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    Archive for November 2008


    Site Related

    Some Minor Fixes

    To be honest, I'm not sure the Monday before Thanksgiving was the best possible moment for launching the "new" Television Obscurities with WordPress. I assume a lot of people spent much of the week with family and friends and not online. On the other hand, with the extra time off maybe people did sit in front of the computer more than usual. In any case, I've fixed a few small issues that popped up during the past week. I had used the wrong spelling when when specifying a color, so it didn't show up correctly in Internet Explorer and I had forgotten to create a topic at the Television Obscurities Forums for the latest article, Television Programs in 1941.  Plus, I had to change all the links to the forums to remove the word "our" now that I'm no longer using the Royal We. I'm sure there are still some things to be fixed.  I'm seeing a lot of odd URLs in my site statistics for Television Obscurities but I'm not sure what they mean at the moment.  I'm hopeful that they don't represent a lot of people unable to find what they're looking for.  If you ever have problems with the site or find a broken link, please contact me.
    Site Related

    November's Most Popular

    I'm not sure if anyone is actually interested in this information, so consider the following an experiment. I've gone over the site statistics for Television Obscurities (I use AWStats) for November and pulled out some numbers that reflect the most popular articles, exhibits and videos over the course of the last month, as of 10:30PM EST. But first, a caveat: Obviously, if another website links to a specific article at Television Obscurities and sends a huge amount of traffic to that particular article, the end results are skewed statistics. Also, because there are only five exhibits available at the moment, I am only going to show the top three.
    Ten Most Popular Articles The Color Revolution: Television In The Sixties 10 Of The Most Outlandish TV Concepts Ever Red Dwarf USA The Outsiders Batgirl and the Batman Phenomenon The Ugliest Girl in Town W*A*L*T*E*R The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. The New People Mr. Lucky
    I'm not surprised that 10 Of The Most Outlandish TV Concepts Ever, The Outsiders or The New People are in the Top Ten; both have been among the most popular articles at Television Obscurities since the beginning. On the flip side, it was a little unexpected to see Red Dwarf USA or Mr. Lucky so popular.
    Three Most Popular Exhibits Famous Faces Do Commercials Full Issue of 1951 TV News Network Television Promotion
    I am thrilled that the Full Issue of 1951 TV News is so popular. And I will be interested to see how well TV Guide - Behind the Scenes of the 1964-1965 Season does next month.
    Ten Most Popular Videos Scene From the Second Pilot (Red Dwarf) Scene From the First Pilot (Red Dwarf) Batgirl Promotional Short (Batgirl and the Batman Phenomenon) Opening to W*A*L*T*E*R Opening Credits to Mr. Lucky Promo for the Series Premiere of The Outsiders The Final Scene From I Married Dora Promo for the Third Episode of The Outsiders NBC's 1966 Fall Preview for The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Promo for ABC's Monday Night Line-Up (The New People)
    It makes a certain amount of sense that all of the most popular videos are from the most popular articles. I am a little curious, however, at the fact that only one video from The New People made it into the top ten.
    Bookshelf

    Irwin Allen Comic Books To Be Reprinted

    It was announced last month that publisher Hermes Press will be reprinting all of the comic book tie-ins to Irwin Allen's television series from the 1960s, originally published by Gold Key.  From a press release found at Newsarama:
    Hermes Press proudly announces its publication of complete reprints of all of the classic Irwin Allen television show comic book adaptations: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; The Time Tunnel; and Land of the Giants. Hermes Press will kick off the series by reprinting Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Volume One in February, 2009.
    According to Amazon.com, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Complete Series: Volume One will be published on March 1st, 2009 with a suggested retail price of $49.99.  That seems high but you are getting a hardcover book with eight complete issues plus additional content.  The press release states that the comics have been "digitally remastered," which until know was a phrase I had only seen applied to DVDs, but I imagine it means the colors will be vibrant and fresh. The two issues of The Time Tunnel, with more than 48 pages of additional content, will be published in July of 2009 as a softcover collection.  Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Complete Series: Volume Two (with the final eight issues) comes out in December of 2009 plus something called The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen, "an-depth art book detailing the behind-the-scenes production designs, special effects and histories of these classic sci-fi television productions together with detailed coverage of Lost in Space."  And finally, in February of 2010 the five issues of Land of the Giants will be published as another hardcover. There was never a comic book version of Lost in Space, at least not while the show was first on television.  ICv2 notes that an 18-issue series was published in the 1990s (written by star Bill Mumy).  Another comic book, this one called Space Family Robinson, was subtitled "Lost in Space" but started before the television series premiered.  That seems to have run for almost sixty issues. So, for fans of Irwin Allen or television comic book tie-ins, keep your eyes out for these reprint volumes.
    Site Related

    The More Things Change...

