By Sylvia Gurinsky
This week's sad episode of "Downton Abbey" reminded viewers again of the emotions involved in embracing major characters when they die.
It wasn't always that way.
During the first couple of decades of television, even the real-life deaths of actors and actresses didn't usually influence what happened to their characters on the screen. When William Frawley and Bea Benaderet died, for example, their television characters, "Bub" O'Casey of "My Three Sons" and Kate Bradley of "Petticoat Junction," lived on in "visits" to other places.
Then came March 18, 1975.
MacLean Stevenson had decided to leave "M*A*S*H" at the end of its third season and try his luck elsewhere (a better decision for "M*A*S*H" than for Stevenson, as it turned out). It resulted in a fateful choice by series creators Gene Reynolds and Larry Gelbart about Stevenson's character, Lt. Col. Henry Blake.
That night, the episode "Abyssinia, Henry" aired - the season finale. Henry was going home. The episode was relatively lighthearted, if poignant, until the final scene, which the cast had filmed without seeing the script in advance:
Final Scene of "Abyssinia Henry"
There was a powerful - and negative - reaction from viewers. CBS and series producer 20th Century Fox received more than 1,000 letters - most of them angry at the killing off of a beloved character.
But Reynolds and Gelbart explained, correctly, that in a war, many never got the chance to go home, and Henry's death reflected that.
Shows also began to get bolder about dealing with characters whose actors left. "Good Times" (in a decision that turned out to be lousy for the show) killed off the character of James Evans when actor John Amos left over a salary dispute in 1976.
"The Waltons" dealt realistically with the death of Grandpa Walton when Will Geer died in 1978. And when Will Lee died in 1982, "Sesame Street" had a stellar episode in which the cast explained to Big Bird - and children - that Lee's character, storekeeper Mr. Hooper, had died also:
Mr. "Looper"
"Abyssinia Henry," powerful to this day, is on the "M*A*S*H" Season 3 DVD.
See you next week. Until then, Happy (if somewhat mournful for "Downton Abbey" watchers) Viewing!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Week of January 16: There She Is, Again
By Sylvia Gurinsky
If Miss America hasn't quite regained her mid-20th century glory, she has returned successfully to network television.
For the third straight year, ABC has televised the pageant to good ratings - the best since 2004 for this year's event, which took place in Las Vegas.
Miss America, created in Atlantic City in 1921, was a major symbol of the American woman when the first televised pageant took place Sept. 11, 1954 on ABC. Appropriately, the first televised winner - Lee Meriwether - has since compiled an impressive TV resume, including co-starring on the CBS series "Barnaby Jones" and playing the second Ruth Martin on ABC's "All My Children."
About four and a half minutes into this "What's My Line" clip from September, 1954, Meriwether appears with her Miss America crown:
Lee Meriwether
The pageant was also the first for Bert Parks, best known as a game show host at the time. His songs could often be corny, but he became best known for the song he sang for a just crowned Miss America: "There She Is, Miss America" (which, alas, is no longer played for the winner).
Miss America had its first color telecast on NBC in 1966. But the pageant, which began to struggle during the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the women's rights movement and changing demographics, fired Parks in 1979. Amid much of the criticism, "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson staged a tongue-in-cheek protest in support of Parks. Gary Collins (husband of 1959 Miss America Mary Ann Mobley) and Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (a one-time America's Junior Miss competitor) have been among the subsequent hosts. In 1991, in honor of the pageant's 70th anniversary, Parks came back to join Collins and sing his trademark one last time before his 1992 death:
There She Is
Mallory Hytes Hagan, last week's winner, became the third Miss America from New York, joining two trailblazers: Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America (1945) and Vanessa Williams, the first African-American, crowned in 1984:
Vanessa Williams
Williams gave up her title to New Jersey's Suzette Charles, also African-American, as a result of a scandal in which nude pictures of her were published in "Penthouse" magazine. But Williams has gone on to have a successful singing and television career in such shows as "Ugly Betty" and "Desperate Housewives."
