By Sylvia Gurinsky
The doldrums of summer...but not always on television. Here are a few classic shows that made their debut during the summer months:
*The Ed Sullivan Show (as Toast of the Town), June 20, 1948: Until he retired in 1972, Ed Sullivan's program, on CBS, was the place for entertainers to be.
*Candid Camera, August 10, 1948. Alan Funt's invention of the reality show was a hit first on CBS, then in syndication.
*CBS Evening News (as CBS-TV News), August 15, 1948: It would take 14 years before Walter Cronkite and an extension from 15 minutes to a half-hour would begin to immortalize this nightly newscast.
*Guiding Light, June 30, 1952: Made its move from radio to become CBS' longest running soap opera. This one really should be revived online.
*The Lawrence Welk Show, July 2, 1955: Started on ABC, then moved to syndication in 1971, this was the longest running musical variety show in television history.
*The Newlywed Game, June 11, 1966: Chuck Eubanks was the main host for this game show, which had some truth and consequences for married couples.
*One Life To Live, July 15, 1968: One of the successful dynamic duo of ABC soaps for Agnes Nixon, and has one more life to life online.
*Hee Haw, June 15, 1969: It began on CBS and would also find its niche in syndication as the most successful country music-comedy variety show ever.
*The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, August 1, 1971: Until Cher and Sonny Bono divorced, this was a big hit for CBS.
*20/20, June 6, 1978: It would take a few hiccups before Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters would come in and make this ABC newsmagazine a standard.
*The Facts of Life, August 24, 1979: This spinoff of "Diff'rent Strokes" was one of the few hits for NBC during the Fred Silverman era (which seems like a golden era compared to what NBC is going through now).
*Hart to Hart, August 25, 1979: Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers sizzled and viewers smiled with this "Thin Man" style romance-drama on ABC.
*Highway to Heaven, August 19, 1984: The NBC drama immortalized Michael Landon (who played an angel) with his third successful TV series (to go with "Bonanza" and "Little House on the Prairie").
*PrimeTime (as PrimeTime Live), August 3, 1989: The ABC News program is sleazy and undistinguished (and a waste of John Quiñones' reporting talents) now. But when Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer began it, they took us places live American television had never been before - including the Kremlin.
*Northern Exposure, July 12, 1990: This offbeat drama, set in Alaska, shined for CBS.
*Melrose Place, July 8, 1992: One of the early hits for Fox was this soap opera.
*7th Heaven, August 26, 1996: One of the greatest successes for the WB network was this family drama.
*The View, August 11, 1997: The ABC yakfest still has viewers taking aspirin to this day (And they'll buy even more, with the news of Jenny McCarthy's arrival on the show.).
*Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, August 16, 1999: A major hit and a star-making vehicle for Regis Philbin before ABC burned it out by over-airing it.
So Happy Viewing as you look for the next summer hit! See you next week!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Week of June 4: Jean Stapleton, From Edith to Eleanor
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Such was the quality and memory of Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker that it had a tendency to dwarf almost anything else she did on the small screen.
But Stapleton, who died over the weekend at age 90, had a lengthy television career beyond Edith. She tried another series, "Bagdad Cafe," with Whoopi Goldberg at CBS. It ran for about a season and a half.
She also had numerous guest-starring spots in shows such as "Murphy Brown," "Touched By An Angel," "Grace Under Fire" (for which she was nominated for an Emmy) and "Everybody Loves Raymond."
Another Emmy nomination came for her sparkling portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1981 movie "Eleanor, First Lady of the World." The movie covers Mrs. Roosevelt's efforts in drafting the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here's a clip, in which Gail Strickland plays Anna Roosevelt:
Your Future
The movie is available from Amazon.com on demand, VHS and DVD.
Stapleton won three Emmys as Edith. Here's a clip from one of her most memorable episodes, "Edith's Christmas Story," in which she is dealing with a lump in her breast. Besides the regular cast, that's Betty Garrett as the Bunkers' neighbor Irene Lorenzo:
Edith's Christmas Story
Here's to versatile Jean Stapleton.
Such was the quality and memory of Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker that it had a tendency to dwarf almost anything else she did on the small screen.
But Stapleton, who died over the weekend at age 90, had a lengthy television career beyond Edith. She tried another series, "Bagdad Cafe," with Whoopi Goldberg at CBS. It ran for about a season and a half.
She also had numerous guest-starring spots in shows such as "Murphy Brown," "Touched By An Angel," "Grace Under Fire" (for which she was nominated for an Emmy) and "Everybody Loves Raymond."
Another Emmy nomination came for her sparkling portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1981 movie "Eleanor, First Lady of the World." The movie covers Mrs. Roosevelt's efforts in drafting the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here's a clip, in which Gail Strickland plays Anna Roosevelt:
Your Future
The movie is available from Amazon.com on demand, VHS and DVD.
