Me-TV

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by MissGoddess »

Phil Silvers street creds are the best, so I believe you that the show is first rate and funny as heck. hopefully i can see more of it.

I should record the late night stuff, I've been so lazy about that.

Do you have Cozi-TV? It has lots of old shows but seems tied to our local NY affiliate somehow (NBC, I think) and has the most atrocious habit of running a local news feed at the bottom of the screen DURING shows!! Ghastly! But I have been able t catch a couple of episodes of "The Deputy", which I had never seen before.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
User avatar
movieman1957
Administrator
Posts: 5522
Joined: April 15th, 2007, 3:50 pm
Location: MD

Re: Me-TV

Post by movieman1957 »

I get Cozi and they often have a smaller picture on the screen. They have some good shows. I started a "McCloud" but wasn't able to stay for it all. (No news affiliates here for the channel.)

With this one and Me TV and "THIS" old shows are becoming easier to find.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: Me-TV

Post by RedRiver »

I think Neil Simon did some of the writing for the Silvers show as well. That's what I've heard, anyway.

Sunday Night Noir is the best! I saw Dustin Hoffman on NAKED CITY last weekend. In a bit part even! I've seen Redford on the show. Young Jack Nicholson on MR. LUCKY. So much fun. I guess Richard Kimble is going to catch the one-armed man soon. When THE FUGITIVE appears in color, you know it's almost over!
User avatar
moira finnie
Administrator
Posts: 8024
Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

NaKed City on Me-TV

Post by moira finnie »

For anyone who has enjoyed The Naked City series on Sunday Night Noir, as of last night the network has just begun at the very start of the series created by the innovative Herbert Leonard in 1958, when it was the first television series filmed on the streets of NYC. Inspired by the 1948 movie, the series holds up surprisingly well. Initially, the programs were half an hour (they later went to 1 hour).
Image
In the cast at the beginning were character actor John McIntire as the older Detective Dan "Faith & Begorra" Muldoon, who plays his role like a self-conscious and taller version of Barry Fitzgerald (who starred in the original film). Rounding out the cast was a very young James Franciscus as the newbie Detective Jimmy Fallon, whose stunned (and stunning) face often looks a bit like he just fell off a Christmas tree. Filmed in a gritty black and white style in a NYC that often seems to be in the grip of unending winter, these slice-of-life tales feature wonderful actors and glimpses of a lost world---though human nature and the quality that went into the production, writing and acting of the show really make these seem fresh.

You can see the epis coming up at the link below. I believe that the series, including these half hour shows, can be seen on Netflix too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051297/episodes?season=1

Last night's shows included:

"Meridian" written with a certain high falutin' faux poetry by Stirling Silliphant and directed by Jerry Hopper, it concerns the first day on the job for Det. Halloran (Franciscus) and some fairly inept kid hoodlums taking over an exhibit teeming with firearms (yeah, they had way too many guns in this country back than too). Don't miss McIntire, with a thick Irish brogue, encouraging "the lads" (via bull horn) to give themselves up since they "oughta think about how their poor mothers will feel after they surely will be going to Sing Sing to be strapped into the electric chair."

"Nickel Ride," once again written with his usual flourishes and asides (courtesy of narrator Lawrence Dobkin) by Silliphant (who also shaped the series Route 66, among others) and directed by Doug Heyes. This episode has Muldoon called in to help talk an older ferry boat captain (Cameron Prud'Homme, a stage actor who had earlier in the decade appeared in one of his few film roles as Kate Hepburn's endearing dad in The Rainmaker) into retiring. McIntire, who left the series halfway through the first season (some sources say he missed his home in sunny CA, others claim he didn't like Franciscus), really lays the Irish stuff on with a trowel in this episode. If you catch this one, don't miss McIntire's parting shot in one scene when he asks an old friend if he remembers Muldoon's father. "Ah, a fine man," comes the reply. To which Muldoon comments, "A stormy man, most of his life, rest his soul. As he lay dying the priest said to him, 'Bobby, me boy, you've but one choice left to you, my boy. God or the Devil.' I remember father raised one dying eyelid and whispered, 'I'm in no position to antagonize anybody.'"
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

The Skeins
TCM Movie Morlocks
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: Me-TV

Post by RedRiver »

I watched these surprisingly relevant shows last night. If they're dated at all, it's in a pleasant and comforting way. These half hour episodes, the first I've seen, are exciting in their very lack of complexity. It's people going through the motions; of crime, police work, family. These concise stories may even be better than the longer ones. The great John McIntyre brings a boost to almost any project.

