Poor Hector Elizondo. Now what is he going to do? I thought of Elizondo first when I heard the news last week that Marshall, who’d had a series of strokes very recently, had passed away. He was 81. Back in 2007, CBS held a TCA press tour party outdoors. I got talking to Elizondo at
If they were saluting TV players instead of film stars, Ann Morgan Guilbert would fit right in on that TCM segment “What a Character!” The Minnesota-native, who died earlier this week at 87, made a career stealing scenes–especially back on the series she is most remembered for, The Dick Van Dyke Show. It is worth
Look up “’60s TV Dads” in the dictionary and there should be a photograph of the gentleman to the right: William Schallert. The actor passed away earlier this week at 93. Best known as patriarch Martin Lane on The Patty Duke Show (1963 -’66), Schallert’s face and voice were as familiar as test patterns throughout 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
I can’t quite say hats off to PBS for airing Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration. (Tuesday night at 8 p.m. PT; check local PBS listings). It’s listed as a PBS Pioneers of Television presentation. Having just watched the special on the East Coast, I have to agree with many critics who already pointed out that it
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.–A terrific little series that snuck on and off HBO’s schedule last winter was Getting On. Based on a British series, the dark comedy looks at life in a geriactric wing of a Long Beach Hospital. The good news is that Getting On is coming back for a second season. Laurie Metcalf, Alex Bornstein
Thanks to artist in the family Katie Brioux for the logo, above Welcome to TV on Film, a website that grew out of a 16mm film collection. As friends and readers of TV Feeds My Family may know, I’ve been collecting 16mm films for years. Sixteen millimeter is those large reels that, way back in
People often ask, “What’s your favourite, all-time TV show?” I never hesitate to answer: The Dick Van Dyke Show.Sure, part of it is nostalgia. I grew up with the black-and-white CBS comedy, which premiered 50 years ago today, Oct. 2, 1961.It was very much rooted in the Kennedy era, with the pilot having been shot