Ash Ketchum

I just watched an episode of "Yancy Derringer" on Amazon Prime. It was episode #5: "A Bullet for Bridget" and the guest stars were Margaret Field and Frances Bergen, the mothers of Sally Field and Candice Bergen. Their daughters sure look like them, too. Margaret Field happened to be married at the time to the star of the show, Jock Mahoney, who was, naturally, Sally's stepfather.

shadokitty

My dog woke me up early this morning, so I thought I would do some Challenge viewing. I turned on My Outdoor TV, on my tablet and watched a mule deer hunting episode of Mojo TV.

Qrusher14242

I haven't watched much lately, but have been mostly going through S2 of Little House on the Prairie . What an amazing show, always seems to up my spriits by watching it.

shadokitty

I felt like watching something on my Xbox this morning, so after browsing my apps, I decided on Crunchyroll. I wanted to give another chance to Dragon Ball Super. I first watched the first episode last August, during the Animation Challenge. I remember that I didn't particularly care for it back then. After giving the first episode another try, that particular episode didn't seem too special, but this time I am willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt. I may watch more episodes in hopes that it gets better as the series goes on.]

shadokitty

I felt like watching a cartoon tonight, so after trying to decide what I wanted to watch, I ended up choosing GI Joe, so I just finished the second episode of 'Revenge Of Cobra'. GI Joe was one of my favorite cartoons from the 80s.

BobO'Link

Looking for a movie I may, or may not, have purchased a few months back I "stumbled" across a couple of discs of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson I purchased over a year ago and forgot about. I plugged one of them in last night.

The first show was from 03/04/76. It was pretty good, with Johnny performing his version of Rhinestone Cowboy, on a donkey, which was a hoot! The big surprise was the guy who wrote the original was in the audience that night!

Robert Blake, Baretta, the "Our Gang" shorts, and many more (until I looked him up I had no idea how busy an actor he was), was the first guest and came off as a somewhat arrogant, self absorbed, prick. There were "better" guests coming yet Carson kept him on and going! They mostly talked about the stunts he claimed to be pulling (ripping people off) making guest appearances. Carson never asked about any performance but Baretta. In all fairness, I didn't like Baretta nor his appearances in the "Our Gang" shorts so was less than interested in hearing him ramble for more than a couple of minutes, and even less so when he came off like a punk.

Don Rickles was up next and gave everyone a skewering. You could tell Blake didn't like him. He was his usual hilarious self.

Finally - Bob Hope came out for a far too short time in the chair but managed to get one off on Rickles.

He was followed by Desi Arnaz, who was quite entertaining and told a few stories about his early days. Several intersected with Hope, who apparently gave him a huge leg-up at one point by featuring Arnaz and his band on his radio show for a couple of years.

They should have cut Blake short or saved him for another night. Those last 3 were the real show!

The next episode on that disc was from the very next night, 03/04/76. This show featured Bing Crosby, in his first appearance on the show with Carson, Ray Bolger of Wizard of Oz fame, and the great character actor Burt Mustin in what would be one of his last appearances.

I was excited to see Crosby but his performance was rather bland. He sang a song I've never heard of and mostly talked politics.

Ray Bolger was next out. I was never a fan of The Wizard of Oz so really didn't care much for him. He and Crosby swapped a few vaudeville tales and Bolger danced. Actually quite well for a guy who was 72 at the time.

Marvin Hamlisch was next out. Yawn. It got a *bit* interesting when he and Bolger did a routine with Hamlisch playing the piano sitting on the floor with his hands just reaching the keys while Bolger "mimed" playing and sat on the bench. If they didn't show Hamlisch on the floor the illusion that Bolger was actually playing was quite good.

Turns out the 3 were on the show to promote a musical they were involved in.

Then out comes Burt Mustin, who was the high point of the whole program!

Hope was on the previous night. Why couldn't they have had Crosby on with Hope? OK... I know... it's because they were promoting that musical. Hope and Crosby on a show, all to themselves, would have been far superior to either of the offerings. Oh well...

The disc ended with a clip from a show in which Rodney Dangerfield just walked on and did a short bit, talked, and left. And then Joan Embery, from the San Diego Zoo, brought some animals on. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the better appearances.

