What did you watch this week in classic TV on DVD(or Blu)? (9 Viewers)

[BobO'Link]

The nitpicker in me has to ask... was that scene set in early 1960?

Because Brave and the Bold 28 (bottom left) was released right at the new year.

And after some research, that's Flash 111 on the right, also March 1960 coverdate released at the New Year, Adventure 273 with a June 1960 coverdate (so, a March-ish release), Detective 277 March 1960, Wonder Woman 117 from October 1960, and Superman 137 May 1960.

So they were all from the same year. Though a newsstand likely would've long since stripped or returned the March coverdate books for credit by the time the October books were out.

But there's probably only about a thousand people left who would care that much, so it is decently accurate.

I didn't research the years and mainly noticed at least two spin racks with identical comics. That *never* happened around here unless some kid stuck it there without paying attention (and surprisingly that didn't happen that often - not like today). If there were too many copies of a particular title for a slot they just kept the extras behind the counter and refilled as necessary. There's also just one copy of each title in each slot. That rarely happened for that many books.

 

[JohnHopper]

And now, for something completely different:

American Bandstand 1965-Interview Robert Conrad

 

[bmasters9]

And now, for something completely different:

American Bandstand 1965-Interview Robert Conrad

How did he get on AB w/Dick Clark?

 

[Rustifer]

And now, for something completely different:

American Bandstand 1965-Interview Robert Conrad

I'm digging this "Something Different" series you've launched.
Keep it up!

 

[Flashgear]

The nitpicker in me has to ask... was that scene set in early 1960?

Because Brave and the Bold 28 (bottom left) was released right at the new year.

And after some research, that's Flash 111 on the right, also March 1960 coverdate released at the New Year, Adventure 273 with a June 1960 coverdate (so, a March-ish release), Detective 277 March 1960, Wonder Woman 117 from October 1960, and Superman 137 May 1960.

So they were all from the same year. Though a newsstand likely would've long since stripped or returned the March coverdate books for credit by the time the October books were out.

But there's probably only about a thousand people left who would care that much, so it is decently accurate.

Robert, that is a very interesting analysis of the prop comics shown in that scene from 11.22.63, and exactly reminds me of the time lag between cover date and the actual date that the newsagent would deliver these comics to retailers...as quite often seen on those comics in my own collection with a store stamp in evidence, something which, depending on the ink stamp's location and unobtrusiveness, actually enhanced a comic book...at least in my opinion. Custom owner's Ex Libris stamps added years after are another thing entirely ( believe me, I've seen these atrocities)...I still have a number of silver age DC comics from 1960 and other years before and after...I had a very nice selection of now pricy late '50s Brave and Bold and Showcase comics, including the debut of Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown and the second and third Flash appearances...but they were stolen from me years ago, much to my anger...

Seems like they did a pretty good job on depicting comic racks with DC product from 1960, although as you point out, not entirely accurate to a specific quarter in 1960...and less so when you consider that the story, as shown in the miniseries, depicts the time traveler's destination as being a fixed point (and place) in October 1960...just before the early November general election between Nixon and JFK...I haven't read the Stephen King book, but apparently the time traveler in the book continues to arrive at a fixed point in 1958, rather than 1960...overall, they did a wonderful job in recreating the look of early '60s America...but the inaccuracy you point out is probably less noticeable than the usual goofs of the collector's cars all having seat belts and a missing front license plate...the usual stuff, and continuity errors as well...

When my parents might be concerned about my childhood obsession with comic books, I could dissuade them of any worries by telling them I learned (for the first time) about continental drift and plate tectonics from a 1961 Flash and about the asteroid belt from a 1960 Batman...true story! That and a whole lot more about ionizing radiation in the post apocalyptic wasteland of The Atomic Knights as depicted from Mystery in Space...

 

[JohnHopper]

And now, a word from our sponsor …

1974 Mercury Marquis Commercial with Robert Lansing & Jennefer O'Neil

 

[BobO'Link]

And now, for something completely different:

American Bandstand 1965-Interview Robert Conrad

I'll give it a 76... It's got a good beat and it's easy to dance to it.

