The TV Zone

Remember "The Superstars"?

ABC's Sunday-afternoon '70s "sports" show virtually invented the genre of "trash sports," not to mention "Battle of the Network Stars" and every other celeb/jock/reality show since. On it, pro athletes of the day competed with each other in sports to which they might not be naturally suited. (Commentators included Reggie Jackson and O.J. Simpson.)

The point of this nostalgic digression is that ABC has just announced it will bring back a brand- spankin'-new 2009 version of the show this summer. The network didn't say which athletes will be there, so we'll have to hold our collective breath until they do. Who would you

Continue reading "'The Superstars' Coming Back" »

Eartha Kitt, who died Thursday at 81, had a rich showbiz career as a dancer, actress and singer.

But we'll always recall the sultry star as the third Catwoman on "Batman," following in the claw-steps of Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether.

Here's a great clip of Ms. Kitt as Catwoman (teaming up with Cesar Romero as the Joker) in an episode from the show's jump-the-bat era (originally airing Jan. 4, 1968) , namely when Yvonne Craig joined the cast as Batgirl.

Last-minute alert: A New York TV holiday tradition continues tomorrow...

No, not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but WPIX's annual broadcast of the Laurel and Hardy classic "March of the Wooden Soldiers" at 9 a.m. on Ch.11 on Thanksgiving morning.

This movie used to freak me out when I was a kid, and still does now, if this clip of the movie's final nine minutes is any indication:

Betty James, who named the toy her husband invented -- the Slinky -- and then ran the toy company he abandoned, has died at 90.

Is there not an American kid alive today -- whether boomer, gen X, gen Y or millennial -- who wasted hours playing with one of these wacky toys?

To learn more about Mrs. James and how she came up with the name Slinky, read her obit here, then check out this super-classic commercial from the early 1960s.

Rosie O'Donnell will attempt to revive one of TV's greatest genres next Wednesday, when she hosts "Rosie Live," a variety special on NBC.

We applaud Rosie's attempt, but doubt that she's going to get very far.

Nevertheless, Rosie's show puts us in mind of the 1970s, the last Golden Age of the Variety Show. It seemed back then nearly anyone who wanted was given a variety show by the networks, desperate to emulate the success of "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour." The list is so long, if I had to put it here, it would probably crash the computer.

If you want to get a taste of the '70s variety show yourself, check out this great clip from "Tony Orlando & Dawn," which CBS originally developed as the summer replacement for "Sonny and Cher" in 1974.

This weekend marks the 39th anniversary of that romp-in-the-mud known as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.
You won't see a lot of hype this year, but the marketing around next year's round number anniversary is sure to be substantial.

Your best bet to catch a whiff of Woodstock nostalgia this weekend is VH1 Classic's screening
(Saturday at 8 p.m.) of Michael Wadleigh's memorable 1970 documentary. I'll be watching it, for probably the 800th time since I saw it the week it came out with my pal Jeff Goldman and two girls we were dating, whose names I've forgotten.

I digress. Here's my all-time favorite performance from the movie: Alvin Lee and Ten Years After absolutely killing in "I'm Going Home."

Re-book 'em, Danno.

There's going to be a new "Hawaii Five-O," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The original show aired from 1968-80 on CBS. Like the original series, the newbie will be a procedural chronicling the workings of the fictional Hawaiian state police department. In the
original, the unit was headed by Steve McGarrett, played by Jack Lord.

In the new series, McGarrett’s son Chris will be the top cop.

The famous opening music will be back but may get a face-lift, similar to how the theme from the 1966-73 series “Mission: Impossible" was rearranged for the 1990s movie franchise.

My question to you: Who should play the new McGarrett? Post your answers here.

Meanwhile, check out this clip from a 1972 episode:

Here at Boomer TV, it is a cultural imperative to keep track of the up-to-the-minute activities of our childhood tube idols.

So it is with great pleasure that we announce the newest Marcia Brady sighting. Maureen McCormick will be one of the "celebs" who will populate "Outsiders Inn," a new reality competition announced today by Country Music Television (CMT).
The show documents the trials and tribulations that ensue when McCormick decides to run a bed and breakfast in rural East Tennessee and enlists the help of her "Gone Country" friends, Bobby Brown and Carnie Wilson.
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The show debuts Aug. 15 at 9 p.m.

Abcnews.com Photos

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the debut of "The Lawrence Welk Show," which is still airing in reruns on WLIW (and many other PBS stations). I am a big-time, Johnny-come-lately fan of the show, something that I am not ashamed to admit and in fact have said so many times in the pages of the Newsday.