It is an interesting disc and, even with its faults and some lackluster appearances, is far superior to any late night talk show these days.

shadokitty

That sounds like a very lucky find. I'm thinking of watching more of my Johnny Carson set myself.

For my most recent viewing, I took advantage of an app I subscribed to yesterday through Google Play. I found a racing app called Motor Trend On Demand. It was $5 a month with a 14 day free trial. While it doesn't have the really big racing divisions, it has all sorts of racing types. For instance I just finished watching Round 1 of the 2017 European Le Mans Series.

shadokitty

I just finished an interesting look at last year in horse racing. TVG2 was airing the 2017 Year In Review. It had some good highlights, including the passing of Turkeyora, a thoroughbred who actually passed in 2016, but it happened to late to be covered in the 2016 Year In Review.

shadokitty

I felt like watching something on my tablet tonight, so I opened My Outdoor TV, and decided to watch a couple coyote hunting episodes of Mojo TV. I've seen coyotes around my house before, so the past few months, it has been something that interested me.

BobO'Link

I finished a Carol Burnett Show set and went back to The Dick Van Dyke Show for S3. It's been a very long time since I last saw episodes of that one and I'm constantly seeing random episodes I just don't recall ever seeing before.

shadokitty

I just watched the first episode of Blue Planet II, that I had sitting on my DVR. It was very good and if the first episode is any indication, it is a worthy successor to the original series. It makes me want to dig out my Blue Planet set.

LJG765

I've been slowly plugging away at this challenge, just haven't been healthy enough to focus on a lot of anything. I did start on The Librarians season 4 last week, so I plan on finishing up what has aired this weekend. It's a fun show to watch.

shadokitty

I hope you feel better soon.

Less than a week to the end. How is everyone doing on their goals? Anyone discover any good shows that they didn't know about?

Trevor

Pretty much on target for my usual monthly goal of one item a day. Enjoyed my month so far, but no amazing discoveries yet.

Ash Ketchum

Last May, I picked up a bunch of classic TV boxsets from a local video store that was closing and have been watching those this month. I'm up to Season 4 of "Perry Mason," am going through Season 1 of "Hawaii Five-O," and have cracked open the Season 2 boxset of "Hogan's Heroes" purchased for $3.99.

"Hogan's Heroes" is the real surprise of the bunch. I'd forgotten how funny the show is and startled at how often it mixed serious espionage missions with the camp hijinks. In one episode, an allied agent is killed in action and in another, Nazi soldiers are manipulated into killing one of their own officers. I still grin at the sheer audacity of the series, making Nazis figures of fun and buffoonery only 20 years after the war when the experience of it was still fresh in the minds of most of the people involved in the making of the series. One of the cast members, Robert Clary, had survived a concentration camp as a boy. What must he have thought? Yet, the '60s was a time when it became okay to mock various sacred cows.




The real comic stars of this are, of course, Werner Klemperer as Klink and John Banner as Schultz. Bob Crane and the others are basically just straight men. Ironic when you consider that Klemperer was German and Banner Austrian, both Jews who fled their countries to the U.S. to escape Nazi persecution.
From IMDB: IMDB on Banner:
Of course, the spiritual predecessor of "Hogan's Heroes" was Billy Wilder's STALAG 17 (1953), made just eight years after the war and filled with black humor itself. Its comical guard played by Sig Ruman was indeed the model for Sgt. Schultz and Otto Preminger's witty commandant clearly inspired Colonel Klink. I wonder what Wilder thought of "Hogan's Heroes." And I'm supposing that the success of John Sturges' THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) was the real impetus for "Hogan's Heroes," which owes a lot to that film as well. Plus, the successful re-release of STALAG 17 in early 1965 (on a double bill with PSYCHO!) must have sealed the deal for CBS to launch the series.

BobO'Link

Hogan's Heroes is a long time favorite. I purchased it as it came out. Seeing it through adult eyes and knowing the histories of its cast members just made it better.

I've been watching mostly favorites I've not seen in a long time.

I did "discover" The Jack Paar Show. I'd like to see more but I don't think there's anything out there other than the sampler I purchased.

While I wanted to like it I found Falling Skies was just another sub-par SF series and am somewhat surprised it lasted 5 seasons (although only 52 episodes).

