Retro TV Channels: ”The Good Old Days of Television”

[GHScorpiosRule]

And I'm developing a rage-on for Escape, some no nothing local station in Hagerstown, MD, which Xfinity added, but removed WGN America! That stupid network, on a monthly basis, goes down and NONE of its shows I watch, record. Instead, I get the 1980s vertical rainbow bars. And unlike for Boston Legal, which it will re-air the episodes that didn't air, for Without A Trace, they just repeat the ones before the glitch-o-Rama, and then don't air the disappeared ones and don't bother to air the last two of the sixth season! Not to mention that the shows are almost always pixelating.

[Cobb Salad]

I miss Decades too.

I just checked the Decades website for their channels and still see the “coming soon” type messages for the channels that were switched to StartTV, I wonder how that channel is going for CBS.   I am considering sending them an email to them about this change and asking them if they’d consider a streaming online through their site setup for those in areas now covered by StartTV.  

Other channels do this -  Buzzr and CometTV are ones that I’ve found, there may be others.  

[Collinwood]

FYI to any fans of Cannon starring William Conrad, MeTv is finishing up the series run with the final episode Mad Man on March 13 and starting over with the pilot on March 14.  Worth a look just for the Ford vehicles used in the series.  I had forgotten how huge Cannon's Lincoln Continental Mark IV was.  The show aired from 1971 to 1976 so the sets and costuming are both humorous and horrifying.

[ratgirlagogo]

2 hours ago, Collinwood said:

The show aired from 1971 to 1976 so the sets and costuming are both humorous and horrifying.

Hey, like the cars, they are BITCHEN.  Cannon's car is huge, but it's his massive penthouse apartment that really impresses me.  Of course he does need the room - after all, he's a big man with a big appetite for ACTION! 

[Tom Holmberg]

15 hours ago, Collinwood said:

starting over with the pilot on March 14.

I liked the earlier shows best.  Later on they had a LOT of episodes where Cannon goes to a small town, with a corrupt sheriff, to help a widow.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:35 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

Cannon goes to a small town, with a corrupt sheriff, to help a widow.

Ouch, too true. Annoying, yet lazy!   But this is a huge seventies plotline I remember from everything from the Rockford Files to Macmillan and Wife.  I also watched a two-parter recently with this trope on Diagnosis Murder, done in the 90's.

[Tom Holmberg]

45 minutes ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Annoying, yet lazy! 

I always had the feeling they didn't know what to do with the character.  There were good episodes, but too often it felt like they were recycling old ideas over and over.  I still like the show, I just wish they'd done more with the character of Cannon.

[WendyCR72]

On 3/9/2019 at 4:26 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

Ouch, too true. Annoying, yet lazy!   But this is a huge seventies plotline I remember from everything from the Rockford Files to Macmillan and Wife.  I also watched a two-parter recently with this trope on Diagnosis Murder, done in the 90's.

Heck, there was no widow, but even Hunter and McCall, in their first season, ended up in a small California town with a corrupt sheriff that they had to take down on Hunter. This trope is as old as TV.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/10/2019 at 9:15 PM, WendyCR72 said:

This trope is as old as TV.

Oh yes, even older in fact.  God's Little Acre and all that.    But it underwent a kind of renaissance in the 70's, I believe largely because of the film and television coverage of right-wing white resistance to the Civil Rights Movement in the sixties - you know, Bull Connor and his henchmen turning dogs and fire hoses on those painfully respectable looking black folks in their suits and ties and Sunday church clothes.  In the Heat of the Night, Cool Hand Luke, Deliverance - not even to get into stuff like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  The seventies were the golden age of the Evil White Hick Town as a TV trope.

[Tom Holmberg]

8 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

The seventies were the golden age of the Evil White Hick Town as a TV trope

Don't forget "Straw Dogs." Evil While Hick Brits.

[friendperidot]

this week, we did a lot of cleaning and rearranging in the room I am mostly confined to, my antenna wire got moved, I haven't been able to get channels like Buzzer, Decades and Cozi, even though they are offered in my area. I decided to do a rescan of my tv tonight, I can now get those, however I appear to have lost ION. And I noticed that ION is now showing CSI, one of my all time favorite shows. I may play with the wire some more and see if I can get ION and Decades and Cozi, but now I have a whole lot more options. I'm kind of tired of Star Treks on H&I and I preferred Boston Legal in the afternoons on Escape. And now, just as Trading Spaces is back on for a new season. So many decisions to make!

