-DVD deluxe box set with 100% of the revenue from the sale going to DonorsChoose.org. The brand new box set of the cult classic TV show is signed by cast members Claire Danes, Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, Devon Gummersall, Tom Irwin, A.J. Langer, Devon Odessa and Lisa Wilhoit. The cost of shipping will be paid by Shout! Factory. Fans and collectors can find the listing on Ebay beginning Tuesday, Dec. 11. The auction is scheduled to end 10 days later on Dec. 21, 2007. Here's the link.

Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 8:11am
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RARE CHRISTMAS SPECIALS
Mitchell Hadley points us to these Christmas classics: 1) Here's a post I did about another "lost classic" Christmas episode - I'm not sure how many people know about Tennessee Ernie Ford's "The Story of Christmas," but I ran across it - as I do so many things - through an old TV Guide. As I said in the post, it seemed as if it was a big deal at the time, but after a couple of airings seemed to disappear. Lo and behold, it turns up! The story links to where the DVD can be purchased, and it really IS a classic!

2) In one of the pieces where readers share their favorite Christmas TV memories, Susan mentions the Christmas shorts "Hardrock, Coco and Joe," "Suzy Snowflake," and "Rudolph," and adds, "If anyone knows where I can get a copy of these, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, I'll be forever grateful!" Well, as it happens, the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago has now digitally remastered them and has them available at their website (a wonderful resource, by the way, for classic TV fans). I don't know if she'll be reading this, or if it's already been mentioned, but since the remastered DVD is fairly new I wanted to pass it along.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 8:43am
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I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS
From the Press Release: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (creators of Golden Globe®-winning BBC series The Office and its current Emmy®-winning U.S. version) have done it again!

Extras: The Extra Special Series closes out the hilarious series with Andy Millman the 40-something-year-old actor who is finally able to claim the fame and money he has worked so hard for. But now, after three numbing seasons of the popular British sitcom When the Whistle Blows, Andy is fed up with low brow anecdotes. Between over used catch phrases, oversized sunglasses and horrible sales for his look-a-like doll, Andy is eager to break free from his TV stereotype. Striving to gain respect, he is ready to make certain changes that will turn his life upside down. However, due to his star status Andy can’t even take a stroll in the park to clear his head without some reference to high profile persona.

Sprinkled with guest appearances by actor Clive Owen (Oscar®-nominated for Closer, Sin City), pop singer George Michael (in a memorable park scene!), chef Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen), TV critic/presenter Jonathan Ross, actor David Tennant (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and others, Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale will definitely close out the year with tons of laughs!

Interviews with Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais:

Clip 1 / Clip 2 / Clip 3

EXTRAS: THE EXTRA SPECIAL SERIES FINALE, Sunday, December 16 at 9 pm on HBO.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - 6:49am
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Terminator 90210

I've just seen the first two episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I reviewed the pilot last summer, so I'll be blending in part of that review here, but it looks like they massaged the production a bit over the last few months and it's a better show for it.

The pilot, directed by David Nutter (Band of Brothers, Entourage) and written by Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), is one red hot, rip-roaring, action packed, sci-fi adventure that crackles with excitement amid a relentless barrage of gunfire, fireballs, exploding police cruisers and tire screeching car chases.

This frenzied, adrenalin charged show is what The Bionic Woman should have been. In it, John Connor is a back to being a teenager; he and his responsibly paranoid mother Sarah are being chased all over the landscape by a killer robot from the future and present day government agents. You thought your mom was uptight!

Fortunately for the Connors the Terminator sent to kill John is the kind of killing machine that will stop in the commission of its prime objective just to fire off a joke. Like after shooting up a high school science lab, the robot from the future halts his pursuit of John Connor long enough to look back, pause and tell the students - "Class dismissed." But then again, if the Terminator had foregone this all-too-understandable momentary pleasure, John Connor would have died in the first 20 minutes and there would be no series.

FOX had announced that school shooting scene would be reshot or recut, coming on the heels of the Virginia Tech shootings. Instead, they left everything in and it's a very effective scene. Since the series opens with a high school parking lot firefight, and Sarah seems determined to enroll John Connor in classes whenever they find a new home, expect to see a lot of violence on campus grounds.

It's also most fortunate for John Connor (but not so much for his mom) that the robot sent from the future to protect the teenager looks like a supermodel hottie, an adorable young nymphet with bionic lips and heavy metal hips that gets to thrash all the guys she wants.

One plot thread I really like involves Sarah's former lover played by Rescue Me's Dean Winters, who is pursuing Sarah for his own reasons. He's a commanding presence that I always enjoy watching (this role was played by another actor in the original version of the pilot).

To keep with the movie continuity this show starts out in 1999 then jumps ahead to September of 2007, which I assume meant the network originally planned to release this program earlier than January of 2008. That gave the production a tremendous lead time before the writer's strike. As a result, FOX has got a winner - a strong series with fresh episodes ready to air despite the walkout.

The production values are first rate as are the special effects. What at first seems like a gimmick to appease continuity freaks, the whole time travel element leads to some nice business. "9-11? What's that?"

The second episode, though it goes a bit mushy at the end, is as compelling as the first, leading me to think this one could go this distance. The premise is strong and time tested, all that's needed now are some superior scripts. Could happen, it's already better than T3.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles replaces Prison Break on Monday nights at 9:00 ET/PT starting January 14th but the debut episode will be broadcast the night before, Sunday, January 13th at 8:00pm.

Overall, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is one of the best shows this season, fans of Prison Break and the Terminator film series will not be disappointed.

Look for FOX to retain - or expand - it's hold on Monday nights.

REGULAR CAST:
Sarah Connor - Lena Headey
John Connor - Thomas Dekker
Cameron Phillips - Summer Glau
James Ellison - Richard T. Jones

Here are some sneak peeks:

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