Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, The (2002) TV Special

The SciFi Channel presents a TV spectacular honoring the best homemade satires of the Star Wars universe from Lucasfilm's first Offical Star Wars Fan Film Awards. Showcases all the award-winners, from Star Wars-themed spoofs to documentaries and mockumentaries.

The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards  (2002) TV Special
Host: Kevin Smith

Welcome to the Club (2001) TV Documentary

Narrated by Rosanne Cash. Their stage antics were sassy, bordering on aggressive. Their vocal styles featured distinctly unladylike growls, hiccups and moans. Their lyrics spoke of parties and hot rods, flirtations and teen angst. To say that women such as Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin and Lorrie Collins were ahead of their time is a gross understatement. Uniquely American artists, yet loved by enclaves of dedicated fans the world over, these were the women of rockabilly music, rock and rolls country cousin. For a few brief moments, they burst onto a predominantly male scene with an unprecedented musical message of female assertiveness. They not only bucked the staid notion of what was appropriate to sing as a country star, but they also rejected the models of post-war femininity that were being marketed in the wider culture, models of suburban wedded bliss and a return to traditional motherhood. Some of these women were part of a natural evolution in country music, others were the product of calculating music producers looking for a Rockabilly Queen to Elvis Presleys King. Although their day in the sun was short-lived, many of these women perform today and speak with pride of a time when were genuine trailblazers, personifying an exuberance, sexuality and defiance that was burgeoning in the music of 1950s America. Welcome to the Club - The Women of Rockabilly is their story.

Welcome to the Club (2001) TV Documentary
Cast: Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee, Janis Martin, Lorrie Collins, Rosanne Cash

Mayor of Hollywood, The: Johnny Grant's 50th Anniversary in Show Business (1990) TV Special

Equal parts documentary, biography, anniversary show and tome this two hour title is beyond rare, it's non-existent. No information of any kind can be found regarding this title and that is unfortunate since it is far and away the most important offering in this archive. A tale of a simple man who went far using his gracious smile and winning personality, nobody didn't love Johnny Grant. For five decades Johnny Grant was almost everywhere, openings, red carpets, anything Hollywood. One thing made apparent here is the behind the scenes work of Mr. Grant. One example, The Hollywood Christmas Parade. That was Johnny's idea and it's a tradition that lives on today. Thank you Johnny.

On a personal note, when I lived in Hollywood (just north of the boulevard) Johnny Grant was very visible. You could see him toddling around all the time and if you hollered to him, "Hey Johnny" he would always turn and greet you with a "Hi there... " or a "How are you today?" always graciously. When he passed in 2008 a BIG part of Hollywood went with him, this production does well to show his humanity in a packed 90+ minutes. Look for anyone who was alive at this time to make an appearance in this five decade tour of Hollywood with all the trappings.

The Mayor of Hollywood: Johnny Grant's 50th Anniversary in Show Business (1990) TV Special
Cast: Bob Hope, Johnny Grant, Assorted

Mystery of the Sphinx, The (1993) TV Special

(The) Mystery of the Sphinx is a 1993 documentary about the Great Sphinx of Giza. It deals mainly with the conflict between Egyptologists and geologists about the age of the Great Sphinx. It does so by suggesting the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis.

Charlton Heston is the host of the documentary, which features Egyptologist John Anthony West, geologist Robert M. Schoch and writer Richard C. Hoagland.

The Mystery of the Sphinx (1993) TV Special
Host: Charlton Heston

Roe vs. Roe: Baptism by Fire (1998) TV Documentary

This is not only an excellent documentary it's also my absolute favorite title in the entire archive. Norma McCorvey is an American hero in the most unassuming way. Humble, fully disclosed and struggling, her person and her humanity has been tested and frankly, beaten. Still unshakeable in her Christian faith she has not only disavowed her alleged support of pro-abortion protest activities but she has also disavowed her homosexuality. She is one of my favorite persons on the planet and watching this makes me want to reach right through the TV and hug her warmly.