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎3‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 12:16 PM, icemiser69 said:

I don't like "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In",  It is so horribly dated.

Plus,  IMO Dick Cavett is a disrespectful pig.  No offense to pigs.  I can't stand the man.

"Laugh-In" is interesting to me as a look back at a very different time.

I always liked Dick Cavett.  Never saw him as a "disrespectful pig" but again, what was okay 40-50 years ago might be seen differently today.  What specifically turned you off?

[Annber03]

I used to watch reruns of "Laugh-In" all the time when I was little, and I'll catch them sometimes when my mom's watching them on Decades. I think a lot of the political and social humor still holds up (and is still quite relevant in some ways), and I like the bizarre nature of some of the skits and such. 

But boy, oh, boy, would some of the sexual/dating-related humor definitely NOT fly today. 

[Cobb Salad]

I watched Laugh-In during it's original run with my parents when I was little (I think they were the later episodes which were not as good) so I’d catch some of the episodes when I still had Decades.  Some of it is like a time capsule showing the viewer what was topical at the time, so it’s like a pop culture history lesson.  

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

But boy, oh, boy, would some of the sexual/dating-related humor definitely NOT fly today. 

Definitely. I watch a lot of the 70s Match Game reruns and it's the same. Just the way women are complimented on their looks is so dated. And when there's an African American guest star or contestant, the implicit bias that seeps into even the best efforts of the white MC to be inclusive sends my cringeometer rating off the charts. Plus the gay jokes, which, at the time, I think were intended to get it all out of the closet, but are so offensive to hear now. 

Edited March 17, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Collinwood]

FYI to any Mannix fans watching  the show on MeTV, the series is completing its run on Tuesday night, March 26 with the episode Hardball and starting over again on Wednesday night with episode one, The Name is Mannix.  The show ran for eight seasons from 1967 to 1975.  I remember it mainly for Mannix's Camaro and his athletic ability.  Mike Connors played college basketball and he did many of his own stunts.  Mannix also wore very fashionable clothes, fashionable at least for the late sixties and seventies.  Which is to say he wore ties and sport jackets so loud they could make your ears bleed.

[ratgirlagogo]

59 minutes ago, Collinwood said:

FYI to any Mannix fans watching  the show on MeTV, the series is completing its run on Tuesday night, March 26 with the episode Hardball and starting over again on Wednesday night with episode one, The Name is Mannix. 

As I discovered when I did a rewatch a couple of years ago (and had absolutely NO memory of from when it was on, even though my parents watched it), season one has a very different plotline from what eventually developed.  No Peggy!  He starts out working for Joseph Campanella at some super-high-tech (for 1967) place called Intertect and it's basically  Man vs.  Machine every week.  Mannix's old school private eye gumshoe savvy and street wisdom vs.........  The Computer. The computers are these room-sized 1960's behemoths with the whirling reel-to-reel tapes and the punchcards, etc.  Very HAL 9000.  

[roseha]

Thanks for the heads up on Mannix starting over Collinwood and ratgirlagogo.  I went through a phase of recording the entire run of episodes on my Tivo last year (I keep it for over the air TV, which is pretty good in NYC), and I look forward to starting over, even though the first season doesn't have Peggy of course.  The late 60s flavor of the early shows interests me (I look forward to the episode where Joe visits the club where the Buffalo Springfield is playing!) and I really enjoyed the acting of Mike Connors and Gail Fisher.  I read an interesting article in AV Club (it was under their series called 100 Episodes) that pointed out the visual elements to many of the Mannix episodes that really go beyond the norm, it's quite interesting.  

By the way there's an interesting later episode, I forget the title, but it concerns a man who survives a plane crash and re-appears with a medically altered face; only his wife insists to Mannix that he's not her husband...good twist at the end.

Edited March 24, 2019 by roseha

[WendyCR72]

Either Decades seemingly is running out of ideas in terms of shows to air in binge fashion on Saturdays and Sundays or it really likes the show, but Hunter has been airing since yesterday into today (Seasons 3 and 4) and will also air next Saturday and Sunday (Seasons 5 and most of 6).

[HyeChaps]

My favorite Mannix is the one where he goes blind. 

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 4:23 AM, ratgirlagogo said:

it's basically  Man vs.  Machine every week.

I liked the idea of the first season, but I had the feeling they thought it was not of interest to the public and a lot of work coming up with storylines, so why not just do the typical hard-boiled detective plot.

[Maverick]

 It was actually Lucille Ball (who's Desilu company produced the show) that ditched the first season format.  She thought the computers were confusing and out of the grasp of the ordinary viewer. 

