Tenth Month, The (1979) TV Movie

Robert Altman protégé Joan Tewkesbury called the directorial shots on the made-for-TV "The Tenth Month". After a whirlwind affair with famed concert pianist Keith Michell, middle-aged, unmarried Carol Burnett becomes pregnant. Rather than seek out the father, she decides to raise the baby by herself. Though she'd previously played comparatively "straight" roles in such films as "The Front Page" (1974), "The Tenth Month" represented Carol Burnett's TV dramatic debut, as well as her first post-Carol Burnett Show project (the producer was her husband Joe Hamilton). Adapted by Ms. Tewkesbury from a novel by Laura Z. Hobson, "The Tenth Month" premiered on September 16, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Tenth Month (1979) TV Movie
Cast: Carol Burnett, Cristina Raines, Dina Merrill, Keith Michell, Martine Beswick, Melissa Converse, Richard Venture

Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World (2010) (TV)

Prince Charles' new documentary “Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in London on April 28. The movie is a companion to the Prince of Wales' book of the same title, and makes a case for living in harmony with the environment, going small and local instead of global.

Prince Charles was there to watch his film premiere and said that he simply hoped most would stay awake for it, according to “The Guardian.” He need not have worried. Robert Redford said afterwards that the “Harmony” movie was “incredible.”

Redford was trying out a "premiere" of his own; “Sundance London” marks the first time the Sundance Film Festival has taken place anywhere other than the United States.

“Harmony” highlights Prince Charles' efforts in the environmental field and his hopes for a sustainable future. Stuart Sender and Julie Bergman Sender made the film, but Prince Charles narrates.

Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World (2010) (TV)
Host: HRH Prince Charles

Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time (2011) (TV)

The top five films are counted down in various genres, as determined by an online poll and selected from lists of nominees chosen by film industry experts.

A most comprehensive collection of clips from decades of feature films deemed to be "the greatest movies of our time" by the ABC television network. Ultimately boring and redundantly superfluous, hosted by the two great film historians, Tom Bergeron and Cynthia McFadden. He of the "funny videos" show and she of the severely compromised late night newsish program. One big Hollywood ass kiss from the most liberal of networks.

Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time (2011) (TV)
Hosts: Tom Bergeron, Cynthia McFadden

100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994) (TV)

TV REVIEWS : Tip of the Hat to 'The Hollywood Western'
November 25, 1994|KEVIN THOMAS


Jack Haley Jr.'s "100 Years of the Hollywood Western" manages to survey with some insight and admirable comprehensiveness a genre with more than 20,000 titles, spanning footage taken of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show a century ago to a spate of Westerns currently in production.

Sure-fire entertainment, it's deeper on research--the clips are terrific--than on thought. The special's hosts are Charles Bronson, James Coburn, James Garner, Gene Hackman, Robert Mitchum, Kurt Russell and Jane Seymour.

Haley points out that the "Old West" lasted only a few decades but captured the popular imagination enduringly with its endless possibilities for tales of high adventure. He and co-writers Aubrey Soloman and Phil Savenick touch many bases, and they constantly keep us aware of the movies' peerless capacity to turn sometimes sketchy history into potent myth; in doing so, they also manage a tip of the hat to the most famous Westerns.

What they might have made clearer is that the Western became America's morality play, and that the difference between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood is that, in the 1960s, Sergio Leone and the spaghetti Western injected an existential quality to Westerns, blurring the distinction between the good guys and the bad guys.

Once past a nod to pioneer Bronco Billy Anderson, William S. Hart, who brought realism to the Western, and Tom Mix, who brought glamour to it, Haley gives the silent era short shrift; surely, "Covered Wagon" and "The Iron Horse" rate at least mentions. (Serials--silent and talkie--aren't dealt with at all.)

There are apt discussions of the treatment of legendary historical figures, and there are entire sequences devoted to cliche expressions, lawmen, gunslingers, saloons, singing cowboys, Native Americans, frontier women and the eradication of the buffalo.