Stapleton won three Emmys as Edith. Here's a clip from one of her most memorable episodes, "Edith's Christmas Story," in which she is dealing with a lump in her breast. Besides the regular cast, that's Betty Garrett as the Bunkers' neighbor Irene Lorenzo:
Edith's Christmas Story
Here's to versatile Jean Stapleton.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Week of May 28: The Television Movie Pilot
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Last week's post about the original "Ironside" included a reference to the television movie that introduced the characters. The movie, while technically a pilot, originally aired in March, 1967, six months before the series went on the air. (Update: ME-TV will begin airing episodes of "Ironside" next Monday, June 3, at 11 a.m. Eastern time.)
This week, YesterTube's focus turns to the pilot movie - the grand introduction to many television shows. While many fit the "first episode" theme, some pilots actually aired long before the series did. (This list does not include theatrical films, such as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," which later became television series with the same cast.)
*Cagney & Lacey: CBS aired the two-hour film in October, 1981, with Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly playing Mary Beth Lacey, as she would throughout the entire series.
In the pilot movie, Christine and Mary Beth are promoted to detectives, but have to battle their assignments and the sexism of their colleagues.
Apparently Swit wanted to continue with the show, but there was the matter of a series called "M*A*S*H." Since Swit was not available, Meg Foster was initially cast as Cagney for the series. Foster did not find favor with audiences, and Sharon Gless was finally brought in for the role that would earn her two Emmys (to go with Daly's four). However, the show still had to go through cancellation and revival before it finally stuck.
*Columbo - Prescription: Murder, NBC (1968) and Ransom For a Dead Man (1971): The character Lieutenant Columbo went through a few incarnations on television and the stage before Peter Falk introduced the trenchcoat in the 1968 one-shot television movie. (Incidentally, Bing Crosby had been considered for a more urbane version of the detective in the 1968 movie.) "Prescription: Murder," in which Columbo nails a doctor (Gene Barry) for murdering his wife has a far more high-strung Columbo than the subsequent series would. But it was popular enough that it triggered "Ransom For a Dead Man," in which Lee Grant played the murderer, and the subsequent series that became part of the "NBC Mystery Movie." Falk would also star as Columbo in a number of made for television movies for ABC from the 1980s to a little more than a decade ago.
*Emergency: The Wedsworth-Townsend Act (NBC, 1972): The Wedsworth-Townsend Act was the name of the California Legislature bill that created the state's paramedic system. Jack Webb and Robert Cinader put their own spin on the real-life story in the movie pilot to the series "Emergency!". Other than more romance for Rampart Hospital's Dr. Kelly Brackett and Dixie McCall (Robert Fuller and Julie London) and less humor for paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto (Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe), this excellent film would set the tone for the 6-season series:
Gage & DeSoto Meet
*Hawaii Five-0: Cocoon (CBS, 1968): Leonard Freeman's creation was a barrier breaker in terms of location and support casting. While some of the core cast would change from pilot to series (Richard Denning replaced Lew Ayres as the governor, and James MacArthur replaced Tim O'Kelly as Danny Williams.), the pilot established the McGarrett (Jack Lord) versus Wo Fat (Keigh Deigh) dynamic and set up the series:
Book 'Im!
*Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders (CBS, 1973): Like "Ironside," the kickoff movie for "Kojak" actually aired months before the series debut. "Kojak" creator Abby Mann ("Judgment at Nuremberg") based the script on actual events; the result was a pretty accurate portrayal of the gritty New York of the 1970s. Incidentally, like James MacArthur with "Hawaii Five-0," Kevin Dobson was not a part of the pilot film as his famous character, Detective Bobby Crocker:
The Marcus-Nelson Murders
*The Love Boat (ABC, 1976 & 1977): Quite a different crew from the one viewers would come to embrace was in the 1976 television movie. It wasn't until the second pilot, which aired in May, 1977, that Gavin MacLeod (who was wrapping up "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), Bernie Koppell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange and Lauren Tewes would become the Pacific Princess captain and crew.
*Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend (NBC, 1981): The sitcom "Love Sidney" was not a major hit, running just two seasons. But the pilot film with Tony Randall broke barriers for the portrayal of the lead character as a gay man who was helping a single mother and daughter. The gay angle was considerably downplayed during the series.
*Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper (NBC, 1984): Brandon Tartikoff got his "MTV Cops" on the air thanks to Michael Mann and Anthony Yerkovich. The two-hour film introduces Miami vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and New York detective Ricardo Tubbs (Phillip Michael Thomas) to each other, and viewers, after their respective partners (one played by Jimmy Smits) are killed. An up-and-coming Miami is also introduced, as is the melding of pop music and plot. The major difference between the pilot and most of the subsequent series is the presence of Gregory Sierra as the boss; Edward James Olmos would come in as the powerful Lieutenant Castillo a little later in the first season.
