Journey Into DVD: The best handball sequence in cinema history?

Is there a better name for a movie than APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER?

I mean, apart from MEGAFORCE?

Let's just leave that one alone. Appointment to Danger may not be the best film noir (or nourish film) of the studio era, but it may have the best handball sequence. Picture it: Alan Ladd vs. Jack Webb. Danger is the subtext, but handball is the game!

 

I know what you're thinking: How could anything top the glorious theme of...MAIL? And the glamorous yet perilous world of the U.S. Postal Service?

Does THIS answer your question?

How about when we get out on the court?

Things soon get a little contentious:

Then they get downright VIOLENT!

This should be an Olympic sport.

Jackie go night-night!

"I told him I had a good kill shot."

Now, after this kind of action, who wants to see shots of mail?

Oh, OK, we'll take one more look before we end this post:

'Mooners Monday #32: A final word (for now) on the Gleason DVD set

I'm disappointed at the lack of chatter online about the new Time Life Jackie Gleason Show DVD set, and I still haven't seen the 30-minute infomercial.

I give Time Life Video credit for running this review and response on its site:

 

2.0

Not complete shows!!

By All or Nothing At All

from Chicago, IL

About Me Movie Buff

Comments about The Jackie Gleason Show IN COLOR HOST:

Was looking forward to seeing these classic Gleason variety shows in their entirety. Instead we get shows with music numbers cut and in fact in some instances 1/4 to 1/3 of the show is missing. I was especially looking forward to seeing the episode with Bing Crosby as he sang solos of some of his greatest hits of the 1940's "Dear Hearts & Gentle People", "San Fernando Valley" and "Don't Fence Me In". All that remains is Don't Fence Me In! Plus the lengthy (nearly 10 minute) medley of "girls" songs Bing sang with Jackie Gleason is also cut! Time Life owes me...and owes you...the complete shows!!

Merchant response: Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear you were not completely satisfied with your purchase. You're correct—there are sketches deleted from the collection. In some cases a sketch has multiple songs and we weren't able to clear the rights from a couple of the music publishers; so rather than try to edit around those songs, we deleted the entire sketch. We do strive to release complete episodes whenever possible.

 

 

Now, personally, I understand the disappointment, but I can't see myself doing anything other than recommending this set...IF it's clear what everyone is getting. Running this review is a step in the right direction. It's a shame TL couldn't or wouldn't get more music clearances, but as long as everyone knows that the set is not all full episodes, I think it's fair play. The problem is that the company conveniently avoids saying that in its description of the product. I don't blame them for not making a big deal out of it--Hey, folks, MOST OF THESE ARE CUT BECAUSE WE COULDN'T GET RIGHTS FOR THE MUSICAL NUMBERS!!!--but it could be a little clearer.

 

 

'Mooners Monday #31: Follow-up to last week's post

Maybe I should call this #30.5. Apologies for the short installment, but there is a lot going on here at the new Cultureshark Tower. I do want to follow up on last week's post, in which I reported on the brand-new Time Life release of the 1960s The Jackie Gleason Show. The DVD set has made its way to some of my sources--OK, posters on message boards--and we can confirm several things.

1) Many episodes are edited, with musical numbers and June Taylor Dancers segments apparently getting the ax. Not a shocker, but a disappointment considering it's Time Life and they have a rep for coming through on stuff like this.

2) The Incredible World of Ed Norton backdoor pilot that aired as part of the Gleason show is not included and remains one of the tantalizing still-"lost" pieces of 'Mooners material out there.

3) There are several uncut, complete episodes in the collection.

Many thanks to the posters at the Sitcoms Online Honeymooners message board. Some of these folks really know their stuff, and their reports are invaluable for anyone looking into this box set. The early consensus seems to be that while it's far from peak 'Mooners and much of the content is monologue- and guest-star-centric, it's worthwhile for Gleason fans, though it does leave one wanting more.

