The All In The Family episode that still stings today

All In The Family is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time – heck, I’d even argue it’s one of the greatest scripted television shows of all time. The show broke so many taboos and boundaries and sitcom norms that, even today, you can watch episodes of this classic series and go, “How in…

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If South Park was shot as a super-wide-screen live-action Technicolor classic in Super Panavision 70…

The TV show South Park has its own distinct animation style. The whole show looks like it was animated with paper cutouts. Okay, back in the early years it WAS animated that way, even though the show today is totally computer-generated, but still … What if the show went in the OTHER direction, and we…

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Bob Newhart knows Billy Joel’s pain – at least in Albany.

Last Sunday, CBS aired a pre-taped Billy Joel concert as a television special. Well, because the previous program on the schedule – some golf tournament of note – ran a little long, the Billy Joel concert started a few minutes late. That “few minutes late” meant that when Billy Joel took to the keyboard and…

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History in a minute or less

In the 1970’s, CBS used to run a series of “Bicentennial Minutes,” which aired in prime time.โ€‚Actors and historians would explain tales of historic significance that led up to our country’s 200th birthday. And sure enough … some of these “Bicentennial Minutes” exist on YouTube.โ€‚I was actually surprised that they survived in the first place.โ€‚But…

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Mel-O-Toons: Cheap cartoons for weekday enjoyment

Follow along with me on this. In my childhood years, there was a simple plan on who would take care of me.โ€‚During the school year, I would stay with my mother and stepfather in whatever double-deep, double-wide trailer park they were located.โ€‚And as soon as the school year ended, my Grandma Betty and my great-grandmother…

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Damn it, Toyota, you ALMOST got that holiday commercial right.

Yeah, I can be an annoying little wiseacre when it comes to historic dramas.โ€‚I really can.โ€‚If you can’t get the historic facts accurate on your TV drama, it’s going to take me completely out of the “suspension of disbelief” to the point where I’m not watching a TV show, but I’m instead watching actors in…

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Right about now, dem’ Duke boys done got themselves in a mess that even Uncle Jesse can’t get them out of.

I will admit to watching The Dukes of Hazzard on Friday nights a long, long time ago.โ€‚Maybe it was the formulaic routine of the show – Duke boys get mixed up in something, Duke boys try to outfox Sheriff Roscoe and Boss Hogg, Duke boys jump their orange ’69 Dodge Charger over some riverbed, and…

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The Littlest Angel is the ONLY Hallmark Christmas special you need to see.

Follow me on this. It’s December 6, 1969. And among the television offerings on NBC that evening was a broadcast of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, an anthology series designed to entertain viewers and hopefully sell lots of greeting cards. The special that evening was a musical rendering of Charles Tazewell’s 1950’s radio script of…

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