What makes even a crusty TV critic cry? News that Mary Tyler Moore has passed away. I first fell in love with her on The Dick Van Dyke Show, but who didn’t? Certainly Dick Van Dyke did. Look at the photo above — how much in love were these two kids? They were even asked,
Did you know Sammy Davis Jr. could not land a special on a U.S. network TV schedule in the late ’50s — so he made one in Canada instead? That’s just one of the things I learned Monday from my pal Stan Taffel, 16mm film collector extraordinaire. Taffel is the president of Cinecon, an annual Los
PASADENA, Calif. — Will Rocketshop 7 someday blast off as a feature film? The cherished children’s TV series, broadcast out of Buffalo’s WKBW in the ’60s and ’70s, is a touchstone for many boomers who grew up in the Toronto/Buffalo/Niagara area. The possibility that there might be a project about the series was raised almost as an afterthought
A friend of mine who tends to joke about these things, emailed to say he was afraid to visit his mother-in-law “Endora” over the Christmas holidays. “Was worried that Doctor Bombay wouldn’t be around to turn me back into me at some point.” Just another reminder of all the people we grew up with on
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a close encounter with Carrie Fisher. Actually it wasn’t so long ago; it was the summer of 2010. Far away? It was at the Beverly Hilton, in the main ballroom. Fisher was at that summer’s TCA press tour, chauffeured in by HBO to promote their airing of her
When telling the story of young Cindy Loo Who/Two guys in bow ties knew just what to do. They were Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. popular children’s author and illustrator Dr. Seuss, and Warner Bros animation legend Chuck Jones. Together, they made Dr, Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which premiered 50 years ago this month in 1966. It
It’s both an honor — and another indicator I’ve been doing this a long time — to find myself a go-to obit guy. This year, it seems, every day or two, another entertainer from my youth passes away. Bewitched‘s Dr. Bombay — Welsh actor Bernard Fox — was paged for good Wednesday at 89. That was a day
You never want to hear about anyone dying at 69, and I can’t imagine the heartache his 19-year-old son Carter experienced watching his dad being stricken right before his eyes. There is something so Canadian, however, about Alan Thicke meeting his end on a Burbank, Ca., hockey rink. Thirty years ago, Alan Thicke was one of the biggest stars