Week of July 23: Revisiting "Baseball"

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Recently, PBS rebroadcast Parts (or Innings) 5, 6 and 7 of Ken Burns' 1994 documentary, "Baseball." It was something of a lead-in to "The Tenth Inning," which covers the last two decades and will air September 28.

But the entire series, which is available on DVD, is worth another look. It begins with "Our Game," which was not invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y., but may have had its origins during the 1700s, or may have evolved from a British game called Rounders, or maybe something else. In any case, "Our Game" covers the 1800s in baseball.

"Baseball" is OK as history (For those who don't know the game, it's a good introduction, but there are some mistakes and some overemphasis on certain historians and commentators), but at its best as social commentary, tracking the history of the major leagues' exclusion of blacks until Jackie Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. That story is told in "The National Pasttime," and sources include Robinson's widow, Rachel. That was one of the three parts ("Shadow Ball" and "The Capitol of Baseball" were the other two) in the PBS rebroadcast.

The original series was narrated by the great NBC newsman John Chancellor. "The Tenth Inning" will be narrated by actor Keith David, who narrated the Burns documentary "The War."

The 1994 airing proved something of a salve to baseball fans infuriated by the strike that cancelled that year's World Series. When the ratings were in, 42 million viewers had watched.

That strike, the Steroid Era, the Red Sox' two world championships and Cal Ripken's setting of the all-time record for consecutive games will be part of "The Tenth Inning."

And no, the Chicago Cubs still haven't won a World Series since 1908.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of July 16: We Love Desi, Too

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Recently, Miamians got to enjoy a concert called "Babalu" and devoted to - who else? - Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The show was created by and features their children, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr.

One of the treats of watching "I Love Lucy," besides the comedy, was the chance to watch Desi Arnaz' musical performances. He spent years on the road performing many of them before he had the chance to display his singing and drumming talents on the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAV3bOJaQuY

Interestingly, what we know today as the introduction for the show, with the iconic theme song, only came about when the show was repeated after the series had ended its run in 1957. The song "I Love Lucy," written by Harold Adamson and Eliot Daniel, would not be presented on the show until close to the end of the second season, when Ricky Ricardo would sing it to his wife during the episode "Lucy's Last Birthday."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fn7PKzf5tk

The most moving moment on this comedy came in "Lucy is Enceinte," which is about......well, just watch and you'll remember:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UPbOtpM5OQ

It staggers the imagination that next year will be the 60th anniversary of the premiere of "I Love Lucy." People will still enjoy it 600 million years from now. Now that's a classic.

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George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees owner since 1973, died this week at age 80. Among his television appearances were two great commercials: One for Miller Lite Beer with Billy Martin, his many-times-hired-and-fired manager:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zDcQV6_6k

And one in 2002 with Yankee star Derek Jeter for Visa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7BaQEguYs

So long to one of a kind.

Week of July 2: All-American Entertainment

By Sylvia Gurinsky

It's almost Independence Day. And what could be more American than the Beaver, Wonder Woman and the Boston Pops?

All three have been in the news.

*The entire series of "Leave It To Beaver" was released in a box set this week. Today, people often poke fun at the sunny (and not too diverse) depiction of the life of the Cleaver family in the show that ran on CBS, then ABC from 1957-63, but it remains popular - probably because of that optimistic outlook. Quite a few of the things that happened to Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (played by Jerry Mathers) were based on real-life incidents of the children of series producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher.

Certainly, Mathers, Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) and the rest of the young cast have provided fine examples in the years since of child and teen actors who grew up to have happy, fulfilling lives.

*"Wonder Woman" has been in the news this week because DC Comics is giving the character a clothing makeover. It's a good chance to take a look at how the character has been portrayed on television.

Three probably stand above all:

-The first is in animated form, as part of the ABC series "Super Friends." Shannon Farnon, a character and voice actress whose sister is Charmian Carr (who played Liesel in "The Sound of Music"), did the voice of "Wonder Woman" during the 1970s and 80s.

-In 1974, ABC would air a television movie - and potential pilot - called "Wonder Woman," starring Cathy Lee Crosby ("That's Incredible") and Ricardo Montalban. Some may wince at a blonde title character, and the film wasn't widely embraced. But......