I don't make a habit of watching this show (or the wonderful ROUTE 66). I don't usually stay up so late, and I don't TIVO. But for night birds and recorders, THE NAKED CITY is a classy cop show. Sunday night programming on this fine channel couldn't be better.
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by MissGoddess »

oh, darn, i missed those "Naked City" eps, of course. I love watching series' from the beginning, to see how the characters relate to one another and the changes over time. I've only seen the Horace McMahon episodes...was he ever anything but a police lieutenant? lol

Stirling Siliphant. I'm trying to picture a mother cradling a baby and calling it that.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
User avatar
moira finnie
Administrator
Posts: 8024
Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by moira finnie »

I wish I got Cozi-TV. My Boston relatives get Retro-TV which carries things like Checkmate, I Spy and Run For Your Life.

I saw some of those The Millionaire episodes a couple of weeks ago too, Miss G. They were highly amusing, though I sometimes wondered if Michael Anthony's snappy sports coats were made of upholstery material. He seemed to have the some of the same flashy duds that Paul Drake used to wear so nattily. I liked the epi with Agnes Moorehead as a former debutante, Jerome Cowan as a former busboy who gazed upon her from afar (and later became a successful contractor-decorator) and Tuesday Weld as Aggie's impish niece who didn't care about social graces. The one with the probation officer and his wife, a brother in jail and no one telling the truth in that family really blew my mind--esp. when I realized that the clueless wife was Marian Seldes.

Maybe they will show more of these?

Re: The Fugitive
Does anyone else prefer the episodes in black and white? I do. I think the long run in the show may have worn on Janssen and the producers changed too. But maybe it's just me.
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

The Skeins
TCM Movie Morlocks
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by MissGoddess »

I wish I got Cozi-TV. My Boston relatives get Retro-TV which carries things like Checkmate, I Spy and Run For Your Life.


that's exactly what's on Cozi! I wonder if these networks are all run by one person...in a clown suit? :D

I saw some of those The Millionaire episodes a couple of weeks ago too, Miss G. They were highly amusing, though I sometimes wondered if Michael Anthony's snappy sports coats were made of upholstery material. He seemed to have the some of the same flashy duds that Paul Drake used to wear so nattily. I liked the epi with Agnes Moorehead as a former debutante, Jerome Cowan as a former busboy who gazed upon her from afar (and later became a successful contractor-decorator) and Tuesday Weld as Aggie's impish niece who didn't care about social graces. The one with the probation officer and his wife, a brother in jail and no one telling the truth in that family really blew my mind--esp. when I realized that the clueless wife was Marian Seldes.


I missed those! I caught the ones with Marty Milner. I never noticed Michael's jackets, lol, though I always admired how William Hopper carried his (sometimes I thought he looked like he was headed for the nearest window to collect the daily double). By the way, the millionaire wasn't based on a real guy, was it?

Maybe they will show more of these?


I'm sure they will; I have caught "Millionaire" episodes twice since getting the network on my cable line-up; it's those "Sunday Showcases" that seem to provide the best chance for the rarer shows.
Re: The Fugitive
Does anyone else prefer the episodes in black and white? I do. I think the long run in the show may have worn on Janssen and the producers changed too. But maybe it's just me.


I really haven't seen enough of them to tell. So far the color epi's seem okay, but I've only seen two or three. I think the LOOK of the show was much better suited to black-and-white. The opening montage just looks like they threw neon paint over the old B&W images. But color was (still is) unavoidable. Too bad so many people still resist the beauty and creativity of B&W.

"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: Me-TV

Post by RedRiver »

It's hard not to prefer THE FUGITIVE in black and white. The subject matter, as you say, is so well suited for it. But the color episodes are surprisingly effective. They're rich, pure tones. Beautiful to look at. The stories are fine. Supporting characters at their melodramatic best. I'm much more impressed than I expected to be.

Moira, I bet you mean the old I SPY. Prior to Cosby and Culp. I don't remember a thing about this 1950's show. Probably didn't even watch it. But, curious child that I was, I noticed the ads and found them intriguing.
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by MissGoddess »

Red, I feel I haven't seen enough of "The Fugitive" so when the final episode comes I think I'll skip it. I don't want to spoil it for myself until I've seen all or as many as I can. :D


KR, I have never watched "Checkmate" but I recently came across an episode or two on YouTube. I will have to go back and take a look. I like Sebastian Cabot.


Moira
, you mentioned "Run For Your Life". I came across an episode on Cozi and wasn't sure at first if it was a TV movie or a series. I have never heard about it before and it wasn't bad. I looked up the premise (a lawyer finds out he only has two years to live, each episode is about his "bucket list") and with creative people like Roy Huggins and Jo Swerling on it I figure it's worth seeing. I hope to catch more of them.

