Week of August 17: Bon Appetit on Julia Child's Centennial

By Sylvia Gurinsky

What's the best way to celebrate the 100th birthday of the first lady of television chefs? With a birthday dinner, of course. Made by her.

I suspect she wouldn't mind, given the joy she took in it and displayed for almost four decades across the dial, particularly on PBS.

Let's start with a salad:

Julia & Jacques Pepin making salad

And how about a yummy soup?

French Onion Soup

For the main course - a hamburger! (With the assistance, heaven help us, of David Letterman from a 1987 edition of his NBC show, "Late Night With David Letterman"):

Julia & Dave with hamburger

With a side of potatoes:

Potatoes


And here's a birthday cake:

Chocolate Raspberry Cake


Finally:

Bon Appetit!

Happy Birthday, Julia! And Happy Viewing, Everyone! See you next week!

Week of August 10: In Memory of Marvin Hamlisch

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Composer Marvin Hamlisch had countless appearances on television variety shows for almost 40 years. Here's one, "Bell Telephone Jubilee," which aired on NBC in 1976 and featured Hamlisch playing a song he'd written for one giant - Streisand - as two more - Minelli and Crosby - sang it:

The Way We Were

"So it's the laughter we will remember, whenever we remember the way we were."

See you next week.

Week of August 3: Vidal Before Politics

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Gore Vidal, who died this week, is best known for his political writings and television commentaries. But as a young writer, he worked on the live television dramas of the 1950s. Here's one from 1955 about class divisions (and according to Vidal, based on his own experiences), "Summer Pavilion," featuring a young Elizabeth Montgomery:

Summer Pavilion

"Summer Pavilion" is part of a DVD anthology of "Studio One," CBS' excellent live drama series.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!