Personally, I think it's a shame the June Taylor Dancers, such a key part of the overall Gleason Show experience, are absent. Also, one poster reports there is a color Joe the Bartender sketch with Crazy Guggenheim, but the song is edited out!

Still, Gleason is the Great One, and any DVD release is welcome. The idea of Jackie alongside the likes of Phil Silvers automatically makes this a candidate for my collection.

This might be the best we get of the full Jackie Gleason Show, but I hold out hope that this sells well and encourages Time Life--or anyone--to do some work and release more uncut episodes or even better, as I mentioned last week, black-and-white 1950s installments or even American Scene.

Meanwhile, I'm still on the lookout for the 30-minute infomercial. The one time I want to see one of these things...

'Mooners Monday #30: Breaking news of more 'Mooners on DVD

Friends, let's take a break from looking at Head of the House to consider the news. As first reported by buddy Ivan of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear (well, first reported to me, and isn't that what matters?), Time Life has released a giant DVD collection of The Jackie Gleason Show culled from the 1966-1970 CBS run.

Follow the link for details and for some clips, and maybe look out for an infomercial. This is the first time I can remember scanning the TV listings hoping to find a half-hour ad, but I would like to see how the company is marketing this and to check out some footage while I'm at it. Here are the basics: 10 discs, 27 episodes, 20 hours, 7 "new" Honeymooners sketches. This set will bring the remaining number of surviving never-before-released 'Mooners segments to--well, to something very, very low. I'm no expert, but it appears that most everything except for some odds and ends and a 1970 Ed Norton sketch/pilot w/o Gleason (but WITH Al Lewis and Phil Leeds!) is now out there. MPI previously released multiple The Color Honeymooners volumes compiling the show-length installments of the 1960s; this set contains shorter sketches that had not been seen in years, let alone released.

Here's what we don't know yet: Are these unedited, full-length Jackie Gleason Show episodes? The website doesn't say so, and the running time indicates some if not many are edited. Time Life is known for several things: excellent quality, staggering prices, and impressive musical clearances. I am going to go ahead and say we can expect the first. We know the second is true, as this 10-disc set is 100 bucks. Did some of that money go to clearing the music on this variety show? We'll have to wait and see.

I realize the color years aren't for everyone. However, some people turn their noses at the Lost Episodes, and I think those are great. You have to be a pretty well-heeled Honeymooners completist to get this whole set for the new 'Mooners stuff, but Gleason is Gleason. He was more than just Ralph Kramden, and the variety show also featured characters like Reginald Van Gleason III. In addition to The Great One, Time Life touts a number of high-profile guest stars appearing in the collection.

So that's what we know this set IS. Here's what it ISN'T: A collection of the original black-and-white 1950s Jackie Gleason Show. While Time Life trumpets the fact that this material is IN COLOR, I personally have dreamed of uncut full-length episodes of the original home of the Lost Episodes, back when Gleason was in his prime. Don't get me wrong, Miami Beach audiences are the greatest in the world, as the Great One tells us, but I'm more interested in the original New York stuff.

Second on my wish list is American Scene Magazine, the 1962-1966 incarnation of Gleason's variety show before he went to Miami in full living color. I remember WOR in New York showed a half-hour syndicated version of that series, and as a little kid I was fascinated by this alternate view of the man who was Ralph Kramden. There was scuttlebutt years ago that this series was being shopped for potential DVD release. If anyone could do it, it would be Time Life. I bet the company figured the color years with the big guest stars were more marketable.

MPI had the license to this material for years and did increasingly little with it. A deluxe version of this set has the old Lost Episodes, the same material MPI put out a few years ago in a complete set. Does this mean MPI is done with the world of Jackie Gleason? If so, I hope Time Life someday decides to take a shot at the older stuff. For me, the black and white years, even the American Scene episodes, would be a must buy. As it is, I'd loooove to have this set, but it might take a while for me to come up with 100 bucks for it.

