* Classic TV Blog *
Your host: Billy Ingram

MILLION DOLLAR DUMPSTER DIVING
Bob Huggins writes: "I had just recently finished Alpha Video’s DVD release of “Mack & Myer for Hire” and was pleasantly surprised to see the Mickey Deems interview posted at your site. It was nice to see some space devoted to this long forgotten series of short films. I had never even seen a single episode prior to the release of the DVD. Would you happen to know where this series ran other than the metropolitan New York City area which is mentioned in the article (viewing markets and/or on which shows)? Presumably the series was run on some kiddy shows, but I can’t recall ever seeing it growing up in the Philadelphia area.

"Speaking of Alpha, I found the comments on “dumpster diving” as a means of saving a portion of television’s history interesting, to say the least. Supposedly, some of the video masters used for Alpha Video’s DVD releases of “Ramar of the Jungle” (the Jon Hall jungle adventure series from the early 1950s) were acquired in this fashion by a collector who later provided them to Alpha. Say what you will about the condition of the “masters,” 44 (of 52) episodes from the series are available today on commercial DVD, thanks in part to this anonymous “dumpster diver.” I’m thankful that these folks exist because in a very real sense they have preserved some television history. One only has to look at past business practices of the BBC (wiping video tapes for re-use) or the sad history of the old DuMont Network (kinescopes and videotapes dumped in the Upper New York Bay) to know that whole portions of television history are gone and can never be seen again."

Collector Jeff Valencia used to dumpster dive behind the duplication businesses in Hollywood that would generate the 16mm films syndication companies would send to local stations for broadcast. The stations returned the films after use and the dupe company would trash them. Valencia's collection is now housed at UCLA, were it not for him thousands of television productions would have vanished forever.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 11:19am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

THIS 'N' THAT
In series-premiere news, CBS game show revival Million Dollar Password opened with a first-place 7.4 rating/13 share from 8-9 p.m. The show only lost 3% of the audience out of 60 Minutes.

CBS has been #1 in daytime for 1,000 straight weeks.

A. J. McWhorter has an article on Yvonne Elliman in the Star-Bulletin - find out what's she's up to today.

Happy Days stars Henry Winkler, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Erin Moran, Anson Williams and Don Most, along with series creator Garry Marshall and producer Ronny Hallin will appear in Milwaukee on Tuesday, August 19th to dedicate of a bronze statue of The Fonz. Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams are also expect to show up.

The Universal fire has destroyed the masters for A/M recordings - Uni insists that everyting was backed up except possibly some obscure artists from the 1940s & 50s. As this article states - we may never know the truth.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 6:46am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

WOW!
If this was a sketch on Saturday Night Live it couldn't be more absurd or inappropriately funny - watch as this talk show goes horribly wrong. Stick with it, it's worth it.

Monday, June 2, 2008 - 12:10pm
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

HAPPY MONDAY
Damn that Lee Goldberg! Not only has he written some of the best books about television (Unsold TV Pilots, Successful Television Writing), and penned some amazing novelizations of shows (Monk, Diagnosis Murder) and written scripts for some of the most critically acclaimed series of all time (Seaquest, Sliders) but he also has a Blog that just ate up 3 hours of my time because I couldn't stop reading. The great thing about Lee is that he's not only talented but he's a really nice guy as well.

On his Blog was posted this revolting 1973 Lost In Space animated reimagining by Hanna-Barbera, this was a pilot produced for the Saturday Superstar Movie. Jonathan Harris provided the voice of Dr. Smith, the only original cast member to be involved and the only recognizable character other that the 'robon' which looks kinda sorta similar to the Robinson's pet robot. Why adapt a much loved TV series and eliminate almost every element of the original that made it so popular in the first place? Clearly they couldn't have done likeness of the other cast members without paying them but why redesign the iconic space ship?

Monday, June 2, 2008 - 9:44am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

TV HISTORY
Richard Tolleson adds his two cents on TV station retrospectives and what he says is tragically too true: "The lack of archival footage. Often, this is the station management's fault. One station I worked for once decided to clean out their storage building. They threw out a wealth of material, from library-bound copies of TV Guide dating back to the 50's, to the station's entire library of news film (they had converted to tape at this point). They even threw out cameras that would have been considered museum pieces or (I thought) a nice display of the station's history in the front lobby. I "dumpster-dived" and rescued a lot of material, but when management got wind of that, they threatened me with termination if I continued. A few years later, in another round of housekeeping, they threw out all videotape more than 3 years old. When the station was preparing a 40th anniversary special, they found they didn't have enough footage. Former staffers came forward with things they had stolen from the station when they left. That was the only way they were able to piece together the special. By the time the 50th anniversary rolled around, they appealed on-air for material. That told me they hadn't even bothered to hang on to the stuff from the 40th, and I neither helped nor watched. I can only conclude that TV station managers are not imbued with a great deal of nostalgia."