And First of the Summer Wine, a prequel series to Last of the Summer Wine was interesting but no "lost classic." It only lasted 2 series and I have series 1. Series 2 wasn't released in R1 but I didn't like it well enough to get the UK R2 release. I'd rather watch its inspiration.

I've been wanting to start The Flash as I've purchased S1-S3 so really need to find out if it was a good purchase.

LJG765

Thanks, hanging in there.

No new shows discovered here, but I did get season 3 watched of The Librarians which really was my only goal. Short season, but if it was any longer, I'd still be working on it! lol!

shadokitty

With the action/adventure challenge just over a month away, I've been considering watching TV shows and that genre to help get me in the mood. I'll also include some Ancient Aliens perhaps, as it deals with mysteries.

shadokitty

As part of my plan to watch a lot of action TV, I just finished an episode of Air Aces, on AHC. This particular episode focused on George Beurling, a Canadian who flew for the RAF during World War II. In particular, the episode talked a lot about the Siege Of Malta.

BobO'Link

I started S1 of The Flash this afternoon. Episode 1 was very good.

Ash Ketchum

Sun. January 28 marked both the birth date and death date of John Banner (1910-1973), who played Sergeant Schultz in "Hogan's Heroes." I celebrated by watching an episode that highlighted Schultz and gave him a much bigger stake in the action. In "Art for Hogan's Sake," Hogan arranges a trip to Paris to arrange a copy of a famous painting ("Boy with Fife" by Manet) to replace the one LeBeau stole from General Burkhalter. Hogan has Schultz masquerade as a general and Schultz totally relishes the experience, drinking wine and throwing his weight around when the Gestapo shows up to investigate. It's quite funny and Banner is clearly having a blast. The episode comes with audio commentary by Robert Clary (LeBeau) who speaks very fondly of Banner.

BobO'Link

^I remember that episode... I may get it out and watch it with the commentary before the challenge ends. It's a good one and I've never bothered with the commentaries before (rarely do).

BobO'Link

I hit a "bump" in this one last night. Episode 10 has "Captain Cold" and "Heat Wave" team up to try and take down the Flash. They have him trying to outrun the "beams" from each gun in an attempt to have them "cross the beams," as in Ghostbusters (which they comment on in the episode), which should cause both to malfunction. OK... that's fine. BUT - these two villains are "normals" who simply got hold of some high-tech weaponry . Nothing "built-in" so to speak (i.e not "meta-human" like most other adversaries). I never understood why Barry didn't just run a pattern, get to them both, and simply take the weapons away. It's something he's done several times in other situations. Yet they spend all this time trying to set up a special effect and build suspense. Yawn... They did "Captain Cold" better in his introductory episode but it still wasn't the best.

BobO'Link

I'm really enjoying the "modern" take on the Flash. While there are a few things I have issue with, it's generally well written and thought out. I could do with a bit less of the "let's cause tension with some romance angst" angle which is so prevalent in much of today's output (superhero or otherwise). The origin is a bit different than in the comics but still works and explains the meta-human villains he's gone up against so far. Even though I know his comic history, mostly from reading various "Justice League" titles, I never read his comic, other than the few issues where he and Superman race, nor cared much for the character, calling him "nothing but a guy who can run real fast," so am not too bothered by the continuity changes. That's still pretty much all he is and he uses the rather standard tropes about correcting/catching/etc. issues/villains used in the comics with "speedster" type heroes. Frankly, it's the other character's backstories that are more intriguing at the moment.

The episodes with Oliver Queen (aka "Arrow" - why can't they just use the real name?) were good, but annoying in that I now feel the need to crack open those seasons of Arrow sitting on the shelf to see more about their interactions. Based on episodes of The Flash they don't appear to directly tie into each other but did reference other visits in passing.

Right now the most annoying thing is that there are far too many people who know Barry Allen is the Flash. Of course that brings the standard "put a friend or friend's family member in jeopardy" plot lines.

In spite of my complaints, it's a strong series and quite entertaining.

shadokitty

Letting folks know that I plan to do the drawing when I wake up in the morning. Reminder that you need to have a US address in order to win, and that winners can choose their own prize, up to $20.

I'm not really ready to give up on the Challenge myself, so I plan to keep watching next month. There was a lot that I planned to get to that I never got around to this month.