Anyway, the idea that Mr. Welk was hostile to rock and roll is not 100% true. And I'm not just talking about the time his clean-cut crew performed Brewer and Shipley's 1971 druggie hit. "One Toke Over the Line." (The video briefly became an internet sensation last year.)

In this clip from 1963, the surf band The Chantays, whose "Pipeline" is one of the coolest r&r instrumentals of all time, performed on the show. Well, actually from the looks of it, they're instument-syncing, but the point is, they were here.

No indication whether Myron Floren played "Wipeout," but the indifferent expressions on the faces of the Welk band speak volumes.

Bob Keeshan, who played Captain Kangaroo for 29 years (1955-84), would have been 81 today.

The entertainer, a Long Island resident for most of his life, died on Jan. 23, 2004.

I still have one burning question, which maybe somebody out there can answer: Did Captain Kangaroo have a first name?

Meanwhile, here's the classic opener from the show, a melody that will undoubtedly continue playing in your head all day.

It's been a long time since we saw "Hogan's Heroes" on the tube.

But thanks to TV Land -- in an apparent fit of sanity or at least a nod to its Classic TV roots -- is bringing back the WW II POW comedy with a July 6th marathon from 6 a.m.-9 p.m.

"HH" was incredibly politically incorrect even in its day (1965-71) , so we're wondering what it must seem like today.

Here's a rarity: the cast of "Hogan's Heroes" in a commercial for Jell-O (served at the finest POW camps in the world, no doubt).

One of the catchiest songs of all time, The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love" topped the charts this week in 1964, a three-week American break in between British chart-toppers "Love Me Do" and.""A World Without Love."

By the way, I hated this song as a kid because it was so "girly" and "mushy," but I got my act together by the time I got married, using this song on my answering machine in the month leading up to my nups.

I've died and gone to Boomer TV heaven.

Tomorrow, WPIX will air nine hours of shows to mark its 60th birthday. It's like seeing my TV life flash before my eyes.

From noon to 9 on that Saturday, Ch. 11 will feature nine hours of vintage programs including: The Little Rascals, Abbott & Costello, The Three Stooges, The Adventures Of Superman, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Odd Couple and The Honeymooners.

The only thing better would be for WPIX to announce that they will be unthawing Officer Joe Bolton on air, years after he was cryogenically frozen..

Here's the sked:

The Little Rascals

12-1230pm: Teacher’s Pet

1230p-1pm: Hearts Are Thumps/ Feed ‘Em and Weep

Abbott & Costello

1pm Getting a Job

130pm The Actor’s Home

The Three Stooges

2pm Gents without Cents

230pm A Plumbing We Will Go

The Adventures of Superman

3pm Crime Wave

330pm The Perils of Superman

Get Smart

4pm Mr. Big

430pm A Spy for A Spy

My Favorite Martian

5pm My Favorite Martian

530pm A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Peaches

I Dream Of Jeannie

6pm The Lady In The Bottle

630pm Tomorrow Is Not Another Day

The Odd Couple

7pm Password

730pm My Strife in Court

The Honeymooners

8pm Better Living Through TV

830pm The $99,000 Answer

All these episodes will be followed by an anniversary special at 9 p.m. anchored by Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong.

Until then, enjoy this clip of Bud and Lou and one of their classic routines from their TV show:

With the big-screen "Get Smart" opening Friday, lets give props to the original -- which, coincidentally, took home an Emmy 38 years ago this week as Outstanding Comedy, while Don Adams won for best actor in a comedy. (There are no coincidences in Boomer TV.) FYI, those ceremonies featured Merv Griffin hosting from Carnegie Hall and Bill Cosby hosting from the Santa Monica Civic Center.

Here's the great opening from the show: After watching it, I guarantee the theme song will be playing in your head all day.

We don't see what the big deal is about CBS' "Swingtown," which premieres tonight at 10. Swingers in the 1970s? Ho hum. Been there done that. And on CBS, to boot.

We're speaking of "The Bunkers and the Swingers," one of the most memorable "All in the Family" episodes ever. In it, Archie and Edith are visited by a middle-aged couple played by Vincent Gardenia and Rue McClanahan, with swapping on their mind.

Have a look:

The number one song in America 43 years ago this week was one of the best The Beach Boys ever recorded. Check out this performance of "Help Me Rhonda."

