tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4496069113618609371..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Favorite forgotten showsBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1638672609691503172017-10-04T04:08:50.136-07:002017-10-04T04:08:50.136-07:00Herman’s Head.Herman’s Head.Joe Sieglerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00074781587537653933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2509298353500958182017-10-01T16:29:12.595-07:002017-10-01T16:29:12.595-07:00Two more: Lou Grant and The Paper Chase.
CBS stu...Two more: Lou Grant and The Paper Chase.<br /><br />CBS stupidly doomed Paper Chase by scheduling it opposite Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley in 1978. By the time the network moved it to a more appropriate time slot, it was too late.<br /><br />I only watched the CBS installments; I never saw the Showtime episodes.Kevin FitzMauricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36556243886448070012017-09-30T13:45:19.379-07:002017-09-30T13:45:19.379-07:00P.S. to my reply: Speaking of animation, I also lo...P.S. to my reply: Speaking of animation, I also loved Johnny Quest. I have the first season on DVD. It holds up pretty well. I'd love to see a movie version , but they'd probably ruin it. By the way, Complex Magazine rates J.Q. as #7 on it's list of the "50 Most Racist T.V. Shows."Mike Bloodworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755626259169126800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6769193679159595952017-09-30T06:11:06.539-07:002017-09-30T06:11:06.539-07:00Michael Del: LOVED "The Newsroom." Hilar...Michael Del: LOVED "The Newsroom." Hilarious series. The punchline at the end of the Chinese food episode was one of the biggest, most unexpected laughs I've ever had.Danielnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62976850053383552017-09-29T19:29:32.267-07:002017-09-29T19:29:32.267-07:00Boomtown which aired for year but even better was ...Boomtown which aired for year but even better was Southland that was on NBC & TNT. Stu Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14097000913495185851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17608733091275657342017-09-29T19:14:37.720-07:002017-09-29T19:14:37.720-07:00I also remember Wait Till Your Father Gets Home--s...I also remember Wait Till Your Father Gets Home--sort of an animated All In The Family for early evening syndication in 1972.<br /><br />Saw it again many years later on Cartoon Network--it didn't hold up.<br /><br />Tom Bosley provided the voice of the father; Jack Burns supplied the voice of the next door neighbor.Kevin FitzMauricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47278488943705974042017-09-29T14:18:25.656-07:002017-09-29T14:18:25.656-07:00You've mentioned so many show I remember or at...You've mentioned so many show I remember or at least am familiar with. Let me ad the FIRST Bill Cosby Show. (late 60's, early 70's?) Not big on jokes. The humor came out of the situations. Plus it had a great Quincy Jones theme song. Arnie starring Herschel Bernardi. Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. Hanna Barbera animation. It was supposed to complete the trilogy. i.e. the present day between the Flintstones and Jetsons. It totally sucked! Not funny and poorly animated. It could have been what the Simpsons became if it had been executed properly. Someone mentioned Fernwood, but no one brought up Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I liked Herman's Head. Many people, including myself believe that Disney's Inside Out was a rip-off of H.H's premise. The only thing I remember about He and She was that they lived next door to a firehouse. One of the gags was that there was a plank bridge between the two buildings. The firemen would walk across the plank to come inside their apartment. I think Kenneth Mars was one of the co-stars. Finally, I know this will get me a lot of condemnation, but I DID NOT like Sports Night. Its the show that turned me off to Aaron Sorkin big-time. I must state that this has nothing to do with his politics. I feel the show was over written, pretentious and ostentatious. I didn't care for Studio 60 either. Mike Bloodworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755626259169126800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30263084400484833242017-09-29T08:59:18.236-07:002017-09-29T08:59:18.236-07:00I loved MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT but I think I&#...I loved MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT but I think I'd like to see it now - to see if it was as I remembered it. <br />Okay then two FOX shows cancelled before their time. The innovative and funny THE GOOD GUYS with Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. SO good! A buddy cop thing done creatively. Then KEEN EDDIE, also creative and different and starring Mark Valley and Sienna Miller. Mark is allowed to be something besides a Marine or a model.<br />Also miss THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR. and HOMEFRONT on ABC. Good stuff.<br />Laurennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77785638682636525642017-09-29T05:22:20.436-07:002017-09-29T05:22:20.436-07:00I still remember "The Two of Us", which ...I still remember "The Two of Us", which ran for a couple of partial seasons on CBS in the early 80s. It was an adaptation of the UK sitcom "Two's Company". The writing was ok, but the cast (mainly Peter Cook and Mimi Kennedy) was wonderful. They were a couple of decent writers away from a hit.<br /><br />"Homefront" (which also included Mimi Kennedy), about three soldiers returning to a small town after WWII and the family of a fourth who didn't return, was a fun show that deserved a longer run.