In the Air Tonight
*Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990): Possibly the most buzzed-about television pilot movie in history, "Twin Peaks" began with the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). David Lynch's direction received as much attention as the plot. But the series, while a cult favorite, never quite lived up to the buzz and promise of the pilot.
Who Killed Laura Palmer?
*The Waltons - The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (CBS, 1971): Based on Earl Hamner's novel about his own youth in Virginia, "The Homecoming" introduced the Waltons, anchored by Patricia Neal as Olivia, Edgar Bergen and Ellen Corby as Grandpa and Grandma, and Richard Thomas as John-Boy. The young actors and actresses who played the other Walton children would continue in the series, as would Thomas and Corby.
"The Homecoming" Trailer
The "Cagney & Lacey" movie with Swit and Daly, the 1976 "Love Boat" movie and "Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend" are not available on DVD as of yet. "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" and "Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders" are available on separate DVDs from their series. The rest are available with Season 1 of their respective series.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Last week's post about the original "Ironside" included a reference to the television movie that introduced the characters. The movie, while technically a pilot, originally aired in March, 1967, six months before the series went on the air. (Update: ME-TV will begin airing episodes of "Ironside" next Monday, June 3, at 11 a.m. Eastern time.)
This week, YesterTube's focus turns to the pilot movie - the grand introduction to many television shows. While many fit the "first episode" theme, some pilots actually aired long before the series did. (This list does not include theatrical films, such as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," which later became television series with the same cast.)
*Cagney & Lacey: CBS aired the two-hour film in October, 1981, with Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly playing Mary Beth Lacey, as she would throughout the entire series.
In the pilot movie, Christine and Mary Beth are promoted to detectives, but have to battle their assignments and the sexism of their colleagues.
Apparently Swit wanted to continue with the show, but there was the matter of a series called "M*A*S*H." Since Swit was not available, Meg Foster was initially cast as Cagney for the series. Foster did not find favor with audiences, and Sharon Gless was finally brought in for the role that would earn her two Emmys (to go with Daly's four). However, the show still had to go through cancellation and revival before it finally stuck.
*Columbo - Prescription: Murder, NBC (1968) and Ransom For a Dead Man (1971): The character Lieutenant Columbo went through a few incarnations on television and the stage before Peter Falk introduced the trenchcoat in the 1968 one-shot television movie. (Incidentally, Bing Crosby had been considered for a more urbane version of the detective in the 1968 movie.) "Prescription: Murder," in which Columbo nails a doctor (Gene Barry) for murdering his wife has a far more high-strung Columbo than the subsequent series would. But it was popular enough that it triggered "Ransom For a Dead Man," in which Lee Grant played the murderer, and the subsequent series that became part of the "NBC Mystery Movie." Falk would also star as Columbo in a number of made for television movies for ABC from the 1980s to a little more than a decade ago.
*Emergency: The Wedsworth-Townsend Act (NBC, 1972): The Wedsworth-Townsend Act was the name of the California Legislature bill that created the state's paramedic system. Jack Webb and Robert Cinader put their own spin on the real-life story in the movie pilot to the series "Emergency!". Other than more romance for Rampart Hospital's Dr. Kelly Brackett and Dixie McCall (Robert Fuller and Julie London) and less humor for paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto (Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe), this excellent film would set the tone for the 6-season series:
Gage & DeSoto Meet
*Hawaii Five-0: Cocoon (CBS, 1968): Leonard Freeman's creation was a barrier breaker in terms of location and support casting. While some of the core cast would change from pilot to series (Richard Denning replaced Lew Ayres as the governor, and James MacArthur replaced Tim O'Kelly as Danny Williams.), the pilot established the McGarrett (Jack Lord) versus Wo Fat (Keigh Deigh) dynamic and set up the series:
Book 'Im!
*Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders (CBS, 1973): Like "Ironside," the kickoff movie for "Kojak" actually aired months before the series debut. "Kojak" creator Abby Mann ("Judgment at Nuremberg") based the script on actual events; the result was a pretty accurate portrayal of the gritty New York of the 1970s. Incidentally, like James MacArthur with "Hawaii Five-0," Kevin Dobson was not a part of the pilot film as his famous character, Detective Bobby Crocker:
The Marcus-Nelson Murders
*The Love Boat (ABC, 1976 & 1977): Quite a different crew from the one viewers would come to embrace was in the 1976 television movie. It wasn't until the second pilot, which aired in May, 1977, that Gavin MacLeod (who was wrapping up "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), Bernie Koppell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange and Lauren Tewes would become the Pacific Princess captain and crew.
*Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend (NBC, 1981): The sitcom "Love Sidney" was not a major hit, running just two seasons. But the pilot film with Tony Randall broke barriers for the portrayal of the lead character as a gay man who was helping a single mother and daughter. The gay angle was considerably downplayed during the series.
*Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper (NBC, 1984): Brandon Tartikoff got his "MTV Cops" on the air thanks to Michael Mann and Anthony Yerkovich. The two-hour film introduces Miami vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and New York detective Ricardo Tubbs (Phillip Michael Thomas) to each other, and viewers, after their respective partners (one played by Jimmy Smits) are killed. An up-and-coming Miami is also introduced, as is the melding of pop music and plot. The major difference between the pilot and most of the subsequent series is the presence of Gregory Sierra as the boss; Edward James Olmos would come in as the powerful Lieutenant Castillo a little later in the first season.
In the Air Tonight
*Twin Peaks (ABC, 1990): Possibly the most buzzed-about television pilot movie in history, "Twin Peaks" began with the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). David Lynch's direction received as much attention as the plot. But the series, while a cult favorite, never quite lived up to the buzz and promise of the pilot.
Who Killed Laura Palmer?
*The Waltons - The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (CBS, 1971): Based on Earl Hamner's novel about his own youth in Virginia, "The Homecoming" introduced the Waltons, anchored by Patricia Neal as Olivia, Edgar Bergen and Ellen Corby as Grandpa and Grandma, and Richard Thomas as John-Boy. The young actors and actresses who played the other Walton children would continue in the series, as would Thomas and Corby.
"The Homecoming" Trailer
The "Cagney & Lacey" movie with Swit and Daly, the 1976 "Love Boat" movie and "Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend" are not available on DVD as of yet. "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story" and "Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders" are available on separate DVDs from their series. The rest are available with Season 1 of their respective series.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Week of May 21: Burr's "Ironside" Was a Barrier Breaker
By Sylvia Gurinsky
As it continues to muddle around in search of past glories, NBC has decided to revive a past glory, casting Blair Underwood ("L.A. Law") in a new version of "Ironside."
Everything from the casting of able-bodied Underwood in the role of the wheelchair-bound Ironside to a change in scenery (from San Francisco to yet another NYPD show) to a perception the character will be changed to a corrupt cop has raised plenty of hackles - which it should.
We already know about the reboot concept paling a new show in comparison to the original ("Hawaii Five-O," anyone?). It has to happen in the case of "Ironside," simply because the original show was such a barrier breaker.
The casting of the able-bodied Raymond Burr as paralyzed Chief Robert Ironside mattered less in 1967, because wheelchair-bound leading characters were almost non-existent to that point, anyway. (Ironically, Burr had played a bad guy in the 1954 movie "Rear Window," which had Jimmy Stewart's lead character recovering from a broken leg in a wheelchair.) Burr's Ironside would open doors for the portrayal of disabled characters in primary roles on television.
Before the series went on the air, a two-hour movie showing the shooting that left the chief of detectives paralyzed premiered on NBC. The movie teamed all the people who would be carried over to the series: Besides Burr, there was Don Galloway as Detective Sergeant Ed Brown; Barbara Anderson as Officer Eve Whitfield; Don Mitchell as Ironside's aide Mark Sanger and Gene Lyons as Police Commissioner Dennis Randall.
Mitchell's character would develop the most through the run of the series. The African-American Mark Sanger went from juvenile dropout to lawyer. By the 1993 reunion movie, he was Judge Mark Sanger.
The movie got high ratings and achieved something else: Letting viewers accept Burr in a role other than Perry Mason. They would embrace the crusty-but-tender-hearted Ironside for eight seasons.
Halfway through the series run, Anderson (who had won an Emmy) left and was replaced by Elizabeth Baur as Fran Belding. Except for Lyons, who died in 1974, the rest of the cast would appear in the 1993 movie, "The Return of Ironside."
Also making a mark was Quincy Jones with his memorable theme. Here's the theme and a few minutes of the first one-hour episode:
Message From Beyond
The first two seasons are available on DVD (Get them complete and avoid the annoying partial-season releases.); the first three seasons can be viewed at Hulu.com. The new show may prompt the release of more seasons.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
As it continues to muddle around in search of past glories, NBC has decided to revive a past glory, casting Blair Underwood ("L.A. Law") in a new version of "Ironside."
Everything from the casting of able-bodied Underwood in the role of the wheelchair-bound Ironside to a change in scenery (from San Francisco to yet another NYPD show) to a perception the character will be changed to a corrupt cop has raised plenty of hackles - which it should.
We already know about the reboot concept paling a new show in comparison to the original ("Hawaii Five-O," anyone?). It has to happen in the case of "Ironside," simply because the original show was such a barrier breaker.
