Jipijapa

Space: 1999 was actually a British show that had been produced several years prior to it showing up on U.S. TV... it dates from 1973 I think, so bell bottoms may very well still have been in style (in Britain!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_1999 (Or are you a British viewer who thought the bell bottoms dated even in '73?) I just learned something though, because I would have sworn Space: 1999 was a U.S. show airing on U.S. network. Not so... so, I must have seen it in syndication in the late '70s.

Same with me. Quantum Leap was and still is one of my favorite shows, but I stopped watching it before Season 4 was over. No rancor, no hate... I just found the quality going down, they moved it to a late time slot on a bad night for me, and I didn't much care for the direction it took in its final season so when I heard about that, I didn't make an effort to resume watching. In fact, I've never even SEEN the final season. (Maybe someday) When I talk about QL, I never even mention my opinions on the decline in quality - I just like to talk about the things about it that I enjoyed, the episodes I thought were great. Life's too short for hate-watching, you know?

One other Fringe UO. The "Olivia is a strong woman" meme. Pardon the expression, but... in what universe??? At the end of the day, Olivia's powers were always at the beck and call of men (typical exchange: a man says "You must help us, Olivia" and Olivia says "Okay"), she consistently did things for the sake of her man, and in the ONE episode where we saw her completely in control of her powers and womanhood, and in a position of authority over men (Fringe division head, not wanting to bring a baby into the world = reproductive freedom, and having harnessed her telekinesis and using it per her own judgment - the 2026 episode) - what happened? You guessed it, .

Well, in the 70s, even 30-year-olds dressed like they were 60...

Yeah, it would be kind of hard to crush on someone if he reminded you of your dad! The answering machine messages are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Rockford%27s_answering_machine_gags

I completely ignored James Garner when the Rockford Files was on. Maybe being 10 had something to do with it. Now that I've caught up with Jim Rockford in age (more or less)... damn, he was fit and good looking for a 50-year-old. Could have easily passed for ten years younger. So, I highly recommend looking backward for lost hotties.

Yes, I remember Bridget Loves Bernie! Didn't last too long, as I recall. I think what contributes to shows not standing up well, is if they take themselves too seriously. Also, curiously, many top-rated shows of the past - the shows "everyone" watched - retain little of their charm 20 years on. Shows with "legs" tend not to be discovered by the general audience right away.

Never cared for anything by Joss Whedon. My UO about Fringe (I suppose it wasn't that much of an UO) was that I could never understand why some fans thought the show was about Olivia. It was clearly about a core of three characters, not just Olivia. But the Fringe fandom was quietly divided into two sects, like Protestants and Catholics. One sect believed in the primacy of Olivia over all things. The others tended to be more into the Bishops (Walter and Peter). No one ever fought openly about this, because the fandom was so engrossed in trying to save the show, there was no time for serious pissing matches. But it wasn't about Olivia! It wasn't! It wasn't! She was one of three core characters. Also, another general TV UO of mine: I find ho-yay to be exceedingly tiresome and boring.

On the slow visual pacing of old shows (Columbo, and Rockford Files with its endless car maneuvers - one episode has a seven minute car chase with no music!)... I have never been able to stomach the modern day CSI shows. I tried to watch CSI:NOLA the other night (just for Dean Stockwell's sake, being an old QL fan) and I nearly wound up gnawing my leg off to escape. The dialogue and storytelling in these shows is sooooooo pedestrian. It's like it's aimed at the lowest common denominator (apparently, viewers who have recently had lobotomies). And yet these are the most popular things on the tube. But that's a problem I just don't have with many of the better older shows. (The Rockford Files' dialogue was particularly snappy, at all times, without being cutesy.) So, yeah, long walks down the hall and such, but these shows "moved" more quickly in other ways, when they were good. Of course, Columbo had a unique premise anyway, which was -- usually -- that the viewer knew who the killer was before Columbo did, by design. (Didn't ABC recently try a show with a similar premise just the other year? it bombed?) The show still seems to be popular enough in reruns, and not just with people who grew up with it, so, something about it must still appeal. Yeah. that's the thing... television was not a trendsetter back then (is it now?) - it was a trend follower, and usually 2-3 years out of date, if not more. I cringe when I hear disco playing at "trendy" parties in early 80s shows... because kids today are gonna get the wrong idea. Disco was popular for like, a year, in 1976 or something. If I'm not mistaken, it was already on its way out -- in the clubs, at least -- when Saturday Night Fever hit theaters in '77 or '78.