A new respect for one Gloria Allred. As a native of the southland she has always been a part of my adult life and it's rarely been a good part. Her actions here were also heroic if not unsung. In fact, I firmly believe the next time you hear about Ms. McCorvey in the popular media will be when she dies, hopefully many years from now.

Obviously to find out more on this topic refer to wikipedia but one thing I didn't see there is the answer to this question. Why was the name "Jane Roe" used instead of "Jane Doe" as might be expected?

Roe vs. Roe: Baptism by Fire (1998) TV Documentary
Cast: Connie Gonzales, Norma McCorvey

Dead Blue: Surviving Depression (1998) TV Documentary

This excellent HBO documentary presents three prominent survivors of clinical depression--60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, psychologist Martha Manning, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Styron--as they openly discuss their struggles.

Dead Blue: Surviving Depression (1998) TV Documentary
Cast: Mike Wallace, Martha Manning, William Styron

Voyage to Atlantis, The: The Lost Empire (2001) TV Special

Nonsense special that examines the latest nonsense scientific and technical evidence suggesting Atlantis not only existed in the past, but that it will be rediscovered in our immediate future. The program features interviews and footage from supposed explorers, archaeologists and oceanographers. Any attempt at science-y stuff is completely lost by the liberal use of cartoon "evidence" from the "soon to be released" feature length cartoon of a similar title. Fun viewing for first-graders.

The Voyage to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) TV Special
Hosts: Tom Skerritt, Melissa Joan Hart

20 Years of Must See TV (2002) (TV)

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Sincerest Form of Flattery: The Networks' Self-Commemoration
By CARYN JAMES
Published: May 8, 2002

Try not to weep if you missed ''CBS: 50 Years From Television City,'' the network's loving tribute to (get out your handkerchiefs) its studio building. There are plenty more chances to get choked up during this emotional television month. In ''20 Years of Must-See TV,'' NBC will celebrate something dear to the hearts of all viewers, the network's ratings dominance on Thursday nights. (The program doesn't flinch from the traumatic moment when ''Frasier'' moved to Tuesdays.) ABC will look back at ''That's Incredible!'' letting us relive those exhilarating moments that disappeared from our lives back in 1984 along with the show's believe-it-or-not tidbits. We're promised another look at a 2,000-person human domino chain.

Maybe the networks think we all own stock in them and care, but one thing's for sure: Carol Burnett has a lot to answer for.

It was ''The Carol Burnett Show: Show Stoppers,'' a cast reunion and compilation of clips from her old variety show, that became a surprise ratings hit in November and set off this ludicrous deluge of nostalgia. NBC had already been planning specials to celebrate its 75th anniversary (if you count back to radio days), but the Burnett show made the networks act more sheeplike than ever, offering at least 17 clip shows and 4 cast reunions during the May sweeps. A recent Fox special celebrated four whole years of ''That 70's Show,'' which amounts to nostalgia about nostalgia.

These shows serve a purpose: they offer an irresistible opportunity to keep up with celebrity surgery. So many unnaturally wide eyes are on screen this month that it looks like E.T.'s relatives have taken over television. But there are more practical reasons for the overload of clips and reunions. The recycled shows are cheap to produce and presumably foolproof, offering entertainment that audiences have already embraced. And as many people in and outside the networks have observed, they are comfort food for a nerve-racking time.

But the soothing appeal of the shows is not assured; most of the ratings have been middling. And their place in the television landscape is more complicated than it might seem. These televised security blankets offer a counterpoint to the cutthroat reality shows that are still thriving and moving to further extremes, like the recent naked edition of ''Fear Factor.'' When Ralph Kramden ate dog food on ''The Honeymooners,'' it was by accident; now worms are a delicacy on reality shows. Clips and reunions function as extreme unreality shows.