John Ford and John Wayne were so inextricably linked that Haley is able to deal with Ford's career in the context of the Wayne homage. Most other major directors of Westerns barely rate a mention, however, even though their films are glimpsed. You'll not hear the names of Budd Boetticher, Raoul Walsh, Michael Curtiz or Anthony Mann; perversely, Haley credits the direction of Mann's 1960 remake of "Cimarron" to his former father-in-law, Vincente Minnelli.

100 Years of the Hollywood Western (1994) (TV)
Hosts: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, James Garner, Gene Hackman, Robert Mitchum, Kurt Russell and Jane Seymour

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

Funniest Comedy Duos (1996) (TV)

Special salutes great comedy duos, featuring clips from television and film.

Funniest Comedy Duos (1996) (TV)
Host: Jeff Foxworthy

Spy Magazine Hit List: The 100 Most Annoying and Alarming People and Events of 1992 (1992) (TV)

Based on "Spy" magazine's annual feature, the year-end summary of top 100 most annoying, appalling and alarming people, events, and trends.

Spy Magazine Hit List: The 100 Most Annoying and Alarming People and Events of 1992 (1992) (TV)
Host: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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

50 Years of NBC Late Night (2001) (TV)

Special that celebrates 50 years of late night television on NBC. The program presents highlights from "The Tonight Show" and features the four great hosts through the last half-century: Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. In addition, there are clips from landmark NBC late-night series such as "The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder," "SCTV," "Later With Bob Costas," "Later With Greg Kinnear," "Late Night With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and "Saturday Night Live."

50 Years of NBC Late Night (2001) (TV)
Host: Conan O'Brien

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

Freedom Festival '89 (1989) (TV)

An Independence Day special hosted by Patrick Duffy and featuring a lineup of song and dance performers at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Constitution.

Freedom Festival '89 (1989) (TV)
Cast: The Oak Ridge Boys, Nell Carter, Frankie Avalon, Ann Jillian, Patrick Duffy

Everyday with Joan Lunden (1989–1990) (TV Series)

One of the prettiest of the co-hosts of "Good Morning America" branches out and takes her crack at daytime talk show hosting. Awkward and clumsy, fawning yet disingenuous, she was still able to recruit some surprising guests.


AVAILABLE EPISODES
Joan Collins, Vanessa Redgrave, Will Smith
June 1989

Everyday with Joan Lunden (1989–1990) TV Series
Host: Joan Lunden

Sixty Years of Seduction (1981) (TV)

A USA network special, this documentary focuses on sixty years of romance on the silver screen. This program features clips of some of Hollywood's stars in romantic moments, covering the 1920s to the 1970s. ''60 Years of Seduction,'' was a two-hour essay on love and romance as seen through the movie camera. The hosts are stars of the ordinary variety - James Garner, Angie Dickinson, Robert Urich and Victoria Principal. The ''guests,'' though, courtesy of movie excerpts, include just about every superstar that ever stepped out of a celluloid dream, from Dietrich and Bogart to Redford and Taylor. 

It is a ''cozy, lighthearted look'' at sex symbols created by the movie business. Mr. Garner notes that while the East Coast may have its Statue of Liberty, the West Coast has its Hollywood, urging the world to ''give me your young, your fresh, your wide-eyed beauties yearning to be stars.'' 

The film clips are arranged in neat categories. Set to the sound of Dooley Wilson singing ''As Time Goes By,'' one sequence explores the kiss, going from torrid contemporary scenes back to coy beginnings. Then, as Marlene Dietrich sings ''What Am I Bid for My Apples?'' another sequence looks at the concept of sex as forbidden fruit. 

There is the male star, a category including exotic Rudolph Valentino, macho Marlon Brando and gentle Gary Cooper. The female star list encompasses such types as Mae West, Katharine Hepburn, Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe. Arguing that, despite surface differences, Hollywood themes do remain remarkably the same, the program points up the similarity between a Valentino tango and John Travolta's famous dance scene in ''Saturday Night Fever.'' 