I was flabbergasted to recently learn that Mannix lasted *eight seasons*. And was fairly well rated for most of them. I started watching some episodes on Youtube and the show just does not hold up well at all - what must have been "serious" and "hardbitten" back in the 60s-70s just comes off as terribly histrionic today. The Rockford Files holds up tremendously well (despite the occasional slow pacing) for a number of reasons (besides James Garner, whose appeal is timeless): it was tightly written, progressive for its time, the female characters weren't idiots, the guest cast each week was almost uniformly excellent (when there was a bad one, they stuck out like a sore thumb). And most importantly, it had a light touch without being superficial. The writers picked their tone early on and completely stuck with it through the end of the series, too, which meant it didn't suffer as much from end-of-series-suck as some other shows did. Also, The Rockford Files was arguably the first TV show with a 1980s sensibility, even though it barely made it into the 80s (cancelled in January 1980). There's something about it that feels very fresh despite the phone booths and the clothes and the weird repeat casting (the hardest thing for me to get used to - that the same actress could show up 3 times a season playing different characters, etc.)

They killed Frank? Jeez, glad I stopped watching this show a few weeks ago.

Is it just me, or is the fact that MeTV isn't offering any holiday marathons a little disappointing? I would love to mainline 12 hours of The Rockford Files or Columbo or something. Or anything really. Except F Troop. I read the Larry Wilcox thing in question. File under "How not to maintain your presence on the Internet/social media."

MeTV doesn't seem to repeat episodes like that. They just cycle through all episodes in order. MeTV even has had some Rockford Files episodes that are missing from Netflix.

I didn't get that vibe at all from the show (not sure if I misunderstood what you were saying, though). It should also be pointed out that Jim wasn't the marrying kind :-) so maybe that's as "good" as those gals could do... But no... I thought The Rockford Files always portrayed women as smart and independent - those were the sort of women Jim liked to date (and remain friends with, or date again as the case may be...) Especially, women were also shown as competent business owners (there was even a female used car showroom owner, very unusual). If there was a social stigma on unmarried career women, The Rockford Files certainly didn't buy into it. I always saw Jim as a character who had suffered a setback in life (going to prison) and who was not upwardly mobile, although he had his competency and good looks to make up for it. Although he didn't care about living the high life himself, he "dated up." He dated women who were educated and upwardly mobile (or just wealthy, or well-off scammers). For him, women being older, more educated and more independent was "not a bug, but a feature." One more thing: Jim seemed to also have warm friendships with several older women - never really explained in most cases. There wasn't an ex-lover vibe for these either. There was an episode near the end of the series (I think it was the "Battle Ax" one) where the chick of the week was an older woman, not a beautiful potential love interest but it was clear at the end of the episode that Jim had esteem for her. In fact, there were very few women that Jim *didn't* like, but I can think of two who he didn't have much patience for - Sky the hippie, and LeeAnne the police groupie. These were both women who weren't very honest with themselves and he didn't treat them with kid gloves.

OK, I've had to put my watching of the movies on hold for a bit because (a) I want to go in order, since they seem to be meant to be sequential and (b) I actually teared up when I saw Rocky's headstone. Clearly I'm not ready. I got through part of the one where Beth comes back, with her perm and her married name and her bestselling books. (I'm sorry, but there was no way Gretchen Corbett was really straightening her hair all those years, right?) Unfortunately the presence of Dyan Cannon is just a distraction from the Jim and Beth reunion. Sadly the movies do really suffer from a lack of the show's usual action; it's all walking and talking, understandable because everyone is old. Also I miss the squealing tires, really I do. The only cast member who seems to have most of the old spark is Stuart Margolin. (Although James Luisi as Chapman is still pretty great.) James Garner isn't "phoning it in" so much as he is not using his movie-star voice any more. After the Rockford Files ended, he went in a more relaxed, naturalistic direction with his parts (and I think, became an even better actor), but a lot of the Rockford Files appeal was him running around, driving sharp and punching and getting punched. There's a lack of energy to the movies overall (music, casting, direction) that doesn't do enough to compensate for that. My understanding is that some of the movies were much better than others, so does anyone have any suggestions?