-One of those who auditioned for the role in the ABC film was a young actress named Lynda Carter. The network didn't forget, and cast her as the lead in "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman" a year later. She's been the quintessential Wonder Woman so far.

Working with her on the show, which ran on ABC and CBS from 1975-79, was Lyle Waggoner, who had been part of "The Carol Burnett Show." Another cast member was Debra Winger, who played Drusilla, the sister of Wonder Woman's alter ego Diana Prince; Winger would later win an Academy Award for "Terms of Endearment."

The entire series is available on DVD.


*Finally, the Boston Pops, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, has become a summer tradition; while CBS currently carries the orchestra's July 4 concerts, the Pops made their national name via "Evening at Pops" on PBS, which ran from 1970-2005 (Blame parent Boston Symphony Orchestra for not continuing to fund the telecasts.) and featured the three men who have been the orchestra's official conductors: Arthur Fiedler, John Williams and Keith Lockhart.

The program has featured a Who's Who of classical, popular and jazz music for the last half-century. Incidentally, during the Fiedler and Williams years, one of the orchestra's primary arrangers was Morton Stevens - composer of the theme for "Hawaii Five-O."

Here's a link to Williams conducting John Phillip Souza's "Stars and Stripes Forever" in a 1980 performance (alas, in Tokyo, and not from "Evening at Pops," but what the heck):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqh4hksjAdA

See you in two weeks! Until then, Happy Independence Day and Happy Viewing!

Week of June 25: Judy and Television

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Judy.

Nothing more needs to be said beyond that first name. Judy Garland is a star who transcends everything else; that's just as true today, 41 years after her tragic, premature death at the age of 46, as it ever was during her career.

The release this week of a special edition of the 1954 film "A Star Is Born" refocuses the spotlight on Garland's career - not that it's ever been off. Garland began working in show business as a little girl, became a star at 16 with "The Wizard of Oz" and has always glittered, despite her personal troubles.

The "Star Is Born" extras include a television special broadcast - live - of the Hollywood premiere of the film in 1954. Ironically, after that film, which gave Garland a comeback story and probably should have given her an Oscar, Garland would do much more television work than film work.

Garland was a frequent guest on variety and talk shows during the 1950s and 60s. The centerpiece is "The Judy Garland Show," which ran for just 25 episodes on CBS in 1963-64.

Putting Garland in her own variety show was a good idea on paper. Its production crew included two people - assistant costume designer Bob Mackie and choreographer Ernie Flatt - who would go on to the great success of "The Carol Burnett Show," also on CBS.

But though the variety format worked well for such people as Andy Williams, Perry Como and Danny Kaye, Garland had problems. The chief problems were squabbles among CBS executives, the show's producers - there were four, including George Schlatter (later to produce NBC's "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In") and Norman Jewison (later to find fame as a film director) - and Garland's then-husband, Sid Luft. The format would shift from mainly music to mainly humor and back again. Worst of all, the show was competing against NBC's "Bonanza." Garland never had a chance.

But the show is a treasure. Garland worked with some show-business legends, including her old film partner, Mickey Rooney; comedian Bob Newhart; singers Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Steve Lawrence, Mel Torme, Bobby Darin, Ethel Merman and a 21-year-old kid named Barbra Streisand.

Garland also worked with her own kids - Lorna Luft, Joey Luft and their big sister, Liza Minnelli, who has gone on to some pretty great success herself.

In a show taped after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Garland gave a moving tribute with "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Xz7WV_qJs

The shows have been released in spits and spurts on DVD, and they're very much worth having. Also worth having is "Judy Garland: The Concert Years," a documentary first shown on PBS during the 1980s and narrated by Lorna Luft (It appears the DVD currently for sale has about 30 minutes chopped off from the original broadcast, so grab an old VHS version, if possible, and get it transferred.). The full documentary includes lots of clips from the CBS program. It also includes a memorable television recording of "Over the Rainbow," in a 1955 special:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8UWNv4wkb0

Catch this star however you can.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of June 18: The Highest National Urgency - Oval Office Addresses

By Sylvia Gurinsky

President Barack Obama delivered his first televised address from the Oval Office of the White House this week, about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It brings to mind the significance of the location, and of some of the televised speeches that have been delivered there.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower may have been the first president to deliver a televised address from that location, and it was a major one: He dealt with the matter of sending federal troops to Arkansas to make sure Central High School in Little Rock followed the law and was integrated.