Surrounding these glimpses of the superstars is a good deal of ''special material'' that has the hosts strutting about in assorted costumes for sketches loosely related to the film sequences.

Sixty Years of Seduction (1981) (TV)
Hosts: James Garner, Angie Dickinson, Robert Urich, Victoria Principal, Sandahl Bergman

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

Glenn Miller: A Moonlight Serenade (1984) (TV)

Glenn Miller and his music on the 40th anniversary of his death, shot at Glen Island Casino and narrated by Van Johnson, with guests Johnny Desmond, Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, Julius La Rosa, Anita Gillette, and Sylvia Syms.

Songs include: "In the mood" by Andy Razaf, Joe Garland (TB); "Chattanooga choo choo", "I’ve got a girl in Kalamazoo" (MH, TB), "At last", "Serenade in blue" by Mack Gordon, Harry Warren (JD); "Elmer’s tune" by Elmer Albrecht, Sammy Gallop, Dick Jurgens (JLaR); "Skylark" by Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael (AG); "Little brown jug" by Joseph E. Winner, arr Bill Finegan (JD); "A string of pearls" by Eddie De Lange, Jerry Gray (TB); "The anvil chorus" by Giuseppe Verdi, arr Jerry Gray (JD); "Fools rush in" by Johnny Mercer, Rube Bloom (JD); "Long ago and far away" by Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger (JLaR); "Perfidia" by Milton Leeds, Alberto Dominguez (SS); "Stairway to the stars" by Mitchell Parish, Matty Malneck, Frank Signorelli (SS, JD); "St. Louis blues march" by W. C. Handy (MH, TB); "Pennsylvania 6-5000" by Carl Sigman, Jerry Gray; "Moonlight cocktail" by Kim Gannon, C. Luckey Roberts (JD); "I’ll be seeing you" by Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain (MH); "Don’t sit under the apple tree" by Lew Brown, Charles Tobias, Sam H. Stept (TB, MH); "Moonlight serenade" by Mitchell Parish, Glenn Miller.

Glenn Miller: A Moonlight Serenade (1984) (TV)
Host: Van Johnson

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1987) (TV)

A retrospective on the life and career of actor James Stewart with the star himself and hosted by his longtime personal friend Johnny Carson. With clips from many of the films of Mr. Stewart and interviews with some of the people that worked with him during his long, long career. One of the last of the good guys from old Hollywood, there was a time when Jimmy was everywhere. Talk shows, holiday specials, gala events, TV and film, Jimmy Stewart was always a pleasant addition. Stoic, calm and quieting, let's hope his humanity lives on through his efforts.

This is episode number 309 of "The Great Performances" anthology series.

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1987) (TV)
Host: Johnny Carson

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

The Century (1999) TV Mini-Series

An attempt to chronicle the 20th Century through the eyes of the ABC network news machine. Far in reach and bursting with footage this is an example of a program that will be relevant and watchable for years into the future.
 

AVAILABLE EPISODES
Heaven and Earth
Season 1, Episode 1
29 March 1999

Ultimate Power
Season 1, Episode 2
April 1999

No Man's Land
Season 1, Episode 3
April 1999

The Fall
Season 1, Episode 6
3 April 1999

Nothing to Fear
Season 1, Episode 7
8 April 1999

Picture This
Season 1, Episode 8
8 April 1999

The Race
Season 1, Episode 9
April 1999

The Evolution of Revolution
Season 1, Episode 10
April 1999

The Century (1999) TV Mini-Series
Host: Peter Jennings

Memorial Service for the Sailors of the USS Cole (2000) (TV)

Officials, relatives, and injured shipmates of 17 sailors killed in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen gathered on pier 12 at the Norfolk Naval Station for a memorial service. While the crews of the ships moored at the pier manned the rails, President Clinton and other officials honored the sailors as heroes and vowed that those responsible for the attack would be brought to justice. The ceremony concluded with the Navy Hymn and the playing of Taps.