'Mooners Monday #26: Streaming the 'Mooners

In case you missed this week's Streaming Video Power Rankings, I broke the news that someone else broke the news to me that an assortment of Honeymooners Lost Episodes had been available on Amazon Prime Video since mid August. According to my unofficial (and pretty much unexistent) research, this is the first time The Honeymooners, in any incarnation, has streamed on a paid service. It's less than half of the collection, and it seems to consist of the shorter sketches and not the longer episodes, but it's something.

Now, many of the episodes have been uploaded, shall we say, outside official channels, and on some prominent video sites. We don't want subpar copies of our favorite show, though, right? We want to be able to see it on demand, commercial free and uncut, and in good quality. Of course, that's why we buy the DVDs, but stay with me.

The Honeymooners deserves to be on a prominent streaming site, and while MPI apparently controls streaming as well as home video rights for the Lost Episodes, what about the Classic 39? They show up on outlets like ME-TV, but CBS isn't doing anything in the SVOD realm with the classic. Is it because there are only 39 episodes? That shouldn't make a difference. Hulu streams many classic CBS-controlled properties and offers dozens of episodes of them in many cases, not the entire run. Presumably, given the Blu-Ray release and the fact the show is mastered in high-def,  it wouldn't take much work to get nice materials ready for a streaming channel.

Netflix would be the best destination among the pay sites. Everyone has it, and it doesn't show commercials. Hulu is the next best fit. It does pepper us with ads, but at least it runs uncut episodes, and Ralph and Alice and Ed and Trixie would fit in well alongside other classic TV characters like Lucy, Rod, and Mister Ed. Amazon Prime is third because it is so disorganized and because I don't have it. Actually, that's not a big deal to me since I have the discs, and Amazon already streams a bunch of old CBS/Paramount shows, so Honeymooners would look good there, too.

Then there's a fourth option: Remember that pay streaming gimmick CBS unveiled a while ago? Yeah, CBS All Access still exists. Oh, we hear plenty about the forthcoming Star Trek series and Young Sheldon (shudder), but I don't know if CBS has added anything to the "Classics" section since its launch.

Why can't CBS put the 'Mooners up on its own streaming service? At this point, it's not cannibalizing video sales to put it up somewhere. There are only 39 episodes, and they should be ready to go with minimal effort. In this case, I suspect it has little to do with the series and more to do with CBS' cavalier approach to catalog content on All Access.

So we wait for the 'Mooners to show up on streaming, but at least we have the videos. It puzzles me, though, that unlike The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, and other classic CBS programs--some of which have been on all 3 major SVOD services--The Honeymooners never turns up anywhere

The most ANNOYED man in classic TV: Wildcat Wendell Corey

There's nothing like strapping yourself in and enduring the high-octane thrill ride that is Harbor Command. OK, maybe it's not the most exciting crime drama in the annals of television history, but it's a reasonably entertaining 30 minutes, and coming from ZIV, you know it's going to be reasonably well produced.

Even when the show itself is not a huge winner, I get a warm feeling. Harbor Command is not a world beater, but it has its charms.

Looks impressive, don't it? But this isn't just any old sea/land hybrid entertainment. ZIV reminds us each time out that Harbor Command enjoys the cooperation of the local authorities:

I also like the propers given to the true-life Harbor Commanders.

The best part about the series, though, is Wildcat Wendell Corey, who manages to look annoyed in any situation. Pursuing a thief? Annoyed. Tracking the carrier of a deadly infectious disease? Annoyed. Getting vital information from a fellow civil servant? Annoyed.

Telling the audience about his real-life counterparts? Annoyed.

Thanking us for watching? Annoyed.

Wildcat Wendell Corey: The most annoyed man in classic TV.

We're going backwards in the TV on DVD thing

Thanks to TV Shows on DVD for the news info I will regurgitate here, and props to those folks for their ability to accentuate the positive.