Above all, there are three televised speeches that are most remembered and still discussed by scholars today.

*The first was delivered by President John F. Kennedy Oct. 22, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, after Press Secretary Pierre Salinger had said Kennedy would make an announcement "of the highest national urgency."

In his speech, Kennedy revealed to the public the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, announced a "quarantine" of all Soviet ships and stressed that "It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."

Fortunately, it never came to that; Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles.


*The second speech was delivered by President Lyndon Johnson March 31, 1968, when the Vietnam War was tearing at the nation. Most of the speech was about Vietnam, but five paragraphs from the end came a surprising announcement:

"I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."

It was the first of numerous earth-shattering events of 1968.


*The third speech was delivered by the president who succeeded Johnson, Richard Nixon, Aug. 8, 1974. To no one's surprise after the turmoil of the Watergate scandal, Nixon was announcing his resignation. He said he did not have a strong enough political base to continue:

"I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interests of America first."

Nixon announced he would resign at noon the following day, and Vice President Gerald Ford "will be sworn in as President, at that hour, in this office."

All three speeches, as well as other Oval Office speeches, are available online.

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This week, Jimmy Dean died. Dean, a country singer, made a fortune with his sausages and other breakfast products, and made a name for himself on television, too.

"The Jimmy Dean Show" achieved its greatest success on ABC during the 1960s. Dean's folksy humor and variety of music and comedy helped the network, which was then running a distant third to CBS and NBC. Some have credited him with helping to bring country music to a new generation with the show.

He also helped one other person - Jim Henson, whose Muppets were a staple of variety shows. While Kermit the Frog is the most famous Muppet, Rowlf, the adorable dog with the floppy ears (and my mother's favorite Muppet) became a star on Dean's show.

Here's a clip, via YouTube (Note: Despite the name of my blog, I have no YouTube connection.), from "The World of the Muppets," featuring Dean and Rowlf, along with interviews with Frank Oz and Jane Henson. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKTbq5_L1dA

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!

Week of June 11: Listen To the Sound of The Partridge Family

By Sylvia Gurinsky

The current popularity of music-oriented programs such as Fox's "Glee" and "American Idol" recalls the most successful program that had music as an engine - "The Partridge Family."

Created by Bernard Slade, who wrote for "Bewitched" and helped create "The Flying Nun," "The Partridge Family" ran for four seasons (1970-74) and 96 episodes on ABC. It was loosely based on the experiences of the Cowsills, a real-life family band. At one point, the Cowsills were targeted to star in a series, but for various reasons (including the fact that Shirley Jones had already been cast as the mother), they didn't.

Jones, already a movie star and Academy Award winner for "Elmer Gantry," was cast - as Connie Partridge, according to the 1970 fall preview issue of TV Guide. The name was later changed to Shirley.

David Cassidy, Jones' real-life stepson (His father, Jack Cassidy, was Jones' husband at the time; his mother is actress Evelyn Ward, who appeared on various shows during the 1950s and 60s.), was cast as Keith Partridge, the oldest son. He and the other cast members - Susan Dey (Laurie), Danny Bonaduce (Danny), Jeremy Gelbwaks (Chris) and Suzanne Crough (Tracy) were slated to lip-synch the songs, which were to be performed by the Ron Hicklin Singers and the Wrecking Crew. Jones, known for her gorgeous voice from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals "Oklahoma" and "Carousel," would also sing on the soundtracks.

In fact, the two songs in the pilot ("Together/Having a Ball" and "Let the Good Times In") were performed that way. But something funny happened on the way to success: Slade and company discovered David Cassidy could sing. Man, could he sing.

The show aired back-to-back with "The Brady Bunch" in ABC's successful Friday night lineup. What made it better than "Brady," besides the music, was the family's socially conscious nature and the snappy scripts, whose writers included Susan Harris ("Soap," "The Golden Girls"), Michael Leeson (creator of "The Cosby Show"), Martin Cohan ("Diff'rent Strokes") and many more. Dave Madden played Reuben Kincaid, the group's manager.

