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Bad news: FOX News is back on DISH! https://tv.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-back-dish-network-225654586.html

I so strongly desired to like Murder, She Wrote (1984-96 CBS Sunday detective series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher), so I purchased the first release of it (the repackaged, single-sided version) because it looked like it might be something very appealing and welcoming, as well as something I'd enjoy for a long time to come. Alas, not to be: I found Jessica Fletcher (or at least Lansbury's portrayal of her) to be very off-putting, albeit I cannot find the words to explain why.

To explain what I chose in my first post on this topic (in essence, why I chose what I chose): Barney Miller: that ABC police comedy of 1975-82 was chosen because I really enjoyed how Hal Linden played that title character (Captain of the 12th Precinct), and because the humor in it was very seldom mean-spirited. In fact, seeing reruns (or parts thereof) on WGN (before it became WGN America) was very much a contributing factor. Hart to Hart: this 1979-84 ABC detective series starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers (which I have completed three seasons' worth of, and am very much looking forward to the fourth one [1982-83]) was selected because the romance and marriage that the two main characters (Jonathan and Jennifer Hart) had was presented in a very believable manner, IMO. I actually thought they were really in love as they were portrayed. Diagnosis: Murder: this 1993-01 CBS medical detective series was picked because of that fact that Dick Van Dyke, while he played much the same kind of character that Angela Lansbury portrayed on Murder, She Wrote, did it in a far more plausible manner as a medical sleuth by the name of Dr. Mark Sloan. Dr. Sloan, in fact, was far less irritating to me than Jessica Fletcher, and as such, Diagnosis will see its second season's worth (1994-95) coming into my DVDs, while MSW is very much one and done.

This is the latest ad for what Charter calls its "Charter Spectrum Triple Play," and I've seen it quite a few times (albeit not in the version presented in this clip, which had a number for a different market), and it is out-and-out uber-annoying (enough to where when it comes on where I live, I'm very desperate for a way to tune it out):

I don't know if I have exactly that number, but three lately have very much stood out to me: Barney Miller, Hart to Hart, and Diagnosis: Murder.

Another one I wanted to like is Designing Women (1986-93 CBS comedy with Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Meshach Taylor, Jean Smart, et al.); I rented the first season's worth (1986-87) from the base library when I stayed with my sister in Alabama once. It started off good and funny out of the gate, and for a little while, I thought for certain it would be something that I would like to see all of (in fact, for that reason, I purchased that first release sometime later), but it got derailed by the 18th episode, "Oh, Suzannah," in which Suzanne fosters a Vietnamese boat child. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, that came across as very much a Very Special, and that was where it ran off the rails, and as such, was where I said "no more."

I wanted to like Northern Exposure (1990-95 CBS dramedy starring Rob Morrow, Janine Turner, John Corbett, et al.), so I purchased the No. 3 (1991-92) release to try it out (that was because that was the only one that the Wal-Mart in Simpsonville had). I saw one or two episodes and so desperately wanted to enjoy the show, but quite a few of the storylines, as well as the overall setting of small-town Alaska, turned me very much off to it.

Purchased that DVD release of the "Original 39" of The Honeymooners (1955-56), and what I thought would be a hilarious golden-age comedy of the 50s is, in my opinion, simply average. There have been a few laughs in the 8 episodes that I've seen of it so far, but it hasn't been the riot that I thought it would be.

Purchased earlier from Barnes and Noble: 2-volume set of the earliest Peanuts strips from 1950-54 (these are the budget releases, so they don't have indices in the back, but, IINM, all the comics are there, and that's what counts, in my opinion)

Tell you the truth, that is exactly why I don't like The Facts of Life. I sampled it when a Minisode (Sony's name for a condensed episode) of it was on Season 2 of Barney Miller (Sony's releases of Seasons 1-3 are part of Shout!'s full-series release; the only difference is the packaging), and after seeing that, I became convinced that Facts would be very much a waste of money. I also thought the same way about Season 1 (1986-87) of Designing Women. At first, it seemed like a really funny CBS comedy that I might like to get all of. It seems, however, that there are a couple of those Very Specials towards the end of that first season, IINM, and as such, for me, no more.

