Saturday, 7 January 2012
Friday, 6 January 2012
Contrary to popular belief today, the Big Bands did not go quietly when rock 'n' roll arrived. Here we have the great trumpeter Harry James with his big band in '66, legendary drummer Buddy Rich backing him up and the song is Herb Alpert's hit, THE LONELY BULL. Like his mentor, Benny Goodman, James still appeared onstage regularly throughout the world into the seventies and was no stranger to television, often showing up on HOLLYWOOD PALACE,
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Monday, 2 January 2012
Here we have one of my all-time favorite sitcom episodes--or rather two of them--as seen in 6 chapters, uncut except for the original sponsor bits. MY FRIEND BEN was the first color episode of BEWITCHED that was filmed (although not the first aired) and is just a delight. It tells the story of Aunt Clara accidentally bringing Benjamin Franklin into the 20th Century. The follow-up, SAMANTHA FOR THE DEFENSE, is also quite wonderful and features a lovely closing speech from the Founding Father himself.
Above is Part One--Look for Part Two linked at the end from the corresponding uploader ad take about 45 minutes to go though all 6 parts. THIS was 1966 TV comedy at its best--heartwarming, magical and hilarious.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Watching a marathon of LAREDO On cable this morning. LAREDO premiered on TV in 1965 and ran into 1967 so it was on all trough '66. It was a good, colorful western, spun off from THE VIRGINIAN, but it had a light-hearted feel to its characters. Stars were Peter Brown (formerly of LAWMAN), William Smith (later of scores of exploitation films and biker movies) and, stealing the show every episode. Neville Brand. Brand, like Audie Murphy, was a highly decorated World War II hero who became a cowboy star. Unlike the baby-faced Murphy, however, Brand was an ugly cuss but he could do comedy or menace equally well and here his comedy highlighted spirited performances every episode.
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