Back in the day when award ceremonies weren't as media-mad events as they are today, the Emmys were held after the TV season ended.
Forty-five years ago this week, the 1962-63 Emmys were handed out to such programs as "The Defenders" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

And the Best Actress statue went to... Shirley Booth, who starred as a domestic extraordinaire in the sitcom "Hazel." Actually, the official name of the award was quite a mouthful -- Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series.

Have a look:

Today marks 16 years since Johnny Carson's final "Tonight Show" aired. I'm not sure late-night TV has ever been the same.

Here's a clip from the "Today" show that was part of a weeklong tribute to Johnny:

Hah! Fooled ya! Thought you were gonna see a clip of David Lee and Nate Robinson jamming together? (Or given this post's nostalgic bent, Bill Bradley and Earl the Pearl belting out "Stairway to Heaven?")

No, this isn't about our beloved sixth-place lottery pick team and corporate sibling-to-be.

This is about another Knickerbockers, a classic one-hit wonder, a garage/frat band from Bergenfield, NJ, who were probably the first American band to truly nail the Beatles' sound. Close your eyes and you're sure to think -- as I did back in 1966, the first time I heard this song -- that The Knickerbockers' "Lies" is actually the Fab Four performing under an alias.

Dig this clip (especially the saxophonist who never plays his instrument!):

Lets set the wayback machine for 50 years ago this week: May 20, 1958.

Topping the charts was one of the sweetest songs ever recorded, 'All I Have to Do Is Dream," by Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Everly Brothers. It's their second of three No. 1 songs (preceded by "Wake Up, Little Susie" and followed by "Bird Dog.")

Check out this performance from some long-forgotten tv show:

Pete Townshend hasn't died before he got old. In fact, today the Who's leader turns 63.

Here's a clip from an amazing performance of "My Generation" (complete with instrument-smashing, whadya expect?) from the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" from September 17, 1967 (BTW, Bette Davis was also a guest on this show -- I'm wondering what the heck she may have said to Pete, Keith and the boys backstage).

Today's installment of Places We Wish We Could Go To This Weekend takes us to Freedomland, a noble attempt to create a history-based Disneyland in da Bronx.

The park lasted from just 1960-64, but to those boomers who went there (the site is now occupied by the massive Co-Op City), the memories are indelible. (bet most of you can still sing the words to the commercial: "Mommy, daddy take my hand/take me out to Freedomland.")

Here's a great clip, showcasing Freedomland's many attractions.

This week marks National Police Week, honoring the men and women of law enforcement and the difficult, but rewarding job they do every day..

With that in mind, here's a great clip from my favorite cop show ,"Car 54, Where Are You?," with Officer Francis Muldoon and company singing a ditty celebrating the policeman's lot.

In today's Newsday, you'll find a really great article taste-tasting hot dogs, which I read avidly even though I am a vegetarian.

And reading about all those Hebrew National and Nathan's franks, inspired me to track down one of the few "hot dog" songs, Perry Como's "Hot Diggity!" a No. 1 hit from May, 1956.

Mary Wells, the great Motown singer of such smashes as "My Guy" and "Two Lovers," would have turned 65 today.

Ms. Wells passed way too young, dying July 26, 1992, from larynx cancer.

Here's a terrific clip of Mary singing her No. 1 hit from 44 years ago this month:

You know what I wish I could do this weekend? Head over the GWB to Joisey and spend a fun day at Palisades Amusement Park. Alas, ther park has been gone since the end of the summer of 1971, replaced by high-rise condos.

If you went to Palisades Park (or listened to the radio in the 1960s), then surely you know the words to their song.

It's a beautiful spring day today, and I really want to escape the office. Unfortunately, all I can do is time-travel in my mind. For some reason, I keep focusing on a place where I spent many great spring days back in 1964 and 1965 -- the New York World's Fair.Here's a video that brought back many memories of those days in Flushing Meadows:

Louis Armstrong had his only chart-topper with his version of the theme from the then-hot Broadway musical, "Hello, Dolly!" It broke a three-month run at the top by the Beatles, but remained No. 1 for just one week, yielding the following week to Mary Wells' "My Guy."

Here's Satchmo belting it out in a live performance.

Marvin Gaye gets some big-time props Wednesday night when PBS' "American Masters" series turns its attention on him. (You'll be able to read a review by my colleague Verne Gay, Marv's long-lost bro, in Wednesday's paper. Verne changed his last name to avoid cashing in on the singer's fame.)

Here's a clip of the master himself -- Marv, not Verne performing his signature 1971 hit live.

