Television Obscurities » Articles

New Article – “My World and Welcome To It”

RGJ — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:44:55 +0000

I’m not sure if My World and Welcome To It, which aired on NBC during the 1969-1970, can be considered a “popular obscurity.” Quite a number of people remembering watching it, and have fond recollections of the show. Following its cancellation it won two Emmy awards, which may have led to some embarrassment at NBC. CBS aired select episodes during the summer of 1972. What interested me most while writing this article was learning about previous attempts to turn the works and life of James Thurber into a weekly television series. Two pilots were produced and broadcast in the late 1950s/early 1960s but neither was picked up. I’d love to see those. They’d make wonderful bonus material for a DVD release.

Here’s the summary for the article:

It took several tries before the life and works of James Thurber were successfully turned into a weekly television series. Two failed pilots, broadcast in 1959 and 1961, eventually led to NBC scheduling My World and Welcome To It on Mondays for the 1969-1970 season. The sitcom starred William Windom and featured a combination of live-action and animation. Despite many positive reviews, moderate Nielsen ratings led NBC to cancel the series after one season. It then went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series.

You can read the full article here and please leave any comments you have at the article itself.

New Article: “Willy”

RGJ — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:30:34 +0000

I’ve long wanted to write about Willy, believed to be the first prime time series to feature a female lawyer, and the death of star June Havoc back in March finally pushed me to actually get it done. Havoc played Willa “Willy” Dodger, a newly minted lawyer in a small town in New Hampshire who later moved to New York City. The sitcom ran for 39 episodes on CBS from 1954-1955 and, after being repeated in syndication for a few years, seems to have been completely forgotten. Unfortunately, that has led to some confusion about the series. For example, sources vary on who played Willy’s father. As I mention in my article, Wheaton Chamber is credited in the first episode, but Lloyd Corrigan seems to have taken over the role at a later date. Or maybe he didn’t. I don’t really know. I’ve also come across conflicting information about the name of the company Willy worked for in New York City.

Admittedly, these are minor issues, but they’re the sort of thing that I find frustrating. I’ve only seen the premiere episode of the series and to be honest it wasn’t very good. I doubt it got any better. None of the episodes are held by any of the big museums/archives, as far as I can tell, but are likely gathering dust in a warehouse somewhere. Will they ever see the light of day again? Again, I doubt it. Here’s the summary:

June Havoc starred in this CBS sitcom about a small town lawyer. It was the first prime time series to feature a female lawyer but didn’t catch on with viewers. Reworking the premise of the series — moving the action to New York City — in mid-season didn’t help, nor did shifting it to a new day and time. After a single low-rated season, the series was canceled. Repeats went into syndication right away and remained on the air for several years before the series faded away into obscurity.

Feel free to leave any comments at the article itself, which you can find here. If anyone has an old TV Guide or a newspaper that can shed some light on the question of who played Willy’s father, please let me know. I’ll rest easier having that mystery cleared up.

Hitchcock’s Psycho Premiered 50 Years Ago

RGJ — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:14:35 +0000

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho had its premiere in New York City on Thursday, June 16th, 1960, or exactly 50 years ago. Articles discussing the anniversary can be found at The New York Post, Cinematical, Moviefone and Entertainment Weekly. Here‘s an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal about Bernard Herrmann’s musical score for the film. A special 50th Anniversary Edition of the film will be released on Blu-ray in October.

I mention this anniversary only because of my article CBS and Psycho, which discusses the planned broadcast of Psycho on CBS in September of 1966 and the reasons why the network never aired the film.

New Article: “The Headmaster”

RGJ — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:17:20 +0000

I had hoped to publish this article yesterday (Thursday is the day new articles are typically published) but I wasn’t able to finish it in time. My interest in The Headmaster stems from its theme song, which I’ve always been fond of. Here’s the summary:

Andy Griffith, who starred in one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s, returned to television in a new sitcom in the fall of 1970. This time, rather than a rural sheriff, his character was the headmaster of a prestigious private school. It was the season of relevancy and thus The Headmaster featured stories supposedly relevant to teenagers: there were episodes that involved drugs, miniskirts and rebellion. Although early Nielsen ratings were decent, the series soon sank. Reviews were sharply critical of the series, which was replaced in mid-season 1971 by The New Andy Griffith Show, which itself was canceled as part of the CBS rural purge. Griffith was able to make a career resurgence in the mid-1980s with Matlock, proving that viewers had forgive him for The Headmaster.

There are two things I’d like to point out. First, some sources state there were 13 episodes of The Headmaster. Television listings in The New York Times indicate there were actually 14 episodes. Second, according to The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, the theme song was written by Gordon and Williams. Online sources say the music was written by either Patrick or Dick Williams (could they be one and the same?) and the lyrics by Kelly Gordon, but I haven’t found a definitive source.

If you have any comments about The Headmaster, please leave them at the article itself.

New Article: “Morton & Hayes”

RGJ — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:41:58 +0000

I mentioned earlier in the year that I was planning on writing articles about some obscure television programs from the early 1990s despite the fact that they aired just two decades ago. Morton & Hayes is the first of those programs and this is the first of these articles. The show ran for just six episodes during the summer of 1991 on CBS, which in terms of length certainly deserves to be called obscure. Here’s the summary:

Rob Reiner created this unconventional comedy series in which previously “lost” short films starring a forgotten comedy team in the vein of Abbott and Costello were aired in black and white. The series dates back to 1989 when a pilot was ordered by CBS; it eventually aired in August of 1990. The network ordered six episodes of a revamped version for the summer of 1991. Critics were split on whether the series was a brave attempt at a new sort of television comedy. Viewers didn’t care one way or the either and the series was not continued past the initial six episodes due to low ratings.