We're watching the same MeTV affiliate!

Yes, this must be true, because one could rightfully say to Megan - "What are you, BLIND???"

To some extent, wasn't this true of all shows of the era? I mean, the advent of semi-serialized TV (ie Hill Street Blues) basically began the whole idea of "continuity" in TV, so much so, that we forget that TV shows used to consist merely of a premise and very basic backstory - which didn't necessarily have to be filled in. Ditto on Rockford's unrealistic number of serious ex-girlfriends! Like I said, there's just no way you can squeeze them into any timeline that includes 5 years in San Quentin... For all that, though, the general outline of his character and his situation is extremely consistent... he apparently always had con-man tendencies, which must have got him landed in the slammer (from running with the wrong crowd). You can certainly fill in some blanks in a way that makes sense: for instance, Rocky is so clucky over him, and hangs around him so much, quite possibly because he aims to keep Jim on the right side of the tracks from now on...? We're not supposed to try to over-think the show this way, but we're TV viewers of the 21st century and I think we literally don't know how to watch TV without straining for some sense of narrative continuity, even if we have to make it up. I mean, Jim's non-relationship with Beth is pretty fascinating: she's obviously younger and upwardly mobile and making a great salary, he's older and NOT upwardly mobile (and an ex-con to boot) and he's always financially challenged... gosh, the power differential there is just really not the usual. (And, weirdly, there's a point in Season 2 where the writers almost seemed to be sketching a mini-arc with those two, where they seemed to be getting back together again - then dropped, of course. But there's a great scene where they talk about their relationship and there's a lot of unspoken stuff in the scene that's worthy of any 21st century serialized show, except that it remains... unspoken.) Rather than being self-contradictory, Jim is a character in a complex situation who has friends both below him and above him, which I suppose makes him seem like a "real" person - but, the series has no narrative arcs so it never "explores" that in a 21st century way. However, it should be said that there have been many, many characters on modern shows who have been "explored to death" - taken through all the required paces (hardhearted guy becomes soft married family man, etc), and pretty much "used up." I'm about to watch more of the Rockford Files movies, but it's interesting that they avoided the temptation of dramatizing these "required beats" in the movies. I mean, in the first movie, we find out Jim got married! That's huge, but it's not relevant to Rockford World. (That said... can you imagine how crazy his wedding must have been? You know, in a "Rockford Files episode" kind of way... I shudder to think what Angel's role was...)

On the note of friendship - recently read this great essay about the show- http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay/turning-40-with-the-help-of-the-rockford-files

I'm not a woman of color and I can't help but agree. I just don't understand it, unless it has something to do with the regime change over at Fox (Kevin Reilly out). This show got nothing but delighted praise last season for its fantastically diverse cast. There was nothing strained or selfconscious about it. I am really disgusted with the way Jenny and Frank have been marginalized this season. What were they thinking??? I thought this season was going to be about Ichabod, Abbie, her sister Jenny, and the stalwart Frank Irving and his family, with an assist from Katrina and her witch powers, and dealing with the evil-but-tormented Henry/Jeremy. I thought we would see more extended 1700s flashbacks of Ichabod's life as a soldier/spy in the Revolution/War Against All Evil. I thought we might even see a bit of time travel where Abbie might have ended up in the past, dealing with those realities for a woman of color. I DIDN'T think that... -We'd see 2 minutes of Jenny and/or Frank every other week -We'd have a boring blonde white guy shoved down our throats as some sort of romantic partner for Jenny and/or Abbie -That it would be ALL Katrina, ALL the time -That it would just be Monster of the Week every week with no sense of an ongoing mythology -That we'd actually get to see John Noble being manipulative, not just taking orders from Moloch for 5 minutes at the end of every episode So incredibly disappointing. Sleepy Hollow needs new showrunners, STAT. This is the problem with Orci and Kurtzman - they get shows started OK, but they suck as showrunners. Fringe went from being a noisy mess in Season 1 to a great show in Season 2 and beyond, once Kurtzman and Orci got out of the way and they brought in different showrunners. However, Fringe did this after 13 episodes or so... and Sleepy Hollow is running out of time.