    One of the drawbacks of running your own website, as opposed to simply writing for one, is that you're in charge of everything.  And when, like me, you're constantly trying to improve the design of your site you can lose focus quickly.  And, as much as I hate to admit it, Television Obscurities is just a hobby.  And like any hobby, my interest in it comes and goes.  Thanks to WordPress I'm confident I can publish new content on a regular basis.  There will be Articles, Exhibits, TV's Lost and Found and the Video Vault, plus whatever else I can whip up.

    To help make up for the two months it took me to integrate WordPress, I not only have a new article published (Television Programs in 1941),  I also have a new exhibit (TV Guide - Behind the Scenes of the 1964-1965 Season) not to mention a slew of new videos in the Video Vault.  Be sure to check out TV's Lost and Found as well, although there isn't much there at the moment.  Enjoy.

    I can't take all the credit for this latest overhaul of Television Obscurities.  The good people at WordPress have done a wonderful job providing helpful documentation that I used a lot.  Simple Thought Productions created software that lets me use Jeroen Wijering's FLV Media Player without too much trouble.  Semiologic's Subscribe Me plug-in means I don't have to learn anything about RSS (Real Simple Syndication).  And GARASystem's Amazonify helps integrate Amazon.com links and advertisements.  How great is that?

    Reviews

    Review - The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Soundtrack

    In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I was sent a promotional copy of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. soundtrack by Varèse Sarabande as a "thank you" for helping them.  To be honest, I'm not sure I was all that much help.  I was contacted by the company to see if I could help provide memorabilia for use in the booklet.  Although I'm a big fan of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (you can read the article I wrote about the series here) I personally don't own any memorabilia aside from two copies of one of the tie-in novels written for the series. I did put a notice up at Television Obscurities but I don't know if anyone contacted Varèse Sarabande.  Nevertheless, I was sent a copy of the soundtrack.

    And I'm really glad I was because now I do have a bit of memorabilia from The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. The soundtrack was originally released in 1967 on vinyl and as far as I know this is the first time it has been reissued and certainly the first time it has appeared on CD.  The original liner notes are included in the booklet that comes with the CD.  The soundtrack has twelve tracks, the bulk composed by Dave Grusin with two tracks each composed by Richard Shores and Teddy Randazzo.  The theme from The Man From U.N.C.L.E., composed by Jerry Goldsmith, was also used for The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and is included as well.

    The version of the theme on the CD runs 1:34 as opposed to the roughly thirty second version heard during the opening credits to The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. It might be slightly more orchestral than the television version but I'm not an expert.  I'm also not much of an audiophile.  I don't own an iPod.  I'm still using my old portable CD player.  So I can't speak to the fidelity or timbre of the music.  I can say that it sounded fantastic to me.

    All of the tracks are vintage Sixties.  If you don't recall what music sounded like in the 1960s or weren't around then, think about the swinging, hip music used in the Austin Powers movies.  That'll give you a good understanding.  It's wonderful period music, with plenty of horns and soaring vocalization that is really quite pleasant (especially on Track #4 - "April" and Track #10 - "The Countess").  While listening to Track #8 - "Sneaky Search" I couldn't help but picture poor April Dancer (star Stefanie Powers) being chased by a gorilla (that never happened in The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. as far as I know, although there was a gorilla in an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.).

    I can't say I would have purchased this soundtrack if I hadn't been sent a free copy.  As I said, I do like The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., but I don't usually go for soundtracks.  It certainly isn't for everyone, but fans of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., the Sixties or television soundtracks in general should really enjoy this CD.  You can buy it through Amazon.com or directly from Varèse Sarabande.

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