<br /><br />Mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76105773577102674792017-09-29T02:16:13.163-07:002017-09-29T02:16:13.163-07:00I'd like to nominate Jennifer Saunders' ge...I'd like to nominate Jennifer Saunders' gentle but very funny single-cam followup to AB FAB: JAM AND JERUSALEM. (It was called CLATTERFORD in the US, and at least the first two seasons are on Region 1 DVDs.) Written with Abigail Wilson, it's about a women's church group in a tiny UK village. Though it has its share of satirical zingers, the tone is more affectionate and sympathetic than that of the AB FAB juggernaut. (No slam on AB FAB, which someone or other in our family still quotes at least once a week.) <br /><br />The BBC lost interest in J&J by the third set of six episodes, and admittedly it repeats itself just a bit during the nine hours of its full run; still, it's got a huge cast of terrific comic actors, and a lot of very good writing, some of it genius-level. Special mention to Saunders' featuring of her erstwhile comedy partner Dawn French, who is sidesplitting as a nutcase character for most of the series, and then, in a late episode, we learn why she's so crazy, and our hearts just break. <br /><br />All that, and Kate Rusby singing on the soundtrack. Lovely stuff.flurbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04826553966794535101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65200016765791787042017-09-28T18:18:49.366-07:002017-09-28T18:18:49.366-07:00I second the mention of Steven Moffat’s JOKING APA...I second the mention of Steven Moffat’s JOKING APART. Some wonderful stuff in there. <br /><br />I’m surprised nobody has mentioned BAKERSFIELD PD. I feel it was an prototype for things like Arrested Development and Parks & Rec. Far more subtle than those, but I still remember it being very funny. <br /><br />Also anyone remember STACKED? Pamela Anderson’s sitcom. What a bizarre thing. I don’t know how I feel about it now, but I remember thinking the writing did a good job making it work. And it had Christopher Lloyd. <br /><br />Of course I remember NORTHERN EXPOSURE. I hope that hasn’t really been forgotten. The first seasons were great (although it’s one of those shows that suffered because it used expensive music that couldn’t be included on the DVD versions). Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13302545167970532080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52539540733807509252017-09-28T13:06:11.308-07:002017-09-28T13:06:11.308-07:00The Smothers Brothers had a summer variety program...The Smothers Brothers had a summer variety program on ABC in 1970, a little more than a year after CBS cancelled them.<br /><br />The ABC incarnation was a bit unorthodox--some shows were taped without a studio audience--but the program had a refreshing, unvarnished feel to it, and should have been renewed.<br /><br />There's a clip on YouTube from the ABC Smothers show featuring Harry Nilsson performing I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City.Kevin FitzMauricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42904762423176365592017-09-28T12:59:49.657-07:002017-09-28T12:59:49.657-07:00"Trophy Wife" is a recent show that I wi..."Trophy Wife" is a recent show that I wish had a much longer run. Funny cast and great writing. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who enjoyed "Studio 60".Horacecohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02272782245074379504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16537977278237107282017-09-28T12:43:51.443-07:002017-09-28T12:43:51.443-07:00The Smothers Brothers had a summer variety program...The Smothers Brothers had a summer variety program on ABC in 1970, a little more than a year after their CBS show as cancelled.<br /><br />The ABC incarnation was a bit unorthodox--some shows were taped without a studio audience--but it had a refreshing, unvarnished feel to it.<br /><br />There's a clip of the ABC Smothers show on YouTube featuring Harry Nilsson performing I Guess The Lord Must be In New York City.Kevin FitzMauricenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43572125697319552832017-09-28T09:02:08.126-07:002017-09-28T09:02:08.126-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Cowboy Surferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07703914886255967601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87035816824733662642017-09-28T09:00:42.645-07:002017-09-28T09:00:42.645-07:00I'd like to put a bid in for "Wish You We...I'd like to put a bid in for "Wish You Were Here" (CBS), created by Steven Bawol. A stockbroker, Denny Cogswell (Lew Schneider) gets tired of his job and decides to quit and travel the world. He sends videotapes back from his trips while his family watches them.<br /><br />It lasted 6 episodes as a summer replacement. The only episode that I saw was when he went back to the hometown of his grandfather in the Balkans, who, apparently spoke of his impoverished upbringing and the great amount of walking he had to do. When he arrives, he sees a CASTLE with his grandfather's last name and finds out that not only was his family rich, they exploited and abused the villagers. Cogswell is disheartened to find out about his granddad's lie. He is almost thrown out of the town when he is asked, who was his grandfather was and when he says the name, the villagers' mood change immediately, "Oh, HIM! He rejected his family values and we called him "The Walker", because he couldn't bear to see others suffer."<br /><br />Sadly, I seemed to have seen the last episode. I have never seen any reissue or online video for anything more than a promo for this show.<br /><br />If you were to ask Sarah Vowell, she would stick up for Phoef Sutton's "Thanks", a sitcom based on Puritans.