It is still a talent and scholarship pageant that continues to generate new generations of television faces. And thanks to its renewed popularity, Miss America will be there, on our TV screens, for a while.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
If Miss America hasn't quite regained her mid-20th century glory, she has returned successfully to network television.
For the third straight year, ABC has televised the pageant to good ratings - the best since 2004 for this year's event, which took place in Las Vegas.
Miss America, created in Atlantic City in 1921, was a major symbol of the American woman when the first televised pageant took place Sept. 11, 1954 on ABC. Appropriately, the first televised winner - Lee Meriwether - has since compiled an impressive TV resume, including co-starring on the CBS series "Barnaby Jones" and playing the second Ruth Martin on ABC's "All My Children."
About four and a half minutes into this "What's My Line" clip from September, 1954, Meriwether appears with her Miss America crown:
Lee Meriwether
The pageant was also the first for Bert Parks, best known as a game show host at the time. His songs could often be corny, but he became best known for the song he sang for a just crowned Miss America: "There She Is, Miss America" (which, alas, is no longer played for the winner).
Miss America had its first color telecast on NBC in 1966. But the pageant, which began to struggle during the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the women's rights movement and changing demographics, fired Parks in 1979. Amid much of the criticism, "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson staged a tongue-in-cheek protest in support of Parks. Gary Collins (husband of 1959 Miss America Mary Ann Mobley) and Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (a one-time America's Junior Miss competitor) have been among the subsequent hosts. In 1991, in honor of the pageant's 70th anniversary, Parks came back to join Collins and sing his trademark one last time before his 1992 death:
There She Is
Mallory Hytes Hagan, last week's winner, became the third Miss America from New York, joining two trailblazers: Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America (1945) and Vanessa Williams, the first African-American, crowned in 1984:
Vanessa Williams
Williams gave up her title to New Jersey's Suzette Charles, also African-American, as a result of a scandal in which nude pictures of her were published in "Penthouse" magazine. But Williams has gone on to have a successful singing and television career in such shows as "Ugly Betty" and "Desperate Housewives."
It is still a talent and scholarship pageant that continues to generate new generations of television faces. And thanks to its renewed popularity, Miss America will be there, on our TV screens, for a while.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Week of January 8: Klugman and Durning's Finest
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Jack Klugman and Charles Durning made significant marks in television.
Klugman's most famous role, of course, was as Oscar Madison on "The Odd Couple" (ABC, 1970-75). But the issue-oriented "Quincy, M.E.," which ran on NBC from 1976-83 (starting as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie"), was just as good. Here's a clip from Season 2's "A Good Smack in the Head," about abuse:
Quincy
Durning was in numerous shows, including the CBS comedy "Evening Shade" (1990-94). But his most moving television was his own story. For years, he co-hosted "The National Memorial Day Concert" on PBS. In 2007, he talked about his D-Day experience:
D-Day
The entire series of "The Odd Couple," the first four seasons of "Quincy, M.E." and the first season of "Evening Shade" have been released on DVD.
See you next week.
Jack Klugman and Charles Durning made significant marks in television.
Klugman's most famous role, of course, was as Oscar Madison on "The Odd Couple" (ABC, 1970-75). But the issue-oriented "Quincy, M.E.," which ran on NBC from 1976-83 (starting as part of the "NBC Mystery Movie"), was just as good. Here's a clip from Season 2's "A Good Smack in the Head," about abuse:
Quincy
Durning was in numerous shows, including the CBS comedy "Evening Shade" (1990-94). But his most moving television was his own story. For years, he co-hosted "The National Memorial Day Concert" on PBS. In 2007, he talked about his D-Day experience:
D-Day
The entire series of "The Odd Couple," the first four seasons of "Quincy, M.E." and the first season of "Evening Shade" have been released on DVD.
See you next week.
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