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express from 1934 (2011 reprint; part of a 3-book set that includes that, And Then There Were None from 1939, and The Body in the Library from 1942, and also includes a guide to Agatha's life and career, and several of her short stories)

Puzzles me too! It should be, "The road to the playoffs begins...," because "road" is singular.

There's a passage from Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary (her last novel, Ramona or otherwise, to date), and in it, Ramona is riding on the school bus with Daisy, going to Daisy's house, and Ramona happens to notice that a car in the next lane has a personalized license plate reading "LIBARY." She notices and points it out to Daisy, who suggests that Ramona tell Mrs. Meacham (their teacher) at school the next day. Ramona does, and while Mrs. Meacham admits that she knows that plate, because the person who drives that car is the county librarian, she also says that it was (I don't know if it still is) Oregon law that personalized license plates could only have six letters on them, so as it stood, there was nothing that could be done about that misspelling, and as such, Ramona was disappointed in that realization.

Those Miami Vice and Moonlighting DVD releases were huge wastes of money for me, as compared to Barney Miller, which has not only been one of the best shows I've seen, but also has been very well presented by Shout! in that full-series release (said release being one of the best I've ever purchased).

Personally, I feel very much differently about the upgrades. I saw TOS through from its three remastered DVD releases, and I feel that those upgrades lent much more life to the stories than they had when TOS was originally on in the 60s on NBC.

I also liked the finale of the Perry Mason series in 1966, when Perry (Raymond Burr) fingered Dick Clark's character, Leif Early, as the killer, based on that Leif Early was carrying that briefcase.

Quite a few people: Hal Linden as Barney Miller Raymond Burr as Perry Mason Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle Bob Newhart as Dr. Bob Hartley

How true, how true! Getting back to that 1986 segment, at least then Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters sat at the desk in front of a backdrop of monitors, and a header with the ABC News logo and 20/20 title of the time was on the backdrop above the monitors. The camera then zoomed in for a tight shot on them as they introduced themselves, and then the opening titles played (before that, the camera didn't even need to zoom in on Hugh [it stayed in a tight shot on him, IIRC, because he hosted solo, and Barbara was an occasional contributor]).

Even the title card of today's 20/20 hardly reflects the name of the show. That magnifying glass going over the vintage ABC News globe logo, and then stamping the axis on that globe, before finally going in between the 20s in the title-- all that did more (in addition to Hugh and Barbara) to say "This is 20/20" than anything the current show can ever do, at least IMO.

That's a good question! I think you're speaking in reference to that old 1986 segment I mentioned above (from the edition of Jan. 30, 1986 that had stories about the Kennedy assassination and Challenger, James Garner, and winter depression). Is that true?

Indeed! I remember how his production logo had the flashes and the light rays, and that stylized "GL" on the dark blue background, when it was on Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, and quite a few others.

I read the book and saw the film, and both were great. Richard Poe did a superb job narrating on the audiobook as well.

Just a little while ago, I made advance purchase of the upcoming No. 3 Hart release through Shout!; they said that if you did that (got it through them), you could have it 2 weeks before the official wide date of 12/9, so I jumped on it. Here's the page for that release from Shout!: https://www.shoutfactory.com/tv/tv-action-adventure/hart-to-hart-season-three

I'm thinking you mean that in the sense that you can't believe he'll be that old. Well, he will be very soon. Also, this No. 4 of Hart is one of the two seasons in which CPT (Columbia Pictures Television) had a part with Rona II and Spelling-Goldberg; CPT in that season also changed logos, from the Sunburst/AT to the 80s Torch Lady logo with Coca-Cola byline. Hopefully, Shout!'s upcoming release of No. 4 will have that logo.

I had only gotten Nos. 1 and 2 of FOX's original double-sided releases, and then got the full-series release. Still, I'm glad that those who had gotten all the double-sided individual releases will finally be able to get the last of the individuals.