Yeah, it's me again... I've decided I'm ready for the reunion movies. So, stay tuned for my commentary. (I'm not expecting much, but, I just want to see the folks, you know?) But first, a few random observations on the series, as I did return to rewatch many of the episodes one more time (plus, it's all over MeTV now anyway) -I think I've cracked the secret code of which Chicks of the Week Jim was sleeping with or WANTED to sleep with: just watch the hands. If Jim touches the lady's hand (not necessarily hand holding, just touching), that's the secret signal. This occurred to me when I rewatched the episode where Beth got stalked and, yup, there are some coy hand games going on right at the very end before they walk out the door together to go back to her place - but you have to be paying attention. This holds true with various chicks across the seasons (and also in the negative, as it never occurs with Rita Capkovic). In fact, in the first season the meaning of this is made clear when Jim does this with Susan Strasberg and she widens her eyes as if he's propositioned her, which in fact, he has. Aw, this is why old time TV is still fun to watch... -There's a 1974 episode where Jim's Firebird magically turns into a *1978 Firebird* during a chase scene. How did this happen? I later found out that the episode had new footage cut into it for syndication. So I watched the first Rockford reunion movie, 1994's "I Still Love LA." (A lot of these are on Youtube) Thumbs down to the Muzakky re-do of the theme, thumbs up to the fact that time has obviously moved on in a believable manner here. (I do find it hard to believe that Dennis is not retired from the force, though) The time frame of the movie is lengthened so that both the LA Riots and the Northridge quake can be included. Also, major cheers that they did not try to preserve or overly fetishize some of the beloved props on the show, such as the old trailer (Jim now not only has a beautiful double-wide, but it's explained how he managed to afford it), and even the Firebird which is never in drivable condition during the whole movie. We get yet another explanation for Jim's perennial limp (shot in a carjacking) and, in another believable twist, he now has an ex-wife. Believable because 1) With so many ex-girlfriends he was so serious about, it's logical he would wind up with an ex-wife eventually, and 2) she is a genetically engineered mix of Beth and Meghan. Sadly, Rocky is just a silent presence on the other end of the phone (and Noah Beery would never return), but happily, Angel is still around and in fine form, and with the scam opportunities afforded by the riot turmoil, is happier than a hog in shit. I can't say the plotline of this movie was terribly compelling, though, and I understand this is a pattern throughout the reunion movies, so I may not be able to finish them all. Two spoiled rich kids are accused of killing their mother. Jim is enlisted to investigate under very flimsy pretenses ("the cops are too busy with the riots"). If this is a long-delayed continuation of Season 6, well, unfortunately the plot fits in with that. But these movies were made to cash in on the huge love people had for the characters, and once you get used to Jim being, well, OLD... at least you get that. I loved the earthquake at the end, and Jim and his ex setting up lawn chairs on the beach at dawn.

This show is sorta losing me. I watch, but I don't really pay attention like I did last season. The people I started watching it for (which includes Jenny and Frank Irving, AHEM) seem to be barely on any more, traded away for more nubile young white guys (disclaimer: I don't really care to make a huge issue of the show's diversity issues, welcome or unwelcome, but... just sayin'. The show's gotten a lot whiter and a lot more male. ) Last season this show got 90% of my attention each time it was on, now I'd say my attention level has waned to 50%. I enjoyed Henry finally having a face to face confrontation with our heroes in this episode, however.

For your enjoyment and historical edification: the most complete collection of James Garner-Mariette Hartley Polaroid ads on Youtube (about 30 commercials). https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnSUNv1-ufJ5rz3ZJUfoJ3s7PS_DPU4qU (Sadly, this only represents about one-tenth of the complete Garner-Hartley Polaroid oeuvre, which numbered in the hundreds.)

But, just remember, even after all these fantastic advancements in TV technology... there is still no such thing as Channel 1.

I remember we used to sometimes press down two buttons at the same time to see what channel would "win." LOL. But sometimes if you pressed two different buttons, a third channel would result!