P.S. I thought the show's premise was familiar, and then realized that it was an episode of Kraft Suspense Theater where I had seen the actual pilot episode, Rapture at Two-Forty, which can be seen here:

[youtube][/youtube]
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
User avatar
moira finnie
Administrator
Posts: 8024
Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by moira finnie »

RedRiver wrote:It's hard not to prefer THE FUGITIVE in black and white. The subject matter, as you say, is so well suited for it. But the color episodes are surprisingly effective. They're rich, pure tones. Beautiful to look at. The stories are fine. Supporting characters at their melodramatic best. I'm much more impressed than I expected to be.
They must have filmed these on really good film stock. I thought that last weekend's color episode setting in the woods with Ed Asner & cohorts threatening Janssen, a sheriff played by James Broderick and his cranky girlfriend looked beautiful too. I do have to laugh sometimes when watching The Fugitive. One of "the classic tropes" of the series, as the culture vultures like to put it, is that every woman just KNOWS that Kimble is innocent after meeting him for a moment. Feminine intuition seems to be allied closely with that same sixth sense that dogs have when they sense who is a friend or foe.
RedRiver wrote:Moira, I bet you mean the old I SPY. Prior to Cosby and Culp. I don't remember a thing about this 1950's show. Probably didn't even watch it. But, curious child that I was, I noticed the ads and found them intriguing.
I never heard of an earlier version of I SPY, Red. Tell me more?
MissGoddess wrote:
Moira
, you mentioned "Run For Your Life". I came across an episode on Cozi and wasn't sure at first if it was a TV movie or a series. I have never heard about it before and it wasn't bad. I looked up the premise (a lawyer finds out he only has two years to live, each episode is about his "bucket list") and with creative people like Roy Huggins and Jo Swerling on it I figure it's worth seeing.
Thanks for that link to what looks like a pilot movie for the series. The funny thing about the series was that I believe it lasted longer than two years, so I guess Ben Gazzara was really succeeding in running for his life. Of the programs I've seen in this series it seems that it owes quite a bit to Route 66. Run... tackled some timely subjects but it wasn't quite as cool as that show, which captured a bit of Kerouac for the small screen. BTW, on Rte 66, all the women are just a little (and sometimes a lot) crazy--but I figure that they were meant to symbolize the "canary in the coal mine" American society in the early '60s and/or maybe producer Herb Leonard or writer Stirling Silliphant liked nutty chicks.

I read once that Run For Your Life was almost sued by the production company of The Fugitive since it appeared that the creator of both, Roy Huggins, had taken the premise of the Janssen show and grafted it onto the Gazarra vehicle. If you're gonna steal, I guess it's best to steal from yourself.

I like Checkmate's basic premise and the cast (even Doug McClure and his dazzling teeth). However, I agree that many of the epis I've seen are uneven. Sometimes excellent and engaging. Other times, kind of blah, and filled with some awful Method posturing. An episode featuring Scott Marlowe as a misunderstood youth was outstandingly bad in my memory, but another one about a near lynching was riveting, and one more with Jack Benny as the target of an assassination during (i think) The Rose Bowl was wild (you read that right. Jack Benny + Assassin appeared in the same sentence. Jack wisely avoided any other dramatic appearances, as far as I know).
Does anyone know if legendary shows like The Detectives, The Defenders, East Side, West Side, Dr. Kildare or Ben Casey have ever been aired on any of these nostalgia channels? It would be interesting to see how they hold up.
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

The Skeins
TCM Movie Morlocks
User avatar
moira finnie
Administrator
Posts: 8024
Joined: April 9th, 2007, 6:34 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Me-TV

Post by moira finnie »

kingrat wrote:As as child, I really liked Anthony George, who wasn't that tall, but had the dark and handsome thing going for him. I liked his voice, too.
Anthony George was short? He looks so tall to me. Huh! I always thought that Anthony George was much better looking than his more widely remembered brother, Christopher George.
kingrat wrote:Doug McClure was cute. Hard to believe that Troy Donahue had a bigger career than Doug.
Troy Donahue had that lost boy, i-won't-hurt-you look that appeals to many girls on the cusp and deep in the fires of puberty then and now. Doug McClure (and his rather aggressive teeth), however, had a slightly more wiseguy manner that might have put off the naturally skittish adolescent who bought Tiger Beat regularly and longed to heal Troy's imagined wounds. Warner Brothers also did a heckuva job marketing Donahue in the late '50s and early '60s, using the idea of "synergy" before the term was used widely. I have seen Troy Donahue lunchboxes, ads for the comb he used (along with others for Edd "Cookie" Byrnes, the valet parking attendant of 77 Sunset Strip fame), and hyperventilating interviews with the young man in question. I guess Troy may have looked more marketable as a counterweight to all the "bad boy" actors of the era?
Avatar: Frank McHugh (1898-1981)

The Skeins
TCM Movie Morlocks
Post Reply