Memorial Service for the Sailors of the USS Cole (2000) (TV)
Host: Tom Brokaw

NBC 75th Anniversary Special (2002) (TV)

Originally broadcast on May 5th, 2002 this is a 3 hour celebration of NBC's 75th anniversary. From Studio 8-H in New York City.





 
NBC 75th Anniversary Special (2002) (TV)
Host: Jerry Seinfeld

Mike Wallace: Then & Now (TV) (1990)

In a CBS special broadcast on September 26, 1990 Mike Wallace recalls 40 years of reporting and interviewing, recapturing some of his top stories and most provocative interviews.

Mike Wallace: Then & Now (TV) (1990)
Host: Mike Wallace

Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991) TV series 1991-1992

A 1950s American sitcom family participates in the Sitcom Relocation Program, and are transported to 1990s suburbia. Anyone recognize Julie Benz? And yes, that's the Pina Colada guy, (Escape).


AVAILABLE EPISODES
Season 1, Episode 1
Meet the Neilsens
19 July 1991

Season 1, Episode 2
Make My Bed
26 July 1991

Season 1, Episode 4
Hi Mom, I'm Not Home
9 August 1991

Season 1, Episode 5
Grey Skies
16 August 1991

Season 1, Episode 6
SRP
23 August 1991

Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991) TV series 1991-1992
Cast: Charlotte Booker, Danny Gura, Eric Kushnick, Julie Benz, Peter Benson, Stephen C. Bradbury, Susan Cella

Danger Down Under (1988) TV Movie

This feature-length TV pilot stars Lee Majors as an American horse breeder who tries to make a go in New South Wales (shades of Man From Snowy River). Accompanying Majors "down under" is his son (William Hughes); father and son entrench themselves in the ranch of Majors' ex-wife (Rebecca Gilling), who lives with her younger sons. Just when it seems a reconciliation is possible, the woman is killed, forcing Majors to take over the ranch and work it with the help of his three sons and his former father-in-law (Martin Vaughan). Danger Down Under was telecast in March of 1988, where it lost out in a Monday-night ratings battle to Newhart. The film has since been syndicated under two alternate titles: Austral Downs and Reed Down Under. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Danger Down Under (1988) TV Movie
Cast: Lee Majors, Rebecca Gilling, Martin Vaughan, William Wallace, Bruce Hughes, Morgan Lewis, Paul Chubb, Natalie McCurry, Robert Taylor

Twice Upon a Time (1983)

Animated film directed by John Korty and Charles Swenson. This film had an unusual history in terms of release and editing, but it has been named one of the most important films in the history of stop-motion animation. This was also the first animated film George Lucas produced.

The film uses a form of cutout animation, which the filmmakers called "Lumage," that involved prefabricated cut-out plastic pieces that the animators moved on a light table.

Twice Upon a Time (1983)
Cast: Lorenzo Music, Julie Payne, Marshall Efron, Hamilton Camp, James Cranna, Paul Frees, Judith Kahan

Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (TV) 1987

By the time he set out to make “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” which was loosely based on the famous Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Walt Disney had already made a name for himself with short cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other beloved characters. In 1934, he announced his intention to make a full-length animated feature film of the Snow White story, and estimated the cost would be around $250,000. Instead, production lasted three years and took around 750 artists, and nearly 2 million individual paintings, to complete. In that process, Disney acted mostly as head coordinator and decision-maker rather than as a designer and artist. As costs ballooned to nearly $1.5 million–an enormous sum for a film budget in 1937–he was forced to borrow money to complete the movie, even taking out a mortgage on his home. The Hollywood press called the project “Disney’s Folly,” and his own wife, Lillian, predicted it would be a box office failure. It was assumed that audiences couldn’t stomach a full-length cartoon, and that adults wouldn’t pay to sit through a fairy tale.

