tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post5643197398370705408..comments2024-03-17T07:25:56.478-04:00Comments on Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: Color my worldIvan G Shreve Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04067177808320053382noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-21719745864219553432017-05-02T21:04:16.732-04:002017-05-02T21:04:16.732-04:00I remain firm in my belief that there is nary a ch...I remain firm in my belief that there is nary a chuckle to be wrung from the entire post-Barney canon, and do not regard "the existence of Howard Sprague" as a persuasive counter-argument. (When a friend and I snuck into a showing of Peckinpaugh's <i>The Getaway</i> at our scummy dollar theater, I was both astonished and delighted by Jack Dodson's presence in the cast -- astonished to see Howard Sprague in this grim revenge drama, and delighted to see him hang himself [Oops. Spoilers].)<br /><br />I agree the character of Warren was a lazy and ineffective solution to the problem of "How do we justify our existence without Don Knotts, especially since Andy seems increasingly bored with the whole enterprise?" I've always thought they should have gone, not with a Barney Lite like Warren, but a Barney Dark. Real dark. Have Andy hire some former big city cop who's seen too much and moved to Mayberry for his nerves, but who can't break old law enforcement habits, so he's always busting Floyd for running a numbers racket out of his barber shop (there's always one in every neighborhood); beating confessions out of suspects in the back cell and counting on Otis to drown out the cries for help as he shrieks with the D.T.s; responding to a rock flung by Ernest T. Bass not with homespun wisdom, but a shotgun blast - you get the idea.<br /><br />Basically, I think the color episodes of <i>TAGS</i> were a gateway drug, a low dosage of mediocrity designed to prepare audiences for the harder, uncut junk the producers would eventually be pushing with <i>Mayberry RFD</i>.<br /><br />P.S. I'm very impressed that Ivan could respond to my bitchfest on Twitter by immediately summoning up the name (and photo!) of the one black actor who ever appeared on the show. That's some <i>Computer Wore Tennis Shoes</i> stuff right there.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02798340582589737829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-60624179696427146982017-05-01T15:25:19.401-04:002017-05-01T15:25:19.401-04:00Off-topic: Hi, glynis! (Recognized your username f...Off-topic: Hi, glynis! (Recognized your username from Comics Kingdom, and for a moment thought I was on Disqus instead; Frances Bavier certainly could have played a mean Mary Worth, in every sense of the word).Andrew Lealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04536423892525694724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-50820329896600901142017-05-01T14:49:07.093-04:002017-05-01T14:49:07.093-04:00Just returned from house-sitting for my sister, wh...Just returned from house-sitting for my sister, where I actually got to watch a little TV. I was delighted to see MeTV available, even if it was a bit heavy on the McGyver/Diagnosis Murder stuff. Saw a few old TAGS episodes, a Bonanza (my favorite show as a wee tot) and some others. All I can say is...Dang, was The Rifleman really that awful?<br /><br />I believe 1976 was the year my family bought their first color TV, too. I had already left for college, didn't get a color set of my own until 1983. Yes, I am a serious anachronism! glynis37noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-22350377071360436792017-05-01T11:49:41.931-04:002017-05-01T11:49:41.931-04:00LOVED "Get Smart" !!!!LOVED "Get Smart" !!!!ClassicBeckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591715859057540467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-72684410328311584292017-05-01T11:42:40.480-04:002017-05-01T11:42:40.480-04:00Important note: the Burns and Allen summer series ...Important note: the Burns and Allen summer series OUR PLACE was emceed (more or less) by Rowlf the Dog. Just noting how my obsessions overlap.<br /><br />The general consensus, that Burns' style was too big city for Mayberry, seems accurate (and the writing for the character didn't help).<br /><br />The road trips weren't the worst episodes (well, some of them; the Hollywood ones failed to interest me outside of letting Goober do his Cary Grant again, although the young actress as a shotgun wielding Aunt Bee was pretty funny). Episodes also echoed a previous b&w where the same thing happened, only it was a con (and now it's real), so that bugged a tad too. But I don't see them as the strongest argument for the color episodes.