<br /><br />Gabriel's Fire - James Earl Jones plays a policeman that is released from jail after 20 years for killing his partner. He is exonerated, because the partner was about to kill a family and Jones stopped him. He then goes to work for the lawyer that helped secure his release. A brilliant show that, was "fixed" when it was redone as "Cops and Robbers" featuring Jones and Richard Crenna and it became a comic drama. Legal wrangling, so I was told, keeps this off the air.<br /><br />The last show I'd like to mention is "Dear Diary" starring Bebe Neuwirth and written by David Frankel. Fresh off another great but cancelled show, "Grapevine", an anthology comedy which featured stories about how couples met, "Dear Diary" was a pilot for ABC about a woman with a successful marriage, career and children, who is suddenly fired. Funny and clever, but not picked up for a series. I'd heard about this for years and finally saw it when someone uploaded it to YouTube, where it stayed for, seemingly, twenty-four minutes and 17 seconds.<br /><br />Frankel was vindicated when the pilot was nominated for and won an Oscar!Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17850672682992802562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20954564672473483022017-09-28T08:58:58.517-07:002017-09-28T08:58:58.517-07:00I enjoyed Brimstone on FOX starring Peter Horton w...I enjoyed Brimstone on FOX starring Peter Horton working for the Devil. <br /><br />I have no idea why but the Jackie Thomas Show starring Tom Arnold made me laugh. Cowboy Surferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07703914886255967601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62090484081289779942017-09-28T07:42:30.876-07:002017-09-28T07:42:30.876-07:00I know I'm going to catch hell for this (and p...I know I'm going to catch hell for this (and perhaps it's already been mentioned - I haven't read all the comments), a show my wife and I terribly miss is Newsroom. So freaking sharp, so relevant, so risky and tough to write this alternate universe. We never understood the "hate watching" horseshit. Damn, those people needed to seriously get a life. Thank you Aaron Sorkin for, well, a lot, and this great work.Pete Grossmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35198269401914195882017-09-28T07:20:34.927-07:002017-09-28T07:20:34.927-07:00Welcome To New York (Christine Barasnski and Jim G...Welcome To New York (Christine Barasnski and Jim Gaffigan). CBS never gave it a chance but laugh out loud funny. Also Ellen Show (deGenerous, Cloris Leachman, Martin Mull, Gaffigan). Going back in time I'd love to see Camp Runamuck, The Practice (Danny Thomas), George & Leo (Bob Newhart, Judd Hirsch, Jason Bateman), Best of the West, Van Dyke & Co., Phyllis, The Associates, Davis Rules (especially for Jonathan Winters). I could go on, but I'm getting a little sad. Unkystannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-602559963759706242017-09-28T07:08:30.650-07:002017-09-28T07:08:30.650-07:00Not a sitcom but I loved "Robbery Homicide Di...Not a sitcom but I loved "Robbery Homicide Division" that aired for a short time in the Fall of 2002. It was probably too slow-moving of a police show for most people but I thought it was great. I believe star Tom Sizemore's substance abuse problems and being up against "Law & Order: SVU" lead to its early end.DARON72https://www.blogger.com/profile/01726705799261360259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10349256392033949322017-09-28T06:27:44.619-07:002017-09-28T06:27:44.619-07:00Apple Pie was the Rue McClanahan-Dabney Coleman si...Apple Pie was the Rue McClanahan-Dabney Coleman sitcom - it aired for two weeks in the fall of '78.71dudenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85229540643620132862017-09-28T00:03:31.278-07:002017-09-28T00:03:31.278-07:0077 Sunset Strip, going way back77 Sunset Strip, going way backAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52562749889979123702017-09-27T23:47:33.944-07:002017-09-27T23:47:33.944-07:00"Breaking Away" - a really good series b..."Breaking Away" - a really good series based on the movie with some of the same cast<br /><br />Grand - sitcom featuring three different 'classes' of people in a town that manufactures pianos. First season was great and hard edged but it was ruined in the 2nd season.<br /><br />John Laroquette Show - also ruined in 2nd season.<br /><br />EZ Streets: A proto-The Wire - different elements of society in a decaying city - a cop working undercover with gangsters, an impoverished guy with an addict girlfriend who goes to work for said gangsters and a mayor struggling with a crack addiction while trying to save the city from economic ruin. Joe Pantoliano as the gangster was amazing. -beenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37913203704364875312017-09-27T22:58:34.352-07:002017-09-27T22:58:34.352-07:00I was going to mention Franks's Place, but you...I was going to mention Franks's Place, but you beat me to it. The one episode I remember is when Frank wanted to join the "Capital C Club." It was an exclusive club that only took very successful blacks and, unfortunately, very light-skinned blacks. Would he sell out or stick to his principles?<br />Mike Bloodworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755626259169126800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44567521446262522042017-09-27T20:36:48.951-07:002017-09-27T20:36:48.951-07:00Men of a Certain Age, Frank's Place, Wait Till...Men of a Certain Age, Frank's Place, Wait Till your Father Gets home, Keen Eddie, St. Elsewhere, Larry Sanders, Cybill, Buffalo Bill, Square Pegs, China Beach, Moonlighting, 3rd Rock, My So-Called Life, 30 Something. Janice B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com