At this point in the DVD era, I expect reissues to be cheaper--much cheaper--than the original releases. Years of price drops, sales, and, hey, just the stuff being out already for so long, makes me think that when it comes out again, it should be, well, cheap. Isn't that the way this is supposed to work?

Not so, according to at least two companies. Universal is reissuing the first season of Kojak in February for 30 bucks (MSRP). OK, so now they are single-sided discs instead of flippers. Big deal! When Mill Creek is taking material like that and giving (admittedly cheapo) complete series sets for the same price, why should we settle for one measly season?

Are we spoiled to some extent? Perhaps, but look at it this way: It isn't a new product. Season 1 first debuted on disc in 2005. 12 years ago, 30 bucks would have been a fair price. 12 years later, not only does the price seem a little high, but it's a product that has been out 12 years. It's been on DVD, it's been on several digital subchannels, it's been on Hulu. Now it's back for the non-bargain price of 30 bucks (To be fair, you can save a fiver by pre-ordering from Amazon).

Many collectors and fans are thankful when Warner Archive takes a property abandoned by Warner Home Video and resurrects it. It usually does top-notch work and presents the product in good condition and in its original form, or as close to it as possible. On the other hand, it usually presents it in burned rather than pressed discs, and it charges a hell of a lot more for the equivalent product.

Here's another example: WHV's complete series release of Top Cat has been out of print. This 2004 box set is an excellent package, offering the whole run plus extras like featurettes and audio commentaries (Remember those?). It's great that it's available again, but because it's coming from Warner Archive, this reissue is a whopping 48 bucks! T.C. is one of my favorites, and it's an awesome box set, but this should be no more than half that price.

Warner Home Video has its own shenanigans, though. It's fond of taking classic animation properties and divvying them out in small but overpriced collections rather than complete sets. Look at how it has handled the Super Friends franchise. Actually, just look at how it is repackaging Justice League episodes.

Last week, WHV announced 4 single-disc releases, each based on a different superhero, each containing 3 or 4 episodes of Justice League.  I personally think the $5 dollar bin at Wal-Mart or the discount rack at Target might be an appropriate destination for these releases, though even at that price point, I would probably put them back after finding out how few episodes they contained.

Yet WHV set an MSRP of $14.97 on these. This means that even with Amazon's 33% discount, they are still 10 bucks apiece, which by my reckoning is twice as much as a "fair" price for this half-assed collection.

Say what you will about Mill Creek, but at least it recognizes that the DVD market has changed dramatically and that people aren't in the mood to overpay for reissues anymore. I can't believe I'm saying this, but if this is the what the big studios are going to give us, I might have to root for more of these sublicensors to acquire this material and make it affordable.

Journey Into DVD: It's a Universal Picture!

One thing about Universal Vault Series MOD (Manufactured on Demand) DVDs: They get a lot of films that would otherwise not be seen out to the viewing public. Well, they are hard to find and more expensive than conventional releases, but until we get a Universal Movie Classics channel (say....), this is one of the best avenues we have to catch some of these old Uni and Paramount pictures.

 

 

Another thing about these DVDs is they have zero extras--no trailers, not even a decent menu. So if you put the disc in your player and go get a sandwich, by the time you get back, it may be 15 minutes into the movie.



Frontier Gal (1945) is the kind of Western I imagine contemporary reviewers described as "rollicking." It has a saucy Yvonne DeCarlo, Sheldon Leonard as the villain, and Rod Cameron giving an entertaining performance as an unrepentant chauvinist who storms into a town looking for revenge.

Cameron floats the idea of marriage to DeCarlo  to get her to, uh, welcome him his first night in town, and whaddyaknow, the next day he's all like, "Eh, I don't think so." He really is kind of a jerk, and it's hard to feel too sorry for him when he is forced at gunpoint into a wedding.