The most surprising recent hits, ''The Bachelor'' and ''The Osbournes,'' work because they satisfy both extremes at once. ''The Bachelor,'' with two dozen women competing for a marriage proposal from one man, has a retro soul. Yet, its up-to-the-minute veneer features ruthless competition and sexual freedom. And beyond all the bleeping on ''The Osbournes'' there is a tight family in which Ozzy Osbourne warns his children about the evils of drugs. (''Just look at me,'' he says, his hands perpetually shaking.) When he goes on tour and the family shows up to surprise him on his birthday, he asks his wife, the now-famous Sharon, if ''the babies'' (their teenage children) have come along. What could be sweeter? It's that tension between the manners of today and the longing for a simpler past that best captures the present moment, when so much seems askew. Few shows pull that off.

No wonder the nostalgia shows, looking backward in such a blinkered way, fail to generate much excitement. Most are triumphs of packaging, with bogus claims of something new. A reunion of the ''Cheers'' cast playing their old characters on that show's spinoff, ''Frasier,'' was a lamely written partial reunion. (Ted Danson wasn't there; he was competing against ''Frasier'' in the dreadful but successful CBS mini-series ''Living With the Dead.'') A ''St. Elsewhere'' reunion on ''Scrubs'' meant a couple of scenes in which actors from the old hospital series turned up as doctors, though not their old characters.

Even the fresh material seems old, like Michael Jackson's performance on the ''American Bandstand'' 50th anniversary special or Cher's on the 10th anniversary celebration of ''The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.''

The promised glimpses of long-unseen moments from ''The Honeymooners'' on its 50th anniversary special on Monday included a horrible musical number; it was kind to keep the clip short. Otherwise, there were classic scenes we can catch every night on reruns. And if we don't need a ''Honeymooners'' retrospective, there's no excuse for ''Everybody Loves Raymond: The First Six Years,'' a recent tribute to a show available six times a week.

So far, the one major ratings success for a nostalgia show this month almost deserved it. Sunday's three-hour extravaganza, ''NBC 75th Anniversary Special,'' was a mix of live appearances and clips that until its floundering final hour was funny and brisk. Produced by Lorne Michaels, it included a touch of the irreverence of his ''Saturday Night Live.'' As Jerry Seinfeld said opening the show, ''Our mood is festive, our tone is self-aggrandizing."

More typically, NBC and the other networks take themselves and their branding more seriously than any viewer ever would. When you see a promo for this Thursday's ''E.R.,'' a flashback to Dr. Green's last days, and hear the solemn announcer promise ''an 'E.R.' to cherish,'' what can you do except laugh, even if you're sorry to lose the guy? When is the last time you heard anyone in real life say, ''I think I'll watch a little must-see TV''?

You will hear plenty of platitudes from the other side of the screen, though. ''I loved going to work,'' Phylicia Rashad, who played Bill Cosby's wife, recalls at the start of the two-hour ''Cosby Show: A Look Back'' (one of the few available in advance for review). We can make a reckless assumption that the same will be true when the cast reminisces on ''M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion Special'' and ''Mary Tyler Moore Reunion.''

''L.A. Law: The Movie'' is the only genuine, fully original reunion in sight, and it's a perfectly pleasant if unexciting diversion. Harry Hamlin holds the film together and demonstrates that he can still charm as Michael Kuzak, who has stopped practicing law but goes back to help a man he unsuccessfully defended for murder a decade before. Nearly every actor from the old series is worked into the plot (except Jimmy Smits), and they spend a lot of time on dialogue like this:

''Michael!''

''Roxanne!''

And, ''Hey, Douglas.''

''Michael Kuzak!''

Or, ''Hey, Leland.''

''Abby!''

