The TV Zone

For you young 'uns out there, I'd like to take note of Gale Storm's passing over the weekend at age 87.

Gale Storm? A very popular TV actress in the early '50s. Her show, "My Little Margie," was a CBS summer replacement for "I Love Lucy," and became a hit in its own right, while re-runs eventually ended up on Saturday morning, where a whole new generation of kids watched.

No one - I'm reasonably certain - ever called "Margie" a great show, but the leading lady had genuine and lasting appeal. Margie was a creature of '50s TV - where women were slightly dim and cute and subservient, but the show was standard fare for the times. Watched through the prism of 2009 sensibilities, it seems as ancient as an Egyptian hieroglyph.

For example: I've posted a clip and in the opening scene of one episode you'll also see Willie Best, one of the enduring black character actors of the day whose career stretched way back almost to the silent screen era; (his many roles were stereotypes of the worst order but this is how Hollywood often portrayed African Americans on TV and on screen from the '30s almost through to the '60s.) Best was also one of the hardest working black actors of the day - Bob Hope, I believe, said he was one of the most talented actors and comics he'd ever worked with - and died only a handful of years after this show, one of his final credits, went off the air.

And finally, Charles Farrell, who played Margie's widower dad in the show (they lived together; she was always getting him in trouble at the company he worked for.) Farrell was a huge star in the late '20s, when he starred with Janet Gaynor in a bunch of romantic chick flicks.

Storm later had her own show ("The Gale Storm Show") and appeared on "What's My Line." There were some very hard times too, as she related in her autobiography.

And now one of the most memorable stars of early television is gone.

And...for my last post of the day, this seemed appropriate. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, what would TV news coverage be without the replay of this one, just one...more...time? Turn on the TV today, anywhere and at anytime, and this - I imagine - was on. It always is on this day, or should be.

The words were probably called "prophetic" by an anchor somewhere.

His or her co-anchor then called the tone "elegiac."

Another, "magnificent."

Today, it seems doubly so. And tomorrow, we have an inauguration.

Name "Red Skelton" mean anything to you?

No?

Than - whoo, boy - I gotta lot of work to do, and quickly, because this show airs in just about three hours, on WLIW/21, at 8 p.m.

So, I'll make this fast: For just about fifty (maybe 60) of the last one hundred years (AKA the 20th century), he was one of the biggest - and I do mean biggest - entertainers on the planet. (Died in '97). The career spanned vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies and finally TV - where his vaudeville work seemed to be repeated, as if this career had come full circle. He was a clown - quite literally - and was even the son of a clown. TV viewers were especially familiar with his many, many characters - like seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe or Sheriff Deadeye, and so on. His many movies of the '30s and '40s were beloved - "Whistling in the Dark" was one of the most famous - and undistinguished, for the most part. They were, though, a welcome and needed antidote for those very troubled times.

Skelton? HE was beloved. His show, on CBS and NBC (although I think it ended on CBS) seemed to go on forever; it was terribly familiar to anyone who drew a breath in the '60s or '70s.

Tonight, a tribute - but not THE tribute that he deserves. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed with this one, given the magnitude of this amazing career. Skelton's TV work could be very funny or very pedestrian, or just downright bad - he was in the factory business, and churned out these shows like GM churns out Saturns (or used to anyway.) He was deeply embittered when CBS zapped his show - I believe that was one of the last acts of the Smiling Cobra, Jim Aubrey - but in truth, the show was old-fashioned even by 1971 standards.

Ch. 21 has packed this tribute with old footage from the TV show only, and promises that much has "not been on TV since the original broadcasts."

There's a reason for that.

Jamie Farr, a longtime pal of Skelton's, will host this show in a live wraparound tonight; interesting, certainly to see what Jamie has to say...

Otherwise, check out a Skelton movie...you might still be able to find one. The man WAS funny.

Meanwhile, one can't mention Red without citing one of his classic show biz quotes: When reviled Columbia boss, Harry Cohn, died, Skelton went to the packed funeral, and observed, "Harry was right - if you give people what they want, they'll show up."

Grade: C

Eartha Kitt, who died Thursday at 81, had a rich showbiz career as a dancer, actress and singer.

But we'll always recall the sultry star as the third Catwoman on "Batman," following in the claw-steps of Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether.

Here's a great clip of Ms. Kitt as Catwoman (teaming up with Cesar Romero as the Joker) in an episode from the show's jump-the-bat era (originally airing Jan. 4, 1968) , namely when Yvonne Craig joined the cast as Batgirl.

"Secret Millionaire,” a new Fox reality show based on a British hit, debuts Wednesday. Its premise is sort of intriguing: A millionaire agrees to give away tens of thousands of dollars of his or her own money after spending time in an impoverished community where no one knows they are rich. Nice touch for these times, eh?

Anyhow, the show’s title puts us in mind of these five “millionaire” TV shows or characters.

“The Millionaire” (1955-60) — Each week on this dramatic anthology, the title character, John Beresford Tipton (who was heard, but never seen on camera), would instruct his personal secretary to bestow a check for $1 million (tax-free) on an unsuspecting individual.