Years later, after a stint in jail, when a little girl is involved and when his former fiancée enters the picture, he doesn't straighten out and do the right thing by all mature adults concerned. At least, I don't think he does. I can't be sure because with 5 minutes to go, right in the middle of a climactic action sequence, the DVD started skipping/freezing, and I had to go online to READ how the movie ended!

It's a shame because I was enjoying the heck out of what I saw up to that point.  It's the kind of movie in which a bar fight breaks out and Andy Devine comes in and starts throwing clubbing, plodding forearm blows that totally clean house. Then Devine goes over to the bar and gets what looks like a 256-ounce beer. I recommend Frontier Gal, but make sure you get a disc without a big discolored spot near the edge.

Supernatural (1933) is like a bunch of different movies in one. It's a horror movie, a crime movie, a thriller, a bit of a love story...Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott are the top names in the cast, but Vivienne Osborne is vivid as convicted man-strangler (3 times!) Ruth Rogen.

There is a sort-of mad doctor AND a phony spiritualist in this one, and Rogen manages to transfer her spirit into the innocent body of Lombard's Roma Courtney so she can try to kill the spiritualist! There is a good amount of stuff going on in just over an hour, and it's a unique and compelling little movie I haven't seen discussed.

Actually, it's a Paramount picture!

I was disappointed by Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) with Burt Lancaster and Joan Fontaine after wanting to see it for years. I just never got into it. I don't have a lot to say about it, but it just wasn't for me. I'm still glad it made it to DVD, though! Just don't see it before checking out Frontier Gal and Supernatural.

Journey Into DVD: The Stork Pays Off

It's tough to have a real "journey" with a Columbia Classics DVD. There's no featurettes, no audio commentaries, no trailers, no nothing. The Stork Pays Off doesn't even have a menu. Insert DVD, watch movie  RIGHT AWAY. I must admit, though, the jarring lack of a menu and the disappointing (even in 2016) lack of special and not-so-special features is almost worth it to avoid an FBI warning.

It's cool that Sony is even bothering to release unassuming "minor" pictures from the archives like 1941's The Stork Pays Off, which doesn't even have enough reviews on IMDB to display a user rating. ClassicFlix lists it as a Columbia Classic, another site calls it a Sony Screen Classic by request, and the  top of the packaging calls it part of the "Choice Collection." So what IS this movie? It's a fun, brisk effort headlined--yes, headlined--by Maxie "Slapsie" Rosenbloom, and that alone merits a video release. I recommend you check it out if you can get it at a discount and/or rent it from ClassicFlix.

It's the story of a gangster who has his trio of goons take over a night club, only to discover it's actually a nursery. Once he sees what's going on, Deke Foster falls for the proprietess, divorced mother Irene, and instructs his goons to maintain and grow the daycare operation. Of course Deke and Irene fall in love, but there are enough other things going on to fill 68 minutes without too much strain.

Stork may not be a classic, but it sure feels like a Columbia. I mean, even the fonts used on signs in the movie remind me of those used in the titles of Three Stooges shorts. Rosenbloom, Horace McMahon, and George McKay have lots of comic business as Foster's lieutenants, and a lot of their bits wouldn't be out of place in an old two-reeler. How can you not be drawn into a movie that opens with hoods named Brains, Photofinish, and Ear to the Ground pulling off a protection racket?

Much as I enjoy Rosenbloom's predictable  (I mean that in a positive sense) performance as malaprop-spouting "Brains," the actual story leads are Deke and Irene, played by Victory Jory and Rochelle Hudson. The two are likable enough, but there is zero chemistry between them, and I never buy Jory's character's transformation into earnest father figure/romantic partner/upright citizen.   It seems like the kind of role, say, Richard Conte would have been great in paired with someone like Lynn Bari at Fox, but then again, why recast the movie? I'm not bowled over by the romance, but director Lew Landers spends as much time on the light comedy as he does on that aspect, anyway.