The casting of the able-bodied Raymond Burr as paralyzed Chief Robert Ironside mattered less in 1967, because wheelchair-bound leading characters were almost non-existent to that point, anyway. (Ironically, Burr had played a bad guy in the 1954 movie "Rear Window," which had Jimmy Stewart's lead character recovering from a broken leg in a wheelchair.) Burr's Ironside would open doors for the portrayal of disabled characters in primary roles on television.
Before the series went on the air, a two-hour movie showing the shooting that left the chief of detectives paralyzed premiered on NBC. The movie teamed all the people who would be carried over to the series: Besides Burr, there was Don Galloway as Detective Sergeant Ed Brown; Barbara Anderson as Officer Eve Whitfield; Don Mitchell as Ironside's aide Mark Sanger and Gene Lyons as Police Commissioner Dennis Randall.
Mitchell's character would develop the most through the run of the series. The African-American Mark Sanger went from juvenile dropout to lawyer. By the 1993 reunion movie, he was Judge Mark Sanger.
The movie got high ratings and achieved something else: Letting viewers accept Burr in a role other than Perry Mason. They would embrace the crusty-but-tender-hearted Ironside for eight seasons.
Halfway through the series run, Anderson (who had won an Emmy) left and was replaced by Elizabeth Baur as Fran Belding. Except for Lyons, who died in 1974, the rest of the cast would appear in the 1993 movie, "The Return of Ironside."
Also making a mark was Quincy Jones with his memorable theme. Here's the theme and a few minutes of the first one-hour episode:
Message From Beyond
The first two seasons are available on DVD (Get them complete and avoid the annoying partial-season releases.); the first three seasons can be viewed at Hulu.com. The new show may prompt the release of more seasons.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Week of 4/30: YesterTube's Best TV Theme Songs (Lyric, Instrumental and More)
By Sylvia Gurinsky
In a similar fashion to the NCAA basketball championships, Yahoo! had a selection bracket for top television theme songs. The winner in their poll was "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle."
TV Themes
Incidentally, theme songs (with lyrics) were taken together with instrumentals. Frankly, some of the choices have to be questioned. ("Saved By the Bell" is there and "Hawaii Five-O" and "Mission: Impossible" aren't?)
Here are the YesterTube selections for top songs with lyrics, top instrumentals and top miscellaneous themes (memorable introductions to shows that don't quite fit the other two categories for apparent reasons). All have to be original. Shows with pre-existing themes ("Thank You For Being a Friend" for "The Golden Girls," for instance) wouldn't qualify since the song existed independent of the show.
In some cases, shows have been bundled under the heading of a single producer.
Theme Songs With Lyrics
1. The Norman Lear Collection (All In the Family/Maude/The Jeffersons/Good Times/One Day at a Time): It really wouldn't be a fair fight, because so many of the theme songs are so good - Archie and Edith Bunker singing "Those Were the Days" at the piano as the introduction for "All In the Family" and their Queens neighbors George and Louise Jefferson "Movin' On Up" to Ja'net Dubois' theme song in "The Jeffersons," for starters. Lear took as much care with the theme songs as he did with what came after:
Archie & Edith
2. "Love Is All Around" from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show": Sonny Curtis wrote and performed this theme song, which actually got better after Season 1. Perfect for describing the experiences of a single woman in a new place.
3. "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" from "Cheers": Gary Portnoy performed the song he co-wrote with Judy Hart Angelo. It mixed in perfectly with the old-time titles to take you right into the bar:
Cheers
4. "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs: "Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed....." and you'll be heading to Beverly Hills for the benefits of that "Texas Tea" he discovered.
5. The Sherwood Schwartz Collection (Gilligan's Island/The Brady Bunch): While the comedies aren't my favorites, the theme songs certainly knew how to tell the stories involved:
The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle
Instrumentals
1. "Mission: Impossible": Lalo Schifrin wrote what I consider the best television theme song, period, of all time. Wonderfully mixed with snippets from that week's episode to get the heart racing:
Mission: Impossible (Season 1)
2. "Hawaii Five-O": Series creator Leonard Freeman wanted a Hawaii that was more than ukelele players. Boy, did composer Morton Stevens ever provide it in the fast-paced theme song.
Hawaii Five-O
3. "The Mod Squad": Undoubtedly the coolest theme ever written by television theme show king Earle Hagen. I just want to know what those kids were running from.
Mod Squad
4. "Peter Gunn": Henry Mancini's television success; the recording session also included a pianist named John Williams, who later went on to his own great success with movie scores and the Boston Pops.
