Classic TV

[bubba]

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20679526,00.html


Just went to the People site, poor Valerie Harper!





MTM show was a real favourite of mine (and of course Rhoda).  I hadn't gotten around to mentioning the show yet, just because it started in 1970.   I tell you at this rate Cloris Leachman will out live Mary and Valerie and she was the oldest.




It is beyond sad and even reading that article, she is still thinking of others, what an amazing woman!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

That's pretty sad news concerning Valerie Harper. A few of us get together each week
and watch several things. We went through different tv series from end to end. We
finished MTM a year ago and someone suggested we do Rhoda. I had not seen any
Rhoda's when it aired, so I didn't mind the choice. Last gathering we saw an episode
with Vivian Vance and David White (Bewitched) and it was great. I keep forgetting the
actors and actresses I still see on their old shows are a lot older than I think they are.
She is 73, as unbelievable as that might seem.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Gary,

Did you see her playing Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway last year?
I don't recall the name of that show.

[Ennis Del Mark]

LOOPED, Lyle.

I just missed this in tryouts at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2008.  Had the BBM showing been a week earlier I would have been in L.A. and tried to go see it.  I bet Valerie was marvelous.  I was hoping she'd tour with it but that is out of the question now.

So damn sad.  I just finished her autobiography last week.

[bubba]

My daughter in law read her autobiography, she was going to lend it to me.   Remember she did that other show (after Rhoda) Valerie, then they let her go for some reason and had Sandy Duncan come in and renamed it the Hogan Family.  I see she has had a tony nomination, has been nominated and won emmy's and some golden globe nominations and a win.  Very talented lady and by all accounts a really nice person.

[garyd]

Gary,

Did you see her playing Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway last year?
I don't recall the name of that show.

yes, as Mark posted,"Looped" and yes we saw it.  Pretty bad play but very nice performance from Ms. Harper.  She really did not capture Bankhead but, as always, her comic timing and delivery was excellent.
A better example was her performance in "Tale of the Allergist's Wife".  She replaced Linda Lavin on Broadway and took it on tour.  She was, quite simply, magnificent. 

[kathy]

Kathy and Jack you are making me nostalgic for Tarzan!    I use to say my Dad could swim like Johnny, in one end of the pool and wouldn't come up until he got to the other end (like a fish) me I sink like a rock.

And Gunsmoke, I know a few people with the DVD's maybe I should try and pick up some seasons. I know they had an anniversary edition that kind of focused on the episodes with the guest stars who went on to further fame, those would be neat to watch.

bubba, I'm so glad we made you remember both with nostalgia. Always thought Johnny was so handsome and wow what a swimmer's body he had when he was young!   I realized after I posted about Tarzan that I discussed the films and the thread is Classic TV!   Anyway, I loved Tarzan.

As for Gunsmoke, I just loved it.  Yes, there are DVDs of the series.  The first one is hard to get 'cuz Duke Wayne introduces it; my brother has it and will never part with it.  There are DVDs of the other seasons too (with at least four episodes on it) and I believe there are collections of DVDs together.  The stories are just great (both the 1/2 hour ones and hour ones).
The 50th Anniversary edition is out and is pricey but I'd love to get it.  I've tried to collect each season but haven't gotten there yet.  I really want all the ones with Chester; Dennis Weaver left the show in 1964 (darn!).  

It is such a wonderful treat to see those classic episodes; I'd love to have all of them.  I think Jim Arness' Matt Dillon is the best TV marshal I've ever seen.   Can you imagine any TV show lasting 20 years now - no way.

kathy      

[bubba]

I was going to do a post about that, here is a list unreal:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-running_United_States_television_series


WOW !

[Lyle (Mooska)]

If Hee-Haw could run for twenty-four years,
The Time Tunnel could have lasted two!

[Ennis Del Mark]

I'm curious about what shows people might have liked, but were only
on one season or less. The one that gets me that was cancelled after
one season is The Time Tunnel. If only--at least one more season!

Here are ones that immediately come to mind:

HE & SHE, THE PRUITTS OF SOUTHAMPTON/THE PHYLLIS DILLER SHOW, and MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Here are ones that immediately come to mind:

HE & SHE, THE PRUITTS OF SOUTHAMPTON/THE PHYLLIS DILLER SHOW, and MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT.

Got canceled and then won an Emmy. Go figure.

I was just an adolescent, but I loved that show. It was my introduction to the wonderful world of James Thurber.

If Hee-Haw could run for twenty-four years, The Time Tunnel could have lasted two!

Don't overestimate the average American TV viewer--or network executive. See above re: My World and Welcome to It.

[bentgyro]

The Travels of Jaime McPheeters?
Sugarfoot?

My mother always thought that Johnny was the best Tarzan.

[bubba]

Coronation Street - 50 plus years and I am still watching it.  Don't know when I started, but I have watched people actually grow up on the show.   I like that,  not like some North American shows, where one day the kid is a toddler and then the next minute he is graduating High School (played by another actor obviously).

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Don't know when I started, but I have watched people actually grow up on the show.
I like that,  not like some North American shows, where one day the kid is a toddler and
then the next minute he is graduating High School (played by another actor obviously).

Not in the case of Doogie Howser!  

That's after the eighties, but I have to mention...I kept an old tv guide because it had a Lucy
Christmas themed thing in it I wantd to save and so I put it in with the Christmas decorations.
I was looking at it this year and there's a cover story about Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris)
with the completely interesting title that tells us we'll find out about what kind of girls he likes
and if he's dating yet.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Here's the cover..."but, ooh, those hollywood girls!" LOL!