In fact, things happen quickly in this story. When Deke demands his charges go to night school to be better role model for the children, bam, we go to an extended scene set at night school.  We have a good time, too, as Brains exercises some goofy wordplay to confound the teacher (character actor Byron Foulger with amusing exasperation).  Later, a political situation comes up, and, hey, Deke decides to run for local office to become respectable.

The 68-minute film somehow seems to have a lot going on and yet not much of a main plot at the same time, but it's an entertaining diversion nonetheless. Rosenbloom and his colorful cohorts are a delight, with McKay standing out as a guy who talks in horse racing lingo all the time, even to the kids at the daycare center. The Stork Pays Off isn't necessarily something I want to pay 20 bucks for, but it would be great to see it on TCM, and I appreciate that Sony released it, even if through its ultra-bare-bones manufactured-on-demand line.

Hazel: The Early Years: Episode 1, "Hazel and the Playground"

Finally it's time to begin our episode-by-episode look at the inaugural season of Hazel, the 1961-1966 sitcom based on a comic panel by Ted Post about the know-it-all (that phrase is harsh, but she IS) live-in maid of the Baxter family. We will revisit the Early Years, that is Season 1, when the show was in glorious black and white, courtesy of the Sony DVD set. This week it's "Hazel and the Playground," a show that does a lot to establish the Hazelverse.

I do regret that there isn't a true Hazel Burke origin story. What I wouldn't give for an episode with flashbacks to a young Hazel, just out of Maid College (I know, but bear with me), maybe with, oh, Noreen Corcoran or Sheila James trying to do Shirley Booth's mannerisms. Instead, we see a fine debut outing that features many of the hallmarks of the series: Hazel going on a crusade, Mr. Baxter showing exasperation (I said it before, I'll say it again: Nobody, and I mean nobody does "taken aback" like Don Defore), coincidences-a-plenty, and of course Hazel using her body to get what she wants from a man.

Say what?

We'll get to that in a minute.  There are other important aspects of this first installment of the show. For example, we learn that Mr. Baxter is an amiable but workaholic corporate lover and that his wife Dorothy (Hazel, who has known her since she was a wee lass, still calls her Missy). That's an important bit of info because while George's business interests seem to run counter to Hazel's agenda every episode, it's easy to forget Dorothy actually has a part-time vocation.

We also meet the Baxter's hapless neighbors  the Johnsons, a well-meaning but inept older couple who are lost without their own maid, Phoebe. In "Hazel and the Playground," Hazel "The Toe" Burke kicks a football that lands right in the Johnson's chimney, causing their living room to fill up with smoke. As the elderly couple discusses what to do, we learn that Phoebe has the day off. By the time the idea of "opening the windows" occurs to them, there's so much smoke in there I expect the camera to pan to reveal Edward R. Murrow in an easy chair.

So let's talk about Hazel as a physical specimen.  Oh, don't worry, we'll get to her using her feminine wiles later--and I will keep it PG--but my immediate focus is her supreme athleticism. The first ever scene of the series  depicts Hazel encountering a young girl  on the sidewalk and asking her f she's made her own hopscotch squares. The girl says, nah, she's too old for hopscotch. Well, Hazel ain't!

WITH groceries, no less!

I believe the scene is designed by screenwriters William Cowley and Peggy Chantler Dick (both would write dozens of subsequent episodes), to demonstrate Hazel is sassy, feisty, and not a staid, stuffy domestic. What it really proves is she is a world-class athlete.

Later, when young  Harold asks Mr. B  to teach him how to placekick a football, Dad begs off because he's prepping for an important business meeting. So Hazel volunteers to show Harold how it's done, noting that after graduating high school (not Maid College?) she did a year of semi-pro.  Defore's reaction is priceless:



"You know, I wouldn't put it past her!"

