bmasters9

I finished the main Barney Miller series from that full-series release of the same, but I've been conflicted as to whether or not I would enjoy that first season's worth (short as it was) of the ill-fated 1977 Fish spinoff. Opinions are sharply divided, and I don't know who to believe.

Not to mention, hardly even funny! Barney Miller and The Bob Newhart Show both had far more laughs than that.

This opening of a 1986 rerun of the 1980-82 game show Bullseye with the late Jim Lange (that show was rerun on the USA Network, which no longer reruns game shows) had Jim opening by having announcer Jay Stewart "introduce our first two players," only to have Jay say "our champion." The mistake in there is in Jim saying "our first two players," which would normally only be used on the first episode of a new show, not on future shows within the run (outside of TPIR, which always says "the first four contestants").

That could very well have been the inspiration for it.

I'm to the point on M Squad where the title sequence is set to Count Basie's classic opening title track, and announcer Nelson Case says "M Squad!", and then as Lt. Frank Ballinger's car pulls up, Case says "Starring Lee Marvin!" Here's an example of that:

Even the death of Anna Nicole Smith, IINM, was "Breaking News" long after it was first reported (I mean, we know she's dead: why do you keep acting like it's the first time you're telling us?!).

I think that they need to bring back that "developing story" label for when stories are a few hours old, because "breaking news" to me sounds ridiculous to have on a story that's more than a few hours old (IOW, if I'm not mistaken, "breaking" means that you just got the first word of what happened in a story and you're bringing it to the attention of your viewers for the first time).

Much improved over mine! That sounds like the best way of putting it.

I think personally that if they had said "Protecting one's home..." in that ad, it might have sounded better.

Add another to my list: through the first third of it (the first season, basically), M Squad is consistently holding my interest. Not only is Lee Marvin really bringing it as Lt. Frank Ballinger, but I have gotten to the point where the title track was composed by the late, great Count Basie, and it sounds great.

I'm very much in with you on that one! You're not alone.

I didn't get that either: Jackson's been a good many other places than L.A. (San Diego, Austin, NYC, San Francisco), so why not Wisconsin where Lola was?

Not only will Larry Hagman always be J.R. to me, but Jim Davis (old-time movie actor, not Garfield creator) will always be remembered as patriarch Jock Ewing. Dallas lost something when Jim Davis passed on in 1981.

On that note, I had before seen part of an old 1984 edition of The NFL Today with Brent Musburger (top story was the Eagles' possible move to Phoenix [it never happened]), and Brent interviewed Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose first, and then former Philadelphia mayor Wilson Goode. When Brent thanked Leonard Tose, there was nothing said on Leonard's end, then when he thanked Wilson Goode, Wilson said "Thank you very kindly," and there was no pause. Not only that, but the way the main desk was set up, Brent was between Jimmy The Greek and Irv Cross, and as such, he was set up to turn quickly to each of them for perspective (Irv on his left, Jimmy on his right). Also, none of the three stared off into space; Irv maintained eye contact with Brent, and so did Jimmy. It was far different then; now, JB is all the way down at the left end, and all four of his co-hosts are to his left.

I gather then that he would have definitely loathed The Andy Griffith Show: that title track was whistling through and through.

I haven't seen that much of it yet, but I am thinking that Lee Marvin has a great chance of forever standing in my mind as Lt. Frank Ballinger of M Squad.

The third-season and fourth-season releases of Hart to Hart from Shout! do that, and so do the full releases of The Bob Newhart Show and Barney Miller from those same people. The Hart ones do it whether you've finished an episode or the full disc, while the Bob Newhart and Barney Miller ones only do it when you've reached the end of a disc (annoyingly enough, all of them replay the opening Shout! logo as well, and I don't quite get why).

They are not from hell, most assuredly; when I said I posted them in the My Cat From Hell forum, I meant that I posted them under the "Who's a Pretty Kitty?" thread within that forum.

I use the word "smoke" myself! I think that's a very useful euphemism.

I stand corrected! I should have taken all that into account.

Posted under the My Cat From Hell forum, but I'm putting it here too in the pet pictures thread: my cats Beast and Georgia.

My thoughts exactly! I always thought that "news" meant the reporting of actual events, not constant chatter about what the reporters think those events mean, which, again, ties in to my extreme dislike of FOX "News," and why I agree with you immensely as to everything you just said.

I had gotten the first two seasons' releases as a sort of curiosity purchase, thinking that since it was regarded as the greatest comedy (maybe the greatest show) in the history of television, I should like to see why. I saw them through, and while they were funny in spots, the show was actually quite dull, just like The Honeymooners. Fortunately, my nephew Eli happened to see some of the show and became a fan, and so I was able to get rid of some proverbial deadwood (I gave him those first two, and also purchased Nos. 3-5 for him, so now, he has 5 seasons' worth [1951-56]).

The Falcon Crest novel from 1984

I saw the followup on Bombadil, and apparently the clothes situation has improved, in that the only adornment he gets is a bowtie, IIRC.