On December 21, 1937, however, “Snow White” silenced these cynics when it premiered to a packed house at the Carthay Circle Theatre. Stars such as Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland and Cary Grant attended the Hollywood premiere, while more than 30,000 fans unable to score a $5 ticket gathered outside the theater to share in the night’s excitement. Charlie Chaplin told the Los Angeles Times after the premiere that the film “even surpassed our highest expectations. In Dwarf Dopey, Disney has created one of the greatest comedians of all time.”

“Snow White” went on to become a massive hit worldwide, grossing more than any other movie in history up to that time. (“Gone With the Wind” would surpass it in 1939.) At the time of its 50th anniversary in 1987, the New York Times reported that “Snow White” had grossed some $330 million worldwide, and remained one of the most popular films ever made. It was also the first American film to have a soundtrack album released simultaneously with the film’s release, featuring such famous songs as “Heigh-Ho,” “Whistle While You Work” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.”

In addition to its commercial success, the movie received a special Academy Award, including one full-size Oscar and seven dwarf-sized statuettes. Its sophisticated artistic composition notably influenced such directors as Federico Fellini and Orson Welles, whose opening shot in 1941′s “Citizen Kane” (a castle at night with one illuminated window) is nearly identical to the first shot of “Snow White.”

The stunning success of “Snow White” marked a turning point in the career of Walt Disney, and established him among the world’s most celebrated filmmakers. The quality of its animation, voiceover work and musical score set a high standard for all future animated features made by Disney or any other studio. Along with “Pinocchio” (1940), it is widely considered to be Disney’s greatest film.

Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (TV) 1987
Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Jane Curtin, Dennis Franz, Soleil Moon Frye, Sherman Hemsley, Christopher Hewett, Telma Hopkins, Jean Kasem, Stepfanie Kramer, Richard Moll, Linda Ronstadt, Lindsay Wagner

WIOU (1990) TV series 1990-1991

Nightime soap opera. The TV network sends Hank Zaret to be news director of station WNDY (know as WIOU to the staff). The news co-anchors are Neal Frazier and Kelby Robinson. Eddie Bock is an ambitious black reporter, Taylor Young is a reporter, Liz McVay is the executive producer, Ann Hudson is a field producer who is dating Rick Singer, Willis Teitlebaum is a news intern with a crush on Ann Hudson and Marc Adamson is a cameraman. Familiar faces but slow moving drama, rendered more or less obsolete by the impending internet revolution.

AVAILABLE EPISODES
Season 1, Episode 1
Pilot
24 October 1990

Season 1, Episode 2
Appearances
31 October 1990

Season 1, Episode 7
Diamond Dogs
19 December 1990

Season 1, Episode 11
Without Prejudice
4 March 1991

Season 1, Episode 12
Pair O' Guys Lost
13 March 1991

WIOU (1990) TV series 1990-1991
Cast: Dick Van Patten, Harris Yulin, Helen Shaver, John Shea, Liane Alexandra Curtis, Mariette Hartley, Phil Morris, Wallace Langham

Stat (1991) TV series

Trials and tribulations of the emergency staff of a city hospital. Starring one of my favorites, Alison La Placa. Always good, never disappoints.






AVAILABLE EPISODES
Psychosomatic
Season 1, Episode 1
16 April 1991

Fantasy
Season 1, Episode 2
23 April 1991

The Wilding
Season 1, Episode 4
7 May 1991

Safe Smuggling
Season 1, Episode 6
21 May 1991

Stat (1991) TV series
Cast: Alison La Placa, Cynthia Lea Clark, Dennis Boutsikaris, Ron Canada

Terror on Highway 91 (1989) TV Movie

In this police drama, a rookie cop finds his idealism nearly destroyed when he discovers that most of the officers in his new precinct are corrupt. This is based on a true story. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi



Terror on Highway 91 (1989)TV Movie
Cast: Bonnie Johnson, Brad Dourif, Chuck Bibby, George Dzundza, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael Burgess, Richard Brooks, Rick Schroder

Two for the Money (1972) TV Movie

In this drama, two private investigators must find a serial killer after the 12-year investigation of the police fails miserably. Intended as a pilot that never sold, it aired as part of the ABC Movie of the Week. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two for the Money (1972) TV Movie
Cast: Anne Revere, Catherine Burns, Mercedes McCambridge, Neville Brand, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Hooks, Shelley Fabares, Stephen Brooks, Walter Brennan

Three Kings, The (1987) TV Movie

The made-for-TV Three Kings stars Jack Warden, Lou Diamond Phillips and Stan Shaw as three patients in a Los Angeles-area mental institution. Dressed as the Three Wise Men for a Christmas pageant, the trio is suddenly struck with the delusion that they are really their Biblical counterparts. As TV cameras grind away, the three ersatz Kings ride out of the Pageant--on camels--and into the mean streets of LA. As the story draws to its conclusion, the three escapees find themselves providing Christmas cheer for a group of homeless people on the outskirts of the city. Aaron Spelling's original story veers dangerously close to being devoured by its own cuteness at times, but Stirling Silliphant's script for Three Kings keeps the whimsy in check and the sillier events reasonably credible. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Three Kings (1987) TV Movie
Cast: Tiana Alexandra, Jane Kaczmarek, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charles Nelson Reilly, Pepe Serna, Stan Shaw, Tori Spelling, Vic Tayback, Jack Warden

Good King Wenceslas (1994) TV Movie

Wenceslas, the young king of Bohemia, lives trapped between the wisdom of his Christian grandmother and his tyranical stepmother. Only when he sees the suffering of the people does Wenceslas conclude that his stepbrother should never rule.

Good King Wenceslas (1994) TV Movie

Cast: Charlotte Chatton, Joan Fontaine, Jonathan Brandis, Leo McKern, Oliver Milburn, Perry King, Stefanie Powers, William Morgan Sheppard

Tony Bennett: A Family Christmas (1992)

Tony Bennett has been entertaining generations of audiences since 1950, performing a variety of hits with various internationally renowned bands; he has had a career filled with music awards and chart-toppers from all around the world. Songs include "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, The Christmas Waltz, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Where Is Love?, I Love the Winter Weather", and a medley that features "We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Silent Night." ~ Forrest Spencer, Rovi

Tony Bennett: A Family Christmas (1992)
Cast: Tony Bennett, Manhattan Transfer

Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas (2012) (TV)

For three seasons of "The Voice" now fans have known that Blake Shelton is brilliantly hilarious and incredibly charming. But how would it translate to his very own holiday special? Many celebrities have tried in recent years, but few have succeeded as well as Shelton did with "Blake Shelton's Not-So-Family Christmas" on NBC.

The hour special was littered with musical guests like Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson, not to mention his mother and his wife Miranda Lambert. He also had comedy bits throughout the special, with most of them hitting the right note -- even if he admitted his Larry the Cable Guy sketch might have been a little dark.

In it, he and Larry were in the claymation style of classic Christmas specials like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman." It was a hunting trip in the North Pole that went all wrong, with the pair ultimately killing or destroying virtually every beloved Christmas character.

He went dark again in a sketch where he traumatized children with twisted answers to their questions about "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." At other points he was getting beaten down by a cast of little people or trying to hawk a cheap knock-off of his swiveling chair from "The Voice."

Now that Shelton's got a laugh-filled Christmas special under his belt, fans can start counting the days until he's announced as an upcoming host on "Saturday Night Live." If he doesn't want to pull double duty, he could always invite his wife along to join in the fun as the musical guest.

Blake Shelton's Not So Family Christmas (2012) TV
Cast: Christina Aguilera, Kailee Bauer, Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Dorothy Shackleford, Blake Shelton