Hazel gives Harold first crack at kicking the football, and while I am not a cruel man and I do not loathe child actors, part of me did wish she would yank the football away so Bobby Buntrock would flail and land flat on his  back with a large thud. It's much less dramatic, though: Harold whiffs, then Hazel shows off her classic straight-on kicking style and booms the pigskin into the Johnson's chimney.

A skilled hopscotcher, a talented placekicker...impressive. But Hazel's true calling is bowling, and she displays her abilities in this episode by winning a local tournament on live TV (Remember this kind of thing next time you lament the days when there were only a few channels) with 3 consecutive strikes--the final one left-handed!

She uses the post-game interview (What would a locally televised live bowling competition be without a post-game interview?) to lobby the audience to sign a petition to convert half of a local botanical garden to a playground so that she doesn't have to kick footballs into chimneys anymore. And you thought bowling and local politics didn't mix.

Now the moment we've all been waiting for, the moment that may get this post stricken from browsers with "safe search"  options. Backing it up a bit, Hazel learns in order to get a playground, she has to talk with the local Park Commissioner.  When told it will be tough to persuade him, a confident Hazel says she ought to wear her flower print, "the one that shows off my figure so good." Not only that she gives Mr. B a literal nudge and wink.

And she does makes sure that commish sees her! Ooh la la!

Va-va-va-VOOM!

Her meeting is inconclusive, as she doesn't get tangible help but does learn she needs 5,000 signatures to get a referendum on the ballot for the election that happens to be taking place in a week (Remember what I said about coincidences?).  I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Hazel ended up collecting 5.000 signatures...and one phone number!

Then Mr. Baxter tells her how hard it is to draw up a legal referendum, and she casually relates she had a judge do it that morning. You  know, the one she met when she was foreman of a  jury a few months ago--the judge who was :kind of sweet on her."

HEY, NOW! At this point, I can't help but wonder what I have gotten myself into. I am not sure I am prepared for the rawness of the Early Years of this presumably innocent sitcom.

There really is a lot going on in "Hazel and the Playground," and I am leaving out many plot details, but it's a fine kickoff (sorry) to the series. Rewatching it for this post, I was surprised how many familiar staples of the show were evident right from the beginning.

I can't leave without one final screencap, though. A triumphant Hazel gives Mr. Baxter's client the honor of making the first kick at the new playground, which has a dedicated "Place-kick practice area." Somehow I think that detail didn't find its way into the actual referendum.

After using helium to inflate the football (be thankful I am making no Tom Brady  jokes here, folks), the middle-aged businessman makes his kick, and look at what happens:

You really have to see it to appreciate the little cartoon football, but...special effects, baby! Who needs fancy CGI when you have old-school animation like this?

I think "Hazel and the Playground" is a great premiere, establishing the characters and the tone of the series in fine fashion. What do you think?

Coming Soon: HAZEL: THE EARLY YEARS

If I were to guess the most commented post in the modern history of this blog...well, I'd guess it pretty easily because I know it. But if YOU had to guess the most commented post in the modern history of this blog  (It's been around about 20 years in one form or other), would you pick a modest little essay about TV's favorite domestic?

Yes, this post about the fifth season of Hazel is the most commented post I have written--and I mean real, legit posts, too, not just bizarre comments in apparent Arabic characters (should I tell someone about those?) and spam comments offering work-at-home opportunities.

In 5 years, we have seen dozens of comments about the fifth season, the characters, the actors. and dare I say, life itself (OK, I'm reaching now). Let's face it, there just ain't a whole lot of discussion about this particular 1960s sitcom, but there is some of it here on good ol' Cultureshark. I'd like to encourage it and show my appreciation for the participants by introducing a new recurring feature here on the blog:

Introducing HAZEL: THE EARLY YEARS! On a semi-regular basis, I will be revisiting the very first season of the show, the black-and-white era, and posting about each episode along the way. I encourage all of you to follow along here on the blog and keep the conversation going. Mr. B, Missy, Harold...even Mr. Griffin will be here. Stay tuned!