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/24/2019 at 12:23 AM, roseha said:

The late 60s flavor of the early shows interests me (I look forward to the episode where Joe visits the club where the Buffalo Springfield is playing!)

Yes!  The Buffalo Springfield episode is one reason why I did the rewatch in the first place.  It's episode seven of season one by the way.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/?ref_=ttep_ep7

 

On 3/24/2019 at 4:59 PM, Maverick said:

She thought the computers were confusing and out of the grasp of the ordinary viewer. 

Well she probably had a point.  Looking at the show now the computers are fascinating because they are so antique and of that time (my dad was a computer programmer at this time) but honestly I hadn't remembered them all these years later.  On the other hand - Peggy!   Who could forget her!  My favorite character.

[Tom Holmberg]

14 hours ago, Maverick said:

It was actually Lucille Ball (who's Desilu company produced the show) that ditched the first season format.

The late Sixties-early Seventies seemed to be an era in TV writing of "high-concept, low-execution."

[DXD526]

Mannix is going to be the weekend binge in a couple of weeks (after they're done with two weekends of Hunter, don't know why they did that). My parents were big fans of Mannix when I was a kid. The way Peggy always asks "Coffee, Joe?" when he comes to the office was a big joke in my house. Whenever they'd offer each other coffee, my folks always asked "Coffee, Joe?" first!

[Blergh]

17 hours ago, Maverick said:

 It was actually Lucille Ball (who's Desilu company produced the show) that ditched the first season format.  She thought the computers were confusing and out of the grasp of the ordinary viewer. 

Which shows how she could be a bundle of contradictions! I mean, she'd greenlit the original Star Trek series a few years earlier and enough viewers understood THAT series that had all kinds bizarre aliens and planets although it  still had the Enterprise's 'puters be reel-to-reel TAPE in the 23rd century! LOL

[roseha]

20 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Yes!  The Buffalo Springfield episode is one reason why I did the rewatch in the first place.  It's episode seven of season one by the way.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/?ref_=ttep_ep7

There's a clip of the scene on Youtube somewhere and when I see Joe being threatened by thugs while the Springfield is playing, I keep thinking "Don't be denied, Joe..."  🙂

[Tom Holmberg]

20 hours ago, Blergh said:

she'd greenlit the original Star Trek series a few years earlier and enough viewers understood THAT series

Of course "Star Trek" only lasted two more seasons than the original "Mannix" concept.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 3/24/2019 at 4:59 PM, Maverick said:

She thought the computers were confusing and out of the grasp of the ordinary viewer. 

I rewatched the "pilot" episode. Oddly, they made little of the whole computer angle in this episode except to joke how, although company policy is that there should only be one piece of paper on a desk at any given time, Mannix's office is a complete mess.  I did like that they shot on location in Palm Springs (my chief criticism of "77 Sunset Strip" is that it totally shot on the studio and backlot, unlike, say, "Naked City")  and they sprang for the cost of a helicopter.  Basically, it was a typical hard-boiled detective story.

 

New documentary about "Dark Shadows" 

[Was-MArsenault]

Night Court is returning to Laff tomorrow after a brief leave from the lineup.

It will be on in the mornings.

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 8:15 PM, WendyCR72 said:

This trope is as old as TV.

Thinking about this, this is the plot of almost every Lee Child "Reacher" book, as well.

[Was-MArsenault]

Laff is making some very small schedule changes starting tomorrow, but nothing too major. The minor changes are that According To Jim will be gone from the mornings in order to make room for Night Court and That '70s Show will be on earlier instead of later in the day.

According To Jim is still going to be on, but it's going to be starting at 6:00 PM instead.

9:00 AM-11:00 AM is Night Court (replacing According To Jim)

5:00 PM-6:00 PM is That '70s Show (replacing According To Jim)

6:00 PM-7:00 PM will still be According To Jim

7:00PM-9:00 PM is According To Jim (replacing That '70s Show)

[ratgirlagogo]

Late posting this but MeTv has (as of this past Sunday the 13th) started running episodes of the Carol Burnett Show from the first five seasons, which haven't been on TV in forty some years.  They're still edited half-hours with none of the musical guests, but still it's great to have them available again on broadcast TV.

https://www.metv.com/stories/metv-presents-early-episodes-of-the-carol-burnett-show-not-seen-in-tv-in-41-years

[Annber03]

It's neat seeing those episodes. Everybody looks so young! Harvey had dark hair!

The one with Lucille Ball last night was fun. Pretty cool that they were able to get her on the show. 