The Godfather of Soul. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Mr. Dynamite.

No matter what you called him James Brown was one singular sensation. Tomorrow he would have turned 75 and in his honor, here's a clip of JB at his absolute insanest, performing "Night Train" from the classic 1964 "TAMI Show." Dig it!

Tommy James, leader of Tommy James and the Shondells, turns 61 tomorrow.

Here's a rare video of the band performing "Hanky Panky," their No. 1 hit from 1966. And by the way, one of my goals in life has been to determine how many times Tommy says "My baby does the hanky panky" during the song. Forty two years later, I still haven't got around to doing so, any help would be appreciated.

Today marks the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color line.

Here's an extremely rare clip of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers star reading the alphabet on a 1969 episode of "Sesame Street," just three years before his untimely death.

Don Knotts may be best known for his role as Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," but he also carved out a movie career of sorts, in the mid-1960s, starring in several kooky, kid-friendly comedies. Two of them, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and "The Reluctant Astronaut," air tonight on AMC at 8 and 10 p.m., respectively.

(As for me, I'm still waiting to again catch "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," in which Knotts dreams about becoming a fish (what the heck does that mean, Dr. Freud?) and then -- becomes one.

Anyway, here's the trailer from 1966's "Ghost and Mr. Chicken," in which Knotts plays a reporter who spends a night in a haunted house. The cast also includes Dick (Darrin, Too) Sargent and the world's grouchiest character actor, Charles Lane.

You can't make this stuff up.

Today is International 'Louie Louie' Day. It's actually the birthday of the song's composer, Richard Berry, but lovers of the all-time great party song have decided to take that occasion and make a real party of it. Togas are optional.

And who are we to deny a party?

Anyway, here's a rare 1965 clip of The Kingsmen performing their No. 1 hit from two years earlier. And when you've figured out the words, drop me a comment and let me know. I've been trying to decipher them for more than half my life.

Louise Lasser, best known as Woody Allen's real-life and on-screen romantic interest in "Bananas" and "Take the Money and Run," turns 69 today. (How can that be?)

The fine comic actress may be best known, though, for her starring role in the syndicated soap parody "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." We watched it avidly at 11 p.m. weeknights on Ch.5 back in the day when the Bicentennial and Peter Frampton dominated our dinner conversation.

Enjoy this clip, showing Mary at her ditziest.

That ol' scamp, Hugh Hefner, turns 82 today. And while we still read Playboy for the articles, we watch (ed) "Playboy After Dark" for that late '60s/early 70s groovefest's sheer awesome audaciousness.

Take, for instance, this episode on which a dapper Hef introduces (the, as he calls them) Iron Butterfly performing their psycho-acid signature hit, "In A Gadda Da Vida."We couldn't make this stuff up.

"Secret Talents of the Stars," which premieres tonight at 10 on CBS, is the real deal: 100% Velveeta! The cheese includes George Takei singing country music, Danny Bonaduce riding a unicycle and Joe Frazier singing r&b.

But we've been down this road before many times. Take, for instance, this amazing clip of Brooke Shields showing off her gymnastic ability from a 1983 version of "Circus of the Stars" and pass the Gorgonzola!

Charlton Heston, the towering actor who died Saturday, was of course best-known for his film portrayals, ranging from Moses in "The Ten Commandments" to a simian-imprisoned astronaut in "Planet of the Apes."

But later in his career, when the movie gigs began drying up, Heston turned to TV, notably a stint on the "Dynasty" spinoff, "The Colbys," where he played millionaire businessman Jason Colby. Here's a clip from one of that 1985-87 series' most dramatic scenes, in which it's revealed that Jason is actually the father of Jeff Colby (John James, son of legendary New York morning deejay Herb Oscar Anderson).

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the murder of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis.

Here's how the tragedy was covered the night of April 4, 1968 by Walter Cronkite on "The CBS Evening News." This was how many Americans first heard the news in those primitive, pre-Internet, pre-cable news days. And as always, Cronkite did a comprehensive, professional job.

One of our favorite '70s icons has a birthday today.

To celebrate the 64th birthday of the man born Michael Orlando Cassivitis, here's a great clip from his awesome variety show, "Tony Orlando & Dawn." Of course, Tony and the girls are singing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon (Round the Old Oak Tree").

Well, wheee doggies, as Jed Clampett might've said, today marks the 100th anniversary of Buddy Ebsen's birth.