Like ''Hill St. Blues,'' ''L.A. Law'' was fast, tough and groundbreaking, but this mild, efficient movie reveals how much those qualities have been overtaken by series like ''The Practice.'' Before he created ''The Practice,'' David E. Kelley was an ''L.A. Law'' writer; he had nothing to do with this reunion. More important, Steven Bochco, a creator of both ''Hill St.'' and ''L.A. Law,'' was not directly involved with the movie and is called ''an unseen cheerleader'' in the production notes. The truly creative people in television have better things to do than look back.

But as programmers search for sure things, that's exactly where they're looking. The so-called new shows being considered for the fall include remakes of ''The Twilight Zone,'' ''The Lone Ranger,'' ''Family Affair'' and ''The Time Tunnel.'' If we did land in a time tunnel, who could tell the difference?

More Nostalgia Coming Soon

''L.A. Law: The Movie,'' Sunday on NBC

''Mary Tyler Moore Reunion,'' Monday on CBS

''NBC's Funniest Outtakes,'' Tuesday on NBC

''M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion Special,'' May 17 on Fox

''The Cosby Show: A Look Back,'' May 19 on NBC

''20 Years of Must-See TV,'' May 20 on NBC

''That's Incredible: The Reunion,'' May 21 on ABC

''The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments,'' May 22 on NBC

20 Years of Must See TV (2002) (TV)

Host: Eric McCormack

Best TV Shows That Never Were, The (2004) (TV)

Finally airing after two years on ABC's shelf, this summer special turns a bunch of lemons into refreshing lemonade. 

Best TV Shows, based on the book Unsold Television Pilot by co-executive producer Lee Goldberg, is a breezy hour of clips from sample episodes of series that the networks decided against ordering. Not surprisingly, most of them stink—which is why the special is such a good time. 

You'll slap your head in disbelief—try not to hurt yourself—at the idea of John Denver as a singing FBI agent. You'll wonder whether Joe Penny as a samurai district attorney would have been funnier—unintentionally—than John Belushi's samurai character on Saturday Night Live. And you'll think Scott Bakula is pretty down-to-earth in Star Trek: Enterprise after you see him in a busted pilot as a wacky scientist who accidentally merges with a satellite. For tube historians, this is a must-see.

The Best TV Shows That Never Were (2004) (TV)
Cast: Craig Bierko, Jane Leeves, Rome Romanne 

Good, the Bad & the Beautiful, The (1996) (TV)

Documentary celebrating the history of women in film -- using film clips, historical footage, contemporary interviews and the fictional journey of a woman from the inception of the film (1895) to the current movie world.


Film clips and interviews show how female stars have helped shape the dreams Hollywood sells to movie fans.

The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful (1996) (TV)
Cast: Laura San Giacomo, Kathy Bates, Nora Ephron, Rosie O'Donnell, Natasha Richardson, Sharon Stone, Kathleen Turner, Glenn Close, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sally Field, Whoopi Goldberg, Daryl Hannah

1968: 25th Anniversary (1993) (TV)

Hosted by Martin Sheen this is a special looking back on the events of 1968, including the Vietnam War, civil rights marches, riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

1968: 25th Anniversary (1993) TV)
Host: Martin Sheen

60 Minutes, 25 Years (1993) (TV)

Celebrating 25 Years of '60 Minutes' : Television: The show's stars and New York notables attend a party honoring the newsmagazine's longevity.
November 12, 1993|JANE HALL | TIMES STAFF WRITER


NEW YORK — "This is so much better than the 'wrap' party for 'South of Sunset,' " quipped Howard Stringer, president of the CBS Broadcast Group.

No fooling. The CBS detective series was canceled after one episode last month. The party Stringer was attending here Wednesday night was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "60 Minutes."

Some 600 New York notables, from Beverly Sills to Mayor-elect Rudolph Guiliani, ate dinner in the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and heard David Letterman offer a special Top 10 list ("No. 2: Like Lassie, there have been three different Mike Wallaces") at the event thrown by CBS Chairman Laurence Tisch to celebrate the longevity (and the ratings and profits) of "60 Minutes," the Daddy Warbucks of TV newsmagazines.