Guest stars included two of the three original "Charlie's Angels," Jacklyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett, as well as Rob Reiner (while he was playing Michael Stivic on "All In the Family"!), Bert Convy, Harry Morgan, Ray Bolger, a young Jodie Foster, Meredith Baxter, Vic Tayback ("Alice"), Arte Johnson ("Laugh-In") and on and on.......

What keeps the show beloved, above all, is the music. Wes Farrell was the music producer and wrote or co-wrote 33 songs that were heard on the series. Other composers included Paul Anka, Carol Bayer (Sager), Neil Sedaka, Tony Romeo - and David Cassidy.

"I Think I Love You," written by Romeo, was probably the biggest hit, released even before the show had its first broadcast. The music was diverse, ranging from the R & B-influenced "Bandala" (Farrell and Eddie Singleton), to the soulful "One Night Stand," (Farrell and Anka) "I'll Meet You Halfway," (Farrell and Gerry Goffin) "Every Song Is You" (Terry Cashman and Tommy West), and "Together We're Better" (Romeo and Ken Jacobson). During the run of the show, seven albums and a Christmas album were released.

Collectors continue to snap up records, lunchboxes and other artifacts from the show, including a model of that psychedelic bus (with the legendary "Careful: Nervous Mother Driving" written on the back). The bus was a 1957 Chevrolet model.

The entire series is available on DVD and there's a great website, "C'mon Get Happy" (the show's second theme song) with comprehensive information about the show and the songs:

http://www.cmongethappy.com/home.htm

Here's one of the best songs, "Point Me In the Direction of Albuquerque," written by Tony Romeo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eekbr2EtSyg

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing (and singing)!

Week of June 4: Finale Of the Best Show Anywhere

By Sylvia Gurinsky

With all of the recent television finales, it seemed a good opportunity to see again the most-watched finale of all time: "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," the last episode of "M*A*S*H."

In fact, it was the most-watched television program of all time until the Super Bowl passed it earlier this year. But "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" wasn't the typical series ender. For one thing, it was broadcast not in May, but on Feb. 28, 1983. It ended "M*A*S*H's" 11th season; before that season, the cast had voted, 4 to 3, to take the show off the air.

(Those voting for were Alan Alda, who played Hawkeye Pierce; Mike Farrell, who played BJ Hunnicut; Loretta Swit, who played Margaret Houlihan and David Ogden Stiers, who played Charles Emerson Winchester. Those voting against - Harry Morgan, who played Colonel Sherman Potter; Jamie Farr, who played Max Klinger and William Christopher, who played Father Mulcahy - went on to star in "AfterM*A*S*H," generally regarded as one of the worst shows of all time.)

There are several subplots in "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" including BJ's almost-trip home before the war officially ended, Father Mulcahy losing his hearing after an explosion and Hawkeye's nervous breakdown. The best and most emotional one is Winchester's attempt to train five Chinese musicians who are prisoners of war to play Mozart's Clarinet quintet, and the heartbreaking end to that saga.

Some real-life adventure was involved in the filming of the program: A brush fire destroyed much of the 20th Century Fox ranch set where "M*A*S*H" was filmed. It was written into the plot as North Korean incendiary bombs starting a fire.

The show was wrapped up with a moving final scene between best friends Hawkeye and BJ saying goodbye. Hawkeye lifted off in a chopper to show that BJ had spelled, in rocks, the word "Goodbye" - a salute not just to his buddy, but to the show's countless fans.

It hasn't been goodbye, though. "M*A*S*H," which started in syndication while it was still running on CBS, has been shown somewhere, in some form, ever since; it is likely second only to "I Love Lucy" in its success. Most of its 251 episodes, aired from 1972-83, still resonate in the mind and heart.

The best way to view it is with "The Martinis & Medicine Collection," the excellent box set that includes the entire series, virtually all post-series tributes and the 1970 film.

Abyssinia!

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Sadly, there is another death to report: Rue McClanahan, who played Vivian on CBS' "Maude" and really struck gold - Emmy and otherwise - as Blanche Devereaux on NBC's "The Golden Girls."

Here she is, with everyone on that show, including guest stars Herb Edelman and McLean Stevenson (who played Col. Henry Blake on "M*A*S*H"), in yet another funny scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu5Axewy-Sg

What a treasure.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!