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    Archive for February 2012

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    On TV

    FOX to Air 25th Anniversary Special April 22nd

    Posted Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at 7:40PM
    1 Comment

    Yesterday, FOX announced that its two-hour 25th anniversary special (aptly titled "FOX's 25th Anniversary Special") will be broadcast on Sunday, April 22nd from 8-10PM. Previously, it was scheduled to air on April 1st. According to a press release, the special "will celebrate the shows and the stars of FOX's 25-year history, from its earliest days as a bold, brazen upstart to its current standing as the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49." And according to the FOX website, "FOX's biggest stars from both past and present will make live appearances to celebrate the network that began on April 5, 1987." It will be interesting to see whether the special will actually spend a significant amount of time on the network's "earliest days" and programs long forgotten like Boys Will Be Boys, Karen's Song, Beyond Tomorrow, The Reporters and Women in Prison. Will Whoops! even warrant a mention?

    While FOX did indeed debut its first prime time lineup on Sunday, April 5th, 1987 (Married with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show were each broadcast three times during the network's inaugural three-hour broadcast: Married with Children was seen at 7PM, 8PM and 9PM and The Tracy Ullman Show at 7:30PM, 8:30PM and 9:30PM), its very first offering as a network was The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, which premiered on Thursday, October 9th, 1986. The 25th anniversary of that program would have been last year. Obviously, FOX is not interested in reminding people about its failed foray into late night.

    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: Here Come the Brides, Here's Lucy

    Posted Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at 10:30AM
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    Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn't be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.

    Out today from Shout! Factory is Here Comes the Bride - The Complete 2nd Season, containing all 26 episodes from the 1969-1970 season. This comes almost six years after the first season was released on DVD (way back in May of 2006) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Also out today, from MPI Home Video, is Here's Lucy - Season 5, with all 24 episodes from the 1972-1973 season. Bonus features include new episodic introductions from Lucie Arneaz (and others), a featurette on Desi Arnaz, Jr., Lucy on The Donny & Marie Show and more. Only one season remains to be released and based on the release schedule for the past three seasons (one a year), fans may not see Season 6 on DVD until 2013.

    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: Hazel, That Show, Underdog

    Posted Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 at 7:16PM
    1 Comment

    Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn't be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.

    Out today from Film Chest and Synergy Entertainment are two releases of note: That Show with Joan Rivers - Volumes 1-3 and The Lawrence Welk Show - Classic Episodes: Volumes 1-4. That Show was a daily syndicated talk show that broadcast from 1968 to 1969. The 3-volume DVD set contains 18 episodes; Hulu.com currently has 65 available for viewing online. As for The Lawrence Welk Show - Classic Episodes: Volumes 1-4, this is the first time that any episodes of the long-running variety show have been made available on DVD. The running time is said to be 720 minutes but this press release only describes four individual episodes, including the fifth anniversary show. Shout! Factory also has two releases out today: Hazel - Season Two, containing all 32 episodes from the 1963-1964 season, and Underdog - Complete Collector's Edition, featuring all 62 episodes from the show's network run (1964-1967). According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Shout! attempted to recreate the original network versions of the episodes rather than the syndicated versions. A review at Movie Metropolis states that the DVD features a disclaimer about quality.

    Television History

    50th Anniversary of Mercury-Atlas 6

    Posted Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 9:30AM
    3 Comments

    Fifty years ago, at 9:47AM on Tuesday, February 20th, 1962 John Glenn's Friendship 7 blasted off from Cape Canaveral. NASA's Mercury-Atlas 6 mission was underway. At least 60 million viewers were glued to their television set according to Broadcasting [1]. Some 135 million would watch at least some of the network coverage that day [2]. The three networks spent at least $3 million on the mission, a figure that included the costs incurred by a number of delays [3]. The expensive delays forced ABC to withdraw from broadcasting "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy" earlier in the month. The coverage began three hours prior to lift-off, at 6:30AM, and continued for 11.5 hours. Both CBS and NBC also pre-empted portions of their evening schedule to air specials on Glenn's flight: CBS aired a half-hour special from 9:30-10PM while NBC's special ran from 10-11PM.

    CBS News set up a large screen in New York City's Grand Central Station for those away from television sets to get a glimpse of the day's historic events. Broadcasting reported that the network was asked to take it down at 3PM due to heavy congestion [4]. Cynthia Lowry of the Associated Press called the coverage an "exciting if exhausting experience" that was "a great day for television and one of which it can be proud" [5]. Rick Du Brow of the United Press International opined that regular television heroes were unappealing after Glenn's flight and suggested that "it really did not matter how good [the coverage] was. The overwhelming fact is that by merely recording the event in a free and open way, the United States scored an enormous propaganda victory" [6].

    Here's footage of the countdown and launch of Friendship 7, with commentary by Walter Cronkite, from CBS News:

    The Paley Center for Media has some, if not all, of the CBS coverage in its collection. Hopefully the ABC and NBC coverage has survived as well.

    Sources:


    1 "Networks' space shot costs: $3 million." Broadcasting. 26 Feb. 1962: 50.
    2 Ibid.
    3 Ibid.
    4 Ibid.
    5 Lowry, Cynthia. "Networks Turn in Top Job in Covering Orbital Flight." Associated Press. Ocala Star-Banner [Ocala, Florida]. 21 Feb. 1962: 30.
    6 Du Brow, Rick. "TV Heroes Tame After Glenn's Trip." United Press International. Eugene Register-Guard [Eugene, Oregon]. 21 Feb. 1962: 6C.

    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: David Susskind Show, Doctor Who

    Posted Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 at 12:00PM
    1 Comment

    Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn't be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.

    Out today from S'More Entertainment is The David Susskind Show: How To Be A Jewish Son, a single-disc release containing the November 29th, 1970 episode of the syndicated talk show, featuring guests Mel Brooks, David Steinberg, George Segal, Stan Herman, Dan Greenburg and Larry Goldberg. This is the second episode of The David Susskind Show S'More has released on DVD. The first, "Jerry Lewis: A Frank and Candid Conversation," came out on November 22th, 2011. Hulu.com currently has 18 episode of The David Susskind Show available for viewing online, including "How to Be A Jewish Son." Also out today, from BBC Video, is an early Doctor Who serials: "The Sensorites" (Story #007, William Hartnell as the Doctor, 1964).

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