 

[Purple Wig]

40% through second-season Riptide; onto Disc 3 there (though I should say, one episode from that third disc was seen out of order of the season, "Gams People Play" [yes, that was the name of the episode; I saw it because it had a short cameo scene with Bob Eubanks and the late Gene Rayburn as themselves])

Will have to look into that one, my 2 favorite hosts.

 

[Flashgear]

In respect to Diahann Carroll's recent passing, I decided to revisit her wonderful Emmy nominated episode of Naked City, A Horse Has a Big Head - Let Him Worry! (Nov. 21, 1962)...Diahann Carroll guest stars as Ruby Jay, a special needs teacher for legally blind students from Brooklyn...who loses track of a headstrong little boy in her charge on the busy streets of Midtown Manhattan...and has to deal with her own fears amid the panic and recriminations from the boy's parents, her principal (the excellent Sorrell Booke), and the frantic search for the nearly blind boy who may have chosen to attempt the long walk home to Brooklyn...my screen caps from the Image DVDs...

Detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke, of course) and his Broadway dancer girlfriend Libby (Nancy Malone) are Ruby's friends and take an immediate personal interest in finding the missing boy...

The boy (John Megna), who has compounded his troubles by losing his glasses, continues to struggle in finding his way home to Brooklyn...finding himself at a familiar landmark like the fountain in Central Park helps him to get his bearings...but he is very much alone and in peril...

He encounters some young bullies...who goad the boy, daring him to walk on the precipice and not fall...

The boy continues to make his way to the Brooklyn bridge...the hipster trendies who infest Brooklyn these days have taken to calling this area, between the Manhattan bridge and Brooklyn bridge, by the acronym D.U.M.B.O., for "down under the Manhattan and Brooklyn overpasses"...

Detective Adam Flint finally sights the boy...and at the urging of Ruby, who's love of the boy is so evident, they decide to have Flint simply follow him at a discrete distance...in the hope that the fearful and timid boy will be emboldened and encouraged in his challenges of life if he can somehow make it home on his own...with his guardian angels hovering nearby...

A touching human drama has played out on a small scale to a happy conclusion...Ruby, Adam Flint and Libby finally relax, dining together at a Chinese restaurant...having endured the frightening crisis of the young boy's long walk home, Ruby finds the message in her fortune cookie to be appropriate..."A wise man once said...a horse has a big head - let Him worry!"...

In the melodious tones of the great Herbert E. Leonard: "There are 8 million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."...

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

The boy (John Megna), who has compounded his troubles by losing his glasses, continues to struggle in finding his way home to Brooklyn...finding himself at a familiar landmark like the fountain in Central Park helps him to get his bearings...but he is very much alone and in peril...

At any point, does he enter a magic shop, only to mysteriously re-appear later, as totally evil? Poor Diahann... that kid sure was a handful.

Oh wait, no, wrong show... carry on, then.

 

[Flashgear]

At any point, does he enter a magic shop, only to mysteriously re-appear later, as totally evil? Poor Diahann... that kid sure was a handful.

Oh wait, no, wrong show... carry on, then.

OMG, good eye Peter! I hadn't noticed it was the same kid as in that terrific Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode. I have the Fabulous films set, and I think I'll re-watch that one soon!

Apparently, John Megna, who was 10 in this Naked City episode, also appeared as "Dill" in To Kill a Mockingbird that same year...and I found out he is also one of the kids in Star Trek's Miri...

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

He's also the kid the other kids elect to sneak into the "haunted house", just before the opening credits of Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

 

[Rustifer]

And now, a word from our sponsor …

1974 Mercury Marquis Commercial with Robert Lansing & Jennefer O'Neil

A friggin' land yacht on wheels! You could drive over a log cabin in that thing and never feel it.

 

[Ron1973]

I've been all over the map in what I've been watching. Vudu has The Greatest American Hero streaming for free, so I caught the premier movie. I hated the show when I was a kid, so I figured I'd see how it holds up for me now. I really enjoyed it. I haven't watched any other episodes yet, but it's on my list to watch more of.

