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    Archive for May 2012


    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, Maverick

    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 is Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp - Complete Special Collector's Edition, a 3-disc set featuring all 17 episodes of the Saturday morning live-action ABC series that ran from 1970 to 1972. The set also includes a 1999 documentary titled "I Create Lancelot Link," new interviews with producer Allan Sandler and musical director Bob Emenegger, and new footage of the Lancelot the chimpanzee who "starred" as Lancelot Link, who is living in retirement at The Wildlife Waystation in Los Angeles. The organization will receive some of the proceeds from sales of the set.

    Here's a preview:

    Back in 2006, Image Entertainment released its own collection of Lancelot Link episodes; reviews at Amazon.com are not kind. Unfortunately, it appears Amazon has confused the old release with this new one. The bulk of the reviews for the new set are, in fact, for the old one.

    Also out today from Warner Bros. Home Video is Maverick - The Complete 1st Season, containing all 27 episodes from the 1957-1958 season.

    Press Releases

    Me-TV Memorial Day Marathon

    [via press release]
    Me-TV salutes the men and women of the United States Armed Forces with a Memorial Day Marathon!
    Me-TV will honor the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces this Memorial Day beginning at 7 PM/6 C. The Memorial Day Marathon will feature some of the best episodes from each series featured in this special. Below are details of the shows, episodes, and times of the programs featured in the Memorial Day Marathon on Me-TV.

    Monday, May 28, 2012 7:00 PM ET M*A*S*H “Abyssinia, Henry” 7:30 PM ET M*A*S*H “Sometimes You Hear The Bullet” 8:00 PM ET Combat! “Conflict” 9:00 PM ET 12 O’Clock High “P.O.W.: Part One” 10:00 PM ET 12 O’Clock High “P.O.W.: Part Two”
    Updates & Revisions

    Janet Dean, Registered Nurse Article Revised

    I have finally finished a complete revision of my article on Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. In many respects, this is a completely new article with much more information about the production, distribution and reception of the series (both critical and in terms of ratings). I've revised articles in the past but rarely as significantly as this revision. I wish it had not taken quite as long to complete. I began doing additional research back in 2010 but it was not until earlier this year that I had the chance to sit down and start the actual revising.

    When I first wrote the article in 2007, I only had access to two episodes out of the 39 produced. One of the two ended with Ella Raines, in character as Janet Dean, addressing the audience. The other episode did not. Based on these two episodes I assumed, incorrectly, that every episode ended with a scene in which Janet Dean talked to the audience. I have seen been able to see another episode in its entirety. And the Museum of Broadcast Communications has two episodes available for viewing online. I have not watched them all the way through but I skipped to the end and neither episode featured a final scene like the one I've described.

    So, out of five episodes only one includes a scene at the end in which Janet Dean addressed the audience. They all are roughly the same length. I think it is safe to say the episode that did feature this scene was an exception. Indeed, it was an episode in which Ella Raines did not appear, aside from this scene at the end. That could explain why the scene exists. A colleague of mind suggested that perhaps it was a legal disclaimer of sorts due to the content of the episode, which involved fee splitting between doctors, which was and is considered unethical. Perhaps the producers of Janet Dean, Registered Nurse felt that the episode required a scene in which Janet Dean stressed the fact that the medical profession did not approve of fee splitting.

    I have made mistakes and errors in the past, both in articles and posts. For some reason I fairly regularly will write CBS when I mean NBC (and vice versa). But I believe this is the best example of what happens when I only have access to a handful of episodes of a television series and have to base an entire article on them. In some cases, I've written articles after only viewing one episode (like The New People, for example) or to be totally honest without having seen any episodes at all. That is why I do as much research as possible, pulling information from as many sources as I can, in order to have the best understanding of the series in question. But sometimes sources are wrong, be they television listings in a newspaper or an article in TV Guide or The New York Times.

    So, please take a few minutes to read the revised article and hopefully over the next few months I will be able to do substantial revisions of other articles.

    Requiescat In Pace

    Eugene Polley (1915-2012)

    Eugene Polley, the man responsible for the wireless television remote control, passed away on Saturday (May 20th) at the age of 96. Polley was working as an engineer for Zenith in 1955 when he developed the Flash-Matic remote control, shaped like a ray gun (or perhaps something you'd find at the end of a garden hose) and painted green. Viewers could fire a beam of light at the corner of their television set to change the channel and adjust volume. Previous remotes were connected to sets by a wire. There was a problem, though. Light from other sources could hit a set and change the channel. Later remotes, like the one designed by the late Robert Adler (also for Zenith), were ultrasonic. Adler's Space Command remote control made a clicking sound, leading to the now rarely used name "clicker" for remote controls. Today's remotes use infrared technology and are far, far more powerful but also require a battery, which the Flash-Matic and Space Command remote controls did not.

    In 1997, Polley and Adler (who died in 2007) were jointly given an Emmy Award for their work with television remote controls. Obituaries can be found at BBC News, PC Magazine and Variety.

    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: The Dean Martin Variety Show, Route 66, S.W.A.T.

    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 Time Life is The Dean Martin Variety Show Uncut, a 3-disc set featuring six complete episodes of The Dean Martin Show. This is the first set to feature actual episodes rather than just clips. The Golddiggers Super Site has a list of the episodes included, which were originally broadcast between 1967 and 1971. Guests include Sid Caeser, Jackie Mason, Buddy Ebsen, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Uggams, Bob Newhart, Orson Welles, Joey Heatherton, Zero Mostel and more.

    Also out today from Shout! Factory is S.W.A.T. - The Final Season, collecting all 24 episodes from 1975-1976 season, the show's second and, as the set's title indicates, its last. The first season was releasted way back in June of 2003, so this set has been a long time coming. Finally, as of today Route 66 - The Complete Series is no longer a Shout! Store exclusive, meaning it should be available for purchase in brick and mortar stores and online.

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