A great deal of TV history would be lost today if it wasn't for dumpster diving heroes like Richard and that's no exaggeration. I suspect TV station managers regard the history of their enterprise to be somewhere between complete disinterest and outright contempt. Yet it was the their locally produced shows that made a connection with the communities that built their business. After decades of producing exploitive 'news' programs you'd think they would want to rekindle the unique relationship that their locally produced shows established before it's too late. But nooooooo...

Sunday, June 1, 2008 - 1:51pm
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

TV STATION RETROSPECTIVES
Tim Lones responds to an earlier post on lousy retrospective shows: "I was fortunate to be able to tape Cleveland's WEWS-5 and WKYC-3 50th anniversary programs in 1997 and 1998, respectively. While both were hosted by news personnel (Ted Heny on Channel 5 and Del Donahoo on Channel 3) both had been with their respective stations over 25 years at the time, and they had a good perspective on the history of their stations. They were very entertaining. I think the biggest problem with shows like these is the lack of vintage film to show on these occasions when Channel 5 did their 60th anniversary they showed clips throughout the day, the same ones they showed 10 years earlier. Looking forward to WPIX's 60th (I have it on Dish Network)."

William D. French, Jr. adds: "By the way, KTVU (an Oakland & San Francisco TV station) is celebrating it's 50th anniversary and has some clips on their site ktvu.com. There are also some clips of a PSA series they did in the 70s and 80s using puppets on YouTube called Charley & Humphrey. I was told last year that they did not have any of this stuff and obviously they were wrong."

Saturday, May 31, 2008 - 2:30pm
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

GOODBYE
Del "Abe" Jones share's this with us:
HARVEY KORMAN AKA HEDLEY LAMARR
FEBRUARY 15, 1927 – MAY 29, 2008 R.I.P.

From "The Flintstones" to "Tom and Jerry"
To a loved, and well known comedy Star
Now, all we have are those memories
As Harvey looks down, from afar.

Millions watched his long career
With laughter’s tears, filling their eyes
Now, many more tears fall, in sorrow
At our loss, the whole World cries.

Friday, May 30, 2008 - 10:06am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

HARVEY KORMAN
Kevin Butler lists some credits that may be forgotten by some:
"Born in Chicago, Harvey Korman had performed in local school productions and for a time was part of a short lived comedy team with comic actor Ted Ziegler (later of the Sonny & Cher Show). He didn't come into prominence until the early 1960's when he joined up with clown Danny Kaye and performed on the latter's Wednesday night comedy/ variety show on CBS, he would later join up with another beloved TV clown, Carol Burnett and also did the voice for The Flintstones' trouble making pompous space alien The Great Gazoo and was also the voice of The Mad Hatter in Hanna-Barbera's animated TV special Alice In Wonderland or What's A Nice Kid Like You Doing In A Place Like This?.

"Korman appeared in movies such as Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, History Of The World Part I, Dracula Dead & Loving It and Arthur P. Jacobs' movie musical version of Huckleberry Finn in which he played one of the con men claiming to be The King Of France along with David Wayne).

"Unfortunately, Mr. Korman's career is also marred because he did an inaccurate and offensive portrayal of Bud Abbott in the controversial TV movie Bud & Lou with the late Buddy Hackett, Michelle Lee and former Rowan & Martin's Laugh In regular Artie Johnson in November, 1978. The film was not an accurate or respectful portrayal of the team's lives and careers and it still offends the A&C families and some fans to this day.

"Mr. Korman would leave The Carol Burnett Show to star in his own sitcom on ABC in which he played an out of work actor trying to revive his sagging career. It was not a hit and it was cancelled after a few episodes.

"He also appeared as a semi-regular on Tim Conway's CBS variety show; this reteaming did little to help the series' sagging ratings and that show also left the air abruptly.In recent years Mr. Korman's TV appearances had been limited to guest spots on talk shows an specials, oftimes he was reunited with Ms. Burnett and the other cast members of The Carol Burnett Show.

"He performed in a two man show with Tim Conway that played successfully at many theaters around the USA. His last appearance was on CBS TV's 75th Anniversary tribute in March, 2004 which aired live from the Oscar Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC where he was reunited with Mr. Conway once again."

Friday, May 30, 2008 - 7:25am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

SAD PASSINGS
It seems almost every day we lose another TV icon. Earl Hagen a few days ago and now Harvey Korman.

For me, one of the funniest skits that Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman performed were the 'Old Folks At Home' bits that had the two comics playing an old couple with Burnett complaining about her husband's inability to please here sexually. The skits were wildly funny and quite popular but were dropped because of complaints from advocates for the elderly who felt the routines were demeaning.

Those of us who loved and grew up with The Carol Burnett Show will always treasure Korman's enormous contribution to our TV enjoyment and fondly recall those times when Tim Conway sent him into shivers of uncontrolled laughter like in this dentist sketch.

And who can forget Ed & Eunice?

Friday, May 30, 2008 - 4:35am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

TV NEWS
Word on the Street is that 3 original cast members will die tomorrow night on Lost. The violent season finale promises to be a real shocker. Me, I'm waiting to watch the show on DVD, Lost is a show I can't just watch, I need to devour it.