[Tom Holmberg]

19 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

They're still edited half-hours with none of the musical guests, but still it's great to have them available again on broadcast TV.

Similar to the "Dick Cavett Show" where the musical portions were cut (sort of pointless to have Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin and not have their music). But I guess they don't want to pay for the royalties.

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Similar to the "Dick Cavett Show" where the musical portions were cut (sort of pointless to have Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin and not have their music). But I guess they don't want to pay for the royalties.

Not too long ago I got to see Janis Joplin perform on a rerun of either Johnny Carson or Ed Sullivan. I wonder if they had more foresight/better lawyers when contracts were written for the royalties back in the 60s?

ETA: I may be confusing watching a YouTube video of the episode music after seeing the interview. But wouldn't YouTube take it down for reasons of copyright/royalties too?

Edited April 17, 2019 by shapeshifter

[GHScorpiosRule]

20 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Late posting this but MeTv has (as of this past Sunday the 13th) started running episodes of the Carol Burnett Show from the first five seasons, which haven't been on TV in forty some years.  They're still edited half-hours with none of the musical guests, but still it's great to have them available again on broadcast TV.

https://www.metv.com/stories/metv-presents-early-episodes-of-the-carol-burnett-show-not-seen-in-tv-in-41-years

What I love about this show are the Mama's Family sketches, and how Carol breaks character. I thought the one with Tim Conway was the only one where they all broke character, but there's another one, where Carol is trying so hard not to break out laughing. This show really was a lightning in a bottle.

My second favorite sketch is the one where they're all playing Sorry!

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

ETA: I may be confusing watching a YouTube video of the episode music after seeing the interview. But wouldn't YouTube take it down for reasons of copyright/royalties too?

I think there was a DVD collection of Dick Cavett's shows with musicians that included the music.  Also I think the Library of Congress got Cavett's archives and they might have put some stuff online

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

My second favorite sketch is the one where they're all playing Sorry!

"Slide!" 

[BigBingerBro]

Thank God for MeTV and Antenna TV - they provide for a solid 2 hours of Hazel.  Anyone else a fan?

[chessiegal]

56 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Thank God for MeTV and Antenna TV - they provide for a solid 2 hours of Hazel.  Anyone else a fan?

No.

[Tom Holmberg]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

3 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Thank God for MeTV and Antenna TV - they provide for a solid 2 hours of Hazel.  Anyone else a fan?

No.

I always thought Mr. B married way above himself.  It's interesting that Whitney Blake was the creator of "One Day at a Time."

[Blergh]

8 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I always thought Mr. B married way above himself.  It's interesting that Whitney Blake was the creator of "One Day at a Time."

Even with the fetching Miss Blake as his devoted wife, Mr. B definitely seemed far grumpier than when he'd been Oz's neighbor and  bestie despite never getting to be in color on that show! 

[ratgirlagogo]

9 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Thank God for MeTV and Antenna TV - they provide for a solid 2 hours of Hazel.  Anyone else a fan?

Sorry, no.  Even though I do have a friend who loves it since he is a Shirley Booth superfan.  Antenna carries it around here but MeTV does not.

Edited April 19, 2019 by ratgirlagogo

[Tom Holmberg]

24 minutes ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Sorry, no. 

I also found Bobby Buntrock as Harold very much a Hollywood kid actor, not like a real kid at all. (Though he would have been great on "The Flintstones.") 

[Kemper]

Isn't Whitney Blake the mother of Meredith Baxter-Birney?  Or am I thinking of someone else?

[opus]

Dick Van Dyke heading to ME

 

On 4/20/2019 at 8:06 PM, Kemper said:

Isn't Whitney Blake the mother of Meredith Baxter-Birney?  Or am I thinking of someone else?

Nope, you have it right.

[Tom Holmberg]

11 hours ago, opus said:

Dick Van Dyke heading to ME

About time they brought that back!

[chessiegal]

Cozi has Dick Van Dyke at some odd hours of the morning. My DVR picks it up.

[Maverick]

 I don't see where MeTV is airing Hazel. 

 I get the show isn't everyone's cup of tea but I enjoy it.  I'm sure partly because I remember watching it growing up.   I can sympathize with George about how pushy Hazel could be but I also got tired of George poormouthing all the time.  The man was a partner in a law firm.  He had to be making great money, especially in that era, and other than having a maid the Baxters didn't appear to live overly extravagant.  The character I hated most was Mr. Griffith, George's blowhard client.   Dude was a complete ass.