The stars of the evening were the stars of "60 Minutes": Mike Wallace, who was shown in a recent film clip hiking up a hill after a story at age 75; the show's 70-year-old creator and executive producer, Don Hewitt; Andy Rooney; Morley Safer; Ed Bradley; Lesley Stahl and Steve Kroft, at 48 the youngest of the "60 Minutes" correspondents.

"My voice hadn't changed when I started watching '60 Minutes,' " Kroft joked before dinner. "I'm celebrating 25 years of '60 Minutes' after having worked only five years here--and Mike and Don aren't letting me forget that."

The correspondents were "sound-bited" by TV crews and photographed together by a clamor of still photographers before they went into the party. In a medium that has few national institutions among its current programs, "60 Minutes"--still going strong as TV's third most popular program this season--is practically the news equivalent of Johnny Carson.

Hewitt, who based "60 Minutes" on Life magazine, said the program was less dependent on ratings-grabbing subjects than many of the prime-time newsmagazines that have sought to imitate its success.

"I really think that we could have Michael Jackson on one week and it might not make that much difference in the weekly ratings," Hewitt said in an interview.

"A '60 Minutes' story can be an essay, a profile or an investigation. It's the stories and the mix that people tune in for."

Wallace, who said he intends to keep working on "60 Minutes" "till my toes turn up," paid tribute to the producers who work in the shadows of the correspondents. "This is a producer's broadcast," he said.

"It's the producers in the field who are out there working before we get there."

Diane Sawyer, who left "60 Minutes" to join ABC's "PrimeTime Live," recalled that competition there for high-profile stories was intense.

"It was like waking up and finding yourself in the middle of an Olympic relay," Sawyer said. "All of these other people were running past, with their Olympic medals flying, while you'd barely had time to (suit up.)"

Viewers will be invited to join in the anniversary celebration Sunday night when "60 Minutes" serves up a two-hour collection of highlights from its 25-year run at 7 p.m.

60 Minutes, 25 Years (1993) (TV)
Host: Charles Kuralt

Being With John F. Kennedy (1983) (TV)

A documentary combining rare personal footage and well-known archive footage of President John F. Kennedy. AKA "A President to Remember: In the Company of John F. Kennedy" and "A President to Remember (2008)". There is a simple mention elsewhere on the internet that Alec Baldwin is the narrator, this is NOT accurate as this is evidence. The hosting duties are entirely handled by the late newswoman Nancy Dickerson who is also credited as a Co-Producer. Both on-camera and voiced-over, all narration is Ms. Dickerson.

Being With John F. Kennedy (1983) (TV)
Host: Nancy Dickerson

Off Ramps: L. A. STORIES - The Second City - Inside the World's Largest Jail (1996) (TV)

As we take a visit to Los Angeles' Twin Towers Correctional Facility, also referred to in the media as Twin Towers Jail, Lisa Ling is front and center ably assisted by Mitchell Koss and together they bite off quite a bit for a simple two man crew in "The Second City - Inside the World's Largest Jail" or what most would consider a day in hell. The amount of scary access given and taken is surprising, I'm not sure if I would be willing to go and do as these two. As this is a production from 1996 it needs to be updated if for no other reason than contrast. Very eyeopening watching 3 unarmed correctional guards (sheriffs) walk amongst the population and keep order in a crowded lunchroom with 100 of the baddest types. This is the best way to take the tour when the alternatives are considered.

Off Ramps: L. A. STORIES (1996) (TV)
Cast: Lisa Ling, Mitchell Koss

Return to the Titanic Live... (1987) (TV)

Live..., from Paris no less. Of course, pre-recorded for your time zone.

Hosted before a live audience by the iconic Mr. Savalas. By now we've been "Titanic-ed" to death but this was all surprising and revelatory at the time. Great show even by the standards of today.

Return to the Titanic Live... (1987) (TV)
Host: Telly Savalas