5. "The West Wing": W.G. Snuffy Walden came up with an absolutely majestic theme, perfect for a show about the White House:
The West Wing
Miscellaneous
-60 Minutes: Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick........... That stopwatch has marked America's changes - and "60 Minutes" constancy for journalism and ratings excellence:
1997 episode intro
-"The Andy Griffith Show": Another Earle Hagen work (with Herbert W. Spencer) is "The Fishin' Hole," which mixes music with Hagen's whistling. Come on out and join Andy and Opie:
The Andy Griffith Show
-"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson": Paul Anka, at the height of his teeny-bopper success as a singer, wrote "Johnny's Theme," which continued through Carson's 30 years of hosting the show:
Johnny's Theme
See you next week. Until then, Happy Humming - and Viewing!
In a similar fashion to the NCAA basketball championships, Yahoo! had a selection bracket for top television theme songs. The winner in their poll was "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle."
TV Themes
Incidentally, theme songs (with lyrics) were taken together with instrumentals. Frankly, some of the choices have to be questioned. ("Saved By the Bell" is there and "Hawaii Five-O" and "Mission: Impossible" aren't?)
Here are the YesterTube selections for top songs with lyrics, top instrumentals and top miscellaneous themes (memorable introductions to shows that don't quite fit the other two categories for apparent reasons). All have to be original. Shows with pre-existing themes ("Thank You For Being a Friend" for "The Golden Girls," for instance) wouldn't qualify since the song existed independent of the show.
In some cases, shows have been bundled under the heading of a single producer.
Theme Songs With Lyrics
1. The Norman Lear Collection (All In the Family/Maude/The Jeffersons/Good Times/One Day at a Time): It really wouldn't be a fair fight, because so many of the theme songs are so good - Archie and Edith Bunker singing "Those Were the Days" at the piano as the introduction for "All In the Family" and their Queens neighbors George and Louise Jefferson "Movin' On Up" to Ja'net Dubois' theme song in "The Jeffersons," for starters. Lear took as much care with the theme songs as he did with what came after:
Archie & Edith
2. "Love Is All Around" from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show": Sonny Curtis wrote and performed this theme song, which actually got better after Season 1. Perfect for describing the experiences of a single woman in a new place.
3. "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" from "Cheers": Gary Portnoy performed the song he co-wrote with Judy Hart Angelo. It mixed in perfectly with the old-time titles to take you right into the bar:
Cheers
4. "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs: "Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed....." and you'll be heading to Beverly Hills for the benefits of that "Texas Tea" he discovered.
5. The Sherwood Schwartz Collection (Gilligan's Island/The Brady Bunch): While the comedies aren't my favorites, the theme songs certainly knew how to tell the stories involved:
The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle
Instrumentals
1. "Mission: Impossible": Lalo Schifrin wrote what I consider the best television theme song, period, of all time. Wonderfully mixed with snippets from that week's episode to get the heart racing:
Mission: Impossible (Season 1)
2. "Hawaii Five-O": Series creator Leonard Freeman wanted a Hawaii that was more than ukelele players. Boy, did composer Morton Stevens ever provide it in the fast-paced theme song.
Hawaii Five-O
3. "The Mod Squad": Undoubtedly the coolest theme ever written by television theme show king Earle Hagen. I just want to know what those kids were running from.
Mod Squad
4. "Peter Gunn": Henry Mancini's television success; the recording session also included a pianist named John Williams, who later went on to his own great success with movie scores and the Boston Pops.
5. "The West Wing": W.G. Snuffy Walden came up with an absolutely majestic theme, perfect for a show about the White House:
The West Wing
Miscellaneous
-60 Minutes: Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick........... That stopwatch has marked America's changes - and "60 Minutes" constancy for journalism and ratings excellence:
1997 episode intro
-"The Andy Griffith Show": Another Earle Hagen work (with Herbert W. Spencer) is "The Fishin' Hole," which mixes music with Hagen's whistling. Come on out and join Andy and Opie:
The Andy Griffith Show
-"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson": Paul Anka, at the height of his teeny-bopper success as a singer, wrote "Johnny's Theme," which continued through Carson's 30 years of hosting the show:
Johnny's Theme
See you next week. Until then, Happy Humming - and Viewing!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Week of 4/23: TV's Best First Responders: "Emergency!"
By Sylvia Gurinsky
First responders, including firefighters and paramedics, were crucial in the lives that were saved last week in the terror attack in Boston and the explosion and fire in Texas.
New attention is being paid to their work.
That has also generated focus on the television shows that have highlighted first responders. Because of the cost of creating fire and disaster scenes, there have been relatively few such programs in TV history. Today, NBC features "Chicago Fire," created by Dick Wolf, who also created the successful "Law & Order" franchise. "Chicago Fire" is typical of many of today's drama series - soap opera elements mixed with action. But it's one of the few current successes on the network.