He had a long show-biz career (Barnaby Jones, anyone?), but we'll always love him best as the patriarch of the family that packed up and moved to Bever-ley.

To celebrate April Fool's Day, we thought we'd recall one of the most "foolish" songs of all time.

We speak of course of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love," performed by the legendary Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Check out this rare clip from 1956 that originally aired live on "The Frankie Laine Show."

It's hard to believe that Frankie -- Lymon that is -- died 40 years ago this February of a drug overdose. He was just 26.

On last night's "Lost" (smartly recapped as usual by my colleague Verne Gay), in the scene where Michael tried to kill himself, he turns on his car radio and hears Mama Cass' minor 1969 song "It's Getting Better."

"Lost" fans with long memories probably recall another minor Mama Cass song ("Make Your Own Kind of Music") being used in an earlier episode that took place the first time we saw Desmond in the infamous hatch (what that coincidence means, I'll leave up to "Lost" deconstruction experts such as VGay).

Anyway, now that you've heard the song, here's an extremely rare clip of Mama Cass performing it.

Ivan Dixon, a fine actor who was best known for portraying the levelheaded Kinchloe on
“Hogan’s Heroes,” has died. He was 76.

Here's a clip of Dixon and his POW pals from that funny, but highly controversial '60s sitcom:

Soul superstar Otis Redding's posthumous "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts 40 years ago this week.

Check out this tribute video to Redding, who died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967:

It's St. Patrick's Day today, but it also marks the 113th birthday of Shemp Howard, who for many folks is their Stooge of choice.

Let's toast Shemp here with a clip from the 1947 short, "Sing a Song of Six Pants." (Sorry, but it's the colorized version.)

Let's give the end of the working week an appropriate sendoff today with a song that's been playing in my head since, oh, 9 a.m. Monday morning. (And maybe it's been playing in yours, too.)

From the spring of 1967, check out The Easybeats, one of the coolest bands to come out of Down Under, and their biggest hit, "Friday on My Mind."

On Tuesday night's "American Idol," presumptive front-runner David Archuleta butchered the Beatles' 1965 hit (via Stevie Wonder's 1971 version) "We Can Work It Out".

Wednesday night, he was -- not surprisingly -- rewarded for his puerile efforts by being voted safe for another week.

As Randy might say, check it out, dawg, here's the way the song really should be performed:

Steve Guttenberg will be very much with us again soon. Starting Monday, he's one of the celebs making fools of themselves on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."

The North Massapequa native may be best known for his movie work, but he's done some TV as well.

Dig this clip of "No Soap, Radio," Guttenberg's short-lived (very short lived, like one month) 1982 series set at a seedy hotel in Atlantic City. And be prepared for a scene with Jerry Stiller in drag! -- that's even better than the time he was caught wearing the mansier on "Seinfeld"!

And, no, I don't know what language this clip's subtitles are in. German? Dutch? Danish? Any thoughts? Bueller? Bueller?

Steve Guttenberg will be very much with us again soon. Starting Monday, he's one of the celebs making fools of themselves on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."

The North Massapequa native may be best known for his movie work, but he's done some TV as well.

Dig this clip of "No Soap, Radio," Guttenberg's short-lived (very short lived, like one month) 1982 series set at a seedy hotel in Atlantic City. And be prepared for a scene with Jerry Stiller in drag! -- that's even better than the time he was caught wearing the mansier on "Seinfeld"!

And, no, I don't know what language this clip's subtitles are in. German? Dutch? Danish? Any thoughts? Bueller? Bueller?

Gov. Eliot Spitzer's new-found identity as "Client 9" inspired this post today.

When we first heard "Client 9," what came to our heads immediately was "number 9... number 9... number 9..." from the Beatles' "Revolution 9," easily the weirdest and most annoying song on the 1968 "White Album."

We can't get you a clip of the Fab 4 performing that song (it's unlikely they ever did it live, anyway), but here's a really cool tribute to "Rev 9" re-imagined as a flat-out rocker, circa 1963.

Remember "The Saint?"

Of course you do. That was the '60s Brit series that gave U.S. viewers their first look at Roger Moore, who played the title character, a dapper adventurer named Simon Templar.

Well, "Saint" fans out there, here's some good news: The show is coming back, thanks to producers Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson. The Hollywood Repoter says the duo is cooking up a pilot with James Purefoy (not to be confused with soul singer James Purify, half of the brother duo who sang the 1966 hit "I'm Your Puppet") in the title role.

While we're waiting for that show to materialize, check out the opening credits from the '60s "Saint."