The first part of The Andromeda Strain mini-series on A&E Monday night was the network's second most-watched telecast of all time.

SOAPnet will air a second season of General Hospital: Night Shift.

Gordon Ramsay told TV Guide, "I'm sh---ing myself" over the prospect that one of the competitors on this season's Hell's Kitchen will be the head chef in his new, $10 million dollar West Hollywood Restaurant.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 11:56am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

YOU'VE GOT MAIL
Dan Wingate sends us this link to a very funny but too true story from the Onion: "In a solemn pledge to himself and the world, Kevin Wollersheim, the new owner of a complete Mama's Family video library, announced Monday that he will "never, ever again" shop the online auction house eBay while inebriated."

Then there's this passage: "The final sale price for the 44-tape set was $279.50, with shipping charges raising the total amount spent by the 33-year-old elementary-school teacher to $301.67. Wollersheim, who said he is "partway through the first episode," also received a copy of the 1981 made-for-TV movie Eunice, which preceded the sitcom."

I know people that would pay that price for the Eunice special alone! It's one of the finest 90 minute TV specials of the 1970s.

Kevin Butler writes: "I watched and heard Red Skelton explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance but not on TV - he did this while he was performing at NYC's Radio City Music Hall back in the fall of 1979. Mr. Skelton was performing one of his one man stage shows and recalled the time that he was a young boy in Vinncince, In. reciting The Pledge without any enthusiasm. He then told us all about how his school principal explaining what the Pledge Of Allegiance was really all about. I sat there enthralled by his wonderful recollection of this childhood memory and a meaningful way of understanding this part of our country's heritage. Mr. Skelton's show was a success and he got a standing ovation for his work that night.

"On Saturday, June 14, 2008 former local NYC based television station turned flagship station of the CW network WPIX Channel 11 will be airing a marathon of some of TV's most popular series to honor the station's 60th anniversary. From 12:00 to 9:00pm Channel 11 will screen reruns of The Adventures Of Superman, The Abbott & Costello Show, My Favorite Martian, Get Smart, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Honeymooners along with Little Rascals and Three Stooges film comedies.

"The station will also air an hour-long tribute to sixty years of broadcasting which will be MC'd by WPIX's resident newscasters Kaity Tong and Jim Watkins.

"This is the second time that the station execs at WPIX 11 have prepared a tribute to their history, the first time was on Thursday night September 29, 1988 (which was actually pre-taped at the last Horn & Hardart Automat restaurant on E. 42nd St. and Third Avenue on Friday night, July 10, 1988). That tribute, WPIX AT 40, was forgettable to say the least. For those of us who will be watching this 60th anniversary celebration we can only hope and pray that this program will be more meaningful than the one that aired 20 years ago."

The problem with these modern anniversary shows that TV stations occasionally attempt is that they are produced by the news department so they come out as poorly researched, unimaginative and shallow as their infotainment news segments and morning shows. A better idea would be to bring in a television historian to oversee the production.

Stations lose sight of the fact that these anniversary shows can be one of the best ways to reinforce that sense of the station being an integral part of the community, which WPIX definitely is/was.

Someone has posted a 1984 WPIX Blooper Reel on You Tube:

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 7:46am
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND?

Read more Blog entries here!

Your Classic TV Blog!

TELEVISION BLOG!

Your host Billy Ingram is one of the nation's top
Pop Culture Gurus and expert on classic TV.
Seen on VH1, Trio & Bravo!

PR4 & PR5 Pages for ads - CHEAP!

Punk Book!

Latest TVparty
Classic TV Blog Entries

TV BLOG - 107
TV BLOG - 106
TV BLOG - 105

TV BLOG - 104
TV BLOG - 103
TV BLOG - 102
TV BLOG - 101
TV BLOG - 100

TV BLOG - 99
TV BLOG - 98
TV BLOG - 97
TV BLOG - 96
TV BLOG - 95

TV BLOG - 94
TV BLOG - 93
TV BLOG - 92
TV BLOG - 92
TV BLOG - 91
TV BLOG - 90
TV BLOG - 89

TV BLOG - 88
TV BLOG - 87
TV BLOG - 86
TV BLOG - 85
TV BLOG - 84
TV BLOG - 83

TV BLOG - 82
TV BLOG - 81
TV BLOG - 80
TV BLOG - 79
TV BLOG - 78

TV BLOG - 77
TV BLOG - 76
TV BLOG - 75
TV BLOG - 74
TV BLOG - 73

TV BLOG - 72
TV BLOG - 71
TV BLOG - 70
TV BLOG - 69
TV BLOG - 68

TV BLOG - 67
TV BLOG - 66
TV BLOG - 65
TV BLOG - 64
TV BLOG - 63

TV BLOG - 62
TV BLOG - 61
TV BLOG - 60
TV BLOG - 59
TV BLOG - 58

Lost Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

Classic TV on the Internet!