One of the fire trucks is Engine 51. No doubt that is a tribute to what is still the greatest first responders show ever - "Emergency!" which also ran on NBC from 1972-79.
"Emergency!" (created by Robert Cinader) is the third show in the Jack Webb trilogy that also includes police shows "Dragnet" and "Adam-12." It's considered a semi-spinoff of "Adam-12," but actually owes its creation more to the real-life struggle that was going on in California during the late 1960s over the creation of a paramedic program to assist hospital emergency rooms.
In fact, the pilot movie, "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act," deals with that struggle; the episode is named for the bill that California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed into law creating the paramedic program. The pilot is terrific, a great way to introduce viewers to the core characters: Fireman/paramedics John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) and Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and staff members at fictional Rampart Hospital: Nurse Dixie McCall (singer-actress Julie London, once married to Jack Webb); Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and Dr. Joe Early (composer-musician-actor Bobby Troup, who was married to London in real life). Here's the scene in which Gage and DeSoto meet:
Emergency! The Wedsworth-Townsend Act
The series would add the supporting staff of Gage and DeSoto's Station 51 - including real-life firefighters Dick Hammer (in Season 1) and Mike Stoker - and Rampart's Dr. Mike Morton, played by Ron Pinkard.
"Emergency!" continued in the tradition of other Webb shows of taking rescue situations from real life. It also played a role in the evolution of television into the ensemble cast (10 in all, including the Station 51 and Rampart supporting characters) and featured increased diversity (Mantooth is Native American, Pinkard is African-American, and Marco Lopez, who played a firefighter with the same name, is Hispanic.).
One of the appealing characteristics of "Emergency!" is how it mixed serious rescue situations with humor - often at Gage's expense. The show's core audiences were usually younger than 21, and Mantooth became a frequent presence on the cover of teen magazines. The show generated collectibles such as lunch boxes, comic books and action figures. Mantooth and Tighe also appeared as animated versions of Gage and DeSoto in "Emergency +4," a Saturday-morning action series featuring four rescuers who were children, from 1973-76:
Emergency + 4: S.O.S. Help Us!
Here are two clips from one of the best rescue scenes, from the Season 3 episode "Snakebite." Among other things, Gage is rescuing himself, with the help of the Station 51 crew (minus an anxious DeSoto, who is at Rampart after rescuing teens from a car crash):
Snakebite 1
Snakebite 2
There are numerous rescue workers across the United States who are in their profession because of this show. It is seen daily on ME-TV at 5 p.m. Eastern time, and the entire series is available on DVD.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
First responders, including firefighters and paramedics, were crucial in the lives that were saved last week in the terror attack in Boston and the explosion and fire in Texas.
New attention is being paid to their work.
That has also generated focus on the television shows that have highlighted first responders. Because of the cost of creating fire and disaster scenes, there have been relatively few such programs in TV history. Today, NBC features "Chicago Fire," created by Dick Wolf, who also created the successful "Law & Order" franchise. "Chicago Fire" is typical of many of today's drama series - soap opera elements mixed with action. But it's one of the few current successes on the network.
One of the fire trucks is Engine 51. No doubt that is a tribute to what is still the greatest first responders show ever - "Emergency!" which also ran on NBC from 1972-79.
"Emergency!" (created by Robert Cinader) is the third show in the Jack Webb trilogy that also includes police shows "Dragnet" and "Adam-12." It's considered a semi-spinoff of "Adam-12," but actually owes its creation more to the real-life struggle that was going on in California during the late 1960s over the creation of a paramedic program to assist hospital emergency rooms.
In fact, the pilot movie, "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act," deals with that struggle; the episode is named for the bill that California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed into law creating the paramedic program. The pilot is terrific, a great way to introduce viewers to the core characters: Fireman/paramedics John Gage (Randolph Mantooth) and Roy DeSoto (Kevin Tighe) and staff members at fictional Rampart Hospital: Nurse Dixie McCall (singer-actress Julie London, once married to Jack Webb); Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) and Dr. Joe Early (composer-musician-actor Bobby Troup, who was married to London in real life). Here's the scene in which Gage and DeSoto meet:
Emergency! The Wedsworth-Townsend Act
The series would add the supporting staff of Gage and DeSoto's Station 51 - including real-life firefighters Dick Hammer (in Season 1) and Mike Stoker - and Rampart's Dr. Mike Morton, played by Ron Pinkard.
"Emergency!" continued in the tradition of other Webb shows of taking rescue situations from real life. It also played a role in the evolution of television into the ensemble cast (10 in all, including the Station 51 and Rampart supporting characters) and featured increased diversity (Mantooth is Native American, Pinkard is African-American, and Marco Lopez, who played a firefighter with the same name, is Hispanic.).