Interestingly, it’s likely that more people remember The New People or Camp Runamuck than Morton & Hayes. True, it aired much more recently but its ratings were anemic. Even a poorly rated show from the 1960s probably had more viewers. But even Morton & Hayes has its fans and hopefully they’ll enjoy this article. So take a moment to read over my latest article: Morton & Hayes.

New Article: ABC and Batman’s Fourth Commercial Spot

RGJ — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:12:18 +0000

I’m fairly confident this is the last article I’ll be writing that focuses heavily on Batman. The first, of course, was Batgirl and the Batman Phenomenon, followed by William Dozier’s Unsold Dick Tracy Pilot (while not about Batman per se, there are strong connections between that series and this unsold pilot) and then Broadcast Twice a Week (or More). And now, in my first article of 2010, I’ve covered ABC and Batman’s Fourth Commercial Spot. Here’s the summary:

In the mid-1960s, it was industry practice to include just three minutes of commercials in every half-hour of prime time. When ABC premiered Batman in January of 1966, it ignited a firestorm of controversy by adding a fourth minute. Affiliates protested and one station took the incredible step of refusing to air the campy, twice-a-week sitcom. Making matters worse was the disclosure that ABC was considering expanding the fourth commercial minute to all its 7:30-8PM programming. In the face of increasing pressure from affiliates, ABC eventually backed down.

I will admit that the controversy ends rather anticlimactically. ABC decides to table the introduction of an additional minute of advertising and that’s it. Based on everything I have access to, although Batman continued to include four commercial minutes, ABC never again attempted to expand the policy. And it does appear that, for the most part, the amount of advertising in a half-hour program stayed relatively stable through the 1970s. If anyone can shed additional light on this topic, either contact me or add a comment at the article itself.

Minor Updates to Four Articles

RGJ — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:07:51 +0000

It’s a humdrum way to end the year, I admit, but I’ve completed minor updates to four articles. For the most part all I’ve done is switch from small images to larger images, although for at least one of the articles I did rewrite one section fairly heavily. Hopefully by this time next year I’ll have finished switching to larger images for all my articles. What an exciting prospect. Here’s the list of updated articles:

Check back tomorrow for a discussion of what I hope to accomplish during 2010. Happy New Year.

Worthington Minor on Censorship: The Terrible Toll of Taboos

New Article: Early Networks and the East-Midwest Connection

RGJ — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:30:34 +0000

One of the more interesting aspects of television in the 1940s, at least in my mind, is that despite the growth of the medium following the end of World War II for the most part it was a very local affair. Viewers in the largest cities may have had three or even four channels to choose from but they were confined to programs produced in their respective cities unless they were lucky enough to be one of the few cities connected to another city or two through a relay or a coaxial cable.

By the late 1940s, of course, the networks were slowly establishing themselves with regional “chains” on the East Coast and in the Midwest. This article covers some of the NBC and DuMont networks, building up to the connection between cities in the East and cities in the Midwest thanks to AT&T. Here’s the summary for Early Networks and the East-Midwest Connection:

Prior to September 4th, 1951 (when President Truman opened the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco) television in the United States wasn’t truly a national medium. There was no way for viewers on both coasts to watch the same program at the same time. Network broadcasting was originally confined to the East Coast before expanding to the Midwest and, finally, coast-to-coast. This article focuses on the various NBC and DuMont networks of the 1940s and the East-Midwest connection that took place on January 11th, 1949.

It’s certainly not a comprehensive history of regional networks but hopefully it provides an adequate introduction to network television in the mid-to-late 1940s. As always, please leave any comments at the article itself.

New Article: “The Interns”

RGJ — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:35:13 +0000

Take a few minutes to read my latest article about The Interns. I don’t have access at the moment to the episodes I used when writing this episode, so I can’t check the closing credits to see if Richard Frede is mentioned. But it seems The Interns was at least slightly based on Frede’s 1960 novel, The Interns, and/or the 1962 film adaptation. The show ran jut one season on CBS, from 1970-1971, and never caught on with viewers. Was it an overload of “relevant” programming? Too many medical dramas? The fact that the series aired opposite The Brady Bunch? I can’t say for sure.

This medical drama was savaged by critics and unable to make much of an impression with viewers during the 1970-1971 season when relevance was the word of the day and television was filled with young, eager characters striving to make a difference. Broderick Crawford starred Dr. Peter Goldstone, the surly supervisor of five fresh-faced interns played by Stephen Brooks, Christopher Stone, Hal Frederick, Mike Farrell and Sandra Smith. Every week they faced medical crises and personal problems, sometimes at the same time.

Please add any comments to the article itself.

New Article: “The Four Seasons”

RGJ — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:47:10 +0000

This CBS sitcom was Alan Alda’s second attempt at creating a television series (his first, We’ll Get By, ran for half a season in early 1975). It premiered to strong Nielsen ratings but CBS decided to pre-empt the series and then place it on a lengthy hiatus. A move away from the powerhouse that was 60 Minutes didn’t help either. Take a moment to read all about The Four Seasons:

This short-lived CBS television series, based on the 1981 film of the same title, was Alan Alda’s follow-up to M*A*S*H. He only appeared in the special one-hour premiere but was heavily involved behind the scenes. Jack Weston, reprising his role from the film, starred as Danny Weston, a dentist who moves with his wife from New York City to Los Angeles. The series followed the trials and tribulations of Danny, his family and his friends through the ups and downs of life. Thirteen episodes were aired between January and June of 1984.

If you have any comments, please add them to the article itself.