Announcing (trumpet fanfare) the first Thrilling Days of Yesteryear blogathon!

Since the blogathons have been coming fast and furious of recent I decided this morning that I would stick my toe in the River ‘Thon and announce that this ‘umble scrap of the blogosphere will kick off its first try at hosting an event…and as might be expected, there’s a story to go behind it.

A handful of people at the Facebook page for the British Phil Silvers Appreciation Society were a little put out by all the tra-la-la and flourish that greeted the centennial birthday celebration of Lucille Ball…when the reception for Mr. Silvers’ 100th natal anniversary was…well, lukewarm would be an understatement.  (Not that I didn’t do my part, you understand.)  There were some disparaging remarks made about our favorite “crazy redhead,” comments that I think were born more out of frustration at the neglect shown Phil than anything else…and I believe in Lucy’s defense I pointed out that the fact is her voluminous television output is mostly available on DVD while Silvers’ classic sitcom seems to be remembered (why not take the time to sign this petition while we’re on the subject?) by those who…well, still remember black-and-white TV, I suppose.

Anyway, I thought about this a great deal and while I regret not suggesting a Phil Silvers blogathon on his centennial, it won’t be too late to doff our blog caps to another TV sitcom classic.  October 3, 2011 will mark the fiftieth birthday of the debut of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and while I’ve already been tapped to do a write-up at ECOF (Edward Copeland on Film…and More for you laymen and laywomen), I decided to go the extra mile and see if this might not be the perfect vehicle for TDOY’s very first blogathon.  The Dick Van Dyke Show is my favorite situation comedy of all time, hands down—and so I’m pleased as the proverbial Hawaiian Punch to announce that Thrilling Days of Yesteryear is going to host a ‘thon in honor of this timeless classic.

Now, ostensibly I’d like the entries in the blogathon to be about the actual show: observations, favorite episodes, etc.  but because flexibility has always been the by-word here, I’m certainly not going to limit you as to what you’d like to write about.  If you want to do a biographical sketch…fine and dandy.  If you want to review a film from Dick Van Dyke’s voluminous oeuvre (“Hmm…I don’t think anyone’s ever really addressed the existentialism in Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N…”), have at it.  I’d even be up for insights on some of the actor’s other TV ventures, like The New Dick Van Dyke Show or Diagnosis Murder. The only stipulation (and it’s more of a guideline than a rule) is that you tie your contributions in some way (no matter how tortured your logic has to be) to The Dick Van Dyke Show.

So on October 3, 2011 I’ll cobble together a post containing links to all the people who are going to participate…and you can either send those links to me at igsjrotr(at)gmail(dot)com with “DVD Blogathon” in the subject header or you can put your link in the comments section, whichever way you’re most comfortable.  I hope most of the TDOY faithful can squeeze this into their busy schedules (I’m kind of competing with my pal Vincent’s Carole-a-thon, so I apologize for that); I’ve already been told by my BBFF (pronounced buh-biff) Stacia that she’s called dibs on the classic DVD outing “The Masterpiece” and that if anyone even entertains the thought of duplicating her choice she will send a plague of frog-eating spiders directly to your domicile.  When I get confirmation of the folks planning to participate, I shall amend this post with a list of the potential contributors.  “Come join us/Come join us/Just take a part and join us…”

(You can tell I’m pretty pumped about this.)  Oh, and I took the time to whip up a few banners for promotional purposes, so you can avail yourselves of whatever you need:

The following blogs have raised their hands:

Anthony Balducci's Journal – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Caftan Woman – “The Return of Happy Spangler”/”The Return of Edwin Carp”

Cinematic Opinions You Didn't Know You Had – “What’s in a Middle Name”

ClassicBecky’s Brain Food (“Brains!”) – “Coast to Coast Big Mouth”

Classic Film and TV Café – “My Blonde-Haired Brunette”

Fedoras and High Heels – "Bupkis"/"The Life and Love of Joe Coogan""
The Flaming Nose - “I’d Rather Be Bald Than Have No Head at All”

The Forty Year-Old Fan Boy – “Uhny Uftz”

Gonna Put Me in the Movies – “The Redcoats are Coming”

The Horn Section – Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title

I Am a Child of Television – TBD

Inner Toob – Several Toobworld posts, including "Buddy Can You Spare a Job" and "Sam Pomerantz Scandals"

in so many words… - “A Day in the Life of Alan Brady”/”Long Night’s Journey Into Day”

In the Balcony – Never a Dull Moment

Java's Journey – TBD

The Lady Eve’s Reel Life – TBD

The Land of Whatever – Overall view of series

Micro-Brewed Reviews (W.B. Kelso) – "That's My Boy"/"The Ghost of A. Chantz"

My Reader’s Block – TBD

A Mythical Monkey Writes About the Movies – “My Part-Time Wife”

The Nervous Purvis – TBD

Pretty Sinister Books - "The Sound of the Trumpets of Conscience Falls Deafly on a Brain That Holds Its Ears...Or Something Like That"
Resilient Little Muscle - "Buddy Sorrell, Man and Boy"

She Blogged by Night – “The Masterpiece”/"The Man from My Uncle"

A Shroud of Thoughts – TBD
The Slip Stitch - TBD
The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV - Overall view of the series

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear – “Never Bathe on Saturday”

True Classics: The ABCs of Classic Film – “It May Look Like a Walnut”
Wide Screen World - Cold Turkey