<br /><br />And it's probably fair to say that some of the more sincere color episodes ("Opie's Job") worked better than the wacky ones (especially when the wackiness was Aunt Bee or Goober-centric; "Goober grows a beard and thinks he's smart now" is dumb even by the Goob's standards, while "Howard the Beachcomber" is genuinely funny). <br /><br />Also, note how MeTV completely failed to mention Elmo.Andrew Lealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04536423892525694724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-34894116896134777032017-05-01T11:26:32.260-04:002017-05-01T11:26:32.260-04:00Becky made a dramatic entrance:
I had a similar e...Becky made a dramatic entrance:<br /><br /><i>I had a similar experience with The Wizard of Oz. We watched it every year, of course, but we kids had no idea it turned to color after Dorothy opens the door to Munchkin Land. My folks never said anything, deliberately ... when we finally got a color TV, quite a while after it was available (my Mom and Dad had 7 kids and the idiot box, as my Dad called it, wasn't a big priority!) I'll never forget seeing it for the first time with the color TV.</i><br /><br />My grandparents in Savannah had a color set, and I'll always remember watching <b><i>Get Smart</i></b> in Peacock Color.Ivan G Shreve Jrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04067177808320053382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-68179986129024923102017-05-01T11:21:40.586-04:002017-05-01T11:21:40.586-04:00Nice article, as usual! My little brother and I h...Nice article, as usual! My little brother and I have talked about the color episodes of TAGS for a long time. When some channel shows TAGS in chronological order, we always groan and stop watching when it turns to color...it's a family joke now. What I really wanted to comment on was your memories of TAGS as black and white even after it turned to color. I had a similar experience with The Wizard of Oz. We watched it every year, of course, but we kids had no idea it turned to color after Dorothy opens the door to Munchkin Land. My folks never said anything, deliberately ... when we finally got a color TV, quite a while after it was available (my Mom and Dad had 7 kids and the idiot box, as my Dad called it, wasn't a big priority!) I'll never forget seeing it for the first time with the color TV. One of those childhood memories that last forever ........ClassicBeckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03591715859057540467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-57356406081538955532017-05-01T10:09:13.789-04:002017-05-01T10:09:13.789-04:00hobbyfan presented some startling facts:
He tried...hobbyfan presented some startling facts:<br /><br /><i>He tried to use his usual schtick that he did with Avery Schreiber, subbing Andy or anyone else for Schreiber, and it didn't fit.</i><br /><br />I caught a rerun of <b><i>The Ghost and Mrs. Muir</i></b> a while back with Burns as guest, and he even did the "Yeah...huh?" bit with Hope Lange, which greatly amused me for some reason. I remember Burns and Schreiber's summer TV series with great fondness, but Burns just didn't belong in Mayberry.<br /><br /><i>Also, Me-TV is adding the original Battlestar Galactica this summer, maybe as early as this month. Thought ya should know, Ivan.</i><br /><br />I appreciate the heads-up. During my years in exile in Morgantown, I grabbed the original series in its entirety for a friend of mine because the local cable outfit didn't carry SciFi and I had a satellite system. Nice memories.Ivan G Shreve Jrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04067177808320053382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307577717655310918.post-42800285296092432042017-05-01T08:27:32.906-04:002017-05-01T08:27:32.906-04:00I remember the Jack Burns era. He tried to use his...I remember the Jack Burns era. He tried to use his usual schtick that he did with Avery Schreiber, subbing Andy or anyone else for Schreiber, and it didn't fit. Weigel, the parent company of Me-TV AND Heroes & Icons, mind you, had to tip some seriously extra coin to CBS to get the color episodes.<br /><br />Also, Me-TV is adding the original Battlestar Galactica this summer, maybe as early as this month. Thought ya should know, Ivan.hobbyfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08089664500077967952noreply@blogger.com