 

[bmasters9]

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And, I think, in the voice of Hal Gibney, "This has been a Screen Gems film production, from the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures."

 

[Rustifer]

Episode Commentary
Peter Gunn
"Come Dance With Me and Die" (S3E24)--1961

The unmistakable noirish quality and undulating jazz music score of this series always gave me a feeling of profound loneliness. In Gunn's world, the city streets are nearly always dark and empty save for perps and their victims. The nights are long and full of dread.

A woman, stupidly walking alone at night, gets swept up by two thugs that try to abduct her--only to be thwarted by conveniently nearby cabby Eddie. The poor girl gets discarded into an alleyway trash pile--these things always happen in alleys--before Eddie can get to her.

Cut to Edie's nightclub. Edie (Lola Albright) apparently got fed up with the dank dive of Mother's joint and started her own ritzy place. Peter stops by to visit and maybe get a little action in the back of the coat check closet, but she has a bad cold. Just as well, as Eddie the cabby feels a need to fill Peter in on his ordeal with the strange girl, who has since disappeared. It doesn't take long to learn that the mob is behind it--that damn mob is always into something--so Peter is off to search for clues in that most notorious trove of mob clues--a dance club. The club is loaded with short skirts, cleavage and women almost constantly melting in unrequited lust. Peter easily connects with Candy (Barbara Stuart), who's been harboring the missing girl 'Ruthie' at her apartment. Peter is shot at when leaving the club--which is stunning that the mob is after him after he only learns about them in the last 5 minutes. Make a note: stay out of mob dance clubs.

Once again, Peter and Edie get caught in the ally making out; Candy shows how to accessorize cleavage; Peter answers his door

Ruthie is unfortunately catatonic due to her alley adventure--which makes her a perfect roommate for Candy. No fuss or bother. Ruthie is of interest since she's slated to testify against the mob.
Peter does some more snooping--he is a private eye after all-- and gets into gun battles, fist fights and disorderly conduct, yet always emerges with every hair on his head intact. I'm convinced he carries a tube of Brylcreem in his back pocket.

Well, Ruthie finally regains her wits after a good bowel movement and testifies against the mob. Peter returns to Edie's to see if her cold is gone. The streets return to being deserted and dark.

Notes:
Barbara Stuart is probably best remembered as Sgt. Carter's girlfriend Miss Bunny in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Probably not what she was hoping to be the apex of her career.

 

[Ron1973]

I didn't personally watch it, although I need to, my son texted me and asked me if I was familiar with a show called Moving On and said it starred the guy from The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. Lol...I knew exactly the show! One of the retro channels was showing a marathon of it. It's on YouTube from ProClassicTV, the same company that distributes The Rifleman and My Favorite Martian. They used to be on Hulu as well, but I guess they're exclusively on YouTube these days.

 

[bmasters9]

Will have to look into that one, my 2 favorite hosts.

I don't doubt it! I grew up around Bob Eubanks on Card Sharks on CBS.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I didn't personally watch it, although I need to, my son texted me and asked me if I was familiar with a show called Moving On and said it starred the guy from The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. Lol...I knew exactly the show! One of the retro channels was showing a marathon of it. It's on YouTube from ProClassicTV, the same company that distributes The Rifleman and My Favorite Martian. They used to be on Hulu as well, but I guess they're exclusively on YouTube these days.

Ooh, thanks for the tip, Ron! Been wanting to check this show out, but have yet to pony up the cash for the (somewhat expensive) DVDs. Will take a look at the first episode soon...

 

[Purple Wig]

Ooh, thanks for the tip, Ron! Been wanting to check this show out, but have yet to pony up the cash for the (somewhat expensive) DVDs. Will take a look at the first episode soon...

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As far as Frank Converse vehicles, I prefer NYPD or Coronet Blue but I did catch an episode with Michael J. Pollard a few years ago that made me think I'd like to revisit it.