One of the appealing characteristics of "Emergency!" is how it mixed serious rescue situations with humor - often at Gage's expense. The show's core audiences were usually younger than 21, and Mantooth became a frequent presence on the cover of teen magazines. The show generated collectibles such as lunch boxes, comic books and action figures. Mantooth and Tighe also appeared as animated versions of Gage and DeSoto in "Emergency +4," a Saturday-morning action series featuring four rescuers who were children, from 1973-76:
Emergency + 4: S.O.S. Help Us!
Here are two clips from one of the best rescue scenes, from the Season 3 episode "Snakebite." Among other things, Gage is rescuing himself, with the help of the Station 51 crew (minus an anxious DeSoto, who is at Rampart after rescuing teens from a car crash):
Snakebite 1
Snakebite 2
There are numerous rescue workers across the United States who are in their profession because of this show. It is seen daily on ME-TV at 5 p.m. Eastern time, and the entire series is available on DVD.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Week of April 17: General Hospital: The Golden Music
By Sylvia Gurinsky
ABC's "General Hospital" is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The show has been featuring its greatest hits, remembering pioneers and bringing back supercouples.
The recent Nurses Ball scenes have included some of the show's greatest musical hits.
The peak of "General Hospital's" popularity - the early 1980s - coincided with a rise in the popularity of visual music on resources such as MTV. During that decade and somewhat during the 1990s, the cast list included actor-singers who did both on the show.
Among those who sang on "GH" were John Stamos, who played Blackie, and Wallace Kurth, who played Ned (Ashton) Quartermaine. There were two others who were hitmakers, however.
The first was Rick Springfield, an Australian-born actor-singer who played the handsome Dr. Noah Webber. At the same time Springfield increased heart rates on the show, he was moving up the charts with "Jessie's Girl."
Sorry to say, Springfield's original 1980s "GH" version of the song cannot be found (yet), but here's a recent version he did for the golden anniversary - as himself, not Noah:
Jessie's Girl
Another "GH" heartthrob who was versatile was Jack Wagner, who has played Frisco Jones. While Frisco and Felicia (Kristina Wagner, once married to Jack Wagner offscreen as well as on) were one of "GH's" supercouples, it was Tania (Hilary Edson), not Felicia, to whom Frisco sang "All I Need" in 1984:
All I Need
The biggest "GH" supercouple of them all, Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis), don't sing. But as they tracked down the Ice Princess and escaped the Cassadines during the early 1980s, the Patti Austin-James Ingram song "Baby Come To Me" was used for their treks. Another Austin-Ingram duet, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," was used as the love song for Robert and Holly Scorpio ( Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms). Again, alas, no "GH" clips that feature those songs.
In 1998, a CD of music from the show was released - but not those songs, given music rights laws.
But take your Jack Wagner, Rick Springfield and Austin-Ingram CDs and say a Happy Musical 50th to General Hospital!
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
ABC's "General Hospital" is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The show has been featuring its greatest hits, remembering pioneers and bringing back supercouples.
The recent Nurses Ball scenes have included some of the show's greatest musical hits.
The peak of "General Hospital's" popularity - the early 1980s - coincided with a rise in the popularity of visual music on resources such as MTV. During that decade and somewhat during the 1990s, the cast list included actor-singers who did both on the show.
Among those who sang on "GH" were John Stamos, who played Blackie, and Wallace Kurth, who played Ned (Ashton) Quartermaine. There were two others who were hitmakers, however.
The first was Rick Springfield, an Australian-born actor-singer who played the handsome Dr. Noah Webber. At the same time Springfield increased heart rates on the show, he was moving up the charts with "Jessie's Girl."
Sorry to say, Springfield's original 1980s "GH" version of the song cannot be found (yet), but here's a recent version he did for the golden anniversary - as himself, not Noah:
Jessie's Girl
Another "GH" heartthrob who was versatile was Jack Wagner, who has played Frisco Jones. While Frisco and Felicia (Kristina Wagner, once married to Jack Wagner offscreen as well as on) were one of "GH's" supercouples, it was Tania (Hilary Edson), not Felicia, to whom Frisco sang "All I Need" in 1984:
All I Need
The biggest "GH" supercouple of them all, Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis), don't sing. But as they tracked down the Ice Princess and escaped the Cassadines during the early 1980s, the Patti Austin-James Ingram song "Baby Come To Me" was used for their treks. Another Austin-Ingram duet, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," was used as the love song for Robert and Holly Scorpio ( Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms). Again, alas, no "GH" clips that feature those songs.
In 1998, a CD of music from the show was released - but not those songs, given music rights laws.
But take your Jack Wagner, Rick Springfield and Austin-Ingram CDs and say a Happy Musical 50th to General Hospital!
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
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