The millionaire and his wife (1964-67) — How the wealthy, stuffy Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer), were referred to in the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song. They’re still the subjects of one of TV’s enduring mysteries: How did they know to pack three years’ worth of clothing on a three-hour tour?

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (1999-) — Incredibly popular game show hosted on ABC by Regis Philbin, and now in syndication by Meredith Vieira.

“Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” (2000) — Infamous Fox reality show in which contestant Rick Rockwell winnowed out Darva Conger from a group of 50 women. Shortly after the show aired, it was revealed Rockwell had been slapped with a restraining order by a former girlfriend.

"Joe Millionaire” (2003) — Highly successful Fox reality show in which an ordinary schmo pretended to be a millionaire to win a hot babe’s heart. The test came when said hot babe learned Joe Millionaire wasn’t even Joe the Plumber

Take a trip on the wayback machine and check out this clip of TV's original "Millionaire."

Last-minute alert: A New York TV holiday tradition continues tomorrow...

No, not the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but WPIX's annual broadcast of the Laurel and Hardy classic "March of the Wooden Soldiers" at 9 a.m. on Ch.11 on Thanksgiving morning.

This movie used to freak me out when I was a kid, and still does now, if this clip of the movie's final nine minutes is any indication:

Yes, they are everywhere this time of year, and honestly, I have no idea why. But turn on a show, any show, and something unusual, someone unusual, will pop up.

Of course it's sweeps, and of course networks have it stitched into their DNA some automatic reflex impulse which says that if you've got an unusual face on a TV show, then that will magically stop people from changing channels because ... people just have to see why that unusual face is on the screen.

Now, logically, we know this is nonsense, but networks are not about logic. Why should both Robert Guillaume and Tipi Hedren be on next week's episode of "CSI"? Why not! Why should Mary-Kate Olsen be on "Samantha Who?" Why not!

Anyway, this got me to thinking of my favorite cameos of the past; unfortunately, try as I might, I still can't locate that one with Andy Warhol in "Love Boat." The one below is a lifelong favorite.

Please go to the jump to watch a couple of others that are lunatic fringe...

Continue reading "Cameos! " »

This is the shocking media story of the day - maybe the week, maybe the month.

TV Guide - one of the great media franchises of the last century, which grew with a nascent medium (and in turn helped that medium grow) - has been sold for one dollar.

Seriously. One dollar. I knew the credit market but rough, but THIS...?! Don't worry. You'll still get your Guide, assuming you still do get your Guide. For how long? That is now the only question that matters.

Here's the full story for Ad Age. It has to be read to be believed. (As always, vigilant TVtattle.com located this one.)

Yes, we're a culture deeply tied - I wouldn't use the word "addicted" here - to the tell-all autobiography, where the formerly adored object of our collective youth (whomsoever that may be) reveals in exquisitely painful detail their struggles with addiction, sex, violence, greed or any other human failing under the sun. And over the past few weeks, we've heard so much about the forthcoming Maureen McCormick autobio, "Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice," that we pretty much have braced ourselves for anything and everything. But still...

The interviews on this morning's edition of "Today" pretty much blew away even our - or at least my - worst expectations. In other words, it was even worse than I expected, and I don't think I'll ever forget this line, as relayed to Al Roker: "I was freebasing, and the only thing I cared about was the sex and the drugs ..."

Al asked whether anyone ever prepared her for the day the show would end; no, said she. The cast just "got a call," and that was that. Welcome to showbiz.

Over a year ago, when the book deal was announced, the press release read, in part: "This autobiography will be a remarkably cautionary tale and inspirational wake up call for today's celebrity youth culture."

As promised.

If you’ve ever attended a New York or Hollywood TV taping -- or wish you had -- there’s cool nostalgia to be found at the Old TV Tickets website.

Did you know that David Letterman appeared on a 1978 game/talk show called “The Love Experts”? (With “Laugh-In” loudmouth JoAnne Worley?) Or that ’70s sportscaster Howard Cosell hosted a completely different ABC prime-time variety showcase called “Saturday Night Live”?

The site shows you a scan of the stub, then fleshes out info on the show it represents, from sitcom faves like “I Love Lucy” and “All in the Family” to talkfests like “The Dick Cavett Show” to song-and-dance hours like “Tony Orlando & Dawn.” (That last ticket advises Television City guests, “Audience will be seen on camera. Please dress accordingly.”) Also detailed are such cult-fave obscurities as Jackie Mason’s 1989 sitcom “Chicken Soup.”

For New Yorkers who attended early-days-of-TV programs like “Mister Peepers” or “Beat the Clock” when the industry was city-based in the 1950s, it’s also a time trip back through local theater history -- revisiting shows staged at the Ziegfeld, Colonial, Hudson and Ritz Theatres, in addition to CBS’ west side studios and NBC’s Radio City tower, plus NBC’s Brooklyn facility (1960s rockfest “Hullabaloo”).

The site also reveals that tube assistants don’t necessarily know how to spell celebs’ names -- not with “Jimmie” Durante and “Cindy” Lauper among the stars hyped in ticket printings.