When I was a child of the 1960s, it was the wild west when it came to keeping kids entertained on television. Sure there were national shows such as The Friendly Giant and Captain Kangaroo, amd Romper Room, Soupy Sales and Sherri Lewis and Lambchop were everywhere back then, but the regional shows are the
Today is a jolly holiday occasion — Dick Van Dyke’s 100th birthday. Hats off to one of the greatest entertainers of this or any century. He is well known, of course, for his ’60s series The Dick Van Dyke Show, “Bye Bye Birdie,” and such cherished children’s films as “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang
Celebrate one of television’s greatest stars a day before his 100th birthday with the American Masters special “Starring Dick Van Dyke.” The two hour presentation premieres Friday night starting at 9/8C and will also be available at pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS App The two hour celebration has no new interview with Van Dyke. The beloved
Back when I was seven, I used to take a pair of plastic safety sissors and cut Peanuts comic strips out of the Toronto Star. Then I’d fetch some Elmers Glue-all and paste them in a scrapbook. My obsession grew. I spent all my nickels and dimes on the Fawcett Crest Peanuts paperbacks. They were
Network comedy today is no laughing matter. The days when you could watch two solid hours of great comedy on one night are long gone; heck, it’s difficult to find two solid hours of comedy in a week. But all is not entirely lost. I’ve checked out three new shows – one pretty good, another
As the front cover of People magazine recently declared, Dick Van Dyke really has had the time of his life. Celebrate his centennial with three friends of this podcast: former New York Times TV critic Bill Carter, Dick Van Dyke Show expert and “Walnut Times” publisher David Van Deusen and Cinecon president and fellow film
Baby you can drive my car, and if you did, you would discover something fab. My 2007 Saab comes with a bonus feature — a “big screen” (for the time) entertainment centre. Even better, it came pre-loaded with all these “XM” satellite radio options, cutting age audio for my 9-3 Aero’s Bose speakers. Nearly two
Back when I was seven, I used to take a pair of plastic safety sissors and cut Peanuts comic strips out of the Toronto Star. Then I’d fetch some Elmers Glue-all and paste them in a scrapbook. My obsession grew. I spent all my nickels and dimes on the Fawcett Crest Peanuts paperbacks. They were
We called him “President for Life” of the Television Critics Association, but Eric Kohanik was always really its greatest ambassador, the glue that held the whole thing together. The TCA’s semi-annual press tours, prized by TV critics and editors across North America for unequalled access to executives and talent, would not have lasted as long
Jimmy Kimmel has hosted some incredibly emotional hours of his late night series in 23 seasons, but none so devestatingly personal as the one he delivered last night. Kimmel was mourning the loss of his lifelong friend and Jimmy Kimmel Live bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. The saxophonist and leader of Cleto and the Cletones passed
I took this photograph of June Lockhart in 2001 — nearly a quarter century ago. The actress and several of her colleagues from the sci-fi series Lost in Space (1965-68) gathered at a Television Critics Association press tour that summer at what was then the Ritz Carlton Hunnington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. If you were
Johnny Carson was born on this days a century ago. One hundred years ago?! You are correct, sir. The Emmy and Peabody award-winning entertainer died in 2005 at age 79. In 30 years as host of The Tonight Show, Carson presided over over 4500 episodes, interviewing over 25,000 guests. From 1962 to 1992 he was
“Annie Hall” for me was one of those films that was a game changer. It was a love story about how romantic relationships seldom last. The message was driven home with an old joke about a guy who thinks he’s a chicken and his friend won’t turn him in because he needs the eggs. That
