Who picks the “Classic TV” options on Air Canada flights–somebody with a dart board? Is this some plot by Air Canada to drive folks to turn off their screens and save electricity? Among the classic choices this week: two episodes of the best-forgotten Howard Hesseman classroom comedy from the late ’80s, Head of the Class.
How batty was I over Batman? Fifty years ago, when it first premiered on ABC, pretty batty. So when The Toronto Star started running reviews on old TV shows as part of their “Rewind” series of “first pop culture loves,” I called dibs on the bat-beat. See how I rated the show back when I
Back when he was on NBC, Conan O’Brien would invite Abe Vigoda on Late Night just to prove that the former Barney Miller star was still alive. On Tuesday night’s Conan, the host paid tribute to the actor, who finally passed away–after all those premature rumours–at the age of 94. The above clip shows several
Television, it seems has many fathers. One of them is John Baird, showcased in Tuesday’s Google Doodle. Ninety years ago Tuesday, Baird gave the first public demonstration of his invention: the first mechanical television. It was to regular television what Donald Trump is to presidential candidates: crude, sketchy, loud, often unintelligible. Still, back in 1926, Baird transmitted
PASADENA, Calif.–Never mind Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner or Jennifer Lopez. Enough with all The X-Files hype, or blather about The People vs. O.J. Simpson. There’s only one burning question this TCA winter press tour–what’s happening with Amazon’s plan to re-mount The Tick, a.k.a. the Big Blue Bug of Justice? It was 15 freakin’ years ago when
Holy senior’s discount Batman! Tuesday, Jan. 12 marks 50 years since ABC’s Batman premiered. I was in Grade Three in 1966 and loved that this series was on two nights a week–same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. It only lasted two-and-a-half seasons and just over 100 episodes, but for a while it was hotter than any of
What’s the No. 1 TV series in Canada–among viewers who are visually impaired? It’s not a new show, it’s not even from this century–it’s Matlock. The folksy law drama, which revived the career of Andy Griffith, ran from 1986 to ’95, with all but the last season on NBC. It’s still a big draw according to the
What are the best regular series Christmas episodes ever? I wrote a story this week for The Canadian Press listing 10 of the best-ever Christmas-themed episodes. The hook was Monday’s episode of Murdoch Mysteries, a two-hour Christmas special featuring guest stars Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey) and TV legend Ed Asner. Even Peter Mansbridge gets in on