TV Time Bonus: More on The Joey Bishop Show

The other day, I talked about the last several episodes of season 2 of The Joey Bishop Show, which we can see on DVD thanks to the (now defunct?) Questar outfit. Season 2 is the only bit of Bishop available on legal DVD right now, but the extras give us an intriguing glimpse of how radically different the sitcom's first season is.

The series pilot is a fascinating bonus on the final disc of the season 2 collection. Things look different right away because season 2 transitioned to color , while the debut campaign is in good ol' black and white. More importantly, Joey Bishop's character is not at all  the in-command, smartest guy in the room kind of dude we see in the second season. He's a bit of a klutz and, especially compared to this episodes co-stars Danny Thomas and Joe Flynn, far from the savvy showbiz insider he would play after the format change.

Can you  blame Joey Bishop? In the pilot, he is, as Wikipedia puts it, "an incompetent Hollywood public relations man" who screws up a visit from Danny Williams (Thomas playing his Make Room for Daddy character) and apparently screws up a lot of things.  Ratings were not great when the show went to series, and I'm sure one of the first things Bishop suggested was changing his character from a nice enough guy who means well but always gets into mishaps to a guy clearly in charge of his own show and own life.

An odd element of the pilot is the strong presence of Joey's family, which causes all kinds of havoc when he has to offer the star lodging at his own pad. His parents (Billy Gilbert and Madge Blake) have good intentions but are meddlers, and stranger still, his unmarried sister is attracted to Danny, and the family wants to encourage a relationship. Well, guess who plays this sister? Yep, Marlo Thomas--Danny's real-life daughter!

The psychosexual tangles of that situation aside, this pilot is an amusing glimpse into the early days of the series, and it proves just how different Bishop becomes in season 2, when he becomes a talk show host with an all-new supporting cast, including Joe Besser (and you know Besser, for better or worse, is going to make anything different). Is it better or worse? I don't know because this is the only season 1 episode I've seen. Season 2 isn't exactly a masterpiece, but I wish more of The Joey Bishop Show could be seen on DVD because, well, why not?

Below are some glimpses of early Joey Bishop Show:

"Nothing weird about you and Danny. No, nothing at all..."

 

In the office, Joey is always spilling something or knocking something over

 

Joey does NOT get to be this kind of cool  in the series pilot

 

"I got out of Frank's shadow to play stooge to these guys?"

Shameless Self-Promotion (again): New review at ClassicFlix!

Hey, folks! Sorry to run plugs for myself two days in a row, but ClassicFlix  posted my review of the frst season of the long-running but oft-forgotten Western anthology Death Valley Days.


Here's a little preview: Hit the link to see the rest, and tell 'em Cultureshark sent you! Don't ya dare miss it! (Also, come back this weekend for the SVOD Power Rankings, and I will have more actual content here on the blog next week)

It's All in a Day's Work: Death Valley Days, Season 1
09/21/2016 | by Rick Brooks
With eighteen seasons and well over 500 episodes, Death Valley Days is one of the longest-running television programs never to receive a legitimate season set on DVD...until now! Through its Timeless label, Shout Factory has brought the first season of this half-hour Western anthology in a 3-disc set containing all eighteen half-hour episodes.

Summer of Angst: The Epic Conclusion

Time for one final look at The Lost Television Legacy of James Dean, an outstanding but unheralded DVD release featuring the early small screen work of Buddy Hackett. No, it's James Dean, of course.

You KNOW it's quality entertainment when it carries the Bob Montgomery Seal of Approval

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone can pull this look off, it's Dean

 

 

Ol' Dutch Reagan is in the house as well

Paul Lukas reportedly hated working with the mumbly Dean, who saved himself for broadcast and half-assed the rehearsals.

 

 

Overall, there is a wide variety of television, a wide variety of Dean, and, yes, a wide variety of angst. I highly recommend this collection and wish I could give it more attention than a series of screencaps.