Tom Holmberg

Just finished the book and thought it was worthwhile reading. Interesting that Dominic West was fairly unhappy throughout the making of the series (not so much about the series, but being "stuck" in the US away from his family), even more so at the end.

Although not technically a "Retro" channel, RFD-TV show "The Jimmy Dean Show" on Sat. afternoons (and other times). The JDS featured the first network appearance of a Jim Henson muppet as a regular part of the cast (Rowlf, the dog). Also the appearance of comics like Jackie Mason on a show featuring primarily C & W stars is humorously jarring. You have to wonder what Jimmy's more "rural" fans thought about it. RFD also shows "Hee-Haw."

Just guessing: Jim Moran the Courtesy Man

I miss WGN annual showing of the movie "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (1967) on Valentine's Day. It was a sort of tradition. Maybe they lost the rights to show it.

"College Caper" has Stu and Kookie going undercover at a college to protect the son of a mobster. Stu was disguised, rather unconvincingly, as a professor of geology and Kookie as a transfer student. Apparently even the college kids couldn't understand Kookie's slang! Totally squaresville! :) A young Chad Everett played the mobster's son (very early in his acting career). In an uncredited part as a college cheerleader was Robert Logan, the future Dino's carhop, J.R. Hale.

Friday's episode of 77SS on ME-TV is "Once Upon a Caper", is the one where Jeff tells the story of how he started the detective agency and took in the nerdy. bow-tied Stu and turned him into suave, sophisticated gumshoe we know and love.

>What were the odds the stepson would have found the exact same clown costume Kookie was wearing at the party?< An obvious shortcut. It could have been explained, but the writer's must have figured why bother? The ending was rather lame. But in 77SS land all the attractive women have to be attracted to our PIs. :) "Eunice", Peggy McKay, went on to a long run on "General Hospital" in the 1960s and 1970s and on "Days of Our Lives" starting in the 1980s. http://soaps.sheknows.com/actors/peggy-mccay

His episodes tend to be lighter, esp. when he sings (not too many singing detectives these days). Shows in that era tended to intermix "message" episodes, "light"episodes, etc., along with straight-forward "serious" episodes. If you want to find out more about Evelyn Rudie check out the story of her and Kay Thompson during the making of the Playhouse 90 "Eloise" broadcast. https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/12/06/remembering-the-eloise-tv-movie-disaster/

I recently saw the "Publicity Brat" episode of "77 Sunset Strip" on Me-TV. The "brat" was played by 9-year-old Evelyn Rudie, who did a good job being a 9-year-old-going-on-30 year-old brat. She was a playing a child star who's career was on the rocks and scheming to get publicity. When I looked up Evelyn Rudie on the internet, it turned out that in real life, she had taken all of her money out of her piggy bank, took a cab to the airport, got on a plane to Washington, DC to go see Mamie Eisenhower to talk her into getting her a regular TV series. In the meantime her parents thought she'd been kidnapped. Apparently it was legal in the 1950s for 9-year-olds to buy airplane tickets. Also, check out YouTube for her appearance on "You Bet Your Life." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0748766/